Gilmore_Chris & Lorelai
Originally uploaded by goldteethblog.
(Air date: 11/28/06) Bad move Christopher. You just don't get it do you? The town of Stars Hollow doesn't have a 12-hour knitting festival just to raise funds for a new bridge. The townsfolk hold such a ridiculous event -- replete with giant knitting needles -- to gossip, crack jokes and to wrap poor ol' Taylor up in yarn.
Christopher is clearly an outsider in Stars Hollow, at least that's what this episode -- one of the best since the Palladinos split -- was trying to tell us. And just when I was starting to like the guy.
I still dig Christopher, even though he did spoil everybody's knitting fun by plopping down a huge wad of cash to get the town's bridge fixed. He's a smart, well written character, and he seems to have shed a lot of the loser skin he was packing a few seasons back. It wasn't long ago that I was in the anti-Christopher camp, but can you blame me? For several seasons the guy has shown up, filled our Gilmore girls with hope and promises only to crush their precious little multi-syllabic hearts. I smelled a rat when he swooped in after Lorelai and Luke broke up, but now I don't know what to think. He's cool, he's confidant, funny and he's clearly smitten with Lorelai -- a fact he had to spread all over town in this ep. So why are the writers, and actors, working overtime to make sure we get that sense of impending doom about their relationship? It's pretty frustrating and its not nearly as fun as watching Chris and Lor happily toss witty one-liners back and forth at the speed of light like they used to.
At least we got to see Rory and Logan act like a proper "Gilmore Girls" couple this week, if only for a few minutes. Logan's job called him away, as it usually does nowadays, and Rory had to help plan a "2002 party." So, this is where the Palladino's touch is sorely missed. A 2002 party? That's a desperate gag, not funny and inspired like last season's Tarantino Party. They didn't even bother to illustrate 2002 properly; we got one Nelly song and a sight gag involving some clunky boots. Yawn. But, of course, the real story here was the dynamic between Rory and Marty.
I used to like Marty, but I didn't shed any tears when Logan obliterated his chances with Rory a few seasons back. Logan is one of my favorite characters on any show, and I really hope the writers don't plan to replace him with dopey Marty. What a bore that would be, especially since it seems like the whole Marty plot is another desperate attempt to create on-air conflict. It rings hollow. Why not deal with Rory's post-collegiate anxiety, or explore her dynamic with Paris instead of setting up another love triangle at this point?
We got to see a nice amount of Paris here, hip-hop dancing with Doyle no less, which is always great. I dig how she's kind of a celebrity among the Yale undergrads. But why was Rory moving back into Paris' deathtrap apartment? Isn't she crashing at Logan's pad -- the greatest TV apartment ever? That move felt pretty forced, like they're really trying to physically distance Rory from Logan.
And poor Luke. The guy's been jabbed in the heart all season. Now it looks like April's pathologically overprotective mom might move her away. It was great to see Luke sharing quality time with T.J. (who was actually quite hilarious in this ep), and the scene with him holding his new niece ("Doula!") was the stuff season one was made of. In a perfect coda, Luke marched over to Anna's to demand equal rights as a parent. He also did a good job of stuffing her obsessive attitude down her boho-chic throat. Now that's the Luke we know and love -- not taking anybody's crap.
It looks like Luke's previously latent doggedness will be on full display next week.He and Chris were about to go all "Mortal Kombat" on each other in the teaser for the next ep. Who'll win that possible street fight you ask? Let's see: Trendy, tight pants and hair product wearing rich boy vs. the pissed-off, flannel-draped outdoorsman with a persistent 5 o' clock shadow. Yeah, I'm bettin' on Luke.
So , this one was pretty good despite its flaws, almost as funny and warm as the "Gilmore Girls" of old. I predict "Wolf Girl" paintings will be all the rage this Christmas.
