Surfing Thru "Gilmore Girls"

Satisfying and yet annoying. Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel clearly poured their heart and souls into this season finale (which almost counts as a series finale since they won't be back). And they delivered a solid, well-written, well-acted, well-directed show. So why the hell has the series been so spotty and even lackluster the last two years? Nice openers and closers, nice bit of whimsy (the crush of street musicians) that was kept properly in the background as just light filler rather than being a major storyline the way they've been indulging themselves. One off moment: Emily Gilmore saying Christopher and the woman she hoped to set him up with looked like a shampoo ad. Huh? And Emily should be a little more subtle. She's not a fool. Rory's scene with Logan's dad was also very good. Instead of being a cartoonish villain who won't even visit his potentially dying son in the hospital, he's very reasonable and direct. (Making Rory -- who's been a pill -- look more like a fool than ever.) And if these plot twists were GENUINE plot twists, I'd be very satisfied indeed. But they're not genuine plot twists: they're just artificial stumbling blocks until the show ends right where we know they expect it to end -- with Luke and Lorelai together. Rory is almost unrecognizable -- bitching to Logan's father instead of just being polite and moving on. Is she really angry that Logan's family expects to spend time with him on his college graduation day and the night before he leaves for London? That's absurd. She chose not to be with them (understandably) but then waiting for him is the price you pay. And why is this smart, witty, independent girl behaving like a floozie -- she's part of Logan's empty world instead of helping him escape it, which is what he always wanted. She hangs out with his friends, drinks a lot, and throws a big dumb party hours before he goes away instead of arranging to spend every minute with him alone? Dressed up in a costume, inviting tons of people you barely know, drinking away -- this is Rory? Nice final teary scene, though.

And frankly, I wish in a way Luke and Lorelai would break up. Nothing that happened made sense. Lorelai opens her heart to Luke and he keeps saying he has to think about his daughter. How could he possibly think marrying the woman he was DYING to be with would harm or interfere with his relationship with his daughter. In fact, a week or two ago we saw his daughter get along great with Lorelai -- as Luke knew they would. It simply makes no sense he would somehow twist his daughter into a stumbling block in their relationship. It never has. And he LOVES Lorelai. He spent years doing anything and everything to be with her. Still, if they really broke up, I'd be fine. But Lorelai immediately goes to Chris and our final shot is of her in his bed but miserable. Clearly we're not supposed to think she's where she belongs which means they're just biding time until Luke and Lorelai get together for real.