Nitpicking

[JayInChicago]

i don't know exactly how it was when Rory took them, but when I had taken the PSATs in 1996, they were out of 80 each (like the regular SAT was out of 800.) So scores in the 70s (or 700s as Rory reports it) are very, very good. It seems she should have had a writing test as well, as the wikipedia page on the PSATs says a writing skills section was added in 1997. So her score should have had three subsections of up to 80/800 in the show points each, for a total of 240. It seems 215 total is the average nation wide to qualify for National Merit Scholarship (which is one of the PSAT's purposes)--though it does vary by state, and perhaps Connecticut would have a higher average. But let's figure that Rory had a 74, a 76, and another 74 for the writing skills section--giving her a total of 224, which would easily put her in the top 99th percentile in her state and thus a National Merit Scholar.

[dustylil]

Thanks, JayInChicago. That makes much more sense.

[truebluesmoky]

Re: med school and law school, this may change in later episodes, but in Season 5's "But Not As Cute As Pushkin", Paris says she's double majoring in Poly Sci and BioChem, which seems like a logical path to both med and law school applications.

[lulu1960]

As I recall SATs are 1600 total. 800 language and 800 math. So Rory's 1500 seems pretty darn good.
 

[larapu2000]

SAT's are now 2400 points, but they're going back to 1600 in 2016.  

 

Rory's 1500 would be pretty good, but it makes her acceptance to 3 Ivies even more implausible.  A lot of applicants have perfect scores.

[txhorns79]

Rory's 1500 would be pretty good, but it makes her acceptance to 3 Ivies even more implausible.  A lot of applicants have perfect scores.

 

I don't think her acceptance would be implausible.  Her personal story (raised by teenage mother who worked as a maid to support her, etc.) is one that would catch an admission officer's eye, she was her class valedictorian (which at least for Gilmore Girls meant exceptional grades), student council, the paper, etc. and presumably Chilton is the kind of school that admission's officers routinely take students from.  Also, at least for Yale, she had the alumni thing going for her too. 

 

 

Re: med school and law school, this may change in later episodes, but in Season 5's "But Not As Cute As Pushkin", Paris says she's double majoring in Poly Sci and BioChem, which seems like a logical path to both med and law school applications.

 

At least in terms of law school, while I recall many fellow students had similar majors, there is no class or major you would need to get into law school.  Med school obviously requires a lot more. 

Edited November 18, 2014 by txhorns79

[JayInChicago]

Do 60/40 bars really exist or is it just a conceit for the There's the Rub episode?

Edited November 19, 2014 by JayInChicago

[solotrek]

I think this belongs here, but not sure.  How come after Hep Alien broke up, Lane didn't end up with Brian and Gil's band? Would there have been any reason for her to end up looking for a new band?

[larapu2000]

Do 60/40 bars really exist or is it just a conceit for the There's the Rub episode?

I've never heard them called that.  In Chicago, it's called the Viagra Triangle, but the women are 20, not 40.

[scarynikki12]

This is more of a potential nitpick: when Lorelai and Chris got divorced, was Connecticut a no-fault state?  I'm assuming it was since their divorce seemed to go through in record time but this is the same show that insisted that they legally got married in France so it's possible it wasn't and they just glossed over it.

[BC Mama]

I think this belongs here, but not sure.  How come after Hep Alien broke up, Lane didn't end up with Brian and Gil's band? Would there have been any reason for her to end up looking for a new band?

 

Good point! Maybe she just didn't want to be around constant reminders of Zach?

[junienmomo]

They would need a marriage certificate, including a legal translation, to get a divorce. Wonder how that would have worked out if they didn't actually have a real marriage certificate.

[dustylil]

If the marriage was a scam on the part of Christopher - or for that matter, even if it was not - he likely told Lorelai that his lawyers would deal with all the paperwork.  Why would she doubt it? His own experience with  divorce was fairly recent so she would rely on him to know what had to be done.

If I recall correctly, the divorce of Luke and Nicole also seemed to go lickety split. Within a few weeks of filing, Luke was dating Lorelai.

[junienmomo]

The interwebs seem to indicate that a divorce decree is required for a remarriage is required in CT. That could have been a minorly interesting subplot for Season 8, now fanfic.

I don't know how that would be handled in an elopement situation.

 

Luke and Nicole had their papers ready, they required only notarized signatures, so I'm thinking the filing was complete except for the last signatures.

[junienmomo]

That window in the diner/ice cream shop. Curtain, glass foil, paint, it could all have been solved within half an hour.

