My favorite part isn't anything they say, it's how Lorelai leans behind Luke to look at the hat. Funny.

the ratings don't freak me out at all...the American Idol last night was advertised to the sky. GG was bound to take a hit. I also think that LG and AB signing for S8 has absolutely nothing to do with these ratings.

You know, I'm generally pretty cynical too, but this ratings thing simply has too many factors involved to be able to draw the conclusion that there is necessarily any connection between the fact GG's ratings slipped a bit (and only a bit) between the last two episodes and a corresponding positive upturn in Luke and Lorelai's relationship. I think this probably has more to do with the overall ratings slump that many of the network shows are going through right now. There's a detailed article about this phenomenon in today's USA Today (the print version) that talks about shows such as 24, CSI Miami, ER, Lost. Heroes and Desperate Housewives all losing substantial ratings points in the past few weeks - and these are on major networks, not the CW (which barely counts as a network, in my opinion). They blame everything from the early daylight savings time shift, long hiatus "breaks" and increased DVR use, as well as increased internet use. And, just in case you're wondering, none of these shows feature Luke or Lorelai.

Maybe it's time to get a grip here. At this point, the ratings aren't a major factor in whether Gilmore Girls is going to come back next season - that decision has evidently been made - so I don't think AB or LG are particularly worried one way or the other. I do agree that the show has sunk pretty low in the quality department since Season 6 and that it'll take some doing to get it back to remotely close to what it used to be in that department. You just have to decide whether or not it's worth hanging in there or not from your own perspective. I think most of the fans of the show are more worn out rather than pissed off any more. If you personally can continue to keep up a head of steam in the anger department, and this helps you deal with the situation, more power to you. I just can't do it any more.

Frankly, last night's episode was the first since somewhere in the 6th season that I could actually watch more than once. And the director's cut seems like another significant step in the right direction. The writers are finally getting a chance to write for Luke and Lorelai in the same scene (and more than one scene in an episode) and they actually got the rhythms right! And last night, Rory actually had a significant storyline (with the wonderful Liza Weil getting to shine as well). The episode had a sense of balance and forwad motion for the first time in a long time. And for me - well, that's a start. And, yes, sometimes "better late than never" is actually a good thing.

Or how bad Idol is. Oh well.