One is the Loneliest Number: Unpopular GG Opinions

[Taryn74]

I finally have realized why I don't like Friday Night's Alright for Fighting the way most fans seem to. That's the one episode (not counting the Revival, which I consider on a different level altogether) that feels like I'm Watching a Sitcom rather than just having a window to observe this kooky town of charming people interact with each other like normal human beings. It bugs me.

[JAYJAY1979]

Here's an unpopular opinion...but Stars Hollow creeped me out.

It would have been an excellent setting for a.horror movie.

[SJC]

Like Stepford Wives maybe ?
Stars Hollowford people ?  lol

[SlovakPrincess]

Almost none of A Year in the Life worked for me.  Rory’s behavior, Lorelai wanting a late in life baby, Paris running a fertility clinic or whatever that was … I found it weird and boring, and the few interesting ideas (Emily coping with widowhood, Lorelai clashing with Rory over Rory’s autobiography idea, Rory’s career stagnating in a tough industry) weren’t really done well.  

Maybe that’s not that unpopular, though fans usually have specific issues with AYITL and I hate the whole thing lol.  I also don’t see the ending as Rory following in her mom’s footsteps as the show runners claim … they are two extremely different situations of single motherhood.  Rory is twice as old, educated and supported as Lorelai was when she ran away and had Rory.

I think there actually IS good story to be mined from the idea that Rory needs to learn to handle failure … but the 2 big storylines dealing with it teach Rory nothing.  The yacht stealing / dropout story was too melodramatic and then fizzled out — she basically returned to Yale with no issues, graduated on time, and was given Paris’ job as newspaper editor, rather than learning much of a lesson.  In AYITL, she at least reorients herself and explores a career change with less drama … but the show doesn’t really address WHY Rory struggles so much with ordinary career setbacks.

[blueray]

I feel like that's a common opinion. At least  I agree with it. I didn't like the A year in a life. As most of the stories were done poorly or worse insulting. And then there were some character things that I didn't like. I didn't like that Lane worked for her mother (it just doesn't fit with the character) and I don't see any universe where Paris didn't become a Lawyer (maybe with a medical background). But the career she was in didn't fit the character at all. But not nearly as disappointing as Lanes was.

Edited May 27, 2023 by blueray

[andromeda331]

13 hours ago, blueray said:

I feel like that's a common opinion. At least  I agree with it. I didn't like the A year in a life. As most of the stories were done poorly or worse insulting. And then there were some character things that I didn't like. I didn't like that Lane worked for her mother (it just doesn't fit with the character) and I don't see any universe where Paris didn't become a Lawyer (maybe with a medical background). But the career she was in didn't fit the character at all. But not nearly as disappointing as Lanes was.

Yeah and there's no way Paris isn't going to run for office one day.

[SJC]

On 5/25/2023 at 12:23 PM, SlovakPrincess said:

 I also don’t see the ending as Rory following in her mom’s footsteps as the show runners claim … they are two extremely different situations of single motherhood.  Rory is twice as old, educated and supported as Lorelai was when she ran away and had Rory.

I couldn't agree more !!

I also don't see Lorelai & Rory as being a lot alike either.

[SlovakPrincess]

2 hours ago, SJC said:

I couldn't agree more !!

I also don't see Lorelai & Rory as being a lot alike either.

They really aren’t and in fundamental ways — Lorelei’s sense of self is built from within, creating a unique life for herself after making a big mistake rather than following the easy path (marry Christopher to make her teen pregnancy “ok” in her parents’ eyes and stay in their social circle).  Rory’s identity depends too much on external positive feedback … she’s a genuinely smart, hard worker but everyone around her has reinforced this idea that she is and must continue to be extraordinary all the time, and she can’t handle messing up or even normal setbacks.  The show  flirts with addressing this, but never really does — things somehow work out for Rory when the plot points run their course, rather than Rory examining herself or Lorelei acknowledging she never taught Rory how to bounce back from failure.  Rory getting pregnant at the end of the revived series just hangs there, never dealt with.

I would be fine with Paris or Lane doing something unexpected with their lives IF the show cared to explain WHY they did so, but of course the show lost interest in Lane during the show’s original run anyway.

Paris’ brittle, over achieving personality was in part a reaction to being neglected and anxious.  I would have liked to see Paris more relaxed later in life (but doing something she really loved and not completely losing her edge).

[andromeda331]

10 hours ago, SlovakPrincess said:

I would be fine with Paris or Lane doing something unexpected with their lives IF the show cared to explain WHY they did so, but of course the show lost interest in Lane during the show’s original run anyway.

