The Sixth Season

Gilmore Girls is a television drama that first aired in 2000. The series recently completed its seven season run on May 15. The show was considered for an eighth season, but there were complications in renewing. At the end of the show's sixth season, creator/executive producer Amy Sherman-Palladino and executive producer Daniel Palladino left the show. The series also went through a network change between season six and seven when the WB went belly up. With these changes, coupled with some other factors, the show went into limbo when it came for renewing it for an eighth season. As it stands, Gilmore Girls was not renewed, but cancelled. For fans of the series, it is sad news. Regardless, this review takes a look at the second to last season. For more details about this series, please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, season three, season four, and season five.

Personally, I am not intimately familiar with Gilmore Girls. I did get hooked on the first season DVDs, but I never got around to seeing the additional seasons. For this review, I have pretty much jumped from season one to season six, although I have caught the occasional episode on television throughout the show's seven season run. The point is that I am not fully versed in the Gilmore Girls universe, but I still found the sixth season really easy to jump into and pretty exciting to watch.

In the beginning of season six, the Gilmore Girls are no more. Lorelei and Rory are in the midst of a huge fight, which resulted from Rory's decision to drop out of Yale and move in with Richard and Emily. There is more drama in the situation and it involves Rory, a criminal act, and her rich, spoiled boyfriend Logan. As the Gilmore Girl fallout progresses, Rory starts to live a life very similar to Emily's, moving into the mansion, getting a job at the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), hosting tea parties, and other social functions. Meanwhile Lorelei and Luke's relationship progresses and they remodel the Gilmore home. As the season continues, the ice melts and the Gilmore girls reunite and Rory's life gets back on track.

There is more drama afoot as the Rory-Logan relationship goes belly up when Jess briefly comes back into Rory's life. Jess plays a minor role, but he is the firestarter to getting Rory's life back on track. Logan also has some other personal drama, which includes the demands and expectations of his wealthy father that put their relationship down the tube. There is also the fact that Logan can't keep it in his pants. Chris, Rory's father, also comes back into the Gilmore girls' lives. He inherited a bunch of money and helps pay for Rory's tuition. Chris also poses a threat to the Lorelai-Luke relationship towards the end of the season.

Another big change this season and also one of the sweetest parts is the storyline dealing with Luke's newfound surprise, a young twelve-year old girl named April (Vanessa Marano). April is a sweet girl and the relationship she develops with Luke is really special. I enjoyed this aspect and the strong chemistry developed between the two characters. The relationship also introduces some complications into Luke and Lorelai's romance. Other storylines this season include Lane and her band, the Lane-Zach relationship that includes a breakup, engagement, and wedding, Paris running the Yale Daily News and losing her tyrant control to a good friend, Lorelai's dog Paul Anka, reinstating Friday night dinners, Kirk and Taylor's neuroticisms, and more.

Overall, Gilmore Girls' sixth season is a strong collection of episodes. While I have missed out on the majority of the second through fifth season episodes, I was still able to get into season six without much difficulty. The series has extremely rich dialogue and colorful characters who interact well together at all levels (main, supporting, and guest roles). In the end, season six is a delight and will easily provide hours of rich and engaging entertainment.

Episode Guide

1. New and Improved Lorelai: What's the very best thing for a broken heart? An engagement! With the Gilmore girls not talking (who would have thought!). Luke provides despondent Lorelai with a much-needed happiness boost.
2. Fight Face: Rory gets community service, complete with vest, trash spear, and big orange bag. Lorelai gets a dog. She also gets a major renovations on her house when wanna-be contractor T.J. helps out... with a sledgehammer.
3. The UnGraduate: Sookie creates a S'mores wedding cake, so what more does Lorelai need to set a date? Logan comes home, Lane and the band come home and Paul Anka eats three pounds of chocolate while under Luke's care.
4. Always a Godmother, Never a God: Church ladies. Lorelai and Rory don their proper summer dresses and show up at the baptismal font to be godmothers to Sookie's children - a clever ploy on Sookie's part to get the Gilmore girls back together.
5. We've Got Magic to Do: Rory's World War II-themed DAR bash is a pipperoo (even when suddenly impoverished Paris joins the proletariat as a server). But the bash goes smash when Richard confronts Mitchum Huntzberger.
6. Welcome to the Dollhouse: What's in a name? To boost tourism, Taylor suggests reviving Stars Hollow's original street names. Lorelai thinks that's a charming idea - until she learns what the new Dragonfly Inn address will be.
7. Twenty-One Is the Loneliest Number: Since Rory was a tyke, the Gilmore girls have planned her 21st birthday: in Atlantic City, sipping martinis, playing 21. But with the estrangement Emily plans the birthday party - and it's soooo not Atlantic City.
8. Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out: Who can finally get Rory thinking she made a big mistake dropping out of Yale? If you guess Jess, you're right. Her old flame returns with exciting news about his life... and some blunt advice about hers.
9. The Prodigal Daughter Returns: Like meat and potatoes, like salt and tomatoes, the Gilmore girls belong together: Rory comes home. And a super-smart middle schooler shows up at Luke's Diner with a startling idea for a science-fair project.
10. He's Slippin' 'Em Bread... Dig?: Thanksgiving arrives and, after months of emotional turmoil, all is well on Planet Gilmore. Except for one teeny issue: Luke doesn't know how to tell Lorelai abut his daughter. Lane's band plays a showcase.
11. The Perfect Dress: The perfect dress: elegant blush-silk tulle, in Lorelai's size and on sale - ideal for a wedding. The perfect mess: Lane, short-tempered, belligerent and miserable since she broke up with Zach and moved back home.

