it's hard to live in this town you made your whole life in
So after the Rangers held on to beat the Flyers, I cried my way through all four episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Outside the cut and without spoilers, I will say I'm very happy they did this, that it assuages almost all of the bitterness I've been carrying about this show since it ended, and it did it in a way that felt true to the characters. So I definitely recommend it, even if, like me, you were still harboring resentment about seasons 6 and 7 (I did like the series finale, though). (And also, unlike a lot of people, I remember that it was still the Palladinos who gave us the clusterfuck of season 6, so they are not off the hook despite leaving before season 7.)
LUKE AND LORELAI GET MARRIED. FINALLY. HALLELUJAH. I thought the conflicts they were having were...a little forced, but I also feel like Richard's death gives Lorelai a whole boatload of stuff to freak out over - not least her own mortality, which I expected a little more about, and also worry about Emily, though I guess her worry about Emily is also always couched in so many other feelings. I mean, Lorelai is always a bit of a walking catastrophe on the relationship front, but hopefully she can do better now.
I loved that Luke was finally able to get Lorelai to understand that he was all in forever, and I loved that Lorelai's doubts weren't necessarily about him but about herself. If you know me at all, you know I'm like, "can fictional people not discuss their feelings too blatantly? I don't like it" but here I was yelling, "JUST TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. BE CLEAR AND DIRECT. YOU CAN DO THIS" at the tv. *hands* But they finally did and it was GLORIOUS. ♥♥♥♥♥
Also, I laughed at Peter Krause being the Park Ranger. They were on Parenthood together, though I never watched that show.
Emily! I didn't get or like the Berta subplot at all (seriously, what the hell?) but people are saying it's meant to show Emily growing into caring for that big family as she works her way out of her grief. I guess? I just felt it was uncomfortably racist for most of the time. Other than that, I loved that Emily grieved and went to therapy and was completely terrible to Lorelai (not that Lorelai wasn't also terrible in her own typical ways) but eventually they managed to work it out, and she also got to tell the DAR off and get a job telling gory stories at the Whaling Museum. ♥EMILY♥ That final bit where Lorelai asks her for the money set aside to franchise Luke's, and Emily bargaining for more time with her - I loved that so much. And of course I cried over Richard.
Rory. Ugh. I feel like while both Lorelai and Emily got called on their shit and finally figured out ways to move forward while leaving some of the old terrible ways behind, Rory was more than stuck in a rut - Rory was still acting like selfish and pampered season 6 Rory who couldn't understand why the world suddenly wasn't catering to her every whim. So I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her and her tribulations. On the other hand, I always loved Jess best of her boyfriends, so I like that he is clearly acknowledged as the superior choice even though the show ends before they explicitly go there. I was so happy to see him being his mature self - not just with Rory but with Luke, which is always where his story was most interesting.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I thought all the years of liking Cary on The Good Wife might have made Logan more tolerable to me - certainly I find Matt Czuchry much more attractive now - but no. The best thing you can say about him is that he never presented the relationship as something it wasn't, and Rory had to know it couldn't continue and yet -- the fact that she was dating that guy and it was a running joke that she couldn't remember to break up with him wasn't funny, it just made me dislike her more. I did love seeing Colin and Finn (especially Finn) again, though. And I'm so glad Dean was married with kids and not a viable option, because I was bracing for that to be 'endgame' and I was like, "NOPE," so I'm glad the show was, too.
And, like, what's with looking down on the idea of teaching at Chilton? I could understand holding her nose and going for the website job (though again, she should have been better prepared for that, regardless of how hard they were pursuing her), but there's nothing wrong with a career change, and it would give her stability and time to write. I guess I am too pragmatic to be a Gilmore Girls character.
Anyway, I guessed what the last four words would be (or, not exactly, but that it would Rory being pregnant) because they kept talking about things coming full circle, and that would be another one - Rory having a baby on her own, but having gotten to have all the things Lorelai didn't by having Rory at 16. So that worked for me (except she shouldn't have been drinking a whole bottle of champagne if that was the case!). The fact that it's Logan's baby, less so, but what are you gonna do. I did like that it was Rory who got the closure with Christopher here, instead of Lorelai. I'd feel bad for him, but like Rory, he does it to himself, so, not so much.
PARIS! That career path was like nothing I ever expected from her, but I can see it (now I also kind of want the crossover with "Orphan Black" where she's a front for Dyad or whatever the conspiracy is going forward; also when Logan's fiancee was named Odette, I was like, "He's marrying into the Grafters?" but she was French, not Belgian. *hands*). At least her kids seem to love her? Where were Madeline and Louise though during the Chilton thing?
LANE! At least she seems happy? I felt the show did her dirty and she deserved more, but she's on good terms with Mrs. Kim (and is that the first time we ever saw Mr. Kim?) and gets to play music at the Secret Bar. I LOVED THE SECRET BAR.
The musical, otoh, and Taylor - there was way too much Taylor, and also what was up with the nastiness at the pool? - and the terrible musical went on way too long despite the cheering presence of Sutton Foster and Christian Borle. I can't believe Lorelai was the only one who wasn't into it. That seems unlike the residents of Stars Hollow.
