What’s Up 2019: Week 43

A crazy week has gone by! Its made blogging very abnormal and made it essentially impossible to get back into the Halloween marathon. Luckily, there’s Toronto After Dark and that was 95% horror and I had angled some horror stuff to go up. Either way, lets see whats up the past week!

READING

• Murder in Montague Falls by Russ Colchamiro, Sawney Hutton & Patrick Thomas

Currently reading: Legends of Exile

Its seems I have been in a phase of multistories in books as Murder in Montague Falls ended and my review goes up next week which was three stories set in this location. The book currently being read is also somewhat like that with a setting and four stories in Legends of Exile. I literally just started it so too early to say too much about it.

PLAYING

• Cube Escape: Case 23 (Review)

Currently playing: Cube Escape: The Mill

I am working on the next Mobile Games Roundup and the second half of Cube Escape series right now. I am a tad stuck with Cube Escape: The Mill, which was one that I had trouble with the first time I played it also. However, I am trying to do these without any help or walkthroughs and just figure it out so definitely get back. Although, I have my eye on the release of Afterparty as its highly considered as the next review podcast for Game Warp. We will see!

WATCHING

Toronto After Dark Short Films

• Ocimokw!! (Go Away!!) (Review)
• Grave Sight (Review)
• Down the Rabbit Hole (Review)
• Hearth (Foyer, Review)
• Barabara-Anne (Review)
• Kakatshat (Review)
• Schism (Review)
• A Noise That Carries (Review)
• Eilid + Damh
• Dead Before Dawn: Convoy (Review)
• Patterns (Review)
• The Changeling (Review)
• The Haunted Swordsman (Review)
• Canadian Shorts After Dark: Imagine A World, Plainsong (Melopee), Moment, Alaska, No One Will Ever Believe You, Best Friends Forever (Review)

Since I was watching all shorts except for one film from the week before that I realized that I forgot to add in, I did banner of my faves. Toronto After Dark has some great short films. The majority are impressive and very fun. Its also very diverse in topics and angles sometimes into sci-fi, even had superheroes plus all kinds of horror. I always appreciate creativity and great cinematography and a lot of these had those elements in spade and some projects that I would hope will expand to some feature films on their great premise.

BINGING

• Gilmore Girls (Season 2, Rewatch) Review
• Fated to Love You (2007, Rewatch)

Currently binging: Soft Memory, When I Grow Up, Relation Ship, Creepshow, Bromance, Super Nova Games 2

When I’m busy with work and overtime, my main focus drops to rewatching stuff so that its more background noise than requiring much of my own focus. Hence why Gilmore Girls has popped by on the radar (not that it really needs a reason for a rewatch other than its pure satisfaction and fun times). I’ve been trying to also go through my unreviewed TV series from the past year and decided to give Fated to Love You a rewatch as well. This viewing has actually brought to continue the Taiwanese series catch-up and went on to start Bromance which I happen to watch on my downtime when all the other series I’m currently watching, airing weekly is out of the way.

Along with that new beginning, I also started up Super Nova Games 2, which is a season 2 for this sports competition done by Tencent for its up and coming talent (singers, idols, actors, hosts, etc.).

That’s it for this What’s Up!
What have you been reading/watching/playing/binging?

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 7, 2007)

And we are in the final season of the normal run of Gilmore Girls! Of course, we still have the Netflix one and that is coming up very soon. I know I say it all the time

Gilmore Girls (Season 7, 2007)

Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Keiko Agena, Scott Patterson, Yanic Truesdale, Kelly Bishop, Melissa McCarthy, Edward Hermann, Sean Gunn, Liza Weil, David Sutcliffe, Todd Lowe, Danny Strong

A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. – IMDB

The final normal season of Gilmore Girls has its good bit of drama as is expected. We ended Season 6 in somewhat of a bad moment with Lorelai making a decision she needed to do for herself but following up with something she pretty much knew she shouldn’t have done. As for Rory, she has to bid her temporary adieu to Logan as he gets shipped off to London to take on his responsibilities as directed by his father. Separation all around with the Gilmore Girls and its not an easy way to get back into Season 7.

Season 7 takes a turn for a mix of good and bad in my opinion. In one way, I think there were events that had to happen and they did. In other ways, we all knew in our minds who we wanted the Gilmore Girls to be with or where we wanted them to go. After seven seasons, we know these ladies well. We love them for their quirk and their relationship and of course all the crazy people they are friends with whether at Yale or in Stars Hollow. And at certain parts, Season 7 felt tedious. Some things overstayed their welcome and it was hard to not be frustrated at how things were going down. As we barreled towards the finale of this series, there was a lot of unfinished business. Luckily, the series did still have a lot of funny moments in between plus a lot of bonding experiences. At the same time, their crazy friends still managed to keep everything exactly the crazy level we loved to watch. Sure, things don’t always go the way we like, but life doesn’t either so its all good. The season ends and all is relatively right in the Gilmore Girls universe and I think that is what truly matters.

With that said, here’s a few highlights of things I liked:

Lorelai and Chris

Look, I’m a fan of Lorelai and Luke all the way. But Lorelai and Chris had to happen eventually. She always ran back to  Chris even if he was the immature choice even in this season that he has suffered one failed marriage and is a father and even is loaded. It doesn’t change the fact that he is just a weak character who runs away from a lot of things instead of trying to work it out or talk it through. I have a love/hate relationship with this pairing to be honest. Its necessary because first loves are hard to get out of our systems as lots of TV series and movies like to do. However, they tried it and Chris Hayden is sweet and there was a decent portion here with a lot of lovely moments with them together but they just couldn’t get through the tough times and be it Chris’s character or that Lorelai jumped into this a little too quick, its hard to deny that it was meant to end eventually.