 

While I'm ranting, why wasn't engaged Luke expected at FND? Why did he never go there at the same time as Rory? Why were he and Rory never in the CS overnight at the same time?

[Kohola3]

While I'm ranting, why wasn't engaged Luke expected at FND?

 

Only those financially indebted to the Mr. and Mrs. Moneybags were required to attend FND.  No relations or warm feelings required.  And knowing Luke that's not a trap he'd ever fall into.

[junienmomo]

And knowing Luke that's not a trap he'd ever fall into.

That would be an interesting exploration with the S7 Luke. He embraced the "gotta be faster" change, was shown as being much more talkative and friendly and after the diner destruction, he only had anger over the breakup with Lorelai. He even held back better than many parents in custody cases when Anna refused custody.

[BC Mama]

Speaking of season seven Luke, I am irked by the inconsistencies of Luke's diet and eating preferences throughout the series. In the first season, Luke serves Lorelai and Rory burgers, telling them meat will kill them! In the second season, Lorelai and Jess have a rare civil moment when Jess comes over to clean Lorelai's rain gutters, and discussing how no one "eats healthy like Luke." Yet, by season seven, when Luke goes on that awful date with April's swim coach, he doesn't even know what vegan food is, and returns home and hungrily eats pizza!

[JayInChicago]

He was also depicted as rather vociferous about environmentalism (something about golf courses and all they ruin, among other things i vaguely remember), and that kind of fell by the wayside too.  He certainly prepared meat for Lorelai when he cooked (rather gourmet) meals for her when they were dating. 

 

I think they most wanted to depict him as a kind of crusty contrarian, but left some loose threads...

[Kohola3]

He certainly prepared meat for Lorelai when he cooked (rather gourmet) meals for her when they were dating.

 

And he indicated in that horrible Valentine episode that he had never eaten lobster.  It's not like it came from an exotic land. They were living near the east coast.  Continuity definitely not their strong suit.

[BC Mama]

I enjoyed the irony of a health-nut, diner owner! I miss that.

[junienmomo]

There were a number of S1 things that fell by the wayside, IMO improving the series. The diner set, for example, or the giant purse.

Luke was neither Euell Gibbons nor a contrarian with food, there are plenty of examples showing him eating meat and fish, notably when he and Jess went to Loralei's for dinner, also Dead Uncles and dinner at Sookie's, plus cooking for April.

Oh I almost forgot Liz talking about his cooking hobby, lots of variety there.

The date with the teacher seemed to me that he showed surprise at how awful the menu was, not that vegan was unknown.

He did state a habit of moderation when he was at a FND.

Edited November 21, 2014 by junienmomo

[JayInChicago]

I've decided that the Valentine's Vineyard or whatever it is is NOT CANON BECAUSE I SAY SO.  

take that palladinos

[dustylil]

In that seventh season episode, I thought he was simply unaware there was a distinction between vegan and vegetarian. Frankly, I was more surprised in that one that we learned he didn't really know how to swim. Given his athleticism and enjoyment of the outdoor life, I would have thought it would have been a skill he picked up as a boy.

Of course, it leads me to wonder what it was he was doing at the lake when Lorelai was ogling his shirtless frame.

[junienmomo]

I've decided that the Valentine's Vineyard or whatever it is is NOT CANON BECAUSE I SAY SO. 

take that palladinos

 

You go, Jay! And I add to that the Palladino showrunner decisions of not touching, hugging, kissing etc between some characters.

[junienmomo]

Remember the impossibility of getting married in France? I did some research and discovered the following:

• It takes 40 days of residency to get legally married in France, L+C were not gone that long
• Therefore they were not legally married, which totally opens the possibility that Chris and Emily were conspiring when they wanted to repeat the vows
• Whether they conspired before France or after is completely open

 

When it comes to divorce, it turns out you pretty much don't need a copy of the marriage certificate to get a divorce. All you have to do is give the place and date of the marriage.

Therefore, it's perfectly conceivable that Lorelai has divorce papers in her hands that grant a divorce for a marriage that was never legally granted. Funny.

[lulu1960]

Luke not knowing how to swim that well was totally out of character. IMO. He was seen at the lake (as stated earlier). He was a fisherman. He went to Harvey's Beach as a kid/teenager. 

[dustylil]

junienmomo, it was not only the time spent in France that was the issue.  Marriage in France is a civil procedure. You don't get married in a church, synagogue or mosque there. Of course, there may also be religious rites involved for the couple depending on their faith community, but the actual wedding itself would take place at the equivalent of city hall.

There was no mention of anything remotely resembling this when Lorelai and Christopher were telling Rory of their nuptials, just a reference to a church.

