What a dorkus
Jul. 2nd, 2003 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynSo, this is how dorky I am: In all my misery over not having anything good to watch and Buffy being gone, etc. etc., I forgot that I had the finale of Gilmore Girls sitting in my second vcr for over a month. My, like, favorite show outside the Joss-verse and related stuff.
So I watched it the other night, and wasn't sure what to make of it based on the news that Lorelai will probably have yet another new relationship with a guy other than Luke next season. Because I'm just not getting why Amy Sherman-Palladino doesn't understand that viewers clearly want Lorelai and Luke to get together; they've teased us enough with hints of it that surely they get there's chemistry in the actors and interest in the fans. And why she doesn't see how dangerous it is to keep feinting at it, and then pulling back. Didn't she ever watch Cheers? Moonlighting? Soaps, for god's sake? There's a fine line between teasing the audience and building them up, and just annoying them, and I'd think a good showrunner, as she's seemed to be, would tread that line carefully. I was totally suckered in by Luke's dream of Lorelai telling him not to get engaged; then there was the parallel to Lorelai's dream in the first ep this season where she dreams she and Luke are married. Four years is a long time to yank people's chains.
Especially because it seems ripe with possibilities, and Lorelai deserves it. Emily clearly likes Luke but would be appalled if her daughter took up with him; Rory would have major cognitive dissonance having to accept him as part of her family rather than just Luke. Much fun and sturm und drang could be had by all, and frankly the idea of grouchy Luke trying to integrate himself into the lives of the Gilmore girls would be entertainingly snarky. Luke is, after all, at his best when he's snarky.
I know a lot of people liked Jess, but even though he looks like baby Vaughn from Alias, I loathed him, so I'm glad he's gone. I never want him to come back -- he treated my Rory horribly, and I especially despised the way he used and manipulated that poor girl to make Rory jealous (and his self-righteousness about his mistreatment of her). I never thought Dean was up to Gilmore standards, but I much preferred him to someone who lies, steals, and abuses women and doesn't even have the excuse of... oh, say, not having a soul.
There wasn't a lot of tension in the story of the inn and whether they'd get it or not; it was kind of a no-brainer that Rory would find a way at the end. I loved her scenes with Paris, especially the "I mostly kind of hated you." "I hated you, too" dialog. Paris should go to Yale and dog Rory forever because she's such a fabulous character.
What I did like most about the finale was the sense of quiet acceptance that life changes, no matter how sad those changes are. The way Lorelai handled the loss of the inn, and then the bid on the new one; how they've both dealt with Rory's change of plans to Yale instead of Harvard; how she's seeming to support Luke in his choices with Nicole; how Lane is handling her future. That's always been the show's strength, I think -- that even though it's every bit as fantastical a universe as Buffy or Angel, it's grounded in this kind of "life goes on all around us" mindset so that the heartbreak is mixed in with the simple joys. The show never seems to lose sight of the fact that there are simple joys, and that feeling love and forgiveness and openness have a lot to do with that.
The fact that Emily, for instance, is so closed off and narrow in her worldview causes her more emotional pain than is necessary; and that ends up causing the rifts with Lorelai, and the scars. Lorelai is more open to both the good and the bad, she tries to push forward and change things when she can, so in some ways she gets more love and loyalty than Emily could ever hope to have. It will be interesting to see what she does next year with a new life and a Rory-less house, and whether maybe she might be able to show Emily a different way of being (I think that would really move the show forward in an area it's stagnating with). Lorelai makes mistakes a lot, but she learns from them, and that's what keeps us watching. And I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Rory gets a guy she deserves and keeps up her friendship with Lane, whom I adore.
After all the angst and emotions of the Buffy finale and the Angel season finale, it was so nice to have something that had an ending and a new beginning and a sense of hope and joy. I really do love this show, even when they taunt me with the Luke and Lorelai thing. Here's to a change of heart for AS-P, and little bit of the right romance next year.
So I watched it the other night, and wasn't sure what to make of it based on the news that Lorelai will probably have yet another new relationship with a guy other than Luke next season. Because I'm just not getting why Amy Sherman-Palladino doesn't understand that viewers clearly want Lorelai and Luke to get together; they've teased us enough with hints of it that surely they get there's chemistry in the actors and interest in the fans. And why she doesn't see how dangerous it is to keep feinting at it, and then pulling back. Didn't she ever watch Cheers? Moonlighting? Soaps, for god's sake? There's a fine line between teasing the audience and building them up, and just annoying them, and I'd think a good showrunner, as she's seemed to be, would tread that line carefully. I was totally suckered in by Luke's dream of Lorelai telling him not to get engaged; then there was the parallel to Lorelai's dream in the first ep this season where she dreams she and Luke are married. Four years is a long time to yank people's chains.
Especially because it seems ripe with possibilities, and Lorelai deserves it. Emily clearly likes Luke but would be appalled if her daughter took up with him; Rory would have major cognitive dissonance having to accept him as part of her family rather than just Luke. Much fun and sturm und drang could be had by all, and frankly the idea of grouchy Luke trying to integrate himself into the lives of the Gilmore girls would be entertainingly snarky. Luke is, after all, at his best when he's snarky.
I know a lot of people liked Jess, but even though he looks like baby Vaughn from Alias, I loathed him, so I'm glad he's gone. I never want him to come back -- he treated my Rory horribly, and I especially despised the way he used and manipulated that poor girl to make Rory jealous (and his self-righteousness about his mistreatment of her). I never thought Dean was up to Gilmore standards, but I much preferred him to someone who lies, steals, and abuses women and doesn't even have the excuse of... oh, say, not having a soul.
There wasn't a lot of tension in the story of the inn and whether they'd get it or not; it was kind of a no-brainer that Rory would find a way at the end. I loved her scenes with Paris, especially the "I mostly kind of hated you." "I hated you, too" dialog. Paris should go to Yale and dog Rory forever because she's such a fabulous character.
What I did like most about the finale was the sense of quiet acceptance that life changes, no matter how sad those changes are. The way Lorelai handled the loss of the inn, and then the bid on the new one; how they've both dealt with Rory's change of plans to Yale instead of Harvard; how she's seeming to support Luke in his choices with Nicole; how Lane is handling her future. That's always been the show's strength, I think -- that even though it's every bit as fantastical a universe as Buffy or Angel, it's grounded in this kind of "life goes on all around us" mindset so that the heartbreak is mixed in with the simple joys. The show never seems to lose sight of the fact that there are simple joys, and that feeling love and forgiveness and openness have a lot to do with that.
The fact that Emily, for instance, is so closed off and narrow in her worldview causes her more emotional pain than is necessary; and that ends up causing the rifts with Lorelai, and the scars. Lorelai is more open to both the good and the bad, she tries to push forward and change things when she can, so in some ways she gets more love and loyalty than Emily could ever hope to have. It will be interesting to see what she does next year with a new life and a Rory-less house, and whether maybe she might be able to show Emily a different way of being (I think that would really move the show forward in an area it's stagnating with). Lorelai makes mistakes a lot, but she learns from them, and that's what keeps us watching. And I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Rory gets a guy she deserves and keeps up her friendship with Lane, whom I adore.
After all the angst and emotions of the Buffy finale and the Angel season finale, it was so nice to have something that had an ending and a new beginning and a sense of hope and joy. I really do love this show, even when they taunt me with the Luke and Lorelai thing. Here's to a change of heart for AS-P, and little bit of the right romance next year.
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From a fellow Gilmore Girls geek.
Date: 2003-07-02 07:21 pm (UTC)1. Why didn't Lorelai try to finance an inn when her dad gave her the check for $70k? I mean, I know she has principles and doesn't want to be beholden to her parents, but Lorelai is smart enough to know that owning your own business will produce MORE income over time. Right?
2. The Luke thing. I agree, it's high time they let them get together. I think it could be really funny, like when Monica and Chandler finally hooked up. "Friends" handled that whole thing really well - much better than the Rachel/Ross storyline - because there was tension and there were foibles and it was charming and funny and sweet and NOT cloying. It totally broke the stereotype of not being able to let the will-they/won't-they couple get together.
3. I never liked Jess, either, but I liked him more than Dean. Both boys were supposed to leave the show, because both actors were to get their own series, but both series got canceled after the pilot episode. So it looks like Jess might be coming back. And I'm guessing this will mean that Dean won't marry that chick he's engaged to. But we'll see.
4. One thing I'm really disappointed in overall was the decision to have Rory go to Yale. It seemed like such a copout after her Harvard dreams. I know they want to keep the show going, but Cambridge can't be THAT much farther from Stars Hollow than Yale is. An extra hour or two? Yeah, didn't like that one bit.
5. They will find a way to keep Paris in the show. Even if she only sees Rory over breaks.
OK, I'll shut up now.
Re: From a fellow Gilmore Girls geek.
Date: 2003-07-02 09:03 pm (UTC)I'd heard about Jess's actor's show being canned, and I just live in dread that he could come back. I just found his behavior despicable, and the way he spoke to Rory and treated her like a thing, and his fighting with Dean, and the way he treated Lorelai and Emily just apalled me. He had no respect for anyone, least of all Rory, and it made me really upset because I had a guy in my life -- well, most guys in my life -- who treated me that way. And Dean didn't have the maturity to even understand that Rory was her own person and needed understanding, not censure, when she didn't return his feelings right away.
She needs a cool boyfriend, and now. Please oh please do not bring Jess back!! (implores god)
long-winded Jess bashing
Date: 2003-07-14 03:38 am (UTC)I surfed in here from
Here is my take on why Rory/Jess was doomed to suck from the start. First season I was a Rory/Tristan fan. Yes, yes I know...Tristan was a huge dickhead too. *G* But what I liked about the potential of Rory/Tristan was that she KNEW he was a dickhead, and she wasn't going to give him the time of day until he stopped acting like a dickhead. That story (if Chad had stayed and they had done it right...and they might not have done it right) would have been about him having to find the good part of himself, drop the hard shell, and make himself vulnerable. It would have been about whether his feelings for Rory were enough to give him a reason to become the person he COULD be. Until he did that, Rory wasn't going to see him as anything more than a jerk. But with Jess. He was just as much of a jerk as Tristan was. But Rory didn't seem to NOTICE. She didn't see through his bullshit. She didn't look at the jerky stuff he did with disapproval. No. He was a jerk, but she liked him that way. She was attracted to his jerky attitude. Why? Gah. Who knows. My Rory is too smart for that. But either way, that fact took everything I liked about the Rory/Tristan potential and trashed it. Without the potential for change, the impetus to become a better person, it turns into a depressing cycle of crap.
I'm dreading his return to the show, because I was really hoping that with a clean slate for Rory as a catalyst, they'd be able to shake the show up, and maybe break up how stagnant the show has become. Plus of course, I wouldn't have to watch Jess acting like an ass anymore. But now... unhappiness.
Also. So with you on the L/L thing. I got fed up by the end of season 2 with the UST, and at this point although I would like them to be together, I mostly am wavering between apathy and anger. First season it made sense for them to be apart because of Max and Rachel. But now, there's no good reason for them not to be together. It's ridiculous. If there's no reason for it, and the two people clearly are attracted to each other, UST is just annoying. I am annoyed. *G* Either quit teasing us with the possiblity, or get them together already.
Re: long-winded Jess bashing
Date: 2003-07-14 10:15 am (UTC)So, then, Jess coming back to the show is a done deal? Gah. I just... I think it shows ASP in a very bad light if she doesn't understand what he is and how very, very bad for the show he's been in terms of convincing us that GG is about strong women. It's so reductive for Rory to allow herself to be diminished by Jess because he's the "hot" bad boy, and veers dangerously close to some of the crap that Mutant Enemy perpetrated on us Buffy fans in season 6, with Buffy turning into some kind of slave to her need for degradation by horrible Spike. I liked to think that ASP was better than this... but by dragging out Rory's allowance of her mistreatment and by the neverending coyness of this Luke and Lorelai thing, they could lose a lot of their audience. Or at least, the audience that isn't just tuning in because one of the teen boys is hot.
