Raincoats & Recipes: An Anti-Climactic Gilmore Girls Finale

Or why I'm struggling to watch the next 70 episodes

By Shelby

As I type this it is minutes after finishing the last episode Season 4 of Gilmore Girls, otherwise known as the season. Spoilers (for anyone who is like me and didn’t watch this show when it aired, but instead on Netflix a decade late): Jess comes and goes even though we want him to stay, somehow Dean is back in the picture, Rory loses her virginity, and Lorelai opens the Dragonfly Inn, oh and also kisses Luke for the first time. Now, all of that (and literally so much more) is involved and yet I’m…dissatisfied.

Quick contextual note (repetitive to some): I have never watched Gilmore Girls until now. I have seen the gifs, knew of some of the happenings, but did not watch this show when it was new. My thoughts on the show as a whole so far are mostly positive: it’s delightful and witty (thank you Amy Sherman-Palladino for being dope as hell), it’s touching and I have cried (Sookie and Jackson’s proposal), and it has cute boys that I’ve swooned for (Jess and Luke and no one else, except maybe Kirk cause I love him). But it is also, at times, dated. Oddly enough, I can never watch the show while stoned; once intoxicated like that, the show’s poorly-aged jokes (remember when Rory said the R-word in Season 1?) are more apparent. This show, unlike any other show ever, is the only show I must watch sober. Sydney has, like many normal millennial women, watched and loved this show since childhood, so now that I’m watching it for the first time, she’s the person I play-by-play text during each episode. She is basically going through the first watch all over again with me (and she hates how impatient I am about knowing certain bits of information).

To say that I have been waiting for these final episodes of this season is an understatement. A while-ish back, I Googled to see who Rory loses her virginity to. Now look, I’ve said it before and I will always defend it, my attention span is waning like a new moon and so I need to do everything in my power to maintain it’s presence. I wanted (nay, needed) to know who Rory sleeps with: Is it Jess or is it Dean? Does finding this answer out spoil everything? Of course, that’s the whole point. I want it spoiled so I’m intrigued enough to keep watching. I find out that not only does Rory have sex with Dean, but that Dean is also married. Oh, and Luke and Lorelai kiss in the same episode. So I knew, once Season 4 was ending, shit was going to get real. Today, I planned to watch all of the last five episodes of this season. In one sitting. And I freaking did it! That’s 225 minutes of TV or 3.75 hours of TV and most of you know how much I dislike binging, so this was feat for me. This was an event. I had to consciously force myself to sit, maintain eye contact, and fucking finish the season. And what do I get? A sore butt, a permanently-bored face, and disappointment. In a word, Episode 22, Season 4: “Raincoats and Recipes” was anti-climactic. Sorry, Sydney.

To summarize my thoughts in a TLDR, this episode involved too many important moments to all be pushed together. Let’s start with the more minor irritations. Am I naive to think that Emily and Richard’s relationship issues are just…not necessary? Look, I find it fascinating to discuss separation and divorce at that age—it’s certainly less cliche than doing it when your child is, well, still a child—but it just seemed to me like an additional layer of insanity that should have happened earlier. The tension between Emily and Richard had been boiling for some time, obviously, with Richard losing his job, starting his own business, bringing Jason in (I literally don’t even have the time to talk about my dislike of him), his mother (the OG Lorelai) passing, the girlfriend that was supposed to be wife, etc. So while the timeline makes sense that now they’re dealing with a separation, to place it in the same episode as all of this just lessens the impact this should have. I adore Emily and Richard and have grown to love them! Of course I’m devastated that they’re separating (though I have a hunch that they’ll still be together in the end), but I barely got to mourn their relationship when more shit was hitting the fan.

