Gilmore Girls: You've Been Gilmored

You could see this coming, huh? Last week, Rory took charge and bailed the Yale Daily News out of a tough spot after Paris broke down. Logan actually became useful and helped her out, bringing the two of them back together. We then see a promo about Rory's big news, news that will shake the very foundation of the Gilmore family!

Ok, the revelation, Rory moving in with Logan, wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't even a surprise to many of our readers. But one of these days, I may want to get a job with a network promotions department, so I might as well get some practice writing overblown copy.

But all the dominoes did fall quite nicely, didn't they? Let's connect the dots... After the meltdown, the paper's board votes to throw Paris out. Rory volunteers to gently give her the news, prefacing things by giving Paris a quick take on their history together; Paris takes the ouster with aplomb and "tenders her resignation". The board then drafts a humble Rory to be the new editor. Rory, bless her heart, traipses back home, never thinking that her good friend and roomie might freak, Queeg-style, and think Rory led the mutiny herself. She realizes her naïveté when she gets to the hallway and finds that Paris has moved all of her stuff there. Wow. Rory might just have been the only person on the planet who didn't think that was going to happen.

So, anyway, she calls Logan from the hall, telling him that she can't find a new place. Logan, not surprisingly, tells her she should move in with him. She balks slightly, then relents. Hey, what girl can resist a New Haven penthouse, complete with plasma screens and pool tables, especially when the other choice is a cardboard box? Way to advance the relationship, pal. How brave; wait till Rory's at her most vulnerable and play the "moving in" card. Jeez. But, wait, we haven't even gotten to the most fun part of their story yet....

Let's first, though, return to Lorelai. It's the first Friday Night Dinner after last week's explosive funfest, and things are tense between the older Gilmores and the younger ones. After some silence and talk about roses, Richard and Emily start carping about Christopher paying for Rory at Yale. Again, like last week, Lorelai plays the mature one and puts a stop to it. Bad move. The subject turns to Luke. Emily demands that he come to dinner, and wants to know what date to save for the wedding. Lorelai blurts out "June 3", partially to shut her mother up, but also because she still hopes that the wedding will actually happen on that date.

When Luke and Lorelai show up for dinner (he resists going at first, but relents because Lorelai is just so adorable), the conversation turns to -- surprise! -- insurance. Are they covered? Are they being ripped off? Emily and Richard innundate the couple with stories of friends that got ripped off by insurance charlatans. And what about April? Wasn't the timing of her appearance a bit suspicious? They leave a bit bewildered and slightly drunk, paranoid that people are going to rip them off. Again, Lorelai takes control and says that they've just "been Gilmored," where Em and Rich distract them from the goal at hand, which is trying to just freakin' get married already. Of course, Emily lets the June 3 date slip somewhere in the conversation, and Luke picks up on it. Lorelai's response? She did it to get her mom off her back. But we know better.

Ok, back to Rory and Logan. Lorelai convinces her daughter (over a scrumptious meal of tater-tot-pepperoni pizza, two kinds of turnovers, and cold Pop Tarts) to take Christopher on a tour of campus. She does, and, on his insistence, takes him to her new residence. He's the first to know, and calls Lorelai about it before Rory does, playing the parent for one of the first times ever. But not before he meets Logan and actually gets along with him, matching Logan's tales of troublemaking and boarding school eviction with stories of his own.

Smack. (That's me slapping my forehead.) It's so clear now! Logan's a younger Christopher! Now I know why Rory keeps coming back to him, and why she liked Jess before that! It's just another case of Rory becoming just like her mother, no matter what Lorelai or Emily or anyone else can do to prevent that. Jeez, am I dense. But the scene made this connection so damn obvious that it almost summed up the entire run of the series in one fell swoop.

By the way, Rory tells Lorelai about her new arrangement. Lorelai's not all that pleased but accepts the fact that her kid is starting to break away even more than she was before.

Finally, we get to see Michel for the first time in a while. He berates Luke, who's helping around the inn, but it's a facade; he's jealous that Lorelai no longer has time to hang out with him as he makes lists for the old handyman, and wants that bonding back. Lorelai happily complies. Awww. Michel's got feelings. Who knew? I was always too busy trying to understand just what the heck he was saying with that damned accent.

Despite the Christopher thing, this episode had a lot more throat clearing than any major surprises. But it was a good comedown after the frenetic last ten minutes of the previous episode. Every Gilmore is back in the fold, and things are progressing. Sometimes an episode does no more than move the story along, which is what this does. Looking forward to the Valentine's Day throwdown! (There I go, practicing for the promotions department again...)