Podcast #6 - S1E5 - Cinnamon's Wake

Hello! Welcome to Return to Stars Hollow - a spoiler-free, retrospective podcast about Gilmore Girls! This is the podcast for Season 1, Episode 5 - Cinnamon's Wake!

Cinnamon's got the pimpest ride in town.

You can direct download the episode here: S1E5 - Cinnamon's Wake
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The next podcast will post on Monday, September 1, 2014 for Season 1, Episode 6 - Rory's Birthday Parties!

Cordia's Review of S1E5 - Cinnamon's Wake

No More Clams

Cinnamon’s Wake

Season 1, Episode 5

Original airing: November 9, 2000

My Rating: 62

The Good:

This episode did a nice job of moving along the love lives of both Lorelais while giving us a glimpse into the soul of the town.

Rory’s story was incredibly awkward in parts, but that sort of fits her age. While I didn’t really like the bus or grocery store scene (I felt Dean came on too strong and confident), the idea of Rory being practically out of control around him felt true to her character. She doesn’t know what to do and when she finally blurts out that she’s interested, she then reacts by running away. Dean handles it all quite well and his smile at the end felt deserved.

Lorelai and Max are beyond adorable together. He really does understand her priorities concerning Rory, but he sees her as more than just a Chilton mom. I think it speaks well of him how much he pursues Lorelai and also his willingness to back off when he thinks she’s made up the cat funeral to avoid dating him. He’s a man who knows what he wants and is willing to work for it. But he’s not willing to circumvent Lorelai or Rory’s feelings, and that’s good.

I really enjoyed the Sookie vs Luke subplot. It makes perfect sense to pit them against each other since their both cooks/chefs who control their respective culinary worlds. It’s also entertaining to see Luke’s brusque nature contrasted against Sookie’s effervescent bubbling. I really love their accord at the end between some kind of puff and mom’s meatloaf.

I think the best thing about this episode was our first glimpse into the weirdness that is the overall nature of Stars Hollow. Babette and Morey hauling their oversized cat, Cinnamon, around town in a decked out Red Rider wagon was excellent. Especially because no one really seemed to bat an eye at it, other than Lorelai and Rory. But the real small town feel comes when Cinnamon passes away and what seems to be the entire neighborhood turns out in support for Babette and Morey. I was quite teary through most of the last third of this episode.

The Bad:

The thing I didn’t like about the bus and grocery store scenes was Dean. He’s not quite on the Tristan level of sexual harassment, but he does tease Rory into extreme discomfort while slightly violating her personal space. I think he’s way too comfortable and aware of himself for a 16 year old boy. His apology at the end feels very Hollywood. I just don’t think his character is very strong at this time and I don’t know what Rory sees in him.

Favorite Moment:

One of the highlights of this episode is how it shows the connections throughout the town. Even for something as strange as a cat funeral, everyone is supportive. I thought this was shown really well when Rory tells Morey she’ll never eat clams again and he starts to tear up. How strangely supportive of her! But extremely appreciated by Morey.

The Bottom Line:

Rory and Dean are on a good path, but definitely need some tuning. Their relationship is just a little too awkward right now. Lorelai and Max are quite fun to watch and this episode really worked for showcasing the tight-knit and understanding community of Stars Hollow.

Célèste's Review of S1E5 "Cinnamon's Wake"

“Cinnamon’s Wake”

Season 1, Episode 5

Original airing: November 2, 2000

My Rating: 66

The Good: 

• Babette is at her best in this episode. I love the heart and humor that Sally Struthers brings to this role, and Morey has some really cute moments too. 
• Miss Patty is also at her best. The line, “I promise I won’t tell anyone that you don’t know that young man,” is priceless. 
• Max is charming as usual and it’s nice to see Lorelai swoon a bit when she talks about him. 

