One is the Loneliest Number: Unpopular GG Opinions

[txhorns79]

She may be ruthless and Machiavellian, but she wasn't unkind to or about the toddler.

 

Or she just said it in a different episode, and readster is misremembering. 

 

 

It amused me that two of the points Emily used to denigrate Luke as a potential spouse for Lorelai - that he was  divorced and uneducated - could just as easily have been applied to Christopher.

 

In the transcript you cite, Emily says that Chris' main selling points for her were that he was Rory's father and she thought he came from a good family.  Whether he was divorced or uneducated didn't really matter specifically for Chris.       

[readster]

While it pains me to defend Emily, the above is the transcript of that scene. She may be ruthless and Machiavellian, but she wasn't unkind to or about the toddler.  

 

It amused me that two of the points Emily used to denigrate Luke as a potential spouse for Lorelai - that he was  divorced and uneducated - could just as easily have been applied to Christopher.

 

 Probably why I detest the scene so much. Emily basically just wants Lorelai back with Christopher so the two of them and Rory can be the happy little family they all decided on when they were 17 that went out the door since the start.

[Guest]

I know this is a super unpopular opinion, but I thought Rory deserved to end up alone in the series.  I thought Logan and Jess both were out of her league by that point. She had turned into a whiny, bratty, spoiled felon. She was so petty too, like when she got mad at Logan (after she completely mocked his friends and his world in an article) for pointing out that she was no different.  Jess had a lot going for him and didn't need to spend his life catering to her.  Both of those guys could do much better.

[KimKam]

I’m re-watching the entire series on Netflix and while I have just started season 6, I realized I pretty much hate Sookie once the Independence Inn burns down. The character just becomes so grating and crazy. I just watched “"But I'm a Gilmore!" and spent the whole time wanting to punch her. Luke was nice enough to leave his own business and volunteer his time to help out, which was only needed because Sookie didn’t want to find a replacement, and she spends the whole time harassing him and making the wait staff bring her food instead of doing their jobs.

[readster]

I’m re-watching the entire series on Netflix and while I have just started season 6, I realized I pretty much hate Sookie once the Independence Inn burns down. The character just becomes so grating and crazy. I just watched “"But I'm a Gilmore!" and spent the whole time wanting to punch her. Luke was nice enough to leave his own business and volunteer his time to help out, which was only needed because Sookie didn’t want to find a replacement, and she spends the whole time harassing him and making the wait staff bring her food instead of doing their jobs.

 

 This was brought up not to long ago but basically it was to show that Sookie really didn't know how to be a business owner or let anyone touch "her world". I also hate how Jackson kind of went in defending her because this is where Sookie went from the quirky to really grating. She was put on bed rest for medical reasons because of her baby and yet she is getting up. Having Jackson drive her on a golf cart which really isn't any better. Then when she had child number 2, she had Jackson just dragged off by nurses to get snipped and then it turns out he didn't. They got out the hall and let him go and then he just lied about it to Sookie for the next year until.... oopp! Baby 3. She was great up until after the whole Lord of the Rings catering. That's when Sookie went from woman about to be parent to: "her way or the highway". 

[Minu49]

Now I am not sure if this belongs here, but in the final season why did they have a Richard has a heart attack episode again? I fail to see that, although most episodes from the final season seem to be mirroring the first season. But I would have loved to see Emily have a health crisis of some sort, an aneurysm (of course non threatening) or something kidney related just enough to warrant a stay in the hospital. Which then forces Lorelai and Emily to re-examine their relationship and take two steps forward and not the usual cha cha cha!

 

In lighter vein though, it would be super if Emily needed a kidney transplant and Lorelai donated hers and then lording over Emily for the rest of their lives; forcing Emily to Friday Night Dinners at the Hollow, GG style.....all junk and no veggie or salmon in sight! (Logically not possible since Emily would be on a strict diet after a kidney transplant, but fun to think about it).

[amensisterfriend]

I’m re-watching the entire series on Netflix and while I have just started season 6, I realized I pretty much hate Sookie once the Independence Inn burns down

 

YES! As noted, this was talked about recently here, but I found Sookie so freaking shrill and grating. While Lorelai is most often labeled as the show's most self-centered character---and I can partly understand why---I actually find Sookie far more selfish and immature from S4-S6. (As noted in another UO, I actually liked her and various other supporting characters a lot more in S7 and think DR did a nice job of softening characters to the point where they weren't as over-the-top annoying.) 

