Nitpicking

[RachelKM]

I don't know.  I think it is consistent with Lorelai's personality that when she wants to dance, she does.  But doing so half under protests she act like a s*** and pretends she learned nothing despite the fact that we know she went to those classes and should at least be able to fallow a simple step.

Edited September 14, 2016 by RachelKM

[RachelKM]

Where the hell was Lorelai's house located? Sometimes it seemed they had to drive and sometimes seemed to walk a few blocks.  Likewise the Dragonfly?  I could swear that when Lorelai's Jeep died in Season 7, she was on the way to work and had to take this long rural road; but other times people seemed to walk out of the Dragonfly right into the town square. 

Am I misunderstanding? Or is this more of the Palladinos having no sense of geography even in the fictional towns they create? 

[AllyB]

On 9/5/2016 at 10:17 PM, twoods said:

Exactly. Luke had a very successful business and lived in the building he owned, so I'm sure he had a lot of money saved up. Plus, Taylor was renting space for his ice cream shop. I took his joke about Jess as that there is no way he can afford a car on the min. wage he was getting at the diner.

I always took it as Luke having several income streams which he treated differently. He had the salary he paid himself at the diner, which probably wasn't very high but he lived off it easily by living above the diner and avoiding having rent/mortgage payments. Then he had the diner profits (which would have been quite high as the diner had no rent/mortgage debt) and, once Taylor opened the ice-cream shoppe, rent from him. All that money probably went into a savings account or two.

Tbf, to Richard and Emily they did have a discussion with Luke and Lorela,in You've Been Gilmored, about how wealthy a couple they were due to their considerable assets. (Though Lorelai had a business partner and was no doubt mortgaged up to her eyeballs on both the inn and her home.)

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Plot line du jour.

I sometimes wonder if the writers for S7 ever watched any of the previous episodes.

[JaggedLilPill]

11 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Where the hell was Lorelai's house located? Sometimes it seemed they had to drive and sometimes seemed to walk a few blocks.  Likewise the Dragonfly?  I could swear that when Lorelai's Jeep died in Season 7, she was on the way to work and had to take this long rural road; but other times people seemed to walk out of the Dragonfly right into the town square. 

Am I misunderstanding? Or is this more of the Palladinos having no sense of geography even in the fictional towns they create? 

After Rory drinks too much of the Founder's Day punch, Luke asks Lorelai if they need a ride and she says it's only like five minutes I believe? And they seem to be walking.

I think it's more that the Palladinos have no sense of geography since the town doesn't seem that large and yet, you're right. We see Lorelai biking on that road. 

[FictionLover]

14 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Where the hell was Lorelai's house located? Sometimes it seemed they had to drive and sometimes seemed to walk a few blocks.  Likewise the Dragonfly?  I could swear that when Lorelai's Jeep died in Season 7, she was on the way to work and had to take this long rural road; but other times people seemed to walk out of the Dragonfly right into the town square. 

Am I misunderstanding? Or is this more of the Palladinos having no sense of geography even in the fictional towns they create? 

Wherever fits the plot line for the day!

[TimetravellingBW]

14 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Where the hell was Lorelai's house located? Sometimes it seemed they had to drive and sometimes seemed to walk a few blocks.  Likewise the Dragonfly?  I could swear that when Lorelai's Jeep died in Season 7, she was on the way to work and had to take this long rural road; but other times people seemed to walk out of the Dragonfly right into the town square. 

Am I misunderstanding? Or is this more of the Palladinos having no sense of geography even in the fictional towns they create? 

Or Stars Hollow has some sort of Hogwarts-esque geography with roads changing and locations constantly switching. 

[Kohola3]

Seems like the Dragonfly is located outside of town since it was all over grown and in need of repair.  Surely Rachel wouldn't have just stumbled upon it while taking pictures of the area if it were in the middle of town.  The Crap Shack seemed to be located in town, though.  But things do sort of shift around to fit the story line.

[RachelKM]

On 9/13/2016 at 2:49 PM, Kohola3 said:

Seems like the Dragonfly is located outside of town since it was all over grown and in need of repair.  Surely Rachel wouldn't have just stumbled upon it while taking pictures of the area if it were in the middle of town.  The Crap Shack seemed to be located in town, though.  But things do sort of shift around to fit the story line.

See it makes sense to me that the Dragonfly would be outside of town.  But then, sometimes people to leave the Inn and be right in the middle of the town. Likewise, Lorelai would seem to run out to go to Luke's or run errands in the main town area and it appeared she just ran down the block.

On 9/13/2016 at 2:19 PM, TimetravellingBW said:

Or Stars Hollow has some sort of Hogwarts-esque geography with roads changing and locations constantly switching. 

This seems the most likely answer. I accept it as my truth. 

[txhorns79]

Quote

Seems like the Dragonfly is located outside of town since it was all over grown and in need of repair.  Surely Rachel wouldn't have just stumbled upon it while taking pictures of the area if it were in the middle of town.  The Crap Shack seemed to be located in town, though.  But things do sort of shift around to fit the story line.

But wasn't there a full on suburban-style neighborhood right behind the Crap Shack?  I think in Midnight at the Oasis, that neighbor just walks in from behind the bushes to ask the girls to house sit.  I do concur with the idea that Stars Hollow is essentially Hogwarts, and things are constantly moving.    