Lucy and Olivia

Rory had to eventually make some new friends especially since her term was ending as Yale Daily News editor and here we are with Lucy and Olivia who pops up in the moments before that happens. Krysten Ritter pre-Jessica Jones days was quite the opposite character in the stuff she did. I do like her quite a bit and Lucy and Olivia had a lot of the artsy and creative indie vibes going on that added a little different to the show. They were unique and it matched well with  how Rory was unique also. They didn’t have to fit with everyone around them. Of course, Lucy’s character also brings in some of its own ghosts from the past in Rory’s life, aka Marty who is the mystery “Boyfriend” reference until things take a turn for the weird when he pretends to not know her and the secret just gets way out of hand. That arc was pretty good and I think it was meant to perhaps fulfill the love that some people had for Rory and Marty as a couple. I do think that Marty would make a good pair with Rory except he loses out on timing a lot and he feels like the nice and supportive best friend and never worked too hard to establish his feelings for her to start.

Lane and her Pregnancy

My, how everyone has grown up since the first season! It seems the Kim women are known to get pregnant super efficiently. Lane comes back from her honeymoon and realizes she is pregnant and perhaps this is one of those really hilarious stories from this season as she goes from denial and not telling Zach to doubting him and then being scared and fighting her mom for how to raise the child, sorry..children because she’s having twins, then another freakout and of course, the baby shower debacle. The baby shower was probably one of my favorite episodes and moments in this season. It showed the Lorelai Gilmore importance here and the solid friendship between Rory and Lane despite not seeing them together so much. It also worked great to show how dedicated and supportive the town was. Plus, a part of me believes that Mrs. Kim saw a little way to modify her principles towards Lane a little. A love of character development to be seen in that one story throughout the season.

Mia & Emily Gilmore

In terms of wrapping up some relationships back in the first two seasons, the three Gilmore Girls go on a road trip. As expected, it is quite hilarious as they bicker and have their snarky remarks and comments. Emily suddenly ends up being roped into attending Lorelai and Rory’s goal to attend Mia’s wedding. If you don’t remember, Mia was the owner of the Independence Inn and is almost like a second mother/grandmother to them. They owe a lot to her when Lorelai first left home. With that said, Emily has been struggling with feelings towards Mia, feeling perhaps her inadequacy and sadness about the things that she has missed with her daughter and granddaughter. There was a nice reconciliation here where they came to a good understanding about the importance of Emily in Lorelai and Rory’s lives and appreciation for each other.

Paris and Doyle

The odd ball Paris and Doyle are definitely made for each other. Perhaps having some flashback behind the scenes from Paris, she ends up having the opposite of Rory as she approaches the end of university whereas Rory still didn’t have much. For her, she got accepted in everything and then made some decisions about the things she did and didn’t want to give up. Its Paris and she’s all abut business and success so can we really blame her? However, Paris is hard to shake after all the years and what Gilmore Girls season would be complete without some insensitive comment here and there by Paris while still feeling that she somehow does care about Rory and is one of the honest friends and Rory needs in her life.

Rory and Logan

One of the big moments of Season 7 had to be Logan’s proposal to Rory. I mean, for the first part of their season (and the past seasons), we’ve seen Logan in all kinds of behavior from jealousy to stupidity. There’s a lot of moments that I don’t like Logan (not surprising why I’m Team Jess). Sure, Logan has some redeeming moments like dropping everything to be with Rory when her grandfather has a heart attack. Then, he has a way with the grandparents and her father and such, but Logan’s also matured a lot in Season 7 because of work and then all the trouble he has gone through and pulled himself out of in some way or another. Is he worthy of Rory? Probably not but Rory sure seems to love him and well, I have to say that without knowing the revival series on Netflix, I would have agreed with her decision. At that point in time, it seemed that it was the Gilmore Girls trait to be strong and independent and Rory needed to have her path before subjecting herself to someone and following someone else’s plans for her. I guess what Paris says sometimes does stick, right?

 

Rory’s Farewell & Stars Hollow

I honestly don’t talk about Stars Hollow enough in these TV binges and it took this final season to realize that if I didn’t talk about now then well, it would be hard to talk about it in the next one. Rory’s sudden farewell and departure from Stars Hollow definitely made an epic finale for the series in whole. It was a new stage for everyone. Perhaps it was at this time that we truly got to see Stars Hollow and how much this little community took care of each other and rooted for each other no matter how quirky or whacky or weird everyone was and just how much over the 7 seasons, its hard to not love each and everyone of them, long time citizens and new additions of course. What a wonderful way to end the Season 7. Sure, no one got a concrete ending to their future about what happens but do we really need to? I don’t think so. We got everything we needed to feel satisfied and we could give these characters a happily ever after in our minds even if Rory doesn’t choose any of the leading men that have gone through her lives but at least she’s able to finally do the thing she loves the most and leave with such a fond memory.

Overall

Season 7 had its ups and downs. Its not the best of the seven season during normal run season on TV however, it did pack in a lot of great moments, witty dialogue and gave all of its characters some form of conclusion and most importantly, development. It wrapped up the loose ends and even gave us something to think about. Seeing as this ended in 2007, no one knew what to expect. If the series were have ended then, I would have been okay with it. With that said, the Netflix revival mini series was a welcome thought.

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 6, 2006)

To see the TV binge for Gilmore Girls Season 5, check it out HERE.

Its been a long journey getting these TV binges in. I sometimes feel like it just gave me a reason to watching Gilmore Girls over and over and over again. Not that I need a reason to watch it since its so incredibly feel good and fun. After quite the turn of events that ended Season 5, we start Season 6 with a pretty new type of scenario and perhaps it is what the show needs in terms of change, or maybe not.

