First of all… I love Gilmore Girls. I think its well written. I think it has a lot of heart, and some of the best crafted characters, female or male, that has ever graced the TV screen. Everyone felt real, actualized, and relateable. (I, for one, am Team Luke forever and always). And each plot was well thought out, and felt like life in a small, sleepy, and weird town. I mean, the first seven seasons were great….
Too bad about seasons 8, 9, 10, and 11, am I right?
Right after the departure of genius head writer Amy Sherman-Palladino after Season 6, and the mixed reviews of Season 7, things did not look good for Season 8. It seemed to start well with a great question about Lorelai and Luke’s wedding and pregnancy, and whether she could safely have children.
And then the writers’ strike of 2008 hit and things went off the rails really, REALLY fast. I mean, why would Lorelai go from a loving, intelligent woman:
To whatever a “Winter Fanatic” is?
And could someone please explain to me why we spent the entire season with Luke, a usually solid, intelligent man:
Would decide to try and invent the first Personal Diner Box?
And out of nowhere, they gave Jess super powers? I was having trouble with that, and then the time traveling just went way out of control.
It wasn’t a surprise to anybody that they would order less episodes for Season 9, especially with still dealing with the writers’ strike, but wasn’t it weird it was only 4 1/2 episodes? I guess they had to stop it, what with the censors being so pissed with Rory’s undercover investigative journalism storyline set in Basin City. It was one of the most violent seasons of Gilmore Girls, till Season 11 anyways, but that hardly counts.
The fact that there is even a Season 10 is a testament to how much we love utter, bat-shit wackiness.
Though I must admit, the “Zombie Doyle” storyline was a masterpiece.
And who knew that one dude from the Yale Newspaper would become so interesting, once he dropped out of Yale and went to a community college?
I was really sad with what they did with Sookie’s character half-way through Season 10. From gourmet chef to crazed meth addict might SEEM cool on paper, but in action? Not so much.
Season 11. Wow, the mad journey that was Season 11. Or is it Season 11/12? No one has ever attempted to reboot a show 3 times in one season, and this is the reason why. They tried to go back to basics, but barely 2 episodes in, the executives wanted to cash in on the success of another WB show… Supernatural.
Don’t get me wrong, the storyline of Dean/Sam is amazing. That Dean from Star’s Hallow, and Sam from Supernatural were one and the same was sheer genius. But that it was actually Sam’s soul split into two? It was way too confusing, especially since they couldn’t get Jensen Ackles to cameo due to the mysterious “Karaoke Incident of 2009” (TMZ still only has bits and pieces). This failure led to what fans and casual viewers agree to, across the board, as the best 15 episodes of television to ever exist, the last half of Season 11/12, known popularly as “Star Kirk”:
They say a movie is in the works, and if it is, I am There!
I still recommend Gilmore Girls, by the way. Its on NetFlix. But a piece of advice… Just stop at Season 7. TRUST ME.