All Episodes Talk: Lorelai and Rory and the People They Love

[Guest]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

But I agree about how weird Lorelai was Team Dean. I really don't get why. He's Rory's first boyfriend and those rarely last.

Lorelei's concern over Rory not saying "I love you" after 2 months was ridiculous.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Later rewatches made me realize he was basically a tampon commercial with all those red flags. 

*dead*

[Hera]

9 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I don't think Dean is a bad guy. I don't hate him until he cheats on his wife. But I agree about how weird Lorelai was Team Dean. I really don't get why. He's Rory's first boyfriend and those rarely last. Rory and Dean really didn't have anything in common. Even Jess hadn't shown up Rory and Dean would have broken up. Lorelai knows that so why was she so invested? 

To be fair, Lorelai's life was heavily impacted by the guy she was with at 16, so that probably warped her perspective on how important teenage relationships generally end up being. She liked Dean because he was the kind of boyfriend she would have wanted for herself at that age: a nice, responsible boy who doesn't get in trouble, and who doesn't mistreat his girlfriend.

Plus, as far as we're shown, there weren't any major relationships between Christopher and Max. As a friend of mine pointed out, it's not so surprising that she got so overinvested in Dean, since she was (in season 2/3) a 33/34 year old woman who had never had a healthy adult relationship.

[SJC]

On 7/15/2023 at 7:33 PM, Chaser said:

I would be so concerned about a boyfriend who constantly needed to call her, know where she was at and she was genuinely afraid to upset.

Hard agree ! Lorelai was so odd about Dean...personally I think she had a crush on him. 🤢

[chitowngirl]

Dean and Rory was Lorelei’s own personal “do over” relationship when she was that age

[scarynikki12]

Lorelai does say she’s not specifically talking about Dean when telling Rory not to be afraid to say ‘I love you’ which I appreciate. She was definitely thrilled they got back together and preferred him to Jess but I don’t think she’d have interfered if Rory had come away from their talk realizing she wasn’t in love with Dean and needed to hold firm on being broken up. I think a part of her was definitely feeling “yes! Rory’s dating the perfect teenage boy and doing better than I did” but not so much that she tried to keep them together after the breakups or encourage the later affair. 

Looking at the series as a whole I think Rory finally told Dean she loved him because she was lonely, not ready to break up, and didn’t want to feel guilty for not being able to give him what he wanted. Without the rest of the series it plays as Rory being scared to express herself and finally finding her voice with support from Lorelai but it probably would have been better if she’d held firm, worked through the tangled emotions on her own, and then been free to crush on Jess a couple months later. 

[twoods]

My daughter started watching this show and she’s watching the episode where Rory and Lorelei were at the B and B after she ran away from Max. I hate them in that episode. They were so snobby and obnoxious in that episode towards the owner and guests. Max, you dodged a bullet.

Edited September 2, 2023 by twoods

[blueray]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:47 PM, twoods said:

My daughter started watching this show and she’s watching the episode where Rory and Lorelei were at the B and B after she ran away from Max. I hate them in that episode. They were so snobby and obnoxious in that episode towards the owner and guests. Max, you dodged a bullet.

Me too. I stopped rewatching that episode because of it. They are rude the Bed & Breakfast place.

[chessiegal]

24 minutes ago, blueray said:

Me too. I stopped rewatching that episode because of it. They are rude the Bed & Breakfast place.

That's my least favorite episode. It's okay for Lorelai to be so stubborn to go to bed hungry, but she forces her daughter to do the same. Not cool Mom.

[JustHereForFood]

I started a rewatch last year, but it's very slow, as I also watch a lot of other stuff. That's ok, this is very much a comfort show for me, so I don't have a specific timeline when I need to finish. I watch it with my mother who also likes it and always wants to watch it with me, which is great, since we don't have that many TV series that we both enjoy this much. We are just starting season 2.

Some general thoughts:

I was 12 when I first started to watch GG and I am 32 now, same as Lorelai in the first season. Still, I very much identify with Rory and it feels slightly weird that I am the same age as Lorelai. I don't have (and don't want to have) kids and the idea that I could have a teenager at this age is so surreal to me. I am kind of at the place where Rory is in the revival - not sure about my career, still living at home, etc., except that I thankfully don't have any relationship drama. In contrast, Lorelai has it very much together in the first season, she has her own house, stable job and a kid already in high school.

