Cordia's Review of S2E14 - It Should've Been Lorelai

It Should've Been Lorelai

Season 2, Episode 14

Original airing: February 12, 2002

My Rating: 63

The Good:

This was a very interesting episode with the introduction of Christopher’s eager girlfriend, Sherry. Early in the episode, I found her pretty overbearing (The Bad), but mostly I thought she was a good fit. I really liked Rory’s dish about Sherry. I felt her comments about Sherry being ready to marry and knowing what she wanted in a family explained some of her rush to get to know Rory. If she wants to marry Christopher and begin having children soon, I applaud her for making strides to include Rory in that life. I kind of wish we had heard it from Sherry though.

I really liked Christopher and Lorelai’s conversation at the Jeep about including each other in their lives when they find new romantic partners. With Rory as a connecting link, it’s important for them to know about major developments and Christopher had a solid point about Lorelai’s relationship with Max. This guy was on the verge of being Rory’s stepfather before Christopher knew he existed. While I can see not inviting an ex to the wedding, not even telling him was a step too far. On the other side, I supported Lorelai basically demanding to be involved with Sherry if Rory is going to be involved with Sherry. That was good.

Emily’s freak out at the Friday Night Dinner was excellent. Her unsubtle jabs were right in line with her anger and I can understand her being upset that a girlfriend has swooped in and “stolen” Rory for the night. Obviously some dreams have been shattered for Emily and I found it completely believable that she would dump it all on Lorelai. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but it fit the moment and the character.

I am of two minds about the end of the storyline. I thought Lorelai was being incredibly self-centered to tell Christopher she’s been waiting for him to clean up his act for 15 years so they could be together. I was really proud of Christopher for telling her off there. She is basically dumping 15 years of romantic trouble in his lap and saying if he had manned up earlier their lives would have been so much better. But only she is responsible for her happiness and good on Christopher for telling her as much.

In other news, I loved the debate storyline. Paris’ over preparation was right on target. Her character is one of the most consistent on the show and while she’s a bit over the top, it’s still quite believable. I think this is largely because her motivations are consistent and her reactions are almost predictable. For example, it was easy to guess that the return of Brad would please Paris so she could crush him in to the ground. And her sudden anger at Rory not wanting to stay and do a pro/con of the transcript was great. It was sad to see that she didn’t seem to have anyone else, including her nanny, at the debate to celebrate with her.

Brad’s return was really good. It was entertaining in a sad way to see him conversing rather comfortably with Rory until Paris made her presence known. His continuing decline throughout the debate was very well done.

Finally, I thought Lane’s storyline was a nice diversion. She’s under virtual house arrest after hiding her pseudo-relationship with Henry from her mother. Stalking Rory via the phones around town was extremely entertaining. And I loved the CD drop with Kirk as the distraction and poor Michel as the runner. After jogging around the square for over an hour and feeling quite tortured by Lorelai “forgetting” to mention the time change, his comment to Rory of “you are your mother’s child” was amazingly on point. Brilliant.

The Bad:

It’s nice that Sherry recognizes she’s being too forceful, but it doesn’t stop it from seeming very weird. And I really don’t like her asking Lorelai to get Rory out of Friday Night Dinner for a non-emergency.

Lorelai saying “Should it have been me?” to Rory about Christopher was bizarre. I thought this was a weird, over vulnerable moment for her and I’m not even sure why it was there when the show skipped right past it by having Rory get distracted and run out the door.

Finally, as I said above in The Good, I didn’t like Lorelai dumping all of her romantic woes on Christopher’s head. This was an extremely self-centered thing for Lorelai to do. I found it unbelievable that she would think sharing this information with him would make him happy.

Favorite Moment:

I really did like the moment when Michel is talking to Rory after running around the square for an hour to do the CD drop. Their small conversation is very entertaining.

The Bottom Line:

I thought this was a very interesting introduction for Christopher’s girlfriend. I found Sherry to be over the top, but her interest in a relationship with Rory speaks volumes about her relationship with Christopher. What I enjoyed most was the conversations that stemmed from Sherry’s arrival between Christopher, Lorelai, and Emily. The reactions to Christopher finally “moving on” were very interesting. I also greatly enjoyed both secondary storylines. Paris and Lane’s stories were both really well done and gave both women small moments to shine in their craziness. However, despite all of this, it felt like something was missing in this episode to make it really great.