Let’s talk about Rory next. Dear God, Rory. I’ve seen so many articles lately (since the internet is obviously tracking us, listening to us, storing all our searches, I get constant daily spoilers in the form of articles and Buzzfeed quizzes. Any article is “spoilers” because I’m the only person in existence that hasn’t seen this show) about how dumb Rory is, how the show fails her, and how she’s just really not that great and getting an Ivy League education doesn’t change a shitty person. All true! Rory is pretty dumb, she’s ill-prepared for real life, and certainly has no fucking clue what boys are—but neither did I at 19! Look, I wasn’t expecting Rory to give everything to Jess (remember, I did Google), but if those are her only two options, then of course she’s fucking confused. Did I want her to run away with Jess? Of course I did, but did he (did we?) ever think she would? This is Rory we’re talking about, innocent Candy Queen Rory or whatever that dumb thing Taylor wanted her to do was caleld. I wouldn’t have run off with Jess then either! And Jess frankly doesn’t deserve Rory to run away with him—he still totally has shit he must figure out on his own, but he’s definitely making an improvement in the asshole category.

As for Rory sleeping with Dean, a married man, I’m oddly fine with it. Partially because I knew it was happening, partially because it just makes sense to me. Young love is dumb as fuck and it makes you do dumb things. I think what I’m most disappointed in isn’t Rory’s actions but instead Lorelai’s reaction. Obviously Rory is in the wrong here: she is the other woman in this situation, but to say it’s that simple is inaccurate. And while Lorelai does open the door and step outside to a sobbing Rory, the damage is done. Her mother, her best friend, instantly judged her. I do not have a good relationship with my mother and I never told her when/how/with whom I lost my virginity to; that’s just not the thing we’ve ever talked about. I imagine there are many women who have a similar experience with their mothers: “sex is gross, mom, no I don’t like boys.” But what Rory and Lorelai have is weirdly magical and addicting; like looking into someone else’s house at night that’s all lit up. Their world, their relationship, is odd, and therefore addicting, to me because I have never and never will experience anything like it (I don’t have that relationship with my mom and am a decade over having my own daughter at 16). I was counting on this situation, the situation, to be handled differently. First of all, Lorelai is in no position to really judge Rory for her relationships—it’s not like Lorelai has a clean track record seeing as her daughter has sex for the first time three years later than Lorelai did. Second of all, the shame! Sydney brought up an interesting point in her piece yesterday about sexuality and shame (the two are always hand-in-hand, aren’t they). I believe that now, as adults, we feel less shame than in our teens and early-twenties because we aren’t young anymore, legally and metaphorically, and our sexuality has stopped being dictated by our parents or those around us. Basically we can do whatever we want, whenever we want, and that’s mostly not having sex because sex is freaking exhausting to have all day long. Point is, Rory just had sex for the first time and her mother was a bitch about it. No matter how we downplay or raise up virginity, it will always be a big deal in some aspect and to have her mother, who originally told her that when she feels she’s ready to finally do the deed, she’s supposed to come to her mother first (weird), criticize her openly and make her feel so incredibly shitty about her body, about her brain, about her love for Dean and herself and their relationship (no matter how fucked up that is later) is just so shitty. So shitty.

Oh, Luke. What did the world do to deserve you? We’ll never get it right again. I am so #TeamLuke, that they could write Jess off the show (which they might, still not sure of where that’s going) and I’ll be fine. Luke makes everything right. Which is why, in their FINAL BIG MOMENT. The moment that has literally been pulling me through the entire show thus far—Luke and Lorelai’s kiss—is ruined by….so many things. The aforementioned Rory/Dean/Lorelai fiasco, Emily and Richard’s poorly-timed qualms, and a naked Kirk, all of which just cheapened the most important moment to me as a fan. As I’m sure it’s been argued, the show would be nothing without Lorelai—Rory could cease to exist and nothing would happen, but Gilmore Girls is nothing without Lorelai. And while her reaction to Rory’s first time really disappointed me, I know, I understand how important it is for Lorelai to be with Luke. If anything, for Luke! They both are so lonely and Luke is ultimately the best coping mechanism for her problems. He’s everything she needs, she’s everything he needs now. And for once she deserves to be happy, and we get that adorable, awkward first kiss that could have been great except for a not that funny comedic relief in the form of Kirk and all the other random bullshit that went down.

