photo fox

JMW has removed the extensions, and she looks so nice! I pray to the soap hair gods that she leaves them out. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDG9xRKqXcE/?taken-by=jacquelinemwood_1

To add to the voices above, my university "required" juniors and below to live on campus, but not if your permanent address was within reasonable driving distance. It was presumably to keep kids on campus where they could be supervised a bit, instead of living in some party house. A few local kids got around it by claiming to live with their parents and getting an apartment, and there wasn't much the school could do about it. Permanent could mean your parents' address, but it could also mean your own address if you were paying your own bills and lived in town year-round. After all, what if you were 35? Or ex-military? Or married with kids? Surely they're not expected to love in a dorm? I lived at home, and it definitely saved me a ton of money. In fact, I always got some back each semester to help with living expenses. So if money was really an issue, living at home would have helped. But then Rory and Lorelai put a lot more importance on the college "experience" than I ever did.

I've heard he brings her out during his set to do this song, which is nice exposure. CY is himself a reality show winner (Nashville Star), so it's nice seeing him "pay it forward" this way. And I really like the song! I would guess they'll get nominated for various "vocal event" industry awards, especially as there isn't a ton of competition in those categories.

I'm happy Dean got out as well. I would think after the public ugliness with Rory and Lindsey that it would have been uncomfortable to stay in such a small town, especially considering that the townies seem to revere Lorelai and Rory as the town Queen and Princess. My guess is that "Winter" will start off with some kind of celebration of Richard's life, whether it be an actual memorial service, building dedication, whatever. I think that's the reason Rory comes home, and the reason for everyone else to circle back around. So I see Dean extending his condolences, the two of them having a quick catch-up, and moving on. I think it's a good opportunity for a lot of the characters to give us an "elevator speech" about what they've been up to for the past eight years, without it seeming awkward. I can imagine most of the main-ish characters will be in "Winter" very briefly to tell us "where are they now", but then the bulk of the episode will be spent on Emily/Lorelai/Rory and how they deal with Richard's death, and some kind of story to explain why Rory sticks around. And then in the other three episodes more of the story will branch out to the other characters. My speculation is that's the reason behind MV's two/more-than-two episodes comments. I think he'll be in Winter momentarily to say, "sorry about your granddad," but doesn't get any actual story and very few lines. And then something else happens to bring Jess back to SH in a later episode. It would be interesting to me if, instead of the obvious "building at Yale" route, it turns out Richard has left a large sum to build something in SH, as kind of a thank you to the town for supporting Rory. Or maybe an endowment at Chilton, and that's why they go back there?

Maybe it's "the 'election' which I 'win/lose'"?

My biggest wish is for everybody to be happy at the beginning and the end. I know there has to be Drah-mah for story purposes, but generally I want to see everyone get a happy "ending", even the people I don't like. Case in point, I'd like Dean to be in a good marriage with a couple of kids, happily living small-town life. I want him to be totally over Rory (and Lindsey) and not bitter about any of it at all. For Jess and Logan, I'd like them to both be in good places professionally. I'm fine with them being single - and I think they will be single, because triangle! - but I don't want to get the impression that either of them has been going to sleep every night with a picture of Rory under his pillow. I can believe that either/both could meet back up with Rory and take up where they left off, but eight years is a long time for someone in their 20s. What I would absolutely LOVE to see is that Logan and Jess have interacted in the last eight years and buried the hatchet. Outside of their pissiness over Rory, I think they actually have a lot in common, especially intellectually. Logan went off to do something in tech, right, and of course his family background was in publishing? Maybe he got in on the ground floor of the electronic publishing boom. And when we last saw Jess he was writing and working with a small press, so I can see him getting involved with electronic self-publishing. Maybe their paths crossed professionally and they worked out their issues. I can see a scene at Richard's memorial/Yale building dedication/whatever where Rory is talking to one, the other walks up, and Rory of course thinks they're going to start up again, because eight years later, it's still All. About. Her. But they greet each other with a handshake and start catching up, while Rory stands there gaping. lol I don't care if Luke and Lorelai are married, living together, happily coupled up while maintaining separate residences, or just good friends. But I want the show to open with them in a steady place, and basically stay that course through the four episodes. The idea that two people with their ages, history, and temperaments would still be will-they/won't-they-ing eight years later makes me CRAZY. Adding in the seven years of the show, they would have been circling each other for half of Rory's life. Fish or cut bait! I want to see Rory on a new career path, one that actually fits her, because IMO she was never going to be the next Christiane Amanpour. (I can see her doing features, but not hard news.) Maybe she's starting her own magazine, or writing a novel, or running a successful travel blog. My other devout wish is that Emily and Lorelai finally make peace. And not a begrudging "we'll get along for Rory" peace, but a real resolution of their issues. I'd like to see them both admit their mistakes, of which they each have many, while understanding why the other made the choices they did.

