[7.3/10] A solid, funny episode that leans into the absurdities and stresses of the college application process, while finding some notes of heft at the end.
It doesn’t start off terribly great though. The fact that Rory has her essay and application all planned out, only to hear from the admissions panel Paris assembled, in oddly specific and convenient detail, that she’s doing it all wrong, gets the episode off to a shaky beginning. It sets off the usual panic, and that panic descending from Emily to Lorelai to Rory gets too broad for me.
But once the episode transitions to making it all about an interview lunch with a Harvard alum and his family. The interactions between the Gilmores and the Springsteens (presumably no relation) were funny and revealing. The quiz-around-the-dinner-table game evokes a sense of pod people bizarreness and competition in prestige-bound families, and Rory’s and particularly Lorelai’s reactions to it all, while trying to make a good impression, were great.
At the same time, I loved the scene where Rory meets the non-go-getter kid who’s perfectly happy to be waitressing/performing as a Birthday Bunny rather than being on the conveyor belt. It’s a nice beat to show how the life Rory’s pursuing isn’t for everyone, even the people directed toward it. And it ends with Rory truly appreciating the love and acceptance and lack of pushiness that Lorelai had with her. It’s a sweet and amusing set of scenes that boosts the episode considerably.
The same can’t be said for the side stories. Lane trying to start a band is, again, pretty broad, one-note stuff for the character (though I did appreciate her jamming to Modest Mouse) and her meeting some new love interest played by Adam Brody doesn’t do much for me either. The bit with Luke and Taylor jousting over the prospect of an old fashioned soda shop fares a little better. The pair butting heads is always good for a laugh. But even with Lorelai’s approval, it seems odd, maybe even out of character, that Luke would give into Taylor on this. Feels like a “we need a new recipe for wackiness” type of development.
But the episode ends on a strong note. I love the realization from Rory and Lorelai, lost amid all the eponymous anxieties of applying to college, that the lives they’ve shared for the last seventeen years are coming to an end, or at least changing considerably. Dean asking Rory how it’s going to work when Rory goes off to college, and Jackson asking Lorelai what she’s going to do with Rory’s room after she moves out both induce a different sort of panic in the Gilmore Girls, one that makes them want to savor their remaining time together. The pair, walking arm in arm through Stars Hollow, trying to squeeze a little more juice out of this year, is a warm image to go out on. “Application Anxiety” starts sputtery, but picks up steam and gets to a lovely destination.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-10-03T22:26:50Z
[7.3/10] A solid, funny episode that leans into the absurdities and stresses of the college application process, while finding some notes of heft at the end.
It doesn’t start off terribly great though. The fact that Rory has her essay and application all planned out, only to hear from the admissions panel Paris assembled, in oddly specific and convenient detail, that she’s doing it all wrong, gets the episode off to a shaky beginning. It sets off the usual panic, and that panic descending from Emily to Lorelai to Rory gets too broad for me.
But once the episode transitions to making it all about an interview lunch with a Harvard alum and his family. The interactions between the Gilmores and the Springsteens (presumably no relation) were funny and revealing. The quiz-around-the-dinner-table game evokes a sense of pod people bizarreness and competition in prestige-bound families, and Rory’s and particularly Lorelai’s reactions to it all, while trying to make a good impression, were great.
At the same time, I loved the scene where Rory meets the non-go-getter kid who’s perfectly happy to be waitressing/performing as a Birthday Bunny rather than being on the conveyor belt. It’s a nice beat to show how the life Rory’s pursuing isn’t for everyone, even the people directed toward it. And it ends with Rory truly appreciating the love and acceptance and lack of pushiness that Lorelai had with her. It’s a sweet and amusing set of scenes that boosts the episode considerably.
The same can’t be said for the side stories. Lane trying to start a band is, again, pretty broad, one-note stuff for the character (though I did appreciate her jamming to Modest Mouse) and her meeting some new love interest played by Adam Brody doesn’t do much for me either. The bit with Luke and Taylor jousting over the prospect of an old fashioned soda shop fares a little better. The pair butting heads is always good for a laugh. But even with Lorelai’s approval, it seems odd, maybe even out of character, that Luke would give into Taylor on this. Feels like a “we need a new recipe for wackiness” type of development.
But the episode ends on a strong note. I love the realization from Rory and Lorelai, lost amid all the eponymous anxieties of applying to college, that the lives they’ve shared for the last seventeen years are coming to an end, or at least changing considerably. Dean asking Rory how it’s going to work when Rory goes off to college, and Jackson asking Lorelai what she’s going to do with Rory’s room after she moves out both induce a different sort of panic in the Gilmore Girls, one that makes them want to savor their remaining time together. The pair, walking arm in arm through Stars Hollow, trying to squeeze a little more juice out of this year, is a warm image to go out on. “Application Anxiety” starts sputtery, but picks up steam and gets to a lovely destination.