Luke and April

[elang4]

Ok I know this might not actually be the most popular opinion but I loved seeing Luke and April together.

I didn't like how it screwed up everything between him and Lorelai but I did enjoy him trying to bond with his long lost daughter. From starting off sat on a bench in the park all awkward with Luke having no clue what to do with a 12 year old to them slowly bonding and forming a real loving father/daughter relationship. I always thought Luke would be a great dad and he really proved that. Again, I didn't like it being the catalyst to Luke and Lorelai breaking up because he wouldn't let her in but his relationship with April I really liked. :)

I know this isn't the most popular opinion but I would still love to hear what you think so please feel free to let me know, positive or negative! :)

[RachelKM]

I didn't like how Luke shut Lorelei out regarding April and I don't care for late season kid additions generally.  But I actually enjoyed Season 7 April and liked Luke and April's relationship vis-a-vis each other and apart from the impact April's addition had on the Luke and Lorelei relationship.

Edited August 30, 2016 by RachelKM

[elang4]

3 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

I didn't like how Luke shut Lorelei out regarding April and I don't care for late season kid additions generally.  But I actually enjoyed Season 7 April and liked Luke and April's relationship vis-a-vis each other and apart from the impact April's addition had on the Luke and Lorelei.

Yeah I enjoyed season 7 April. She was a bit older and it was nice to see her mature a bit. :)

[CJRocks]

I always liked April's character. She's smart and spunky. She also had nothing to do with the schism between Luke and Lorelai. She made it obvious that she liked and approved of Lorelai and Rory, especially after the birthday party. It was all in Luke's head to keep April and Lorelai apart, fueled by his fear that Anna would keep him from his daughter because of his relationship with Lorelai and Anna not wanting her in April's life. Anna acted like Luke was this deadbeat dad, when she was the one who kept him from his daughter all those years. I was very happy to see Luke stand up to her and fight her for his parental rights.

[TimetravellingBW]

I'm neutral on April herself, she was endearing in a dorky, gutsy way and entertaining when she was around, but she felt like more of a caricature (wise-beyond-her-years-child-genius + bumbling dad) than a character with much depth.  The problem was she was a plot point first and character second. But I blame the writers rather than her for the ridiculous Luke/Lorelai split.

The relationship development between April and Luke was sweet, but I think they overplayed how inexperienced and awkward he was with her. We'd already had a more satisfying, better-written arc about Luke adapting to being a guardian-type figure to a sudden relative with Luke/Jess. (I was rewatching "Super Cool Party People" and the conversation with Lorelai saying she could help with shopping/planning a party for April and Luke refusing; it just felt like "hey haven't we had this conversation before?" Oh yeah, way back in S2 when Luke initially rebuffs her advice about taking Jess on then realizing he needs her help. Find a new relationship beat writers). 

Imo, at that point in the show it would have been a hundred times more interesting for L/L to deal with starting their own family, have Luke face up to his fear of "jam hands" and Lorelai adapt to it no longer being just her and Rory. I think AS-P was just too scared to change the status quo, but it would have been preferable to some of the other later seasons twists they went for. (Or if nothing else, I'd have preferred more screentime/stories of Luke being a father figure to Rory or hell, even Lane, than a random, recurring character that popped up out of nowhere). 

Edited August 30, 2016 by TimetravellingBW

[lulu1960]

I didn't have an issue with the character of April. I had the issue of how they used her to cause the unnecessary friction. Which to be quite honest wasn't her fault. I also enjoyed watching Luke grow in his father role. I just wish TPTB didn't feel the need for it to be being a father verses being a fiancee.

[chessiegal]

It's too bad that the backdoor Pilot "Here Comes the Son" didn't get picked up, because then Sherilyn Finn would have been on another show and maybe there would have been no April? But I guess if they were hell bent on the April story any actress would do. It took IMBD for me to realize Drella was also Miss Celone. Amy sure does like to recycle actors.

[Anela]

I don't mind April. I think they also overdid it a bit, but it's bugged me that they made her mother so much like Lorelai - too much. Maybe it was partly to establish  a pattern of attraction for Luke. 

I liked seeing him adapt to becoming a father. 

[FictionLover]

3 hours ago, Anela said:

I don't mind April. I think they also overdid it a bit, but it's bugged me that they made her mother so much like Lorelai - too much. Maybe it was partly to establish  a pattern of attraction for Luke. 

I liked seeing him adapt to becoming a father. 

When I first watched the show I was trying to figure out why Luke was being so distance to Lorelai. When they introduced Anna I was afraid that Luke didn't want Lorelai to meet her because Anna was "the one that got away" and Lorelai was her replacement .

[Anela]

8 minutes ago, FictionLover said:

When I first watched the show I was trying to figure out why Luke was being so distance to Lorelai. When they introduced Anna I was afraid that Luke didn't want Lorelai to meet her because Anna was "the one that got away" and Lorelai was her replacement .

Rachel was first made out to be "the one that got away" at first, but I liked that she was her own person - independent, very pretty, but not a clone of Lorelai. Anna made out that he was never one for long-term relationships, but that's all we ever saw with him, so she really didn't know him at all. 

