Nitpicking

[AlinaRay]

So, I know this is minor, and I understand why it had to be done, but the way they handled food always bugged me. The GG are supposed to be these huge junk food fans who can eat their way out of anything, but they're still model-esque. I think the one moment that bugged me the most, even though it had no reason to, has to do with Lane. The GG were eating and Lane rushes in, starving, but she only has about three minutes to eat before she has to go back to Mama Kim. They make a point of her taking Rory's hamburger and immediately taking a bite because she's soooo hungry, but then she takes the teeniest tiniest bite known to man. Lorelai even says something about how she needs to swallow before she talks, but there was nothing in her mouth! Again, I get it, I know why the actors had to do it that way, but it still always bothered me.

[jjj]

About Richard Gilmore's father, above (various timelines!) -- remember he told Rory that for his father's funeral, he wore his brand-new first custom-made suit, and that he could not wear it again after wearing it when his father was buried.  That implies late teens or early 20s, both for the suit and that emotion attached to it.

[dustylil]

jjj with respect, why does Richard's inability to wear his first bespoke suit again and his related emotions, imply that he was in his late teens or early twenties?

[zillabreeze]

Someone please help me- what WAS said about Lane's dad in S 1???

[txhorns79]

Someone please help me- what WAS said about Lane's dad in S 1???

 

I don't remember if anything specific was said, so much as he was just mentioned as though he existed. 

 

 

That implies late teens or early 20s, both for the suit and that emotion attached to it.

 

That's very true.  Though I don't recall if a specific age was mentioned when he talked about it.  I suppose he could have been younger, but it does seem a little silly to think a lot of time, effort and money would be spent on a suit that Richard would have probably quickly outgrown had he gotten it as a young child. 

[jjj]

Yes, a custom-made suit seemed adult, as well as his description of wearing it to "bury my father".  That responsibility does not fall to a small child.  Plus, this all meshes with Emily being brought home to meet Richard's "parents" (plural).  Remember, the Third Lorelai was departed from this earth in the early part of season one!  They seemed to lose the index card with information about the great-grandparents! 

[txhorns79]

Here is my giant nitpick.  How is that Lorelai and Rory are obsessed with getting Rory into Harvard, but seem totally surprised by the idea that getting Rory into Harvard might require more than Rory having excellent grades?  Did they really never contemplate this prior to Rory going to Chilton?  Did Lorelai never speak to any other parent in Stars Hollow or someone at the school guidance office about what was needed to get into a good college?  It just boggles my mind.   

[dustylil]

My own long-standing nitpick was how little Rory knew about what was required for Harvard after a year at Chilton! She was now in an academically focussed environment in a highly regarded prep school, surrounded by college bound students - some of whom also had Ivy League ambitions. She was also developing a close relationship with her university educated, attentive grandparents. Harvard was Rory's big dream. Did the issue never come up at school with her teachers, counsellors, and classmates? Or in the senior Gilmore home in the time she spent there after school if not at the FNDs? And this is totally apart from any information she might have gleaned on the topic from the media and the Internet?

I realize Rory was kind of passive and, as time went on, seemed to expect things to be given to her - but really!

[txhorns79]

Indeed, I think your nitpick serves as a nice extension of the one I mentioned.  It does seem odd how everyone in the Gilmore clan seemed to have the goal of getting Rory into the Ivy League, but none of them seemed to look at anything besides grades until the plot required it. 

[nolieblue]

Especially considering Emily's close relationship with Biddy Charleston and all the othe biddies at Chilton. Plus Rory was supposed to have read every piece of information that Harvard ever produced!

[jjj]

I think dustylil has it right about the academic expectations at the school itself -- private schools like that don't just counsel students on what classes to take, but coach them on what to do to get into prestige colleges and universities.  And I'd guess that well over the majority of the Chilton students were expected at least to be applying to the Ivies and elite private colleges (Georgetown, Swarthmore, etc.), either because the students themselves wanted to go there, or because of family pressure.  So yes, Chilton would have students planning the full package by the tenth grade, because any counselor at that level knows that a burst of extracurriculars in the senior year looks like desperation or poor planning.

