Go back to Stars Hollow?
October 20, 2015 10:27 AM Subscribe
Over the past few months I have been watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix for the first time - I never watched while the series was on TV - and for the most part, I have really enjoyed it. However I recently started Season 6 (out of 7) and have not been super pleased with it so far. Given that a revival seems to be in the cards, should I power through?
Is it worth it to watch the last two seasons in order to get whatever sense of closure might be available, or does it just get worse from here? I understand that Amy Sherman-Palladino hasn't even seen the seventh season, so I'm not optimistic, but I thought I should ask. Obviously, I haven't seen the end of the series, and out of respect for future readers of this question, maybe keep your answers free of spoilers for any season?
Is it worth it to watch the last two seasons in order to get whatever sense of closure might be available, or does it just get worse from here? I understand that Amy Sherman-Palladino hasn't even seen the seventh season, so I'm not optimistic, but I thought I should ask. Obviously, I haven't seen the end of the series, and out of respect for future readers of this question, maybe keep your answers free of spoilers for any season?
Best answer: YES. KEEP WATCHING. I wasn't thrilled with a lot of things that happened in season 6, either, and asked people if I should watch 7 because I'd heard it was noticeably worse. I didn't have that impression at all, though - I loved it straight through until the end. I don't think I'd have noticed a difference with the last season if I hadn't already been aware that Amy left.
posted by something something at 10:32 AM on October 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by something something at 10:32 AM on October 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Season 6 is an awful mess. Season 7 is not ...great, per se, but it does go back to its roots more, and I thought it was a decent wrap-up to the series. It's got its share of bone-headed moments, but overall, I thought it was better than Season 6.
posted by PearlRose at 10:37 AM on October 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by PearlRose at 10:37 AM on October 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Just keep going. There is some good stuff in every episode. The Richard and Emily stuff is always good, if nothing else.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:50 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:50 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I didn't care for either of those seasons, so I'd wait until the new series comes out and trust that they're going to catch you up.
If you want more Sherman-Palladino in the meantime, hunt down Bunheads which was an underrated little gem. And given how widespread the rumors were that it was going to be revealed to be the same universe as GG, I won't be surprised at all if a few characters from there pop up in Stars Hollow.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:50 AM on October 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
If you want more Sherman-Palladino in the meantime, hunt down Bunheads which was an underrated little gem. And given how widespread the rumors were that it was going to be revealed to be the same universe as GG, I won't be surprised at all if a few characters from there pop up in Stars Hollow.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:50 AM on October 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
Yeah, I loved the entire series! I didn't notice some unevenness until my second watch-through. Power through. It's good, if not a bit frustrating at times.
posted by sockermom at 10:52 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sockermom at 10:52 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Think about the things you love most about the series. Is it Lorelai and Emily? Emily and Richard? Lorelai and Rory? Lorelai and [man of the moment]? Lorelai and Luke? Wacky town characters? Rory's academics vs Rory's taste in boyfriends? Some of that gets closure in season 7. Some of it has the potential to blossom in a spinoff. And some of it has the potential to disappoint in a spinoff, just like with any spinoff, no matter who writes it.
Personally, I'm hoping for a comeback of Cat Kirk.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 10:57 AM on October 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Personally, I'm hoping for a comeback of Cat Kirk.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 10:57 AM on October 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: This is a topic of heavy discussion on my Facebook feed right now. The consensus seems to be that, since the Palladinos (creators and showrunners, writers of almost every episode of the first several seasons) left the show around season 7, said inferior season should be considered non-canonical and viewing is optional.
That said, presumably the new episodes will pick up where the show left off, and I can't imagine that the folks making it will also land on the last season or so being non-canonical. So if you want to be current on the show, your choices are either to power through or maybe read old recaps.
If the return of Arrested Development on Netflix is anything to go by, I don't think there's going to be a lot of hand-holding, or a lot of assumptions that viewers are new to the show or will only have seen a few iconic episodes, which would probably be assumed if this were being done for a major broadast network.
posted by Sara C. at 11:10 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
That said, presumably the new episodes will pick up where the show left off, and I can't imagine that the folks making it will also land on the last season or so being non-canonical. So if you want to be current on the show, your choices are either to power through or maybe read old recaps.
If the return of Arrested Development on Netflix is anything to go by, I don't think there's going to be a lot of hand-holding, or a lot of assumptions that viewers are new to the show or will only have seen a few iconic episodes, which would probably be assumed if this were being done for a major broadast network.
posted by Sara C. at 11:10 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mod note: A few comments deleted. If you're mainly talking about your hopes/predictions for the new episodes, or just general stuff about the show, better to take that over to the Gilmore Girls thread on the blue, and keep this thread for just the "should I watch the rest of season 6" question. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2015
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2015
Response by poster: Etrigan: " I thought its badness at the start came from what the characters were doing, but that they weren't acting wrong as in "Who the hell is writing this and have they ever met these people?""
