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TwitterHuzzah to 'Producer Lauren Graham'
Congrats to Lauren Graham on her newly obtained status as credited "producer" on Gilmore Girls, a title she received for the first time before Tuesday (Jan. 30) night's episode. Graham has been so routinely under-valued by awards groups over the years that it's nice to see her get her due in other ways, even if the common conspiracy theory (very likely correct) is that the "producer" nod was meant as not-so-subtle encouragement to sign back up for another season.
Graham was actually multi-tasking all over the episode, titled "To Whom It May Concern," even hosting a commercial break sponsored by her upcoming chick flick Because I Said So. I wonder what kind of finagling went on to get that special treatment for the Universal release and what it would take to make me pay money to see it.
Overall, the episode was less bad than I feared it would be given that it was built around the letter-of-recommendation Lorelai wrote last week for Luke's custody hearing and Christopher's subsequent negative reaction, a device so contrived the producers of Three's Company would have said "Nah, too contrived." While I didn't approve of the way the writers set up the letter as a clunky device, nor did I understand the ridiculous way they let him find the letter (searching for a carpenter's level misplaced when Lorelai was trying to hypnotize Paul Anka), I absolutely got why he reacted the way he did under the circumstances. The letter wasn't all that romantic, but it sure was written in a way to be entirely a slap in the face to Christopher. Even the judge at the custody hearing looked ready to say to Lorelai, "Young lady, you'd better hope your new rebound husband never sees the handwritten notes upon which you based this letter."
Some highlights of the episode:
And some lowlights:
Sound off on the episode's brilliance (or lack thereof)...
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
I agree that the way Christopher found the letter was contrived. And his reaction was overdone. Paris was over the top as usual and funny as usual. Also agree that Lucy was bearable this week. The show could have used a visit from Logan. He is totally underused so far this year. Hopefully they will correct this error in the coming weeks.
Perhaps we needed to meet Sookie and Jackson's kids in order to watch Lorelai's maternal instincts at work?
I wonder if this ep really was less horrible than the show has been lately, or if we're all just unconsciously comparing it to this week's "Studio 60." The comparison benefits GG immeasureably.
i dearly loved this show for many years. Now...not so much. The unpredictable nature is gone. There was a time when you could never guess what was going to come out of any characters mouth. Now i could mime every line practically.
You could see Christophers foot out the door a mile away. Sad, so sad.
I continue to watch, like a deer in the headlights...but I am never delighted afterwards.
I was glad to see Luke win custody only because Anna is such a *****. They've really written her to be completely unsympathetic. And also kind of unrealistic in my opinion, but whatever.
I actually liked that Christopher was the one to walk out on Lorelai. All season long I've been waiting for Lorelai to come to the realization that she didn't really love Chris. Having him be the one to figure it out and to end things actually came as a bit of a surprise and was a clever move on the writers' part.
I disagree with you about the outcome of the custody hearing. As a law student I know that Luke had a much better shot of winning then the lawyers told him he did. Because he was never told that he had a daughter he never gave away his right to custody. Since he never gave his right away the arguement that he is unfit is minute. Shared custody is exactly what I would have expected in the real legal system.
Yay for the return of Paris! It was a cold, cold winter.
As much as I enjoyed this show in the past, I sure hope this is the last season. I can't remember a show being dragged out this far past its prime since "The X-files". The last two seasons have been nearly unwatchable at times.
Next weeks "Richard keeling over/Luke rushing to the hospital" storyline seems awfully familiar. Didn't we already see that episode way back in season 1?
I agreed with the outcome of the custody hearing, though I didn't really understand how they got there based on what we were shown of it. How could Anna's lawyers claim that Luke was nothing more to April than a guy who works in a diner or that she's spent more time with her bus driver? What about all those weeks (months?) that April lived with Luke while Anna was in New Mexico taking care of her mother? And, wouldn't they try to get a statement from April herself, who clearly thinks of Luke as her go-to guy? She's definitely old enough to have her opinion be heard.
YES! That was a little weird that April's opinion wasn't even considered. And I guess it was a little convenient how Chris found the letter, but it resulted in something I've been waiting for for a long time. I can't wait to see Chris go. He's an entertaining character and an okay dad, but he should NOT be a focus of the show. He should not be married to a main character and by extension become a main character! We've probably seen more about Chris, this season, than Luke, which is ridiculous!
But overall, I thought the episode was pretty good. One of the best of THIS season, anyway.
Throught the custody hearing I was yelling at the TV [which I am wont to do] "Where's April?!" My folks split up when I was *nine* and I had a say in who I wanted to live with. Anna-the-devoted-mother not caring at all what her daughter wants? Totally unbelievable. This show is catering to the teeny-bopper crowd, and while the actors are adults their characters are written with the emotional maturity of their target audience. For shame.