This show has so much more going for it, I'm not clear why she's losing this focus for the sake of stringing out stories. There's a great potential to be mined in a new boyfriend who's Rory's equal, once she's at school, and in seeing how difficult and challenging a real life with Lorelai would be for Luke. There's *years* worth of stuff there.
I hate Jess. He's every bad boyfriend I ever had -- and all my boyfriends were bad. I know from bad boyfriends. I want him to go away.
one more long-winded post
Date: 2003-07-15 01:06 am (UTC)Okay, now I'm a little skeeved out myself. *g* I think with Tristan I was actually more into MY perception of him, or my perception of his potential, than who he was on the show. Unlike with Jess, he didn't get a whole lot of airtime, so there was room for me to interpret his behavior the way I wanted to. I'm not at all convinced that I would have liked Tristan and Rory together if they'd ever made them a couple on the show, because I doubt they would have done it exactly the way I wanted them too. And if they'd done it wrong it could have been just as unhealthy as her relationship with Jess.
So, then, Jess coming back to the show is a done deal? Gah.
Actually no. Sorry for the false alarm. :P I'm just being pessimistic because I've seen people talking about how they're trying to get him back under contract. Not a done deal though, at least as far as I know.
I think it shows ASP in a very bad light if she doesn't understand what he is and how very, very bad for the show he's been in terms of convincing us that GG is about strong women.
Yes. It bothers me that if Jess doesn't come back, it'll be because they couldn't get Milo, not because ASP realized that the character is hurting the characterization of Rory. I felt so in synch with ASP during GG's first season. But I'm definitely feeling out of synch with her now, and I'm worried about where she's going next since apparently we now have such different views on relationships and women and even story development. Still, I have to give her respect for first season, which I continue to think was outstanding.
some of the crap that Mutant Enemy perpetrated on us Buffy fans in season 6, with Buffy turning into some kind of slave to her need for degradation by horrible Spike.
Gah. I hated season 6 of Buffy with a passion. Not just for the B/S relationship by the way...
Not even including the rape, I thought the B/S relationship in season 6 was really ugly. 6th season Spike was even more manipulative than Jess. (Well. Duh. He had no soul. And he's smarter than Jess.) He was constantly tearing Buffy down, and isolating her from her friends, because the only way he could have her was if she was scraping rock bottom. I hated that relationship, and I hated seeing Buffy getting in deeper and almost seemed to feed on being degraded. There were reasons for that with her death experience, and I guess I didn't find it out of character, but utterly defeated Buffy isn't the Buffy I love and I hated seeing her like that.
There's a great potential to be mined in a new boyfriend who's Rory's equal, once she's at school, and in seeing how difficult and challenging a real life with Lorelai would be for Luke. There's *years* worth of stuff there.
I agree with this so much. I could come to terms with the Jess-debacle if Rory has learned something from it, and it helps her find a healthy relationship in college. Someone who is her equal is key. So far, none of the candidates they've given us on the show have been that. If they can't do that, I'd like to see Rory without a boy for a while.
And Luke and Lorelai becoming a couple would definitely spawn new story potential. There would be all kinds of complications letting any man into the Gilmore close-knit unit of two. But I think it would be especially filled with interesting difficulties if it were Luke because they've got all this history with him, and he already has a clear place in the town. ASP seems to be of the school that believes that ending UST, and getting a couple together, is death to a show. But what she needs to recognize is that by forcing the relationship to stay stagnant she's actually limiting herself in terms of the stories she can tell. Getting L/L together wouldn't be the end, it would be just the beginning of a new breath of life for the show. IMO of course :)
Gah. This is long again. I apologize. I just don't have a lot of friends who watch GG, so I tend to go overboard when I find someone who knows the show.