I know a lot of people hate April and blame her for ruining Lorelai and Luke's relationship, but nothing that happened was that kid's fault. It's not her fault her father was an idiot about relationships, or that her mother kept her hidden away from him for so long. (On the other hand, it is absolutely at least half Christopher's fault that Lorelai was an idiot about relationships). It certainly wasn't her fault that the writers and Lauren Graham seemed really keen to have Lorelai embark on a relationship with Christopher (although in retrospect, I think that was mostly PR on Lauren's part). I'm probably a bad judge since I watched so little of the kid's originaltime on the show, but I didn't mind her return appearance.
I really did like the semi-blended family dynamic here, even if it's not as blended as perhaps it needs to be. As someone got got folded into a blended family after my parents split up when I was an adult, the interaction between April and Rory felt very true to how I interacted with my stepsisters, especially before we knew each other that well. Rory calming April down while their parents watch TV in the next room is something that's straight out of my life, although in my case it's usually our parents choosing to hide while my stepsisters and I discuss #WalkingDead theories. They didn't grow up together and they've probably only seen each other a couple of times, but there's definitely dramatic potential there. You know that April has heard a gazillion stories about how accomplished Rory is over the past nine years.
The fact that April is reading a joke book so she can develop a sense of humor reminds of her father toting out the self-help books way back in the day. That is totally his kid.
Luke not getting The Returned reminds me that it was probably wise not to let anyone I know in real life about my obsession with this show (also, I am a failure at binge watching, with the exception of this show, so join the club, bro. I probably need to finish walking the second season of that show, too.)
(You know that Lorelai totally became obsessed with Stranger Things like the rest of us pop culture nerds, though).
It says so much to me that Luke is partially bankrolling April's education himself, with his own money, and that it's no big deal. The whole key to Christopher being "redeemed" in the original series had much to do with him paying for Rory's college with his inheritance. He had to buy affection because he couldn't supply it himself. Luke's money is just one more indication of the fact that he has been showing up year after year for his lately-discovered kid. Even when it comes to money, Luke still wins out on dad points.
(One wonders where he gets all this dough, though. I guess not changing your outfit for your entire adult life saves you a lot of money. Still, why isn't April's horrible mother helping out?)
One thing I missed while not-watching season 7 was that Luke somehow ended up the godparent of Lane's kids. He probably was so obsessed with the floaty hut for their benefit. I kinda love that detail. I don't think it would have taken anything away from this episode to cut three or four minutes from that self-indulgent musical to see this particular plot point fleshed out.
Lorelai really got me with her speech about Michel chiding her back in the day about wearing the Thompson Twins T shirt at the front desk (this speech also lays out exactly how long ago those quasi-mythologized early years of single motherhood actually happened. Or perhaps it was an old T-shirt). Her father is gone, her mother is dating again, and so many of her friends have moved on. Even though I'm closer to Rory's age than Rory's, I really feel this. Her life is mostly content and has been for a long time, but she's wondering how she can have everything that she wants and still not feel like she's missing something else. If Sookie were there, things would be different, but she's got a new life somewhere else and Lorelai has to figure out what she wants without her around. Sookie wasn't just one of the townies: she was Lorelai's best friend and business partner, and they had done everything together for years and years.
I haven't talked a lot about Emily's plot because it didn't really interest me that much until the final episode, but I really do not like Ray Wise sniffing around her. The fact that he has played someone evil in almost everything else I've seen him in might have something to do with that.
I was mostly indifferent about Rory's storyline . . . until this guy turned up.
I was never really #TeamJess. In fact, I stopped watching when Rory finally hooked up with him. He was a confused, troubled kid that even Luke couldn't straighten out, and it felt weird to root for him and the girl who was always destined to be his step-cousin. (I've gotten over that part. Trust me, my family is way stranger).
But since then, he's straightened out, and Milo is knocking it out of the park as being The World's Most Adorable Dad on #ThisIsUs. Plus, Jess is looking absolutely gorgeous these days since he doesn't have Jack Pearson's pornstache and office suit wearing him down.But he finally straightens things out here by encouraging Rory to concentrate on a project that she will be good at and that she's capable of doing. She went around the world chasing journalism stories: she didn't end up making a permanent career of it, but that perhaps wasn't her destiny. Her destiny lies more in revealing the lessons she learned from the mother and the community that raised her.
Jess will probably end up publishing it through his book press. Just like his uncle/father figure, he's become the kind of person who always comes through when you need him.
Dang it. #TeamJess all the way.
I will always love this moment, too.
For a grumpy loner who had massive communication problems, Luke sure did end up raising a lot of kids. He's basically the Oscar the Grouch version of Coach Taylor.
I'm not crazy about Rory's fight with her mother about the book. While I can understand Rory needing to work on a project that she can finally excel at, one can hardly blame Lorelai for not wanting her darkest secrets spread around for the world to see. She's spent her entire life justifying her life decisions to her mother: now she might have to justify them to the world. For Rory not to understand this is very selfish: her mother literally put everything on hold to give her a good life. And even now, it's still not enough.
The less said about the musical, the better. It was kind of funny while it lasted but it went on way too long.
Now to the big kicker: Lorelai's fight with Luke. This was one of their nastier blow ups, but since they've been together so long, there's no expectation that things are going to end immediately. The massive web of lies is revealed (okay, it's really not that massive): Luke stops just short of accusing her of repeating that terrible thing that she did to him so long ago. She's upset that they've never fully committed to each other: he maintains that this is because it is what she wanted.
I kind of enjoyed it. I'm weird that way. Aren't shippers supposed to hate it when their beloved couples fight? It helps when you get spoilers ahead of time and know it's all going to work out.
Needless to say, I'm always #TeamLuke, but I sort of see Lorelai's side on this one. This is very in character for the guy who pined over her for four long years, but if it bothered him, why didn't he say anything? The thing is that it didn't bother him. He was always so flabbergasted that she chose him that he was willing to take her on her terms, whatever those terms might be, as long as he had her to himself. Lorelai's been pretty happy with how things have been for the past decade, but now she realizes that it hasn't quite been the permanent arrangement that she wanted it to be all along, and she's wondering why it isn't enough for her at this point, even though she's mostly happy.
Of course, the real answer to this question is pretty simple . . . and is going to lead to a pretty obvious conclusion.
Fall
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