Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 1

[LeafontheWind]

1 hour ago, ChlcGirl said:

I also found the Secret Bar to be one of the few things I actually enjoyed, especially the shout out to The Wire, but I'm a bit confused about what happened to Casey's, site of Chris & Jackson's man-date and Lorelai's tequila-fueled karaoke.  Continuity, Amy, is your friend.

Those things happened in season 7, so we are supposed to forget all about them. Insert eye roll emoji here...

[Dean Learner]

Quote

I kept wondering, did he and Alexis have any tiny blue-eyed babies yet? Must google.

Pete and Rory's son was born last fall.

Link

[ChlcGirl]

Yes!  They did have a baby but I don't think they've ever released pictures, name or even sex lol.

ETA:  a son!  Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I know he's odd, but he is Alexis's husband and it would have been terribly fun.  After all, Lauren's paramour made the cut! ?

And yeah. Patterson's toupe was dreadful.  Better to just let yourself be seen bald than to put that thing on your head.  It isn't like we all don't know your age.

Edited November 27, 2016 by ChlcGirl

[Eyes High]

Emily's arc was perfect. I never knew how much I wanted Emily to tell the DAR to get bent and end up a whaling museum docent in Nantucket, but I got it, and it was glorious. I also liked the Berta storyline, in that Emily found a housekeeper she treated with warmth and kindness (which she should have been doing all along instead of terrorizing them as she did in the original series, but better late than never, I guess). There was something really healing about Emily, who griped about her domestic help's food preparation for years, saying that she didn't know what Berta's dishes were but that they were delicious.

I also liked Luke and Lorelai together. They didn't seem as uneasy or as awkward with each other as they seemed when they were together in the original series. I quite liked their vibe.

I was pleased at how Dean got perhaps the happiest ending of any of Rory's suitors: happily married to a "saintly" wife with a houseful of kids. I mean, admittedly he lives in Scranton, but still. Good for him.

As for Rory...oh, Rory. For all of her undeniably terrible choices and my initial dismay that she wound up repeating the Lorelai/Christopher pattern, I think upon greater reflection I was encouraged by Fall: Rory launched on a new creative venture that truly inspired her (and of course like other posters I had to laugh at self-absorbed Rory being "inspired" by talking about herself and Lorelai), she finally gave Logan the boot, she had a very sweet meeting with Dean, and she got the courage to ask Christopher some questions she had probably wanted to ask for a long time. As superficially lousy as her situation is of the end of the revival--single, stuck in Stars Hollow, broke, and pregnant by Logan--I feel optimistic about her prospects.

I was sad to see Paris/Doyle split, but I have to say I wasn't surprised. I always had my doubts about Paris being able to hack it in a long-term relationship. Besides, the meta humour about Doyle becoming a successful Hollywood screenwriter was pretty good. Didn't Danny Strong's character on Mad Men become a Hollywood bigshot, too?

ASP's writing for Paris was great. Of course Paris would be amazingly successful in her field--she casually mentioned donating $100,000.00 to Chilton in Spring--and still feel like a horrible failure. Her meltdown over feeling the need to prove herself to assholes she went to high school with was too real. 

There was some great meta humour with Dean, too. Dean has three boys (and a girl on the way) and is married to Jenny. Jared Padalecki has two boys and is married to Genevieve Cortese. 

Edited November 27, 2016 by Eyes High

[PamelaMaeSnap]

13 hours ago, Daisy said:

It did hurt that after Dean + Lindsey that she was good with being the other woman again.

In fact -- and this has probably been mentioned in this thread more than once, so apologies if I'm beating a dead horse -- I don't think Rory ever considered herself to BE "the other woman." CERTAINLY not with Dean and Lindsay and probably not even with Logan and Odette. She's RORY dammit.  SHE is the main woman. That wife? That fiancee? They are the other women, the interlopers.

Also ... though it never occurred to me, the more and more I think about it now, whoever suggested higher up in this thread that in fact the original "last four words" may well have been more along the lines of "Rory? Yeah? I'm pregnant" may have hit it on the head. THAT would make so much more sense to end the series ... Luke and Lorelai are married, Rory is about to make her way in the world and maybe worried about leaving her mom untethered, but now there's a baby on the way to keep her company (or be "the other woman" in Lorelai's life). ASP said she used the same words (basically) but never necessarily said that it was the same outcome, did she?

[HeySandyStrange]

20 minutes ago, Eyes High said:

I was pleased at how Dean got perhaps the happiest ending of any of Rory's suitors: happily married to a "saintly" wife with a houseful of kids. I mean, admittedly he lives in Scranton, but still. Good for him.

Dean's happy ending was just about the best thing in the revival for me. Which probably doesn't say much for the revival lol. He got exactly what he wanted and proved you don't need to be hung up on a Gilmore Girl for the rest of your life. He needs to sit Jess, Logan, and maybe Chris down and tell them his secret .

I also looked up Scranton, PA out of curiosity and it actually looks like a nice place to raise a family. A big little town, as it were.

[whateverhappened]

I posted this in the unpopular opinions thread but think it might fit better here instead!  

Please don't hate me, but I really liked Rory's story in the revival. I didn't necessarily like Rory, but I related to what she was experiencing and agree with people who say that it makes sense given her character flaws and the life she led up until this point of the series. I don't hate her for it and I don't even hate Rory/Logan as a pairing. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about them, but I think I may believe they really do care about each other now than I ever did during the series. I know that's ridiculous to say about two people sneaking around cheating, which for the record I do not condone in any way.

