Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Review: Drama and Longing in Season Four

PENNILYN LOTT!

Warning: Spoilers follow for episodes 7 through 13 for season four of Gilmore Girls.

Because I’m binging this show, and trying to split up my writing into chunks based on three to seven episodes, I neglected to mention two prominent side characters in my last entry – Jason and Lane. One relationship I wish would get more time, and one less, and if you’ve been reading my past entries, you can probably guess the distribution I’m craving.

Jason seems like a dolt. He’s rich, but seems kind of sleazy, and his basic appeal to Lorelai seems to be 1) it’ll annoy her parents and 2) he can talk as fast as she can. The first aspect is especially annoying to me. I don’t think Emily and Richard are particularly warm, and clearly, Emily’s henpecking is probably responsible for a lot of Lorelai’s issues. However, Lorelai is quick to sabotage inroads her parents belatedly make, whether it’s insisting on paying back Rory’s Chilton tuition, grinding her teeth through every social opportunity, or dating Jason.

So, Jason. The relationship starts when Lorelai is drunk (essentially) and pissed off at Emily. Jason is kind of weird, with his various apneas, and I imagine things will go south once Lorelai is forced to introduce him as her boyfriend. At that point, the “fun” of the forbidden goes away, and what are you left with? A rich, fast-talking insurance salesman, which is pretty much the opposite of Lorelai’s type. (And, plus – I still know Luke is lurking out there as a dating option. Damn my foreknowledge of this show! But, it’s not like this is a giant secret, as the show clearly keeps foreshadowing his continued love for Lorelai.)

In contrast, Lane getting kicked out of her home and momentarily living with Rory is incredibly interesting. They don’t really delve too deeply into her new, awkward situations, unfortunately, but having seen some future episodes, at least it is a plotline that is continued throughout season four, as opposed to being dropped with little explanation.

It’s also unique and somewhat realistic, because I feel like in most shows, the Lane-Mrs. Kim drama would be wrapped up by the end of the episode. Instead, Mrs. Kim essentially tells Lane to go screw when she finds out how much her daughter has been hiding from her. There isn’t a “make nice” moment, so in a way, we’re getting a reenactment of the Emily-Lorelai feud.

Fun moment – The Gilmores, as a family, attending the Yale-Harvard football game, and Lorelai ribbing Emily about Pennilyn Lott. Not so fun moment – the ensuing drama and FEELINGS as Emily discovers that Richard still meets with Pennilyn Lott. Definitely fun moment – Repeatedly typing Pennilyn Lott. Pennilyn Lott! What a name, Pennilyn Lott, is.

By the way, speaking of tangled love and family webs, Jess comes back. We finally get the blow-off between him and Rory, presumably because that whole spin-off thing didn’t work. I mean, uh, not the spin-off, the completely legitimate reasons for him to be out in California with his biological father.

Anyway, Jess is still horrible, but he confesses his love to Rory. He then immediately leaves town. Yay? Annoyingly, I imagine this means Jess will pop up in at least one more episode. He’s the god damn Chekov’s gun of this show. Until Rory tells him to go screw, a la Mrs. Kim, I won’t believe that he’s gone for good.

Other odds and ends: It was distressing that Sookie turned out to be a flake when it comes to inn issues. Nicole and Luke is very meh. Lulu and Kirk is the new hotness. (Did you know that Kirk has a girlfriend?) Gil is played by Sebastian Bach, and not the 10 other hair metal band members I initially thought of, and he’s pretty fly. Paris is still baller, even though she (or possibly because?) crushed Jamie with a single phone call. Andddd, my next entry will be Friday or Saturday, depending on when I manage to write more about the ole Gilmore Girls.

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