Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

I'd quite been looking forward to this Netflix reunion show. I spent a good chunk of the first trimester of my pregnancy binge-watching Gilmore Girls when it came on Netflix. I'd watched most of the series before, but in bits and pieces on broadcast TV and mostly out of order, so it was nice to watch again while also getting a different perspective on things by seeing episodes in the correct order.

It was nice to see the characters again, to revisit old places, but structurally this was super odd. The usual tone and the whimsy are there and many of the emotions feel real, but it's all kind of hanging in space, and feels disconnected. So many plot lines are introduced then abandoned with limited impact. I suppose it could be the concept, the title makes it sound like a slice of life idea and I think that is part of what's at play here. In real life there's plenty of randomness, but we usually don't want that from our fiction, events progressing and flowing together is more satisfying. The changed format adds to this instead of 6 hour(ish) episodes there are 4 90-minute ones and I think that almost left too much space per episode. There's a lot of lingering shots on the sets and scenery, and a lot of scenes that don't lead to anything or are just gags. Various new characters are introduced, but we aren't really encouraged to get to know them and many are there for comedic value only, even when it looks like they will be significant or stick around. A lot of old characters appear, there are Stars Hollow regulars, all of Rory's exes and some of her friends. None of these characters are given much of substance to do except for Luke, and perhaps Logan in a small way. Everyone else just shows up, is a bit zany or whatever, and leaves relatively little impact. Paris is going through some stuff has, children that we aren't supposed to care about (did Rory even look at those kids more than once when she was babysitting them?) and is given a scene where she literally regresses to her teenage-self for no reason before disappearing.*

I was glad to see Sookie, though there was far too little of her. It really did feel like Sookie though and not just Melissa McCarthy doing the part (I've seen a lot more of her work since she became a biog film star). It was nice to see Alex Kingston, and she was funny first, but her plot never went anywhere, so that seemed like a bit of a waste. The Star Hollows Musical was funny, but ultimately pointless and seemed out of character for Taylor. It's good to see Lane again, but boy she is given very little to do. Also her life doesn;t seem to move on at all, she and her husband and their twins (who must be 8 or 10 or something) are still living in the shared flat with Brian. Is Brian in their relationship now? That would've been interesting, but the show isn't really bothered about these characters anymore. Michel has a husband -nice of them to finally confirm that the character isn;t straight- but we never get to see him and I'm curious.


Oy with the Spoilers Already

Although I enjoyed watching the comeback, I found that the main characters didn't seem to have progressed much and that mostly made me sad for them.
Luke and Lorelei didn't get married or have kids, which seemed to be where they were heading when the main show ended. They've been in a relationship and happily living together for 8 years (10 years?), which is fine and don't get why the show took so many pot shots at the idea of being in a relationship without marriage, loads of people do it and are very happy. The problem with Luke and Lorelei is that they just seem to have drifted aimlessly along together and have not once in a decade discussed their desires or relationship/family goals. The issue in the main show was often lack of communication, and it seemed in the last series they were getting over that, Luke admitted he used April as a way of driving Lorelei away. Lorelei realised she wanted Luke not Christopher, despite all the pressure to be with Christopher. So why, after they'd finally come together again, did they apparently never have another meaningful conversation? Luke is restrained and tight-lipped, but he does get in touch with and express his emotions when it counts, as proved when he asked Lorelei out to begin with, so why has he been unable to tell her he wanted kids until it was clearly too late? I just found myself judging them for being so uncommunicative.kn It's a similar issue with in Inn nand who even knows what the deal is between Lorelei and Sookie (I get that Melissa McCarthy was probably busy, but this seemed an odd way of dealing with that). The happy ending is nice, but even at his own wedding Luke takes a backseat to the titular girls.

Rory, who was always supposed to be bright and promising -although these expectations seemed to come entirely from people who had loved her since she was a child- has apparently wasted her potential. I get that she's meant to be a bit aimless, but honestly it seemed like she really had no plan or even much idea how to do her job. She'd clearly done a few impressive things, but her behaviour seemed a bit unprofessional or at least pretty lacklustre. I know little of journalism myself, but it seems like Rory was just flying about and not really doing much to advance her career. While she clearly had goals and aspirations she didn't seem to be putting in a lot of work, or planning for if her immediate goals/current projects didn't go through. The impression I get from the freelancers of my acquaintance is that you have to be willing to hussle and display a lot of tenacity and flexibility. Of course Rory doesn't really have to worry about it really as she has rich relatives and friends, and even not-very-wealthy friends, who will put her up and help her out. I guess if Rory's situation seemed to be a comment on precarious living styles, or quarter-life crisis, or millennial issues it would be more interesting, but it doesn't feel like any wider point is being made, Rory's just gadding about. I think she's supposed to be falling apart a bit, but I don't get why.