I just like that their situation was messy and complex in a way I related to. They had real feelings for each other beyond just attraction, but we're not quite sure of the strength and intensity, and maybe they aren't either. During the series I never found their dynamic interesting, and now I do. I don't hate either of them even though I definitely see why most people here do. Again, I am NOT supporting that they were cheating.  I don't even think they necessarily do or should have any sort of future, even of he breaks up with the curiously named Odette. But as someone who was involved on and off with my college boyfriend long after college ended (for the record, not while we were seeing other people), their scenes clicked with me a lot more than their scenes during the original series did. Holding on to the remnants of a past love that's not quite in the past is so complicated. There's nostalgia, fear of moving on, affection based on how you felt about each other then as much as it is for the people you both are now. I could see how Rory and Logan's encounters would be comforting and reaffirming to them while also making them both feel as they seem to us, a little pitiful by now. It would be messy even if other people weren't involved, and it's awful that they are, but this time it's a mess Rory's helped create that I happened to relate to more than I expected. Same goes for the humbling she needed and mostly got with regards to her career. Her arrogant, oblivious denial were annoying, but I get it. Rory and many other people who were always told how smart they were and how they could and should do wonderful things with their lives sometimes take a while to find out that academic prowess doesn't necessarily translate to the outside world and that hard work and attitude matter significantly more than innate intelligence ever could. Once again, I didn't like Rory through most of this---just need to make that abundantly clear, lol---but I found her story more relatable and compelling than almost anything they gave her during the original series. I warned you this was unpopular!

I'm in the category of people who shipped Luke and Lorelai until they became a couple and threw myself overboard somewhere in the fifth and sixth seasons, but I liked them in this revival to the point where I have one foot tentatively placed back on that ship. It's irritating that they still don't communicate very well, it's true that their chemistry wasn't exactly sizzling yet again, and Amy Sherman-Palladino still overdoes his crankiness and her acting like she's constantly performing a one-woman standup comedy routine on a stage that no one else can see. I did see connection and real affection, though, and I don't think of them as grudgingly settling for each other as much as realizing that life in general and relationships in particular are never ideal, but there's happiness to be gleaned from them anyway. I wouldn't have especially wanted to see them become parents and so count me among the few who are glad that didn't happen. As others have snarked about, there's a depressingly high chance they'll end up the de facto guardians of Rory's kid anyway, lol.

Kelly Bishop is a treasure and I loved Emily's ultimate destination so much that I don't mind that the show was a little clumsy in getting us there. 

I always liked Dean until as late as the fifth season, so I was really gratified by how happy he is away from Stars Hollow and Rory Gilmore. 

Lorelai's phone call to Emily will go down as one of my favorite scenes of the series. 

Not to put on my tinfoil hat, but Jess got so much less screentime than I expected that I wondered if Milo and Alexis had indicated they were uncomfortable doing a lot of scenes together based on their real life past relationship. 

So I'm on the miniscule island of people who loved the revival in general. I didn't love all of it, but I never love everything about any Gilmore Girls episode. The Palladinos always seem to go a step or 10 too far, especially when it comes to the townies and their meetings and quirkfests, so I'll be skipping a lot of those scenes when I watch this again. Once I got used to the different appearances, voices and slightly darker tone, I found myself really sucked in.

These characters do sometimes suck, nearly ALL of them, and I feel like this was the first installment of Gilmore Girls to face that candidly while still giving me hope that ultimately their better sides will prevail. So for that I will always be grateful for this revival. I will never find anything redeeming about that musical sequence, though. That was astonishingly awful.   

[starri]

Another thing that really bugs me about this being ASP's grand plan for her seventh season is that they probably wouldn't have had the growth for Emily.  I would rather have seen that kind of stuff happen organically over the course of a season (or honestly, have happened a bit earlier, perhaps while she and Richard were estranged), but since it was so tied to Richard being gone, I don't know that she would have been able to make the story work.  Which means she would have needed to kill him off while Edward Hermann was still very much alive.

[stagmania]

10 hours ago, tarotx said:

If you really loved the show, I think you will adore the Revival so don't let our sadness or disappointment make you not watch it.

Most of my diehard fan friends (I'm more of a casual watcher) hated it and wish they hadn't watched it. It tarnished the original for them. So I wouldn't go making promises!

As a few have said above, it is kind of hilarious that AS-P's grand plan was the laziest possible ode to herself-Rory writes the show and repeats Lorelai's history. Imagine if she had gotten the chance to end the show this way in season 7 when Rory was much younger. What a slap in the face that would've been.

[starri]

How fucking arrogant of Rory to look down her nose at her life going down a path that didn't end with her being Christiane Amanpour 2.0.  The teaching thing was a great idea.  She'd be great at it, and if she really wants to keep writing, she'd probably have time.

I mean, did anyone around her get the life they thought they were going to?  Did she really think a ten-year-old Lorelai dreamed of being 16 with a newborn living in a shed?  But she found a way to thrive at it anyway.

[kieyra]

15 minutes ago, starri said:

How fucking arrogant of Rory to look down her nose at her life going down a path that didn't end with her being Christiane Amanpour 2.0.  The teaching thing was a great idea.  She'd be great at it, and if she really wants to keep writing, she'd probably have time.

