Célèste Review of S1E15 "Christopher Returns"

“Christopher Returns”

Season 1, Episode 15

Original airing: March 1, 2001

My Rating: 74

The Good:

• This episode’s mission is to introduce a majorly important character and have him shake things up, and it achieves that mission easily. Christopher shows up fully formed and his relationships with all the different characters are clear and believable.
• The chemistry between Christopher and Lorelai is undeniable. This is a real necessity for the episode to work, and it raises the question, “Can Lauren Graham have chemistry with anyone and anything? Like, could she, for example, have chemistry with a sandwich bag?”
• I like the contrast between Lorelai’s skepticism of Christopher and Rory’s faith in him, and I like the fact the Lorelai still respects Rory’s opinion.
• Richard standing up for Lorelai at dinner is a great moment, and it’s heartbreaking when he tells her his reasoning. As much as I feel for Lorelai in the scene in Richard’s office, and also think Richard makes some good points. The best moment is when he asks Lorelai if she knew Emily couldn’t get out of bed for a month and she says she didn’t know. Gilmore Girls is so good at showing the humanity on both sides of a conflict.
• Luke is used well here to show how Lorelai can make mistakes and hurt people and how sincerely sorry she is when she does.

The Bad:

•  The only problems I have with this episode are small ones. The softball game scene drags a little in comparison to the rest of the episode, but only because almost every other scene is of such consequence that it feels like filler by comparison
•  Christopher’s proposal is such a big deal and so poorly timed that it’s on the line of believability for me. It really comes out of nowhere and stretches the limits of how dysfunctional a person Christopher can be while still being someone we could conceivably imagine Lorelai being with. It doesn’t help that he disappears as suddenly as he came, leaving us to wonder if we’ll ever see him again and when and how frequently.
• People do not lie down on concrete when they have sex on balconies. It really bothers me that TV seems to think being horizontal is a necessity for sex even when the only horizontal place would be very uncomfortable to lie down on.

Favorite Moment:

Miss Patty flirting with Christopher. Liz Torres just nails this scene, and it makes me laugh out loud every time. Christopher and Rory’s matching smile-and-nod expressions are perfect.

The Bottom Line:

This is a great character introduction and a must-see for any serious Gilmore Girls fan to understand the character of Christopher, the structure of the Gilmore family, and Lorelai’s history.