[Smad]

On 1.9.2016 at 0:16 AM, FictionLover said:

When I first watched the show I was trying to figure out why Luke was being so distance to Lorelai. When they introduced Anna I was afraid that Luke didn't want Lorelai to meet her because Anna was "the one that got away" and Lorelai was her replacement .

Which would have been a fine story to tell...if it had been Rachel. If Rachel hadn't shown up in S1 but been mentioned (like she was in CI) and then popped up in S6 with a kid in tow it might have been a workable story. Instead we get this woman who has never been mentioned and who doesn't really fit into the timeline of Luke's past. not with what we know about him and Rachel.

April herself I'm neutral on. As long as they don't have the actress act hysterical. Nails on a chalkboard painful.

[TimetravellingBW]

On 9/1/2016 at 10:27 AM, Anela said:

Rachel was first made out to be "the one that got away" at first, but I liked that she was her own person - independent, very pretty, but not a clone of Lorelai. Anna made out that he was never one for long-term relationships, but that's all we ever saw with him, so she really didn't know him at all. 

The different in writing for Rachel vs. Anna always illustrated exactly how far the show had fallen imo.  Rachel was Lorelai's romantic rival for Luke (even if Lorelai was only just realizing her feelings for him) but she was still written as a nice and fairly layered character who had similarities to Lorelai but was distinctly different, she and Lorelai became friends, Lorelai was a huge support for her in moving back to SH and Rachel was entirely gracious and not bitter about Luke and Lorelai's developing feelings. But Anna was created soley to drive a wedge between Luke and Lorelai, was framed as some weird, alternative version of Lorelai (cool, quirky but overprotective single mother), was horrible enough to hide the existence of Luke's daughter from him for years, unreasonable in not letting Lorelai spend time with April and basically just becomes the bitter, selfish plot point to cause drama. 

1 hour ago, Smad said:

Which would have been a fine story to tell...if it had been Rachel. If Rachel hadn't shown up in S1 but been mentioned (like she was in CI) and then popped up in S6 with a kid in tow it might have been a workable story. Instead we get this woman who has never been mentioned and who doesn't really fit into the timeline of Luke's past. not with what we know about him and Rachel.

April herself I'm neutral on. As long as they don't have the actress act hysterical. Nails on a chalkboard painful.

The problem with Rachel popping up with a kid, is that she seemed like a decent enough person to actually tell Luke about his kid and knew Luke well enough to realize he'd want to be involved. Her character would have to be totally twisted and retconned to fit Anna's role, so as a Rachel fan I'm glad they didn't do that. But it's true that Anna didn't fit Luke's backstory: He and Rachel were on/off for years  - it's kind of implied she was a Stars Hollow native too  - including around the time of April's conception. And Luke isn't the type to casually date, he either has great, all-in, serious, soulmate type relationships - Rachel, Nicole, Lorelai - or will just stay single. He won't date for the sake of it. So Anna and April just didn't fit. 

Edited September 2, 2016 by TimetravellingBW

[CJRocks]

I've always been bugged by something about Anna. Wasn't she supposed to be from Stars Hollow? When the truth about April first comes out, don't the other townies talk about her and how pretty she was? Like she grew up there? Then all of a sudden, she has to move to New Mexico, and she talks about growing up THERE? Am I mixed up, or was that a continuity issue?

[Smad]

Just now, TimetravellingBW said:

The problem with Rachel popping up with a kid, is that she seemed like a decent enough person to actually tell Luke about his kid and knew Luke well enough to realize he'd want to be involved. Her character would have to be totally twisted and retconned to fit Anna's role, so as a Rachel fan I'm glad they didn't do that. But it's true that Anna didn't fit Luke's backstory: He and Rachel were on/off for years  - it's kind of implied she was a Stars Hollow native too  - including around the time of April's conception. And Luke isn't the type to casually date, he either has great, all-in, serious, soulmate type relationships - Rachel, Nicole, Lorelai - or will just stay single. He won't date for the sake of it. So Anna and April just didn't fit. 

 

Yes it doesn't fit Rachel's character to do something like this. But you are basing this on the S1 Rachel that we have met. In my scenario we would have never met her and only heard about her back in S1. So by 6 they could have tweaked the character a bit to make her different from the Rachel that we acually met.

I agree that Anna doesn't fit, in so many ways. The timeframe when L/A supposedly dated makes no sense to me. We know from CI that Rachel had last broken up with Luke 5 years prior to that. And we also know they had an on again/off again thing going on since probably high school. I can't see the Luke that I know dating another woman in between. Like you said, he either goes all in with his feelings or he stays single.

[Viqutorious]

I disagree that Luke was not the type to date casually. He was in his late 30's-40's and acted embarrassed and refused to refer to Nicole as his girlfriend when Jess teased him. 

I agree that the Anna story timeline didn't make sense, but then again the timeline and continuity of this show bounces all over the place.

I'm not an April fan, they tried too hard with that plot, it felt forced.

[shron17]

9 hours ago, CJRocks said:

I've always been bugged by something about Anna. Wasn't she supposed to be from Stars Hollow? When the truth about April first comes out, don't the other townies talk about her and how pretty she was? Like she grew up there? Then all of a sudden, she has to move to New Mexico, and she talks about growing up THERE? Am I mixed up, or was that a continuity issue?

That bugged me too.  I blame it on the season 7 writers.  Continuity is always an issue but that seemed like a pretty big shift.