Gilmore Girls 8

NEW GAME: Gilmore Girls Survivor
Pick your favorite 2 of the following

Taylor, Michel, Lulu, Zach, Liz, TJ, Jackson, Babette, Miss Patty, Mrs. Kim, Doyle, Anna, Caesar, Other (obscure Write-in candidate)

Once we've selected 2 of the above, 16 characters will be part of a GG playoff bracket. Don't worry about how it'll work. I have it all figured out. Just do your part and vote.
Click HERE for character descriptions

Now on to my review of tonight's episode:
This episode is making me appreciate the new writers. They are very craftily weaving themes into the episode story line (much more like 'Lost' than past seasons of GG). It seems to be there is much more symbolism and foreshadowing.

The episode starts with Chris trying to bring the Gilmore Girl's house up to 'high society' standards. She resists. All of this (and things like it) are done playfully, but do put the viewer on notice that there is some real friction at the foundation of this relationship.

Meanwhile, Rory is surprised by Logan's presence in North America. They both agree that Logan doesn't do anything in a 'boring' manner. We learn that Logan is moving 'next door' (compared to London) to Rory. More on that later.

Next, we are shown Luke and April preparing for supper. Luke tells her the story of when he confronted by a grizzly bear during a camping trip. So how did Luke get away? According to Luke he, "backed away real slow, avoided eye contact, that's how you show you're submissive." He tells April that in such a situation you've gotta try to stay calm, but admits he was anything but! More on that later too.

Later on, back to Rory, this time at one of Logan's 'high society' get-togethers. It's obvious to all viewers that she finds this group of people utterly annoying with the exception of a man who asks Rory to submit an article for his new website (and hints that a column about the party itself would be a good topic). When she writes the piece, however, Logan doesn't approve and they begin to fight. The light-hearted friction we saw earlier b/w Chris & Lorelei we now see bubbling over b/w Logan & Rory. Rory walks out.

Fast-forward to Chris trying to change Rory's room into one for Gigi. Lorelei, once again, is defensive showing that she's not quite certain about the way things are going. Friction intensifying for Chris/Lorelei.

A little while later we watch Lorelei come to see Luke at the hospital (April had appendicitis). She's got her coat over her wedding ring at first. They talk about April. Luke eventually sees her ring just as he's called in to see April. Lorelei then, knowing that he knows, looks at the ring as she turns to leave the hospital.

In the last segment we witness Logan/Rory making up. She apologizes for criticizing 'high society,' but asserts that she needs to get out on her own (not live alone at Logan's apartment while he's in NYC). Then Lorelei arrives at the apartment and her & Rory make-up (Rory was mad about not being at the wedding). But Lorelei also confesses that if she had talked to Rory before the wedding, she would have been talked out of getting married so quickly. Couple this with the fact that Lorelei feels compelled to keep repeating, verbally, the fact that she's happy to be married, and add to that that she didn't take Chris's last name, and we get the impression that she's not so sure. As usual, though, everything seems neat & tidy at the end for Chris/Lorelei. She agrees to Gigi'fy the room.

Now the part of the show I REALLY want to discuss is the ending scene where Luke is flipping channels as April sleeps in her hospital bed. At the risk of reading way too much into this scene, I submit the following: Each channel was significant.

Clip #1
The first one, a weather channel, showed high pressure and low-pressure fronts combating each other over the US of A. This represents the contrasts present in Luke's life. Visibly happy that April is OK. Invisibly devastated by Lorelei's wedding ring. Hating high-pressure situations (like Lorelei's ultimatum), but loving low pressure living (his own personality).

Clip #2
The second clip was a nature/animal show about Grizzly bears. Now remember, earlier in the episode April & Luke had talked about Luke's encounter with just such a bear. In my opinion the bear represents Lorelei's aggressive ultimatum. How did Luke respond? The same way in both cases. He backed away and pretended not to 'care' (so to speak).

Clip #3
Luke then skips 2 channels (not shown) and arrives at an old movie (which, obviously, reminds us of Lorelei). So what movie was it? It's the 1940 flick "Philadelphia Story" which was later remade under the title "High Society." Clearly, this movie was chosen by the writers to symbolize Luke's dilemma. In the movie, a divorced women (whose ex had recently moved next door and, therefore, back into the picture) is on the verge of marrying a stable (yet boring) fellow, but everything falls apart on the wedding day. Luke picks up at the point when the woman is about to tell her guests the wedding is off, but the ex boldly steps in wanting to marry her himself. She smilingly agrees, happy to find such a risk taking and adventurous man. The episode fades with Luke staring at the screen.

Thus, all the story lines are woven together skillfully. Both Lorelei & Rory are struggling with whether they are 'high society' kind of girls. If so, their relationships with Chris & Logan make all the sense in the world. Just like the ex in the movie, those two guys 'moved' closer to their respective girl during this episode. Rory had long since left her stable 'lower society' relationship (Dean) and Lorelei had done so just recently (Luke).

There are two ways to interpret the final scene. Either it is predictive or representative. If predictive, we can expect Lorelei & Chris to stay together, since that was the 'happy ending' in the movie 'High Society.' If representative, the ending simply shows that Luke, emotionally, is coming to terms with what has happened, but doesn't necessarily tell us what he'll do from there.

Personally, I hope the latter interpretation is correct.