"Girls" Interrupted

Last night's Gilmore Girls ("Super Cool Party People") brought us the first episode written by inbound Gilmore Girls showrunner David Rosenthal since the announcement that he would be taking over for departing showrunner/executive producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino. It's also his second writing credit on the show to date. So how did the new showrunner do?

I really, really tried to go into "Super Cool Party People" with an open mind. But was it just me or did the episode feel as awkward as the beginning of April's birthday party? The way that David Rosenthal wrote the episode reminded me of how Luke was barking out orders and rules to those poor girls attending newly-discovered daughter April's fete: he wanted them to have fun and have a good time but in the end only made everyone miserable. Poetic justice?

I was completely baffled by the scene in which Luke and Lorelai finally begin to even talk about the awkwardness that is their relationship regarding April, especially as it seems to spring from Luke's insistence that he buy a weird kitty-covered bathroom set for April as a present. (Also bizarre: Luke talking about how he enjoys shopping with Lorelai? Not buying it at all.) As Luke seems to descend into madness over the joys of purchasing soap for little April, he finally admits the reason why he's been keeping April at arm's length from Lorelai: he's afraid that April would like Lorelai better than him because Lorelai is as fun as a "cartoon character" and he'd lose her. First off, if someone called me a "cartoon character" I'd be offended, but--putting that remark aside--the scene fell flat. This is a crucial character moment that we've been building towards for the second half of the season, where Lorelai finally confronts Luke about his mishandling of their relationship. Instead what Rosenthal gave us was a bizarre whimper of a scene that never delved into what Luke's confession says about his unease around April and his jealousy of the relationship between Lorelai and Rory, one he can never replicate with April.

So far, I've loved April's mom, Anna Nardini (the incandescent Sherilyn Fenn), but last night Anna came off as nothing more than a raving lunatic. Angrily confronting Luke after she discovers Lorelai's involvement in April's party-turned-sleepover, Anna is furious that parents could find out that April and her friends spent the entire night with a strange woman (Lorelai) whom none of them know and screamed at Luke for some time about how unreliable he is. Um, excuse me, but apparently Anna would have been fine if everyone thought the girls spent the entire night sleeping in the same room as Luke, himself a strange man, April's long-lost dad, and the owner of the diner where April's party was thrown? That would have been a better scenario for her to explain to the kids' parents? And who exactly did she think was going to keep an eye on the girls all night when April called to tell her about the slumber party? The big, hairy guy whom the kids have nicknamed Hagrid?

And then there was the entire Rory and Logan storyline, which lacked any real sense of urgency or emotion. I never once felt that Rory was actually concerned with Logan nor when he became conscious that this was a young couple in love. Plus, what was up with Rory calling Logan's dad Mitchum and screaming at him to get down to the hospital? Especially when we didn't see that same phone call from Mitchum's perspective, though we were forced to watch both sides of an unnecessary Rory-Honor phone call (and Rory-Paris and Rory-Lorelai, etc.). And then when Mitchum does finally show up, it's with nary a word between him and Rory (or any dialogue at all), and then goes into see his injured son, a scene that we had to hear about from Logan rather than see. My only consolations is that I hope producers paid actor Gregg Henry quite a lot for his silently-walking-across-hall performance in this episode.

Finally, another scene that really got under my skin was that between Lorelai and Anna, when Lorelai goes to apologize to April's mom for the party. Rosenthal mines the very obviousness of the similarities between Anna and Lorelai and their situations (i.e., single-motherhood) instead of mining this further in a less direct way. Again, Anna comes across as a tyrant, refusing Lorelai any contact with April, and stinging her with a zinger about engagements not being the same as marriages ("Lots of people get engaged," she says. Ouch.). And Lorelai looks a complete doormat for not trying to call Anna out on this. Is this what a relationship with Luke has done to Lorelai? Made her into a wallflower afraid to stick up for herself or speak her mind? Is this what's become of our tough Gilmore girl?

(Another nitpick, though not really Rosenthal's fault, is that no one has even mentioned the fact that Lorelai's entire family seems under the impression that her June wedding to Luke is still on; it's a rather disturbingly dangling plot thread that, while not Rosenthal's fault, nonetheless irks.)

Only two episodes of Gilmore Girls remain before Amy and Daniel walk off into the sunset and after watching "Super Cool Party People" I am definitely concerned by Rosenthal being in charge of the creative path that this show will take next season, especially since he doesn't really seem to "get" these characters. In the meantime, we've got two episodes of Palladino goodness left, which from the looks of it, will be quite a race to the finale: an elopement, a possible pregnancy (judging from the red hair, I think it's Luke's sis Liz rather than a Gilmore girl), and an emotional goodbye as Logan departs for London... and the Palladinos leave Stars Hollow for good.