Monday, September 9, 2013

Gilmore Girls Mondays: Week 5 (Season Two recap)

Gilmore Girls Mondays is a feature I started on my personal blog when Molli, Jess, and I decided to do a rewatch-along in June. I did four weeks of it, but since no one really saw it, I decided to move it over here to Ramblings of a Daydreamer. You can see my first four posts here. Please note that there will be spoilers for season 2 if you haven't watched it.

  • I love that this show is about flawed people. Lorelai doesn’t react to situations in the best way (point in case, how she handled the whole Max thing…what a shitshow); Rory is smart and a really good kid but she’s not perfect, she’s makes mistakes. Nobody in this show is all good or all bad, nobody is right all the time, they all makes mistakes, do or say things they regret, and it’s just so great because it makes it real and relatable. 
  • Another thing I love is the relationship between Rory and Dean. So many shows and movies idealize first love, but Gilmore Girls doesn’t. They have fights, they’re both insecure (I lost count of the times I said to the TV, “Dean, you’re such a whiny little bitch”), and they have issues, just like any real couple. While I didn’t root for them as a couple, I think Dean was the perfect first love for Rory. He taught her a lot, showed her the possibilities, and he was basically really good to and for her (even though he was a whiny little bitch at times).
  • Then there’s Rory and Jess. *sigh* I really love these two. Just like with Dean, Jess taught Rory a lot. He was so different from Dean, it seemed impossible that Rory could like a guy like Dean while liking a guy like Jess. He dragged her out of her shell in a way - she had it in her all along, but Jess was the catalyst in many ways with his 'I don’t give a f*ck' attitude. He was so indifferent, and yet with Rory, he just came alive, and I loved it. The looks that pass between them made me want to giggle and blush; they’re just so sweet and sexy and perfect. I loved watching them get to know each other in a way that Rory and Dean never did (even though R & D knew each other well too, just in a different way) - they knew little things about each other, small facts and quirks and habits. It was really cute.
  • I also loved the relationship between Dean and Lorelai. He respected her, admired her, and accepted that Rory and Lorelai were somewhat of a package deal. It’s not every guy who can do that, and I really admired Dean for it, especially since Jess was such a jerk to Lorelai. 
  • Even though I didn’t root for Rory and Dean, it made me sad to watch things start to fall apart. Jess started coming between them, they had less time for each other, and you could see Rory starting to question her feelings for Dean. She maintained that she loved him, wanted to be with him, and make things work, but you could see the cracks starting to form. Dean’s desperation to hold onto her really broke my heart.
  • And then we have Lorelai and Luke and Lorelai and Christopher. I’m a total Lorelai/Luke shipper but…and this is something Molli has said too…if it weren’t for Luke, I’d want Lorelai with Chris. They’re perfect for each other in so many ways - they have shared history, they know each other inside and out, and they have great chemistry. They genuinely love each other, and at first, you could pass it off as just the shared history and the fact they have a kid together, but as season 2 progresses you can see they really do love each other. As Chris said in the season finale, they’ve never been at the same place at the same time, so it’s never worked before. When they had that chance to make it work, I wanted it to. Badly. For all of them. Lorelai and Rory were so hopeful that things would work out, but of course, that would be too simple. It made me really sad...and kinda angry, too.
  • BUT…Luke and Lorelai. *sigh* I love watching their interactions, whether it’s silly, serious, touching, or maddening. They got closer this season, and were really there for each other. They've always been friends, but it's becoming a deeper friendship. They know they can count on each other, and I also love the way Luke is with Rory. He clearly loves the Gilmore Girls, and it warms my heart.
  • As for secondary characters, I adore Sookie and I’m so glad she married Jackson. Michele and Kirk slay me - they’re so ridiculous and hilarious. Lane is adorable, and I like that we got to see the beginnings of her more open rebellion (as opposed to her secret rebellion, like her freaking wicked-awesome closet of sin that I want, even though I’m an adult) in this season. Emily and Richard…I have a love/hate relationship with them. Mostly I love to hate Emily. She has some of the best lines in the show, and I want to throttle her more often than not, but she’s a great character. Paris is another one I have a love/hate relationship with. She's so crazy and in your face and just the type of person who I would HATE in real life, but I love her on the show.
  • A couple of my favourite moments happen in season 2: when Luke pushes Jess into the lake, and when Luke bashes in the wall of his apartment with a sledgehammer, hands it to Jess, and tells him to finish up and then they can ‘hold hands and skip afterward’. Oh, also, “Oy with the poodles already”. There are so many great moments and so many favourite quotes from season 2, I could go on forever (which is why I originally started doing this feature episode-by-episode) but it would just take forever, so those are the ones that instantly come to mind. 

So…lots of character growth, lots of set-up for the coming season, lots of laughter and heartache and drama and ridiculousness…now tell me fellow Gilmore Girls lovers: what did you think of season two? Are you a Rory/Dean shipper or a Rory/Jess shipper? How about Lorelai? Did you want her with Christopher or Luke? Or maybe even Max? Who are your favourite secondary characters?

3 comments:

  1. I've actually never watched this, but it looks like it would be interesting. :) The box sets are pretty cheap on Amazon ($15 each, roughly) so I may have to give it a go. :) Or I could see if it's on Netflix. *ponders*

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  2. JESS JESS JESS THAT IS ALL.

    Oh, uh. :D

    Agree so so much with this post! I LOL'ed over your favorite moments, too, especially "that's your room." I loved seeing Luke and Jess's relationship change.

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  3. Good god, I forgot how much I love this show. I mean, I know I love it. Always have, always will. But I haven't really rewatched it in ages and reading this recap made me remember how much awesomeness there is in this show! I agree with pretty much every single one of your points. Actually, probably all of them. I wonder sometimes (ok, ridiculously often) how the creator (can never spell her name correctly and I'm too lazy to Google...Amy whatsherface) really wanted the series to end. I also know that Luke was not supposed to be a he. So that makes me think that she never intended for Lorelai and Luke to be together in the end. Which may be why we still cheer for Lorelai and Christopher. Make sense? As soon as I finish my rewatch of Castle (five episodes into season three..the rest of that and then season four to watch - since my sister doesn't have five yet) I'm going to dive into GG again. Unemployment is helpful for some things... Can't wait for your next update!

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~Marie

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