Gilmore Girls, Season Two

 

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Rated: TVPG

reviewed by: Charity Bishop
   

One of the snappiest shows on television picked up viewers by 50% in its second season. The "little show that could" had become an overnight success, and it's not hard to see why. One dinner with Emily and you're hooked, that is, if it takes you that long to fall in love with the funny comebacks and antics of everyone's favorite residents of Stars Hollow.

The charming little town is filled with yellow daisies as Lorelai (Lauren Graham) plans her wedding to one of her daughter's teachers at the prestigious private school that she battled to get her into. Max (Scott Cohen) is well liked by all that know him, loves to read, and particularly enjoys teaching his impressive students. Though the relationship is somewhat frowned on by the faculty, and Lorelai is facing her own stomach butterflies over the union, everyone is caught up in the excitement of making her wedding day perfect. Everyone except her mother. Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) is insulted that her daughter did not inform her immediately, since she had to learn about it via a phone call from Lorelai's friend Sookie (Melissa McCarthy). And then there is Lorelai's daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel). Caught in-between the insanity of her family life, she has not only her boyfriend to deal with (Jared Padalecki) but pressures at school.

It's not too long before Lorelai calls off the wedding and jumps in the car for a vacation to "get away." But her return to town only sets off another chain of events, that range from the new presence of Jess (Milo Ventimiglia), the rebellious nephew of  local cafe owner Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) to the premature retirement and resulting unhappiness of her father, Richard (Edward Herrmann). In the meantime, Rory tries to repair a damaged relationship with a friend and repress her own interest in Jess before it skyrockets into relationship disaster. The best thing about this show, apart from its snappy comebacks and unbelievably faced-paced dialogue, are the characters. There's not a single person in town that won't amuse you. There's Miss Patty, who runs the local dance studio and has gone through three husbands already... or is it five? The grocer who is a stickler for rules and happens to be the bane of Luke's existence. And we haven't even discussed the Gilmore clan yet, from Emily's rigid standards to Rory's obsession with Harvard. Needless to say, you're not going to get the gist all at once or even over half the season, but by the time the final episode concludes, you feel as though you have just made an entire town full of new friends.

The acting here is brilliant, and it showcases quite a few talented young thespians that went on to other careers on the network and in television. The writing is top notch. It introduces us to new challenges and triumphs without ever going in circles. No theme is explored more than once from the same perspective, but throughout we get the bottom line, and hints of much more beneath the surface. And as a bonus point, this season doesn't have a lot of content to be worried about. My biggest disappointment is that Lorelai is rather loose morally, and several episodes do hint at this through dialogue, but we're not forced to follow her into the bedroom. She and Max make references to having a "great night" together. He stays over at the house the week before the wedding, and she thinks it's "weird" having him there all night. She also sleeps with Rory's father while he is separated from his live-in girlfriend. Sookie's boyfriend talks about wanting to move in with her, and is found hiding out in her closet one night when she has unexpected guests. Emily flirts and dances with another man on a weekend out of town, but is adamant that her behavior was inappropriate.

Numerous uses of "Oh, my god!" frequently creep into the dialogue, but the rest of the language is no more than a spattering of mild profanities. Violence includes a couple of school fights. There is a moral side and a lot to talk about in the show, particularly the fact that Rory and Lorelai have a fantastic relationship but even theirs is not perfect. They occasionally disappoint one another, and have a couple of verbal spats along the way. Emily, on the other hand, has an ideal marriage that lasts even through the occasional rough spots (namely, having her husband home all the time). Quite a few episodes deal with tough issues with smart wit and surprising sensitivity. Two in particular stand out in my mind. In the first, Emily tries to bond with Lorelai over a weekend (it leads to petty theft, but that's not the point) and mourns that they cannot be close. In the other, Richard reveals that he feels "obsolete" now that he is retired.

It's nice to see a "mostly wholesome" show do so well, as this one did for seven seasons. It's very addictive, but who knows, maybe your mom would like to watch it with you. I know mine would.