 

My recent nitpick was that Richard and Christopher BOTH paid for Rory's tuition in spring of her junior year.  Even if Yale was still taking checks back in 2004, they would not have sent a bill to two people.  And Rory can't just call and say "send the bill to my dad," because significant paperwork is required to create the file authorizing that kind of information to be sent to anyone.  Plus, there would have been all the paperwork of getting reinstated, when the financial arrangement would have been authorized, so it's not even like there was some auto-pay plan in place (which didn't really exist ten years ago, anyway). 

[txhorns79]

My recent nitpick was that Richard and Christopher BOTH paid for Rory's tuition in spring of her junior year.  Even if Yale was still taking checks back in 2004, they would not have sent a bill to two people.  And Rory can't just call and say "send the bill to my dad," because significant paperwork is required to create the file authorizing that kind of information to be sent to anyone.  Plus, there would have been all the paperwork of getting reinstated, when the financial arrangement would have been authorized, so it's not even like there was some auto-pay plan in place (which didn't really exist ten years ago, anyway).

 

Does Yale not allow you to pay your tuition with a check now?  I just figured Rory told her father what was owed, he wrote a check to the appropriate authority and that was that.  Therefore when Richard sent in his check, they returned it because the account was already paid.  In my experience, colleges don't really care where the check is coming from so much as they get paid. 

[jjj]

Yes, Yale still will take checks, but electronic payments have been preferred for years.  I suspect checks were far more common ten years ago! 

 

My point was that you need a bill to make a payment -- the amount changes every year, and in addition, this would have been the first year that Rory's charges did not include room and board, so the amount owed would be extremely different.  Richard would have had no way of knowing what amount was due unless a bill was sent to him -- and clearly, Christopher got the bill.  It is usual for bills to be sent to parents (or other authorized person) rather than students.  And Rory clearly listed Christopher as the bill recipient in her re-enrollment paperwork, since he paid the bill. 

 

It's a nitpick!  The nitpick being you need a bill to make a payment.  It is not like a mortgage, with the same amount due each month.   

[txhorns79]

My point was that you need a bill to make a payment -- the amount changes every year, and in addition, this would have been the first year that Rory's charges did not include room and board, so the amount owed would be extremely different.  Richard would have had no way of knowing what amount was due unless a bill was sent to him -- and clearly, Christopher got the bill.  It is usual for bills to be sent to parents (or other authorized person) rather than students.  And Rory clearly listed Christopher as the bill recipient in her re-enrollment paperwork, since he paid the bill.

 

Or Rory just called the appropriate office, gave the appropriate identifying info over the phone to confirm her identity, got the amount owed and had her dad pay.  I don't mean to argue the point, or (nitpick your nitpick) as I enjoy these discussions, but I think the process is much simpler than you are making it out to be.  For example, I helped a cousin partially pay for school.  I didn't get the school tuition bill, I just sent a check to a specific office at the school with an enclosure letter with the student information and how the money was to be directed.  Trust me, they never had a problem cashing the check.       

Edited September 7, 2014 by txhorns79

[nolieblue]

My big nitpick is a scene from Say Something when Rory and Lane are in the bookstore and Lane has just brought Rory a burger from Luke's. Whenever the camera focuses on Lane you can see a couple in the background who repeatedly stop to look in the window and/or pick up something from the newsstand  outside. It's a huge continuity error and drives me crazy! 

[txhorns79]

I know what you mean nolieblue.  I wish I could remember the episode, but there is one scene where Lorelai's hair goes from straight to frizzy in the back and forth shots over the course of what is supposed to be a minute or two during the scene.  I get that sometimes the weather just won't cooperate with a person's hair, but it is very noticeable. 

[lulu1960]

That was in The Perfect Dress.

[pieinmyeye]

It really bugs me that in episodes taking place in the winter that all the trees still have green leaves.

[Kohola3]

My nitpick is how the timelines all shift.  In the character reference note that Lorelai writes for Luke, she says she's known him 10 year.  Since Rory is 21 or 22 at that point, that means Luke didn't get involved with Rory until she was 11 or 12.  How about the gifts he was supposed to have given her in her early years and the time that he brought her mashed potatoes when she had chicken pox (not normally a disease a pre-teen comes down with)?  It doesn't seem all that difficult to get the stories straight!

