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In ‘I’m a Kayak, Hear Me Roar,’ we see a big shift in Emily Gilmore. Richard isn’t the only one shaken up by his heart attack – it seems Emily has had to face some fears of her own. One of those appears to be her independence and how life would be if Richard were to die.
Emily, while on one hand babying Richard to make sure his diet and health will be perfect, on the other hand is struggling to keep up his finances. Richard is avoiding work, but his corporate taxes need to be done. In a panic, Emily calls Lorelai for help.
Lorelai drops the “Chris and I broke up” news to Emily, but Emily is gracious about it. She moves on. Very un-Emily. And later, a little tipsy, Emily talks about how life is a canoe and that, with Richard “dropping the paddle”, her canoe is spinning in circles. I think she’s saying she feels lost without Richard by her side. Meanwhile, Emily nearly praises Lorelai, calling her a “kayak” instead – because she can do ‘all this’ (life, business) on her own.
For perhaps the first time, Emily is looking at Lorelai and seeing her independence as an asset to her. She respects Lorelai more. Perhaps this is why Emily is not freaking out about the break-up with Christopher? Perhaps she’s realized that Lorelai doesn’t need to be married to do well with her life?
For me, Season 7 provided some amazing moments between Emily & Lorelai, and I was proud to see their relationship develop. What do you think?
Watch this episode of Gilmore Girls on TheWB.com here.
441 days ago
There were only few scenes in season 7, that I liked, and this was one of them. And it was, because it reminded me to the “old” characters, in this scene they spoke like Lorelai and Emily, that we know from the previous seasons. It was well written, you could imagine, they feel like that, and after this 6 years they realtionship have changed, and Emily could see the “good” in Lorelai, because she’s in her life now, so she’s not so angry an hurt anymore, and she could finally acknwoledge Lorelai’s good qualties.
She didn’t concentrate all his energy to fix Lorelai’s “failure” and to get back and to control his daughter, because she’s there. They won’t have an ideal relationship, but they’ve learned to accept each other.
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441 days ago
I think Emily blows hot and cold. Yeah, she does understand about Chris and Lorelai, but the next morning she’s back to her old self again, seeming to blame Lorelai, because of the way she says about the deposits on the wedding party. I understand her dissapointment, but why doesn’t she just say she’s upset and be done with it?
Surely she can’t be a better person until she admits her feelings and then puts them aside?
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441 days ago
I like all of of the moments shared by Emily and Lorelai. The ones with anger, the ones with defying, the ones with understanding, the ones with silent affection and the ones with respect, like this one.
Of course, the next morning Emily switches behavior and he’s back to being Emily by reminding Lorelai that she has to cancel the party and by giving her the cold shoulder but the day before, her acknowledging her daughter’s ’success’ in life is very touching.
She finally understands that Lorelai doesn’t need to be married to do well with her life.
My other favourite moment is in episode 17 (Gilmore Girls Only) when Lorelai acknowledges to Emily that it was probably not easy for her when she left the house.
She always acted like what she did was right. Maybe it was but she didn’t consider that she had actually hurt her mother. That’s good they can get this thing straight.
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441 days ago
I think the alcohol contributed to Emily’s opinion on Chris and Lorelai’s break up, as did her new situation with Richard. I’ve always thought that Emily disapproved of Lorelai’s single lifestyle because Emily was taught that it wasn’t “proper,” especially since it was unheard of not to get married after getting pregnant. Emily and Richard have always been a team, and for the first time Emily realizes that Lorelai can make it on her own.
The scene the next day always breaks my heart. Lorelai thinks they have finally made a breakthrough in their relationship and the next day things are back to the way they always have been. Very sad…
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441 days ago
I loved this scene between Emily and Lorelai. I’m not sure I would say Emily is more understanding, though, because throughout the series we do have these little Emily-Lorelai moments of bonding. And then they go back to the way they were. If I recall correctly, the next morning Emily was back to her cold self, just like in “Rory’s Dance” when Emily stays to take care of Lorelai, they fight the next morning. Sometimes we see moments where they each understand the other a little more, but there is always that tension between the cold, non-emotional Emily and the flighty, free-speaking Lorelai.
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440 days ago
It was diffenently the alcohol speaking. But when people are drunk(or even a little tipsy), they speak more honestly. I love this scene between Emily and Lorelai. But the next day, after the alcohol has worn off, things are back to normal. Even though it comes fleetingly, hearing such things as this feels good, knowing that, even for a moment, you’ve made your mom proud.
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