Friday, May 17, 2013

Gilmore Girls Watch Along Part 1

Realizing we needed to catch up on some popular TV series of days past, Melody of Hollywood The Write Way and I decided to do a Watch Along.  We took a vote and Gilmore Girls won.  Melody has the guidelines for Week One on her blog.



This was my first ever time watching this show - I hadn't even caught a snippet of it before. Not so surprising considering it ran from 2000-07 and as far as I know, never aired in Germany.  In any case, it took me until ep 4 to get into the Lorelei/Rory groove.  At first I found them both annoying and the show boring.  But I'm finally seeing its charms.  So yay!

Here are my thoughts per episode:

Pilot

Lorelei has to ask her parents to pay for tuition for Rory’s new private school. They agree but demand to be more involved in Lorelei and Rory’s lives.

Lorelei is not as funny as she seems to think she is, and Rory is a bit too mopey for my taste. But I liked Sookie (especially the scene where the kitchen staff had to put out her fires).

Reminds me of my own teen life: My Korean friend always lamented the fact that her parents set her up with Koreans/future doctors (Like Lane).

First Day at Chilton

Rory finds Chilton more challenging than she expected and gains a rival in Paris.

Still not really seeing the charm in this show. Lorelei’s lateness and lack of clean clothes was cringeworthy, and not that believable (Cutoff jean shorts are really all she has?)

Lorelei and her mother Emily’s power struggle has a dynamic that could become interesting. Let’s see.

Reminds me of my own teen life: I had a school uniform with a really long skirt when I was an exchange student in Ecuador.

Kill Me Now

Rory has to choose a sport at Chilton and Emily suggests that Rory golf with her grandfather.

Love this line from Emily: “Her golf clubs are upstairs gathering dust. Like her potential.

Lorelei seems threatened by Rory’s desire to spend time with her grandparents, so they have a fight about who has bigger boobs. Appropriately awkward.

Reminds me of my own teen life: My grandfather played golf, though I never played with him.

The Deer Hunters

Rory oversleeps, is late to her class and is not allowed to take a test that is 20% of her grade.

I liked Lorelei’s joking about the school supply shopping. Because Rory needs serious paper.

Paris recites my favorite Shakespeare sonnet! 116!

The double meltdowns (for good reasons) made me sympathetic to both Rory and Lorelei for the first time. I also loved Sookie's freak out about her risotto only being "fine" and the lengths she went to in order to defend its honor.

Reminds me of my own teen life: A deer once hit my car. Right after the Emporia exit on the Kansas Turnpike.

Cinnamon's Wake

Lorelei and Rory's eccentric neighbors hold a wake for their cat. Also, Rory catches Lorelei postponing a date with her English teacher.

Very cute moment between Rory and Dean. General wackiness. Nice friendship moments between Lorelei & Sookie and Rory and Lane.

Reminds me of my own teen life: We had a large orange cat. Her name was Lion-o. She died.

Rory's Birthday Parties

Emily throws Rory a b-day bash and invites her Chilton classmates. Lorelei makes it up to her with a hometown affair.

Emily and Lorelei actually get along while shopping for Rory. Luke asks Lorelei to marry him ;) (foreshadowing? I have seen spoilers...)  Emily observes Luke bringing ice to Rory's party and asks Lorelei how long they've been dating. She also accuses Lorelei of enjoying how Luke looked at her like a porterhouse steak.

Aww - Dean makes Rory blush when he mouths "happy birthday".  And they hold hands at the end of the episode -- the look on both their faces!

Reminds me of my own teen life: My grandmother constantly asked me what stuff in her house I wanted to inherit.  I ended up with only two things: a steamer trunk and an antique iron (the kind you put hot coals inside!)

Kiss and Tell

Rory gets her first kiss!  Lorelei goes commando! Lorelei invites Dean to movie night with her and Rory!

Rory's freakout after Dean kisses her in his free soda fake-out is so adorable.  How hilarious is it that she shoplifted corn starch?  

Lane's mother spills the beans about Rory's kiss to Lorelei. And then Lorelei spies on Rory and Lane and Rory's rosy glow and is sad that Rory won't confide in her.

Loved movie night. Great interactions all around. Especially liked that Dean thanked Rory for their second kiss.

Reminds me of my own teen life: Ummm.... I used to eat pizza a lot? (I wish this episode were an accurate portrayal of my teen life. ALAS!)

So that's it for this week.  What are your thoughts on these eps of Gilmore Girls?

More recaps:

4 comments:

Melody Simpson said...

Yeah, I was more charmed by Sookie too at first too. Love that "potential" line! Ahh! I love orange cats! My Grandma was the one on the street who took care of all the strays and one of them was orange. Loved that cat. But I love the one we took home after she was born from one of the strays more! Rory's reaction post first kiss was adorable!

Julie@My5monkeys said...

I love this series and LUKE :) I loved the writing.

Christina said...

How had you not even seen a snippet? O_o

Sookie is great.

Ha, the lack of clean clothes thing is totally believable to me. *eyes laundry pile*

Wow, do deer really hit cars this often?

I am loling at your "Reminds me of my own teen life"

Awww, I'm glad you're finally really getting into it with that last ep!

Lenore Appelhans said...

Not even a snippet, Christina! Weird, I know!

I thought it was an important distinction to say that the deer hit me, and not that I hit it. I was going about 65 mph on the highway though. Rory was standing still, wasn't she? So that seems a lot more odd to me.