Rory's not going to war -- relax, everyone

Last night was the series finale of Gilmore Girls, which used to be one of the smartest shows on TV. For six seasons, the writing was as witty, clever, and pop-culture-referenced as anything else on the small screen. Unfortunately, the current season was so mediocre that when we finally got to the series ender, which should have tugged at my heart strings and gotten me all teary-eyed, I didn’t care half as much as I should have.

Stars Hollow used to be a place I wanted to visit, both virtually each week and in real life (if such a place actually existed, I would have happily made a road trip). By last night, though, the town’s folk were more annoying than entertaining and plot points were so over the top as to be silly even in this admittedly silly town. An entire graduation reenactment since the whole of the town couldn’t attend what was surely a boring ceremony? I don’t remember Taylor, Kirk, and Babbett showing up when Rory graduated from Chilton, so what’s the big to-do this time around?

Though the spirit of Lorelai and Rory’s relationship remained strong to the end, their recent banter left something to be desired. If anyone doesn’t believe me, just rewatch the final scene and pay special attention to Rory’s last few lines. It’s as if attending Yale has addled her brain. On the positive side, Luke’s verbalization about how important Lorelai’s happiness is to him was very sweet and a nice pay off to everyone who wanted to see them together all along.

As an aside, hats off to Liza Weil, who played Rory’s friend Paris. Her character should, by all rights, have been extremely annoying, but instead she remained entertaining through and through. She grew to be a surprise favorite of mine on this show.

I read in an interview with the very talented creator/exec producer/one-time show writer Amy Sherman-Palladino that she knew from the start how she wanted the series to end. Though this season’s mediocrity was surely never part of her plan, I wonder if the broad strokes were what she had in mind.