I mean, did anyone around her get the life they thought they were going to?  Did she really think a ten-year-old Lorelai dreamed of being 16 with a newborn living in a shed?  But she found a way to thrive at it anyway.

I'm not sure it's arrogance not to follow a path you don't feel an affinity for (teaching or working at what sounded like a clickbait website). 

[starri]

Just now, kieyra said:

I'm not sure it's arrogance not to follow a path you don't feel an affinity for (teaching or working at what sounded like a clickbait website). 

Yet she had affinity for a path, but she was failing at it.

[txhorns79]

Quote

Yet she had affinity for a path, but she was failing at it.

I think it was more flailing than failing.  She seemed to have had some success, just not anything that led to something with more security.  I would agree though that if your chosen career is not working out, you should be open to hearing other options.  It's not arrogance to refuse a potential career path, but if you don't have options, you really need to think about whether your refusal of an opportunity is a wise one.   

[MaiSoCalled]

41 minutes ago, kieyra said:

I'm not sure it's arrogance not to follow a path you don't feel an affinity for (teaching or working at what sounded like a clickbait website). 

I think Rory's "job" at the Stars Hollow Gazette shows that it's not about arrogance, but rather personal satisfaction. Teaching would certainly be more prestigious than running a small town newspaper, and even the clickbait website would pay better. 

Rory would be a good teacher, but I think a life of running a small town paper by day and writing books by night suits her. It doesn't scream Yale Graduate the way a job at Chilton might, but it makes sense and I think will make her happy. 

I'm another one who really enjoyed Rory's struggles in the series. It felt very real, especially with how much journalism has changed. She's the only one of her friends we saw still working in the field and it wasn't easy. She struggled and lied to herself and felt generally lost. The character needed that. 

[2Old2BAFangirl]

Overall, I really enjoyed the revival.  There were parts I absolutely hated but, at the end of two viewings, I liked it.

IMO, every scene they had referencing Richard felt so genuine.  Like the actual actresses really felt his loss.  I teared up every time.  Lorelai's story in Fall had me full on crying.  I missed Richard although I don't know what the whole revival would've been based on if he hadn't passed away.

I thought it was wonderful to see all the cameos. I was never a fan of Jason, but his appearance at the funeral and his exchange with Lorelai was perfect. Checking in with all the townies was great, even Taylor and too much Kirk didn't bother me. The actors from Parenthood showing up in small roles made me smile.  And even Miss Celine was a cute throwback to me.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I missed Sookie.  I ended up really disliking her character toward the end of the series, so it struck me that I missed her being around.  Maybe my post is better off in the UO thread, but I was happy to see MM and thought the exchange with Sookie and Lorelai was lovely.

Rory's exes - all looked wonderful.  JP looked incredible and as someone who always liked Dean, I was happy to see his life turned out so well and he was so over Rory.  MV looked good and made me like Jess but I hated the lingering look at Rory in the end. There were absolutely no sparks between them, on either end IMO, so the look made no sense to me. The chemistry or ease they once had with each other is gone.  He didn't even get a hug although she said it had been 4 years since they'd last seen each other.  And MC was Logan. No difference to me from the end of the series, it felt like he never skipped anytime with that character.  No sign of Cary Agos anywhere. 

I'll have to post again on the main characters, this is already too long.  I just wanted to get a few observations out there, no one to talk with about it yet!!  

I will say I hated the waste of almost 20 minutes on that horrible musical and talking about that horrible musical!  The second viewing I was able to FF through, much better!!  Why on earth did they think that would be even close to entertaining?  It was just the worst, IMO.  

Edited November 27, 2016 by 2Old2BAFangirl
Spelling typos, stupid phone!

[nolieblue]

25 minutes ago, MaiSoCalled said:

I think Rory's "job" at the Stars Hollow Gazette shows that it's not about arrogance, but rather personal satisfaction. Teaching would certainly be more prestigious than running a small town newspaper, and even the clickbait website would pay better. 

Rory would be a good teacher, but I think a life of running a small town paper by day and writing books by night suits her. It doesn't scream Yale Graduate the way a job at Chilton might, but it makes sense and I think will make her happy. 

I'm another one who really enjoyed Rory's struggles in the series. It felt very real, especially with how much journalism has changed. She's the only one of her friends we saw still working in the field and it wasn't easy. She struggled and lied to herself and felt generally lost. The character needed that. 

I always thought Rory's ending would be writing about Stars Hollow in some way so this ending, at least career-wise, worked really well for me. But I hated her having an affair with Logan and becoming pregnant, especially when we know this is what ASP had plannec for her in her 10 years ago. Yes, I get "circle of life" blah blah blah, but one of the underlying themes of the series was that Lorelai wanted more for Rory. I would think that Lorelai would be heartbroken at this outcome.

[Artsda]

Did Laura work out a deal for all her Parenthood people to get cameos? Mae, Jason & Peter. Was their more?

Rory ranted to Jess how she is so broke, she didn't have a car and let her license expire didn't she? Then in the next scene she shows up at the cemetery in the same car Richard&Emily bought her? 

[shron17]

19 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Rory ranted to Jess how she is so broke, she didn't have a car and let her license expire didn't she?

She drove Lorelai to her house in it at the start of Winter.  When did Lorelai become such a wimp that she rushes from car to house to get out of the snow?

2 hours ago, stagmania said:

Most of my diehard fan friends (I'm more of a casual watcher) hated it and wish they hadn't watched it.