Quote

I sometimes wonder if the writers for S7 ever watched any of the previous episodes.

 

I sometimes wondered if ASP kept track of the plotlines from one episode to the next. 

Edited September 15, 2016 by txhorns79

[timimouse]

I've got a serious question. How does one drop out of an ivy league school and then re-enrol whenever one feels like? I'm actually curious as to how that works because we were given the impression that Rory dropped out. She didn't seem to have any intention of returning. It's not that she deferred a semester. She just decided she wasn't going back and her tuition wasn't paid. So how did she just get back in once the new year started? I'm not used to the American Academic system so I'm asking if I missed something.

[Viqutorious]

Here you go.

http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/academic-regulations/leave-of-absence-withdrawal-reinstatement/

[junienmomo]

On 15 September 2016 at 2:27 AM, txhorns79 said:

I sometimes wondered if ASP kept track of the plotlines from one episode to the next. 

I stopped wondering when Rory was sixteen before her sixteenth birthday. It drove the nail in the coffin (LOL literally?) when Gran came back from the dead.

[timimouse]

2 hours ago, CheeseBurgh said:

Here you go.

http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/academic-regulations/leave-of-absence-withdrawal-reinstatement/

See, that adds to my confusion and I guess a nitpick to some extent. Maybe it wasn't explained properly but I never got the impression that she had any intention of returning. I know her mother and grandparents wanted her to return but she seemed hell bent that she wasn't going back. The impression I always got, and what is confirmed by that webpage, was that she would've had to have spoken to her adviser (or whomever) to get permission to defer a year or take a leave of absence. I'm also not very good with timelines but would she be then allowed to rejoin in the middle of the semester? I guess I just feel like there are quite a bit of potholes in that storyline.

Edited September 16, 2016 by timimouse

[junienmomo]

5 hours ago, CheeseBurgh said:

Here you go.

http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/academic-regulations/leave-of-absence-withdrawal-reinstatement/

Wow. That's a generous policy. Clearly someone looked out for her enough to make sure she took the leave of absence rather than really just quit. I'm guessing either a counselor or Logan, who didn't believe she'd last the summer.

[Lady Calypso]

11 hours ago, timimouse said:

See, that adds to my confusion and I guess a nitpick to some extent. Maybe it wasn't explained properly but I never got the impression that she had any intention of returning. I know her mother and grandparents wanted her to return but she seemed hell bent that she wasn't going back. The impression I always got, and what is confirmed by that webpage, was that she would've had to have spoken to her adviser (or whomever) to get permission to defer a year or take a leave of absence. I'm also not very good with timelines but would she be then allowed to rejoin in the middle of the semester? I guess I just feel like there are quite a bit of potholes in that storyline.

I was a little bugged by this as well. I do think that Rory really did plan to just take a little time off, though. It's the only way I can buy the dropping out of Yale; the intent to return at some point definitely makes it a little easier to believe for me. It wasn't explained properly, though. It seemed like Rory was making a very last minute decision to drop out. I know we saw signs of her struggling all year, but I never saw her as the type to give up when things got hard. She told Lorelai that she was "not going back to Yale next year", and telling her that she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. It definitely made it seem like Rory wasn't sure whether to just take a year off or to not go back at all, but I do think she was just as confused as everyone else was when she dropped out. Lorelai even pointed out that she was working to become a journalist and Rory whined about how she couldn't be a journalist ever because of one man's opinion. 

So I can believe maybe that she talked to an advisor that she would be taking a leave of absence. Emily and Richard seemed to talk to Rory before the last scene of season five and it seemed like they agreed that they would work on a temporary term by term basis just to keep Rory from losing all of her options. It's quite possibly Richard talked to an advisor of Yale to ensure that Rory could come back if she changed her mind, even if Rory didn't think that she would at the time. So if Rory didn't take a leave of absence herself, Emily/Richard certainly made sure that option was still available if she changed her mind. Richard even stated that Rory was young and she might change her mind, and seeing as Richard was heavily involved in Yale as a school, I have no doubt he made many phone calls for Rory, whether or not she knew about it.

Although the part I question more is how Rory could get back into school weeks into the semester. We know she didn't start at least until November, as her birthday is supposedly in October and she went back to school a couple of weeks after Jess' visit. But, the magic of television, I guess. And the magic of the Gilmore family. 

Edited September 16, 2016 by Lady Calypso

[RachelKM]

It appears time is as fluid as geography in Gilmore Girls reality.  Lorelia got pregnant "at 16" but had Rory barely 4 and a half months after tuning 16.  She apparently left her parents home when she was 18(?), but maybe 17, and the stroller had been in the way for a year, and yet Rory was still an infant when Mia met her....

Rory takes time off from Yale, but returns mid semester and is able to graduate without taking extra courses to make up for the time off because some how she finished a full semester course load starting during midterms...

[lulu1960]

The part about she got pregnant at sixteen I can accept. The majority of her pregnancy she was sixteen. Actually all Mia said was that Lorelai came to her door with a small baby in her arms. I suppose she could have said child.

[Kohola3]

The line was:  "When Lorelai showed up on my porch that day with a tiny baby in her arms,"  Doesn't quite fit the timeline but maybe it was said for drama.  Or just another of those "oops, we forgot about continuity" things.