Yeah, my guess is "they do the 'wedding' which I 'officiate'." I don't necessarily want to see a Rory or Lorelai wedding, for reasons I don't have time to get into, but I don't really care to see a bunch of time eaten up by a townie wedding, either. I have the extremely UO of not really giving a hang about any of the townies (sans Luke) as individuals. They're fine as a group in the background, but I'm fine with none of them really getting "story".

Logan had "six broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken ankle, contusions over 1/3 of his body, and a concussion." I'm trying to imagine a circumstance where I would leave my 20-something-year-old nieces to to face injuries like that alone, and I can't. There's nothing they could do that would make me abandon them that way. Yell at them later, sure. Cut them off later, maybe. But at that moment, it takes a special kind of asshole to not show up for their kid. And that goes for both his parents.

Here's the thing, though. Cary and David have at no point since this ridiculous storyline began a couple of episodes ago said anything about forcing Diane out. She thinks that they think she's trying to start something up with Alicia (which she is), and they want to know what she's up to. But they haven't done anything. Diane, OTOH, is actively trying to convince Alicia to help her push Cary out. What does Cary bring to the table? The firm, that's what. I think Diane is starting to believe her own story she was spinning to Lucca and the new hires. The fact is, Cary is the only founding name partner at LAL. If Diane thinks he's such a crappy lawyer, why did she push her way in, and then help him push Alicia out? Frankly, this whole story is asinine, and makes them ALL look bad.

Going with the assumption that "Winter" is this coming winter (2016/2017), Logan will be out of college for 10 years in summer 2017. I can easily imagine that it's a one-off ten year "class" reunion.

Wow, I never thought I would say this, but fuck Diane. The only reason there's a firm to try to take over is because Cary had the idea and the plan to start one in S5, which Diane then joined when her own firm imploded. And fuck Alicia for her weak-ass defense of him, after he JUST rescued her from her legal/financial ruin like two weeks ago. At this point, the only way I will be happy with the series finale is if Cary ousts both of them to take complete control of the firm. Or he leaves corporate law behind to go back to the Innocence Project (and becomes the center of a spinoff). Alicia and Jason have less than zero chemistry. They're cringeworthy. I've been watching old episodes, and it's striking compared to JM's chemistry with Chris Noth and Josh Charles.

So. Many. Tears. Thomas and the kids, Robert and Edith, Robert and Cora. Edith and especially Bertie at dinner. I can't believe how sad I am to see Downton end. Lord knows it's had its issues, but rarely have I been so invested in a show and its characters. It will be missed.

Not to mention, Rory didn't have a kid and a baby-momma who could have used her support. When you become a parent, you no longer get a pass for putting your needs first, IMO.

Total agreement, especially with the bolded part. I get that the callbacks are great for longtime viewers, and it's nice that past characters aren't forgotten (unless they're named Lexie), but enough already. Sometimes I think they assume that everyone who is watching has been watching from the beginning, and it simply isn't true, especially given how strong the ratings are. For newer viewers (like me, I've seen parts of S3-S7, and most everything after that) all the callbacks are a little like going to your spouse's class reunion and sitting around listening to stories about old times you weren't in. I was definitely glad to see some movement with Owen and Amelia, and I liked that he basically told her to get over herself about Derek, and she did. I was also happy that they did the whole "let's start over again" thing, because this way we won't hopefully have to endure a bunch of retconned flashbacks down the road. As annoying as April has been lately, and as wrong as I think she's been about her marriage (which I hate, because April's my girl), I'm giving her a momentary pass on telling him about the baby. Telling him is going to be awful; he doesn't even want to share a cell phone bill, so he's definitely not going to be excited about a baby. I can understand why she wants to give them both some "normal" time before the drama cranks up again. Besides, at nine weeks, she probably hasn't even had a doctor's appointment yet. If it goes long enough that Jackson starts missing out on "baby stuff", like the sonogram, etc., I might look at it differently. Yes! This! This episode was so enjoyable to me, because they let different characters interact with each other. April/Alex and April/Callie used to be friends (not close friends, but friends), and she's lived with them both. It was nice seeing some acknowledgement that they actually know each other. Alex finally remembered that he had a friend other than Meredith and had a conversation with Jackson. The show is so much better when they let their characters out of their preset cliques and triangles.

Great news! That gives me hope they won't change the formula too drastically.

Not sure how historically accurate it is, but I feel like this was a plot point in more than one Georgette Heyer book. So if it's a trope, at least it's one of long-standing (and good company!)