This is the first time that I am watching the show in English, I always watched it dubbed before. I have probably mentioned it before, Rory is one of my favorite characters from any TV show ever and one of the characters that I relate to the most and as some might have noticed, I tend to defend her a lot. Now, this is going to probably sound snobbish, but I now wonder a little if my lack of frustration with her character might be related to the fact that I've always watched the show dubbed, because, and I mean no offense to Alexis, but her voice sounds a bit, I don't know how to call it, whiny? I've had this same experience with Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I also watched dubbed first and then when I watched the original, I thought she sounded kind of whiny and I suddenly understood some of the complaints about her character. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it, I will probably get used to it in time.

Regarding season 1: I agree with the conversation above about Dean, Lorelai was acting a bit weirdly about him. I find her kind of fascinating, because as I said, in one way she has it very much together for her age, with her career and being a mother, while on the other hand she can act so immature at times. Like when Rory had her first kiss with Dean, I though she was acting so immature about it that I kind of felt a second hand embarrassment watching her.

I don't have any real experience with psychology, but one of the joys of TV is that I can analyze the characters in ways I would never dare with real people. My theory about Lorelai is that because she got pregnant so young and had to become an adult quickly, she is now sort of trying to live that lost time vicariously through Rory. The show starts when Rory is almost 16, which is when Lorelai got pregnant and her life changed overnight, so my headcannon is now that she was probably more of a "mom" in the last 15 years and now that Rory got to the age when Lorelai became an adult, she is starting to get more relaxed and trying to ensure that Rory enjoys the time she lost, as a sort of second chance. It also feels that way regarding Rory's relationship with Emily and Richard, it's like Lorelai is trying to shield her from the worst, in order to ensure that she has a better relationship with them than Lorelai did.

In general, it's very fascinating to me to watch, in addition to it being a comfort watch. I know how many people often point out how unrealistic this show can be regarding money, junk food, etc. (to be fair, many other TV shows are like that too), but when it comes to relationships between characters, I think it can be very spot on, at least I have often found parallels to my own experiences, both with Rory-Lorelai and Lorelai-Emily interactions. They don't shy away from how messy it can get, even when people love each other and both try to make the relationship work.

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Like when Rory had her first kiss with Dean, I though she was acting so immature about it that I kind of felt a second hand embarrassment watching her.

YES. I hate that scene for that reason.

[AllyB]

For some reason I was thinking about this show yesterday and I started wondering about how Lorelai would feel about Rory's potential mother in laws. If Rory married a guy who was every bit as close to his mother as Rory is to Lorelai, Lorelai would probably have an existential crisis. Especially if the mother was someone with a creative job that Rory admired and cool hobbies. And super especially if she was an older woman. Lorelai lived for Rory's friends and boyfriends being so impressed by how young and cool she was and envious of her relationship with Rory. In a lot of ways it validated her having had Rory so young. She might have missed out on a lot of her youth but she sees it as a trade off, as it gave her a special bond that made her an especially understanding, fun mother. If Rory married a man with a great relationship with his older mother, she'd be utterly invalidated.

I could imagine her being in constant manic competition to be the funnest grandma ever with the other grandma being kind of bemused by Lorelai and just getting on with being an actual great grandmother.

Edited September 5, 2023 by AllyB

[Guest]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:47 PM, twoods said:

My daughter started watching this show and she’s watching the episode where Rory and Lorelei were at the B and B after she ran away from Max. I hate them in that episode. They were so snobby and obnoxious in that episode towards the owner and guests. Max, you dodged a bullet.

Yep. They were horrible at the B&B. Then they were horrible at Harvard.  Just so much bad behavior that was supposed to be "cute."  Going into someone's dorm room? Speaking up in a class you're not in? Acting like if you told the truth at the B&B people would stalk you so you make up fake identities instead?  Making polite chit chat would be the death of you?  Plus also, if you are so hungry and don't want to eat there and are lying the whole time anyway, why not say you have plans, go out for dinner, and then return at bedtime?

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, deaja said:

if you are so hungry and don't want to eat there and are lying the whole time anyway, why not say you have plans, go out for dinner, and then return at bedtime?

I don't even know if I would call that lying.  They have plans to not eat there.  The stupid thing is that Lorelai, at least, is just as quirky. Does she not realize?

[junienmomo]

14 hours ago, Katy M said:

I don't even know if I would call that lying.  They have plans to not eat there.  The stupid thing is that Lorelai, at least, is just as quirky. Does she not realize?

The first time I saw the Dragonfly, I couldn't believe the writers created the exact same type of place. 

