6.09 - The Prodigal Daughter Returns

[lex_gilmore_fan]

Hi, just finished watching Gilmore Girls. Ok, I say this a lot, but this is one of the greatest episodes! I felt so bad for Emily. She was just trying to help and then Rory left. It must have been so hard. I'm so  ecstatic Rory and Lorelai are back together! I wonder how Luke will tell Lorelai about his daughter. I hope it doesn't ruin there wedding. Well, that's all, bye.  

[lmb0507]

I hate to say it, but I liked the way Rory acted in the newspaper office.  I would never do that in the real world, or encourage anyone else to do so.  I think that a lightbulb went off in her head and told her she needed to stop sitting there feeling sorry for herself.  I also feel that maybe she was trying to prove herself, not only to Mitchum, but everyone else that she's let down recently.  This and the reconcilliation with Lorelai are the only things that really gave this episode a sense of normalcy.  This ridiculous story line with Luke and April has got to go!!!

[nikki]

Ok, now I've started focussing on the Rory/G-rents relationship now.

What now?  Are they still paying for Yale?  If so, is she still going to go there on Fridays?  She left in such a way that it seemed like she was cutting ties with them, burning that bridge.  But if she still has to go to dinners....  I'm confused.

While I totally understand Rory's flip out at Emily both in this episode and in the last, I still have a problem with her behavior.  Yes, Emily is controlling as all get out.  But she still provided her with a place to stay while she was having her quarter life crisis.  Yes, Emily attached a lot of obligations to that provision, but still (by the way, Rory, you made your bed so sleep in it).  Rory was having a break down and they took her in (even though I think it was wrong of them).  She shouldn't treat that like trash.

Here's what I'm hoping.  I'm hoping that Rory at least expresses her gratitude to Richard even if she can't bring herself to expressing it to Emily.  I'm hoping that at some point she apologizes to Emily and says something to the effect of "I'm sorry I blew up at you.  Even though I am 21, you were putting me up in your home and I should have respected your rules no matter how frustrating they were.  I realized that I either had to abide by your rules or not be obligated to them (i.e. move out).  So I chose to move out.  I'm sorry I moved out in the sneaky fashion that I did, but I was upset and wasn't ready to deal with another face off."

Well, we'll see.

[Dani257]

I hate to say it, but I liked the way Rory acted in the newspaper office.  I would never do that in the real world, or encourage anyone else to do so.  I think that a lightbulb went off in her head and told her she needed to stop sitting there feeling sorry for herself.  

But, she wasn't sitting around feeling sorry for herself.  When I saw that she was sending out resumes, that she had apparently called the editor and asked for a reference, rather than him calling her for no reason to tell her how good she was and making her go out to try and get a job based on someone patting her on the back, I was relieved.  I was thinking it was great that she showed some backbone.  There was no need for her to become a stalker to prove anything.  They can't have anything realistic for Rory, can they?  The important thing wasn't for her to get a job, it was for her to go out looking for one.  It was for her to realize she based her entire decision on "You don't got it" (instead of the actual reason he said she didn't have it) and rolled over.  The scene at Lane's was enough.

[Shania]

I liked this episode. rory and lorelai finally back together made me happy and wishing more than ever that lorelai was my mother.

i felt bad for emily but i would have thought that she'd have learned to be less controling by now.
i didn't like rory leaving her friends at her grandparents house to get the rest of her things.
that seemed wrong.

i don't like luke having a daughter. hopefully we won't be seeing to much of her.

[~~BubbleTea~~]

Hi, just finished watching Gilmore Girls. Ok, I say this a lot, but this is one of the greatest episodes! I felt so bad for Emily. She was just trying to help and then Rory left. It must have been so hard. I'm so  ecstatic Rory and Lorelai are back together! I wonder how Luke will tell Lorelai about his daughter. I hope it doesn't ruin there wedding. Well, that's all, bye.  

Yup, I was a bit lost too. I don't know if it happened with others too, but I felt like there was a link missing between last week's and tonight's episode. There was this missing part as to how Rory and Lorelai suddenly got to talk together just like that on the phone. Maybe ASP wanted to show that even though these two were "fighting", they were always always each other's best friend.

A quick word on my favorite moment of tonight's episode. It's the scene between Lorelai and Emily in the plane. I think we're really shown how Emily has been feeling lonely all these years but has never told anyone. We also see how Emily feels like she failed twice to try and raise a kid (recall from last eppy when Lorelai said "I'm a bad mother"). The most touching line came when Lorelai said "you've never lost me". That was just a brilliant way of letting Lorelai express her feelings towards her mother (cuz we know, given the usual conversation Lorelai and Emily have, Lorelai would have never said I care about you a lot mom).

Overall, I think it was a great episode. Can't wait to see the next episode to find out more about Luke's daughter (!).

[Erin]

Ok, now I've started focussing on the Rory/G-rents relationship now.

