Goodbye Girls

I finally watched the final Gilmore Girls episode. I just felt like until I'd seen the last episode ever, the show wasn't over yet. But you can't postpone a goodbye forever.

And let's face it, while Gilmore Girls is still a great show, it was time. I'm not saying the series ever really "jumped the shark", but everything after Rory (temporarily) dropped out from Yale was just not quite as good as what came before. The girls being apart meant there was less of the dialogue I always watched the show for, and shortly after that problem was resolved, Amy Sherman-Palladino left. I'm not as critical of David Rosenthal as many bloggers seem to be, but it's undeniable that the dialogue was a few beats more slow after he took over, and the references more obvious.

I have a hard time articulating how much I love (or should I say loved) this show. I identified with Rory: all through highschool I had at least one book in my bag, even if it was often bad science fiction instead of great literature. I had some journalistic ambitions, once upon a time. I was someone who dealt a lot better with schoolwork than with life. The one I wanted to be, though, was Lorelai: I wanted to speak so fast, flirt so easily, and most of all, I wanted to be so strong and independent and entirely, uncompromisingly, me.

I think that's why the finale, or actually the last two episodes, felt true to me: it was about the girls, their lives, their plans, and only a little about the men who revolved around then -- because it would have felt off to see their lives revolve around men. Logan's all-or-nothing proposal was strange, but Rory's reponse made sense: she may seem quiet and sweet, but she has ambitions, and it would have been unlike her to choose a guy over her career. As for Lorelai, some people seem disappointed there was no wedding at the end, but it's been established throughout the series that Lore is not the marrying kind -- which is why her wedding to Chris felt all wrong. When she proposed to Luke, it was a wonderful moment, but she didn't leave him because he was putting the wedding off, she left him because he wasn't including her in his life.

I know, it's a little strange obsessing about the motivations and feelings of fictional characters, but when you've watched a show faithfully every week for so long, it feels not only like you know the characters, but like they're a part of your life. Rory's dilemma's upon graduating were embarrasingly familiar, and I should probably get a WWRD T-shirt to remind myself that it'll all turn out all right, even if I wasn't raised by a village, or if I don't live in a world where my idol would show up and give me her card.

Byebye girls. Bye Paris, bye Emily and Richard, bye bye Taylor and Kirk. Bye Lane, bye Luke.
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Sherry: Your uniform is darling. Really, I love the blue, 'course I'm sure you look good in anything.

Lorelai: Oh, yeah. You should see her in chaps.

Sherry: Really?

Rory: No. That was just my mom being funny.

Sherry: Oh...

Lorelai: It comes and goes, you'll learn to notice the signs.

Christopher: The waves get really still, the animals start to act funny...

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Lorelai: My life stinks. Hey, let's look into each other's eyes and say "I wish I were you" at exactly the same time — maybe we'll pull a Freaky Friday.

Rory: Or we can just pretend that we did and you can go around acting really immature. Oh, wait…

Lorelai: I can't believe you won't switch bodies with me.

Rory: Forget it. Then I'd have to date Kirk.

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Lorelai: [Phone rings and Lorelai answers] Independence Inn

Emily: You should really identify yourself when you answer the phone at work.

Lorelai: Sorry, Independence Inn, major disappointment speaking. Better?

Emily: Yes, thank you.

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Lorelai: God, I’m starved.

Rory: Think about something else.

Lorelai: Like what?

Rory: Something disgusting that will take your appetite away.

Lorelai: Ari Fleischer?

Richard: Ari Fleischer is our nation’s mouthpiece, young lady.

Lorelai: Officially not hungry now.

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Emily: I've called several times the past few weeks and you've skillfully avoided every call.

Lorelai: No, that's not true. I've left messages on your machine.

Emily: Yes, messages. And then if I happened to pick up, you'd hang up. Or if the maid picked up, you'd ask for me, then claim you were driving through a tunnel so you might get cut off, and then you'd make garbling noises and hang up

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