[andromeda331]

20 hours ago, junienmomo said:

The first time I saw the Dragonfly, I couldn't believe the writers created the exact same type of place. 

She decorated it so ugly. Especially the dining room and bedroom.

[chitowngirl]

On 9/6/2023 at 6:36 AM, junienmomo said:

The first time I saw the Dragonfly, I couldn't believe the writers created the exact same type of place. 

But, but it’s an Inn!! Not a (gasp!) Bed and Breakfast! The horror if it was!!

[BlancheDevoreaux]

And isn't there even a scene in a later season (I want to say it was after the fire but it might have been when they were looking at buying the Dragonfly) that Sookie went on a rant about the lack of a kitchen at their inn? I really feel like I remember that scene and Sookie saying you can't have a bed and breakfast with no breakfast. So, at least to Sookie, there was no difference between their place and a B&B.

[Eeksquire]

I have hit the point in my casual re-watch where Rory is in her first year of Yale and ... this time around, I'm noticing how ASP really wanted to have it both ways: Rory doing usual freshman year things (commiserating about crappy care packages!) while going back to Stars Hollow constantly (why would Lorelai even send one when Rory comes home frequently enough to do her laundry and/or Lorelai goes to Yale to help her do her laundry*?)

*Which: wtf is even up with that? Talk about unrealistic, even for the overly close GGs.

[chessiegal]

37 minutes ago, Eeksquire said:

I have hit the point in my casual re-watch where Rory is in her first year of Yale and ... this time around, I'm noticing how ASP really wanted to have it both ways: Rory doing usual freshman year things (commiserating about crappy care packages!) while going back to Stars Hollow constantly (why would Lorelai even send one when Rory comes home frequently enough to do her laundry and/or Lorelai goes to Yale to help her do her laundry*?)

*Which: wtf is even up with that? Talk about unrealistic, even for the overly close GGs.

Did you notice in Rory's First Day at Yale the host tells the newbies that their ID card works on washing machines, yet Rory takes her laundry home and Lorelai gives her quarters for the machines at Yale? Continuity was not a strong point of the show.

[andromeda331]

6 hours ago, Eeksquire said:

I have hit the point in my casual re-watch where Rory is in her first year of Yale and ... this time around, I'm noticing how ASP really wanted to have it both ways: Rory doing usual freshman year things (commiserating about crappy care packages!) while going back to Stars Hollow constantly (why would Lorelai even send one when Rory comes home frequently enough to do her laundry and/or Lorelai goes to Yale to help her do her laundry*?)

*Which: wtf is even up with that? Talk about unrealistic, even for the overly close GGs.

I always wonder if they did that on purpose for Rory to have a lackluster freshman year, show her always running home, or if they hadn't figured out how to keep the show going with Rory at Yale and Lorelai in Stars Hollow so they went with Rory in Stars Hollow all the time or Lorelai visiting Rory at Yale. How to keep them in communication. I'm really not sure which it is. Next season they really seem to learn that they can keep Rory at Yale and Lorelai at Stars Hollow and keep them communicating. It was really weird how much Rory was in Stars Hollow. Lorelai asks Luke over for movie night, even though Rory's been home enough times to have dozens of movie nights. When Rory tells Lane that her being at Yale was like having a part of Stars Hollow at Yale but Rory's been in Stars Hollow all the time plus she and Lane both go home for awhile Lane's staying with her at Yale or when they go window shopping because supposely Rory and Lorelai hadn't seen each other in such a long time, long enough for Lorelai to not even know Rory has a cold. Maybe your right about them wanting it both ways.

Rory running home a lot could have been a storyline. She's never really been on her own before and she really doesn't explore Yale. Lorelai has to convince her to leave her room and check out the party in her own dorm room.  

Rory staying at Yale a long time trying to get a hang of being a freshmen at college and Lorelai on her own at Stars Hollow would have been interesting. She's been Rory 24/7 and now it's just her. The two of them trying to talk and missing each other could have been longer then one episode. 

[junienmomo]

2 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Rory staying at Yale a long time trying to get a hang of being a freshmen at college and Lorelai on her own at Stars Hollow would have been interesting. She's been Rory 24/7 and now it's just her. The two of them trying to talk and missing each other could have been longer then one episode. 

This would have been a great idea! 
 

Lorelai would suddenly go "all Emily" on her, leaving voice messages like Emily does, then thinking Rory is avoiding her when she's simply overwhelmed with college stuff. 
Lorelai throws herself into SH activities, blowing Taylor out of the water with ideas.