But all diehard fans don't love the show--many seem to take more delight in complaining about it.  Which is all well and good.  But what the OP said was if you really love the show you will adore the revival.  I would agree.

Edited November 27, 2016 by shron17

[LegalParrot81]

Over all, this revival was kind of a disappointment, but there was also some very sweet moments, Gilmorish (new word) moments, etc.  Winter was good, Spring okay, Summer sucked, and Fall was the most emotional one for me.

When Lorelai called Emily to tell her about her 13th birthday, it brought tears.  I could see Richard standing there looming over a young Lorelai trying to look stern and not knowing how to deal with his daughter's broken heart, so he bought her the pretzel.  I also choked up when Rory was walking through the Gilmore house and hearing and seeing the memories.  When she opened the study door, and we got a brief glimpse of Richard in his chair, there was a moment.  I thought that was very well done. I also teared up a little when Emily reached out with her kiss to Richard's new portrait.  There was truly a huge hole without Edward Herrmann, but his presence was threaded throughout.

I was never a big Rory fan and this just reinforced that.  For me, she's always come off as self-centered and entitled and these 4 shows did nothing to dispel that.  In reality, she and Logan deserve each other.  Neither one thinks about the people they will hurt through their actions, but instead it's all about me, me, me.  Logan was an ass for cheating on his fiancee, but Rory was just as culpable continuing to be involved with him knowing full well he was marrying someone else.  

I love Paris and was so happy to see she hadn't grown out of her insecurities no matter how successful she'd become.  The bathroom scene with Francie was a laugh out loud moment, because it fit.  In my mind, she and Doyle will always circle back to one another.

I like adult Jess much more than the James Dean wanna be Jess from the original.  He's gotten his act together, he's successful and he's become far more empathetic, which looked very good on him.  

Glad April only showed up for a nano-second.

Finn's aged to look like a young Keith Richards.  While I thought the Life & Death Brigades sequence was fun, I didn't really think it was necessary.

Scott Patterson's rug was horrific.

I thought the cameo's by Lauren Graham's former cast mates from Parenthood was kind of gratuitous.

Lauren Graham was great, but the actor who stole this revival without a doubt was Kelly Bishop, from start to finish, every scene was golden.  

Perhaps I wouldn't have been a disappointed had this been 6 one hours episodes not run back to back instead of four 90 minutes episodes run in a row.  It felt like the Palladino's were trying to jam so much into each sequence that focus got lost.  I don't know, but it just missed the mark.

[dubbel zout]

57 minutes ago, MaiSoCalled said:

It doesn't scream Yale Graduate

What does scream Yale Graduate? Not everyone wants to be a lawyer or doctor or work on Wall Street.

Why shouldn't Rory be subject to the same ups and downs as the rest of the world? I like that she hasn't been immediately and consistently professionally successful after graduation. She decided to pursue a job in a field that's going through profound changes. She should be flailing, especially with the goals she had. I'd call major shenanigans if she had become Christiane Amanpour or a female David Carr. (He was the picture she hung at the Gazette, in case people didn't know.)

[stillshimpy]

I was really quite happy with the revival.  It turned out I really missed the weirdness that is the space between Daniel Palidino's ears, even more than Amy's, because his two episodes really delighted me.  I liked that ASP just tuned into her dance roots by presenting a lot of the relationship materials as a near ballet.   

Quote

Please don't hate me, but I really liked Rory's story in the revival. I didn't necessarily like Rory, but I related to what she was experiencing and agree with people who say that it makes sense given her character flaws and the life she led up until this point of the series. I don't hate her for it and I don't even hate Rory/Logan as a pairing. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about them, but I think I may believe they really do care about each other now than I ever did during the series. I know that's ridiculous to say about two people sneaking around cheating, which for the record I do not condone in any way.

 

I loved her story and thought it was completely fitting to where ASP was taking the character.  I don't for a second think that she switched the pregnancy storyline to Rory, from Lorelai.  She set Rory up with a character who was a LOT like both her mom and her father, golden child of too much privilege, but lucked out in that Matt Czuchry grew into a stronger actor than I think they initially realized.  

Sutcliffe was also always good at playing the heartache underneath but Czuchry played the emotional strain of having to pretend to care less than he actually did, in order not to frighten Rory away.   I think ASP wanted to play with perpetuating cycles and that meant handing Rory the reins, I think.   

But man, when the stupid final four words played out, it felt like the revival had been following the election:  a lot of build-up to a wormy surprise. 

Edited November 27, 2016 by stillshimpy

[ALittleShelfish]

Speaking of Luke's new hairline... anyone else see him and wonder "Why did they make him look like Bruce Springsteen?" I mean, we'd seen him without a hat before and he had a little less hair up top ten years ago.  Luke didn't need to fake it for the sake of the revival.  

I loved his scene when Lorelai came back and he was convinced she was breaking up with him.  That was the most emotion and feeling we had gotten from him in forever. I get that he isn't a "feels" kinda character, I get that.  But it was a nice surprise that didn't really feel out out character.  

Like others, the Phone Call was beautiful.  Lauren Graham pulled that off beautifully.  I almost wondered how much of that was scripted and how much was ad libbed because it seemed just so damn authentic.  

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.  I was dreading the LDB but I was also preparing for a Rory/Logan wedding because television never works out in my favor.  Happy that wasn't the wedding featured.  It was the most Lorelai wedding it could have been.  

