[8.3/10] This felt like a classic episode of Gilmore Girls, which feels weird to say for a show that’s only in its sixth season. Still “Welcome to the Dollhouse”, despite the different circumstances, had the rhythm and tone of an episode out of Season 1 or 2, with a nice balance of comic storylines, character relationships, and drama beneath the surface that made for a lovely milieu, and it’s refreshing to get another little taste of that.
What could be more classic for Gilmore GIrls than a town meeting with a silly historical stunt that turns into a standoff between Lorelai and Taylor? The Dragonfly’s street having its name changed to “Sores and Boils Alley” is a pretty goofy plot, but the episode makes the most of it. Taylor is his usual intransigent and condescending self. Kirk is his guileless stooge. Michelle is ready with a sardonic remark. Sookie is equal parts enthusiastic then worried. And Lorelai starts out polite but gets increasingly and amusingly defiant as this tiff wears on. This is the kind of local color I like (particularly Gypsy not playing along with the mini-play at the meeting), and while a light story, this one paid comic dividends throughout.
I also enjoyed the relatively light, but slightly more significant mystery of the boxes that kept showing up unbidden to Lorelai’s abode, filled with knick knacks and bric-a-brac that she neither wants nor needs. The initial bet in the Bloom household was that they were items Rory had ordered online, being delivered to the wrong “Lorelai Gilmore.”
But I like the real answer better -- that Emily was sending these things to her daughter after a bit of jealousy when Richard got to see her face-to-face, and this is an attempt to force Lorelai to see her too. It gives Luke a few nice moments (talking about his “Taylor zen” and huffing over kids playing on the new giant urn), and it’s the sort of circuitous, duplicitous, but heart-in-the-right-place choice that defines Emily Gilmore. She misses seeing her daughter, and while she’s bad at expressing that or working past it, the way she tries to alleviate it is enjoyable and very her.
The Hartford half of the episode is superb as well. There’s some of the deft writing that’s deep in different characters’ perspectives that I always appreciate from this show. The night cap with Richard and Logan, where Richard is poking around for info on whether Rory is thinking of going back to school, and Logan thinks he’s being interrogated about whether a proposal is in the offing, is a nice instance where both characters’ points of view make total sense, even as their entirely different.
And the aftermath works well too, with Rory and Logan both feeling like their relationship is too new, and that they’re too young, to be that serious that soon. Still, things are going well, and Rory tells Logan that she loves him. I appreciate the continuity and character consistency that, after what happened to her with Dean when the shoe was on the other foot, she’s not expecting anything back from Logan when she says that, but that she feels it and wants him to know. Logan, for his part, is honest with Rory as usual and doesn’t say it just to say it, which is admirable in its way and, from a TV show perspective, lets the show get another big moment somewhere down the line where he does say it. There’s still plenty of time for them to mess this up, but thus far in the show, I am firmly Team Logan.
The best storyline in the episode, however, is the aftermath of the other half of that nightcap, where Richard is worried about Rory’s future and doesn’t know where to turn. For one thing, I really appreciate that the show followed up on Richard’s aghast look at the end of the last episode, rather than just dropping it like it’s done with some other significant changes. (See also: why the hell is Taylor the town selectman again rather than Jackson?) This is a big epiphany for Richard, and I’m glad that the show leans into that rather than moving on like nothing happened.
But it’s also a chance for some great Richard and Emily capering. It’s not their show, or at least, they’re not the focus of it, but I wish we got more scenes of the elder Gilmores together. They have a hilarious, Frasier-like dynamic that brings the laugh and the charm every time. Whether it’s Emily waxing rhapsodic about a “Birken Bag” (and Kelly Bishop manages to make each pronunciation of that phrase funny), or Richard not knowing quite how to properly snoop, or the both of them dryly quipping about a maid “sent from a sugar consortium” who might be running off with Logan was hilarious.
The heart’s there too though, and that’s the balance that Gilmore Girls manages at its best. For the first time, Richard is seriously confronting the possibility that Rory might not be planning to go back to school, that his daughter had the right read on this the whole time, and suddenly he’s very worried. It leads to that great moment where he protects that sentimentally-valued dollhouse from Emily’s scheme, goes to Lorelai, and in a roundabout way, admits that she was right and more importantly, that they need to do something. It’s good character work, and a plot that makes you laugh but also makes you feel, something that this show, when it’s hitting its stride, can do like no other.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-01-06T16:11:54Z
[8.3/10] This felt like a classic episode of Gilmore Girls, which feels weird to say for a show that’s only in its sixth season. Still “Welcome to the Dollhouse”, despite the different circumstances, had the rhythm and tone of an episode out of Season 1 or 2, with a nice balance of comic storylines, character relationships, and drama beneath the surface that made for a lovely milieu, and it’s refreshing to get another little taste of that.