What now?  Are they still paying for Yale?  If so, is she still going to go there on Fridays?  She left in such a way that it seemed like she was cutting ties with them, burning that bridge.  But if she still has to go to dinners....  I'm confused.

While I totally understand Rory's flip out at Emily both in this episode and in the last, I still have a problem with her behavior.  Yes, Emily is controlling as all get out.  But she still provided her with a place to stay while she was having her quarter life crisis.  Yes, Emily attached a lot of obligations to that provision, but still (by the way, Rory, you made your bed so sleep in it).  Rory was having a break down and they took her in (even though I think it was wrong of them).  She shouldn't treat that like trash.

Here's what I'm hoping.  I'm hoping that Rory at least expresses her gratitude to Richard even if she can't bring herself to expressing it to Emily.  I'm hoping that at some point she apologizes to Emily and says something to the effect of "I'm sorry I blew up at you.  Even though I am 21, you were putting me up in your home and I should have respected your rules no matter how frustrating they were.  I realized that I either had to abide by your rules or not be obligated to them (i.e. move out).  So I chose to move out.  I'm sorry I moved out in the sneaky fashion that I did, but I was upset and wasn't ready to deal with another face off."

Well, we'll see.

Hmm, well, maybe we'll get some answers about the grandparents/Yale thing next week.  I too hope that Rory explains herself and apologizes, especially to poor Richard, who was completely out of the loop in this episode.  And I agree that while Emily was way too controlling, Rory asked for it by going to live with them.  

You know what I just realized?  Logan was nowhere in this episode.  Things between them didn't exactly end well in the last episode, so are we supposed to assume they're broken up, or that he's on another business trip or what?  Did I miss an explanation of his absence?  And did Paul Anka just miraculously recover from his illness?  Can we get a little continuity, please?

[lmb0507]

But, she wasn't sitting around feeling sorry for herself.  When I saw that she was sending out resumes, that she had apparently called the editor and asked for a reference, rather than him calling her for no reason to tell her how good she was and making her go out to try and get a job based on someone patting her on the back, I was relieved.  I was thinking it was great that she showed some backbone.  There was no need for her to become a stalker to prove anything.  They can't have anything realistic for Rory, can they?  The important thing wasn't for her to get a job, it was for her to go out looking for one.  It was for her to realize she based her entire decision on "You don't got it" (instead of the actual reason he said she didn't have it) and rolled over.  The scene at Lane's was enough.

Maybe she wasn't feeling sorry for herself in this episode, but she has been in others recently.  For instance at the DAR function she threw where she tells Paris she can't face Mitchum.  I definitely think that Rory's life is far from realistic.  I know it's completely unethical the way she behaved in the newspaper office, but I feel that's the way her character is written.  I agree that the important thing was for Rory to start looking for a job.  However, I feel that by her actually getting one it showed us that the old Rory is coming back.  The old Rory would take charge and get things done.  

[GG Lover]

Loved this episode! I even cried (tears of joy of course) when Rory and Lorelai reconciled. I LOVED Rory's attitude in this episode! She was so determined to get that job. I love how she called him "boss" and everything. It was like the old Rory was back...with even more confidence. i'm just so glad she's back.  
As for April (Luke's daughter) - I like her. I think that Luke and her would really hit it off. I even think that she and Lorelai would get together really well. Even if Luke was nervous to tell Lorelai, i don't see why becuase i think that she would actually be happy with the news. Hey...maybe her and Luke could raise her, although she probably already has parents. When Lorelai and Emily were in the plane and Emily said that she lost rory and her...i was really hoping that before Lorelai left that she would say, "You didn't lose me". I'm glad she did.
With the whole honesety thing I was really wishing that Lorelai would tell Luke about the pregnancy scare. Oh well...maybe she will later.

[Dani257]

i felt bad for emily but i would have thought that she'd have learned to be less controling by now.
i didn't like rory leaving her friends at her grandparents house to get the rest of her things.
that seemed wrong.

Now, see, this Emily I can take.  Yes, she had been too controlling, but I can understand that she was afraid that she would lose Rory, so she held on even tighter.  Because she never really got past the hurt of Lorelai running away to find out why Lorelai ran away, the only thing she knows to prevent Rory (who she really saw as a do-over for Lorelai) from doing the same thing was act just the way she had acted before.  It's wrong, but it's human.  It stems out of an understandable emotion.  Contrast it with her behavior towards Luke, and even some of her cruel comments to Lorelai throughout the series.  I can feel sorry for Emily here.

And, preach it,  nikki, about Rory's behavior to Emily.  Isn't Rory supposed to be the mature one?  That's been one of the ungoing themes of the series.  A mother and daughter, 16 years apart, where the daughter acts more mature than the mother.  Well, wouldn't the mature thing have been for Rory to tell Emily and Richard that she was leaving, thank them for putting her up, and say she realizes that she isn't doing herself any good by living off of them?  She already had her confrontation about Emily's control issues last week.  She didn't have to roll over, but she could have been more mature about how she left.

