I'm coming a day late to the "Gilmore Girls" party, so after the spoiler jump, I'm only going to talk about The Scene. If you watched the episode already, you know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't, you may as well just watch it on YouTube, because it so thoroughly dwarfs everything else in the episode that it renders the rest of the hour almost irrelevant.
Sweet fancy Moses! Not that the Emmys will ever recognize this show -- if "The Lauren Graham Rule" couldn't get her a nomination, nothing will -- but her karaoke rendition of "I Will Always Love You," begun as a joke and then turning into a very on-the-nose commentary on her relationship with Luke, was a three-minute acting master class. It took a song I despise with every fiber of my being and made it incredibly moving. Every single "American Idol" contestant could stand to watch that scene to learn a thing or 12 about selling the emotions of a song.
Now, the important question: Is this the best single moment of Lauren Graham's career, or does that award have to go to the car sex scene in "Bad Santa"? Fire away, though I'm guessing we're going to have an extreme gender split on these results.
So you have a problem with Izzie getting metaphorical and calling George her penish-fish, but Lorelai literally singing "I Will Always Love You" to Luke doesn't strike you as being a little too literal??
ReplyDeleteNo, because Lauren Graham can act rings around Katherine Heigl. Sometimes, it's not what's said, but the way you say it.
ReplyDeleteI'd call it at least a tie with the drunken Lane's wedding speech from last season, actually. Woman can ACT.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch this show, but I have to say that I really liked this song before Whitney Houston ruined it. As long as you can hear the Dolly version in the back of your head, you'll get through it, Alan.
ReplyDeleteShe was definitely singing the Dolly version. I loved that they made the distinction! The episode was hard to watch. Great work.
ReplyDeleteWas anyone else surprised that it was Rory who had to tell Lane (Lane, the music encyclopedia) that she we singing a Dolly song that Whitney just happened to cover? didn't make sense to me.
ReplyDeletePoint to Kayaboy, though it would have worked if Rory had included some personal detail about how she and Lorelai used to love watching "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
ReplyDeleteIn one scene, with no actual dialogue, Lauren Graham made me care about Luke and Lorelai as a couple again which is something I haven't cared about since late last season. Bravo. Brilliant, brilliant job.
ReplyDeleteKayaboy, perhaps it's the fact that Lane, a musical snob like me, hates country music enough to block out all reference to this song and its origins. Perhaps also she, like me, tries like mad to block out anything Whitney, Mariah or Celine related in general for fear of that kind of information taking root and forming some kind of emotional ebola inside our head. Really, it's just too much to even contemplate in this reply to you. Must.go.scrub.brain!!!
ReplyDeleteStacey
I think the point was that music snob Lane assumed that Lorelai was familiar with the song via the mass-popular Whitney version and not the pure Dolly version. Note the nod of approval when Rory told her that Lorelai was a Dolly-verion booster.
ReplyDeleteHuh, call me a cynic, but I thought that scene was ham-fisted and just plain stupid. I was embarrassed watching it. And seriously, I have always rooted for Luke and Lorelai to be together as I don't suppose anyone else could stand either of them, so they are made for each other. But really. And everyone who cares already knew she was singing the Dolly version with out Rory's explication.
ReplyDeleteOh, and last week didn't Lorelai say something like she hadn't been in the diner for eight months? And in this episode she claims to know that Luke has never worn the hat that she gave him in that time. Are we supposed to infer that she's been doing some clandestine stalking?
I *just* got around to watching this episode last night, but I had to chime in to say how much I loved the Lorelai karakoe. The range of emotions LG put into that one scene was just astounding, and kudos to the writers for sticking with the entire song, instead of just verse-chorus-end. It was more awkward, but it perfectly underscored how vulnerable Lorelai was at that point. Just a flawless moment that encapsulated everything I loved about this show.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else pick up on the music box lullaby Lane had playing when she was putting the twins to sleep? It took me a couple of seconds to place it, but it was definitely the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry." AWESOME.