What could be more classic for Gilmore GIrls than a town meeting with a silly historical stunt that turns into a standoff between Lorelai and Taylor? The Dragonfly’s street having its name changed to “Sores and Boils Alley” is a pretty goofy plot, but the episode makes the most of it. Taylor is his usual intransigent and condescending self. Kirk is his guileless stooge. Michelle is ready with a sardonic remark. Sookie is equal parts enthusiastic then worried. And Lorelai starts out polite but gets increasingly and amusingly defiant as this tiff wears on. This is the kind of local color I like (particularly Gypsy not playing along with the mini-play at the meeting), and while a light story, this one paid comic dividends throughout.
I also enjoyed the relatively light, but slightly more significant mystery of the boxes that kept showing up unbidden to Lorelai’s abode, filled with knick knacks and bric-a-brac that she neither wants nor needs. The initial bet in the Bloom household was that they were items Rory had ordered online, being delivered to the wrong “Lorelai Gilmore.”
But I like the real answer better -- that Emily was sending these things to her daughter after a bit of jealousy when Richard got to see her face-to-face, and this is an attempt to force Lorelai to see her too. It gives Luke a few nice moments (talking about his “Taylor zen” and huffing over kids playing on the new giant urn), and it’s the sort of circuitous, duplicitous, but heart-in-the-right-place choice that defines Emily Gilmore. She misses seeing her daughter, and while she’s bad at expressing that or working past it, the way she tries to alleviate it is enjoyable and very her.
The Hartford half of the episode is superb as well. There’s some of the deft writing that’s deep in different characters’ perspectives that I always appreciate from this show. The night cap with Richard and Logan, where Richard is poking around for info on whether Rory is thinking of going back to school, and Logan thinks he’s being interrogated about whether a proposal is in the offing, is a nice instance where both characters’ points of view make total sense, even as their entirely different.
And the aftermath works well too, with Rory and Logan both feeling like their relationship is too new, and that they’re too young, to be that serious that soon. Still, things are going well, and Rory tells Logan that she loves him. I appreciate the continuity and character consistency that, after what happened to her with Dean when the shoe was on the other foot, she’s not expecting anything back from Logan when she says that, but that she feels it and wants him to know. Logan, for his part, is honest with Rory as usual and doesn’t say it just to say it, which is admirable in its way and, from a TV show perspective, lets the show get another big moment somewhere down the line where he does say it. There’s still plenty of time for them to mess this up, but thus far in the show, I am firmly Team Logan.
The best storyline in the episode, however, is the aftermath of the other half of that nightcap, where Richard is worried about Rory’s future and doesn’t know where to turn. For one thing, I really appreciate that the show followed up on Richard’s aghast look at the end of the last episode, rather than just dropping it like it’s done with some other significant changes. (See also: why the hell is Taylor the town selectman again rather than Jackson?) This is a big epiphany for Richard, and I’m glad that the show leans into that rather than moving on like nothing happened.
But it’s also a chance for some great Richard and Emily capering. It’s not their show, or at least, they’re not the focus of it, but I wish we got more scenes of the elder Gilmores together. They have a hilarious, Frasier-like dynamic that brings the laugh and the charm every time. Whether it’s Emily waxing rhapsodic about a “Birken Bag” (and Kelly Bishop manages to make each pronunciation of that phrase funny), or Richard not knowing quite how to properly snoop, or the both of them dryly quipping about a maid “sent from a sugar consortium” who might be running off with Logan was hilarious.
The heart’s there too though, and that’s the balance that Gilmore Girls manages at its best. For the first time, Richard is seriously confronting the possibility that Rory might not be planning to go back to school, that his daughter had the right read on this the whole time, and suddenly he’s very worried. It leads to that great moment where he protects that sentimentally-valued dollhouse from Emily’s scheme, goes to Lorelai, and in a roundabout way, admits that she was right and more importantly, that they need to do something. It’s good character work, and a plot that makes you laugh but also makes you feel, something that this show, when it’s hitting its stride, can do like no other.