So here’s how I would have done it: I definitely think you could have had the Rory/Dean sexual encounter to happen last episode and still have the point of the two last episodes be the same. On top of that, Emily and Richard are just splitting up now? They’be been fighting for months in the show’s timeline. So move that a few episodes back (but obviously still effecting Lorelai because that's the whole point). And let Lorelai have the stress of the inn opening and the kiss with Luke be a separate episode.

Of course, this show is 20 years old (it premiered in 2000, these particular episodes were in May 2004), and while I was a wicked smart six year old, no one was asking me for my opinion in the writing. And while this show will never be my favorite like it is for many, I am really enjoying most of it. Like I said, I’m definitely Team Luke (and I know a thing or two that happens to them…once again, sorry Sydney). I do want to see what happens between Rory and Jess because that’s obviously not over (though I’m not that excited for Logan). And, at the end of the day, it’s a historical-landmark for women’s TV so I know I have to watch it and watch it well. But there are going to be some misses and this was a big one. There’s something magical about Gilmore Girls and Star’s Hallow; like looking into a beautiful, undisturbed little world, floating in a bubble that I don’t want to pop and ruin everything. It’s simple, it’s funny, it’s touching, and when it’s bad, it’s bad and I’m disappointed, and yet, I’ll keep watching. 88 episodes down, 70 to go (66 plus the 4 of AYITL). I truly don’t know where the show is going (or attempting to go) and I suppose that’s how it is intended. That is, until I Google something again. Sorry Sydney!

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Shit We’re Loving: WATCH

Shelby’s Pick: Fleabag on Amazon

Obviously I can’t not mention the fact that you can watch Gilmore Girls, and particularly this last episode, on Netflix. But it would be a cop-out if I chose the show for my WATCH selection, so instead, here we are with a different type of show.

I’ve been feeling really done with having to put my emotions and feelings into words. There are no words for how confused and frustrated and overall done I feel these days. Another thing I cannot put into words is my awestruck love for Pheobe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag. Holy fucking hell is really all I can say. In 12 episodes, two short seasons, Fleabag covers every single emotion and then some. Every possible relationship is covered and dramatized in this play-turned-TV show from mother-daughter (step-mother, that is, played by Olivia Coleman), sister, father-daughter, friend, and of course, love interest. The lead character, played by Waller-Bridge, breaks the fourth-wall often as a coping mechanism for the shittiness her life has dealt her. She also uses humor as a coping mechanism as well as a barrier for/from everyone else in her life. Truly, she has the hardest time forming (and maintaining) those relationships and, at the end of the day, has the hardest time forming a good relationship with herself. I’m not sure if she ever does. I’m not sure if I ever will either and that’s the beauty of Fleabag.

While I know Gilmore Girls will end on a happy note (or at least attempt, I presume), Fleabag ends with a punch to the literal stomach and left me sobbing and depressed for days (seriously, when I think back to Season 2 Finale, I can get weepy all over again). But this is the point: the main character (affectionately never named and just referred to as Fleabag) comes into the world unhappy and will probably leave it that way too, but it’s about the happiness that comes between, even if it ends in tragedy. I should mention that the show does end on a “hopeful” moment, less than a sincere tragedy but fucking A did it feel like a tragedy to me. I have laughed to this show, I have cried to this show, and it is a fucking masterpiece. While Gilmore Girls may be the sweet, nostalgic feeling for something I never had, Fleabag epitomizes the emotions I can’t figure out on my own right now. The confusion, the frustration, the slap-happiness that sometimes comes, the drinking and drugs, the sex, the tears, and the utter emptiness that has plagued my life so far. Please, for the sake of your sanity, watch this damn show and feel the pain I feel daily.

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Daily Intentions

Today I will…

Write! Anything! I will set a timer for thirty minutes (more or less, it’s your intention, I don’t care what you do with it) and just write. Is it a letter to a friend? Is it an article for this newsletter? Is it my novel? Is it Sydney’s Pretty Little Liars fanfiction? Doesn’t matter, just write.

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Here’s some nifty buttons for you to press, enjoy: