Gilmore Girls 3×7: They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?

They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They? originally aired on November 11, 2002. This episode was written by Amy Sherman-Palladino and was directed by Kenny Ortega.

We open this episode with the town getting ready for the annual 24-hour dance marathon. Lorelei is trying to find a dance partner, while Taylor wants Luke to have a coffee stand at the dance marathon.

So, pre-marathon stuff going on: Lorelei gets a dance partner in Stanley Appleman, until he bails on her because Miss Patty decided to show his wife a picture of Lorelei. And the 75th anniversary of the school paper is coming up, and Paris doesn’t want it ruined on her watch, so there are Saturday plans to work on it. Until Rory agrees to be Lorelei’s dance partner if Paris agrees to postpone it for a week, which she does. And that is because Jamie stopped by Chilton the day before to see Paris, because thinking about her was a really big distraction, so Paris was in a really good mood for once.

And then the dance marathon happens. Lorelei is determined to win this year, and things are going along as they usually do for the marathon. Dean stops by to watch Rory dance, and things are going well until Jess and Shane show up. Rory is unusually annoyed that Jess is there with Shane.

Sookie and Jackson are having a few issues, because Jackson wants to have 4 kids in 4 years, and Sookie doesn’t. She gets some advice from Lorelei, which is to tell Jackson, so that Sookie and Jackson can work it. Of course, Sookie gets all tongue-tied, and it doesn’t come out right, resulting in Jackson being mad, and taking it out on Lorelei, but that’s resolved by the end of the episode.

Still, it isn’t until one of the heels that Lorelei is wearing breaks that things start going downhill. Rory can barely keep moving at this point, so Dean makes sure that Rory keeps dancing. However, Rory is going on and on about Jess being there with Shane, and how the marathon is there for people to dance, not for people to watch. And that is when Dean and Rory break up. Dean is tired of pretending like Rory and Jess don’t like each other, and he can’t ignore it anymore. Dean leaves, and after a minute of standing on the dance floor not moving, Rory leaves as well.

We find her at the dock, and she is joined by Jess, who thinks Dean is a jerk for yelling, and for breaking up with her in public…but they do agree that the stuff Dean said is right.

We go back to the marathon, to find that there are two couples left…only for the couple to not be able to dance anymore, leaving Kirk and his partner to be the last couple standing. Lorelei is confused about why Kirk won and where Rory is, until Patty tells her that Rory left a while ago.

Kirk is running around the gym while Lorelei comforts a crying Rory.

Thoughts:

This is one of my favorite episodes, and I love that most of the action happens at a 24-hour dance marathon. It’s episodes like this that make me wish I lived in a small town like Stars Hollow.

Really quick: Jackson and Sookie. I get Sookie was taken off guard, and that’s why she initially agreed. It makes sense she would tell Lorelei, who actually had pretty good advice in terms of talking to Jackson. And it is very Sookie and Jackson to have it not come out right and for Jackson to react the way they did.

So, Rory and Dean are over. I don’t even know where to begin with this. I get Rory being upset, and it’s definitely been a long time coming. I don’t think it was fair to break up with Rory so loudly, but I also think it’s about time Dean and Rory broke up. Rory’s been interested in Jess for quite some time, and I’m glad Dean finally realized he can’t ignore it anymore. I can understand denying it, but everybody has their limits, and Dean clearly found his limit.

Now that Rory and Dean aren’t together anymore, and Rory has a (better) chance at being with Jess. And hopefully, Rory will stop acting so weird around Jess. It’s sad for Rory, of course, but I’ve never been a fan of Rory/Dean, so I’m sort of glad. Let’s see…I don’t think I have anything else to say about Dean and Rory breaking up…without spoiling things, of course, so I’ll just not add anything else.

Favorite Line:

Lorelei, on the phone with Stanley Appleman: “Did you tell her I don’t want to sleep with you?”

Pop Culture:

Tiny Tim, Riverdance, Rocky, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor

Episode Rating:

I really liked this episode, and there’s a lot that happens, especially in terms of Rory’s relationships. Dean and Rory are no more, and it would appear that she and Jess are destined to be a couple. This episode gets 4 mugs of coffee.

24Nov2013

Book Review: A Radiant Sky

Posted in Books by wingedcreature

Book: A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies

Published September 2013 by HarperCollins|368 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: A Beautiful Dark #3

Genre: YA Paranormal/Angels

You can find A Radiant Sky on Goodreads|You can find Jocelyn Davies on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Since the night of her seventeenth birthday, Skye has been torn between two opposites: Light and Dark, the Order and the Rebellion, Devin and Asher.

But her decision shocked both sides—because she chose neither.

With the help of her friends, Skye forges her own path, setting out to gather an uprising of Rogues. The treacherous and elusive half-angels may be the key to maintaining the balance of fate and free will. But completing the mission her parents left unfinished is more difficult—and dangerous—than she could have imagined. And doing so comes at a cost: Her greatest love may now be a lethal enemy. Because it’s not just the Order that sees her as a threat who must be eliminated. The Rebellion does, too.

