[S7E18] Hay Bale Maze
Stars Hollow weirdness:Taylor cons the town into spending the entire Spring Fling budget on a hay bale maze because it was apparently his childhood dream to visit one. As Michel says, "Don't they have lives? Don't they have televisions and elliptical machines? What kind of weirdo wants to walk around in a maze of hay?" It turns out, everyone does because the entire town fucking loves it. Luke is initially pissed when he sees hay bales piling up in front of his diner, but he and Zack work out a system for delivering orders amidst the chaos. I respect Kirshner's writing, but the Luke/Taylor scene should have gone more like this:
[S7E18] Hay Bale Maze
Best song of the episode:The show should score more big emotional moments to diegetic Grant Lee Phillips. After Lorelai and Luke apologize to each other, we get a nice crane shot of the entire maze as "Raise the Spirit" plays. This is probably my second favorite troubadour moment, right behind the time he plays "Mona Lisa Smile" at the Firelight Festival.
The next day at the hay bale maze, Rory and Logan chat about factoring each other into their decision-making. Because Logan's career is up in the air, he tells Rory he'll factor her into his plans depending on what happens. At the entrance to the maze, she decides to turn down the ProJo in pursuit of the fellowship. This conversation is an improvement over the time he left the country without a single word about their status, but it's still weird for them to wait until plans are already in motion before discussing the future. The dialogue in this show often does a bad job of creating a world more complex than what we see on screen, which makes the characters feel frustratingly two-dimensional. The writing should suggest that Rory and Logan share thoughts and feelings with each other outside of what is explicitly shown.
Sookie and Michel argue about baskets. Lorelai enters just as they get physical and tells Michel about the titular hay bale maze. Taylor apparently manipulated them with a story about his childhood dream and passing hay allergy off as emotion.
Taylor informs everyone that all the budget for various booths has be allocated to the hay bale maze. Rory isn't sure if she wants to be a big fish in a small pond or a regular-sized fish in a big pond. Logan gets dressed in the middle of the night to get water, in case he runs into Lorelai. He does. They talk.
Everyone is weirdly excited about the hay bale maze. Lorelai and Luke run into each other in the maze and talk. Lorelai admits that she was wrong to go on the rebound the moment they broke up and Luke admits that he was wrong to think he should fix everything with April before he could be in a relationship.
Tropes Ask a Stupid Question...: "Are you here?" Nope, just far away screaming loudly.
Call-Back: Rory discussed the Oprah phenomenon in a job interview. At her college interview in season three she told the interviewer not to be fooled by the Oprah seal on the cover of a book she recommended.
Rory calls Taylor Stars Hollow's Don Corleone, which Lorelai has called him before.
Rory makes another pro/con list, this time comparing her job offer in Providence to the scholarship she has applied for in New York.
Logan doesn't want Rory to factor him in, like Doyle didn't want Paris to factor him in.
Continuity Nod: Rory writes a pro/con list, her standard mode of difficult decision making.
Lorelai says she is glad Logan stopped gambling in Vegas and jumping off buildings.
Festival Episode: The spring fling festival.
Funny Background Event: Maze guard Kirk walks around on stilts in the background.
Hypocrite: Unless you make your food with an antique printing press, don't criticize Michel for not printing his programs on one.
Product Placement: Parodied by Logan and Rory talking up the hay bale maze.
Shout-Out: According to Paris, Jake Gyllenhaal and Orlando Bloom are lactose sensitive.
Rory's trench coat is too All the President's Men, but her blue coat is too His Girl Friday.
She is unsure if a tan coat is too That Girl.
April can't tell beforehand if she'll want to read Herman Melville or Jay McInerney.
Or Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine.
April rethought the red frames on her glasses after being called Sally Jessy Raphael.
Taylor is Stars Hollow's Godfather.
Logan mentions virtual realities like Second Life and World of Warcraft to Lorelai, and says he might make a living selling lightsabres.
Logan gets dressed before going to Lorelai's kitchen at night, not wanting Lorelai to think he's David Hasselhoff if he runs into her.
Title Drop: Any mention of the hay bale maze, and visually speaking, any shot of the hay bale maze.
Verbal Tic: Lorelai develops one of saying everything twice for a bit around Logan.
As the citizens of Stars Hollow prepare for the annual Spring Fling festival, Rory decides to bring Logan home with her and takes him around the town. Lorelai, seeing how close the two have become, begins to worry that Logan's immaturity and irresponsibility make him someone that Rory shouldn't be with. Meanwhile, Taylor upsets the town when he blows the entire Spring Fling budget on a large hale bale maze. In the maze, Lorelai and Luke run into each other and there they admit that they each made mistakes that ultimately lead to the ending of their engagement as well as apologize for their actions. Lastly, Rory heads to an interview with the Providence Journal-Bulletin, but has a hard time making decisions that will affect not only her career, but the rest of her life.
When Taylor spends all of the Spring budget on a hay bale maze, it forces Lorelai and Luke to reunite while in the hay bale maze. Rory and Logan come to Stars Hollow for the Spring fair and Rory learns that she was given a job offer for a newspaper. When she evaluates what she truly wants she decides to reject the job offer and wait on an internship at the New York Times. 041b061a72