This is another one of those WTF topics that people (including myself) have been yammering about since  Introducing Lorelai Planetarium first aired. I spent the rest of the seventh season waiting for the other shoe to drop :)

[solotrek]

Luke not knowing how to swim that well was totally out of character. IMO. He was seen at the lake (as stated earlier). He was a fisherman. He went to Harvey's Beach as a kid/teenager. 

Yup. I don't know why else you'd be shirtless at a lake otherwise.

 

It's similar to how Kirk went from some guy with another name who didn't know the people of Stars Hollow (remember when he approached Miss Patty about sampling the produce at Doosey's and then later to apologize because he didn't know who she was) to a guy who grew up there (and Miss Patty had known since he was in diapers). Or when exactly met Lorelei and Rory.

 

ETA: Another Luke one. Luke was at a lot of town meetings early in the show. However, later on, characters show surprise that Luke has shown up (like when discussing the Twikham house) or Luke says something about how he hates them and rants about not going.

Edited November 21, 2014 by maculae

[Guest]

That window in the diner/ice cream shop. Curtain, glass foil, paint, it could all have been solved within half an hour.

 

While I'm ranting, why wasn't engaged Luke expected at FND? Why did he never go there at the same time as Rory? Why were he and Rory never in the CS overnight at the same time?

Maybe he and Rory were really the same person! Similar to Norman Bates and his mother, only....creepier.

 

It wouldn't be the most far fetched plot on this show!

[JayInChicago]

Maybe mr inherited moneybags Christopher paid off France to allow him to have a legal fake legal marriage in a church.

Also JESS DOESN'T NEED A TUTOR HE NEEDS A KICK IN THE RUMP. I know it was just a way to get the two mooney eyed teens together, but c'mon.

[blueray]

ETA: Another Luke one. Luke was at a lot of town meetings early in the show. However, later on, characters show surprise that Luke has shown up (like when discussing the Twikham house) or Luke says something about how he hates them and rants about not going.

I never got this. Luke was a major part of the town and had a lot involvement in its events, such as building sets or providing food and was in most (if not all) town meeting scenes.

Edited November 21, 2014 by blueray

[junienmomo]

Luke was a major part of the town and had a lot involvement in its events, such as building sets or providing food and was in most (if not all) town meeting scenes.

 

That was a major part of the Luke arc. Early on, Taylor kept telling him he needed to be a part of the town activities. Somewhere along the way he ranted about participating in things that weren't the silly pageantry stuff, but he fought Taylor tooth and nail when it came to doing things the "Taylor Way."

There was one curious moment that showed he was changing his character when he complained about being the guy who'd have to fix the Last Supper table, then he refused, then he did it anyway, and was later shown to being both proud of fixing the table and cynical about the whole event.

After his romantic relationship with Lorelai started, he went for her on occasion, and he volunteered for the Twickham project so he'd get a chance to buy the house for his family with Lorelai. 

The biggest character change came in S7. For me it's exemplified by him calling the town meeting to organize the party and to insist on doing it his way not Taylor's way. 

I can see him post-series as a strong counterforce to Taylor's absurdities.

[larapu2000]

The other inconsistency with Luke is that he buys those self-help books, reads them, obviously takes them to heart, but then fails in every regard in his relationship with Lorelai once April shows up.

[junienmomo]

Self-help books can be every bit as good or bad as therapy. ASP created a similar situation when the therapist gave Lorelai some rational advice, which Lorelai turned into a life-changing ultimatum.

The ability of L&L to deal with problems is a key to their issues. When the issue gets too big, each goes into a backup mode.

Lorelai's backup mode was "I won't wait, and I'll give up if I don't get it now," hence the ultimatum. She slowed her first reconciliation with Luke using exactly that backup mode.

Luke knew that showing his love was important, a self-help book precept, but went into backup mode when April appeared. His backup mode was to go into himself until he figured it out, and figure out just one thing at a time.

When one backup mode is "do it now" and the other person's is "gotta think it through first," that is a real challenge to a relationship. 

 

That said, I maintain my belief that "Lorelai won't talk to her daughter" combined with the April storyline was a poison pill that ASP put into season 6, designed to make season 7+ extremely difficult. She succeeded, mostly in ticking off a bunch of her audience.

Edited November 22, 2014 by junienmomo

[Kohola3]

I have always been flummoxed by the over the top reaction to Digger and Lorelai dating.  What the heck difference did it make to the elder Gilmores who she dated?  It's not like she was an industrial spy or something.

[Tangerine]

I have always been flummoxed by the over the top reaction to Digger and Lorelai dating.  What the heck difference did it make to the elder Gilmores who she dated?  It's not like she was an industrial spy or something.

