| Gilmore Girls
by Robin Honig November 21, 2006: Synchronicity
I found it quite appropriate that the theme of tonight’s episode was printed on an old rock t-shirt Chris stole from Lorelai when they were teenagers: Synchronicity. It began the second Lorelai put that shirt on and said she’d never take it off. (Here, let me quote you some of the lyrics by the Police: Synchronicity / A connecting principle / Linked to the invisible / Almost imperceptible / Something inexpressible / Science insusceptible / Logic so inflexible / Causally connectable / Yet nothing is invincible.)
Is it just me, or do those lines explain exactly what’s going on between these three couples: Chris and Lorelai, Luke and April, and Rory and Logan? Each of them is bound together in this episode by odd timing and twists of fate: After 20 years, Chris and Lor are now the married couple settling into the house that, ironically, Luke rebuilt. Sure, there was some back-and-forthing about the flat screen TVs around in practically every room and how they’d need to redo Rory’s bedroom in pink for Gigi. Chris agrees to small town living, even if he moved in rather firmly, making it clear that “things would have to change.” Lorelai eventually gets used to his presence, and even helps him move Rory’s furniture. Linked to the invisible. Synchronicity.
As for Luke, well, there’s some impressive parenting. The guy who’s never raised a kid realizes April’s sick, despite her protests, and rushes her to the emergency room for an appendectomy. I actually enjoyed the bonding beforehand when they gossip about Melissa at school and whether April’s denim skirt was ready for wearing. And I loved how he uses juggling as a metaphor for kissing boys, ironic in its own way since it’s exactly what he’s doing with his life. Everything seems fine between the two, rather touching even, especially when he’s at her hospital bed, until Bringing Up Baby comes on TV. (The movie, starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, is a farce about a totally mismatched pair who marry.) The last scene in the ep shows a devastated Luke watching the pair talk about eloping while he’s literally bringing up his baby. A connecting principle. Synchronicity.
And finally, Logan unexpectedly moves back to the States to head up his huge project. (Anyone want to explain to me what it’s all about? It doesn’t sound like Dad’s newspapers to me.) They’re riffing off each other and all happy-sappy until Rory writes an article about the launch party titled “Let Them Have Cosmos.” Instead of finding it funny (“The party was filled with people who can’t imagine their worlds without their trust funds and bottled water.”) Logan is enraged and insulted. When he points out that Rory is exactly the same as the partiers, a prep schooler and a Yalie who lives for free in his luxury apartment, she becomes enraged. After reading the piece several times she realizes she had been “awful, mean and judgmental.” Only then does she really come to terms with their similarities. Casually connectable. Synchronicity.
Sure, it’s an old rock song, and it might be the soundtrack to their lives right now. But I have a feeling a newer anthem will come along and knock this one off their charts. |