 

And that brings up the letter - was that really enough to totally change the course of that hearing, especially with Luke's record of an arrest?  Weak, in my mind.

[lulu1960]

I think they continued to say that Luke knew her when she was 10. Caterpillar funeral with fairy wings. Sookie also said that Lorelai didn't really know Luke that well till she moved to the Crap Shack. But that in itself is odd to me

[dustylil]

I could see Rory getting to know Luke before Lorelai did. She attended school in Stars Hollow and had her own life as a student at the elementary school. She could have gone to the diner with classmates and/or teachers for the occasional  treat. If I recall correctly, until Taylor  opened his ice cream shop in Season 4, there didn't appear to be any other places in the town for the worthwhile things of life like fountain drinks, sundaes and sodas.

 

Caterpillar funeral with fairy wings

 

This one I confess always gave me pause. Rory was reading the Brontes at nine. Yet at ten she was doing things that seemed more likely and appropriate for a first or second grader.

[junienmomo]

Lorelai's passiveness with respect to men bugs the heck out of me. The guys have to practically put up neon signs to get her to understand that they'd like a date. The only man she drives anything with is Christopher, and I suspect it's because she has absorbed her mother's opinion that he is weak (my opinion too, BTW) 

Industrial forklift for her emotional baggage, indeed. 

[dustylil]

For myself, I would have been more surprised if Lorelai had had good dating skills. For most of  the high school and college years when most people - men and women - are learning how to (and how not to) date, Lorelai was busy raising a small child. She was also likely burdened with certain assumptions  some people  have about women who have children very young and do not  acquire a husband in the process. Her passivity was a good defense.

 

As to Christopher, for all his many and manifest faults, Lorelai  had known him since they were both small. She was at ease with him as she was with nobody else.

[Kohola3]

I just watched the Yale graduation (only for the second time since I faithfully avoid all things Season 7) and don't quite get all of the angst surrounding the "four tickets per family" rule.  The graduation was held outdoors in a courtyard - there were only about 30 seats for the graduates and just a few more for the families but surely anyone who wanted to attend could do so and just stand at the back. Plus Logan was standing across the yard under a tree.  All of Stars Hollow could certainly have been there with no problem.  Of course, that doesn't fit the story line.

 

And while i never liked Smarmy Logan, he really iced the cake with his My Way or the Highway declaration when Rory turned him down.  Way to show your love Mr. Dominance. 

[txhorns79]

And while i never liked Smarmy Logan, he really iced the cake with his My Way or the Highway declaration when Rory turned him down.  Way to show your love Mr. Dominance.

 

I didn't care for Logan either.  I also think engagement proposals that come with ultimatums probably cause their own problems.  I will defend Logan, only in the sense that there could be situations where someone needs a real push to make a decision, and his brand of proposal could work.  As it was, it was poorly timed and a complete misreading of what Rory might want.    

 

 

For most of  the high school and college years when most people - men and women - are learning how to (and how not to) date, Lorelai was busy raising a small child.

 

If I remember right, Lorelai did date on occasion when Rory was young, but you'd have to figure between her living in a shed and having a toddler, there weren't going to be many takers.  And that doesn't even get into the massive baggage she was carrying with her relationship with her parents. 

Edited September 23, 2014 by txhorns79

[nolieblue]

I agree -- I thought Logan's proposal was very badly timed. He didn't get at all where Rory was in her life. He weirdly felt settled -- kind of surprising since he was starting a new job in another industry on the other side of the country. While I was not a fan of their relationship - i thought Rory was infinitely less interesting while she was with Logan, I felt that he as a character kind of got short-changed in the end with a pretty abrupt departure. 

 

But these two episodes -- Lorelai, Lorelai and Unto the Breach drive me crazy because of the stupid miscommunication between Lorelai and Luke. Not only was it disappointing as a shipper but it was such a trite cliche to use to drag out the will they/won't they until the last five minutes of the series. argh!