[Taryn74]

Yeah I never got the impression Mia was saying Rory was an infant or anything, just very young.  

 

Quote

MIA: Hey, do you realize it was fifteen years ago almost to the day?

LORELAI: Yes it was.

RORY: What was?

MIA: To the day when this skinny little teenage girl showed up at the inn. She had this tiny little thing in her arms.

LORELAI: A little thing named Rory.  [pinches Rory's cheeks]

RORY: Okay, no physical reenactments.

MIA: You marched up to me, looked me right in the eye and said, 'I'm here for a job. Any job.'

LORELAI: Well, IBM had turned me down for the CEO slot, so I was desperate.

MIA: Work experience none, recommendations none, skills…

LORELAI: Besides flawlessly applying mascara in a moving car, none.

MIA: Not one thing to recommend hiring her. Just that…how do I put it and remain a lady…that 'who cares' look in her eyes, so I gave her any job. The other maids hated you.

LORELAI: Yeah, well they were all so slow.

MIA: You were special.

I had completely forgotten about the 'fifteen years ago' remark quoted above.  Since this was early S2, Rory would have been 16, which also lines up with about a year old when they showed up at the Inn.

[Lady Calypso]

2 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

Yeah I never got the impression Mia was saying Rory was an infant or anything, just very young.  

I had completely forgotten about the 'fifteen years ago' remark quoted above.  Since this was early S2, Rory would have been 16, which also lines up with about a year old when they showed up at the Inn.

Yeah, so it definitely lines up a little better. I didn't realize that she said "thing" and not "baby" or "infant". So it's definitely about a year after Rory was born that Lorelai went to Mia for a job. So if Lorelai gave birth at 17, it would make sense that she ran away at 18 with Rory being a year old. Although, there's only one line that we'd have to assume is an overexaggeration and that is Mia's conversation with Emily:

Quote

MIA: When Lorelai showed up on my porch that day with a tiny baby in her arms, I thought to myself, what if this were my daughter, and she was cold and scared and needed a place to live? What would I want for her? And then I thought, I'd want her to find somebody to take her in and make her safe and help her find her way.

But since the Mia/Lorelai conversation confirms that Rory was about year old when she came, it's easier to dismiss. Plus, maybe Mia calls a lot of younger children under the age of two babies. She seems like the type of person to do that, and she also called Lorelai and Rory her babies earlier in the episode. 

[txhorns79]

Quote

MIA: When Lorelai showed up on my porch that day with a tiny baby in her arms, I thought to myself, what if this were my daughter, and she was cold and scared and needed a place to live? What would I want for her? And then I thought, I'd want her to find somebody to take her in and make her safe and help her find her way.

I was with Emily in that scene.  I'd want someone to send my child home.  Short of abuse, Mia was really overstepping boundaries, I thought. 

[Kohola3]

If Lorelai was firm about not wanting to go home, Mia couldn't have forced her.  If she had tried I can imagine Lorelai just taking off again.  However, I do think the humane thing would have been to at least let Emily know that her daughter was somewhere safe.

[txhorns79]

Quote

If Lorelai was firm about not wanting to go home, Mia couldn't have forced her.  If she had tried I can imagine Lorelai just taking off again.  However, I do think the humane thing would have been to at least let Emily know that her daughter was somewhere safe.

I agree that if Lorelai did not want to return, Mia could not do much about it.  When I was younger, I was more on Mia's side, but I guess the way she talks to Emily, she just seems so breezy about it.  It's almost like she didn't quite realize what exactly she had done. 

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

If Lorelai was firm about not wanting to go home, Mia couldn't have forced her.  If she had tried I can imagine Lorelai just taking off again.  However, I do think the humane thing would have been to at least let Emily know that her daughter was somewhere safe.

This is just a fanwank of mine, and it could be argued from the script that it's wrong (LOL) but I always felt like Mia was the reason Lorelai at least kept in "holiday contact" with her parents.  As in, Mia took Lorelai in, but gently and firmly told her that if she wanted to stay there, she would have to let her parents know where she and Rory were, and stay in contact with them.  Just the way I see things.

[Lady Calypso]

I think it's a tricky situation because we don't know the entire story from either Lorelai or Mia back then. On paper, it sounds like Mia was just ok with an eighteen year old and her baby not going home and staying with her. It seems that, on paper, Mia was perfectly fine with not even calling Emily/Richard to let them know that Lorelai was safe. It could definitely be interpreted as Mia overstepping and making choices that she should know are 'wrong'. But in hindsight, I do think Mia thought she was doing the best thing for Lorelai. We don't know what their first conversation was like, how much Lorelai told her about her family, or what caused her to run away with a young child. I think all Mia saw was a poor teenager with a baby and begging for a place to stay and work. I think maybe Mia did think that this young, inexperienced teenager wouldn't be able to take care of a baby on her own so taking her in until she figured out the situation was the best idea. It's also possible Lorelai didn't give much information about herself at first and by the time Mia could even find her parents, it could have seemed to her that Lorelai was better off without her parents. If we could have gotten a flashback to their meeting, I think we'd have a lot more information to go off of. But I'm going off the assumption that Lorelai was extremely biased when she told probably some exaggerated story about her parents and it could have looked to Mia that she needed a different parental figure in her life. It shouldn't have been her decision, but I could see Mia's view on the matter if she truly thought Emily and Richard were bad parents. Taking a look at this conversation in season seven, it definitely seems like Mia had no idea what she was in for and she clearly hadn't been thinking clearly at the time, or she didn't have the entire story until later on:

Quote

MIA: Seeing me with you must bring back very painful memories. Imagine how difficult it must have been for your mother to lose you.
LORELAI: She didn't lose me. I embarrassed her, so I had to leave.
MIA: But Lorelai even in the best of circumstances, you never want to think that your child doesn't need you anymore.
LORELAI: She wanted me out of the house so she didn't have to explain why my school uniform didn't fit any more.
MIA: That's not the impression I got when she came to see me.
LORELAI: What? When did she come to see you?
MIA: Oh, must have been five years ago, when I came back for that visit to stars hollow. She came and found me at the inn.
LORELAI: Why?
MIA: I think she wanted to meet me. And she asked me to send her photos of you and Rory from those years when you were staying with me. She never told you?

So it seems like Lorelai made it sound to Mia that her parents didn't want her anymore and that she was better off without them. 

Plus, Lorelai was an adult at that point. Mia would have known that this was Lorelai's choice and it's very possible that she thought that Lorelai would just leave again and without help, so turning her away could turn out badly if Lorelai didn't go home with Rory. Sure, Mia became a martyr saving the young woman and her child from being homeless, but it ended up working out. Lorelai worked hard for Mia and in return, Mia provided shelter and a job while also taking in Rory and helping to care for her. All Lorelai seemingly needed was love but also space to be free, and Mia provided that for her. 

That being said, Emily's also right, in that she didn't know where her child or grandchild was and lost contact with them as a result for a long time. Their relationship was never the same but all those years ago, she just wanted someone to let her know that she was safe. I'm not sure when the first point of contact was made between Lorelai and Emily, but some evidence makes it seem like it took a while. A note wouldn't have been enough, so I'm fine with Emily putting some blame on Mia for not contacting her or letting the situation unfold the way it did. It's not right to fully blame Mia, but I can see where Emily's coming from.

I just wish we knew more about Mia/Lorelai's history. It's the one thing we could have gotten a lot more of besides two episodes. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

What Mia did was give a teenage mother the biggest and rarest of breaks. She's practically a fairy tale character--The Kindly Innkeeper. What she knew of Lorelai's history was limited at the time; she only knew that she needed a job. I doubt Lorelai said "I'm from a well-to-do family that has seen to my and my daughter's needs since the strip turned pink, but I feel stifled in their home, so rather than make a practical plan for getting a job and an apartment I just scooped up my stuff and my kid and left with no idea what to do next." If I were confronted with a teen runaway with a baby, especially one of legal age, and I had the means to help, I'd inform the police but I wouldn't push a teen to return home without involving the authorities. I've worked with teens for many years--ones desperate enough to flee are usually running from worse than an overbearing mother. 

[txhorns79]

Quote

What Mia did was give a teenage mother the biggest and rarest of breaks. She's practically a fairy tale character--The Kindly Innkeeper.

She was a fairy tale character.  She just happened to have an entry level job available, and gave Lorelai a place to stay, free room and board, along with what must have been a very tolerant policy regarding bring your children to work.   

Edited September 17, 2016 by txhorns79

[PamelaMaeSnap]

Maybe the nittiest of picks ever nitpicked in 28 pages of this thread but I watched this last night and even though I TOLD myself I was being ridiculous about it, I had to come here to let it out ...

So, watched the entire show back a few years ago (LOVE IT) and vowed to re-binge all seven seasons in time for my prodigal daughter's return home for Thanksgiving, when we plan to make cocoa and kick the boys out to do their Black Friday shopping and watch the whole reunion together.

JUST finished Season 1 last night ... so, the scene in "Emily in Wonderland," where Lorelei is "helping" Luke unpack boxes in the storeroom to try to "help" Rachel and him get back together (I know, I know, but just setting the scene in question). 

I think it's the first time we've seen the storeroom ... rows of large multi-tiered shelves for product.  In between two tiers, both of which already have many items on the shelves, grouped together, L&L are opening (with the funny boxer cutter thingies) and unloading items onto the shelves. 

Luke is unloading a box of large jars of dill pickles and putting them together on a shelf ... but VERY clearly in view are a whole OTHER bunch of jars of the identical dill pickles ... on an opposite tier on a lower shelf.  Ditto a bunch of bottles of Torani flavored syrup (which I'd be surprised to see there anyway since Luke's coffee seems decidedly one-unflavored-size-fits-all) in one place in one tier, and several more bottles on another shelf in another tier. 

It would seem that a reasonably organized type of guy like Luke, single-handedly running his diner, would put like items together, especially when they're clearly visible (with room available next to them) when unloading.

Why this bothered me, I don't know but I was yelling at the TV "put the freaking pickles with the other pickles, dammit."

Also, why is Chat Club pronounced Cat Club?

That is all. Thank you.

[Kohola3]

What always struck me was the number of jars of stuff. I have never worked in a diner but he doesn't have that many tables.  Does he need dozens of huge jars of pickles?  Oh course, this is Stars Hollow where things are a little off but still...