[lmb0507]

i felt bad for emily but i would have thought that she'd have learned to be less controling by now.
i didn't like rory leaving her friends at her grandparents house to get the rest of her things.
that seemed wrong.

Rory is acting childish, I didn't like that she did that to her grandparents either.  She'll probably (Hopefully) come to her senses and apologize, like she always does.  Rory usually ends up recognizing that she treated them wrong and and takes the first step to make amends.  If it were Lorelai in her situation she probably wouldn't apologize until Rory convinced her she should or Emily coaxed it out of her.

[GiGi]

I was so excited to watch tonights episode...i was agonizing forever till the end when everthing seemed to happen...April (Luke's 'daughter') seems like a wonderful addition to the cast...i'm not worried about Christopher ruining Luke and Lorelai, he no longer has that power between them...i think Luke is better than that....I feel really good about things to come...though i worry because Lorelai over reacted to Luke moving in with Nicole and not telling her...how will she handle a child?...according to AS-P you gotta shake up the storyline a little bit to make it interesting and keep them coming back....i'm looking forward to seeing Lorelai and Rory together for an entire episode!!! 


It's about time GILMORE GIRLS!!!so happy to have you home RORY!!

[Dani257]

Maybe she wasn't feeling sorry for herself in this episode, but she has been in others recently.  For instance at the DAR function she threw where she tells Paris she can't face Mitchum.  I definitely think that Rory's life is far from realistic.  I know it's completely unethical the way she behaved in the newspaper office, but I feel that's the way her character is written.  I agree that the important thing was for Rory to start looking for a job.  However, I feel that by her actually getting one it showed us that the old Rory is coming back.  The old Rory would take charge and get things done.  

Again, the scene at Lane's accomplished that.  It showed that she was no longer feeling sorry for herself.  And, the way she's written is the reason that Rory aggravates me to no end.  The way the character is written is wrong.  It's some fairy tale princess thing, because Rory can't fail.  And, the old Rory would not hound a man like a psycho.  That's the trouble.  It's an ungoing thing with the writers and Rory.  Rory isn't back because she's at Yale.  She's not back because she got a job.  She's back because she began the process.  It's like they need to show everything working right for her.  How about showing Rory still struggling to get a job, but not giving up?  Let that go on for a few episodes.  The world won't end if everything doesn't go Rory's way right away.  Let her get a job swiping cards at Yale again, and show her still sending out those resumes, because she won't give up.  They want to save something to the end of an episode?  Let them show Rory receiving a phone call at the end of an episode from the editor of a paper, asking to speak to Rory Gilmore.  We could see her actually working at something, pounding the pavement, and know that getting her foot in the door came through lots of trial and error.  Not sticking her foot along with the rest of her at a poor editor so he had to give her a job, because he was afraid she'd boil his rabbit.  (Fatal Attraction reference)

Last week, Rory said everything was handed to Logan.  Maybe, but the writers hand everything to Rory.

Posted by: lmb0507

If it were Lorelai in her situation she probably wouldn't apologize until Rory convinced her she should or Emily coaxed it out of her.

Oh, woah.  Many's the time when Lorelai has apologized.  I doubt Rory will apologize, because this won't be presented like Rory has done anything wrong.  Big bad Emily (and I'm no fan of Emily) was too controlling to poor widdle Wowy, so why should the golden kid apologize? 

[~~Eternity~~]

The episode was great as many of you have already said so! Us fans have been waiting for sooo long, mother and daughter are finally back together again!!! In my opinion though, this episode still comes a bit short of the previous week's eppy.

I would have thought that bringing Rory and Lorelai back again would be a turning point.. It should have been much more touching and not just done in one phone call in the last 5 minutes of the episode. I mean after so many months apart where they haven't spoken to each other, I kinda think it's just jumping from one state to another without any link in between. It would have been much more emotional for us audiences I think if ASP has developped this a bit more.  

There was more time spent on Luke's daughter than on that scene...that's my only disappointment. It was also very comforting to see Rory asking for the newspaper job, I really felt like it was the good old Rory again. The one who always knew what she was working for and who would give it her all to have what she wanted!

[lmb0507]

Again, the scene at Lane's accomplished that.  It showed that she was no longer feeling sorry for herself.  And, the way she's written is the reason that Rory aggravates me to no end.  The way the character is written is wrong.  It's some fairy tale princess thing, because Rory can't fail.  And, the old Rory would not hound a man like a psycho.  That's the trouble.  It's an ungoing thing with the writers and Rory.  

I see your point that the scene at Lane's would have been plenty.  I also agree that her character isn't written all that well.  It used to be that Rory did have to work for things and now she does get a lot handed to her.  The fairy tale princess thing has gotten out of hand.  I'm hoping that now that she's out of the elder Gilmore's home and getting back on the right track that she'll come back down to earth.  

I also think ASP is having writer's block, because I felt that most of the episodes this season didn't feel right.  It's perfectly normal for a show to have an "off season" or a lull.