[lulu1960]

But these two episodes -- Lorelai, Lorelai and Unto the Breach drive me crazy because of the stupid miscommunication between Lorelai and Luke. Not only was it disappointing as a shipper but it was such a trite cliche to use to drag out the will they/won't they until the last five minutes of the series. argh!

 

I totally agree. They could have had two episodes of reconciliation. Which would have given the audience that much more.

[txhorns79]

While I was not a fan of their relationship - i thought Rory was infinitely less interesting while she was with Logan, I felt that he as a character kind of got short-changed in the end with a pretty abrupt departure.

 

I'd honestly say that Rory, as a character, is not all that interesting.  When I've done occasional rewatches, I find myself fast forwarding through the Rory plots because they feel somewhat tedious.  I'm not saying Rory doesn't have her moments, just that I feel more like the series spends a lot of time trying to convince me Rory is interesting, whereas with Lorelai there is not the same kind of effort (i.e. she's a lot more dynamic than her daughter).

Edited September 23, 2014 by txhorns79

[Kohola3]

They could have had two episodes of reconciliation. Which would have given the audience that much more.

 

I remember being just enchanted with the karaoke scene only to be sorely disappointed almost immediately afterward when Luke overheard the "it didn't mean anything comment".  Geez, throw us a bone and then snatch it back.  No wonder I never rewatched these episodes!

[junienmomo]

Currently rewatching the episode How Many Kropogs, and am as irritated as all get-out at Lorelai. After all the evil things her parents said to her about Luke, she couldn't figure out another way to meet Logan without going to Friday night dinner. Idiotic. 

Fine, I know that they wanted to demonstrate how badly Lorelai's parents could punish her in "public" (in front of Logan), but honestly, if I were Luke, that would make me unhappy. 

 

The only thing that really bugs me about the Nicole phase is that the marriage was completely unnecessary. They could have given Luke a completely successful relationship with her, had them live together and demonstrated both his improved social skills and Lorelai's jealousy. 

 

And finally, to end my nitpicking rant, in Pinocchio, Luke's trip was drive across Canada, and cruise Alaska. In Ballrooms and Biscotti it became a seven country cruise. Never did figure out that one. 

Edited September 23, 2014 by junienmomo

[dustylil]

juniemomo, I figured Luke and Nicole had finally looked at a map and simply changed their minds about the cross Canada drive with  the Alaskan cruise. I remember at the time the episode first aired saying to myself, "Good Lord, are they nuts?".

 

Of course, this show never was particularly good at foreign travel. 

[Taryn74]

HA!  I thought the same thing about driving across Canada.  How much time off were they taking?!?  LOL.

[Kohola3]

Having watched the finale for only the second time, I remember being disturbed in round 1 with the lame ass camera angle for that conciliatory kiss.  And on the second watching I thought the same thing. Maybe it's just me but it was just.....bizarre.

[nolieblue]

I agree, the camera angle was bad. Perhaps they were just trying to get things over with and couldn't be bothered to do another take. I know Alexis Bledel rushed through most of her lines in the last few episodes like she couldn't wait to be done. 

[junienmomo]

Not a nit, but a big frigging consistent error throughout that I just need to whine about to you all.
What was it with the lack of touching and hugs? Why did L&L seem to always have to stand so far apart when they should have been cozy? It was slightly improved in the middle, like when Luke took over Sookie's job for an evening, but it didn't last. Is it a Connecticut cultural thing to be physically distant with those you love?

And while I'm at it, how weird was it that I can't remember L&L sleeping at home at the same time as Rory? Lorelai was there with Rory in that timeframe, other people were there, even Max was allowed to sleep there during his turn as fiance, but not Luke? WITHWIT? It almost seems like a mirrored situation to Luke's not wanting Lorelai around when <his child who must not be named because I so hated that storyline> was at the diner, although I never observed Lorelai making it happen.

[scarynikki12]

To add, I remember when Lane and Dave first kissed, she actually started moving her body away from him.  I was expecting the show to reveal that Lane realized she wasn't really into Dave but that was not the case.  I don't know if it was direction or what but that, along with a lot of scenes between couples (not just Luke and Lorelai) came across as the two people not wanting to touch each other.  It was weird.

