[7.4/10] This is a tough episode to rate. It’s a pretty jumbled episode, with something like five different storylines touched on and/or disposed of in turn, and most of which range from “pretty good” to “meh”
That includes the major storylines involving the Gilmore Girls. I appreciated the fact that the presence of Paris’s boyfriend Jaime is enough to finally prompt Rory to confront Paris about how her affair with Michael York is unfair to him. I’d like to think that it’s Rory’s residual guilt for how she treated Dean when she was attracted to Jess, but that may be reading too much into it. The issue is disposed with rather quickly (and it’s amusing, if a little cheesy, how direct Paris is when she breaks things off), and I like Paris revealing her own insecurities even as she’s kind of cruel, but it all feels kind of abrupt.
That’s even more true for Lane the runaway. It’s nice to see her trying to pull her weight around Rory’s dorm, and have her be used as a scapegoat for Paris, as both show her being semi-noble and earning her keep even in a weird situation. And it’s interesting, as a counterpoint, to have Lorelai tell Mrs. Kim that Lane is safe, though Mrs. Kim’s reaction is a bit inscrutable. The whole thing feels kind of undercooked here, but I guess they just wanted to check-in on this storyline rather than actually meaningfully progress it.
The same goes for Lorelai’s adventures with Digger. There’s a solid idea in Lorelai taking Digger around Stars Hollow and him being consumed with work, and there’s some more low-grade bickering that shows that Lorelai and Digger are just not on the same page, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. I kind of enjoy Lorelai ginning up the courage to tell her mother about their relationship, but again, the whole thing feels pretty sitcomm-y and the writing wasn’t sharp enough to overcome that.
That said, I really liked the Luke material here. It’s rare that we get Luke carrying the A-story without help from Lorelai and Rory, but hashing out his complicated family issues is a nice way to make that work. His interactions with his sister were intriguing as all hell, as you can tell how frustrated and mistrustful he is of her (which seems to prove the correct response), while also wanting to fulfill the duties of family -- making sure she’s okay and has a place to stay and all that good stuff. Their conversation is revealing for both characters, and you can see both how Luke’s sister would be charming but unreliable, and how Luke would be prickly but ultimately caring.
That goes double for [spoiler]the return of Jess. I’d be lying if I said I was excited to see dear rat boy again, but I always appreciated him more when he was used to create a complex family dynamic with Luke than when he was being used as a romantic interest for Rory, so this leaned in the right direction. Their blow-up over the car felt true to both characters, and Luke telling Jess he can’t stay at the diner, only to relent because at heart, he’s an old softie, is perfect. There’s a truth to the way Luke deals with his relatives that’s missing in the rest of the episode, but makes those parts of it truly great.
Overall, I wish there’d been more focus in this one, and the non-Luke storylines felt clearer and better connected, but the Luke stuff is good enough to bump this one up a couple of notches.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-11-07T23:14:09Z
[7.4/10] This is a tough episode to rate. It’s a pretty jumbled episode, with something like five different storylines touched on and/or disposed of in turn, and most of which range from “pretty good” to “meh”
That includes the major storylines involving the Gilmore Girls. I appreciated the fact that the presence of Paris’s boyfriend Jaime is enough to finally prompt Rory to confront Paris about how her affair with Michael York is unfair to him. I’d like to think that it’s Rory’s residual guilt for how she treated Dean when she was attracted to Jess, but that may be reading too much into it. The issue is disposed with rather quickly (and it’s amusing, if a little cheesy, how direct Paris is when she breaks things off), and I like Paris revealing her own insecurities even as she’s kind of cruel, but it all feels kind of abrupt.
That’s even more true for Lane the runaway. It’s nice to see her trying to pull her weight around Rory’s dorm, and have her be used as a scapegoat for Paris, as both show her being semi-noble and earning her keep even in a weird situation. And it’s interesting, as a counterpoint, to have Lorelai tell Mrs. Kim that Lane is safe, though Mrs. Kim’s reaction is a bit inscrutable. The whole thing feels kind of undercooked here, but I guess they just wanted to check-in on this storyline rather than actually meaningfully progress it.
The same goes for Lorelai’s adventures with Digger. There’s a solid idea in Lorelai taking Digger around Stars Hollow and him being consumed with work, and there’s some more low-grade bickering that shows that Lorelai and Digger are just not on the same page, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. I kind of enjoy Lorelai ginning up the courage to tell her mother about their relationship, but again, the whole thing feels pretty sitcomm-y and the writing wasn’t sharp enough to overcome that.
That said, I really liked the Luke material here. It’s rare that we get Luke carrying the A-story without help from Lorelai and Rory, but hashing out his complicated family issues is a nice way to make that work. His interactions with his sister were intriguing as all hell, as you can tell how frustrated and mistrustful he is of her (which seems to prove the correct response), while also wanting to fulfill the duties of family -- making sure she’s okay and has a place to stay and all that good stuff. Their conversation is revealing for both characters, and you can see both how Luke’s sister would be charming but unreliable, and how Luke would be prickly but ultimately caring.
That goes double for [spoiler]the return of Jess. I’d be lying if I said I was excited to see dear rat boy again, but I always appreciated him more when he was used to create a complex family dynamic with Luke than when he was being used as a romantic interest for Rory, so this leaned in the right direction. Their blow-up over the car felt true to both characters, and Luke telling Jess he can’t stay at the diner, only to relent because at heart, he’s an old softie, is perfect. There’s a truth to the way Luke deals with his relatives that’s missing in the rest of the episode, but makes those parts of it truly great.
Overall, I wish there’d been more focus in this one, and the non-Luke storylines felt clearer and better connected, but the Luke stuff is good enough to bump this one up a couple of notches.