[Leonana]

16 hours ago, Smad said:

Well reading what people have to say I'm glad I didn't watch. This way I can remain blissfully unaware about anything post-S7. Nothing I have read so far would make it worth it to actually see the revival so I'm not going to. Thanks to all of you for all your detailed discussions.

I wish I hadn't watched. The characters ended up in a good place at the end of Season 7. ASP threw all that out the window, and ten years later they were still stuck in the end of Season 6, maturity wise. I felt like the revival was Season 6 style, and I was hoping for Season 1, which was pretty unrealistic of me.

[Guest]

On 11/26/2016 at 9:20 AM, amensisterfriend said:

You are definitely not alone. I feel the exact same way and am especially disappointed by all things Rory! 

Deaja, thanks for starting this thread! A bunch of us have been chatting in the "All Episodes..." thread about this revival as a whole. Should those posts be moved here, or should we just stop talking there and come here instead...? Thanks! 

No, it can definitely go in that thread. We had a request for a thread like this, and I thought since we have threads for all the other seasons, it would be a good fit. Feel free to use either or both. :)

[txhorns79]

Quote

Like others, the Phone Call was beautiful.  Lauren Graham pulled that off beautifully.  I almost wondered how much of that was scripted and how much was ad libbed because it seemed just so damn authentic.  

I feel like this is not a show where the actors are given much leeway to ad lib.  ASP and DP do not seem like the type to let other people tinker with their scripts.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

2 hours ago, whateverhappened said:

So I'm on the miniscule island of people who loved the revival in general

Oh, don't get me wrong ... I am SO there on that island with you.  LOVED IT.

[steff13]

2 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I feel like this is not a show where the actors are given much leeway to ad lib.  ASP and DP do not seem like the type to let other people tinker with their scripts.

I believe ASP has a reputation of insisting actors stick to the script, i.e., if the script says "cannot," you don't say "can't."  Someone who insists on the much control of the script doesn't let anyone ad lib.  

[backhometome]

SP hair was awful. Just keep the hat on dude. 

All Rory's exes looked damn good. When did Milo get such nice arms he should always wear t-shirts. JP hair looked good SPN should take note. MC got better looking with age.

Lane was underused and not at all important. I barely remember her in it for more than 2 mins. 

Alexis seemed to be uncomfortable with Milo. Interesting that she hugged Dean right away but nothing for Jess lol. Her and MC really played up the love aspect in their scenes. Especially the last one. Which made their affair story line much weirder. Like Logan clearly loved her so why marry someone else. 

If they do RJ in a second season (if there is one) then poor Alexis she just seemed to give nothing in scenes with Milo. 

[junienmomo]

13 hours ago, cuddlingcrowley said:

Ha! I find that hilarious because "especially vicious" is how I found myself describing Emily a lot during the revival. She was on top form! From her funeral rant where she accused a clearly tipsy, exhausted Lorelai of "dishonoring" her father on porpose, to crapping all over the L/L relationship numerous times, going on an immediate attack mode at Lorelai inquiring about her "friend" and so forth. It seemed like in a every one of the episodes (save the last) she had a cutting word to throw at Lorelai.

Lorelai, on the other hand, seemed a lot softer on Emily than we've ever seen before.

Emily was indeed more vicious, and Lorelai was more subdued in the revival. The therapy shows that most clearly. 

What should have been a short-term battle over Lorelai's pathetic story became long-term purely by Emily's choice. What should have been a short-term break, with both ultimately acknowledging that these words were said in the throes of grief, was instead Emily ignoring that her daughter was hurting too and refusing Lorelai's apologies.

The therapy was brutal. Lorelai was kind and honest in suggesting grief therapy, and Emily manipulated her into joining and ultimately expected Lorelai to do 100% of the changing. Lorelai was a SAINT during the therapy sessions, and the therapist was a doofus for not guiding Lorelai down the path of standing up for her own decisions. 

Lorelai's arc was intended to be searching, down, maybe even depressed over the changes in her life, most especially her career. I was OTT happy to see her spark had truly returned at the time when Miss Celine was in the house. 

For all Emily had promised to stay out of the LL relationship in the original series, she was a bitch to the couple in the revival, taunting them about their communication issues. What kind of mother does that? Emily gloated, and I don't give her a pass simply because she'd lost her husband. Lorelai had lost her father.

In the last episode, as you say, cuddlingcrowley, Emily wasn't cruel anymore. Instead she was utterly indifferent and if they'd had another episode I could see Lorelai being all broken up by Emily's final uncalled-for rejection. She chose to not be invested at all in Lorelai's wedding, not telling any friends and moving to Nantucket shortly beforehand. For goodness' sake, starri explained in another thread that it takes 2 hours just to get off the island, and Emily was up late drinking the night before the formal wedding. There was a real chance she wouldn't make it to the wedding on time.

[Smad]

5 minutes ago, Leonana said:

I wish I hadn't watched. The characters ended up in a good place at the end of Season 7. ASP threw all that out the window, and ten years later they were still stuck in the end of Season 6, maturity wise. I felt like the revival was Season 6 style, and I was hoping for Season 1, which was pretty unrealistic of me.

That's pretty much the impression I got from reading peoples opinions. On top of that there is Paris/Doyle, ASPs need to relive Bunheads etc. I'm good with the S7 ending even if ASP isn't.