The worst thing about this storyline? I mean, other than the rapeyness of it all, and the ruination of Deacon, and the complete lack of anything resembling common sense? The worst thing, to me, is that I think JMW and DB actually have decent chemistry, and I think Steffy and Chickenhead could be an interesting couple, if done right. But it's all going to be wasted, because there's no way Steffy will ever believe that he didn't know what Quinn was up to, given their closeness and the way he's pushing so damn hard. Hell, Wyatt will probably end up in a jail cell. Crazy Quinn keeps Liam locked up in her cabin, while Wyatt takes over his fiancee, his job, and his relationship with $Bill? Wyatt will probably have the Waffle's beach house by the end of the week. This is going to end so badly for him, which I hate, because Wyatt's probably my favorite character on this show, even with the ridiculous way he's been acting. Ugh...

I'm not sure if it's really fair to compare Logan - or anyone - to S6 Jess. S6 Jess was practically a unicorn, and barely more than a plot point. Would he have continued to be so level-headed, etc., if he'd been around for more than one episode? But I digress. I liked Logan because I felt like he just "fit" with Rory*. I also felt like he respected Rory's relationship with Lorelai, while realizing it was a separate issue from his own relationship with her. By that I mean that he didn't date her because of (Dean) or in spite of (Jess) her mom. He wasn't intimidated by or jealous of their closeness, which I think a lot of guys would be. The first scene where I liked him was the "Master and Commander" scene. I'm a big fan of anyone who thinks debate is fun. *I should mention that the first time through, I started watching in Season 3, so I probably have a different view of Rory than many people do. "Real" Rory to me is more Yale Rory.

My sentiments exactly. I loved Logan, liked the LADB (the stunts) and Finn, and tolerated Colin. But Robert was just so dull and joyless. No offense to the actor, but I hope his role is very small.

Thanks for the heads-up! I love that show. Since I'm in this thread, I feel like it should officially be posted here that Matt Czuchry has been (re)cast in the Gilmore Girls reunion series on Netflix. No official word on how many of the four episodes, but interwebs sleuths (for various reasons) think at least three.

Sorry, no politics... it never ends well. ;-)

I believe you can love your kid and still be a really, really, bad parent. I think that's what Jess finally resigned himself to accept. He realized that she was a crap mom, not because she didn't want to be better, but because she didn't know how to be better. Cold comfort, but better than believing your own mother didn't give a shit about you.

Massively unpopular opinion, apparently, but I'm just not that invested in Neal and Crista. I like them both separately and together, but I'm not watching the show for them. I'm watching for the ensemble, and I've long felt that the emphasis on their relationship was keeping them insulated from the rest of the characters. Maybe this will allow them to be better integrated with the rest of the cast.* Plus, I'll admit to having missed an episode here and there, but I don't see them as having some "great love". It could be at some point in the future, but for right now I see their relationship as being very, very new, and not all that deep. Maybe it's a victim of telling the story almost entirely within the walls of the hospital and having more of a focus on the work and the friendships (which, thank you, Show!) I'm loving the Leighton brothers, and I'm loving Mario. (But then, I've always loved Mario. I'm full of UOs on this show!) Leanne continues to be awesome, and I like her storyline of moving into administration. So while I'd love to have Dr. Taylor back full-time, I'd be disappointed if that ended her arc (not to mention her interactions with the CEO(?) whose name I cannot remember). Malaya needs a story, so I was glad they had her interact a bit with Mario. Jesse is great, too, but he also needs some airtime. Maybe he gets ignored because he's "just" a nurse? I would hate that, but that's how a lot of these shows roll. Luis Guzman is terrific, and he deserves some meat. Grace, Heather, and the surgeon are all just there for me. I neither love them nor hate them. Which is fine, IMO, because I just see them as foils for the main characters. I want the focus to stay on the ER, anyway, so the two surgeons especially don't need story. *This is actually my biggest/only complaint about the show - the keep their characters too siloed. You've got a Neal/Crista silo, a Mike/Angus/Mario silo, a Leanne/CEO silo, etc. I get that not everyone has personal relationships with each other, but it's like they don't work together, either. I think it's a product of the "medicine-focused" storytelling device, which I generally love, but... Take Crista, for example. She lives in a Neal-shaped bubble. In order for her to interact with Neal, her cases all have to involve Neal, because otherwise they won't interact. Have we even seen her have one good scene with Mike, her new boss? She and Angus are supposedly friends. Has she noticed he's acting erratically? I actually really love the medicine-focused storytelling, but I think it means they have to work harder to integrate everyone. So far, I think they're not quite there.

I still miss Madeleine Allsopp. I liked her, and I really liked her odd friendship with Harold Levinson.

Yep, I do "statement nails" sometimes, too. I can't imagine somebody Liam's age (especially who is into fashion/cosmetics) thinking it was unusual enough to ask about. My statement nails don't have any significance. I feel so shallow.