The Meh: 

• There are a few awkward moments that just didn’t work for me, mostly both instances of “good bye Lorelai Gilmore.” I know Max not answering Lorelai’s question was meant to be cute, but it just seemed weird. 
• Dean following Rory onto the bus and finding her under the tree, alone in the dark bordered on creepy when I don’t think either moment was meant to. He’s inability to give he proper personal space on the bus was reminiscent of Tristan. Talk about missing the mark. 
• Rory’s awkwardness was funny, but a bit over the top in places, and it started to feel redundant after the fourth identical awkward encounter with Dean.

Favorite Moment: 

Lorelai and Babette bonding in the kitchen. I liked the mix of kooky comedy and heartfelt moments, and I thought Sally Struthers killed it. I especially liked the moment when Babette says you have to figure out what to do with your life when you aren’t busy taking care of somebody else, and you can see in Lorelai’s eyes that she’s realizing it’s okay to start prioritizing her love life now that Rory’s older. Obviously, a good performance by Lauren Graham as well. 

The Bottom Line: 

Plotwise, this episode is kind of forgettable since it primarily functions to set up further developments, but it still has a lot of great moments that make it enjoyable. Plus, after so much focus on Rory and Lorelai, it’s nice to see a supporting character get more attention. 

Podcast #5 - S1E4 - The Deer-Hunters

Hello! Welcome to Return to Stars Hollow - a spoiler-free, retrospective podcast about Gilmore Girls! This is the podcast for Season 1, Episode 4 - The Deer-Hunters!

This is what being hit by a deer looks like.

You can direct download the episode here: S1E4 - The Deer-Hunters

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Or you can tweet us at SeriouslySwatch (Cordia) or CelesteFohl!

The next podcast will post on Monday, August 25, 2014 for Season 1, Episode 5 - Cinnamon's Wake!

Célèste's Review of S1E4 "The Deer Hunters"

“The Deer Hunters”

Season 1, Episode 4

Original airing: October 26, 2000

My Rating: 68

The Good: 

• Max Medina is a likable and interesting character. It’s nice to see sparks fly at his first meeting with Lorelai, and I’m excited to see more from him as he interacts with both Gilmore girls. 
• The conflict here is a nice continuation of the conflicts introduced in “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton.” Rory’s continued struggles both academically and socially feel like a realistic and inevitable consequence of transferring mid-semester to an elite school. 
• The deer encounter is unique and memorable, and adds both drama and comedy. I liked the scene where the Gilmore girls look for the deer. It was nice to see more good parenting from Lorelai (her concern that she may not always be making the right decisions for Rory mirrored the resolution scene from last episode) and to see strength, confidence, and resolve from Rory.
• The Sookie subplot was entertaining as ever. I also really enjoyed both Lane scenes, though I’m starting to get antsy for Lane to have some subplots of her own, rather than just being a supportive piece in Rory’s plots. That’s less a criticism of the show however than it is an expression of how interested I am in this character and her world. 

The Meh: 

• Paris’s taunts were a little over the top in places, and the scene where she recites the sonnet felt jarring and out of place, possibly because it was so short and was sandwiched between scenes that took place at difference times in different places. 

Favorite Moment: 

Lorelai clumsily charming Mr. Medina at parent-teacher night. 

The Bottom Line: 

Overall this is a good episode. It’s one of the more memorable episodes from early season one for me, and it still holds up. 

Cordia's Review of S1E4 - The Deer-Hunters

A total puppy dog!

The Deer-Hunters

Season 1, Episode 4

Original airing: October 26, 2000

My Rating: 50

The Good:

I like seeing Rory continuing to be challenged at school and also maintaining her relationship with Lane. Rory may not have many people at school to connect with, but her best friend is still there for her.

Sookie’s plot was good fun and shows her pride in her cooking skill. I thought it was adorable when she decided to stand on the critic’s porch and wait for his response to the proper risotto and wine pairing. But I can only imagine the problems her distraction caused that week in the kitchen considering her already unfocused cooking style.

Max’s introduction was well handled. He’s personally, good looking, and appropriate to the parents. It seems like he really does try to be fair to both the students and the parents. He’s presented as a good teacher and obviously his soft spot for Rory is a plus.

I also loved Luke’s quick scene. He may be deadpan, but he certainly has a sense of humor.

The Bad:

It felt like Rory went a little too ballistic. It would have been nice to have more context for her outburst in class. It felt to me like her exhaustion could have been show more and Paris and Tristan could have provoked her more in class.

I also thought Lorelai’s outburst was too much. Did she really think that was the way to handle that situation?

I thought the deer thing was quite played out. I suppose it’s a reference to Rory and her troubles, but the repeated joke was overdone. Rory’s insistence on searching for the deer was also a bit heavy handed. “Please, mom, help me find my lost self out in the woods!”

Favorite Moment:

Max’s phone message. After such a difficult school episode, I think it’s excellent for the show to point out Rory has an ally other than her mother.

The Bottom Line:

This episode felt much more uneven than the first three. Rory and Lorelai’s explosions both felt unearned and way over the top. I can’t imagine them actually resulting in the hard-nosed principal actually being lenient on Rory. But I did enjoy some character moments and Sookie’s B-plot.

Podcast #4 - S1E3 - Kill Me Now

Hello! Welcome to Return to Stars Hollow - a spoiler-free, retrospective podcast about Gilmore Girls! This is the podcast for Season 1, Episode 3 - Kill Me Now!

Quite possibly the sweetest mother-daughter shot from the whole series.

You can direct download the episode here: S1E3 - Kill Me Now

You can also follow our RSS Feed, or subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Comment on this post to leave your feedback for the next podcast!
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The next podcast will post on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 for Season 1, Episode 4 - The Deer-Hunters!

Cordia's Review of S1E3 - Kill Me Now

You're in trouble now, Sookie!

Kill Me Now

Season 1, Episode 2

Original airing: October 19, 2000

My Rating: 66

The Good:

It was quite enjoyable this week getting to see the unexplored relationship of Rory and Richard. They seem like an excellent match and they do end up getting along really well. The concept of Rory wanting to be involved in the life Lorelai fled is excellent for generating genuine conflict between several characters. We see Lorelai lash out at Emily and Rory in this episode due to Lorelai’s own discomfort.

I really liked that at the same time we saw a very strong side of Lorelai at the Inn. She masterfully balanced all elements of the wedding, keeping her staff and the guests happy and in line. She also humbled herself to her mother and Rory when she realized just how crazy she had allowed herself to become about the golf outing.

Jackson and Sookie are quite the pair. It’s easy to see that their dynamic is long-suffering and built on more than just purchasing produce. The levity of their interactions was great compared to the rather serious part of Lorelai’s story.

It was interesting to see the return of the DSL installer as a swan delivery man. Not sure what to make of that and the fact that Lorelai doesn’t recognize him. This is a problem with recurring bit people who have a distinctive look.

The Bad:

I was pleased with this episode. Nothing in particular felt poorly done to me. The boob argument was ridiculous, but I think it was intentional to show just how off the rails Lorelai was feeling about Rory entering her grandparents’ country club world.

Favorite Moment:

The Strawberry Confrontation was adorable and I absolutely loved Sookie chasing Jackson down the street. Duck and weave!

The Bottom Line:

This episode didn’t have quite the highs and lows of the first two. It felt like the show starting to settle into its style and I really enjoyed it. That being said, it didn’t “wow” me at any point either.

Célèste's Review of S1E3 "Kill Me Now"

“Kill Me Now”

Season 1, Episode 3

Original airing: October 19, 2000

My Rating: 37

The Good: 

• Michel is in top form with his Charlie Brown joke, and his cheeky Post-It to tell the twins apart.
• Emily’s forceful speech to Richard about the importance of Rory having a good time was a very strong character moment, and definitely raised the stakes of the episode. 
• The general conflict of Lorelai being threatened by the idea that Rory might fit into Richard and Emily’s world and enjoy spending time there is a great one if poorly executed in places
• Lorelai and Rory making up at the wedding was a nice scene. After her immature blowup at Rory, it was good to see Lorelai maturely admit that keeping her parents out of Rory’s life might not have been the best call, even though keeping them out of her own life always felt like the right decision. It was also nice to see Rory’s recognition that Lorelai’s childhood was difficult and that Lorelai did a lot to make Rory’s childhood happier than her own. 