 

Now I am not sure if this belongs here, but in the final season why did they have a Richard has a heart attack episode again? I

 

You're preaching to the choir, my friend. I'm a defender of the unpopular S7, but I actually think I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia is even more awful than it's generally regarded as, especially when you consider it's such a pointless retread of S1's Forgiveness and Stuff. It's actually one of my three least favorite episodes of S7, which seems to be an unpopular opinion. And---(*ducks*)---I actually like a lot of the most widely despised S7 episodes, like The Great Stink and S'Wonderful and even French Twist. (*ducks*) 

[Taryn74]

 

In lighter vein though, it would be super if Emily needed a kidney transplant and Lorelai donated hers and then lording over Emily for the rest of their lives; forcing Emily to Friday Night Dinners at the Hollow, GG style.....all junk and no veggie or salmon in sight!

 

HA!  I kinda love that idea.

[KimKam]

 

This was brought up not to long ago but basically it was to show that Sookie really didn't know how to be a business owner or let anyone touch "her world".

 

I get what the show was going for, but there doesn't seem to be any payoff to making her so shrill and grating. For example, when Loerial is being wooed to sell the inn, it might have been nice if Lorelai considered selling because her business partner is unreliable, e.g. when she took a nap instead of signing for the new stove, and unable to make hard business decisions, e.g. flipping out about having to drop lunch. Or if Sookie and Lorelai had a talk about how Sookie might be happier just being a chef and not having to deal with the business side of things.

 

I’m sure others feel the same way, but I think for me S4 – S6 are hard to watch less because of the soapy plot lines and more because the characters become such cartoon versions of themselves that almost everyone is unlikable. The townies go from quirky, to shrill and annoying. Liz and TJ are horrible to watch. Emily, Richard, and Rory become all fairly unlikeable (IMO). And I really don’t understand how Emily went from begging Richard not to sue Digger (whom she hates) because he is in a relationship with Lorelai and she doesn’t want to lose her again, to deciding that trying to sabotage Lorelai’s relationship with Luke was a smart idea.

[Athena]

I know this is a super unpopular opinion, but I thought Rory deserved to end up alone in the series.  I thought Logan and Jess both were out of her league by that point. She had turned into a whiny, bratty, spoiled felon. She was so petty too, like when she got mad at Logan (after she completely mocked his friends and his world in an article) for pointing out that she was no different.  Jess had a lot going for him and didn't need to spend his life catering to her.  Both of those guys could do much better.

 

I don't know if I would say that she deserved to be alone, but I didn't mind that she was. By the later seasons, I switched from between indifferent or disliking Rory. I thought it was smart for the writers to make her single because she hadn't been single since she was like 15. She went from Dean to Jess to Dean again to Logan with very little to almost no breathing room.

 

I do agree that Logan and Jess (from his return episode) did seem more held together than she was. I would give her some flack as that time in your life is difficult, but I found Rory quite unsympathetic by the end. Rory was always impulsive and that also lended itself to being petty. I'm not defending her as I never got her Special Snowflake appeal from the beginning.

[amensisterfriend]

Based on this thread, I'm starting to think one of my biggest UOs is that I loved Rory :) Don't get me wrong---I couldn't stand her throughout the vast majority of S5 and S6, and I'm the first to roll my eyes at all the adoration and undeserved 'wins' she received while avoiding real consequences for most of her poor choices. I totally agree that the show went way too far with the special snowflake stuff and in having various opportunities fall magically into her lap. (And don't even get me started on the staff begging her to become editor of the Yale Daily News a few days after she floated back on campus after dropping out of school and stealing a yacht because she was once (gasp) criticized over---ironically---her perceived lack of journalistic skills. Yeah, that's TOTALLY the resilient, never-say-quit woman I'd want as my leader!) And I loved when she got rejected from the Times internship. And I totally agree that instead of effortlessly winning over the DAR en route to waltzing back to Yale when she felt like it, her arc should have been about discovering that sometimes we have to reevaluate our goals and reassess our strengths and weaknesses, and that she really WAS better out out for a career in teaching, research, proofreading etc. in lieu of becoming an international correspondent.  

 

So, as you can see, my love for Rory isn't exactly blind ;) But I do really like and relate to her in early seasons and even enjoy her again (mostly!) in S7. I found Alexis Bledel surprisingly convincing and entertaining in the role---when she wasn't called upon to either hug people or cry, that is---and I disagree with the seemingly very popular opinion that she was a poorly defined character with no flaws. It's true that she could be CLOSE to 'too perfect' at various points, but I actually think those early seasons and much of S7 were pretty decent about consistently showing a few glaring imperfections as well: she couldn't handle people disliking her or, for that matter, pretty much any form of rejection; she could be far too spineless and passive; she was often socially awkward or outright socially oblivious to the point of clueless insensitivity; she was neurotic, rigid and uptight (not as compared to Paris, but certainly as compared to most students her age!), etc. 

