Last week I shared my thoughts about the first episode of the Gilmore Girls revival, A Year in the Life. It was so fun to rehash ALL THE THINGS and talk about ALL OUR FEELINGS, and I loved hearing your insights and opinions, too!

After realizing that I needed so many hundreds of words to dissect just one episode, I decided to take them one at a time. So this week we’ll talk about Spring. I’m going to lay out my thoughts for you in bullets, kinda-sorta in chronological order. But just like the entire revival, my review is bound to be a bit scattered. I hope you’ll play along anyway and tell me what YOU thought of this second episode in the comments!

Obviously, this post is FULL OF SPOILERS. So if you haven’t watched and don’t want to know every little detail, bookmark this to read later. But also, what are you waiting for?!?

• Stars Hollow Food Festival: What is Stars Hollow without its festivals? Nothing, I say. NOTHING. I was glad to see the town gathering again for wacky reasons. Not that a food festival is wacky in itself, but another film by Kirk sure is. (Poor Petal the pig…) Plus, that festival brought us a Jackson sighting (yes, I hear you, WE NEED SOOKIE) and finally, after all these years, a Mr. Kim reveal.

• Mr. Kim: So let’s talk about that. What do you all think? Because while I am not opposed to cameos and callbacks and inside jokes and fan service in almost every case, this scene felt pointless. And I was a bit annoyed. WHY did we need to see Mr. Kim now? And if we were going to see him, why wasn’t he somebody famous or unusual? Just a regular old guy who we see for a split second seems…weird. Like, what was the point of hiding him for seven seasons if we can now just wave and holler hello across the town square? To this normal guy? Who is not famous or unusual or significant in any way except that he exists? (Can you tell this bit annoyed me? Am I alone? What did you think?)

• Conde Nast: Okay, look. I think we all know, regardless of what field in which we work, that this show’s portrayal of journalism and freelance writing was off. That’s okay. But I do have some questions about this whole Conde Nast business. First of all, the lucky dress. WHY didn’t Rory describe it to anyone when she was looking for it? (Side note because I can’t remember if we talked about it last week: WHY did she ship her boxes to a handful of places instead of HER HOUSE WHERE HER MOM LIVES?) Secondly, back on Conde Nast: Our beloved, supposedly brilliant Rory didn’t seem all that prepared, much less talented, when she finally got that meeting. I just didn’t really love this whole thing.

• The story about lines: Once Rory started working on her story for Conde Nast, I hoped things would get better. They did not. I mean, I’m no famous journalist, but I’m pretty sure falling asleep during an interview and hooking up with a source are frowned upon practices. I don’t think this type of work is right for Rory, at least not in this season of her life. (Lorelei, on the other hand, could get anyone to talk — or hand over free pastries. I guess if she ever gets tired of running an inn, she can consider journalism herself!)

• The Wookie: Guys, I don’t know. Nothing about this seemed right. Both Lorelei’s and Rory’s behavior and reactions seemed out of character. It was weird.

• Parenthood cameos: This happened in more than one episode, but the first one was in Spring, when we saw Mae Whitman, who plays Lauren Graham’s daughter in Parenthood. I didn’t mind any of the cameos and found them amusing and appropriately brief. What did you guys think??

• Ghostwriting for a famous person: Unlike the Conde Nast storyline, I didn’t mind this one at all. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked with some crazy people? Or because my first book was similar to a ghostwriting project? I don’t know why, but this career venture made more sense to me than some of the other things we saw Rory doing. Even the way she was so excited and optimistic, then patient and resigned, then frustrated and relieved to be fired. I’ve had jobs like that. I GET THAT. And it did, for better or worse, explain why she needed to take so many trips to London. (Although it did not explain how she paid for that or anything else. No money, no problems? I have not found life to work this way…)

• LOGAN: Sigh. Speaking of London… and Logan. Okay, look, let’s get it out of the way: I am not and was never #TeamLogan. I was always #TeamJess, and after having watched this revival, I am still, firmly, #TeamJess. And I’m not sure how anyone could watch this show and NOT BE TEAM JESS. But we’ll get to that later. For now we’re talking about Logan. LOGAN. Logan, who is engaged to be married. Logan, who is still so smug and smarmy and LOGAN-ish. Barf. I don’t like Logan.
   
  … HOWEVER … I can understand why Rory is in a relationship with him right now. Her career is in upheaval, so she craves something familiar even if it’s bad for her. DUH. It’s why I eat too many cookies or too much queso when life feels hard or uncertain. It’s bad for me and I know it’s bad for me, but I sure go and do it anyway. So I don’t like this thing Rory has going on with Logan, but I can understand it.

