Goodbye Gilmore Girls

Before I head over to Television Without Pity, aka TWoP, I thought I'd record my thoughts on the series finale of Gilmore Girls. Because my feelings may change after reading opinions over there, you know.

Prologue: AKA The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. So you know where I'm coming from, here's a brief history of "me and finales" in case I make odd references.

1. Good finales. These are the ones that don't leave me wanting to slap the writer. They manage to wrap up the major storylines of the show, without leaving a literal or figurative THE END on the last shot. It's the end of the series, but you go away with the feeling that life "there" is still going on as usual.

Examples:

• Northern Exposure (if you can get past the Joel-less last season)
• Due South (sort of - the "what happens to X" parts were a bit strange)
• Newhart
• MacGyver - riding off into the sunset was a fitting way to end (or segue into the TV-movies)
  

2. Bad finales. The opposite of the good ones. They end the show. They may or may not wrap up all the storylines, but you get the feeling that things are over, and if you found your way "there," where ever it is, you'd find empty houses or a vacant lot.

Examples:

• The Cosby Show - mostly because stepping off the sets sort of broke the illusion
  

3. The Ugly Finale. This is the one that leaves me in denial, usually because the show was cancelled unexpectedly and we-the-viewer were left dangling over a cliff the size of El Capitan. Finales with a high body count are in this category, as are finales that were so bizarre that I pretend they didn't happen.

Examples:

• Angel - it was implied, not shown, but the body count was astronomical
• Forever Knight - go ahead, kill off 75% of the cast
• Enterprise - the finale was basically an episode of Next Gen, and I still refuse to watch it again
• Quantum Leap - finale was odd, but that last screen pushed me over the edge
• Earth2 - there's that cliff again

Yes, Scott Bakula, an actor that I love, has had not one, but two finales that I categorically refuse to ever watch again. Even though I own the Quantum Leap DVDs and would buy Enterprise if Paramount didn't want an arm for each set.

Bon Voyage

So, my thoughts on the finale. In short, it was okay, but probably could have been better.

There were a lot of good things, and overall I was left with a comfortable feeling after it ended, although I'm still sad, mad, and peeved that we didn't get more time to wrap things up, after wasting half the season on the mess with Christopher. Rory has a job, although it's a job I can see someone getting right out of college. If she'd been working for the Post or Times, it would have been pretty unrealistic. Lorelai and Luke are on the road to being back together. Friday Night Dinners will continue, and life in Stars Hollow will go on. But it felt a bit rushed, since the Lorelai/Christopher divorce wasn't really dealt with.

(And honestly, the Lorelai/Christopher stuff would have made more sense if it had happened during the Luke/Lorelai breakup that happened after Emily & Richard's vow renewal. They were really broken up then, and I'm not sure the bump after Lorelai's freak-out ultimatum would have ended with a break-up, had she not ran off immediately to sleep with Christopher.)

I can live with that. I just wish that life were continuing on the TV screen, Tuesday nights at 7:00.

So, the lists.

Bad points:

• We never saw Luke giving Lorelai the necklace.
  
• Would Christiane Amanpour really give her business card to a kid in her jammies?
• No mention of April
• No mention of TJ (I realize TJ is an acquired taste, but mentioning him would be nice.)
• Taylor's slightly-nauseating speech at Rory's party

Good points:

• The Kiss wasn't the last scene. The CW has had a bad bad habit of using the last two minutes of the next show as the promo shown after this episode.
  
• Rory didn't get a magical job with C. Amanpour
• I think all the townfolk were seen, if not heard, including Gypsy and Morey. Not sure about Andrew or the Troubadour, though.
• Rory & Lorelai finally discussed their situations re: Luke & Logan
• More wisdom from Liz, who may be a flake, but she's not an idiot. Luke should listen to her more.
• Doula made an appearance (and yes, the name is silly, but it's Liz & TJ, so what do you expect?)
• Mutiny at a town meeting!! Yay!! And only six years too late, because someone should have told Taylor to stay home and comb his beard years ago. The fact that Luke has only flung one frying pan at Taylor is a testament to Luke's restraint, especially considering Taylor's role in the crashing of Luke's Diner last year.
• Richard and Emily came to the party, and Richard actually complimented Lorelai. Emily was still prickly, but then we find out that she wants to continue seeing Lorelai. Yes, some people may say it was out of character for Richard to say what he did, but I can live with it. It's about time this family started working on some of their relationship issues.
• Morey sandwich!

The last scenes made me cry. Ending with Luke, Lorelai, and Rory in the diner seems like a good choice. But I'm with Lorelai, I feel ambushed. I was so hoping for another half-season to get everything worked out so it wouldn't feel so rushed.