 

As I've said, the thing about her getting win after win after win--including those she wasn't necessarily even trying for in the first place---grated big time, as did her not exactly suffering or learning much from her mistakes. Then again, IMO MOST of these characters failed to learn much from their mistakes or achieve discernible growth except for maybe (sometimes!) Logan and Jess, the latter of whom did the majority of his evolving off screen :)

 

Anyway, you guys 'know' me well enough to know that I respect UOs of all types and would never try to change anyone's mind about Rory! And I totally see why many dislike her and feel she grew even less than most GG characters. I just had to tentatively voice my unpopular love for Rory despite my above ranted about frustrations. In S1, I actually liked her far more than Lorelai. And the Rory/Paris friendship will always be one of my very, very favorite aspects of the show :)  

Edited January 7, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[txhorns79]

she was often socially awkward or outright socially oblivious to the point of clueless insensitivity

 

In Die Jerk, it was surprising Rory didn't seem to understand that using a review to personally trash that ballerina, including comments about her appearance, was going to really piss off that ballerina. 

[vanillamountain]

 

And I really don’t understand how Emily went from begging Richard not to sue Digger (whom she hates) because he is in a relationship with Lorelai and she doesn’t want to lose her again, to deciding that trying to sabotage Lorelai’s relationship with Luke was a smart idea.

 

I think part of the problem was that Amy Sherman-Palladino was not very good at character consistency. She would come up with  stories (i.e. Emily meddles in Lorelai's love life for the umpteenth time; Mrs. Kim suddenly changes her mind about Lane's muscial ambitions and goes on tour with her, etc.) and shoehorn the characters into those plotlines, without any regard for whether those stories "fit" the characters.

 

I think the situation got got worse in seasons 5 and 6 when ASP was starting to run out of ideas, and it showed in the writing. When ASP did interviews for Bunheads, she admitted as much - and said that part of the reason she left was because The WB/CW wasn't willing to let her hire extra writers, producers, and directors because of budget concerns. The irony was that once ASP left, the network ended up having to hire a new writing staff anyway.

Edited January 7, 2015 by vanillamountain

[dustylil]

To my chagrin, I think I can understand how Emily went from begging Richard to end the Digger lawsuit to sabotaging the relationship of Luke and Lorelai. Her endgame was a suitable (and she would determine what constituted suitable) marriage for Lorelai.  Christopher at that point was out of the picture. And  although she didn't like Jason (for frankly what I thought were perfectly valid reasons), he did come from a good family, was well educated and unsullied by any previous visits to the altar. I think she saw him  as perfectly adequate husband material. After all, she didn't care for Christopher and she had been maneuvering to acquire him as a son-in-law for years. Should the legal problems continue, there would be bitterness both within and between the Stiles and Gilmore families and Jason might well leave Hartford. Hardly encouraging circumstances to lead to  a marriage between Lorelai and Jason.

As to sabotaging Luke and Lorelai, again consider her endgame. Christopher was once again available. She did not consider Luke to be an appropriate consort - therefore the relationship must be ended, by whatever means possible. It wasn't until Emilu finally came to terms with the fact that it was Luke that Lorelai wanted - and Emily told Luke so - that she  accepted that she could not decide upon her daughter's spouse.  To her credit, she did not interfere again.

Edited January 7, 2015 by dustylil

[takalotti]

I thought it was smart for the writers to make her single because she hadn't been single since she was like 15. She went from Dean to Jess to Dean again to Logan with very little to almost no breathing room.

<total sarcasm>

What are you talking about? She had that huge dry spell freshman year. People were gonna talk. After all, she wasn't even in the Valentine's day picture. Not one picture with a guy. Though there was that one with Eli Yale...

</total sarcasm>

[txhorns79]

To my chagrin, I think I can understand how Emily went from begging Richard to end the Digger lawsuit to sabotaging the relationship of Luke and Lorelai. Her endgame was a suitable (and she would determine what constituted suitable) marriage for Lorelai.

 

I think that misunderstands what Emily really wanted.  In watching the series, the idea I saw again and again was that Emily's endgame was a normal relationship with Lorelai.  She didn't always go about it the right way, but I think all Emily really wanted was her daughter back for good.  Marriage was a secondary issue.  Her concern with the situation with Jason was that if Jason was driven away through Richard's actions, it would also drive Lorelai away.  She was no longer under any kind of obligation to attend the FND, and Emily's fear was being cut off again like she was before.  That's why she worried about what would happen.  I doubt she really cared about or was contemplating Digger as a potential son in law at that point.  She just wanted to make sure Lorelai would stay in the fold. 