The Meh: 

• The wedding subplot had its moments, but it was pretty flat overall. The joke throughout about the mother hating her spoiled daughters just didn’t really work for me, and most of the Drella stuff wasn’t funny either, with the exception of her pausing on the harp to drink a beer and bob her head. 
• The Sookie/Jackson blueberry subplot was a tired shadow of the peach scene from last episode. It wasn’t as funny as the peach scene and there was nothing new there. It felt like filler. 

The Bad: 

• The country club scenes were very tedious, especially the two steam room scenes and the lunch scene. I enjoyed Rory and Richard’s shy courtship of each other, but the gossiping and the various country club characters were all very dull. They could easily have elevated these scenes with snappier writing. 

Favorite Moment: 

The scene where Lorelai and Rory make up at the wedding

The Bottom Line: 

Basically, this episode drags in a lot of places. It’s not one I’d watch again. 

Podcast #3 - S1E2 - The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton

Hello! Welcome to Return to Stars Hollow - a spoiler-free, retrospective podcast about Gilmore Girls! This is the podcast for Season 1, Episode 2 - The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton!

The outfit that will live in infamy!

You can direct download the episode here: S1E2 - The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton

You can also follow our RSS Feed, or subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Comment on this post to leave your feedback for the next podcast!
You can also send feedback and voice clips to returntostarshollow@yahoo.com.
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The next podcast will post on August 11, 2014 for Season 1, Episode 3 - Kill Me Now!

Cordia's Review of S1E2 - The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton

This face, people. THIS FACE!

The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton

Season 1, Episode 2

Original airing: October 12, 2000

My Rating: 65

The Good:

This was a strong follow-up to last week’s pilot. It felt like the world just rolled right on forward with some excellent character moments and a true sense of passing time.

Rory’s first day at Chilton is surprisingly bad, but it gives us an excellent introduction to Rory’s new nemesis – Paris Gellar. Paris is a super overachiever, so she immediately sees Rory as a threat and basically makes it her personal destiny to take Rory down. I think it’s an excellent extension of Headmaster Charleston’s words to Rory about the competitive nature of the school. A girl who has a LOT in common with Rory can’t see her as anything BUT a threat.

I really like that Rory is extremely out of her comfort zone at Chilton. School is obviously her “thing” and we saw nothing but excitement last week for her debut at Chilton. But the real thing doesn’t match her visions and now she’ll have to deal with it.

The moral of Rory’s story is paralleled in Lorelai’s struggles with Emily. Lorelai doesn’t want Rory to have all the material possessions Emily is trying to push on her. Growing up in that lifestyle taught Lorelai that happiness doesn’t come from things. Now she’s working to prevent Rory from coming up in that kind of atmosphere and Emily just can’t understand. What she can grasp is Lorelai’s strong stance when she’s confronted in the salon. Emily may not understand, but she seems to at least respect it.

I really enjoyed meeting Lorelai’s neighbors – Babette and Morey. They are such an odd couple and I already find them quite entertaining. Gnome kicking should be an arrest-able offense.

Another quick scene that really entertained me was Jackson and Sookie’s peaches fight. While Jackson seems to think Sookie is putting on an act, perhaps for a discount, I find it totally believable that she is just that concerned over watery peaches.

The Bad:

Tristan was way too over the top for me. His attempts to embarrass/hit on Rory were incredibly creepy.

There was also a significant amount of poor logic in this episode, which did hurt my overall feelings. Namely, Lorelai's insistence that she had nothing else to wear for Rory's first day, Emily's insistence that Lorelai take off her coat, and no one mentioning that the "supposedly" smashed project was literally just outside the door. They were little things, but they added up.

