“Summer”
Original Airdate: November 25, 2016
It’s now summer in Stars Hollow, and lots of things are changing. Lorelai decides to embark on a journey of self-discovery, and stuff goes down between Rory and Lorelai. Plus: there’s a musical! See what the ladies had to say about “Summer,” and be sure to check out their thoughts on “Winter” and “Spring” as well!
What did you think of the Stars Hollow Musical?
Chelsea: It was super cute and fun, but also completely unnecessary and overindulgent. The writers had all the extra Netflix time and some great Broadway stars. It was charming but completely pointless for the most part. I think this and the lack of idea of where this episode should go made it the weakest.
Hope: Remember when Luke went on a cruise and sat through three hours of that water-glass musician and wanted those three hours of his life back? I want these 10-15 minutes back. Preferably in the form of a storyline or character we didn’t get to see. It’s not as if any of the townspeople were in the musical, and I never watched the shows the two actors were in, so I wasn’t invested in their cameos. I just sat through this thing, thinking of everything else we could be seeing. In fact, I’m going to use this opportunity to say that the whole episode felt disjointed and lacking focus, and the musical was a contributing factor. It lasted entirely too long. Edit, people, edit! You’re supposed to kill your darlings.
Jaime: We barely saw Lane, but we saw Christian Borle and Sutton Foster for fifteen largely uninterrupted minutes. No thank you.
Bibi: I love Sutton Foster, but thought this was completely unnecessary. I have no more to say, as it was my least favorite part of the revival.
Do you buy Lorelai wanting to do Wild?
Chelsea: At this point, I was just annoyed with the forced Luke/Lorelai drama and glad they gave Lorelai something weird to do. I know we saw her reading the book early in the episode but I think it was completely out of character. I liked that the writers were doing something else with her character, and it lead to great story. A lot of my Lorelai thoughts this season were “terrible storyline set-up, but good moments came out of it.”
Hope: I had no clue what Wild was, but going camping seemed out of character. Funny, but out of character.
Jaime: It felt like way too much for me. I knew she would never wind up actually going, but it still felt like a lot. I can support the idea of her needing to do something for herself, but there had to have been a better balance between giving Lorelai space but also not simultaneously abandoning her life.
Bibi: I love that Lorelai wanted to go on a journey of self-discovery, but I wish we would've seen her reading Wild or discussing it a bit more. I will admit that this part seemed random and I wish there was more of a build-up beforehand. I did like that she met women in her stage of life there. I like that she was able to come to terms and fully grieve there.
What do you think of Rory’s book idea and her fight with Lorelai?
Chelsea: I like the idea of the book and it giving Rory some purpose and drive, though I don’t see how the book was her last resort for writing. This is the girl who was so driven to get into Chilton, and then Harvard/Yale. I was just so done with Rory by this episode and glad she found SOMETHING to do. And I’m glad Jess came back this episode and inspired her. Adult Jess has always been healthy for Rory and a great friend.
Hope: It’s kind of on-the-nose and I love it. I like that Jess appeared to guide her back onto the right path again, but I would have rather had the idea be hers, and hers alone. I get why Lorelai was against it — especially at a time when she’s unsure about herself and her life (for reasons that still aren’t entirely clear) — and wish Rory had respected her wishes a little. I understand both of their points of view, which made for a nice storyline.
Jaime: I love the book idea, but I think if that’s sort of the grand answer to Rory’s ongoing quest for happiness, it makes the sloppiness of her character in the revival a little more apparent. Like I said, I think they made her a writer just because she was a writer in the original show. Having her grand revelation be that she needs to write a book isn’t necessarily the answer to her story as they presented it here.
Bibi: The book idea was wonderful and necessary! Lorelai and Rory have a great story, but I understood completely why Lorelai wasn’t completely sold. Relieving your entire life — the good, bad, and the ugly — for all the world to read can be a bit much. Plus Lorelai was at a crossroad in her life and that book may have felt a bit more overwhelming than brilliant. I also feel like Rory gave Dean more respect by asking him first than she really did her mom. Now, by the time the idea is presented, you just want Rory to succeed at something and this seems right on target.
Will Emily be okay?
Chelsea: I had to believe she would be all right. She has been so alone on this journey and reconfiguring her life. I’m so disappointed in Rory for not being there for her, even more so than Lorelai because Emily and Lorelai fighting is actually in-character. Emily is a tough and resourceful cookie though. I was glad she had Berta and Berta’s family around to keep her somewhat distracted.
Hope: She’s a Gilmore, so of course she would be all right. Emily is used to feeling like she is in control, and the elements in her life that are uncontrollable (like Lorelai) upset her the most. She just needs time to figure out who she is without Richard and what her life is going to look like. I agree with Chelsea, I think Rory should have been there for Emily. It never really mattered before that Lorelai and Emily didn’t get along — Rory was almost always closer with her grandmother, and I would have loved to see Rory more involved in this storyline as well. She and Richard were close and very much alike, and I think we could have seen more emotional scenes with her and Emily at the house.
Jaime: For sure. I agree that Rory should have been more involved in Emily’s story — both were kind of isolated in their storylines, and I wish the three of them had been better used as a unit. Emily mostly dealt with her grief on her own; why couldn’t Rory have been there? Why couldn’t we have seen Rory trying to explain her career choices to Emily and start to see the flaws in her own thinking? There were so many missed opportunities there, and I really wish we’d gotten a chance to explore that.
Bibi: Emily is a fighter, so she’ll definitely be okay. I liked Emily’s journey because she needed to get back to being to who she was before Richard, without Richard, and find new things that interested her. She needed to decide how she wanted to live the rest of her life. I have to agree with everyone here in that we didn't see enough of Rory involved in her grandmother’s journey and that wasn’t my favorite. They were so close and shared so much and in the revival, Emily was on her path to self-discovery alone. In fact, all three women were on their journeys alone. In old Gilmore fashion, we would've seen a lot more collaboration on the journeys and I wish they've would've stuck with that here.
Chelsea: I truly feel like Emily could have whipped Rory back into shape. She really didn’t have anything to do with her aside from the funeral scene and storing some boxes at her house. So disappointing.
What did you all think of “Summer”? Sound off in the comments below!
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