The Good

The Bad

The “Gilmore Girls” is one of those shows that just works. The biggest reason for this in my opinion (other than the fact that the casting is basically flawless) is the writing. Listening to Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham) banter back and forth is something I could do all day. I also like how these witticisms carry over to the other characters on the show, yet nothing ever feels familiar. It’s as if the people behind Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season have found a way to get at the heart and soul of each character. By writing from this place, they bring a genuine essence to each participant and as a result all the characters on Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season feel real and full. There was never a moment when I was watching this show that I thought things felt out of place or not genuine.

My only gripe (and it’s more of a personal gripe than it is anything else) is that I sometimes got a tad tired of Rory and her friends. Seeing them take up these various social causes on their school campus was laughable. To the Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season credit, they did this in a funny way. Not so much that they were poking fun at it, I think they were just examining the cliché of “awareness” that seems to happen when young people go off to college. Yet, even how the show did this, it didn’t laugh or judge the situation. It simply presented it and in doing this it creates a much fuller viewing experience.

Features

Additional Scenes on 2 Episodes and Gilmore Goodies and Gossip

There are additional scenes on the episodes “Ballrooms & Biscotti” and “The Reigning Lorelai.” As I am not one that is that big a fan of “additional or deleted scenes,” I thought these were okay but not really necessary. “Gilmore Goodies and Gossip” is a series of factoids that pop up over an episode. Some are germane to the episode and explain something a character may have said, while others tell us about a cup or a pot a character is holding that really just seems like “useless knowledge.”

Who Wants to Get Together? and Stars Hollow Trivia Quiz

“Who Wants to Get Together?” is a bunch of clips form Season 4’s most romantic moments. In all honesty, I really don’t know what the point of this was? It started, ran through the scenes and then was over before I could really get a beat on it. “Stars Hollow Challenge” is a trivia game based on events that happened in the show. You can choose to answer questions from Luke’s Diner, Lorelai’s House, Yale, etc... and the point is to see how much you’re really following the show. This is the kind of game that fan’s of the show should get together and watch in a group.

Video

Standard Version presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of it’s original television exhibition. This show always seems cold. I’m not saying that the material seems cold, it’s just that the town of Stars Hollow always seems like it’s on the verge of having a snow storm. There is a coziness to the “Gilmore Girls” that I really don’t get from a lot of today's shows. It probably has to do with where the show is set, the way the characters dress and how it is lit, but Stars Hollow is a place I wouldn’t mind living in. I am sure after awhile the weather would probably drive me nuts, but from just a TV perspective, things look really good. The fact that it takes place on the East Coast probably has something to do with the shows cold and comfy feeling.

Audio

Dolby Digital - English: Stereo. The dialogue on this show is lighting fast. In fact, I would call it “blink and you’ll miss something” fast. Thankfully the audio is spot on and I didn’t miss anything. Sometimes I don’t like the “detached”, “I’m too cool” banter, but I found that on Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season this eventually grew on me. I also think it helps that I initially went into my screening of this 6 disc box set already being a fan of the actresses and the show. Even on my one speaker TV, I found that I was able to really hear everything well and didn’t even have to turn the levels of my player up that much. Also, the way these characters talk works for this show because everything sounds real. This doesn’t seem like characters or people trying to act cool or hip.

Package

Green is the operative color over all of this packaging. There us a really good photo of Rory and Lorelai with a row of photos on the left hand side that help add to this box set’s coziness. The back features 4 shots from the 22 episodes that make up this season, a description of the show (that might be confusing to the uninitiated), a Special Features listing, a cast list and some technical specs. All 6 discs are housed in 6 plastic trays that are put together like a book. My only problem with this type of packaging is that the sides get bent. There are photos of all the main cast members spread out over each disc, as well as a booklet that indexes all the episodes and describes what they are about. On top of this, we even get “Your Guide to Gilmore-isms” which tells us the meaning behind the “wordplays” and “pop culture” references. This is a well put together piece of packaging, and I found myself laughing at the “Gilmore-isms” guide. I never even knew that the “The Strand” existed!

Final Word

I look forward to seeing what kind of career’s both Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham have once this show is over. I think their characters have been firmly drawn, yet they still don’t lock them into any specific types. As “Gilmore Girls” is neither a straight comedy or a straight drama, I think this shows that these characters have a decent amount of range. I know that both actresses have already started doing feature films, but it sort of seems like their performances won’t really be judged until they don’t have this show to fall back on.

Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season has really done the others I have seen proud. It’s so nice to see a show that really seems to have found it’s groove.

Gilmore Girls was released .