• Sandee Says: All right. I know that Rory should have been more prepared and less arrogant when she finally broke down and went to the interview with the website startup. Sure, they had been courting her and complimenting her and basically promising her a job because they loved her so much, but if Rory is as great as everyone says she should have had a few ideas or answers ready to offer when asked. But you know what? I WAS ON RORY’S SIDE HERE. That website woman (Sandee?) bugged the crap out of me! She was rude! And contradictory! And it was all unfair! So maybe I’m as immature as Rory — or maybe I’ve had some unfair interviews myself. Either way, I was really sad for her in this whole scene.

• Chilton Career Day: I loved everything about the Chilton visit. Everything! Paris — OH, PARIS — was fantastic, marching through the place like a dictator, high on money and power this time around rather than grades and ambition. I loved her speech to students, but I also loved Rory’s presentation to a class. I don’t really buy the headmaster offering her a job out of nowhere, but I can definitely see it as a viable option for both Rory and the school. And while it’s not the career she dreamed of and planned for, I think she would make a great teacher. And she seemed much more at peace at Chilton (as an adult) than she did in the scenes related to her freelance writing. Everything I’ve read says we should not expect any more episodes, but in the future I imagine for the Gilmore Girls, Rory has decided to take the job at Chilton after all.

• Paris freaking out in the Chilton bathroom: OUTSTANDING. This was so good!! After seeing Tristan, Paris FREAKS OUT and hides in the bathroom with Rory. And, briefly, Francie. Oh  man, I thought this whole scene so perfectly illustrated what can happen when we go back home as adults, how seeing certain people can send us straight back to the feelings and insecurities and angst of those high school days. I know Chad Michael Murray wasn’t actually in that scene, and who knows if the blonde guy Paris assumed was him even WAS Tristan?! It doesn’t matter; just the thought of him was enough to throw her into a tailspin that resulted in confessions and awkward stalking and judo-kicking the door and lighting into Francie, who just happened to catch them in a bad moment. This was, by far, one of my favorite scenes of the revival. (You can watch it here.)

• Therapy for the Gilmores: Of course Emily tricked Lorelei into therapy. Why didn’t this happen sooner?! I was pleasantly surprised by Emily’s willingness to work through her feelings following Richard’s death, actually. I think that showed more growth than most of the other characters ever did. I also liked how eventually we saw Emily and Lorelei running through a gamut of emotions and interactions in therapy: silence, fighting, laughing. It showed the complexity of their relationship well. And I liked that Lorelei kept going after Emily quit. That seemed true to her character’s arc. (I mean, really, is there anything Lorelei Gilmore appreciates more than someone forced to listen to her talk?!)
   
  I didn’t like the way she kept that from Luke, though — or the way Luke found out from Emily, who was forcing him to look at franchising options, which he then kept from Lorelei — but all of that seemed realistic, too. Sometimes a couple gets busy or complacent, and walls form. And it’s easy to justify secrets when there are walls, I think. I didn’t enjoy any of this, but it all seemed real.

So, that was Spring. I didn’t love nearly as much of this episode as I did Winter. I smiled less and rolled my eyes more. But I’m not going to lie. I’ll forgive a lot to a) have that scene with Paris in the bathroom and b) get to the other episodes.

Whew! Can you believe I was going to write about all four episodes in one post?! That would have been crazy. Besides, I am happy to take a break to hear what YOU thought about Spring. Did you love it? Were you disappointed? Delighted? Tell us ALL YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS in the comments!

If you missed last week’s recap of Winter, click here. And if you want to read some more reviews, here are a few:

• The Decline and Fall of the Gilmore Girls (The Week)
• Critic’s Notebook: ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ Spoiler Talk — The Last 4 Words and More (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Review: ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ Revives a Snow Globe Town (The New York Times)
• Gilmore Girls’ Amy Sherman-Palladino: The Revival Post Mortem Interview You’ve Been Waiting For (TV Line)
• After 8 years, we finally know Gilmore Girls’ final 4 words. They’re … complicated. (Vox)
• The Wasted Potential of Rory Gilmore (Avenging Force)
• Are You Freaking Kidding Me, Rory Gilmore? (For Every Mom)
• Honestly, Rory Gilmore Sucks (BuzzFeed)
• The complete guide to binge-watching Gilmore Girls (Entertainment Weekly)

And here’s a “proper” intro to the new episodes with the old theme song. THIS IS SO GOOD. Also, don’t forget, for even more Gilmore Girls, check out FAST TALK & FAITH: A 22-Day Devotional Inspired by Gilmore Girls.