12. Just Like Gwen and Gavin: Getting an education: Taylor Doose learns the Winter Carnival can be a success without him. Paris learns the Yale Daily News staff loathes and fears her. And Lorelai learns Luke has a daughter.
13. Friday Night's Alright for Fighting: With the news staff in revolt, Rory races to meet the paper's deadline. Logan pitches in, saving the day... and his relationship with Rory. For more rioting and insurrection, join the Gilmores for Friday night dinner.
14. You've Been Gilmored: When the Yale Daily News staff finally ousts Paris as editor, Rory steps in to let her old schoolmate down gently. Paris meets her Waterloo with dignity - until she discovers the name of the new editor.
15. A Vineyard Valentine: Hearts and glowers. A Valentine's Day weekend at Martha's Vineyard brings out the petty in Luke, the magnanimous in Logan, and the domineering in Mitchum Huntzberger.
16. Bridesmaids Revisited: One couple joined, one couple separated. When Rory helps Honor prepare for her wedding, she learns that Logan wasn't spending their time apart in celibate longing. Zach wows the diner patrons with a proclamation.
17. I'm OK, You're OK: Zach knows he and Lane make a great team. What he didn't know is that he and Mrs. Kim make a great team, too. And Lorelai and Rory are fine - just fine - with the men in their lives. Really, they're fine.
18. The Real Paul Anka: In the City of Brotherly Love for April's field trip, Luke visits Jess at his eclectic publishing house. Someone else drops in: Rory, who's growing weary of Logan's drinking and pranks.
19. I Get a Sidekick Out of You: Lane and Zach's wedding day is a glorious mix of Buddhist and Christian, red silk and white satin, ceremonial awe and awesome partying. Lorelai suddenly realizes that Rory may be next... and she may be never.
20. Super Cool Party People: Major disaster: Logan, unconscious and badly hurt after a Life-and-Death-Brigade stunt goes wrong. Minor disaster: April's birthday celebration, hosted by wholehearted but fun-challenged Luke.
21. Driving Miss Gilmore: Lorelai chauffeurs Emily, who's recovering from eye surgery. Paris and Doyle take care of Logan, home from the hospital. And Sookie and Jackson try to play it cool as they dispose of bags and bags of pot someone grew on their property.
22. Partings: Goodbye. The town troubadour departs Stars Hollow for his Neil Young gig (creating a stampede of would-be troubadours to town). Logan graduates and leaves for London. And the Lorelai-Luke love affair may be ciao, adios, game over.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality for this transfer is pretty good. There are some evident compression artifacts, but nothing really bad.

Audio:
The audio track supplied with this release comes in English 2.0 stereo sound. It sounds good with dialogue easy to hear and no noticeable audio distortions. There is also support for closed captioning and subtitles in Spanish and French.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this season set.

Final Thoughts:
While prior to this review my experience with Gilmore Girls has been limited to the first season and random episodes, I found season six to be easy to get into and a delightful watch. The sixth season (from what I can tell) has a similar tone as previous seasons and continues to offer intelligent dialogue with colorful characters and engaging and entertaining storylines. There is also plenty of drama involved in everyone's lives that much for gripping entertainment. In the end, the Gilmore girls' ups and downs in season six offer high entertainment value. It comes Recommended.