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chuckroNine years after the series ended, we pick up the story of Rory, Lorelei and Emily Gilmore and their ongoing family drama, and finally get some resolution on a number of things. The more things (and people change), the more things stay the same.
Warning: SPOILERS
In case you had any worries: Amy Sherman-Palladino is back for this. The horrors of season 7 are mostly glossed over. She’s clearly been saving up her wit and joke collection for nine years and put all the best stuff into this. Also, apparently these are the final plotlines that she’d wanted to use and effectively the “ending” to the series. (And she’s not perfect—being protected from editors isn’t always a blessing—but it’s got all the wit and absurdities you’d expect.)
Like on Fuller House, an important lesson here is that nobody really changes—they get older, they occasionally learn lessons, they often get more functional, but they’re fundamentally the same people. Rory Gilmore slept with her first boyfriend after he’d married someone else…and now she’s sleeping with her college boyfriend when he’s engaged to someone else. I’m impressed she made it to 32 before having the “quarter-life crisis” of confidence, though there’s a neat symmetry that she’s the same age Lorelei was when the series began.
There were a lot of witty bits that really worked, though a few of them fell flat—the fatshaming pool montage was unnecessary. The “Thirtysomething gang” thing pushed a little too hard on the anti-millennial trend. (Jethrien was wondering why Gypsy had so much screen time; my best guess from the fact that Rose Abdoo was pulling double-duty as Gypsy and Greta was that she had a very flexible schedule compared to other supporting cast members.)
Emily…my god. The way she manipulates Lorelei at the end of the first episode is just beautiful. Watch the queen conquer. I mean, it’s not that she doesn’t share blame for her issues with Lorelei—she’s responsible for at least half of them—but she also has some genuine good points. She does periodically remind me of my own mother, who admittedly has gotten better about the “we’re going to do this thing I think is best for you even if you stridently disagree, facts be damned” since I became an adult and a parent.
Is it weird that I fixated on Rory’s failed job interview at the website and exactly the point where it went wrong? Clearly she’s never had actual interviewing lessons (duh—Rory does well when she cares enough to prepare, but has trouble when caught off-guard). I found myself thinking that when you get thrown a question in a job interview that you aren’t prepared for, you throw back “clarification” questions and base your answers off of what they give you. Good use of this technique can result in the interviewer answering questions for you but still being impressed by how well you picked apart their business model. When someone says, “Pitch me something,” if you attempt to read their mind you’re setting yourself up for failure and a terrible relationship even if you do get the job. The right answer is along the lines of, “Tell me about what your audience has been responding well to, and let’s talk about how I can provide that in a better, broader way.”
While the fandom seems cemented on the idea that Logan is the father of Rory’s child (supported by the conversation with Christopher, certainly, and likely from the timing) I think there’s some validity to the idea that the Wookie was the dad. The timing is a little wonky (it means Rory is at least four months along when she tells Lorelei, though admittedly their relations were strained for the break between the last two episodes), but it explains why she didn’t even approach the topic with Logan at their farewell tour morning-after (as she’d have to have known by then). My guess from the character of Logan’s father is that his sex talk to his son would consist of, “Don’t knock up your mistress,” and even if Rory isn’t being careful, he’d want to be—he has far, far more to lose than she does; and he’s clearly far more aware of the reality of their situation. The one-night stand doesn’t have a strong place in the narrative without being the lead-up here; it’s just another in a string of poor decisions, and not even the one that really motivates Rory to move back home. Also of note, Rory spends the sweltering summer at the pool fully dressed and apparently never goes swimming. Her whiskey lunches at the Gazette might be before she knows or might just be general self-destructiveness.
Of the plotlines that got dropped, the Paris andJonathan Doyle one doesn’t really bother me, as it’s clearly part of the ongoing drama that is their lives and didn’t really need to be resolved. The fact that the letter that Emily brought up in therapy that Lorelei didn’t know about was never addressed afterwards was irritating. Fan theories include that it was written by “Trix” (Lorelei’s grandmother, also named Lorelei, previously established as being a gigantic bitch to Emily), by Christopher’s father (an established asshole with a grudge), by an angry maid or shit-stirring society woman (Emily had no shortage of intensely petty enemies), or just that Lorelei had written it and forgotten it in the decades since.