No idea on the Chat thing.  Chat is cat in French but is pronounced "sha".  But, again, we're in the Stars Hollow universe so who knows.

[junienmomo]

26 minutes ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

Maybe the nittiest of picks ever nitpicked in 28 pages of this thread but I watched this last night and even though I TOLD myself I was being ridiculous about it, I had to come here to let it out ...

So, watched the entire show back a few years ago (LOVE IT) and vowed to re-binge all seven seasons in time for my prodigal daughter's return home for Thanksgiving, when we plan to make cocoa and kick the boys out to do their Black Friday shopping and watch the whole reunion together.

JUST finished Season 1 last night ... so, the scene in "Emily in Wonderland," where Lorelei is "helping" Luke unpack boxes in the storeroom to try to "help" Rachel and him get back together (I know, I know, but just setting the scene in question). 

I think it's the first time we've seen the storeroom ... rows of large multi-tiered shelves for product.  In between two tiers, both of which already have many items on the shelves, grouped together, L&L are opening (with the funny boxer cutter thingies) and unloading items onto the shelves. 

Luke is unloading a box of large jars of dill pickles and putting them together on a shelf ... but VERY clearly in view are a whole OTHER bunch of jars of the identical dill pickles ... on an opposite tier on a lower shelf.  Ditto a bunch of bottles of Torani flavored syrup (which I'd be surprised to see there anyway since Luke's coffee seems decidedly one-unflavored-size-fits-all) in one place in one tier, and several more bottles on another shelf in another tier. 

It would seem that a reasonably organized type of guy like Luke, single-handedly running his diner, would put like items together, especially when they're clearly visible (with room available next to them) when unloading.

Why this bothered me, I don't know but I was yelling at the TV "put the freaking pickles with the other pickles, dammit."

Also, why is Chat Club pronounced Cat Club?

That is all. Thank you.

Great nitpicks, not too nitpicky at all. 

A rational reason to have the same thing in different locations in a storage room is FIFO (First In, First Out), and he could have the other pickles, being closer to expiration, on a "use these first" shelf. 

Torani syrup? No frigging clue unless they were used for pancakes or ice cream. If Luke had coffee syrup, we'd see Lorelai using it. 

The Chat Club is perfectly rational in Stars Hollow logic. Opened by someone who want to make it fancy, they used the french word. However, that is not going to impress any SH resident and it would quickly be pronounced Cat Club instead. I can hear Babette saying, "Are ya kiddin' me? Cat Club! Cat Club!"

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

So, watched the entire show back a few years ago (LOVE IT) and vowed to re-binge all seven seasons in time for my prodigal daughter's return home for Thanksgiving, when we plan to make cocoa and kick the boys out to do their Black Friday shopping and watch the whole reunion together.

Aw, that made me smile.  How old is your daughter?  My almost-18 year old is dying for the reunion!!

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On September 18, 2016 at 3:02 PM, Taryn74 said:

Aw, that made me smile.  How old is your daughter?  My almost-18 year old is dying for the reunion!!

Yesterday was her 26th birthday ... we live on the east coast and she lives in LA and we haven't seen her since March and will not see her until Thanksgiving, so 8 months will be the longest we've EVER gone without seeing her ... and we definitely have a little of the Rory/Lorelei thing going (though without the single mom part) so cannot wait to see her ... watching GG was a HUGE thing with us ... I think we got turned onto it around Season 5 and were simultaneously bingewatching the first four season (with my husband/her dad) while also watching Season 5 ... it may have been a summer thing, my memory is not what it used to be ... but she was definitely still in high school and she graduated in '08.

Just rewatched the episode with the reference to Junie and Momo and wishing now I'd also used a GG reference for my screen name!

Instead, it comes from the comic strip Brewster Rockit.

[hippielamb]

On 9/17/2016 at 7:07 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Plus, Lorelai was an adult at that point. Mia would have known that this was Lorelai's choice and it's very possible that she thought that Lorelai would just leave again and without help, so turning her away could turn out badly if Lorelai didn't go home with Rory. Sure, Mia became a martyr saving the young woman and her child from being homeless, but it ended up working out. Lorelai worked hard for Mia and in return, Mia provided shelter and a job while also taking in Rory and helping to care for her. All Lorelai seemingly needed was love but also space to be free, and Mia provided that for her. 

That being said, Emily's also right, in that she didn't know where her child or grandchild was and lost contact with them as a result for a long time. Their relationship was never the same but all those years ago, she just wanted someone to let her know that she was safe. I'm not sure when the first point of contact was made between Lorelai and Emily, but some evidence makes it seem like it took a while. A note wouldn't have been enough, so I'm fine with Emily putting some blame on Mia for not contacting her or letting the situation unfold the way it did. It's not right to fully blame Mia, but I can see where Emily's coming from.

I just wish we knew more about Mia/Lorelai's history. It's the one thing we could have gotten a lot more of besides two episodes. 

Exactly. Mia was under no responsibility to contact the Gilmores. Lorelai was legally an adult. 

I do disagree wth the second part, however. Emily and Richard knew where the girls were. Lorelai says to Sookie in Rory's Birthday Parties that they visited the inn a few times when Rory was a baby. So either Lorelai let them know where she was, or Mia made her call them. 

