(S07E17) When Dawn Ostroff, the CW's president of entertainment, was doing her "state of the network" press tour session in January, she said this about Gilmore Girls: "(David Rosenthal) was painted into a corner into with a storyline that he got out of. The second half of the season is much stronger, and I think viewers will be surprised."

I scoffed a little when she said that; nothing about the season to that point had suggested that the show was going to improve. But I've got to hand it to Rosenthal and company; the show has been on an upward trend, giving us about a month's worth of entertaining episodes that, while not quite up to the level of the show's creative peak, certainly give me hope that the show won't go out with a whimper, whether it's this season or next.

The key? Keep the Gilmore girls together. All three of them.

(S07E16) This was a fun one. After all that had gone on over the course of this season -- the gnashing of teeth over the Lorelai/Chris pairing, the stresses of the Rory/Logan relationship, Luke's custody battle, Lor's and Chris' break-up, and Richard Gilmore's bypass -- Gilmore Girls fans needed an episode like this. It was light and fluffy and completely angst-free.

Well, except for Logan. But there needed to be some angst in his life, as the Logan we've been seeing for the last few weeks has been very... well, he's been very un-Logan-like lately. In other words, he's been the perfect boyfriend to Rory. You know that had to end eventually.

(S07E15) Perhaps Emily Gilmore should drink more often.

That's the take-away I get from this episode. When Emily drinks, she's warm and open, and almost forgiving of her "wayward" daughter Lorelai. When she doesn't drink, she's prickly, mean, and prone to judge everything and anything, including how her daughter is managing her life.

If I were Lorelai and I had the choice, I think I'd take drunk Emily any day of the week. And I think Lor realized that as she walked out of the Gilmore family dining room at the end of this episode.

(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.