 

With Emily's machinations with Luke, I truly don't think she contemplated Lorelai cutting her off entirely.  It was naive of her, but I don't think Emily understood entirely the consequences for she and Lorelai if she was to interfere with Luke and Lorelai's relationship.  I think in Emily's delusional state, she thought Lorelai would initially be angry, but would fall back in with Chris and eventually "thank" her for scheming to get them together.   

Edited January 7, 2015 by txhorns79

[readster]

In Die Jerk, it was surprising Rory didn't seem to understand that using a review to personally trash that ballerina, including comments about her appearance, was going to really piss off that ballerina. 

 

 I really don't like the situation either because then when the ballerina shows up she talks about how great she is and that Rory was in the wrong. All Rory had to say was: "Then why weren't you dancing?" Especially when Rory went back another night and the same ballerina was doing even worse. True story, I was originally a theatre major during my undergraduate. The local newspaper did a review on our play and bashed one of the actors to death. The director called them up and said the actor was having a really off night due to some personal reasons. Told them to come back another night. The reviewer came back and wrote another article even stating they had an off night. I also did a play, my part was barely 5 minutes and a reviewer who was from the city doing college plays tore me apart on my performance. He came back a year later seeing me in another play and a much larger part and told me: "I think you did horrible the first time because it was such a small role." "When you did this role, you exploded out of the gate and really convinced me." 

  What really got me about the episode was the fact that if a woman got into the Yale school of Theatre and Dance she would need to be very good. If she ends up falling, costume problems on different performances then Rory was right. What are you doing in the show? However, like in Bunheads, ASP didn't really have a good grasp of reality of what it takes to be in a professional dance studio or school. I know it was meant to be her new version of GG but really, hire a consultant or someone who has done it like the DAR. Not write them as rich entitled people. 

Edited January 7, 2015 by readster

[Guest]

You mean it's not nice to compare someone to a hippopotamus? Aw shucks. I'm just Rory. I had no way of knowing you'd be insulted by that.  And when I said you were too fat for your tutu, I meant that as a criticism of the costumer, not of you! I'm innocent! Please be swayed by the Bambi eyes I'm giving you!

[readster]

You mean it's not nice to compare someone to a hippopotamus? Aw shucks. I'm just Rory. I had no way of knowing you'd be insulted by that.  And when I said you were too fat for your tutu, I meant that as a criticism of the costumer, not of you! I'm innocent! Please be swayed by the Bambi eyes I'm giving you!

 

 

Haha! Well said, like I said earlier everything was so bad in that episode from Rory's review to the fact this woman was in the Yale School of Theatre and Dance. 

[solotrek]

Especially when Rory went back another night and the same ballerina was doing even worse.

 

I don't think Rory went back another night. She wanted to, but Doyle told her that the ballet had closed early due to the review.

[junienmomo]

Based on this thread, I'm starting to think one of my biggest UOs is that I loved Rory :) Don't get me wrong---I couldn't stand her throughout the vast majority of S5 and S6, and I'm the first to roll my eyes at all the adoration and undeserved 'wins' she received while avoiding real consequences for most of her poor choices.

 

Table for 2 ASF, and thanks for your considered, perceptive analysis. 

Rory was put on a pedestal from the beginning, but she had cracks and flaws throughout the series.  People expected things of her and presumed she was perfect, a mode pushed by her mother. Rory the wunderkind, the angel child, dozens of SH residents shared Lorelai's opinion that Rory could do no wrong. As an overachiever and a pleaser, she knew that hard work tended to put her right back in the wunderkind position. 

Part of it, I think, is that people don't want to give up their fantasies. Rory was the home-town girl who had the perfect boyfriend and perfect grades, at least until she couldn't express her feelings, and felt the realities of the Chilton educational standard. Stars Hollow had a group-think of Rory the angel, and they simply didn't want to believe anything else. 

The Yale news must have been something similar. Maybe she used "The Look" and made everyone fall in love with her there too.

The saddest thing about Rory as a character is she almost never had someone to lovingly tell her, "You're screwing up and if you lose, you have to get on with life."

[readster]

Table for 2 ASF, and thanks for your considered, perceptive analysis. 

Rory was put on a pedestal from the beginning, but she had cracks and flaws throughout the series.  People expected things of her and presumed she was perfect, a mode pushed by her mother. Rory the wunderkind, the angel child, dozens of SH residents shared Lorelai's opinion that Rory could do no wrong. As an overachiever and a pleaser, she knew that hard work tended to put her right back in the wunderkind position. 

Part of it, I think, is that people don't want to give up their fantasies. Rory was the home-town girl who had the perfect boyfriend and perfect grades, at least until she couldn't express her feelings, and felt the realities of the Chilton educational standard. Stars Hollow had a group-think of Rory the angel, and they simply didn't want to believe anything else. 

The Yale news must have been something similar. Maybe she used "The Look" and made everyone fall in love with her there too.

The saddest thing about Rory as a character is she almost never had someone to lovingly tell her, "You're screwing up and if you lose, you have to get on with life."

 

 

 Exactly! I really wish Rory would have gotten that more especially post Mitchum. Lorelei should have told her that, especially post Dean crap. She needed to be told, that you will mistakes and some you will really hate but there will come a time when you have to learn from them, get over it and move on with your life. Or you will you will just be stuck.

[txhorns79]

Lorelei should have told her that, especially post Dean crap. She needed to be told, that you will mistakes and some you will really hate but there will come a time when you have to learn from them, get over it and move on with your life. Or you will you will just be stuck.

 

Something tells me the woman who was still fighting with her parents over decisions she made when she was 16 was not the best person to be giving advice about moving on with your life.  Or maybe she was the best person!  I'd love to see Lorelai give Rory a "Don't be me!" speech. 

[blackCatCollins]

my EXTREMELY unpopular opinion- i loved Digger. i think Chris Eigeman is adorable (i know that physically he's no David Sutcliffe, but he has his own brand of appeal) and i thought he was the best match for Lorelei- he didn't worship her the way that Luke and Chris did, and i think that's something she needed. he was more of an equal for her than any of her other love interests. plus, he was smart and funny and, imo, had the most overall likeability of all of them. i hated the way they wrote his character off the show. it was just another example of ASP character assassination. 

[MaiSoCalled]

Mitchum absolutely had a point about Rory and its maddening because it means the writers themselves saw that Rory lacked certain things she would need to achieve this particular dream and yet did nothing to address it either way. 

I think my unpopular opinion is I felt Mitchum was out of line. From what we saw, Rory did everything that was asked of her within the internship. I think Mitchum owed it to Rory to say something like "you've been a very good assistant, but I haven't seen you show your journalistic drive." Considering many internships consist of little more than making copies or getting coffee, it's not surprising to me that Rory was afraid of overstepping. Had Rory stumbled over how to act within a working paper, then I would agree with Mitchum. But for misinterpreting her job description? I think Mitchum was very out of line.

 

That said, I also feel like the show played it safe by having him not criticize her actual writing. Writing can be subjective, and it would be interesting to me if someone Rory admired did not care for her style.

[amensisterfriend]

my EXTREMELY unpopular opinion- i loved Digger. i think Chris Eigeman is adorable (i know that physically he's no David Sutcliffe, but he has his own brand of appeal) and i thought he was the best match for Lorelei- he didn't worship her the way that Luke and Chris did, and i think that's something she needed. he was more of an equal for her than any of her other love interests. plus, he was smart and funny and, imo, had the most overall likeability of all of them.

 

I'll be extremely unpopular with you :) While I didn't see much sexual/romantic chemistry between them, I thought he fit in so well with Lorelai---and, unlike most of the deadly dull, personality-free significant others, with this colorful show in general. I agree that he 'got' Lorelai and was maybe even objectively the best, most compatible match for Lorelai in many ways ---they were both witty, fast talkers and thinkers, quirky, bright, independent, nuttily charming, sociable extroverts who also like and need a lot of space when it comes down to it, etc. I wish he'd been an amusing Gilmore cousin who could have popped up a few times per season throughout the series rather than another cannon fodder love interest.  Honestly, despite his tics and flaws, Jason is probably the only GG male who I'd click with in real life. And I so get his desire to sleep in separate beds! 

[takalotti]

I think my unpopular opinion is I felt Mitchum was out of line.

I'm with you. Everyone on the show made it seem like Mitchum was eville (like the frooits of the deville) for his review of Rory. He wasn't, but he was a shitty supervisor. The basic rule of thumb for any good supervisor is that there should never be any surprises in a review. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed, you address it. You don't wait for a review to do that. During the review you can discuss whether or not the person made adjustments based on the regular feedback, or if more adjustments are necessary.

I know there was the little throw away line about him not being around much, but that doesn't excuse him. If he wasn't around, someone else was Rory's next in line supervisor. It would be Mitchum's responsibility to touch base with that person to see what instructions or coaching Rory was given to determine how she was measuring up to that.