On 9/18/2016 at 3:02 PM, Taryn74 said:

Aw, that made me smile.  How old is your daughter?  My almost-18 year old is dying for the reunion!!

My eldest is 29 and lives in a different province. We skype daily and I am eagerly awaiting seeing her in person in October. Back to GG, I wonder if the girls skype or iChat or something. I could totally picture that. 

[Taryn74]

36 minutes ago, hippielamb said:

Mia was under no responsibility to contact the Gilmores. Lorelai was legally an adult. 

Not when she first left.  She was 17.  /small voice

[lulu1960]

1 hour ago, Taryn74 said:

Not when she first left.  She was 17.  /small voice

I agree, Taryn. 

[RachelKM]

2 hours ago, hippielamb said:

Exactly. Mia was under no responsibility to contact the Gilmores. Lorelai was legally an adult. 

I do disagree wth the second part, however. Emily and Richard knew where the girls were. Lorelai says to Sookie in Rory's Birthday Parties that they visited the inn a few times when Rory was a baby. So either Lorelai let them know where she was, or Mia made her call them. 

1 hour ago, Taryn74 said:

Not when she first left.  She was 17.  /small voice

Yeah, Lorelai was almost certainly under 18 when she left.  Unless she stayed with her parents until Rory was more than 18mos old, Lorelai was still a minor. 

As as for when Richard and Emily learned where Lorelai and Rory were, this seems like more fluid time line/failure to remember details stuff.  

 I said in my initial post in this thread, I think there was a failure in math when establishing Rory and Lorelai's dates of birth that accidentally made Lorelai younger when she had Rory then initially intended.  It was repeatedly referenced that Lorelai got pregnant "at" 16 and the discussions of Lorelai and Chris always seemed like they'd have been older than 15 when they were still dating and sneaking around.  Then later the dates made it so that Lorelai was only 5 months out from her  16th birthday when she had Rory.  In theory, it's possible Lorelai didn't realize was pregnant until after turning 16 and, thus, links her being pregnant to  being 16. But she was obviously pregnant at 15.  Yet most of the stories fit better with Lorelai getting pregnant at 16 and being 17 or close to it  so that leaving a year later would make Lorelai nearly 18 if not already 18 when she left.  

In Inns and Outs, Lorelai specifically says that the Independence is where Rory took her first step and Mia refers to Rory having been a tiny baby.  I guess it's possible that Rory was really resistant to learning to walk, but it seems unlikely.  Mia and Emily have also never met and it's implied that it is the first time Emily has visited the Independence. (Holy Shit! I literally just got that.  I'm an idiot and the Palladinos really aren't fond of subtle metaphors... which I have just admitted was still lost on me.)  At the very least, Mia doesn't seem to think Emily has been there before - I guess it could be Emily never approached Mia, but it is hard to imagine how they would have missed one another when Mia was still there being a surrogate mother/grandmother and Emily came to visit. And Emily doesn't have any pictures of them (which is referenced later at Mia's wedding in season 7). So it seems as though there was a period of estrangement during which Lorelai didn't communicate with Emily at all.  And it would make sense that she would get herself fully situated before contacting her parents so that she wouldn't have to face them until she'd made a life for herself.  

At some point Lorelai definitely reconnected with them sufficiently to be going to holiday parties and she isn't a total shock to be coming to them when she asks for help with Chilton.  But I always had the impression that for, a time at least, Emily and Richard didn't know where she was and that, even after that, they were largely kept out of the Stars Hallow life.

But then it was apparently established that Emily visited (I don't recall this but I absolutely believe you hippielamb).  All that said, i would believe Mia, as played by Elizabeth Franz and Kathy Baker, would have encouraged Lorelai to contact her mother.  But I don't think she would press the issue.  She seemed like a "when you're ready" type. 

[Viqutorious]

It all seems so cold and unrealistic to me, remember Richard telling Lorelai, "Your mother couldn't get out of bed for a month".

That always breaks my heart.

[Taryn74]

8 hours ago, RachelKM said:

 I said in my initial post in this thread, I think there was a failure in math when establishing Rory and Lorelai's dates of birth that accidentally made Lorelai younger when she had Rory then initially intended.

See, on the one hand I totally see your point and agree with it, but then on the other hand there's been hints as early as Rory's Birthday Parties that Lorelai was already pregnant when she turned 16.

Quote

RORY: Do you remember your last birthday here?

LORELAI: Yeah. We had just had a fight and I was lying on the bed just like you are now.

RORY: What did you fight about?

LORELAI: Well, I was pregnant.

RORY: Oh, that.

LORELAI: And I said something at the table about the pate smelling like Clorox and one thing led to another and I wound up here. I hadn't told anybody yet about me. And you.

And then there was Rory looking thru the photo album in Love & War & Snow -

Quote

RORY: Wow. Mom looks really beautiful here.

EMILY: Yes, she does.

RORY: What was the occasion?

RICHARD: Who would like some coffee?

EMILY: That was her debutante gown for her coming out party.

RORY: Mom had a coming out party?

RICHARD: No, she didn't.

RORY: Oh.

EMILY: Yes, well, things happen, don't they?

