Stopping By Stars Hollow: A Critic’s First Watch of 'Gilmore Girls' - Season 2, Episode 2

Garden Update: The groundhogs have stolen the kale. They can climb under the fences, a breech that was not planned for when the system was built. Affirmative action was taken: I squirted the mother groundhog in the face with the garden hose. The enemy retreated but was later found ten feat in the air, climbing the mulberry tree. We may have one this battle, but we haven’t won the war.

The tomatoes are having a hard time, but the potatoes, strawberries, and green beans are doing exceedingly well.

Let’s end this garden update with a stop by Stars Hollow.

Season 2, Episode 2: “Hammers and Veils”

Rory and Dean need to stop having these stupid couple fights. How are we, the audience, suppose to root for them as a couple when all they do is have fights over nothing? A few articles ago I wrote about how showcasing the repetitive nature of life is great so long as your repetition doesn’t regress or stay stagnant. Clearly Amy Sherman-Palladino didn’t get the memo with the relationship between Rory and Dean. We have seen them have this fight over and over again: a quick bicker about the rules of dating, a period of pettiness and not speaking, ending with a dramatic declaration and a makeout session. There has hardly been any growth in their relationship (even post breakup) which makes this whole exchange utterly pointless episode padding.

Now let’s talk about the real juiciness of this episode that was almost spoiled by the pulp that is the redundant nature of Rory and Dean: Emily and Lorelai. The growth of their relationship was an absolute delight to see in this episode because, for once, instead of Emily being the one to soften to Lorelai’s way, Lorelai is the one rolling over to please her mother. This is a new layer to their mother-daughter relationship as most season one had focused on Emily learning how to let loose. Seeing Lorelai being the one to try and understand her mother beyond seeing her as a “worst than Hitler” character is refreshing and gives the audience some serious hope that their relationship is on the mend.

It is a little disheartening to see this episode slip into the old framework of some of the more lackluster episodes of season one. This pairing of one excellent plot line with one subpar plot line creates a jerky episode, constantly stopping and barely starting up again. It also seems as though Sherman-Palladino doesn’t know how to write a romantic teenage relationship. Yes, teen couples have stupid fights all the time. Even regular couples have stupid fights, but the types of fights Rory and Dean have? More whiney than stupid. These are two smart kids, and while Rory is the one clearly freaking out in their fight, Dean should be able to be the level-headed one. But of course, as we discussed in season one, Dean only exists to create drama, not to showcase a meaningful and complex teen relationship.

But hey! If Lorelai can actually try to learn about her mother in season two, maybe Dean will actually develop into a person rather than a tall, makeout tree for Rory to climb! However, I won’t hold my breath because this is the early 2000s and absolutely zero teen-oriented characters stay with one boyfriend for the entirety of the series. We need a hottie of the week and feel like Dean’s “week” will be ending soon.

So with our hopes high on character development, let’s move…

Onto Season 2, Episode 3 “Red Light on The Wedding Night”!