Paris’ brittle, over achieving personality was in part a reaction to being neglected and anxious.  I would have liked to see Paris more relaxed later in life (but doing something she really loved and not completely losing her edge).

Which is too bad Lane was a geat character. She was basically living a similar life as Lorelai. Growing up with a parent forcing their daughter on one path but Lane and Mrs. Kim ended up working things out without Lane cutting her mother out of her life the way Lorelai did when she left. Except for the one split they managed to create a really great relationship. Also, we watch Lane work so hard to get in a band and keep the band going. I don't see her stopping doing that. She was too hard working to give up and work at her mother's store. 

Paris was really the only younger character that I really wanted to see have a happy home life with Doyle because she had no one growing up. Her parents' didn't give a crap about her and that never change. Watching her reaction when Doyle tells her he'll go where ever she goes. That is really the first time someone has ever done that for her because they love her. 

[blueray]

The other thing I'm pretty sure I've said before. I wish they had set up that Lane works at Carole King's character's music shop and that end she retires and leaves Lane the store. As she's been such a supporter of the store since before day one and she see's Lane's passion for music. It would have been a way better fit for the characters career.

That being said the one thing the revival did get right is that Lane is happy married to Zach still with a loving (but quirky) family.

Edited May 29, 2023 by blueray

[Kiki777]

I would have liked to see Lane and Zack with a third child - just as physical proof that her sex life wasn’t limited to that one awful time on their honeymoon.

[ffwbe]

I’ve never bought Emily/Richard being excited about Rory and Logan. Becoming friends with Logan and using that connection to further her career, sure, but marrying into a family like that? While they (mostly Emily) cared a lot about marrying someone from a “good” family, they also coddled Rory so I think they should have been reserved. Early Logan had a reputation for getting in trouble with the law and womanizing. Mitchum didn’t exactly have the best reputation as a husband even after he supposedly matured and took over the family business so why would they assume Logan would be any different as a partner? 

Edited July 5, 2023 by ffwbe

[JustHereForFood]

On 7/5/2023 at 4:21 PM, ffwbe said:

I’ve never bought Emily/Richard being excited about Rory and Logan. Becoming friends with Logan and using that connection to further her career, sure, but marrying into a family like that? While they (mostly Emily) cared a lot about marrying someone from a “good” family, they also coddled Rory so I think they should have been reserved. Early Logan had a reputation for getting in trouble with the law and womanizing. Mitchum didn’t exactly have the best reputation as a husband even after he supposedly matured and took over the family business so why would they assume Logan would be any different as a partner? 

I think they probably thought Logan was being the usual young rich guy, acting out because he's young and needs to get it out of his system, but that he would mature eventually, especially under Rory's influence. The usual "good girl tames a wild guy" idea. They probably didn't consider the option that he would have more influence on her than she on him.

[scarynikki12]

Also Rory in the series was shown to not only get the three guys she liked to be her boyfriend but all three of them ended up being so into her they continued to want her back when the relationships ended. It took the revival before Dean and Logan were shown to have changed while Jess continued to carry a torch. Even Tristan and Marty never got over Rory and they weren't ever her boyfriend.

For Emily and Richard, they knew Logan was a wild partying trust fund baby but they also knew he'd never been in a relationship before. It wasn't a secret that Logan slept around but never committed so Rory announcing he was her boyfriend would have seemed like she was the One Special Girl who would change his playboy ways.

Even things like Mitchum regularly cheating on his wife wouldn't have necessarily deterred their desire to see Rory marry Logan. There was no guarantee Logan would follow his father's footsteps (obviously he did but Emily didn't know about the affair) and the Gilmores would have believed Rory was too special to be cheated on. 

Along those lines I was thinking the other day and I kind of wish we'd gotten a scene between Rory and Logan's fiancee in the revival. Something like Odette (that was her name right?) running into Rory in the bathroom at a restaurant, revealing she was fully aware of the affair, and reminding her to be discreet. It could have contributed to Rory deciding not to tell Logan about her pregnancy at the end.

[chessiegal]

5 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

It could have contributed to Rory deciding not to tell Logan about her pregnancy at the end.

But we don't know that, do we? We have Rory talking to her dad asking if he would want to know if he was the father of a child, IIRC. I always figured Rory would tell Logan. I know they left the father somewhat ambiguous, but I think ASP kind of rolled her eyes at who was the father, and said it was Logan.

[JAYJAY1979]

Stars Hollow was a creepy town.

Lorelei could be flighty and immature, but one has to admit she worked her butt off at her job rather at Independence Inn, when she did the party planning business with Sookie, and when she opened her inn.