We found out later in DEaR that it was when Lorelai's debutante gown didn't fit, that she realized she was pregnant.  She was just far enough along at that point that she was beginning to put on weight but it wasn't obvious it was pregnancy weight yet, which fits into the canon timeline.

It's maddening that it's like when they want to downplay Lorelai's young age, they imply that she was an older 16, but then when they want to highlight the shock of her young age, they make a big deal out of her being barely 16.  Very frustrating from this end.

[RachelKM]

Okay, that just confuses me even more.  When the heck was her coming out party supposed to be?  They are often around the debutante's birthday or during a season.    She clearly had a party for her birthday, so they were not the same event.  And during that birthday party she knew she was pregnant, so that was after trying on her dress.  It's implied that the pregnancy resulted in the cancelling of her coming out.  Unless the Gilmores were planning a birthday party and a coming out party in the same month, that all seems very odd.

It's like ASP just decided that every major teen event needed to have been effected by Lorelai's pregnancy and so every time one of them came up, a story was written that related to how the pregnancy upended it without bothering to think about the fact that all of this would have had to occur over a single max 10 month period during which an age change happened. 

As a side note, unless they specifically said the birthday party discussed was her 16th, all of this still fits with being 17.  Debutantes are generally between the ages of 16 and 25 for balls and I think that is true for coming out parties too.  And in the northern part of the US, they favor being older rather than younger. It could also fit with being 16, but Emily Gilmore doesn't seem the type that would go in for early debuts. 

Edited September 20, 2016 by RachelKM

[Taryn74]

You know what, looking at the transcripts again, you're right.  Something's not adding up.

 

Lorelai turned 16 in April, 1984.  (She turned 35 in April, 2003, according to the episode Happy Birthday, Baby.  Even Richard thought she was a year older and she had to correct him, ha!)  This would have put her due to graduate high school in 1986, which lines up with her staring a bit longingly at the photo on the wall of the Harvard 1990 grad in Road Trip.

Rory was born in October, 1984.

Emily said in DEaR that she'd been tripping over the stroller for "a year".  Sookie said in The Third Lorelai that Lorelai left home at 17.

So far so good.  Until --

Lorelai showed up at the Independence Inn with Baby!Rory in the fall of 1986, according to Mia in Ins And Outs Of Inns.  Mia said it had been 15 years ago, and the episode aired in November 2001.

Hmmmm.

This all used to be so straight in my head.  Dammit.

[lulu1960]

I'll go with the writers don't know how to do math and stick with Rory and Lorelai leaving sometime after Rory's 1st birthday so Fall 1985. That's my story and i'm sticking to it.

[junienmomo]

Fredsworth over on reddit made a comparison of the lighting used in seasons 1-most of season 5 versus seasons 6-7.

It's a stunning difference. It makes the S6 and S7 look like 80's TV, in contrast to the beautiful, more natural images of the first seasons.

The later seasons' hair was also much worse. It really wasn't just that horrifying wig on newly-engaged Luke.

 Season 6 album

Season 7 album

fredsworth's original post

[cailinoBAC]

Oh God, ages and birthdays and dates, I always wonder how this can be so difficult to get right!

 

OK, I've just finished the series and now have waded through the nitpicking thread. I don't think I have much that is brand new to offer, just echoing some earlier ones.

I watched the first few series back when it first aired. I was actually in my final year of college and it was a great escape for me. At that stage I was only a few years older than Rory and similar age to the high school actors, I had some weird daydreams about going to America and playing some kind of year abroad student at Chilton student. Anyway after series 3 I went abroad and never got watching the rest, but I've burned through them all now, ( and feeling very old at the thought that I'm closer to Lorelei's age at the end). I really enjoyed it again and I think i could be less disappointed than most with later seasons knowing that it's not the end.

OK, so the one that really, really annoyed me was the wedding in France. I know it's been said before, but that is absolutely crazy. Loads of foreigners have a wedding in France but they have to do the legal thing in the country they're living in. And if they're having a church wedding the celebrant won't do it until they see the certificate, even if you're French you need to go to the registry office first. There are other countries in Europe where you can get legally married in a church without living there, Spain, for example, but the church will still want to see plenty of paperwork and that takes time. In Gibraltar you can get married with very little notice, but I think it's a little bit longer than in the days of John and Yoko. Anyway, that one just annoyed me a lot, because I'm sure somebody who doesn't knows these things could find out in a 2 min google search. ( I suppose it happened post GG but just reading today that Brad and Angelina had to get married in America before their French wedding).

 

Getting a train to Ireland, I already knew about that one before watching as I'd seen this thread:

https://www.boards.ie/b/thread/2055525655?

Anyway, yeah, it does sound very weird. Yes, as has been pointed out, you can get the sail and rail, the train from London and then ferry. I've never done it because a flight is so much handier, but my sisters live in London and sometimes do, especially if they have a lot of luggage or they left it too late to book flights. They would always say they were getting the ferry though, even though they have to get the train first. If Lorelei and Rory were on a Eurail pass there would be a discount for ferries so it might make sense for them to go that way rather than fly, though you would just think they'd say, 'so we got the ferry to Ireland', or just keep it vague, 'so we just headed over to Ireland'. I started thinking of a story I studied for my leaving, Nora Mharcais Bhig, from Scothscéalta, where this young woman takes the train from the west of Ireland to London. I remember we all laughed at it in class. Oh, and she was an unmarried mother to be too, even if the story was as vague as it could be about it. Ok, rambling on again...

