October 17, 2006: Mustang Love?
Even if you loathe Chris, if you think he's a former dead-beat dad for neglecting Rory all those years, and a total snake for sleeping with a heartbroken Lorelai, you gotta admit the guy gives great romance. Driving Lorelai in a cherry-red classic Mustang convertible to a deserted barn where he played
Funny Face from an old-school film projector. Did you catch the big moment, when Lorelai tried not to cry just as Chris pulled a bag of popcorn out of the glove compartment? He couldn't have picked a better musical; one of her favorite movies with great lyrics. "'S wonderful/'S marvelous/That you should care for me." Notice the usage of the word
care, not
love. Chris is finally smart enough not to push this relationship too hard. And when Lorelai says she doesn't trust him, or herself, he doesn't argue. He lets it be. Wise move. Almost zen, actually. And it works. She invites him upstairs after the date.
Meanwhile, back in what is best described as "bizarro world," Luke is taking care of his new woman, April. No muss, no fuss for his daughter: there's your bed, there's your desk, there's your dresser. He actually explains to the 13-year-old how to use the phone and asks if she needs a nightlight. When she suggests Tarjay to spruce up the place (Luke: Tarjay? That sounds so fancy!), he admits he's never been to Target. (They finally opened up one near my apartment. Dude's totally missing out.) When he comes home with a package of 26 socks for six bucks, you'd think he won the freaking lottery. But at least she got him to update the apartment. That's more than Lorelai could ever do.
OK, so we get it: Chris and Luke are different. One gets excited over a bargain, the other gets excited over a sports car. I feel like we're watching an ep of
Sesame Street: "One of these things is not like the others!" How long is this going to continue?
At least we had the hilarity of Emily's arrest. When she's pulled over for talking on her cell phone, the outrage begins: "What's next? Drinking coffee while you're driving? Listening to the radio? Opening the glove compartment? Scratching your nose?" Cop was right on when he asked if she'd been drinking. After all, if you don't know Emily Gilmore, you'd think she was perpetually on
something. When she is asked to take a Breathalyzer, Em delivers the funniest line of the night: "I'm not putting that thing in my mouth! Who knows where it's been."
Finally, props to the two smartest women in the ep: Sookie and Rory. Both were very concerned about Lorelai and her relationship with Chris. Sookie went for the imagery, describing Chris as the rebounder, the rubber ball. "That guy should be the 28-year-old surfer dude, not the father of your child." Rory went straightforward: "I just want you to be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt." Yes, two voices of reason! It's about time.
PS.: Apparently, Doyle is working at the
Hartford Courant. Good for him! But Paris brings it up one too many times during a meeting, causing a staffer to sneer, "What, as a
fact checker?" I laughed out loud at the inside joke, for a few reasons. First, newspapers don't get fact-checked.
Zing! And two, my title here at TV Guide is associate director of editorial research. Which means, we, uh, fact-check.
Ouch! Not "'S Wonderful." But that's OK. For all his twitchy brilliance (and arrogance), Doyle wouldn't last very long here.
