Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Review: Divorce, Make-outs and Virginity to Close S4

Warning: Spoilers follow for episodes 14 through 22 for season four of Gilmore Girls, along with the first episode of season five.

For seasons now, I’ve been saying that Dean is the worst, and his behavior in the episode four finale certainly confirms my suspicions. In said finale, he beds down with Rory, taking her virginity in her childhood bed. By doing so, he cheats on Lindsay, and completes a cringe-worthy downward spiral for Rory.

To be clear, she has close to equal responsibility in the matter. Dean didn’t force himself upon her or anything. However, she was vulnerable because of how things were going at Yale, and Dean is married. And also, as the first episode of season five makes clear, Dean isn’t actually committed to making things work with Lindsay. I jokingly called her Barbie in a previous entry, but she is making a good faith effort to improve herself, as evidenced by her roast beef progress.

So, Rory loses her virginity to Dean, and becomes a homewrecker in the process. Fun times! At least she firmly rejected Jess. That was one of her few bright moments as the season ended, since it immediately followed a low moment – having Dean rescue her at a bar, and then basically telling him to screw when Jess showed up. You couldn’t call anyone except Dean? Lorelai, Paris, Lane, I think all of them have cars.

In contrast, it was cute to see Luke and then Jess to drastically improve their lives, seemingly, with self-help books and tapes. Luke seems especially improved, and while Jess speaking with Rory didn’t work out, he seemed to turn a page when it came to his relationship with Luke and his mom. Luke snapping out of his meek funk and asking Lorelai out, and then making some face time with her face, that’s all good stuff.

I’m not so pleased with Richard and Emily suddenly going Heel Mode with each other. The issues that have made them blow up seem somewhat minor to me. Yes, PENNILYN LOTT having lunch with Richard is a big offense, but things like the mustache and Jason deciding social things for the new business?

Eh. Gilmore Girls has enough plot balls in the air without also having the Emily and Richard on the verge of divorce. Not even mentioned by me in the post, but taking up significant air time in the last half of season four – Paris and Asher Fleming breaking up then not after his hospital visit, Lane and Mrs. Kim repairing their relationship subtly, the success of Lane’s band and her quirky bandmates (especially Sebastian Bach!), the SPRING BREAK! trip with Madeline and Louise.

Of those, Lane’s stuff is the best. She takes a big step forward in terms of my interest in season four – She goes from solely being Rory’s friend and sounding board, to developing her own personality and storylines. The break from Mrs. Kim really helps, of course, as her storyline has gotten more realistic as we’ve gone along.

Anyway, a procedural note as we go along. I’m obviously a couple seasons behind, even though the revival is starting today. I’m going to continue with seasons five, six and seven, and not skip ahead. Karen has told me that she’s going to skip ahead, but she’s also going to take some notes on them for when I watch them. Good times!

Want to support Steve’s blogging? Then purchase something via the Amazon clickthru link for Your Parents Basement, Steve’s other project! To read all of Steve’s past Inexplicable Movie Reviews, click here! For Inexplicable TV Reviews, click here! For Inexplicable Video Game Reviews, click here! And for Inexplicable Book Reviews, go here!