Then there's Emily, Emily's story gives me hope. Of course patriarch Richard Gilmore would be deceased as Edward Herrman -the actor who played him- had passed away. Emily is a widow and her life is full of grief and emptiness, the main show explored very deftly how Emily's entire life had been devoted to being a society wife. Like the other two main characters Emily goes through phases of action, reaction and freaking out in her own way -her calling out her friends' bullshit is priceless- and it all has so much more weight when she's grieving the loss of her husband, as opposed to just feeling aimless in her life. In the end Emily makes the most progress, though sadly much of it happens off screen. After firing maid after maid for not meeting perfection Emily ends up with a woman she can barely understand** looking after her and introducing a massive extended family to the house. Although Emily doesn't seem warm to the family it's clear that just being surrounded by people and children is good for her, especially when she didn't have much of that carefree joy in her own family. In the end she has found a new partner and relocated to a new home for a fresh start. Seeing her joy at giving a gory talk about whaling at a museum is wonderful and so uplifting. Bravo Emily!


* In a bit-part a briefly recurring character from the one of the middle seasons asks if she's walked into 2003, the answer is yes, but no one ever explains why, nor does it ultimately matter in the slightest.

** I think that whole joke is kinda problematic, because it seems to be all about a funny foreigner that no one can understand. Lack of understanding and a patronising attitude was expected when it's just Emily or the other main characters, but frankly the gag goes on too long. Hahaha, these people are so incomprehensible even someone from the UN can't tell what language they speak. Crazy foreigners with their manual labour and vast numbers of kids.

Ensign Ro

Episode: s5, ep 3

The Bajorans are introduced and though they make far more sense than that Trill guy a while back I still have questions.

What Happens
After a visit to the ship's garrulous barber Picard is called to the Bridge. There's a distress call from a Federation colony near the Cardassian border, when they get there an audio message claims Bajoran responsibility for the destruction of the colony, they will attack more until they get their homeland back. Survivors (who we don't see) are taken to a star base and Picard meets with Admiral Sneezy (he got a Cardassian virus from a delegate at a function), who orders the Enterprise to find the leader of the Bajoran splinter group who destroyed the colony and take him and his people to the refugee camps. We learn that the Bajorans' home planet has been occupied by the Cardassians for 40 years; they are mostly refugees and aren't liked much. The Admiral says Picard can tell the Bajorans that now the Federation is allied with Cardassia they'll quietly pressure their allies to be less brutal. The Admiral has also arranged for the notorious Ensign Ro to come on the Enterprise, she was court-martialed and has a Bad Attitude, but she's Bajoran and the Admiral insists. No one is happy about this.
After a staff meeting where Ro is fatalistic and surly, Picard accompanies her to a Bajoran camp to meet a community leader. The camp leader doesn't condone the violence against the Federation, but he's also reluctant to help as Star Fleet has never helped them before. In 10 Forward Ro keeps people away with grumpiness, but Guinan talks to her and decides they will be friends, then Ro gets a private call from the Admiral. Later the Enterprise has presumably tracked the splinter group leader to a planet. An away team waits for Ro only to find she beamed down hours before. They follow her and are captured by Bajorans, the leader has been talking to Ro and says they didn't destroy the Federation colony. On the Enterprise Picard tells Ro off for beaming down alone and confines her to quarters.
Guinan comes to see Ro, who is annoyed and confused and doesn't know who to trust. Guinan says she can trust Picard and takes Ro to see him. Ro tells Picard that the Admiral gave her a secret mission to negotiate with the Bajoran leader and offer weapons and support against the Cardassians. It's against what the Federation stands for, but Ro felt she had to help her people. When she was told that Bajorans didn't destroy the colony she didn't know who to trust. Picard takes this seriously and asks if she can get the Bajoran leader to help find out more.
The Enterprise escorts a slow Bajoran ship to the camps. At the Cardassian border two ships appear and the Cardassians insist the terrorist ship is handed over to them. Picard refuses even though the Admiral said maintaining the Cardassian treaty was important. When the Admiral directly orders the Enterprise to withdraw the Cardassians destroy the Bajoran ship, but Picard reveals to Admiral that no one was harmed as ship was remote controlled, Ro's idea. He points out the Bajorans couldn't have attacked the colony as they don't have the resources or  ships and the Cardassians did it to trick the Admiral and use Star Fleet to resolve their terrorist problem.

Oh Captain My Captain
I'm not surprised to see that Picard is the kind of person who dislikes ideal chatter but feels like he awkwardly has to put up with it when someone is giving him a haircut. The barber fits various hairdresser stereotypes except for how he is blue and uses an ear laser.
Picard is concerned by the Enterprise being sent on the Bajoran mission and suggests that diplomacy would be better, which is odd really as the Enterprise does diplomatic missions a fair bit and Picard has a history of going to negotiations. Isn't he a kind of diplomat? Picard feels bad about the plight of the Bajorans, but it's clearly not something he's given much thought to as it's outside his experience. After visiting the refugee camp Picard offers aid to the residents, it's something he can do so easily. It is only through listening to Ro's experiences that he -and the viewers- come to understand the awful position Bajorans are in.
He gets angry when Ensign Ro is assigned to his crew without his knowledge, it's obviously not done in general and so it's especially bad when the officer in question has a dodgy record. As with every other Star Fleet officer (except maybe Crusher and Troi, who knows) Picard judges Ro by her reputation and service record. There's definite snobbery around the fact that this is the flagship and they have standards. Picard is right to punish Ro for the botched away mission, though we don't see him play headmaster that much. Once Picard has been encouraged to give Ro a chance he sees her value and gives her due credit for her plan. He even offers that she can stay on the Enterprise seeing the benefit of a crew member with a different outlook.