And both sides will do whatever it takes to win.

Dark days lie ahead, and if Skye is to survive, she’ll need to rely on her extraordinary powers and the strength of her will. Because she has a future—and a love—that’s worth fighting for.

The sweeping, darkly romantic story that began with A Beautiful Dark and gathered intensity in A Fractured Light comes to a thrilling conclusion in A Radiant Sky.

I finally finished A Radiant Sky, and I really liked it! It’s a really good conclusion to the series. I started out thinking the series was okay, but it got better and better over the course of the series.

There are definitely lines that are drawn, and while there’s the Order and the Rebellion, you have a new group in town: the Uprising, who want to keep the Order and the Rebellion in check. I really liked the idea of the Uprising, because they are the ones who feel like they don’t belong to either group. So who better than to make sure that things are balanced? And I really liked the idea of a new council, and the people that comprise that new council. Because it was slightly unexpected, but still really interesting.

I love that this series focuses on shades of grey, and that sometimes, the middle road is the best one to take. And that keeping two very different sides in check and in balance is important. At least in this series.

I was wondering where things were headed, and I got the answers I was looking for. I loved that Skye had her friends and family to help her through this, and that they worked together, instead of Sky always running off to take care of everything herself. Her friends and family and love really did make a difference in things, and that was a really cool aspect of the book.

We do have the final battle, and I have to admit that I was expecting more from it. Like, something more than a few pages, and something with a bit more action. I don’t know if it’s because of expectations from other series I’ve read or what, but I was expecting there to be something more from it.

I will say that there was something about A Radiant Sky that didn’t quite fit. I mean, I really liked it and all, but there was also something about it that I couldn’t quite connect with. Things were pretty easy for Skye and her band of Rogues, so perhaps it’s that.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked A Radiant Sky, and I thought it was fitting end to the series. Things did seem pretty easy for Sky, and things were wrapped up a little too nicely, but other than that, things were resolved pretty well. A Radiant Sky gets 4 stars.

22Nov2013

ARC Book Review: Pawn

Posted in Books by wingedcreature

Book: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Expected Publication is November 26, 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 356

Where I Got It: netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way. Promise!

Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1

Genre: YA Dystopic

You can find Pawn on Goodreads|You can find Aimee Carter on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning to understand.

I have mixed feelings about Pawn.

So: I loved the idea. The hierarchy really reminded me of The Selection, and there is something very familiar about Pawn. Something about Pawn felt very familiar- almost like I had read it before. Or at least, something about it is really similar to other books I’ve read. There were quite a few things that were predictable in a way that made it hard to stay interested in what was going on. Sometimes, I don’t care if a book is on the predictable side, but Pawn, unfortunately, is not one of those books.

Back to the idea: a test that determines your future is pretty interesting, and Kitty’s transformation into Lila Hart is also interesting. The idea that someone can be transformed into someone else so that people don’t know you’re a replacement/double…definitely interesting. Like, how well would that work in our society? I feel like it would be really easy to realize that someone is not who thy say they are.

I’m not the biggest fan of Kitty, and I found it was hard to care about her. She was definitely naive, and that was a bit irritating at times. I think I would have expected her to be a little less naive than she really is, and it’s because of how she grew up in a group home. Although, her struggle with reading was slightly interesting, and I wish we saw a bit more of that, because it is the most interesting thing about her.

Overall, I really like the idea of a rebellion against such an important test. I suppose you could draw some sort of parallels to the SAT’s, and it’s not all that hard to imagine a world where one test determines your entire future. And Prime Minister being handed off to the next generation is an interesting idea, especially in the U.S.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I liked Pawn, and thought there were some really interesting ideas in Pawn. I just couldn’t connect with Kitty, and there’s something very familiar about Pawn. Pawn gets 3 stars.

21Nov2013

Book Review: Daylighters

Posted in Books by wingedcreature

Book: Daylighters by Rachel Caine

Published November 2013 by Penguin|368 Pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Morganville Vampires #15

Genre: YA Paranormal- Vampire

You can find Daylighters on Goodreads|You can find Rachel Caine on Twitter, Facebook, and her website

Goodreads Summary: While Morganville, Texas, is often a troubled town, Claire Danvers and her friends are looking forward to coming home. But the Morganville they return to isn’t the one they know; it’s become a different place—a deadly one…

Something drastic has happened in Morganville while Claire and her friends were away. The town looks cleaner and happier than they’ve ever seen it before, but when their incoming group is arrested and separated—vampires from humans—they realize that the changes definitely aren’t for the better.

It seems that an organization called the Daylight Foundation has offered the population of Morganville something they’ve never had: hope of a vampire-free future. And while it sounds like salvation—even for the vampires themselves—the truth is far more sinister and deadly.