As always, if you haven’t seen the previous seasons and there will definitely be spoilers, so consider yourselves warned!

Gilmore Girls (Season 6, 2006)

Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Liza Weil, Melissa McCarthy, Yanic Truesdale, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Sean Gunn

Season 6 is a really fun ride. On one hand, the changes here work for the better because we truly see Lorelai and Rory apart and the other aspects of their life grow as they focus on other things in each of their lives. On the other hand, their relationship can also be very frustrating especially because Rory always seems to be this less refined version of Lorelai who doesn’t quite find herself and her individuality. However, it gives her character a lot of development as she questions her path eventually.

This season had a lot packed into it. Luke and Lorelai get ready for their wedding while Lorelai and Rory go through half the season separated. During this time, Lorelai gets a dog while Rory serves her hundreds of hours (literally) of community service while working at the DAR and spying as intel and event organizing as well with her grandmother.

Lorelai and Luke

Talk about a roller coaster ride, right? Lorelai and Luke was in focus the whole season as they go from one obstacle to the next. It seems that they never quite get their break. But then, you could say that its all part of them figuring themselves out and getting their ducks on a row before finally being together, right? In many ways, we got to see how they are at their best and of course, at their worst and how they treat each of these situations.

Paul Anka

Its weird to mention a supporting part like Lorelai’s dog Paul Anka but in the first few seasons, we already knew that Lorelai is not a pet person since she lacks maturity in herself. However, we do see that when she got Paul Anka, just like the quirky name that she chooses for it, he is just as quirky as the Gilmore Girls are and is a perfect fit. Its always a fun time whenever they talk about Paul Anka and just adds on to the awesomeness of the show.

Rory’s Detour

Rory takes a big detour in life and completely changes course from where she wants to go because of one road bump. It is a completely necessary detour because everyone needs to have that at one point or another in their life to realize how the hard times makes you stronger and fight even harder to achieve what you want as it gives you a clearer image of what you want (if that makes any sense). Being away from Lorelai and owning up to her mistakes and seeing what she is capable of doing and what she wants and doesn’t want, its all part of Rory’s character development and this season, there’s a big focus on her character growing up and finding herself in a way. Plus, the part where she comes back and has to embrace the break-up with Logan while going to see the psychologist and see how she just breaks down from everything is hilarious.

Jess’s Cameo

Its no secret at this point if you’ve been following these TV Binges for Gilmore Girls that I love Jess. Its sad to see that his relationship with Rory never got further than it did but he keeps having cameos and thats always a welcome thing in my book. In this season, he gets two cameos which act as something of a wake-up call for Rory in her life choices because Jess knows what she can do and believes in what she can accomplish even when she doubts herself. Even if he is really blunt with his words. But that is the charm of Jess and I’d like to think that we all meet a Jess in our lives who is the person who tells you off when you are doing something dumb or stupid and puts you back into the right path. With that said, its why I love how even without having Jess as a regular but just in cameo and we’ve seen how his character has grown and matured and has turned into a positive influence on Rory’s life.

Lorelai & Emily

Every season of Gilmore Girls has included a ton of great moments with Emily and Lorelai Gilmore as we watch this mother and daughter come back together no matter how different they are. It feels like they’ve never had as much progress as this season as Emily and Richard truly embrace Lorelai’s choice and realize that Lorelai does know best in some situations. It does help that this season included so many situation and rifts that truly pulled them together and Lorelai can’t help but to look to her mother for support by the end.

April

A plot point that truly comes out of the left field is the appearance of Luke’s daughter, April who is a very smart 12 year old who really doesn’t have many social skills. You can take a stab at where she probably gets it from since Luke doesn’t deal well with other people or detecting social cues and such. This does lead to some hilariously awkward moments especially since April is fairly blunt when she speaks. It fits into the tone of the show and her character adds on a new layer to Luke’s character as well. I personally like April quite a bit even if she’s not too frequently there.

Dragonfly Inn Crew

I always feel like I don’t give enough credit to Sookie and Michel which is Lorelai’s great partners in her business. They always retain some great funny moments. Between Sookie’s carelessness and her obsession with cooking and Michel’s feisty and sass and neverending sarcastic comments, its a fun ride with them. Dragonfly Inn takes a big part this season especially when the town events officially affect them especially with the change in street names.

Rory and Logan

Its also no secret that I’m not much of a Logan sort of girl. However, Logan does have his moments even if he makes dumb decisions but Rory is the girl who reforms him to knowing how to be a boyfriend and deal with a relationship because he’s never had one before. Its a learning curve and while their relationship has their ups and downs, Logan’s character also has a lot of growth and maturity when he’s with Rory at least. When she’s not there, well…lets just say he still manages to go back to make dumb life choices. So can you really change someone? The life questions that Gilmore Girls brings up while being entertaining, right?

Overall, that kind of sums up the season except for say Lane and Zach getting married without heading too much into spoiler territory. Now, Season 6 was a true ride. There were some fantastic moments and hilarious ones. It had character development and lots of character cameos and revisits. There was a lot packed into one season. that made it work out in all kinds of ways and I actually love Season 6 quite a bit. Not really as much as Season 3 or 5. This one did seem like too much was going on at times but it spent a lot of time with the relationships here and it all worked together to be a fun watch. The season finale was kind of a bummer though…thats how it gets us to keep going into Season 7 but thats for next recap, coming up hopefully soon. 🙂

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 5, 2005)

Today, we’re continuing the very overdue Gilmore Girl binges. We’re at Season 5 now! The show’s kept a fairly good pace up till now. Before I get ahead of myself, remember that if you haven’t seen Gilmore Girls, that this season 5 binge recap will have tiny spoilers just because of the continuity of the story. I try to keep to the things I liked and disliked so that its brief but there’s things I really can’t avoid.