Favorite Moment:

Luke’s face when Lorelai mentions her potential date with Chilton Dad is quite possibly the most adorable thing I’ve seen on the show yet. His slight side look and over compensating cover story (old dads!) led into some really subtle and sweet pseudo-flirting between the two. I thought it was really well played.

The Bottom Line:

Another strong early episode! The show is doing an excellent job of packing in lots of character-driven story for basically everyone without feeling bloated or slow.

Célèste's Review of S1E2 "The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton"

“The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton”

Season 1, Episode 2

Original airing: October 12, 2000

My Rating: 65

The Good: 

• The introduction to the world of Chilton is very complex. I like that the whole episode lingers on the various components of Rory’s day, from the different demands of the teachers, to the weirdness of the other students. I like how both Paris and Tristan focus on Rory but in different ways, both equally unscrutiple and unsettling. 
• The humor in the scene that introduces Paris, Madeline, and Louise is spot on. I especially like Madeline’s interjections and the way the other two girls ignore her, which seems to set up a dynamic I assume we’ll see more of later on. The moment when she sees a lizard and takes off is really great. 
• The show is good at expertly shifting from screwball humor to emotional realism and back. They show off this skill well when the Lorelai’s arrive at Chilton and make their way through the halls together as what I believe is the first instance of the more emotional musical cue plays. 
• The introduction of Jackson in the peaches scene with Sookie was fantastic. I especially like when she rolled the peach and proclaimed, “They’re even rolling differently.” 
• Both brief Miss Patty scenes were perfect. I loved her Harry Potter joke, her cigarette holder, and her fringed shaw. 
• The scene with the DSL men looking for a frog and arguing about whether it’s a frog or a turtle was very funny.
• The highlight of Lorelai’s plot for me was when she tells off her mom in the salon and then tries to keep that same level of authority to ask if the salon validates parking. Emily’s cold and measured, “There’s a stamp at the desk,” was perfect too. 
• The nighttime stroll scene is a great way to ground the episode back in the world of Stars Hollow. After spending a day with Rory at school, it feels like coming home, and it’s nice to have another appearance of Lane. Also, all the string lights in the trees do a good job of lighting up the characters' faces and making the town feel idilic. So far, this show is getting me every time with pretty, cozy lighting. 

The Meh: 

• I think it’s good that Rory’s first day is the focus of this episode, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Lorelai’s plot would have been more interesting with one central conflict or perhaps just better execution of the three they gave her. I enjoyed her silly outfit and the various encounters with her mother, but the sacrifice she makes by turning down the Chilton dad just left me cold. Maybe it was because he came off as kind of weird, so it didn’t feel like much of a sacrifice. I do think this plot line worked insofar as it set up Lorelai’s slight consideration of Luke as a romantic partner at the end of the episode. 

The Bad: 

• The castle smashing moment just didn’t work for me at all. Why would Paris leave it in the hall? Why did no one point of that it was in the hall when the teacher questioned the validity of Rory’s story? Couldn’t the teacher have evaluated the smashed castle and still given Paris a grade? If Paris cares so much about being top in the class, why is so so quick to accept an incomplete? This is such a tiny moment of the episode, so I don’t want to oversell its significance, but it literally made no sense to me, which made for a disappointing climax to the Paris/Rory conflict.

Favorite Moment: 

The Sookie/Jackson peach scene, especially Sookie rolling the peach and Jackson exclaiming, “you planned this” when Lorelai pronounces the peach “a little watery.” This is a great introduction to this relationship, and Melissa McCarthy is at her funniest here. 

The Bottom Line: 

Almost like a second pilot, this episode has the responsibility of introducing a whole world and a slew of characters. Since Gilmore girls primarily functions around two worlds (Star Hollow and Chilton), it was really smart to save the introduction to Chilton for the second episode so that it could really shine, and it does. This isn’t one of the best episodes, firing on all cilenders, but it’s effective at what it set out to accomplish.