Coming very late to "Gilmore Girls," I'd rather steer clear of the episode itself -- though I can never complain too much about an episode that features Gil, or one that has a vintage scene like Lorelai venting to Rory about her writer's block -- and deal with a question that the show has awkwardly sidestepped:
What's up with G.G.?
In all of the awkwardness surrounding Lorelai's impulse buy of a marriage to Christopher, the arrival of a little girl into her home and life has been all but ignored. Back when Lorelai and Luke were together, there was some tension over his desire to have a kid and her feeling that she was done with that part of her life, and now she's got another woman's four-year-old running underfoot. That's a major, major lifestyle change for her, almost as big as Zach and Lane's impending twins -- hell, even if they have a nanny to take care of her, that's still another person inserted into Lorelai's life -- but it's not treated as such. G.G.'s just kinda there (and not played by the best kid actress, to boot).
It's not even that G.G.'s high maintenance, since she's seemed pretty easy-going since Lorelai had her parenting intervention with Chris. But the arrival of any kid, especially one that young and non-self-sufficient, would throw anyone's life majorly out of whack, and it's barely been commented on, let alone mined for potential conflict.
Anybody else bugged by this, or is it just me?
Mostly I'm bugged by her incredibly stupid name.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the contrast with Luke -- I don't think the tension there was about Lorelai not wanting a kid in her life or being done with child-raising (in fact, I think they both agreed they wanted kids of their own), but about Luke excluding Lorelai from that part of his life.
ReplyDeleteSo it doesn't seem so weird for Gigi to be there and for Lorelai to be okay with that -- if there are any adjustments to be made, they might not be major enough to show onscreen. Then again, it could be another indication that Lorelai doesn't really believe, deep down, that this arrangement is permanent.
Also (and I haven't seen the new ep yet), hasn't GG been in Paris until now? Or am I misremembering? Because if she was, it at least gives them a little bit of an out as to how she hasn't realy direcly changed Lorelai's life yet.
ReplyDeleteDidn't time go on as usual while the show was on break? I just assumed Lorelai got used to GiGi off camera.
ReplyDeleteGG hasn't been an issue until now because she's been in Paris with her mother. Maybe Lorelai didn't mind having her there because she knew that the little one would be back in France after the holidays.
ReplyDeleteIt *was* weird that she was there with nary a sentence of explanation, though.
I've not seen the last 3 or 4 episodes of Gilmore Girls, so when I saw Alan's post I initially thought that G.G. stood for "Gilmore Girls". And when I saw the line "G.G.'s just kinda there" I was like "Amen, brother!".
ReplyDeleteAnd then I realized what Alan was actually talking about. Made sense, though. :P
I thought that this issue was sort of addressed by the characters a few episodes ago while Gigi was in Paris. After Christopher moved in, he wanted to take over Rory's room for Gigi. Lorelai was resistant to the idea, but came around...
ReplyDeleteGood points on GG, Alan - but this has paled in comparison to the more systemic issues. While last year was anything but great, it still felt like Gilmore Girls and sounded like Gilmore Girls and looked like Gilmore Girls. Even the smallest things are wrong -- No way would the old GGs have worn tacky Christmas sweaters at Christmas time! They would mock them on others. Clearly the writers have never watched the show prior to writing. It's just all wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that has bugged? Not nearly enough Emily and Richard. The new writers clearly know how to write for Emily at least (the "Emily gets arrested," "Emily plays the phone message where Lorelai tells her she's married," and "Emily teaches cotillion" bits are all classic), but thy're showing up in less than half the episodes, it seems.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the problem is a lot simpler than all this. Because shouldn't GiGi still be in Paris with Sherry? And if not, she shouldn't have had to wait a month to get Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAnything Gigi-related bugs the hell out of me. She's not a character, she's a plot device. First, she's conceived to keep Lor and Chris apart. Fine. It gave Madchen Amik a job. Then she gets abandoned by her mother, which seemed arbitrary and false. Who has a baby shower for a baby they're going to abandon? Whatever. But the thing I hated most was when the show magically aged her. What is this? Days of Our Lives? Worst of all, it was pointless. It did nothing for the show but raise the level of artifice. The kid is nothing more than the new Paul Anka. But as much as I hate the idea of Gigi, I hate April more. Ugly Betty called. She wants her eyebrows back.
ReplyDeleteLorelai has been so resistant to changing anything for that little girl that it is making me hate her. That 4 year old didn't ask to be thrown into a new house with a new family and Lorelai can't even use different christmas stockings so that the kid will feel like part of the family????
ReplyDeleteWhat a bi*&h!
In response to the Gilmore girls not wearing festive outfits, I think you're wrong. Earlier in the series, Rory and Logan are sharing a conversation in which Rory decides not to do something festive and Logan comments that she does something festive for every holiday, including wearing a St. Patrick's Day headband. I'm not sure of the particular episode, but if I do find it, I'll direct you to it. The Gilmore girls are unique, and unpredictable. It's probably considered a Gilmore pastime to celebrate the holidays by dressing festive.
ReplyDeleteHi there, I found the quote from Gilmore girls. It's from "Twenty-one is the loneliest number".
ReplyDeleteRORY: Oh. I'm just not into birthdays.
LOGAN: You're not into birthdays? You, who wore green head to toe on St.Patrick's day and bunny ears on Easter?
http://www.tvtdb.com/gilmoregirls/transcripts/6x07.php
And let's not forget in Season 1 how tied to the Christmas festivities Lorelai was.