[MaiSoCalled]

21 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

What does scream Yale Graduate? Not everyone wants to be a lawyer or doctor or work on Wall Street?

Thank you for agreeing, this was what I was trying to express with my post.

I've seen comments about Rory throwing away her education by opting for Stars Hollow over teaching at Chilton. Teaching at Chilton would look better in an alumni newsletter, but that's not what should matter. 

In truth, I think she should accept money from her trust fund, father, or Emily. Why not volunteer at the Stars Hollow Gazette rather than work a job she dislikes? Unlike many people, including myself, she doesn't have to worry about money. She could literally never work a day in her life. I know it's not the Lorelai way, but I think Rory could really do something great with the Gazette and be happy. (While still keeping the poem on the first page, of course.)

[tarotx]

36 minutes ago, backhometome said:

SP hair was awful. Just keep the hat on dude. 

All Rory's exes looked damn good. When did Milo get such nice arms he should always wear t-shirts. JP hair looked good SPN should take note. MC got better looking with age.

Lane was underused and not at all important. I barely remember her in it for more than 2 mins. 

Alexis seemed to be uncomfortable with Milo. Interesting that she hugged Dean right away but nothing for Jess lol. Her and MC really played up the love aspect in their scenes. Especially the last one. Which made their affair story line much weirder. Like Logan clearly loved her so why marry someone else. 

If they do RJ in a second season (if there is one) then poor Alexis she just seemed to give nothing in scenes with Milo. 

 

 

I think Lane was underused as well :(

Think of Rory/Logan/Odette as a trio and picture that Logan can love both with Rory being the losing member. By really MC plays Logan differently than the creators want him. They never told him he was supposed to be like Christopher to Rory's Lorelei. 

Edited November 27, 2016 by tarotx
Because I'm too use to writing Lance >.<

[ALittleShelfish]

13 minutes ago, steff13 said:

I believe ASP has a reputation of insisting actors stick to the script, i.e., if the script says "cannot," you don't say "can't."  Someone who insists on the much control of the script doesn't let anyone ad lib.  

Wow, interesting.  I admit, I'm relatively new to the World Gilmore - I was handed the seasons one by one early this year by a coworker who insisted I join them in the revival.  (I signed up for Netflix seriously five minutes before I sat down to watch the AYITL.)  I don't know much of the history the characters, writers, etc have regarding this, and I'm learning from all of you guys.  And The Google.  I had my tv on UP for the last week, just as background noise, in anticipation.  Right now, I'll admit I'm a little Gilmored out.  

[marny]

6 hours ago, ChlcGirl said:

I also found the Secret Bar to be one of the few things I actually enjoyed, especially the shout out to The Wire, but I'm a bit confused about what happened to Casey's, site of Chris & Jackson's man-date and Lorelai's tequila-fueled karaoke.  Continuity, Amy, is your friend.

 

These things happened in the last season, which didn't exist for ASP.  So I guess Casey's didn't exist either.

 

Oops-- this was already noted. Carry on.

Edited November 27, 2016 by marny

[stillshimpy]

Yeah, ASP is actually sort of infamous for needing everything to be letter perfect.  There are no ad-libs in ASP's world. If she writes "cannot" and someone says "can't" apparently she makes them go back and shoot the "cannot" and I sort of get it.  Her dialogue has a very particular cadence and structure, it's not well-suited to adaptation. 

It's partly why I love it when actors figure out how to stick to the letter of the word and yet convey something with a different emotional tone than the words might imply. 

Speaking of, I love Gregg Henry, but who the fuck was he playing?  Mitchum was always a little scary because he feigned warmth and was clearly concealing an ice-cold heart.  Big personality Mitchum, grabbing fries and exuding some sort of helpful vibe towards Rory was bizarre.   It made me think that Henry had three hours total available for ASP and they just had to roll with whatever it was he was doing as his emotional undercurrent.  

Edited November 27, 2016 by stillshimpy

[LegalParrot81]

Quote

I believe ASP has a reputation of insisting actors stick to the script, i.e., if the script says "cannot," you don't say "can't."  Someone who insists on the much control of the script doesn't let anyone ad lib.  

If memory serves, and these days it doesn't always serve me well, during the ATX q&a, it was discussed and ASP was pretty clear that going off script was a no-no.

[WhosThatGirl]

I don't know. I'm still conflicted on my feelings and I still think I prefer the last episode of season 7 to end the show and not what happened here. This revival made me like Lorelei and Rory least of all.

I loved the Jess and Luke scenes. I liked that Dean got his happy ending and isn't tethered to Rory Gilmore, even though he's my least favorite of Rory's boyfriends, I'm happy he gets to have a wife he loves and kids with someone else. I loved all of Paris's scenes, she was probably the only one who I felt didn't have to get back in character, it was just there. Same with Emily, everything about the Emily scenes were AMAZING! Possibly my favorite moment was when she spoke to Lorelei after the funeral in Winter, it was everything I have wanted for years. That speech. Lauren was good in that scene but I feel like it was Kelly's scene to shine in. I sort of liked the therapy scenes between the two. I liked it when Rory got to be funny and have comedic timing, I would say she was her best in the Spring installment.  I wish she had taken the teaching job she was offered. 

[booboopbedoo]

Horrible! It was excruciating to watch. Have I grown up or maybe my tastes have changed.

We watched the whole thing-forced ourselves.

Lorelei is an awful, whiny,rude narcissistic Bitch.

