Everything has changed in Stars Hollow, the quiet little town where Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) make their home. Having decided to quit college after being told she is not a good enough writer to be a journalist, Rory has moved in with her overbearing but understanding and supportive grandparents, Richard and Emily (Edward Herrmann, Kelly Bishop). She and her mother have not spoken a word since the violent argument over whether or not she was going to abandon her school for a year or two of "mere existence." Not to mention the fact that she is stuck doing massive hours of community service simply because the judge did not look kindly on her theft of a boat while out on the shore with her boyfriend. It does not take Rory long to figure out that living with her grandmother, even happily situated in the boathouse, is not all fun and games. 

I think the reason I was not terribly fond of this season is because Lorelai and Rory are angry at one another and not speaking through half of it, which cut severely down on those fantastic mother-daughter bonding moments that made the first five seasons so hysterical. It's just not the same show when Rory is not getting random phone calls from her mom at 2am, or dragging her to Friday night dinner with the Gilmores. There is a huge portion of early episodes that feature Richard and then Emily, and then they somewhat vanish for an equal number of episodes -- which was kind of a drag for me, because I love the jaw-dropping conversations they manage to have with a straight face. But there is a lot to like about the season and it constantly surprised me with its twists and turns. I was sorry how some things ended and amused with others, but overall it left the impression that Rory is growing up. Not all of her decisions are wise, however.

Although there is never any graphic content, the audience knows Rory and Logan (Matt Czuchry) are involved in a sexual relationship. When her grandparents find out, they are understandably upset and as such are depicted as terribly old-fashioned and narrow minded. Rory eventually moves in with Logan and continues to stay in a relationship with him even after she discovers that during a brief break, he cheated on her. Lorelai and Luke have a similar physical relationship -- sometimes he spends the night at her place, or she spends it at his. More problematic is in the last episode, when she wakes up naked in bed next to her ex-boyfriend after a fight with Luke. There are some sexual conversations and occasional innuendo, along with mild language. The show's cavalier attitude toward casual sex bothered me, but what bothered me more was the excessive drinking that seemed to show up in almost every episode. Both Lorelai and Rory, as well as Logan and other members of their inner circle, get fall-down-drunk on several occasions, usually downing their sorrows in a bottle of whatever happens to be handy. This is particularly disconcerting when you realize that Rory is under age. Also, on these instances it's implied that all you need to sober up before getting in the car is a good shot of coffee. I don't like drinking in general, but drinking and driving sends a bad message.

Christian audiences might also be mildly offended at Lane's wedding ceremony, in which her mother pretends they are devout Buddhists to appease her Korean grandmother. Massive statues of Buddha are brought in and bowed to. While standing as godmothers to Sookie's children, Rory and Lorelai express general disillusionment with the church and religion, intimating that they don't really get it. Which brings me to my next point: Gilmore Girls has never been a show of great depth. It has some fantastic emotion and will have you laughing one moment and crying the next, but there is no moral compass in these women's lives and therefore most of what transpires is meaningless. It seems more apparent in this season more than any other that they are blindly wandering through life without a reason for their existence, a very sobering thing to contemplate.