[andromeda331]

I really wish we had gotten a Halloween episode. Hearing Babette talk about and later show her hanging Morey. That sounds hilarious. I wonder what other crazy stuff happened on Halloween in Stars Hollow.

[Athena]

On 7/15/2023 at 1:09 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

Stars Hollow was a creepy town.

Lorelei could be flighty and immature, but one has to admit she worked her butt off at her job rather at Independence Inn, when she did the party planning business with Sookie, and when she opened her inn.

Recently, a friend of mine is watching the show for the first time ever so it's made me rethink the show, discuss with other friends, and come back here. Another friend who watched it live loves Stars Hollow and sees it as one of the best things on the show. I can see why people love SH but I found it a bit annoying after awhile.

Lorelai being a hard worker was one of the more believable things about her character. I didn't really care or believe most of her romantic relationships, her eating habits, and a host of other things, but I could buy her as a hard working single mother.

[andromeda331]

21 hours ago, Athena said:

Recently, a friend of mine is watching the show for the first time ever so it's made me rethink the show, discuss with other friends, and come back here. Another friend who watched it live loves Stars Hollow and sees it as one of the best things on the show. I can see why people love SH but I found it a bit annoying after awhile.

Lorelai being a hard worker was one of the more believable things about her character. I didn't really care or believe most of her romantic relationships, her eating habits, and a host of other things, but I could buy her as a hard working single mother.

I could too. It was one of my favorite things about Lorelai. She really did work hard. She worked her way up from being a maid to running the place. She went to community college for a degree in business. She opened her own business.  

[Guest]

On 11/5/2023 at 7:04 AM, andromeda331 said:

I could too. It was one of my favorite things about Lorelai. She really did work hard. She worked her way up from being a maid to running the place. She went to community college for a degree in business. She opened her own business.  

I think it is one of the fundamental differences between Rory and  Lorelei.  Lorelei was willing to walk away from the privileges of being a Gilmore to get away from the downsides of being a Gilmore. Rory wanted none of the downsides (though to be fair, she didn't experience them the same way her mom did) but all the privileges.

[junienmomo]

On 11/6/2023 at 3:40 PM, deaja said:

I think it is one of the fundamental differences between Rory and  Lorelei.  Lorelei was willing to walk away from the privileges of being a Gilmore to get away from the downsides of being a Gilmore. Rory wanted none of the downsides (though to be fair, she didn't experience them the same way her mom did) but all the privileges.

Very good point! When Rory became an adult, she had little of the stresses that Lorelai had been through. It makes sense their worldviews would be different. 
 

"What she tries, she conquers." (sic)

 

Richard's statement was actually more applicable to Lorelai than to Rory. Too bad he didn't appreciate that.

 

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, junienmomo said:

Very good point! When Rory became an adult, she had little of the stresses that Lorelai had been through. It makes sense their worldviews would be different. 
 

"What she tries, she conquers." (sic)

 

Richard's statement was actually more applicable to Lorelai than to Rory. Too bad he didn't appreciate that.

 

He's not wrong about Rory. Except once Rory gets to Yale she stops trying at anything. She certainly doesn't bother to try after she graduates. It's like she no longer wants to do anything. 

[Katy M]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:11 PM, andromeda331 said:

He's not wrong about Rory. Except once Rory gets to Yale she stops trying at anything. She certainly doesn't bother to try after she graduates. It's like she no longer wants to do anything. 

Rory needs to be assigned tasks and then she does them, and she does them well.  It's not the worst trait in the world.  Not everybody can/should be groundbreakers.  Others have to be their support.  

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

Rory needs to be assigned tasks and then she does them, and she does them well.  It's not the worst trait in the world.  Not everybody can/should be groundbreakers.  Others have to be their support.  

No, she just needs to go into careers that assign tasks to their employees.

[scarynikki12]

I think the perfect career for Rory is ghostwriter on retainer with a publisher. She gets to interview some famous person and then put the details of their life into a cohesive narrative but doesn't have to take any initiative as her boss would give her the assignment. 

[Athena]

1 hour ago, scarynikki12 said:

I think the perfect career for Rory is ghostwriter on retainer with a publisher. She gets to interview some famous person and then put the details of their life into a cohesive narrative but doesn't have to take any initiative as her boss would give her the assignment. 

It takes a lot of writing skill and collaborative soft skills to be a ghost writer. Most ghost writers start off as experienced writers who get noticed by publishers for their versatility and flexibility. You have to shape your prose to the person you are writing about so it requires creativity. Also you need to deal with celebrities or public figures so it is more client facing than some other jobs. She could be an entertainment journalist maybe. I think Rory could also be a good administrator or executive assistant if assigned tasks are more the thing. That's the kind of work you can build on over time.