Rory- a nasty,spoiled 32 year old cow. Grow up!

Is Luke wearing a Toupee??

[chick binewski]

On 11/26/2016 at 10:36 AM, starri said:

There's another issue that's been bothering me, and I think I've gotten it from the show, but also from some, but certainly not all, of the comments here.

There seems to be a lot of--to use a term I don't really like--slut shaming of Rory.  I'm a big believer in the idea that there's not any one-size-fits-all model for a successful relationship, but cheating on a partner, even if it's a one-note, unfunny joke of a partner, is not commendable behavior.  So I'm not defending that.  But I've also seen a lot of comments that perhaps Logan and Odette had some kind of arrangement, when there was literally no evidence of that.  Actually, quite to the contrary, because if they did, he wouldn't have been sneaking around.

So too from the Wookie hookup.  What was worse, that was played for laughs.

I think I remember similar comments when she slept with married Dean.  And it left a bad taste in my mouth then.

Rory's conduct was hardly exemplary, but she didn't force herself on either Dean or Logan.

I'm wondering if that attitude comes out because some of us might grade this show on a different curve? Where other shows have characters (or introduce new characters) sleeping with each other in order to create drama/intimacy/conflict, GG has mostly stayed away from that and it made the relationships (to me, anyway) seem more real. There was always conversation, communication and miscommunication keeping everyone engaged. But Rory's romantic choices post-Dean always felt really off to me. and in early episodes it was made clear Rory measured her upbringing (the consequence of teenage sex, raised by a single mother) against how she conducted herself cautiously. I wonder if others feel that way & that's why it comes off as slut-shaming.

(I was actually hoping Lorelai would do a tiny bit of slut-shaming after the wook-up. Seriously, Rory. Go to NYC, find a guy wearing a mask, go to a third location and have sex. See you on the ID channel!)

When I saw the previews with Rory in front of Chilton I was really hoping they were going with her becoming a teacher so I was a bit disappointed that became another loose thread of Everyone Wants Rory.  

[CalamityBoPeep]

6 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

Big personality Mitchum, grabbing fries and exuding some sort of helpful vibe towards Rory was bizarre.

I thought it could be an indication that Mitchum was feeling pretty good about life, since Logan had fallen in with the family's preferences for his career. Logan's move to California would have bugged Mitchum, but here was his heir-apparent, finally getting with the program. Mitchum could be magnanimous then. He never struck me as the type of father that didn't like or love his kid, but more that he felt he knew best what the trajectory of Logan's life should look like. Which isn't so much "cold" as it is "demanding." Logan was growing into the role Mitchum demanded of him. And so, Mitchum could afford to show his pleasure in it.

[Eyes High]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

What does scream Yale Graduate? Not everyone wants to be a lawyer or doctor or work on Wall Street.

There seems to be a popular perception that if you're going to attend Yale or Harvard, you'd better do something fucking amazing with your life to justify it, or at least wind up with a prestigious job. I remember my parents discouraging my interest in Harvard because they had a friend whose son went to Harvard and who wound up--horror of horrors!--as a high school teacher.

For young people who get a top-notch education at a prestigious school, if they fail to go on to do something "worthy" of that education, it can become a bit of an albatross around their necks, I think. If you do anything "unworthy" of that education, i.e. anything less than prestigious, even if it's something you're genuinely good at and passionate about, you're seen as a failure or a cautionary tale by many people. There's definitely a stigma attached to people with great educations and not-so-great resumes after those educations end. (I know, I know, whip out the world's tiniest violin for the poor Ivy League graduates).

I don't like the idea that a great education is a waste, though. You can't lose an education. It doesn't go anywhere when you fail to go on to law school or med school or graduate school or what have you. Rory will always be a Yale graduate. No one can take that away from her. If there's anything sad about her fate, it's that her great dreams and ambitions of being a journalist ended in failure, not that she "wasted" her education.

42 minutes ago, tarotx said:

I think Lance was underused as well :(

Think of Rory/Logan/Odette as a trio and picture that Logan can love both with Rory being the losing member. By really MC plays Logan differently than the creators want him. They never told him he was supposed to be like Christopher to Rory's Lorelei. 

Matt Czuchry did an interview with ET at the premiere that was only recently released, and he said that he didn't see Logan as Rory's Christopher, but he acknowledged that ASP and DP might see Logan that way.

Quote

Big personality Mitchum, grabbing fries and exuding some sort of helpful vibe towards Rory was bizarre.   It made me think that Henry had three hours total available for ASP and they just had to roll with whatever it was he was doing as his emotional undercurrent.

 I thought Mitchum knew damn well what was up with Logan and Rory, as a practiced adulterer himself, and was subtly needling Rory and Logan to watch them squirm, thus the "casual" reference to Odette that was anything but casual. He was reminding Logan that he's engaged, and Rory that she ain't shit and never will be. The wolfish bonhomie shtick was him reveling in their discomfort, and the show of "concern" over Rory was his magnanimity in victory over Rory, since Logan had relegated her to a side piece and had accepted what Mitchum had claimed about Rory (that she was an unsuitable bride). Why shouldn't Mitchum be gracious to Rory? He won.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Eyes High

[cuddlingcrowley]

Quote

So I'm on the miniscule island of people who loved the revival in general

Then consider us neighbors!