Riker: adventurer, lover, middle-management
As is often the case Riker is on same wavelength as Picard, also angry that they've been saddled with a dubious officer. Riker loves the ship so much he keeps turning down promotions in order to stay (not explicitly stated, but only thing that makes sense, especially as we know he's put career before love in the past), so he's really offended by someone who doesn't want to be there. He's obviously decided he's going to make things hard on Ro from the start. Probably lucky for her that she doesn't have to do any paperwork in the episode.

Guinan's Hat: purple then dark blue
As the only non-Star Fleet main character, and all around awesome person, Guinan is curious about Ro. Geordi bitches about how unworthy Ro is to wear the uniform, so Guinan leaves him mid-conversation to get to know Ro. While she does impose her company on Ro against her stated wishes Guinan is observant enough to see that the new Ensign might want a way out of her isolation. She talks candidly with Ro about herself as she does with everyone else, and asks without judgement about the incident that everyone else is whispering about. She ready to listen to Ro's side of things even if no one else is (with possible exception of Crusher and Troi). Guinan decides they'll be friends and mostly bemuses Ro. Later when Guinan leaves 10 Forward to see Ro we're reminded that both come from refugee backgrounds, it's not a major point but it's there and important. Guinan tells Ro she can trust Picard and alludes to their mysterious background, Picard got her out of trouble in the past. By bringing Ro to Picard and vouching for each to the other Guinan creates a sense of trust and safety that allows Ro to talk and Picard to listen.


Girl Talk
As Crusher and Troi were approaching Ro I felt hopeful that there might be a decent conversation between female characters. They ask to sit with Ro, showing they aren't judging her as the male senior staff are. Ro's immediate dismissal of them shows how surly she is and makes Guinan's persistence all the more impressive. Thank goodness for Guinan (that conversation is Bechdel-Wallace passing), but it feels (again -Redemption 2-) like the main female characters are barely allowed in an episode. They literally ask to be included but are immediately sent away (it's like writers don't know what to do with Crusher and Troi if they aren't needed to be healers/caregivers/sexy/mothers). I am happy with Guinan's role here and Ro is a good character with complex background, but Crusher and Troi are mostly treated like secondary characters.

They're Bajorans, But Not As I Know Them
Another species that seems odd at introduction when you've already got to know them through DS9, like the Trill. Here Bajorans are a refugee population and looked down on by most of the quadrant. There's little sign of a big, scattered Bajoran diaspora in DS9, though I suppose after the occupation most Bajorans might have just gone home, though that seems too big an undertaking to never be mentioned. From everything on DS9 I thought Bajor was a backwater planet that most hadn't heard of, I thought they were isolated, not spread out. Are the camps we see here on Bajor? The planet itself never gets mentioned once. Are the camps in Cardassian space?I get that Bajorans here are meant to be a symbol for groups that have been oppressed, occupied and exiled, but it's not explored very much. It almost seems like it's more about Cardassians being sneaky and Admirals being dodgy.
Ro's name causes friction when Picard gets it wrong, apparently most non-Bajorans don't understand that the family name comes first, and most Bajorans just put up with being called the wrong thing. It's a simple but effective example of cultural insensitivity and unknowing people being inconsiderate while the disadvantaged group puts up with it. Though I think in an interplanetary community there would surely be many names structured all different ways, and family name then personal name is hardly likely to be so odd. Several Earth cultures do the exact same thing, so how hard is it for a human get that right? Plus Picard has studied Bajoran culture so you'd think he would know it already. Also, it's not explicitly stated that Ro's earring is religious wear, but I understand that Bajoran earrings are. Would Riker/the uniform code have made someone remove a turban, a cross, a yarmulke or similar? Though suddenly I realise I've never seen anyone wearing anything like that on the Enterprise. Worf's sash is closest thing I've seen. Perhaps the uniform code really is that strict, which hardly seems supportive of people's cultures and faiths.
The nose wrinkles are kind of different, but it's not as jarring as the first time we saw a Cardassian on this show. People keep saying Bajoran differently to what I'm used to. Firstly the plural I am familiar with is Bajorans, but here people keep saying Bajora. Secondly Picard keeps saying it BaJARan, which may just be his accent, but it sounds odd to me.

Death by Space Misadventure
That Federation colony that was destroyed at the beginning presumably involved massive loss of life, but we see none of it and don't know how many died or how many survived. It's almost like the details don't matter.

The End
Ro asks what will happen to the Admiral, Picard reckons court-martial and Ro jokes about how she was in Star Fleet jail. Picard offers Ro a permanent position in Star Fleet and on the Enterprise, acknowledging her talents. She's relucatnt, certain that she doesn't fit, but Picard praises her defiant attitude and says he's seen it in some of his best officers. She relents, but only if she can wear her earring. They both beam up and I think things are supposed to be all jolly now, which is odd seeing as how nothing's changed for Ro's people and they're chatting in a refugee camp.