 

I know that they tried to somewhat explain it with the fact that Emily never liked Digger. And I guess if Richard and Digger's father had that evil, mustache twirling plan to screw him over to begin with, Richard had his own personal reasons for not being pleased that his daughter was involved with him.

 

What I don't understand is how Emily in the first season seemed to have been generally accepting (maybe not accepting, but resigned) of Lorelai possibly being interested or even dating Luke and then resorts to cartoon villainery to break them up later on. I guess I can kind of understand that she was concerned once she realized how serious it was but it was such a lazy way to destroy any kind of good will and development Emily had built over the years.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Tangerine

[JayInChicago]

It's not a good reason, but Emily didn't want Lorelai to hide anything in her personal life. She expected registered mail correspondence whenever Lorelai was steadily dating a man. So, it wasn't just that she was dating Digger, but that they were hiding it (which they were--though Digger strongly wanted to tell Floyd and the Gilmores.)  Probably a happy medium would be realistic, but it was one of their constant conflicts.  I kind of think Lorelai had good reason not to tell them; there was the weirdness with Floyd and Richard, and besides she probably knew in her heart of hearts Jason wasn't going to be who she ended up with long term. So why bother. 

 

Of course, they probably both should have suspected Floyd was spying on Jason and would find out. 

[solotrek]

What I don't understand is how Emily in the first season seemed to have been generally accepting (maybe not accepting, but resigned) of Lorelai possibly being interested or even dating Luke and then resorts to cartoon villainery to break them up later on.

 

Maybe because Lorelei had dated other people who were up to Emily's standards between when Emily had resigned herself to Luke and when Lorelei dated Luke. She may have hated Jason, but that was more due to how Richard had changed and the way Jason had made the business run. He was of "good breeding" and his mother was one of Emily's best friends. Lorelei also dated Jon Hamm (whatever his name was) whose mother was good friends with Emily. There was the fling with Christopher which ended when Sherry was found to be pregnant.

[dustylil]

maculae, Emily also disliked Jason because he went into business in direct competition with his father. She thought it was disloyal of him, particularly since Floyd had been grooming him to take over the firm.

 

Ooh! And don't forget  Chase Bradford the well-bred actuary in Season 1 that drove Lorelai to escape the Gilmore mansion through a window.

[junienmomo]

The Emily character made a huge discontinuous change after S1. In the first season, she was a mother whose pain really showed. Her blackmail of FND almost made sense on a human level. 

By S2 she was manipulative, tending towards bullying, and about S5 it was mostly melodramatic or cartoonish. For me, that's why Emily's apparent softening in Bon Voyage felt false.

Makes me thing the writers were chasing ever higher drama at the expense of the GG strength, semi-real humans doing funny semi-real things, with madcap comedy panache.

[txhorns79]

Her blackmail of FND almost made sense on a human level.

 

I don't know if I would say that was blackmail, so much as Lorelai wanted something from Emily, so Emily was entitled to ask for something back.  But I agree about Emily becoming cartoonish at times.  The giant temper tantrum at the department store was all kinds of eye rolling. 

[lulu1960]

Yes, Emily was confusing. She was actually nice to Luke in Forgiveness and Stuff. Granted, she started off a bit snippy, ("Were you on a date?") But ended up sitting with Luke having a nice moment as they talked about Luke's dad. And when she called them both idiots it was in a joking way. Yet years later Luke is being helpful again when Richard is in the hospital and she is downright rude to him.

[Kohola3]

The giant temper tantrum at the department store was all kinds of eye rolling.

 

My eyeballs were spinning in the "buy a plane" bit.  Off the rails, totally.

[moonb]

I'm rewatching season 3 and nitpicking Lorelai's attitude about Rory going to Harvard. We're supposed to believe that Lorelai, a daughter of two college graduates who attended a college prep school,whose parents evidently had high hopes for her, knows nothing about college admissions? Granted, she never went through the process, of course, but even by your sophomore year in a competitive private school you might know something about choosing a few colleges to apply to in order to better your chances. I can believe that part of it is Lorelai's absolute faith in Rory's abilities, but during the fights with Emily and Richard over Yale, Lorelai (and Richard too, actually) behave like Lorelai's own experience of high school has been completely wiped from memory. It's as though she's been dropped in from a different family background, in which Rory is a first generation college student. I know that's to emphasize Lorelai's different path from her parents, but it is inconsistent. Granted, there were a LOT of inaccuracies surrounding college and the elder Gilmores' wealth and so on - this is just one that bugs. 