Edited January 8, 2015 by takalotti

[Guest]

I'm with you. Everyone on the show made it seem like Mitchum was eville (like the frooits of the deville) for his review of Rory. He wasn't, but he was a shitty supervisor. The basic rule of thumb for any good supervisor is that there should never be any surprises in a review. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed, you address it. You don't wait for a review to do that. During the review you can discuss whether or not the person made adjustments based on the regular feedback, or if more adjustments are necessary.

I know there was the little throw away line about him not being around much, but that doesn't excuse him. If he wasn't around, someone else was Rory's next in line supervisor. It would be Mitchum's responsibility to touch base with that person to see what instructions or coaching Rory was given to determine how she was measuring up to that.

I don't disagree that he was a poor supervisor, but I think that was due to it not being something he usually does. I think he "took Rory on" so to speak only because of her relationship with Logan. Mentoring young aspiring journalists was probably not something he did regularly.

 

I like Digger too, and think he was probably the best overall match for Lorelai. But I understood why she had to end it when he was suing her father.

[readster]

I don't disagree that he was a poor supervisor, but I think that was due to it not being something he usually does. I think he "took Rory on" so to speak only because of her relationship with Logan. Mentoring young aspiring journalists was probably not something he did regularly.

 

I like Digger too, and think he was probably the best overall match for Lorelai. But I understood why she had to end it when he was suing her father.

 

 Also, I hated it when Mitchum would just swoop in, state what he wanted or believed in and then just left again. Talk about micromanaging from hell. I'm with everyone on Digger too, liked him until the final two appearance from the suing, which I understood to then turning him into the crazy stalker. What really put Digger in good perspective was he was the anti-Christopher. He wasn't a fan of his parents raising him but he decided to use it to his success. Got rolled up in the business, had his own place and never tried to be like his dad. Sadly, much like Strobe, Digger's father had all these plans for him and when he didn't want to take over the business and be his own man. His father froze him out. Which in a way was the opposite of Strobe, since he blamed Lorelei and later Rory the reason why Christopher dropped out of school and went from job to job for over 15 years before he landed his consulting job. I also found it funny that Digger's nickname was a joke since he wasn't a gold digger because he worked his way through everything but his parents kept giving him money for things which he took to help out with school and housing. Because you know, in upper first class that is a no no to just use your money for the basics instead of the rich life. 

[amensisterfriend]

That was another interesting thing that Jason and Lorelai had in common IMO---both rebelling against their repressive upper class lifestyles while still, in ways both positive and borderline hypocritical, somehow remaining a part of it. If Jason had been played by David Sutcliffe, who you guys know I think LG had all sorts of glowing, happy romantic connection and chemistry with, I might not hold the UO that I wish she had ended the series single :) 

[Betweenyouandme]

Digger just got on my nerves. He was fine of paper, but not someone I could date.

I love Rory. She's wonderful all around, to me. She reminds me in a lot of ways of Taylor Swift. In the first couple episodes she reminds me of Kristen Stewart in Panic Room

Edited January 8, 2015 by Betweenyouandme

[txhorns79]

Digger just got on my nerves. He was fine of paper, but not someone I could date.

 

Digger worked with Lorelai, but like Lorelai's quirks, Digger's quirks would bug me in real life. 

 

That was another interesting thing that Jason and Lorelai had in common IMO---both rebelling against their repressive upper class lifestyles while still, in ways both positive and borderline hypocritical, somehow remaining a part of it

 

I think you had what, four characters rebelling at various times against their particular repressive lifestyles?  I am thinking Lorelai, Lane, Digger and Logan.  I suppose you could also say Rory was rebelling against her lifestyle (or at least her mother) when she moved into the Gilmore mansion.   

[readster]

Digger worked with Lorelai, but like Lorelai's quirks, Digger's quirks would bug me in real life. 

 

I think you had what, four characters rebelling at various times against their particular repressive lifestyles?  I am thinking Lorelai, Lane, Digger and Logan.  I suppose you could also say Rory was rebelling against her lifestyle (or at least her mother) when she moved into the Gilmore mansion.   

 

 Which is very funny if you think about it. Because out of their respective parents: Richard said the real reason he didn't marry Pennilyn was not only because of love but that Trix was set on the families together like she was with Richard's father. Mrs. Kim went against her up bringing which was conservative Buddhist to become a die hard Christian and doing it to the extremes while her own mother was very quiet in her religion. Digger/Jason admitted his own father didn't want to do the family business when he was first younger but then went to the extreme with it and Logan's parents and grand parents were like him not wanting to grow up and then life happened and they had to. Funny how life turns out.