[Kohola3]

What was it with the lack of touching and hugs?

 

That was always niggling at me but now you've put a voice to it!  You are so right - there were tons of situations where a hug would be normal but not a touch passed between the characters. Not that everyone had to be touchy-feely all of the time but there were some big moments that called for some physical contact that never happened.

[dustylil]

I recall reading an interview with Lauren Graham some years back and the issue of touching  came up when discussing the Luke and Lorelai romantic relationship. Apparently, when preparing for scenes with Scott Patterson, she had asked the director on more than one occasion why she was not to touch or be physically demonstrative towards Scott. (I remember this because we so often heard that she disliked this particular co-star). She was told that was the way the showrunners wanted it.

 

So we were not the only ones puzzled by the lack of it.

[Guest]

That was always niggling at me but now you've put a voice to it!  You are so right - there were tons of situations where a hug would be normal but not a touch passed between the characters. Not that everyone had to be touchy-feely all of the time but there were some big moments that called for some physical contact that never happened.

Like when Trix died and Michel hugged Lorelai and they agreed it was weird, it would have been normal if Sookie had given her best friend a hug. Also, Sookie seems like the type who would be touchy feely.  I can see no hugging going on from Emily, as she's a bit colder.  But the other characters?

[blueray]

What annoyed me is that they couldn't have had Lorelai and Emily at least hug once (like the series finale).

[junienmomo]

Hmmm, when it's show runners and producers making decisions that stupid, they must have been trying to sell something to some group. How annoying.

I suspect they did something similar with exposed skin. The women seemed to wear nightwear to bed all the time when men were involved.  Am I correct in remembering only one person occasionally showing a bare chest besides Kirk?  Of course, that chest was well worth baring. ;)

[nolieblue]

Luke showed his bare chest in s7 but that was under a new show runner when the characters also said ILY way more. I think the only time Luke or Lorelai said ILY was during a crisis or argument like Vineyard or Partings.

[Kohola3]

I'd hate to think life was so stilted in the ASP household but maybe that's they way they lived.

[nolieblue]

ASP gave an interview once talking about the lack of ILYs and said that L/L showed their love to each other every day in various ways and she didn't want to get caught up in the schmoopiness (my word) of constant ILYs. I usually agree (especially after the gag-worthy ILY fest that L/C indulged in in French Kiss), but after all the L/L angst in S6 and S7 I would have liked some indication that L/L were getting past their communication problems by actually talking to each other and declaring their feelings. But alas...

[lulu1960]

I think ASP was trying to show that Luke was the "let his actions speak, damn it" kind of guy. But I agree I remember when I first watched season five after L/L finally were a couple that there were episodes that I thought to myself, "Sheesh, she didn't even kiss him goodbye."

[nolieblue]

I remember thinking "uh oh" when at the end of "We've Got Magic to Do" Luke and Lorelai didn't kiss or hug. It felt like a huge and bad anvil.

[Kohola3]

During one of Lorelai's speeches on how much she loves snow, she says that Rory was born during a snowstorm.  However Rory was born on Oct. 8 (something that stuck in my mind since so was I) it is pretty unlikely that there was a snowstorm on that day.  Even a few flakes would be pretty darned rare.

[lulu1960]

I always thought that about the snow on during Rory's birth but since I'm from the West Coast I'm not really familiar with Conn. weather.

[blueray]

During one of Lorelai's speeches on how much she loves snow, she says that Rory was born during a snowstorm.  However Rory was born on Oct. 8 (something that stuck in my mind since so was I) it is pretty unlikely that there was a snowstorm on that day.  Even a few flakes would be pretty darned rare.

Well where I'm from we once had  a major ice/snow storm on Oct 13. So it's possible.

[dustylil]

Apparently snow can normally be expected to start to fall in Connecticut  in November. Nevertheless, there was a substantial snowstorm in Connecticut in early October in the nineteen eighties. However, it was in 1987, not 1984 - the year Rory was born.