Edited November 24, 2014 by moonb

[txhorns79]

I'm rewatching season 3 and nitpicking Lorelai's attitude about Rory going to Harvard. We're supposed to believe that Lorelai, a daughter of two college graduates and who attended a college prep school, knows nothing about college admissions? Granted, she never went through the process, of course, but even by your sophomore year in a competitive private school you might know something about choosing a few colleges to apply to in order to better your chances. I can believe that part of it is Lorelai's absolute faith in Rory's abilities, but during the fights with Emily and Richard over Yale Lorelai (and Richard too, actually) behave like Lorelai's own experience of high school has been completely wiped from memory.

 

In fairness, I would say the college admissions process was probably a lot different in the mid-1980s than it was in the 2002/2003 period.  I do agree that it was weird that Lorelai was so uninformed about the process if her goal was for Rory to go to Harvard.  Schools have guidance counselors who would at least have been able to give Lorelai and Rory some pointers and advice.   

[junienmomo]

I'm rewatching season 3 and nitpicking Lorelai's attitude about Rory going to Harvard.

 

I'm watching series 3 shows as well, and it's completely unbelievable that the valedictorian of an elite public school (that's unbelievable in itself as mentioned earlier) would have exactly 1 scholarship: a one-time Kiwanis scholarship of a couple of hundred bucks.

 

Stuff like this keeps pulling me back to Luke's description of the GG to newly-arrived Jess. Emphasis should be placed on "slightly."

LUKE: So, listen, Lorelai - you met her today, remember? Anyhow, um, she invited us to her house tomorrow night for

dinner. Her daughter Rory, who you didn't meet but you'll like 'cause she's a lot like Lorelai, but she's got a slightly

tighter grasp on reality. Anyhow, she'll be there, and you know, it'd be a…I don't know, it'd be a chance for you to meet

more people and so I, I said yes.

[dustylil]

Could it be that Rory didn't fit into the parameters for various scholarships? Local Stars Hollow scholarships, for example,  may have been for students who attended school within the town - rather than for students who just lived in the community. Chilton-related college scholarships may have been for students who had attended the school from their primary days.

moonb, given how unaware and uninformed Rory was about Ivy League requirements when she herself was a junior (!) at Chilton and  ever so keen to go to Harvard, why would one expect Lorelai to be any more knowledgeable? I would expect the college-bound child to take the lead, rather than have a parent do so. As indeed Rory did when she chose her alternate schools.

 

As to Lorelai's own college plans,  there must have been some discussion in the Gilmore household, as she was supposed to attend Vassar. Although I can readily accept that her pregnancy and Rory's birth might have driven any recollection of  college planning from her own mind. I do wish we had been told why neither Smith nor Yale was considered appropriate for Lorelai given how much attention Richard and Emily appeared to  place on tradition.

Edited November 24, 2014 by dustylil

[Tangerine]

My big nitpick was Lorelai and Rory's apparent lack of knowledge that extracurriculars are what make college applications stand out. That was something that our teachers hammered home to us starting in middle school. Considering all the research that they've done on Harvard, it was completely unrealistic that Rory apparently only realized this for the first time after Paris told her. And there's no way Emily and Richard wouldn't have mentioned it to them either.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Tangerine

[txhorns79]

I do wish we had been told why neither Smith nor Yale was considered appropriate for Lorelai given how much attention Richard and Emily appeared to  place on tradition.

 

I think Richard mentions that when Lorelai was very young, she expressed an interest in going to Yale.  However, given her feelings regarding her parents when she was a teenager, I can't really imagine Lorelai expressing an interest in attending any school that might send a signal of approval of her parents.  Also, she was 16 when she had Rory, so there's nothing to say Lorelai might not have changed her mind about Vassar and considered another college had she actually graduated from high school.  I certainly wouldn't consider a 16 year old's college plans to be set in stone.  Heck, Rory changed her mind about what school she wanted to attend deep into her senior year.      

 

 

why would one expect Lorelai to be any more knowledgeable?

 

Given they showed that Lorelai was deeply committed to getting Rory into Chilton, I would think it would be very odd that she seemingly had no idea how to approach the next step after that, which was getting Rory into Harvard.  I mean, presumably Lorelai didn't just pick Chilton's name out of a hat.  She would have researched the school and looked at what could be done to assure Rory's acceptance.  You would think she would have followed the same pattern for Harvard.   

 

 

it was completely unrealistic that Rory apparently only realized this for the first time after Paris told her.

 

That is very true.  Maybe Lorelai and Rory thought they could just coast on Rory's being "special," or that Lorelai could simply badger Harvard into taking her.