Stopping by Stars Hollow: A Critic’s First Watch of 'Gilmore Girls' - Season 1, Episode 11

My entire body is sore. I’ve burnt myself, cut myself, stabbed myself… all forms of accidental body harm have occurred to me this past week. All I want to do is crawl under a blanket and binge watch crud all day while shoveling pizza bites into my gaping maw.

However, I’m on a no carb, no sugar, no dairy diet and the gardening and laundry aren’t going to do themselves. So as much as I want to wallow in myself, duty calls and it’s time to stop by Stars Hollow.

Season 1, Episode 11: “Paris Is Burning”

Remember when I said I can’t wait to watch Max and Lorelai’s relationship explode? Guess it’s time to grab the popcorn.

Now this episode is particularly interesting because it can easily be seen from two different points of view. Many would say that Paris is the main one to blame. She didn’t have to tell the entire school about Max and Lorelai’s parent-teacher make out session, but she felt as though it was the perfect option to take the gossip mill off of her parents’ divorce. However, the real reason this all happened is because of one person: Lorelai.

Oh, impulsive Lorelai. So emotionally complex and heavily damaged. I love it. I love that Lorelai Gilmore is so much more than a hot mom with a quick wit. The messiness with her love life and fear of commitment just adds another layer of depth to her rainbow layer crepe cake of character development.

The thing that makes this work and doesn’t turn it into a female with a convenient fear of commitment so that the show runners can continue to put in new pieces of eye candy for the audience is that Lorelai’s fear has a reasoning behind it. Lorelai throughout the series has been on her own and on guard. She has consistently been in charge of her own destiny and the possible lack of control with bringing another person into her life is terrifying for her. She doesn’t want to be out of control because she had no control as a child. Lorelai doesn’t ever want to go back to that.

But also, how is this coupling going to work? If I’m supposed to suspend my disbelief and go for the fact that Lorelai and Max could actually work out, I can’t. Why? Because every conversation and interaction they have had has been fueled by lust. There is no moment we see of him standing by Lorelai when she needs it most. We’ve seen an even balance with Luke. They have flirted with and have supported each other consistently with each other, unlike Max who shows up for just a quick smooth talk and make out session.

I wish Max had been written as more of a contender. Most of the audience should have been left missing Max a bit instead of thinking, “Oh boy, now Lorelai can date Luke” which is exactly what I was thinking. There should have been an actual risk of Lorelai and Luke not being together because of Max. It would have given a new layer of depth to the whole “unspoken love” dynamic between the two of them, and would have made Max a much more important character than Lorelai’s hunk of the week.

Also, can Paris and Lorelai be friends yet? I understand that Paris’ character has to evolve more before that can happen but like… I hate seeing them be mean to one another. They are two absolutely brilliant girls that could take over the world if they work together. Let’s hope for the ice to thaw quickly as we move…

On to Season 1, Episode 12: “Double Date”!