I did appreciate Rory having a quarter life crisis in the revival because it was common after the great recession. The only difference was that her economic background allowed her to waffle about while the rest of us had to find work and eventually a career to survive.

[andromeda331]

On 11/9/2023 at 5:50 PM, Athena said:

It takes a lot of writing skill and collaborative soft skills to be a ghost writer. Most ghost writers start off as experienced writers who get noticed by publishers for their versatility and flexibility. You have to shape your prose to the person you are writing about so it requires creativity. Also you need to deal with celebrities or public figures so it is more client facing than some other jobs. She could be an entertainment journalist maybe. I think Rory could also be a good administrator or executive assistant if assigned tasks are more the thing. That's the kind of work you can build on over time.

I did appreciate Rory having a quarter life crisis in the revival because it was common after the great recession. The only difference was that her economic background allowed her to waffle about while the rest of us had to find work and eventually a career to survive.

Also it really seems like it was her fault. Rory blew three jobs something someone who really desperate or wanted to work wouldn't have done. 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

On 11/9/2023 at 4:18 PM, andromeda331 said:

No, she just needs to go into careers that assign tasks to their employees.

Mitchum wasn't wrong that she'd be a fantastic personal assistant.

[andromeda331]

21 hours ago, BlancheDevoreaux said:

Mitchum wasn't wrong that she'd be a fantastic personal assistant.

No, he wasn't. She really would have been a great one.

[JAYJAY1979]

On 11/14/2023 at 4:45 PM, BlancheDevoreaux said:

Mitchum wasn't wrong that she'd be a fantastic personal assistant.

Rory would have been good at research, fact-checking, and even proof reading pieces.

[andromeda331]

On 11/27/2023 at 5:14 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

Rory would have been good at research, fact-checking, and even proof reading pieces.

She was really good at that.

[SlovakPrincess]

The stuff with Rory and Logan cheating just really, really bothered me.  It's unforgivable for people their age, and we never even find out how they fell into this horrible pattern with each other, it's just "oh, yeah, they've been doing this for a while now as we rejoin our story .... la la la [cue the cutesy GG music]"  

And the audience is just supposed to accept that?  Why?  They clearly wanted to force a Rory-is-pregnant-but-absolutely-must-raise-it-alone-because-reasons story, which they could've more believably done by having Logan and Rory run into each other, have an ill-advised nostalgic one-night fling that they both felt guilty about afterwards because he's engaged, and part.

Teen Rory being drawn to Jess when she was with Dean, and even sleeping with a married Dean (as a thoughtless college kid gravitating back to her high school sweetheart) .... yeah, that was frustrating to watch at the time, but made sense for the story and the characters' ages.  I don't think GG was intending to say "Rory is a natural cheater, it is part of her character so it makes sense she's still doing this at 30!"  And yet, that's kind of how this ended up.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, SlovakPrincess said:

 It's unforgivable for people their age,

Not condoning it, but people of all ages have affairs.  Don't forget, Rory slept with Dean when he was married. I didn't like that Logan sold out to his dad and allowed himself to be pressured into marrying someone he didn't love in order to advance the family fortune/status.

[scarynikki12]

I don't think it was intentional when the show was in the early seasons but they did end up establishing Rory as a cheater two separate times (kissing Jess while with Dean and sleeping with married Dean) and never had her face any real consequences for her behavior. They also showed her growing to be more and more comfortable with the society world Lorelai rejected. Pair these two and it's not surprising she was comfortable cheating on Paul and being Logan's side piece in the revival.

None of this means Logan had to get her pregnant, of course, as Paris' fertility practice was right there. Rory could easily have decided to finally end the affair halfway through the revival and then go to Paris for help getting pregnant and starting her own family. 

[JustHereForFood]

22 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I didn't like that Logan sold out to his dad and allowed himself to be pressured into marrying someone he didn't love in order to advance the family fortune/status.

It seemed in character for him, IMO. He would often moan and complain about pressure from his parents, but then cave because he didn't want to give up the lifestyle and money. That's one thing that is different between him and Lorelai. He had some character development in season 7 but that one was ignored in the revival.

 

20 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

None of this means Logan had to get her pregnant, of course, as Paris' fertility practice was right there. Rory could easily have decided to finally end the affair halfway through the revival and then go to Paris for help getting pregnant and starting her own family. 

I would have loved to see Rory getting pregnant by choice, but well, that would not fit with the show's track record with pregnancies.

[chessiegal]

47 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

He had some character development in season 7 but that one was ignored in the revival.

 

Yes it was because the Palladinos had no involvement in Season 7, so they chose to ignore it.