Regarding the time off from Yale and the fact it would need to be requested in advance, I'm sure Rory is not the first person who had a bit of a meltdown, or some other reason for dropping out and then pulled herself together and wanted to return. There would be ways around that even if they don't specify them. I actually appreciated that story as I would have been someone who always did well in school, got the best grades out of my year, was always looking forward to university and then... well I just couldn't seem to make any impression. I was only 17, so could probably have just thought some more about whether what I was doing was for me and maybe started again, but I had the pressure of loads of siblings coming after me and if I repeated a year it was more to pay... Anyway I continued on and unfortunately had my meltdown in my final year, which per all rules i knew you couldn't repeat. My tutor mentioned something about a hearing and presenting my case. I buried my head in the sand, but she came back to me, having presented my behalf. I will always be so grateful to her. Anyway, I know I've gone off topic, but basically I think somebody like Rory, who had always done well -  for her to just quit like that, there was obviously something going on and I'm sure universities would consider that when they come back and even if we don't see it there's probably somebody in the background who would be following up with her, whether she listens or not. (Oh and not so much nitpicking, but I didn't really get Lorelei's response, summer was just starting, why not give her some time to mull it over before pushing her away, but I'll leave that there...)

 

Another thing that niggled was Rory and her sister. She gets asked in Yale, whether she has any siblings and she says no. And I thought, OK, maybe she is so used to answering no that she forgets about Gigi. Then, in the finale she tells Lane 'i never had a sister' and I totally get what she means, but it still seems weird. 

[Anela]

Lorelai seemed to be 32 for the first two seasons. I can't remember why I think that, so maybe I'm wrong, but I could have sworn they made out she was. 

[JaggedLilPill]

32 minutes ago, cailinoBAC said:

Another thing that niggled was Rory and her sister. She gets asked in Yale, whether she has any siblings and she says no. And I thought, OK, maybe she is so used to answering no that she forgets about Gigi. Then, in the finale she tells Lane 'i never had a sister' and I totally get what she means, but it still seems weird. 

I was just thinking about this the other day. Like you, I get it. Rory and Gigi have 18 years between them and didn't grow up in the same house. Even when Lorelai and Chris were married, Rory and Gigi didn't spend an enormous amount of time together. I think when Rory told Lane she never had a sister, she was thinking about one you grow up with/live with/are close to. Which I get. I myself am the youngest of my siblings. Like Rory and Gigi, me and my siblings share our dad, but not our mom. Like Rory and Gigi, there's a good number of years between us (10 & 12). But unlike Rory and Gigi, we're much closer. But I know I have told people sometimes I wish I had grown up with a brother or sister, and I mean in the household.

Maybe when Gigi is older they could develop a relationship, but I think until then, or even then, they probably wouldn't really think of each other as sisters. 

[txhorns79]

Quote

Exactly. Mia was under no responsibility to contact the Gilmores. Lorelai was legally an adult. 

I think as a human being, if a young girl and her infant showed up at my business seeking a job, and appeared to have no support and limited funds, I would ask her where were her parents, and if they knew what she was doing.  If I was satisfied she wasn't running from an abusive or dangerous situation, I likely would reach out to them to let them know what was up. 

 

Quote

 

It all seems so cold and unrealistic to me, remember Richard telling Lorelai, "Your mother couldn't get out of bed for a month".

That always breaks my heart.

 

I thought the show never really was able to justify Lorelai running away.  I can believe Lorelai was very unhappy and felt she had to go, but as I've gotten older, it always seemed so cruel to just leave a note announcing you were gone.  In the first season, Richard asks Lorelai what he and Emily did to deserve that treatment and Lorelai was mostly unable to answer.       

[hippielamb]

Having recently watched Partings, I have a nitpick about the eye surgery settlement. How the Gilmores got a settlement from Emily's doctor when her surgery was last week is a mystery. And there's no time jump to excuse it. Lorelai spends the night at Sookie's after her day with Emily, so it's less than a week later when they have Friday night dinner. In the week since the last episode, Emily has apparently recovered from her surgery, sued the doctor, reached a settlement, and has had time to commission a model for Rory's building. I usually handwave these time inconsistencies but this was in the previous episode!

[JayInChicago]

I'll try to fill in the details later, but what's the episode with Sookie so upset about still being pregnant with Davey that she comes over to Lorelai late at night and L shows her Rory's baby stuff and there's a tiny onesie that L made out of a tshirt and she says post gilmore economy...I never thought it fit in with the timeline. 

[lulu1960]

That's from The Festival of Living Art?

 

LORELAI: Same here. Rory's first jumper.

SOOKIE: Bananarama?

LORELAI: I made it out of one of my t-shirts. It was the first thing I ever made her - ever made, ever. It was post-Gilmore economy. Look how tiny.

SOOKIE: Tiny.

LORELAI: She was the most beautiful pink all over. She even smelled pink. That sounds weird. I can't describe it - that little, pink, baby smell. The first time her eyes focused on me and her little fingers reached out. . .I was someone new. She had me.

Edited September 21, 2016 by lulu1960