6x01 New and Improved Lorelai

[7.2/10] I appreciate the conceit of this one, as revealed by the title, that both Lorelai and Rory are attempting to start new chapters of their lives where one of the most notable features is the absence of the other.

For Rory, it’s the new jobless life living in her grandparents’ pool house. The way she is being ushered through that existence through her grandmother and grandfather gives it a whirlwind quality, where she’s pushed through redecorating and meeting with a lawyer and even what dress to wear like clockwork. Rory has a plan, and the elder Gilmores have a plan, and everything seems to be going swimmingly.

Until it doesn’t. One of the most interesting parts of this episode is everyone’s reactions to Rory’s new life. Paris is, naturally, flabbergasted, and her reaction is probably my favorite of anyone’s. Between her initial worry that something is physically wrong with Rory, to her concern that she won’t have Rory as a confidante and motivator (which is very sweet), to her Luke-like plan of attack, Paris can tell that something is rotten in the state of Gilmoreshire, and doesn't like it.

But I also appreciate the subtlety of Logan’s reaction to her sabbatical plan as well. He throws her a “For she’s a jolly good felon” party, but you get the impression that while he’s outwardly supportive, inwardly, he thinks this is a bad idea. His declaration that he expects her to last one month, before her nerdly instincts take over and send her back to school feels true to Rory, or at least his impression of her, and the way he’s just quiet when the other folks are encouraging of Rory’s slothdom is noteworthy.

Then there’s the courtroom scene, where contrary to the lawyers’ promises, the plea deal goes awry and the judge orders 300 hours of community service and probation rather than the 20 they were promised. Rory is initially concerned because it will prevent her from getting a job and supporting herself, but then agrees to take her medicine over her grandparents’ strenuous objections. While you feel a bit bad for Rory, someone who made a dumb mistake in a bad emotional place (and as far as we can tell, didn’t cause any real harm), the judge isn’t wrong that there should be consequences for these sorts of actions, and I like Rory having to face hiccups in her plan.

One of those hiccups is that Lorelai isn’t there to support her. Despite knowing the court date, Lorelai is miffed enough by Rory giving up on school and turning to Richard and Emily that, for now at least, she’s throwing her hands up and letting Rory make her mistakes on her own (or at least, with only her grandparents there for support.) As hard as that is to watch, I like it because it’s half-pragmatic and half-emotional. There’s part of Lorelai that believes Rory needs to be allowed to be independent and make her own choices, even if they’re the wrong ones, and there’s part of her that’s just hurt that her daughter would do this, that her parents would allow it, that feels like she’s been betrayed on all fronts and doesn’t want reminders of that or to throw her support toward that any longer.

Lorelai too is starting a new life, one where Luke is her fiance. The cold open is a lot of fun, where Luke’s instant affirmative response to Lorelai’s proposal is heartening, and the way they run around searching for something bubbly and come up with Zima, while a little too cute, is still endearingly off-kilter in a way that’s true to the two of them. The town’s reaction to Lorelai proposing is pretty sexist, and the bit with Luke buying a ring from Kirk isn’t especially funny, but the core Luke/Lorelai stuff is good. Their little plans and interactions the whole way through are adorable, particularly the way the show breezes through the “house and kids” thing it seemed to be building up before, making it the subject of some warm, funny interactions between the two rather than a break-up.

But the break-up that did occur clearly lingers on Lorelai’s mind. The way she sends Michel to wait for Emily to pick up Rory’s stuff (replete with Michel’s hilarious bon mots) signifies her “I’m not helping with this indignity” stance. That’s amplified by the way she dumps Rory’s stuff on the elder Gilmores in the middle of the night, basically tells them that this is their problem now since they, as Richard puts it, did a “big con” on her. And she seems to be making every attempt to start this new chapter without her daughter there to support and be supported by on a near-perpetual basis.

We saw how well that went the last time the Gilmore Girls didn’t have one another for support, with Rory melting down to Dean over what was happening at Yale, and Lorelai doing the same about her money troubles with Luke. Now Rory has her grandparents, and Lorelai has Luke full-time, but as the scene with Lorelai tearing up in private in her daughter’s empty room signifies, it’s not so easy a thing to let go of.

Network TV shows burn through storylines fast, but for an episode at least, I appreciate the show committing to a schism between the core pairing of the show, and letting us see how both Lorelais, new if not necessarily improved, handle that as the new season begins.