[andromeda331]

11 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

It seemed in character for him, IMO. He would often moan and complain about pressure from his parents, but then cave because he didn't want to give up the lifestyle and money. That's one thing that is different between him and Lorelai. He had some character development in season 7 but that one was ignored in the revival.

I agree. Logan's reaction when his website thing blew up was to ignore all to and run off to Vegas with his two idiot friends. His father cleaned up the whole mess. Logan didn't do anything. He's never had to face a consequence for anything. He always someone to clean up after him. His father and even his sister at times. He doesn't hate the money or lifestyle he has. He just doesn't like having to do anything to earn it. He talked about getting his first credit card bill but zero on how he paid it? He and Lorelai talked and he said she was brave which she was. But the difference between the two is Lorelai rejected her parents and the lifestyle. She never really fit into the lifestyle, and didn't want it, and was treated like crap by her parents. That had been brewing for years. She was willing to rejected all of that to build a life she wanted.  
 

Quote

 

I would have loved to see Rory getting pregnant by choice, but well, that would not fit with the show's track record with pregnancies.

 

I would have loved if even one woman or one couple got pregnant by choice. Every pregnancy was unexpected. 

On 1/13/2024 at 10:24 AM, SlovakPrincess said:

The stuff with Rory and Logan cheating just really, really bothered me.  It's unforgivable for people their age, and we never even find out how they fell into this horrible pattern with each other, it's just "oh, yeah, they've been doing this for a while now as we rejoin our story .... la la la [cue the cutesy GG music]"  

And the audience is just supposed to accept that?  Why?  They clearly wanted to force a Rory-is-pregnant-but-absolutely-must-raise-it-alone-because-reasons story, which they could've more believably done by having Logan and Rory run into each other, have an ill-advised nostalgic one-night fling that they both felt guilty about afterwards because he's engaged, and part.

Teen Rory being drawn to Jess when she was with Dean, and even sleeping with a married Dean (as a thoughtless college kid gravitating back to her high school sweetheart) .... yeah, that was frustrating to watch at the time, but made sense for the story and the characters' ages.  I don't think GG was intending to say "Rory is a natural cheater, it is part of her character so it makes sense she's still doing this at 30!"  And yet, that's kind of how this ended up.

I really don't know why they kept repeating that pattern. As annoyed as I was with Rory for not breaking up with Dean when she clearly wanted Jess. If that had been the only one it's easy to chalk up as being a teenager or something that she would learn from. Nope, not at all. She cheated on every single boyfriend she ever had. Except Jess but she wouldn't stop talking about Dean. She has no problem treating Dean and Paul like crap while dating them or Jess treating Dean like crap or everyone treating Paul like crap. 

 

I'm also still disturbed by Logan's reaction after the fight with Rory. He claims he thought they were broken up. Does Rory or any woman he dates has to call up and tell him they are in a fight and not broken up? But worse he sleeps with his sister's entire bridal party and when Rory finds out he out calls those women worthless idiots and blames them for Rory finding out. You slept with Logan. You chose to. And they were your sister's friends. I'm more concern how he treats women after listening to him trash them. 

[chessiegal]

On 1/14/2024 at 11:41 PM, andromeda331 said:

Every pregnancy was unexpected. 

Not every pregnancy. When Jackson was running for Taylor's job, he told the crowd that he and Sookie were trying to get pregnant.

Edited January 16, 2024 by chessiegal

[JustHereForFood]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I agree. Logan's reaction when his website thing blew up was to ignore all to and run off to Vegas with his two idiot friends. His father cleaned up the whole mess. Logan didn't do anything. He's never had to face a consequence for anything. He always someone to clean up after him. His father and even his sister at times. He doesn't hate the money or lifestyle he has. He just doesn't like having to do anything to earn it. He talked about getting his first credit card bill but zero on how he paid it? He and Lorelai talked and he said she was brave which she was. But the difference between the two is Lorelai rejected her parents and the lifestyle. She never really fit into the lifestyle, and didn't want it, and was treated like crap by her parents. That had been brewing for years. She was willing to rejected all of that to build a life she wanted.  

I don't like saying this because of how much I love Rory and how I dislike her and Logan's relationship more and more, but .... they were actually well matched? Not good with taking responsibility and prone to cheating. A dream couple, really (# I wish that was sarcasm).

[Chaser]

I wish Rory had dropped to a recurring character after she left for Yale and the Gilmore Girls transitioned to Lorelai and Emily. Stars Hollow and Lorelai are more ‘Gilmore Girls’ than Yale and Rory to me.

This was a random thought I had while fast forwarding the Rory scenes in Raincoats and Receipts