MICHEL! ♥ HE FINALLY CAME OUT AND GOT MARRIED. And hopefully he stays when Lorelai buys the annex from Ida, I mean, the nuns. And even though she only had the one scene, I was glad to see Sookie, and I wanted her to stay!
So it was Gilmore Girls, warts and all, and it gave me what I most wanted, so I'm pleased.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/889160.html.
people have commented there.
LUKE AND LORELAI GET MARRIED. FINALLY. HALLELUJAH. I thought the conflicts they were having were...a little forced, but I also feel like Richard's death gives Lorelai a whole boatload of stuff to freak out over - not least her own mortality, which I expected a little more about, and also worry about Emily, though I guess her worry about Emily is also always couched in so many other feelings. I mean, Lorelai is always a bit of a walking catastrophe on the relationship front, but hopefully she can do better now.
I loved that Luke was finally able to get Lorelai to understand that he was all in forever, and I loved that Lorelai's doubts weren't necessarily about him but about herself. If you know me at all, you know I'm like, "can fictional people not discuss their feelings too blatantly? I don't like it" but here I was yelling, "JUST TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. BE CLEAR AND DIRECT. YOU CAN DO THIS" at the tv. *hands* But they finally did and it was GLORIOUS. ♥♥♥♥♥
Also, I laughed at Peter Krause being the Park Ranger. They were on Parenthood together, though I never watched that show.
Emily! I didn't get or like the Berta subplot at all (seriously, what the hell?) but people are saying it's meant to show Emily growing into caring for that big family as she works her way out of her grief. I guess? I just felt it was uncomfortably racist for most of the time. Other than that, I loved that Emily grieved and went to therapy and was completely terrible to Lorelai (not that Lorelai wasn't also terrible in her own typical ways) but eventually they managed to work it out, and she also got to tell the DAR off and get a job telling gory stories at the Whaling Museum. ♥EMILY♥ That final bit where Lorelai asks her for the money set aside to franchise Luke's, and Emily bargaining for more time with her - I loved that so much. And of course I cried over Richard.
Rory. Ugh. I feel like while both Lorelai and Emily got called on their shit and finally figured out ways to move forward while leaving some of the old terrible ways behind, Rory was more than stuck in a rut - Rory was still acting like selfish and pampered season 6 Rory who couldn't understand why the world suddenly wasn't catering to her every whim. So I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her and her tribulations. On the other hand, I always loved Jess best of her boyfriends, so I like that he is clearly acknowledged as the superior choice even though the show ends before they explicitly go there. I was so happy to see him being his mature self - not just with Rory but with Luke, which is always where his story was most interesting.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I thought all the years of liking Cary on The Good Wife might have made Logan more tolerable to me - certainly I find Matt Czuchry much more attractive now - but no. The best thing you can say about him is that he never presented the relationship as something it wasn't, and Rory had to know it couldn't continue and yet -- the fact that she was dating that guy and it was a running joke that she couldn't remember to break up with him wasn't funny, it just made me dislike her more. I did love seeing Colin and Finn (especially Finn) again, though. And I'm so glad Dean was married with kids and not a viable option, because I was bracing for that to be 'endgame' and I was like, "NOPE," so I'm glad the show was, too.
And, like, what's with looking down on the idea of teaching at Chilton? I could understand holding her nose and going for the website job (though again, she should have been better prepared for that, regardless of how hard they were pursuing her), but there's nothing wrong with a career change, and it would give her stability and time to write. I guess I am too pragmatic to be a Gilmore Girls character.
Anyway, I guessed what the last four words would be (or, not exactly, but that it would Rory being pregnant) because they kept talking about things coming full circle, and that would be another one - Rory having a baby on her own, but having gotten to have all the things Lorelai didn't by having Rory at 16. So that worked for me (except she shouldn't have been drinking a whole bottle of champagne if that was the case!). The fact that it's Logan's baby, less so, but what are you gonna do. I did like that it was Rory who got the closure with Christopher here, instead of Lorelai. I'd feel bad for him, but like Rory, he does it to himself, so, not so much.
PARIS! That career path was like nothing I ever expected from her, but I can see it (now I also kind of want the crossover with "Orphan Black" where she's a front for Dyad or whatever the conspiracy is going forward; also when Logan's fiancee was named Odette, I was like, "He's marrying into the Grafters?" but she was French, not Belgian. *hands*). At least her kids seem to love her? Where were Madeline and Louise though during the Chilton thing?
LANE! At least she seems happy? I felt the show did her dirty and she deserved more, but she's on good terms with Mrs. Kim (and is that the first time we ever saw Mr. Kim?) and gets to play music at the Secret Bar. I LOVED THE SECRET BAR.
The musical, otoh, and Taylor - there was way too much Taylor, and also what was up with the nastiness at the pool? - and the terrible musical went on way too long despite the cheering presence of Sutton Foster and Christian Borle. I can't believe Lorelai was the only one who wasn't into it. That seems unlike the residents of Stars Hollow.
MICHEL! ♥ HE FINALLY CAME OUT AND GOT MARRIED. And hopefully he stays when Lorelai buys the annex from Ida, I mean, the nuns. And even though she only had the one scene, I was glad to see Sookie, and I wanted her to stay!
So it was Gilmore Girls, warts and all, and it gave me what I most wanted, so I'm pleased.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/889160.html.
people have commented there.