Gilmore Girls (Season 5, 2015)

Creator:

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Sean Gunn, Kelly Bishop, Matt Czuchry,

Season 4 ended with quite the cliffhanger. It took us into Season 5 with a nice change in pace. For one, the Gilmore Girls are more or less in a disagreement resulting in Rory’s eventual departure for the summer with her grandmother. Of course, there was separation all around as the reason Emily Gilmore left was because of her decision to have a divorce over a decision in Season 4 that she disagreed with because it would possibly push Lorelai and Rory away. With the family relationships in a tangle, it only signaled in more conflict as the boyfriends for Lorelai and Rory marched in and out of their respective lives. Season 5 had a lot of coming to terms with their situations and being okay with it.

In many ways, Season 5 was a very strong season. It had both conflicts between our favorite mother and daughter but also life situations that proved how amazing their relationship and support system was. There were a lot of hilarious moments and balanced equally with more serious outcomes.

What follows now will most likely head into spoiler territory if you have not caught up so consider yourself warned…

Let us start with some arcs that I loved/ liked:

Emily and Richard

Season 5 spent a good deal of time with the previous generation of Gilmores. An almost forty year marriage that was put into separation. What started out as putting up a front turned into a downright hilarious spiral to their separation from the start and then came back to having the couple separated and then their reunion. It does spark a lot of silly moments, once of the first including Emily Gilmore climbing out of the basement window and shedding her skirt in the process. Just a quick example but it was nice to see how their relationship fell apart but came back together. It was a long-awaited focus on Emily and Richard Gilmore that was quite needed.

Marty

Marty’s character arc started last semester as “The Naked Guy” and its nice to see him coming back as his character meshes really well with Rory and for a good part of the first two years at Yale, he is somewhat of a support system as they sit down to study together and hang out and he brings over food from his random jobs here and there. He is someone that seems to be on the same wavelength as Rory because they both don’t come from privileged families (in a way) and they speak the same language. In this season, he doesn’t get a ton of arc but its enough to really see their friendship be solidified in a certain way. I have read some stuff here and there that ships Marty and Rory. While I think Marty is a stellar arc, I never thought he was meant for her but more as a comparison of the change she’s incurring through college.

Lorelai and Luke

Let’s be honest. This pairing was eventually going to happen since day one of Gilmore Girls. Luke and Lorelai just needed to fall into the right timing in their lives to embrace it. This season gave them still a lot of hardships however, there were still a lot of fun moments as they learned to adapt to each other’s lives. Its never easy to date a Gilmore Girl especially with the family ties baggage that comes along with it.

Logan & the Life and Death Brigade

Season 5 took a lot of time building up the entrance of Logan as a love interest for Rory. Matt Czuchry does a great job and taking on this character. While I’m totally part of the Jess team, I do believe that Logan had to come into Rory’s life and teach her to not be afraid to live her life and actually experience it even if it meant taking risks and chances. Some of those ties to Logan did bring on some bad repercussions and Rory did try to change who she was for him but in the end, they do change each other for the better in many ways as well. However, Logan does draw many parallels to her own father and its probably why its takes a while for Lorelai to enjoy it. However, lots of great fun moments with them both good and bad.

Sookie and Jackson

I can’t remember if I’ve talked about it before but Sookie and Jackson are absolutely hilarious. Especially in Season 5, they also have a stronger arc as they embrace the arrival of their second child while Jackson fights for justice and then ends up running for Town Selectman (I think that’s the title) and his duties drive him crazy after he wins. Its all kinds of crazy as they both are truly hilarious characters that play off each other as a couple so well in the quirkiness and most awkward of ways.

Paris: Rory, Doyle, Yale Daily News

As the series goes on, its hard to not love Paris for her straight forward, blunt and no filter dialogue. She’s hilarious in both her expressions and just how she is. Both in her journalistic efforts which bring on some funny moments and in her eventual pursuit for her relationship with Doyle, the editor of Yale Daily News and is a slightly silly character as well. She and her ways is starting to be a solid part of Rory’s life that Rory herself seems to have accepted and learned to be okay with in general. Its a lot of fun times as they have clashy conversations which tend just get forgotten and their friendship grows stronger despite of it all.

Lane & Zach/Hep Alien

Hep Alien has spent a few seasons growing. Its characters involved also becoming more familiar. Particularly since Lane chose to rebel against her mom’s wishes to follow her own dreams which turns out that being an adult and living seems to be getting in the way in this season. Its great to see sucha motivated character in Lane especially as she starts to learn that he likes Zack of all people. Zack however does turn out to be one of slow but harmless characters and leads to their own good moments as they embrace the idea of being together and as their relationship develops and finds a balance within their band.

One of the arcs that I got why it happened but wasn’t a particular fan of:

The Second Try with Rory and Dean

Dean is an okay boyfriend. In perspective of him once being a great boyfriend, it felt inevitable that the arc would lead back there. The way it happened however was not something I particularly thought was good. However, Gilmore Girls succeeds in showing off the messiness of life and the bad decisions the Gilmore Girls all make before realizing what is right for them. Plus, first loves are known to linger on our minds so its hard to really fault anyone in this situation however, their second try might have the right feelings there but it seemed to still lack the timing and growth that they both needed.

Gilmore Girls’ season 5 succeeds as a whole as probably having some of the funniest moments of the show and leading the characters each into their own development. Time to get on with Season 6 shortly!

Somewhat of a detailed TV binge format here. I am still trying to figure out what works best.

