Research- GILMORE GIRLS

TV Drama- Gilmore Girls (Season 1,Episode 15)

Plot Synopsis

Rory, the 16 year protagonist excites herself with the fact that her Dad is in town, for the first time since she was born. Nervous yet ambitious, Rory asks her mum, Lorelai, several questions and positive observations about the prospect of her Dad sticking around. Emily on the other hand warns Rory of the nature of Dad, telling her “He will come and go as He pleases’’. As Rory’s Dad enters the room, both Rory and the audience are drawn in by His light-hearted disposition. Rory, leaves the scene leaving her Mother and Father alone to talk. It is implicit yet obvious Rory is trying to play match maker, and reunite her family.  Christopher, Rory Dad try’s to win Lorelai’s trust by telling her that he has sorted his life out, yet Lorelai is slow to believe his sincerity. 

Christopher decides he wants the chance to get closer to his daughter. Rory walks in and asks Christopher if he will go to a softball game with her, she has obviously been eavesdropping in her parents’ previous conversation. As conversation continues to flow freely between ex partners Christopher and Lorelai we see them soften towards each other.

 At the softball match, Rory introduces Christopher to her boyfriend Dean. 

Lorelai enters a diner cafe kitchen where she works and discusses her relations with Christopher revealing that she doesn’t know how she feels about Him but then later admits she still fall for his smile. 

Rory introduces her father to relations and aquatints around town, many who admit to know a lot about Him already claiming that word spreads fast, in the small town of Stars Hollow. Two quirky men in a book store poke, prod and examine Christopher, embarrassing Rory.  Christopher insists on buying Rory a book, stating she needed something to remember His visit by. His card declines signifying his cash is limited, and awkward silence settles. Rory and her Dad bump into strangers gossiping about his apparent ‘wealth’ which increases the awkward tension. 

Christopher and Rory meet Lorelai in a cafe. Christopher picks up his phone and speaks to Lorelai’s mum who has planned a dinner with Christopher’s parents who coincidentally are also in town. Lorelai’s mum is clearly playing matchmaker between Rory's parents (ex-partners), calling the planned dinner a ‘wonderful reunion’.  

 At the reunion,hosted at Lorelai’s parents’ house, Rory’s parents, Lorelai and Christopher both complain about having to see their own parents, setting a terrible example for Rory. Rory admits she feels weird/nervous about meeting Christopher’s parents, (her grandparents) that she has never met. This is particularly obvious when she offers hem a very awkward curtsy. Christopher’s parents prove to be extremely stern, pious and posh, which is uneasy for Rory to adjust to, as she is used to her mums’ parents joking and at ease. Christopher’s parents pick out Lorelai’s faults such as not attending university, and blame her for ‘dragging Christopher along with her in her foolishness’.  Rory is dismissed from the adult conversation as conflict arises. The conflict accelerates and ends up physical between Rory’s two Grandparents.

Lorelai thanks her dad for defending her and aims to reconcile their relationship. This backfires and he voices his anger and frustration of her disgrace, still clearly disappointed in her. 

Lorelai’s mum confronts Rory who is alone and discouraged from the conflict, she tells Rory that despite all the disappointments, her existence has never been one of them. 

Rory’s parents joke on the conflict that occurred and share a moment of connection on the balcony, reminiscing about their previous history on that same balcony. They share a passionate kiss, then drive home with Rory who can tell something had happened between them.

 Rory blames herself for the night’s antics, claiming her grandparents don’t even want to know her, due to her mums' young a foolish pregnancy. Her mum tries to convince her otherwise, stating that it’s their loss, not wanting a relationship with her.

 Lorelai, jumps out of bed the next morning forgetting an important date, arriving to apologize in her PJ’s. To make matters worse, she comes home to her ex-husband, Christopher, spontaneously asking her to marry her, which gets her worked up even more. Lorelai tells Christopher he’s not responsible enough. 

Christopher admits he finds it hard seeing Rory, so Lorelai softens and tells him that Rory needs a Dad and that He should visit more often. 

Rory, always the matchmaker, makes her mum admit that she still loves Christopher, and is disappointed after finding out she had declined his marriage proposal. Lorelai just asks Rory to trust her.

Content Analysis

Serious social issues- 10%

                                       - Grandparents’ different social class/ status and who they each respectively treated the protagonist Rory

Everyday aspects of teenage life- 10%

                                       - Rory feels alone and discourage, laying blame on herself

                                       - Rory attends a sport game with her dad, as well as wanders through town

Teenage Relationships- 80%

                                       - The majority of this episode focuses on Rory’s family relationships

                                       - Rory plays matchmaker between her parents and bonds with both of them easily                       

                                       - Rory tries to win the respect of her Dad’s grandparents

 Relevance to My life

The age of the protagonist Rory is mentioned in the beginning of the episode (16), and that alone helps me to connect with her as a character. Knowing that she is the same age as me, and has had the same amount of life experience, helps me to understand her character better and sympathize with he as she faces challenges. For example, when conflict arises between Rory’s extended family at dinner, she is clearly affected by the tension and lack of peace between family members. This is something I can definitely relate to, being a, anti-conflict kind of person. Another parallel I have to Rory’s situation, is her strong, trusting, light-hearted relationship with her with her mum, and the blessing this relationship is to her. 

Rory has a broken, disconnected family which I cannot relate to. However, I recognize this disrupted family dynamic is a prevailing issue in the lives of many teens in my generation and this plot is definitely relateable to an exponential number of teens in this day and age.  

Rory’s exposure to gossiping acquaintances, and the problem of ‘word spreading fast’ is also another key issue which I am appreciative of not experiencing much of. Coming from a network of uplifting and supportive people, I have witnessed a minimal amount of this negative, or in Rory’s case, obsessive talk, that I understand much of society struggles with.

 Rory struggles in one particular scene with feeling upset and discontented. I can relate minimally, yet still definitely, to these emotions, which are at least, a small part of everyone’s lives to some extent. For example, receiving a bad test result, can leave me feeling discouraged, however the beauty of this is that I can then sympathize with others, in this case Rory, when she/ they feel the same.