Let’s start with the most obvious one. Zach continues to just be the fucking worst. He is a whiny, idiotic, petulant child, and for all the missteps big and small that this nevertheless great show has made along the way, pairing up him and Lane may be the biggest one. He writes off Lane’s concern when she expresses some minor frustration with him writing countless songs using other girls’ names, he throws a temper tantrum and ruins Hep Alien’s big shot when Brian starts writing a song with Lane’s name, and he’s all around a big baby about this. Why Lane doesn’t just break up with him and move on, I don’t know.
Speaking of break-ups, there’s the interesting tidbit that Logan considers him and Rory to be broken up, and Rory seems hurt by this when she just thinks they were “on hiatus.” That said, I imagine this whole thing will be a big misunderstanding, and he thought she broke up with him, and they’ll reconcile nicely.
On the subject of reconciling, the episode does well to make up for lost time with lots of great Rory/Lorelai banter in this one, as the two Gilmore Girls have saved up months worth of repartee to get out of their system. It’s the best thing in this one, and a treat to have back after 9 episodes with the two of them on the outs.
And hey, I was even okay with the Christopher stuff in this one. I like the idea of history repeating itself where now Rory wants to get out from under Richard and Emily’s thumb. And Luke’s right, it is good of Christopher to finally start contributing something to Rory’s life after years and years of Lorelai effectively doing it on her own. It’s the most I’ve liked Chris actually. Sure, he’s now just wealthy and unrealistic, but he seems genuinely happy to be able to help Rory in some way, and it’s a good look.
But in an episode featuring one absentee dad making a very good decision, “He’s Slippin’” also features another absentee dad making bad decision after bad decision. Oh Luke. It feels really out of character for Luke not to tell Lorelai about this. I could totally understand him wanting to let Lorelai revel in the fact that she and Rory are back together, but the clock is ticking, and him just pretending that it didn’t happen and they didn’t have their whole big “no secrets” conversation (which Lorelai held up her end of the bargain on in this episode) is stupid and dishonest as hell.
I don’t necessarily mind characters acting stupid or dishonest, but it feels out of character for Luke, who’s always been an honorable guy, almost to a fault. You can squint and kind of see the show trying to suggest that he’s got this thing he’s always wanted and so is loathe to do anything, even in these extraordinary circumstances, to upset that, but it just doesn’t feel like him, which hurts this already headache-inducing storyline.
The fact that he tells Liz (who you just know is going to spill the beans in some unsuspecting moment) is even dumber. And again, I totally understand him not wanting to disrupt the lives of Anna and April when they’ve apparently gotten along fine for twelve years without him, but it again seems out of character for him not to write a letter or something to let them know that while he doesn’t want to invade what they have going, he’s there if they need anything.
You can throw your characters in a lot of wild or wacky situations, and not all of them will work perfectly, but all will be at least passable if you can just make the characters’ reactions to those crazy circumstances feel genuine and true to who they’ve been. For all my grief for Zach, his childish fit on stage is entirely in keeping with who is and who he’s always been on this show. (The real mystery is why Lane sticks with him.) But the Luke who is keeping things from Lorelai and not trying to be a part of his (granted, very new-to-him) daughter’s life does not feel like the man we’ve gotten to know over the last 5 1/2 seasons, and that hurts this episode and this arc considerably.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2018-01-07T06:48:50Z
[6.0/10] Ohh this episode has problems.
Let’s start with the most obvious one. Zach continues to just be the fucking worst. He is a whiny, idiotic, petulant child, and for all the missteps big and small that this nevertheless great show has made along the way, pairing up him and Lane may be the biggest one. He writes off Lane’s concern when she expresses some minor frustration with him writing countless songs using other girls’ names, he throws a temper tantrum and ruins Hep Alien’s big shot when Brian starts writing a song with Lane’s name, and he’s all around a big baby about this. Why Lane doesn’t just break up with him and move on, I don’t know.
Speaking of break-ups, there’s the interesting tidbit that Logan considers him and Rory to be broken up, and Rory seems hurt by this when she just thinks they were “on hiatus.” That said, I imagine this whole thing will be a big misunderstanding, and he thought she broke up with him, and they’ll reconcile nicely.
On the subject of reconciling, the episode does well to make up for lost time with lots of great Rory/Lorelai banter in this one, as the two Gilmore Girls have saved up months worth of repartee to get out of their system. It’s the best thing in this one, and a treat to have back after 9 episodes with the two of them on the outs.
And hey, I was even okay with the Christopher stuff in this one. I like the idea of history repeating itself where now Rory wants to get out from under Richard and Emily’s thumb. And Luke’s right, it is good of Christopher to finally start contributing something to Rory’s life after years and years of Lorelai effectively doing it on her own. It’s the most I’ve liked Chris actually. Sure, he’s now just wealthy and unrealistic, but he seems genuinely happy to be able to help Rory in some way, and it’s a good look.
But in an episode featuring one absentee dad making a very good decision, “He’s Slippin’” also features another absentee dad making bad decision after bad decision. Oh Luke. It feels really out of character for Luke not to tell Lorelai about this. I could totally understand him wanting to let Lorelai revel in the fact that she and Rory are back together, but the clock is ticking, and him just pretending that it didn’t happen and they didn’t have their whole big “no secrets” conversation (which Lorelai held up her end of the bargain on in this episode) is stupid and dishonest as hell.
I don’t necessarily mind characters acting stupid or dishonest, but it feels out of character for Luke, who’s always been an honorable guy, almost to a fault. You can squint and kind of see the show trying to suggest that he’s got this thing he’s always wanted and so is loathe to do anything, even in these extraordinary circumstances, to upset that, but it just doesn’t feel like him, which hurts this already headache-inducing storyline.
The fact that he tells Liz (who you just know is going to spill the beans in some unsuspecting moment) is even dumber. And again, I totally understand him not wanting to disrupt the lives of Anna and April when they’ve apparently gotten along fine for twelve years without him, but it again seems out of character for him not to write a letter or something to let them know that while he doesn’t want to invade what they have going, he’s there if they need anything.
You can throw your characters in a lot of wild or wacky situations, and not all of them will work perfectly, but all will be at least passable if you can just make the characters’ reactions to those crazy circumstances feel genuine and true to who they’ve been. For all my grief for Zach, his childish fit on stage is entirely in keeping with who is and who he’s always been on this show. (The real mystery is why Lane sticks with him.) But the Luke who is keeping things from Lorelai and not trying to be a part of his (granted, very new-to-him) daughter’s life does not feel like the man we’ve gotten to know over the last 5 1/2 seasons, and that hurts this episode and this arc considerably.