Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Review: Season six’s midseason blur

Warning: Spoilers follow for episodes 11 through 16 for season six of Gilmore Girls.

The thing I’ve noticed about the middle portions of Gilmore Girls seasons is that the Good Ship Gilmore takes on water, and disasters are obviously visible on the horizon, but at least when it comes to the main characters, they try to save the highest drama for the last six episodes.

I imagine it wasn’t such a big deal when it was a weekly show, but it’s much more noticeable when you’re on an endless binging marathon run of episodes, like I’m trying to do. It’s a slow drip, drip, drip of drama as the pressure builds on Luke and Lorelai, and Rory and Logan. There are essentially four “big” developments in this six episode span:

1) Lorelai finds out about Luke’s daughter, because April works a day at the diner. This understandably causes friction in their relationship, because, you know, Luke has a secret daughter, and he didn’t immediately tell Lorelai. The biggest issue with all Gilmore Girls fights is that they usually hinge on one character holding something from another, even if this is the 50^th time that’s happened to in the show’s run.

2) Rory and Logan fight about stupid things, but it’s ultimately OK because he has money. Whether it’s using it to get the paper pushed out on time, or taking the “family” on a vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, Logan usually spends his way out of trouble. Things seem to be coming to a head with that though, as Huntberger Senior has a “what the fuck are you doing?” chat with him on the vineyard. (And by the way, Abigail Spencer pops up as a bridesmaid in E6-16!)

3) Zach and Lane make up, and then, quickly get engaged and married. Since I’ve watched ahead a bit, I’d like to point out that Lane’s story arcs are like Bizarro Gilmore Girls. She basically serves as a “what if?” in a way for Lorelai, if she had managed to patch things up with Emily way back when.

4) Paris loses control of the Yale newspaper in comical fashion. Like, ridiculous, over the top, stupid fashion, to the point where she has a bunker at the end. While I still find Paris really enjoyable, it’s kind of lame to see her still stuck in a rigidly anti-social box, even at Yale. It’s an Ivy League college, it’s weird that she can’t find some similarly ridiculously competitive people to bond with.

Anyway. Emily and Richard also reconcile with Rory and Lorelai in that patch, but it’s kind of Yada Yada / handwaved at the end of an episode where they all get drunk. My next entry will be on the final six episodes of the sixth season, so I’ll have a lot more to say then, as Gilmore Girls emerges from its middle episode doldrums.

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Inexplicable Gilmore Girls Review: Mending fences in season six with Lorelai and Jess(!)

During an icy time, although, bangin' bangs Rory.

Warning: Spoilers follow for episodes 5 through 10 for season six of Gilmore Girls.

My Gilmore Girls pace has slowed down a bit, because I had a couple of work and social engagements to attend to this past week. But, I was glad that I was able to at least see the glorious reconciliation between Rory and Lorelai before heading off into my weekend activities.  

Gilmore Girls just feels “off” when Rory and Lorelai are fighting. Like, the fundamental relationship of the show would be their bond, and the episodes where Rory is living in Emily’s poolhouse and feuding with Lorelai aren’t really all that entertaining or interesting. Unlike the Lorelai-Emily rift, you always got the feeling Lorelai and Rory would reconcile, and their issues seemed overblown and TV-constructed in the first place.

And hey, Jess came back! And he’s an AUTHOR now! Good for Jess. He seemed to be in a good place when we last saw him, and it’s nice that his appearance was able to snap Rory out of her funk. Unfortunately, it almost surely sets up a Jess-Rory-Logan triangle at some point, even if Rory is currently single, but still. Good for Jess.

So, as I’m writing this, most of the leads have their shit together. Christopher is back, but in a minimalist way, as he pays for Yale after inheriting a bunch of his grandfather’s money. Logan, Emily and Richard have all been put on the backburner. Rory has re-enrolled at Yale, and Paris is still straight-up baller. Lorelai and Luke are circling around a wedding date…

… And oh yeah, Luke now has a secret daughter. Like every character on this show, she’s impossibly cute and witty and blessed with luck. (Not that I’m wishing more misery on the characters in this show, but apparently Connecticut has the most robust social services ever, because every single parent successfully raises honor roll students.)

The main theme of Gilmore Girls is usually strife, sans gonads, so even though Rory and Lorelai reconciled I knew another shoe was going to drop. Obviously, Luke having a secret daughter is a Big Fucking Deal, but it also feels like something that actual grown-ups would be able to deal with, without their relationship dissolving. I’m not sure if that will be the case with Luke and Lorelai, who have both shown an inability to do Adulting.

Other things on my mind as I watch:

- Zach suddenly becoming a Rage Monster and Fame Whore kind of comes out of nowhere. He was clearly miffed that the Bass Player (I don’t even remember his name, Brian?) wrote a song about Lane, but from there, things escalated to a comical, unbelievable degree. In past episodes, he was kind of portrayed as dumb but sweet, instead of Dean 2.0.

- Logan, Emily and Richard have all been out of the picture in the episodes I’ve watched. I doubt that’s going to remain the case for the foreseeable future, since the cast for the show seems to be narrowing as we go along. (RIP Marty, Dean, Lulu, Jackson, Fake Lane, and many of the other guest stars and extras they clearly can’t afford on a regular basis.)

- The priest talking to Rory about sex was a grade A scene. Also, I might be in the minority on this, but Rory looks way better with bangs.

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!