Hello! Welcome to Return to Stars Hollow - a spoiler-free, retrospective podcast about Gilmore Girls! This is the podcast for Season 3, Episode 9 - A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving.
You can direct download the episode here: S3E9 - A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving
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The next podcast will post on Monday, November 2, 2015 for S3E10 - That'll Do Pig.
I hate Trix.
ReplyDeleteThere, I said it.
I think the joke of the scenario is supposed to be how alike Trix and Emily are. But with Emily, we also get to see her good qualities and her vulnerabilities. She's a fully realized character.
Trix? Nope. She's just a bossy, imperious woman who spoils her son, treats her daughter-in-law like dirt, and shows little to no interest in actually spending time with her granddaughter or great-granddaughter. (I think it's pretty telling that neither Lorelai nor Rory seem to know Trix at all during her first episode.) I can't laugh at Trix being horrible to Emily when Emily is defenseless because I care about Emily as a character.
I think the writers fell into a common trap with Trix: trying to write a character as "strong-minded and opinionated," but going too far and turning the character into a horrible *****. This also happens with other characters on occasion. For Lorelai in particular, the writers sometimes fall on the wrong side of the line: yes, Lorelai is charming as hell and therefore can "get away" with doing things other people wouldn't. But sometimes it crosses into her behaving in a very entitled fashion. In real life, I think I would find Lorelai very entertaining in small doses; but if we walked into a diner and she "jokingly" told a stranger to move away from "her" table, I think I'd want to slap her. In real life, I would find Trix horrifying.
This also brings up a broader question in my mind: what does Stars Hollow as a whole think of Lorelai and Rory? Sometimes, the town seems like Brigadoon: a mythical village of quirky characters (Taylor, Luke, Babette, Miss Patty, Kirk) who naturally adopt our girls as their own and forgive them anything. But other times, it seems more grounded in reality as a commuting suburb to Hartford, populated by average yuppies (the troupe of identical moms, Dean's family, Stars Hollow High) who might not give a darn about the Gilmores one way or the other. What do the other kids of Stars Hollow (besides Lane) think of Rory?
I was not a fan of this episode. Too many of the scenes that were supposed to be funny or cute rubbed me the wrong way. Normally I like Jess and Rory together, but Jess was a total douchecanoe in this episode and I couldn't stand him. Their kissing while walking through the town looked awful and was staged weird. Jess was so mean to Dean's sister (who was annoying - he wasn't wrong - but I think that's partly because the actress is really terrible) and it wasn't funny or interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe scene with Trix at Lorelai's house was also bizarre and didn't pay off at all. If she had said she was moving into Lorelai's house it would have made sense, albeit implausible. She just stomped around with the entire family following her, and then they left.
There are interesting stories to tell, as we've seen the last several episodes, but they chose not to tell any of them during this one.
I don't really care for this episode. All the extra characters, who are only on the show once or twice, reallly throw the episode off for me. I don't want to see Paris and Rory be split apart by the horrible Francie. As much as it's fun to see Emily being taken down a peg or two, Trix is very over the top. And the less said about Clara the better.
ReplyDeleteBut the absolute worst thing about this episode is Rory's throw at the carnival. Her line "Just for the record, I'm a girl and we are supposed to throw like this" is offensive to me, and I don't get easily offended. And what's worse, thinking that Alexis Bledel actually throws like that? Or knowing that she had to go out of her way to make it look like she can't throw because of that awful line of dialogue. Seriously Rory, learn how to at least throw a ball where it doesn't make you look like an idiot.
Because apparently I love to explain how to pronounce names over the internet, I wanted to point out that the g in Ventimiglia is silent, so it sounds like Ventimilia.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm all Dean'd out and I don't even want to think about this character and the inconsistencies anymore, and yet, here we are again. I'm surprised how much I liked how they handled his character over the last few episodes, from breaking up with Rory, not being ready to forgive her and not wanting to be friends, and then turning on Jess last episode. I thought all of that made a lot of sense for the character. I could even see Dean trying to get between Jess and Rory in order to break them up because from his perspective, that's what Jess did to him and Rory. But why in the world would he want Rory back after what happened? They're talking about christmas, so there's supposed to be timejump, but it still feels awfully quick for a complete change of heart, especially because it's only been three episodes for us.
Jess' passive agressive questioning if there's something Rory wanted to tell him reminded me a lot of Dean. And if Jess thinks he doesn't have to try anymore because he's "got the girl", then that's going to be a problem and it's certainly not a promising start to the relationship, especially considering, even though they're not really true, all the great things Dean did for and with Rory are brought up every time someone mentions what a good boyfriend Dean was.
I don't like both Jess' and Dean's attitude when they're talking about Rory as if she's a thing they're fighting about and the winner gets the trophy. I've never been a teenaged boy in a love triangle, so I'm not sure if this is realistic behaviour, though I'm afraid that it is and I wish someone, preferably Rory, would point out that that's gross when/if she realizes what's going on.
What I like most about Trix' appearance is how the dynamic between Lorelai and Emily changes as a resut and seeing Emily take Lorelai's advise and stand up to Trix in a way in the end is fun.
The scene when they're all looking at Lorelai's house is silly, but it still makes me laugh. And I love Emily's response when Rory tells them to have a good time, "No one appreciates your sarcasm, young lady!"
I think that this episode was accurately titled because I wanted to tell Dean , Trix and Francie That'll Do ! all of their scenes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Dean was needed in the episode nor his annoying little sister once again in the way of Rory and Jess. And when did Clara become so enthralled with Rory ? I wanted to slap Clara by the time she was asking Jess "Does He washes his hair " ? Instead of those scenes. We should of had more story development between Lane and Dave.
Oh Trix !
I did not miss her and I was completely through in means of her snobbish ways when she pushed her way into the Gilmore Girls house like she was their landlord. Richard needs to grow a back bone because I know that he see that his mother makes his own wife uncomfortable. I loved how Lorelai gave Emily advice on how to deal. And how Emily relished in eating after that ridiculous twelve minute rule.
Uh Francie ?
What was the point of her returning in the first place ?
Paris was hardly in this episode because she was with Jamie. But where was Jamie ? Why couldn't the C story be Paris being so involved with her relationship Jamie " On Screen" that she loses focus on her education and extra circular activities. That everyone takes notice and having Paris eventually trying to balance it all with help from Rory.
This episode felt like it was regressing back into Oasis territory and hopefully this next episode is more interesting and has some story and character progression.
This is episode is in my top 3 all-time favorites. I have to disagree with you Cordia, I think that Sookie & Jacksons thanksgiving was the best of them all. I dont think it seems out of character for Jackson to have all these crazy relatives because we really don't know much about his character at all, except for his awful cousin Rune, and his relative with a xerox company that made his hilarious pajamas, so we can guess they're all a little weird. I think it was an interesting choice to have his relatives be all decked out in leather jackets looking like they just left a rock concert and also be hyper masculine in this weird reckneck-y way. I think it develops his character in an funny way-- we see him shun displays of hyper masculinity in his fight with Sookie about decorating their house, but apparently when his family comes around this side of him comes out. I think thats pretty realistic of the ways that some of us have different sides of us that come out when we're around our families, especially if we decided to go a different route with our lives than our upbringing. Also, drunk Sookie is offically my favorite Sookie. Her mannerisms and expressions in this scene are endlessly re-watchable. My only complaint with this episode is that I also wish we could've gotten more time at Luke's-- how touching was it that he was waiting to sit down and eat with Lorelai and Rory! How I wish I had a Luke in my life.
ReplyDelete