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 4, 2004)

After starting this post back in March 2017 and leaving it hanging, I’m finally giving a second shot at writing it out. It has nothing to do with it being uninspiring to write but more that I tend to binge the series so then I mix up the episodes. I am currently on limbo in season 4 and watching it over and over when I want a Gilmore girls dose until I wrap up this post. I’d like to move onto Season 5 now, so here we are!

Gilmore Girls (Season 4, 2004)

Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Melissa McCarthy, Yanic Truesdale, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Sean Gunn, Liza Weil, Jared Padalecki

This season takes us into new journey for all of the Gilmore girls including their closest friends. In a way, they all enter a new phase. Rory goes to Yale and while she can’t get rid of one tie in particular, Paris who takes them to share a dorm with two other girls in their first year in university and working together as reporters on the Yale Daily News. Lorelai sets off throughout this entire season setting up the Dragonfly Inn while finding a way to work through her struggles and coping with missing Rory in her life to share everything conveniently. As for Emily, she is learning to cope with her husband and his business and then acquiring a new partner who likes newer ways to do things that makes her feel less important. On the other hand, Sookie is welcoming a baby to the family while Lane has to regroup her band while finally falling out with Mrs. Kim in exchange for following her dreams. While Luke gets himself married, separated and divorced while dealing with his sister starting to enter into his life again.

Now that’s we’ve had a quick recap of the season, let’s see what I liked:

Lorelai & Rory

The moment Lorelai and Rory’s relationship becomes not my favorite thing on this show is when the show will not be worth watching. This season was a different vibe and one I loved because it showed a more independent growth to the characters. Being separate from each other gave places to grow for them. While their relationship still remained the same, you could see the dependence they have on each other while still being able to develop in their own ways as they have to handle their everyday lives more by themselves.

Lane and Following your Dreams 

Lane and her fear for her mother has always been a funny highlight in the episodes. Plus, she’s a great friend with Rory and they are always fun to see together. However, this one also sees growth in character as she fights for her dream career and her band and fesses up to all the secrets she’s kept growing up to her mother. Although with a little hiccup, eventually, they try to find a way to work it out. Its a nice representation of an Asian family and the extreme generation gap and views which personally I could relate to partially.

Paris and Rory & the College Experience

Paris and Rory have always been am abnormal friendship. As much as they are competition, they are also stronger because of their intelligence and quirky moments. One of the best moments to show how wildly similar they are despite their different personality is when they go to experience the spring break in Florida and lets just say, things get weird. Except for them, things are always weird and spark the most awkward conversations and somehow they grow together.

Jess’s Sporadic Returns to Stars Hollow

I love Jess, honestly this character is incredible to watch grow and even though he only is in 4 episodes (or something), it was still a level of character development that shows how much he does love Rory even if timing is always not their strong suit and the fact that he hasn’t quite grown out of wandering phase and sometimes forgets that while he has no ties, Rory still has things she can’t just give up especially when it comes to her future.

Lorelai & Luke

No one beats bad timing like Lorelai and Luke. While we see chemistry between them all the time, this year they both show a lot of growth as Luke gets married and divorced while finally trying to find a way to get the courage to show his feelings to Lorelai. She however shows how much she cares while still having an unexpected relationship with her father’s young partner. However, they are each other’s support in the most desperate situations and we see that a lot in this season.

Overall, Gilmore Girls is a fun little trip into this wonderful TV world and Stars Hollow sounds like an amazing town to live in. I could go on about Emily relationship here as well because she was also a highlight. Season 4 holds a different vibe for everyone and it works so very well. The only thing I didn’t like was Dean but that’s because as much as he loves her to death, he’s really just not the guy for her and in many scenes here, it just felt so wrong even if they felt like it was right. Its a tangent of the series that I haven’t been totally behind and the more I watch it the least I’m behind it.

Finally, the TV binge for Season 4 is done and we’ll be moving along with Season 5 post very soon! 🙂

Sunday Lists: TV Ships I Love!

A new segment, folks! Hard to imagine how I still want to do these things, right? Sundays are laid back days to just relax so I figured we’ll do some list posts. Most of these posts will be ongoing and added upon if new choices come in. Some will be Best to Worst countdown, others will just be like a little archive for my faves. Kicking it off is the latter as I share some TV Ships I Love. We’re starting on a small scale but TV shows keep happening so the list will expand (as long as I remember to update it).

These aren’t in any particular order…

November 11, 2017: First Five to Kick Off the List

Jess Mariano & Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)

For fans of Gilmore Girls, the debate of who Rory should be with is endless. Dean, Jess or Logan: Who is the best fit for Rory? We’ve had seven seasons plus a Netflix mini-series to think about this. After rewatching the series two times in 2017, my idea of Jess being the best for Rory is solidified completely. Why? Because Jess and Rory together make each other better. In Seasons 2 and 3, they were too young and not able to express themselves too well. However, at the point of the Season 7 and the 10 years gap to the mini-series, its obvious that they are made for each other. Jess knows Rory and knows how to motivate her while Rory inspires Jess and believes in him more than he believes in himself.

 Elena Gilbert & Damon Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries)

I think that quote best shows the relationship of Damon and Elena and why it works. Stefan and Elena was vanilla. It wasn’t exciting but it was stable. Damon might not be the perfect guy and always makes bad decisions but together, they are good for each other and pushing Elena to be stronger and facing herself more than running away.

Killian Jones & Emma Swann (Once Upon a Time)

It sure seems like the reformed bad boy is something I love. Killian Jones aka Hook is awesome. Him with Emma is one relationship that has so many obstacles but it keeps them on their toes and in the end, strengthens them. Especially since they both have their love burdens that stops them to commit so much.

Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones (Riverdale)

Its probably a little early to put this here. If Betty and Jughead disappoint me later on in the series, I’ll probably remove it but for the first season and so far the second one, they are a fantastic couple. It just feels so perfect and one of my favorite pairings which makes sure that you know Riverdale is really only based on the Archie Comics characters and gives it a different twist. Betty and Jughead feel so natural to be together.

Hanna Marin & Caleb Rivers (Pretty Little Liars)

Pretty Little Liars lasted for seven seasons and for a lot of those seasons, even with some exceptions here and there was Hanna and Caleb. Now, these two are such opposites and yet they both work so well together because they gave each other courage and was supportive. They learned to be honest and Caleb ended up helping them out a lot in many of the A situations with his exceptional tech skills. Hanna and Caleb are just so sweet together that its hard to really hate them despite some iffy decisions.

Lorelai Gilmore & Luke Danes (Gilmore Girls)

Gilmore Girls has a ton of great ships. Lorelai and Luke was one that no doubt a lot of people hoped to happen right from the beginning. In many ways they grew to be as solid as they were by the time we saw them in the A Year in Life mini series. They had their bumps and their bad timings but its nice to see that they finally found each other.

Here are the ones to start and will be updated regularly!
Which TV ships do you like? Share them in the comments!

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 3, 2003)

Continuing on with the Gilmore Girls, Season 2 ended on quite an odd note. Marriage, broken hearts and conflicted feelings pretty much wraps it up. Heading into Season 3, Gilmore Girls has a lot in store as it would seem as it picks up months later when summer is at its end.

Lets talk about the third season!

Gilmore Girls [Season 3, 2003]

Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Milo Ventimiglia, Melissa McCarthy, Liza Weil, Kelly Bishop, Keiko Agena, Edward Herrmann, Sean Gunn, Jared Padalecki, Yanic Truesdale

Season 3 starts with learning that Rory headed out with Paris for a learning experience. Her and Paris has grown closer a friends despite their personalities. They come back to head into the final year of high school at Chilton. Rory comes back to Stars Hollow with Dean eagerly waiting for her to come back but in her mind, she thinks about kissing Jess at Sookie’s wedding but realizes that he has moved on with someone else. Lorelai is healing from Chris showing his love and devotion to her but having to run off to be responsible and stay with Sherry and take care of her as she is pregnant. Over the course of the season, Jess experiences quite a bit whether with Rory or personally. Luke and Jess’s relationship grows. Emily and Richard Gilmore become more prominent in their lives as we can see their roles becoming more important as well. Finally, Lane commits to joining a band after learning to play the drums. As usual, the town of Stars Hollows has a lot of shenanigans thanks to Taylor and Kirk always has something funky to add.

What did I like from Season 3!

Jess/Jess & Rory

Perhaps generic and easy to figure out but I love Jess as a character. Jess’s character has one of the most developments, particularly in this season. He’s troubled by his mommy issues which he tries to hide. He actually is really smart and loves reading inside his bad boy exterior. He challenges Rory but also likes her a whole lot that he’ll go through lots of situations for her. However, Jess is still young and he is not yet the guy for Rory yet. Will he be? Well, we’ll see, right? Still, his relationship with Rory is one that I love.

Jess’s relationship with Rory might not be very lengthy, at least not in comparison to Dean’s but it was a lot more impactful. Something about Jess and Rory really meshed well, but it also felt like they weren’t in the right place yet. Somehow it seems very similar to what we can say about Lorelai and Chris, who seems to mesh well but never in the right place to be together yet, no matter how much they loved each other.

Rory, Paris & Chilton

 The friendship between Rory and Paris is a special one. Its competition and intellectual and awkward in so many ways and yet, somehow they’ve bonded in the oddest way. Paris is all work, high intensity all the time. Rory is also pretty intense about academics but together its hard to deny and they make a good team. Paris is efficient and all work where Rory is more of the appealing person and pulls everyone together but when times get hard, she stays loyal and steps up. That is the growth that Rory has in Season 3 and one that is pretty awesome.

Cameo performances

Season 3 brought in some familiar faces as cameos. There was Adam Brody who played as Dave who has a relationship with Lane. There’s Billy Burke as Alex, a businessman who ends up dating Lorelai for a little bit. These two in particular have quite some fun moments from Lorelai trying to pretend to learn how to fish to Dave and Lane trying to hide their relationship not only from Mrs. Kim but also from their band. And while not exactly a cameo, Dean’s new relationship is with Lindsay, played by Arielle Kebbel. Not to mention Rob Lowe also makes an appearance as Jess’s father. I’m sure I’m missing someone else but please forgive me, as I type this up, I’m already at Season 7…

New Beginnings

Embracing a new stage is probably where season 3 is. Sookie and Jackson are pregnant with their first child. Paris is facing her relationship and her and Rory are preparing to apply for universities and choosing their next step to the future. Lorelai and Sookie and Michel are faced with Independence Inn’s accident and embracing their dream of opening their own inn. Opportunities come with hurdles and they face them head-on like they all should. Everyone is learning to be brave and doing what needs to be done to achieve their goals and find a place that is right for them.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say about Season 3, mostly because while I find it a charming season, my favorite parts that I remember are the hectic moments and watching Jess and Rory and well, Jess in general. Luke and Lorelai are converging in paths but yet still finding their own partners and futures. Emily and Richard are becoming really fun to watch with their bickering and Friday night dinners and the friction of losing what they’ve built over the last two years. Everyone is picking up their courage to achieve their own goals and while there is still some conflicts, its a fun journey. There were some moments that really hit me and it shows a great world building and immersive characters. My favorite quote is by far the one on top when Rory does her graduation speech. Let me tell you, I got misty. That highlights the mother-daughter relationship that Lorelai and Rory have. Its pretty awesome!