We'd have to throw in an earlier hookup with Luke as well, to satisfy my LL loving heart.

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, junienmomo said:

This would have been a great idea! 
 

Lorelai would suddenly go "all Emily" on her, leaving voice messages like Emily does, then thinking Rory is avoiding her when she's simply overwhelmed with college stuff. 
Lorelai throws herself into SH activities, blowing Taylor out of the water with ideas.

We'd have to throw in an earlier hookup with Luke as well, to satisfy my LL loving heart.

All of those would have been great to see. I can see Lorelai doing all of those things.

[Guest]

On 9/9/2023 at 6:10 PM, BlancheDevoreaux said:

And isn't there even a scene in a later season (I want to say it was after the fire but it might have been when they were looking at buying the Dragonfly) that Sookie went on a rant about the lack of a kitchen at their inn? I really feel like I remember that scene and Sookie saying you can't have a bed and breakfast with no breakfast. So, at least to Sookie, there was no difference between their place and a B&B.

I think you're thinking of the scene after Independence burned down - where they said they couldn't operate it like a B&B because the kitchen had burned.

On 9/6/2023 at 6:36 AM, junienmomo said:

The first time I saw the Dragonfly, I couldn't believe the writers created the exact same type of place. 

And then Lorelei was so horrified by the quality of books left behind by the guests. It was like she always judged what she really deep down was a part of - whether that was society or small town life.

[Kiki777]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:10 PM, chessiegal said:

Did you notice in Rory's First Day at Yale the host tells the newbies that their ID card works on washing machines, yet Rory takes her laundry home and Lorelai gives her quarters for the machines at Yale? Continuity was not a strong point of the show.

Wow, in all my rewatches, I never caught that - do colleges really do that IRL? I went in the 90s and had to hoard quarters.  It would have been a fun running joke if they’d needed quarters, I can see Paris being all on top of that lol

[chessiegal]

3 hours ago, Kiki777 said:

Wow, in all my rewatches, I never caught that - do colleges really do that IRL? I went in the 90s and had to hoard quarters.  It would have been a fun running joke if they’d needed quarters, I can see Paris being all on top of that lol

Other than Rory's first day at Yale, we never hear about the id cards running the washing machines. After that, it is Rory needing quarters for laundry or she takes it home.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Other than Rory's first day at Yale, we never hear about the id cards running the washing machines. After that, it is Rory needing quarters for laundry or she takes it home.

There's a deleted scene where there is an uprising of students who hate having to use their cards for the laundry (I don't know why, make up your own ridiculousness) and they destroy the whole fleet of washers and dryers and new ones need to be installed.

[chitowngirl]

I really miss having Gilmore Girls on the air someplace. I know it’s streaming, but that’s not the same as just turning on the TV and seeing where we are in the series…

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

I really miss having Gilmore Girls on the air someplace. I know it’s streaming, but that’s not the same as just turning on the TV and seeing where we are in the series…

Agreed. I emailed COZI TV because it's seems right up their alley. What else can I do?

[chessiegal]

GG was perfect on UPtv. How many hours of Reba do we need? Did UPtv ever offer an explanation on why they dropped GG?

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

GG was perfect on UPtv. How many hours of Reba do we need? Did UPtv ever offer an explanation on why they dropped GG?

Maybe the contract ran out? 🤷‍♀️ I loved when they were on UP!

[peacheslatour]

4 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Maybe the contract ran out? 🤷‍♀️ I loved when they were on UP!

UP has gotten kind of religious. 

 

[chitowngirl]

I was always amused that UPTv bleeped out every “Hell” and “Damn”, but Digger saying he “wants to piss his dad off” somehow made it through! 😆

[chessiegal]

I watch Monk on Hallmark Mystery and COZI. The pearl clutchers at Hallmark bleep out a lot more than COZI does.

[peacheslatour]

40 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I watch Monk on Hallmark Mystery and COZI. The pearl clutchers at Hallmark bleep out a lot more than COZI does.

That's another reason I'd rather it come to COZI. It was on Freeform my DH says but I didn't watch it back then.

[andromeda331]

On 5/14/2024 at 9:47 AM, chessiegal said:

GG was perfect on UPtv. How many hours of Reba do we need? Did UPtv ever offer an explanation on why they dropped GG?

Not to mention challenges. It's on Hallmark and CMT.