Edited January 8, 2015 by readster

[JayInChicago]

I love Digger. Out of all the season 4 episodes, I think I like Ted Koppel's Big Night Out and The Nanny and the Professor best. i love especially how Jason impresses L by getting a dinner invite from a very reluctant Emily. That whole scene is really well acted. And for whatever reason, I love the grocery store scene, though I hate that Lorelai punches someone's time card in. She can be really juvenile. 

[amensisterfriend]

though I hate that Lorelai punches someone's time card in. She can be really juvenile.

 

I actually don't like Ted Koppel's Big Night Out much (I'm pretty sure that's unpopular!), and part of the problem is that I just CAN'T with Lorelai in this episode! She's so insufferably bratty about the restaurant Jason was all excited about taking her to that I'm always a little surprised he doesn't just end the date before they even get to the grocery store. 

[readster]

I actually don't like Ted Koppel's Big Night Out much (I'm pretty sure that's unpopular!), and part of the problem is that I just CAN'T with Lorelai in this episode! She's so insufferably bratty about the restaurant Jason was all excited about taking her to that I'm always a little surprised he doesn't just end the date before they even get to the grocery store. 

 

  Yeah, I mean Jason had all this plan, it was a nice place and Lorelei rather go to Burger King and the time card thing was really mean. I've seen people lose their jobs because their time cards showed they clocked in 1 minute early and then clocked out on time. Where the supervisor's response is: "You didn't earn that minute of pay, you just came in the door."

[Taryn74]

TKBNO is one of those eps where I focus on the part that I LOVE (the tailgating) and block out the part that I HATE (the entire date).  It's much like ADFKT in that way.

[solotrek]

I actually don't like Ted Koppel's Big Night Out much (I'm pretty sure that's unpopular!), and part of the problem is that I just CAN'T with Lorelai in this episode! She's so insufferably bratty about the restaurant Jason was all excited about taking her to that I'm always a little surprised he doesn't just end the date before they even get to the grocery store.

 

I hate how bratty Lorelei is in this episode. If I got such an exclusive table at a restaurant like that and ended up losing it because my date basically wanted to eat stuff from a grocery store, I might re-evaluate things.  I also hate Emily's breakdown at the tailgate.  For a woman who is all about "procedure" and doing things "properly", she sure throws a lot of embarrassing fits in public.

 

So since I dislike the two major plot points, I'm not a fan of this episode.

 

However, I do like the scene where Rory calls Lorelei in the middle of the date. Alexis Bledel doesn't really do emotions well, but she can sure mine humor. Her tone from the beginning to the end always makes me laugh.

 

LORELAI: Hello?

RORY: So how was it?

LORELAI: It's still going on.

RORY: Really, how dirty.

LORELAI: We're at the West Hills market drinking booze out of paper cups.

RORY: Really, how pathetic.

LORELAI: He made sure I got my potato chips.

RORY: Really, how confusing.

 

[ddiced35]

I actually don't like Ted Koppel's Big Night Out much (I'm pretty sure that's unpopular!), and part of the problem is that I just CAN'T with Lorelai in this episode! She's so insufferably bratty about the restaurant Jason was all excited about taking her to that I'm always a little surprised he doesn't just end the date before they even get to the grocery store.

 

 

I feel like my opinion on this is unpopular because I was with Lorelai about the private room in the restaurant. I would've felt totally awkward and missed the energy of the rest of the restaurant. Plus, being just the two of you, that's a lot of pressure for a first date. At least if you're in the main restaurant area, if there's a lull in the conversation, you can find something to talk about regarding someone or something going on around you.

[Guest]

I wouldn't have chosen the private room, but once he went to the trouble to getting it, she should have just gone with it.  She didn't think it was "fun" but is a drivethru that much more fun?

[readster]

I wouldn't have chosen the private room, but once he went to the trouble to getting it, she should have just gone with it.  She didn't think it was "fun" but is a drivethru that much more fun?

 

 Keep in mind once Lorelei started owning the Dragonfly and saw how much work and money were a factor. She started clipping coupons, not eating out as much and almost never reading her magazines. In which Rory brought up she was never like that. Something I really got about Lorelei even though she lived in a tool shed at 17 with Rory. Then getting a house after becoming manager at the Independence. She ended up in a very comfortable zone where she choose to buy, spend and just enjoy life a little too much. Then when she had to really worry about budgets and her own money making it a reality. She got a culture shock on spending, especially after Trix let her have it about owning a business. Lorelei might not have enjoyed high life but she was too comfortable with living fast and free.

[junienmomo]

 Keep in mind once Lorelei started owning the Dragonfly and saw how much work and money were a factor. She started clipping coupons, not eating out as much and almost never reading her magazines. In which Rory brought up she was never like that. 