I do feel like some of it is awfully out of character, but I get what you are saying - it's out of character within character, if that makes any kind of sense.
something something: "I wasn't thrilled with a lot of things that happened in season 6, either, and asked people if I should watch 7 because I'd heard it was noticeably worse. I didn't have that impression at all, though - I loved it straight through until the end. "
This is all very encouraging, thanks everyone. I think I will go ahead with the last two seasons.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2015
I do feel like some of it is awfully out of character, but I get what you are saying - it's out of character within character, if that makes any kind of sense.
something something: "I wasn't thrilled with a lot of things that happened in season 6, either, and asked people if I should watch 7 because I'd heard it was noticeably worse. I didn't have that impression at all, though - I loved it straight through until the end. "
This is all very encouraging, thanks everyone. I think I will go ahead with the last two seasons.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2015
Best answer: I slowly made my through the entire run on Netflix over the past year or two, finishing Season 7 back in June. I would say that the seams were starting to show in the last two seasons, but no more so than a typical series that had been running for five years or longer. Season 6, in particular, is worthwhile for the perspective it gives on the Luke-Lorelai relationship and the similarities and differences between the two of them. (I'm intentionally being very vague here, but hopefully this will make sense once you've seen the season.) There's also an ill-advised story arc in the front half of Season 7 that was frustrating to watch, but once that arc fades into the background around the middle of the season, the rest of the season is much better.
Plus, according to IMDB, two out of the five top-rated episodes of the series are in Seasons 6 & 7 ("Friday Night's All Right for Fighting", from the middle of Season 6, and "Bon Voyage", the series finale.) Of course, the six lowest-rated episodes of the series are also all in Seasons 6 & 7 as well, so YMMV.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:11 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Plus, according to IMDB, two out of the five top-rated episodes of the series are in Seasons 6 & 7 ("Friday Night's All Right for Fighting", from the middle of Season 6, and "Bon Voyage", the series finale.) Of course, the six lowest-rated episodes of the series are also all in Seasons 6 & 7 as well, so YMMV.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:11 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
One other thing I meant to mention: for me, where the seams started to show the most was that the banter and the small-town quirkiness both started to seem noticeably more forced as Seasons 6 and 7 went on. If your primary source of pleasure from the show derives from either of those, you may not enjoy the later seasons quite as much.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:14 PM on October 20, 2015
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:14 PM on October 20, 2015
Season 6 tends to rely more heavily on soapy plot lines that don't make a ton of sense and are just there to engineer the characters to act in certain uncharacteristic or bizarre/insane ways to move the plot in a particular direction.
Season 7 is boring.
I think season 6 is worth watching because it's still entertaining and moves and sounds like nothing else on television. Season 7 is just kind of boring and... there. I actually find it quite depressing to watch season 7 and so I would not recommend it. Read a synopsis online if you really want to know what happens, but I can't in good conscience recommend that someone spend 990 minutes of their life on it.
posted by Automocar at 1:20 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Season 7 is boring.
I think season 6 is worth watching because it's still entertaining and moves and sounds like nothing else on television. Season 7 is just kind of boring and... there. I actually find it quite depressing to watch season 7 and so I would not recommend it. Read a synopsis online if you really want to know what happens, but I can't in good conscience recommend that someone spend 990 minutes of their life on it.
posted by Automocar at 1:20 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, and forgot to mention: season 7 was run by a different person and pretty much all the charm and personality of the show evaporated as a result. They kind of get close sometimes, but it just served to remind me of how not like the show I loved it was.
posted by Automocar at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2015
posted by Automocar at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2015
Personally, I hate both of these seasons and if I could go back would probably just read season recaps before the new reboot comes out. But it also depends on how much free time you have and whether there is other media you would rather spend that free time on.
posted by rainbowbrite at 2:01 PM on October 20, 2015
posted by rainbowbrite at 2:01 PM on October 20, 2015
I powered through. It was worth it. There is one particular scene in season 7 that I love.
posted by kitten magic at 4:58 PM on October 20, 2015
posted by kitten magic at 4:58 PM on October 20, 2015
I expected to hate Season 7 because I had read so many bad things about it, but it really wasn't that bad, and I really liked the ending.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:39 PM on October 20, 2015
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:39 PM on October 20, 2015
« Older Need suggestions for Euro vacation stops to... | Your Mongolian Horse Treks. Tell me about them. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
Season 7... eh, I could go either way, honestly. I didn't hate it, but if I were you, I'd probably wait until we know whether Sherman-Palladino is going to consider it canon for the revival.
posted by Etrigan at 10:31 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]