Also in attractive fan theories: As Rory writes the book “Gilmore Girls,” it firmly establishes that she’s the unreliable narrator for the series and, to the extent that there is one, the true protagonist. Which neatly explains why she’s never really called out on doing shitty things to others and that her spoiled-rich-kid angst gets such high billing. Because despite her humble beginnings as Lorelei did the riches-to-rags-to-comfortable-middle-class thing, Rory is essentially an heiress. Despite her claims on being broke, she has a dozen levels of safety net and will never really want for security. No one questioned her ability to fly back and forth to London (which, in retrospect, was probably on Logan’s dime). She’s not actually a good journalist (though she’s clearly a good writer) and it’s absurd how long it took that reality to sink in.
And a lot of that, I think, circles to why fans stopped liking Rory around late season 4, when she stopped being the “good kid” and started making really terrible life choices. Though honestly, I think that would also be around the time the reality of her status and privilege really hit Rory—learning exactly how immune to consequences you are doesn’t make you behave more sensibly, after all. Rory is capable of focusing on self-actualization without really needing to worry about safety or security, or even other people’s feelings…so she does. An argument can be made that her relationship with Paris is her healthiest, because there’s clearly give-and-take between them and emotional support is being exchanged.
Oh, and the part when the Chilton headmaster offers her a job and she reads it as pity and rejects it out of hand? On one hand, yes, there was some amount of “you’re lost, let me help.” On the other hand, he just watched Rory present to a group of students who clearly responded really well to it. He knows her work style, and he knows that she’d be well-received by the faculty and parents because of her family and educational pedigree. Sympathy for her situation factors in, but it also seems like that would honestly be a good fit for her. Also, private-school teaching pays decently and the hours are such she could be writing books and short pieces—the stuff she seems to actually be able to sell—in her spare time.
I suspect an “ideal” ending for me is Rory taking that Chilton job, living with Lorelei and Luke and raising baby Lorelei Gilmore IV until she gets together with Jess and publishes her best-selling book series “Gilmore Girls.” I suspect that the more likely ending involves far more drama, poor choices and angst. But in the end everyone will be fine and will always have Stars Hallow to return to, because that’s the point of the series: Once you find a real home, it’s always there.
Overall: This was the six-hour resolution movie to a series that didn’t otherwise get a proper ending. I’d go so far to call it required watching to fans of the series even if (as I did) you skipped large chunks of the latter seasons. It doesn’t stand alone in the slightest and there are plenty of problems with it, but I enjoyed it.
Warning: SPOILERS
In case you had any worries: Amy Sherman-Palladino is back for this. The horrors of season 7 are mostly glossed over. She’s clearly been saving up her wit and joke collection for nine years and put all the best stuff into this. Also, apparently these are the final plotlines that she’d wanted to use and effectively the “ending” to the series. (And she’s not perfect—being protected from editors isn’t always a blessing—but it’s got all the wit and absurdities you’d expect.)
Like on Fuller House, an important lesson here is that nobody really changes—they get older, they occasionally learn lessons, they often get more functional, but they’re fundamentally the same people. Rory Gilmore slept with her first boyfriend after he’d married someone else…and now she’s sleeping with her college boyfriend when he’s engaged to someone else. I’m impressed she made it to 32 before having the “quarter-life crisis” of confidence, though there’s a neat symmetry that she’s the same age Lorelei was when the series began.
There were a lot of witty bits that really worked, though a few of them fell flat—the fatshaming pool montage was unnecessary. The “Thirtysomething gang” thing pushed a little too hard on the anti-millennial trend. (Jethrien was wondering why Gypsy had so much screen time; my best guess from the fact that Rose Abdoo was pulling double-duty as Gypsy and Greta was that she had a very flexible schedule compared to other supporting cast members.)
Emily…my god. The way she manipulates Lorelei at the end of the first episode is just beautiful. Watch the queen conquer. I mean, it’s not that she doesn’t share blame for her issues with Lorelei—she’s responsible for at least half of them—but she also has some genuine good points. She does periodically remind me of my own mother, who admittedly has gotten better about the “we’re going to do this thing I think is best for you even if you stridently disagree, facts be damned” since I became an adult and a parent.
