Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fifth Season DVD Review:

For a few brief moments at the beginning of season five it seems as though some realism may enter the fantasy world of Gilmore Girls. The fluffy and whimsical elements are lost to somewhat serious storylines, and for once the characters seem to be thinking about what they are saying before they speak at unbelievable speeds. Unfortunately this does not last, and soon the seriousness is lost and quirky speed dialogue picks up where it left off. Still, there are more real moments in season five, however brief they may be. What adds some realism is a bevy of dramatic situations, but more often than not they are treated with humor rather than any level of weightiness. The last thing in the world that Gilmore Girls wants to be is serious or heavy, so instead everything from death to adultery to marriage is turned into a series of one-liners.

The fifth season picks up where the fourth left off, with Rory sleeping with Dean, an old boyfriend who also happens to be married. Also, Luke has just kissed Lorelai. The first episode deals with the issues quickly, not really resolving anything, but giving enough information to allow a gap in time between the first and second episode of the season. At the beginning of the second episode it has been almost two months, in which time Rory and Lorelai have not been talking because Rory went to Europe with her grandmother and Lorelai has been busy with her new business, The Dragonfly Inn.

Season five focuses on Lorelai and Luke’s relationship more than anything else, with the usual ups and downs of a new relationship. Rory tries to make things work with Dean, but eventually she ends up interested in other disastrous relationships at Yale. Lorelai’s parents also have far too much time in their own sub-plot. They are separated and fight over everything, which is not much different from the way things usually are.

The DVD package is set up much in the same way as the other four, this time with the color of choice being a lovely pink. All twenty-two episodes are fit into this well packaged set. There is a commentary track on one episode with Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino. There are also a few special features, but they are not really very substantial. There is a featurette about the last five years and the 100th episode, as well as a behind the scenes featurette about the 100th episode. There is also a short feature with the season’s fastest quips between the characters. Usually there is an insert in the DVD package with the “Gilmorisms”, but this season just has a link to where they can be found on the internet.



Ryan Izay