My biggest fear for the revival was that the episodes would be all over the damn place, with no coherent storyline, crappy acting and a bunch cameos making it even bigger of a damn mess.

Instead, we got complete arcs for the three Gilmore girls -- with Rory's actually mainly focused on her career and her personal growth, for once!--, Lorelai AND Rory being flawed and interesting, the atmosphere of the old show instantly back, emotional moments that hit the right notes, SO MANY CALLBACKS to the original series and the cameos actually completely working for me. Gone is the bad taste the last couple of seasons left where the characters and the acting was one-note.

It wasn't perfect by any means. There were things I would definitely change -- the damn musical and the lack of Jess was CRIMINAL. But hey, nothing is perfect. I'm all in all very impressed with what ASP put together and I haven't liked the girls this much since the Chilton years. All the cries of what a shitty writer ASP is, and how mean/horrible Lorelai and Rory are (but not Emily, God forbid, who's an angel!) and whyyyyyy hasn't Rory become a librarian/assistant  bewilder the hell out of me and make me LOL because that's so not my show and this is probably my goodbye to these boards.

GG was a HUGE part of my formative years. I loved it then, I love it now and always. 

[kieyra]

8 minutes ago, booboopbedoo said:

Horrible! It was excruciating to watch. Have I grown up or maybe my tastes have changed.

We watched the whole thing-forced ourselves.

Lorelei is an awful, whiny,rude narcissistic Bitch.

Rory- a nasty,spoiled 32 year old cow. Grow up!

Is Luke wearing a Toupee??

Yikes. Why did you force yourself through six hours of something that was 'excruciating'? Life is too short and--right now--frequently too crappy for that kind of thing. IMHO, anyway. There's so much good scripted television available right now (we're in "peak TV" time, as they say) that if something is sucking, or not bringing me some level of enjoyment or at least a new perspective, I drop it fast. 

Edited November 27, 2016 by kieyra

[booboopbedoo]

we only got the first episode in Canada

[chitowngirl]

So who owns The Gazette? The editor retired and Taylor is the one shutting it down until Rory volunteers to do it?

[Daisy]

2 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I think it was more flailing than failing.  She seemed to have had some success, just not anything that led to something with more security.  I would agree though that if your chosen career is not working out, you should be open to hearing other options.  It's not arrogance to refuse a potential career path, but if you don't have options, you really need to think about whether your refusal of an opportunity is a wise one.   

I think though the show proved without a shadow of a doubt - when things got more competitive, Rory failed as a journalist.  Mr. Huntsberger nailed it on the head. She didn't speak up, she doesn't have ideas, she doesn't pound the pavement. She can write really well. that's never been in doubt. But the drive to be a journalist? I don't think so other than saying she wants to be a journalist which isn't the same thing. 

I'm not saying she couldn't have taught. (i'm surprised they even pushed the masters thing. maybe it's a Chilton standard, but here you can teach with a BA + Teachers college which maybe that's what AS-P meant?). And between Christopher + Emily if Rory truly wanted to go to school for 1 more year (and have an instant job that I'd assume pay well as it's private), they would have gladly set up a Friday Night Dinner scenario. 

AND she could still free lance (if she truly wanted to) - my professor did that. 

I noticed someone said why not live off the trust fund - but I'm wondering if there was  a trust fund. (I mean there had to have been) but then my next question would be: and what happens when the trust fund runs out? 

[txhorns79]

Quote

So who owns The Gazette? The editor retired and Taylor is the one shutting it down until Rory volunteers to do it?

Maybe the town?  Nothing about the set up at the paper was very clear.  For example, were the other two workers being paid?  Does that woman just stand in front of the filing cabinet pretending to file one thing for eight hours a day? 

Edited November 27, 2016 by txhorns79

[LegalParrot81]

10 minutes ago, Daisy said:

I noticed someone said why not live off the trust fund - but I'm wondering if there was  a trust fund. (I mean there had to have been) but then my next question would be: and what happens when the trust fund runs out? 

There was at least one trust fund, because I remember Richard talking to Lorelai about it and given that Chris became Mr. Uber Richie Rich after his grandfather died, there would probably be money there, even after paying for a couple years of Yale.

[Daisy]

Just now, LegalParrot81 said:

There was at least one trust fund, because I remember Richard talking to Lorelai about it and given that Chris became Mr. Uber Richie Rich after his grandfather died, there would probably be money there, even after paying for a couple years of Yale.

I knew i should have re-watched. (laugh).
but I think my other point still stands though. if Rory is free-lancing, has an apartment and hopping planes... it's not like the money is gonna last forever. what happens after?

[junienmomo]

29 minutes ago, Eyes High said:

I thought Mitchum knew damn well what was up with Logan and Rory, as a practiced adulterer himself, and was subtly needling Rory and Logan to watch them squirm, thus the "casual" reference to Odette that was anything but casual. He was reminding Logan that he's engaged, and Rory that she ain't shit and never will be. The wolfish bonhomie shtick was him reveling in their discomfort, and the show of "concern" over Rory was his magnanimity in victory over Rory, since Logan had relegated her to a side piece and had accepted what Mitchum had claimed about Rory (that she was an unsuitable bride). Why shouldn't Mitchum be gracious to Rory? He won.

Wow, this makes so much sense and explains why Mitchum was in the scene. Curious that Logan didn't see this and have the good sense to eat elsewhere. 

On a side note, I got a bug in my brain and googled the meaning of Odette. It means "wealth."