Now, Claire, Shane and Eve need to find a way to break their friends out of Daylighter custody, before the vampires of Morganville meet their untimely end…

As much as I love Morganville, and as sad as I am that Morganville is now finished, I found that Daylighters is not my favorite one in the series. I still really liked it, because I am such a huge Rachel Caine fan, and there’s a lot of awesome in Daylighters, but it’s a really liking this kind of awesome.

Seeing what happens when Claire and everyone gets back home, and seeing how different Morganville is now that the Daylight Foundation has taken over the town…wow! Definitely interesting to see what they did with the vampires, and some of the things they did to ensure that vampires and humans don’t mix. And the head of the Daylight foundation, and his connection to Myrnin and the vampire community was interesting, but also unexpected. In a good way, because it’s definitely different.

I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting for Daylighters, but it’s totally not a bad thing, because it really could have gone in any direction, and because I wasn’t sure what would happen, which was kind of fun, because I was surprised a couple of times. Overall, it’s not that surprising, what happened, and I suppose it is what I was expecting…but maybe I was still processing Allegiant, and didn’t pick the best time to do another series-ender. But maybe not. Who really knows why I really liked it but also feel a little meh about it?

I will say that things did end very well, and while Morganville is definitely a different town at the end of the series than it was when we first visited, it’s still a crazy town with quite a few surprises. And…there may have been some silent squee-ing towards the end, because our two favorite couples get their HEA. Which isn’t surprising, since they’ve been through a lot, and it’s good to have that.

We definitely get closure, and things are wrapped up so well. But…it’s also fun to imagine what everyone will get up to! Morganville and its residents really are very different now than they were in Glass Houses, and the things that they’ve been through have made them better (and interesting) people.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Daylighters, but it also didn’t have that special thing that made me go OMG. Still, it’s a great ending to a series that I’m definitely going to miss, and I’m sad to see it end. Daylighters gets 4 stars.

18Nov2013

Gilmore Girls 3×6: Take The Deviled Eggs…

Posted in Season Three, The Gilmore Girls Project by wingedcreature

Take The Deviled Eggs…originally aired November 5, 2002. This episode was written by Daniel Palladino and was directed by Jamie Babbit.

This episode opens with Lorelei wanting to call the catalog companies they currently get catalogs from, and get rid of the duplicate catalogs they’re getting. Lorelei ends up abandoning the project.

So. We have a town meeting, which are some of my favorite scenes in the series. Taylor is mad about birds taking care of business all over town, and wants to do something about it. The town meeting keeps getting interrupted by the man who’s taking Patty out on a date. And the town loner has put in a request for a protest, which is denied by Taylor before he ends the meeting.

Jess has a car, and Luke wants to know how Jess is going to pay for insurance and repairs and maintenance. And he’s curious about where Jess got the money. Luke talks to Gypsy about the car, and if it was legit, which it was. We find out Jess has a part-time job at Wal-Mart, which is how he got the money for the car.

We also find out that Rory and Chris have been talking when Rory gets an invitation to Sherry’s baby shower. Rory apologizes, especially since Lorelei thinks it is weird that Rory never told her. Well, until now. The reverend and the rabbi (who use the same building for their services) have agreed to let the town loner stage his protest there, which doesn’t go over well with Taylor.

Rory gets baby blanket, and we learn that Lane’s mom still hasn’t given her the “where babies come from” talk. Lane sees Jess’ car, and it does not go over well with her. Rory thinks it’s nothing to be upset over, and yet she also seems annoyed that Jess has a car.

Lorelei drops Rory off, and somehow manages to find herself at the baby shower, instead of shopping. Sherry’s friend Maureen organized the shower, and Chris’ place has had a makeover, including the alphabetizing of the famous C.D. collection. As it turns out, Lorelei is the only mother there, since no one else has time for guys…or just a lack of free time in general. Sherry asks for some book recommendations from when Lorelei was pregnant, but as Lorelei was pregnant at 16, she doesn’t have any. Sherry wants to know where Lorelei got her parenting information, since it didn’t come from parenting books.

Sherry, apparently, isn’t a baby person, and has scheduled a c-section because work is crazy for Sherry. Lorelei excuses herself, and Sherry thanks her for talking to Chris, who’s amazing and super-involved. She wasn’t sure if she was going to keep the baby or go it alone, since she and Chris had a rocky stretch. She’s thankful for whatever Lorelei said, because he came back to her and GiGi (short for Georgia, their daughter’s name). And Sherry definitely feels like she and Lorelei were in the same position.

Lorelei ends up in the bathroom, needing a break, and Rory follows her to make sure she’s okay. Lorelei is not happy, and thinks Sherry is copying her as far as names go. You know, 2 syllables, two of the same letter. On the way home, Lorelei is still thinking about the baby shower, and Rory suggests they devil egg Jess’ car.

The next day, there’s the town loner protest. Unfortunately, the banner drops and they can’t figure out what the town loner is yelling, so they try to figure out what he’s protesting. Due to the smell of the deviled eggs, every one leaves the town square.