 

Given that Lorelai left the wealth before she was taught to manage money, she exhibits all the signs of one classic poor person stereotype - when they didn't have money, they couldn't save. When they finally got money, they didn't save because they didn't teach themselves the habit.

I was never too terribly impressed with Lorelai's financial sense. High consumption, no savings, luckily she had people to bail her out and magical investment returns e.g. Richard's $75k.

A couple of real disasters on Sookie's part and the Dragonfly could be history.

 

Hmm, add Sookie's tendency to overspend to Lorelai's poor financial sense and it's almost a miracle the Dragonfly was a success at all.

Edited January 9, 2015 by junienmomo

[RoyRogersMcFreely]

I enjoy Rory's recoiling from physical affection, like almost to the point of finding it endearing. Its just so funny to me. I don't know why.

[txhorns79]

I was never too terribly impressed with Lorelai's financial sense. High consumption, no savings, luckily she had people to bail her out and magical investment returns e.g. Richard's $75k.

 

You are entirely right.  For someone who must have gone through a lot of lean years, Lorelai apparently learned nothing about saving money or thrift.  You'd think she might have learned from that termite loan that she was apparently one big emergency from bankruptcy and started saving up.  Instead, nothing really changed for she or Rory.   

[amensisterfriend]

Heh---yeah, as much as I respect the show's willingness to take on issues of money and socioeconomic class, they did it so poorly that at times I almost wished they hadn't bothered. Every lazy stereotype about the wealthy and their interactions with those 'beneath them' was so painfully exaggerated----AS-P seemed to live in early 1900s England, not 2000s America :) (Which is not to say that differences in class and financial status don't still exist, of course, or even that there aren't still a lot of Emily-esque snobs around---but it was all just so overdone, and why was nearly EVERY wealthy family so awful in all the same ways?!) Even worse was the show's feeble attempts to pretend once or twice a season that Rory and Lorelai were grappling with major financial worries and woes. 'Cause, like, they're so part of the struggling middle class...except that many of their outfits cost more than my first car, they buy tons of whatever they want at any given time with no apparent worries about paying the bills, and they have Richard, Emily and at various times even Trix, Christopher and Logan willing and eager to toss unlimited amounts of money their way. Even Luke turned out to have, like, at least 25 grand laying around to 'lend' to Lorelai when the termites were devouring their home. My new dream is to one day be as 'middle class' as AS-P's version of it :)    

Edited January 10, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[readster]

 I also found it very funny how Taylor was able to spend Star Hollow's budget the way he did on all of his events he had, not to mention his own business, which was a marriage of his money and the town's to make it happen. For a town that couldn't afford to have both a church and a synagog be different buildings. Taylor spent money and never once was the town hurting. I mean, museums, red light cameras (that no one knew how to install), not to mention how often people said Mrs. Kim's stuff was so over priced and yet even Luke threw out his own money fixing his large window even after Taylor said he would help pay for it and Luke was like: "I have insurance and you've done enough." Even with Lane and Zach being two parents of twins with no college education or health insurance and their awesome band, they never seem to really be in tough spots at all. I would love to live in Stars Hollow, people would just give me money to fix things and i could eat all the junk food, high fat foods and never gain a pound or worry about diabetes. 

[txhorns79]

For a town that couldn't afford to have both a church and a synagogue be different buildings. Taylor spent money and never once was the town hurting.

 

At least in terms of the church and synagogue, I've seen in other small-ish towns where various religions share space in the same building.  Often, those situations are more about the size of a particular religious group, than the town's affluence. 

[readster]

At least in terms of the church and synagogue, I've seen in other small-ish towns where various religions share space in the same building.  Often, those situations are more about the size of a particular religious group, than the town's affluence. 

 

 Very true but it was like Stars Hollow never had to worry about budget problems ever. I've seen even smaller towns than that have stores close down due to over spending on other areas of the town that then were never used. Taylor had a lot of that. Outside his ice cream and soda shop, we rarely saw any of his crazy ideas ever last. I doubt he could return half the stuff he did. 

[Aloeonatable]

Gilmore Girls was filmed in Fantasyland, dontcha know ;)

[Betweenyouandme]

I like the April storyline. At the end, it gave Luke someone to love after Lorelai broke up with him. It also gave him someone to fight for when Anna was going to move April away. The thought of both April and Lorelai leaving helped him get up the balls to act. Luke always wanted to be Rory's father in a way, and he finally got pretty darn close. This storyline left Luke for someone to unconditionally love besides his "all over the place" sister and Jess who was grown up and gone. It left him someone to parent whom I could really see him getting very close to and being able to keep that bond his whole life.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Betweenyouandme