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 2, 2001)

Jumping right after into Season 2 of Gilmore Girls was inevitable. As much as I would choose to wait and write up the TV Binge in between, the series just pushed me forward and I wanted to know what happened with its great characters and hope that Season 2 will absolutely extend and make it all better and wonder what other obstacles they have to face.

Let’s check it out!

Gilmore Girls (Season 2, 2001)

Creator: Amy Sherman – Palladino

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Jared Padelecki, Keiko Agena, Scott Patterson, Melissa McCarthy, Milo Ventimiglia, Kelly Bishop, Edward Hermmann, David Sutcliffe

The second season starts on a pretty good note. Both Rory and Lorelai had come out Season 1 with great news to tell each other. Now its about building for Rory, in terms of a relationship with Dean and really embracing her feelings for him while Lorelai is preparing for her marriage to Max and ironing out thise details of loving together and whatnot. Dean is now a regular along with a few others from Stars Hollow. There isn’t ever quite a dull moment in Stars Hollow and its amazing the town that they have created for the show especially with all the silly festivities that the Gilmore Girls always become a part of. Plus this season marks the entrance of Jess played by Milo Ventimiglia who is a discussion in itself. We have Rory’s dad Christopher making a much more significant presence on the show as well.

Its taken me a few days to put this recap/binge review together and I realized that perhaps each season of Gilmore Girls attempts to show a certain area of growth. In Season 2, what we love is how the creators developed the various relationships, whether it be friends, family or love. Just saying that I still liked how Gilmore Girls progressed in Season 2 because after learning about our lovely ladies, it is time to move on and see their lives and the people they interact with and how they grow. I think one very important thing to learn about Gilmore Girls and we live through them in Stars Hollow the majority of the time and everyone who passes through their life or who they meet is not exactly about that other person but more about how these life experiences help them grow as a person, and in my opinion, reflects life in a pretty realistic way.

• Lorelai & Rory: The obvious one to show here. Rory is a teen and she’s also growing up in a harsh environment and having to fight her own battles in a world that she’s pretty unfamiliar with but learning to adapt to. While they do have different views in everything from dating to friends and school even, their relationship is based on honesty. In here, we start seeing that Rory and Lorelai both want to be honest as much as they can but also sometimes, make decisions that they don’t approve but things usually work out between them because they have such a strong mother-daughter/best friend relationship

• Lorelai & Emily: Lorelai and Rory have something special between them and in many ways, Emily (Lorelai’s mother) craves the same involvement except there is a difference in view and opinions. It doesn’t help that the isolation and control over the years has left quite a gap between them. Season 2 starts having a lot more of Emily Gilmore and there is nothing quite as fun as watching them bicker and Lorelai’s desperate comebacks. While also seeing that they are growing closer and starting to confide in each other and putting their pride aside sometimes.
• Christopher & Lorelai & Rory: Season 2 shows the increased involvement in Rory’s father, Christopher. From the first glance, even though he has a lovely lady friend that comes into the picture and they are in fact in love and he is settling down from his free-will bachelor ways, his eyes are for Lorelai. He can hide that by just trying to be there for Rory more and he does a good job at it. However, it eventually feels like the perfect time to rekindle those feelings because he is finally who Lorelai wants and needs but is it, right? Since he is with someone else… In many ways, that would make everyone around them happy as well as themselves. And man, Christopher’s eyes when he looks at Lorelai is so genuinely full of love sometimes and I have to say its what makes me love his character.

• Rory & Dean: At the end of Season 1, we saw Rory open up to Dean about her feelings and naturally, they got back together. The way to look at Rory and Dean is that they are really perfect for each other. Or perhaps, Dean is perfect for Rory because he tries to be understanding about and make time for each other. He holds back his anger or over-reacting as much as he can and he does put her first. He cares so much about her and wants to spend time together a lot. Isn’t that what a great first boyfriend is and what puppy love is?
• Rory & Jess: Jess walks into Stars Hollow as the quiet, loner, introvert bad boy who also likes to read. He’s mysterious and rude and self-righteous, I guess. Except he reminds me of a second type of guy that I was intrigued by when I was younger. Except I’m sure they didn’t have a book with them everywhere they went and it was a short crush. Jess has a rough past and it doesn’t take long to realize that there is a genuine connection between them. Plus, they really work on that friendship of theirs while Jess isn’t afraid to show that he probably wants to use whatever way to spend more time with her, even if it means pissing off the towering Dean. Is it the right thing to do? Maybe not, but maybe this is the adventure that Rory needs to break out of the perfect and safe world she’s living in.

There are obviously lots of other thing going on. We see Jess and Luke, Lorelai and Luke, Rory and Paris, Sookie and Jackson, etc. There’s a lot going on in the season and its hard to go through everything and those friendships and relationships are a ton of fun to talk about as well, especially Lorelai and Luke, except they are just growing and I’m sure I’ll be talking about them more.

Overall, Season 2 was pretty awesome. The best parts could be really in terms of giving Rory and Dean and Jess some friction. There’s some nice moments of Lorelai and Luke who, lets face it, is my couple to ship which I’m sure will, in time, get together. Their chemistry is just building up every single quiet moment they have together. This is a much slower episodes but feels very natural to watch. In many respects, we have a few things going on in the background but never does it feel like too much. The town is bustling as always. There’s always some fun festival going on in Stars Hollow. The relationship building is fantastic. Before I wrap this up, as I was talking about Dean and Jess and Rory, a thought came in my head about something that was i The Vampire Diaries which applies here which was mentioned about the love triangle there. If you think about it, the character design here is very similar. Dean is perfect and he’s safe which is a great thing but Jess challenges Rory and takes her out of her comfort zone and maybe thats a good thing also. Which one is right for her, well, we’ll see, right? I’m sure at the end of all the Gilmore Girls binging, I’ll have an extra post on the guys in the Gilmore Girls life.