Is it weird that I fixated on Rory’s failed job interview at the website and exactly the point where it went wrong? Clearly she’s never had actual interviewing lessons (duh—Rory does well when she cares enough to prepare, but has trouble when caught off-guard). I found myself thinking that when you get thrown a question in a job interview that you aren’t prepared for, you throw back “clarification” questions and base your answers off of what they give you. Good use of this technique can result in the interviewer answering questions for you but still being impressed by how well you picked apart their business model. When someone says, “Pitch me something,” if you attempt to read their mind you’re setting yourself up for failure and a terrible relationship even if you do get the job. The right answer is along the lines of, “Tell me about what your audience has been responding well to, and let’s talk about how I can provide that in a better, broader way.”
While the fandom seems cemented on the idea that Logan is the father of Rory’s child (supported by the conversation with Christopher, certainly, and likely from the timing) I think there’s some validity to the idea that the Wookie was the dad. The timing is a little wonky (it means Rory is at least four months along when she tells Lorelei, though admittedly their relations were strained for the break between the last two episodes), but it explains why she didn’t even approach the topic with Logan at their farewell tour morning-after (as she’d have to have known by then). My guess from the character of Logan’s father is that his sex talk to his son would consist of, “Don’t knock up your mistress,” and even if Rory isn’t being careful, he’d want to be—he has far, far more to lose than she does; and he’s clearly far more aware of the reality of their situation. The one-night stand doesn’t have a strong place in the narrative without being the lead-up here; it’s just another in a string of poor decisions, and not even the one that really motivates Rory to move back home. Also of note, Rory spends the sweltering summer at the pool fully dressed and apparently never goes swimming. Her whiskey lunches at the Gazette might be before she knows or might just be general self-destructiveness.
Of the plotlines that got dropped, the Paris and
Also in attractive fan theories: As Rory writes the book “Gilmore Girls,” it firmly establishes that she’s the unreliable narrator for the series and, to the extent that there is one, the true protagonist. Which neatly explains why she’s never really called out on doing shitty things to others and that her spoiled-rich-kid angst gets such high billing. Because despite her humble beginnings as Lorelei did the riches-to-rags-to-comfortable-middle-class thing, Rory is essentially an heiress. Despite her claims on being broke, she has a dozen levels of safety net and will never really want for security. No one questioned her ability to fly back and forth to London (which, in retrospect, was probably on Logan’s dime). She’s not actually a good journalist (though she’s clearly a good writer) and it’s absurd how long it took that reality to sink in.
And a lot of that, I think, circles to why fans stopped liking Rory around late season 4, when she stopped being the “good kid” and started making really terrible life choices. Though honestly, I think that would also be around the time the reality of her status and privilege really hit Rory—learning exactly how immune to consequences you are doesn’t make you behave more sensibly, after all. Rory is capable of focusing on self-actualization without really needing to worry about safety or security, or even other people’s feelings…so she does. An argument can be made that her relationship with Paris is her healthiest, because there’s clearly give-and-take between them and emotional support is being exchanged.
Oh, and the part when the Chilton headmaster offers her a job and she reads it as pity and rejects it out of hand? On one hand, yes, there was some amount of “you’re lost, let me help.” On the other hand, he just watched Rory present to a group of students who clearly responded really well to it. He knows her work style, and he knows that she’d be well-received by the faculty and parents because of her family and educational pedigree. Sympathy for her situation factors in, but it also seems like that would honestly be a good fit for her. Also, private-school teaching pays decently and the hours are such she could be writing books and short pieces—the stuff she seems to actually be able to sell—in her spare time.
I suspect an “ideal” ending for me is Rory taking that Chilton job, living with Lorelei and Luke and raising baby Lorelei Gilmore IV until she gets together with Jess and publishes her best-selling book series “Gilmore Girls.” I suspect that the more likely ending involves far more drama, poor choices and angst. But in the end everyone will be fine and will always have Stars Hallow to return to, because that’s the point of the series: Once you find a real home, it’s always there.
Overall: This was the six-hour resolution movie to a series that didn’t otherwise get a proper ending. I’d go so far to call it required watching to fans of the series even if (as I did) you skipped large chunks of the latter seasons. It doesn’t stand alone in the slightest and there are plenty of problems with it, but I enjoyed it.
