Gilmore Girls – The Complete Seventh Season

The fat lady has sung, taken her bows and waddled off to the after-party. Gilmore Girls, a show loved by many — and abhorred by some — was canceled in May, leaving fans without a true series finale. Here, in this DVD set, lie the final episodes, created without input from series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, who left the show after season six.

This is not a fitting end for our Gilmore Girls, but unless a rumored movie becomes reality, it’s all we’re going to get. So if you’re looking for closure, this ain’t the place.

Season seven picks up right where six left off, with Lorelai waking up in Christopher’s bed. You’ll recall she had a big fight with Luke, and made a typically bad Gilmore decision to run straight into her old flame’s arms for some illicit loving. Luke finds out soon enough, and it’s

Meanwhile, Rorie is alone in Logan’s fancy apartment, since he just left for London to get started on a big, mover-and-shaker career. So both Gilmore girls are without immediate access to any paramours, at least for the first few episodes. Soon enough, Lorelai gives in to Christopher, and Logan begins popping back-and-forth from London to the States to surprise Rorie.

In supporting-character news, Lane and Zach return from a disastrous honeymoon, which has turned Lane off sex forever. Lucky — or not — for Lane, it only took one shot to knock her up, and now the young married couple is coping with incoming twins.

That’s your basic starting line for season seven, and while it seems like perfectly acceptable Gilmore Girls plotting, there’s definitely something missing in the execution. The ratio of witty banter vs. incessant babble is the worst it’s ever been, with plenty of dialogue coming across as forced, like ‘it’s supposed to sound like this, so that’s what we’re doing.’

At the same time, there’s something fresh about these episodes, as if Sherman-Palladino’s absence gave the production team freedom to explore new territory. Even though it may come across as infuriating to some fans, especially those who favor good ol’ Luke, it’s nice to see some experimentation with these characters we know so well, particularly Christopher, who’s always been around but hasn’t really been utilized as more than a temporary distraction. With Chris and Lorelai back together after so many years, Stars Hollow residents and viewers are the same boat — forced to adjust to something unexpected, or at least off-putting.

The most important aspect of this season, though, is the lack of a real ending. These episodes were in the can well before anyone knew Gilmore Girls wouldn’t be renewed for an eighth season, so while fans viewed the final scenes with this reality in mind, the material was just ‘business as usual.’ Here’s hoping we see a Gilmore Girls TV movie in the near future.

Video

Gilmore Girls sets aren’t known for having great video quality, and this seventh season boxed set is no different. Each episode, presented in 1.33:1 full-screen format, looks a little better than ok, but could have been better. The colours, black levels and level of detail are acceptable for TV-on-DVD, but everything’s just a teensy bit too soft picture and grainy for my liking.

The menus are also the same as we’ve seen on previous sets. They’re animated and easy to use, but it’s tough for first-time viewers to avoid spoilers when selecting an episode to play brings up a sub-menu showing chapter titles and thumbnail screenshots. I know it’s standard practice to offer this type of scene selection, but I’ve never been a fan.

Audio

As with the video, this set’s audio is nothing to write home about. The only mix offered is Dolby Digital 5.1, which is a step up from last season, but it doesn’t change a whole lot. It does the job, which in this case just means clearly presenting the show’s signature, rapid-fire dialogue, and its generally entertaining and complementary music. As you might expect, the rear channels don’t see any important action.

Audio is English only, with French and Spanish subtitles available.

Special Features

While there’s a somewhat decent selection of extras here, the pickings will not satisfy fans clamoring for answers about — and reflection on — the show’s demise. There’s nothing here about that. Instead, you get what’ll seem like a bunch of fluff:

• A Best Friend’s Peek inside Gilmore Girls: with Keiko Agena, who played Lane. It’s hard to believe Agena is actually 34 years old!
• Gilmore Fashionistas: a look at the show’s fashion, from spazzy to snazzy.
• Who Wants to Mock Boys: a montage of the season, perfect viewing for sappy fans.
• The Great Stink: the set’s lone deleted scene, this is a short clip showing the town battling the pickle stench by way of a huge bonfire. Nothing to see here, except some classic Taylor bumbling.
• Tour of Star’s Hollow with Kirk: exactly what it says, and it’s Kirk, so expect it to be quirky.

Final Thoughts

And now, the end is here. Watch Gilmore Girls: The Complete Seventh Season because you’re a fan and it’s all you have left. Enjoy your old season box sets, and try not to dwell on the maddening fact that you have no closure. Oh, and keep hoping for that TV movie to come along and wrap things up for us. It might happen.