Have you seen Gilmore Girls? Are you a fan?

TV Binge: Gilmore Girls (Season 1, 2000)

What was I doing in 2000? That was the question I asked myself when I looked at Gilmore Girls and everyone was talking about it because of the revival season on Netflix and I had never even seen an episode. I remember vaguely watching a snippet but back then, I was 14 and I remember TV time being rather sparse and when I did have a long TV time, it was usually spent binge-watching Hong Kong TV series over an entire weekend. What can I say? It was my life back then. With that said, I couldn’t just sit around and not get this hype so I had to watch it. As I’m writing this TV Binge, I am currently halfway through Season 3. So, let’s just say, I want to get this over with and get back to binging some more.

Let’s go!

Gilmore Girls (Season 1, 2000)

Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Keiko Agena, Scott Patterson, Yanic Truesdale, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Melissa McCarthy, Jared Padalecki, Liza Weil, Chad Michael Murray

A drama centering around the relationship between a thirty-something single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. – IMDB

 Gilmore Girls is an interesting little show. Why do I say this, despite probably a lot of fans agreeing with already? The Gilmore girls, naming thirty something mother, Lorelai and her teen daughter Rory, have an amazing dynamic. They talk fast and rebound each other really well. There is a connect and a charm and a fantastic chemistry. Its kind of the dream mother-daughter relationship. Perhaps, my fascination with it is that it really builds their characters through their snarky and sassy comments. Their comebacks are sometimes silly but always a lot of fun. Actually that is really just the beginning of what makes this show, and this first season, such a hook. What makes this show is the characters and that applies to everyone.

Things I love/like:

• Gilmore Girls (Rory and Lorelai): Both Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham), are not only mother and daughter but they are best friends and tell each other *almost* everything. This almost is sometimes what causes their arguments and differences in opinions and how certain situations are treated. Even their arguments are more like children fighting. Individually, these characters create a similar but contrast whether its their coffee addiction or their love of mocking movies together or their constant sarcastic comments. Whether its being adult or a teen, they both are sheltered by Star Hollows and in the most awkward situations will still do some pretty funny things or say some equally awkward comments that doesn’t ease up the situation.
• Sookie (played by Melissa McCarthy): What I can only assume is a breakout role for Melissa McCarthy without looking at her filmography (you can correct me in the comments if you’d like), Sookie is one of the most hilariously endearing characters on the show because she not only is passionate for her food and her chef. What seems petty and silly like arguing over the quality of vegetables to Jackson, her vegetable provider and her clumsiness in general, makes for some fun little snippets. Her character here is really different from the roles she has taken in the last few years, at least the humor is much more subtle and more my pace.

• Dean (played by Jared Padelecki): I’ve watched a grand total of one episode of Supernatural. I know I should catch up with that and it might happen after Gilmore Girls. Jared Padelecki plays Dean, who really has a not so frequent appearance since Gilmore Girls uses the supporting characters to build up the character of Lorelai and Rory. Dean is Rory’s first boyfriend and in many ways, he also is a fantastic character because he kind of is that first boyfriend that we’d love to have. He cares a lot for Rory, supports her and wants to be there for her a lot while stil making okay with her having to spend time with her mom and the extra time studying. He’s a sweet boy.
• Luke (played by Scott Patterson): Perhaps one of the most crankiest characters on the show who just can’t help but give in to Lorelai and has no idea how to deal with these Gilmore Girls, but I am totally team Luke. I’m pretty sure eventually the chemistry between Luke and Lorelai will happen. They are both just too stubborn to give in to it or want to ruin the friendship they have now.

• Chilton Academy students: Rory getting into Chilton is probably what kickstarts a lot of motion right from the beginning. It highlights the relationship with her parents. It brings Rory’s father more into the picture in some way and also sparks up Rory’s life to be more competitive. She starts to break out of the protective barrier she had even if a bit of her expectations to focus on studying is shattered because if anything, the students at Chilton are even harsher to deal with. The standout probably goes to Paris Gellar (played by Liza Weil) who is so funny to watch and becomes somewhat of a frenemy by the end of the season. As well as Chad Michael Murray who sadly only had a few scenes as the rich bad boy who likes Rory a lot. I have a soft spot for Chad Michael Murray so it was great to see him there.  
• Lane Kim & Mrs. Kim: Lane is played by Keiko Agena, who is Rory’s best friend and Mrs. Kim is her very strict Korean mother played by Emily Kuroda. The whole strictness of her mother makes for some hilarious moments especially when her best friend is Rory who has the most relaxed upbringing especially with a cool mom like Lorelai. Lane’s sneaking around her contraband music and everything and her random appearances sometimes makes for some great times.

Something I’m lukewarm about:

• Max Medina (by Scott Cohen): Max is Lorelai’s love interest who also is Rory’s teacher in Chilton and man, as much as I think he is quite charismatic and there’s some great moments, there’s something about his character that seems incredibly scripted.

I know that I kind of just highlighted characters for the pros and cons. Fact is, Gilmore Girls’ charm is really in its characters and their adventures and misadventures. I haven’t even started with the people at Stars Hollow because they are quite a cute and entertaining bunch as well. There’s also Lorelai’s co-workers and so on. I’m sure they’ll make some more appearances later. To say that, the journey and the finale was pretty awesome for the first season of Gilmore Girls. Its probably why I broke my normal habit of writing up this post before moving on. I just needed to know what happened next.

Are you a fan of Gilmore Girls?