Gilmore Girls says goodbye

Or Bon Voyage I suppose. Like all things that begin, Gilmore Girls came to an end tonight. While, I must admit I only started to watch the show between the sixth and seventh seasons (though did a pretty good job of catching up), it's sad to see it go. The characters, setting, tone, writing - all of it were sweet and genuine and maintained a general sense of goodness. It wasn't cynical or disparaging, but positive and though a little sad from time to time, always uplifting and empowering.

The show was unique, and though the last two or two and half seasons seemed to signal a decline in quality, from A+ material to A or A- material, it was always unmistakeably itself. I say this, because as television audience members we always want things how we want them, and while we might not have loved every direction the show turned in, we must, on level admit that our lives don't always turn out that way and sometimes we make choices that we have to live with for a long time before we can make our way clear of them. We all have our ups and downs, but without the downs we wouldn't appreciate the ups.

I wish Amy Sherman-Palladino, the show's creator and principle writer had seen the show out, and as it was on it's last season, it's only too bad it couldn't have ended favorably after the sixth (her last) season. It's also a shame that she couldn't come back for the final episode and that the CW was reluctant to help her and her husband with what they needed. She knew all along how she wanted the show to end, and while we'll be left wondering if that's true, I can almost feel certain that it didn't end the way she had planned originally - which, I think, is sadder than the show coming to an end.

Still, there's something about the created image that is moving. When you've spent some time with these characters and faces, and settings, it doesn't take much for them to move you. You know the backstory and the history, the characters. One shot or one line of dialog can affect you. It's a testament to the show that the fans feel some ownership over it, and while for us, we'll never know the ins and outs of production, the long hours, and how people's relationships really were, we'll always have the episodes, on dvd or tv reruns, and it will remain an endearing moment in our lives and will always occupy a place in our hearts.

-cjfer-