Gilmore Girls: I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia
(S07E13) So this is what it takes to get a good episode this season? Richard Gilmore has to have open-heart surgery? Well, I guess if this is what they have to do, I can accept that. Maybe next week, they'll give Paul Anka worms.Seriously, though, the reason why this episode worked is because all we saw was the Family Gilmore, together for most of the episode. Not sixty seconds of a Friday night dinner. Not Lorelai and Rory chatting on the phone. Nope, they were all together for an extended period, interacting in the ways that once made the show so great.
Did this episode have flaws? Tons. But it was the best of the season so far.
Let's start at the end, shall we? Didn't you just love that look Lorelai gave those bags of food Luke brought over? Remember, by then Christopher had finally arrived at the hospital after repeated and increasingly angry phone calls from Lorelai, only to see Luke being a much better friend than he could ever be. And Lor's "this is not cool" phone call near the end certainly showed that Lorelai has matured a bit, at least more than her mother gave her credit for earlier this year. She was right; whatever difficulty her and Chris were having, Richard's surgery was the bigger issue. Good for her to not only have that insight, but to not bother her mother, Rory, or anyone else with her problems with her husband. She didn't even bother to explain why he wasn't there; she'd just say no and concentrate on the matter at hand.
By the way, my dad had a heart attack and a bypass three years ago. We didn't pack half the house and bring it to his room, and after he got out of surgery he was still unconscious and breathing with a ventilator. Compared to what he looked like, Richard looked like he had just been through a spa treatment. Sometimes I wonder if TV writers realize that shows like ER have lowered our tolerance for unrealistic medicine.
Anyway... I guess packing half the house gave Rory and Logan a chance to interact outside the hospital. Logan's really becoming the mover and shaker. Risking his trust fund on buying an Internet business, taking a helicopter to the hospital... if he had longer hair and better legs he'd be Ivanka Trump. But he's also becoming a better boyfriend to Rory, isn't he? And did you see his eyes light up when Rory started spewing business lingo? It's almost as if those days of being a Yale ne'er-do-well never existed. Also, when did Smart Rory come back and take over for Rudderless Crying Rory? Was it while she was driving to the hospital?
No one does frantic denial better than Kelly Bishop. I'm just going to say that right now. Berating the nurses, complaining about the health club, ordering fish, ordering Luke to get Richard's Jag, talking with the lawyers... she did everything but deal with the reality of her husband's condition. I was waiting for Lor to snap her out of it, and I think the writers waited a bit too long. But she finally did, in the gift shop. And Bishop played it just right, not having Emily break down completely (no hugs!) but at least showing the emotion she's feeling while still maintaining that Emily Gilmore control. One of these days, she'll get an Emmy nomination; I just don't think it'll be for Gilmore Girls.
One more question: How did Babette know about the details of the heart attack so soon? I thought Lor ran away from her and got in the car right after she got the call. I'm guessing between that moment and when she told Luke, Lor called her and told her what happened and asked to take care of Paul Anka. That's the only thing I can think of. But I think that's the most lines Sally Struthers has gotten on the show in at least a year (just as an aside, how many cartons of cigarettes did it take for Sally's voice to get that harsh since her All in the Family days? I know that doesn't happen on Ho-Hos alone).
So, what's the over/under for Luke and Lor getting back together? I give it 3 episodes, which will be enough time for them to get married, Rory to graduate, and Lor to get pregnant, wrapping up the series very nicely. Maybe Chris will stick around a little while longer, but it's not seeming likely after Luke became Gallant to Chris' Goofus. Maybe the writers will surprise us and have Lorelai stay with Chris. But I don't think that's going to happen.
So about that "Paul Anka gets worms" episode...

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