Gilmore Girls: 'Driving Miss Gilmore' (6x21)

After the building emotional intensity of the past few episodes, most of this episode was a bit of a letdown. It was entertaining, but there wasn't much of note going on. It was like they had a few plot ideas that they wanted to get out of the way before the season finale.

The subplot I did enjoy was Sookie and Jackson's struggle to get rid of the 68 pounds of marijuana. It was such an out of nowhere happening, and watching them deal with it produced some funny moments. The scene with Doyle and the penguins was pretty funny as well.

I feel like Rory's grievance with Mitchum was a bit odd. I could see why she'd be annoyed, but I don't think it's the sort of comment that would have her newspaper sidekick bracing for an emotional breakdown. If anything, he should have been expecting her to be really excited that Rory's name was in the Wall Street Journal, and then be surprised when she was annoyed. I guess it's possible that she discussed the whole Mitchum issue with him, but it seems odd that he would be so aware of her negative feelings towards Mitchum. Plus, it's odd that they kept Logan and Rory apart for the whole episode. That seemed designed solely to save them discussing their issues for the season finale.

As per usual, Lorelai's stuff was the most interesting. The bits with her mother were funny, but what was paramount was her unease at the way things were going. It's unclear why Anna's comments last week have driven her away from Luke. If anything, they should have made her reinforce her bond with him. I think what she's feeling is that it would be impossible for Luke to maintain his relationship with his daughter and his relationship with her, and that, combined with her general paranoia about being unable to commit to a relationship, has pushed her away from Luke.

The great irony for Luke is that he's now lecturing TJ on how to deal with women, when he's so clearly failing on his own. If he took his own advice, he would realize that he needs to talk to Lorelai about what's going on between them, but he is apparently oblivious about her internal conflict. Of course, he is the one reaching out here, and Lorelai still hasn't been able to talk to him about what's going on.

There were two really interesting scenes between Lorelai and her mother. One was in the car, when they're talking about Christopher. In light of the fact that she has decided to buy a house for Luke and Lorelai, it's odd that she would be talking up Christopher. It may actually be that Emily is legitimately trying to help Christopher, and isn't just hinting that he and Lorelai should get together. However it's clear here that Lorelai still has feelings for Christopher, and even though she may not openly want him, she clearly doesn't want anyone else to have him either.

The other critical scene was the breakdown at the real estate office. This scene made the episode. Again, Lorelai has been keeping her emotions under wraps and finally breaks down here. The fact that her mother seems to really believe in the engagement, while she herself can't see it happening is what does it. That Emily would pick out a house that Lorelai likes is touching, but it only underscores Lorelai's sadness that the wedding is in jeopardy. It's odd that she so quickly said that it's not happening at all, which would imply she's breaking up with Luke. Emily going over to comfort Lorelai was a really good moment, showing how they've both let down their usual antagonistic personas at this moment.

The final scene and line were a great capper to the episode, keeping up the melancholy feeling that broke in with the real estate scene. Going into the Palladinos' final episode, things are not looking good for Luke and Lorelai. As this season has progressed, Lorelai has become more interesting than ever, and Lauren Graham is doing her best work in the show's entire run. However, the quality there only makes the other plots seem more out of place. Even Rory's stuff seems like filler, only Lane is really able to support interesting stuff on her own. It's not that those plots are any worse than they were in the past, it's just that the Luke/Lorelai stuff has gotten so good, it makes the other stuff look a bit weak. But, I would argue the show's as good as it's ever been right now.

Related Posts
Gilmore Girls: 'Partings' (6x22) (5/10/2006)
Gilmore Girls: 'Super Cool Party People' (6x20) (4/27/2006)
Gilmore Girls: 'I Get a Sidekick Out of You' (6x19) (4/19/2006)