The Looting of Paris

After an iffy, sans Paris season premiere a couple weeks ago that was disappointingly more contrived than clever in its cutseyness, Gilmore Girls, now in its fourth (!) season, was uncharacteristically weak in its second episode as well.

But more alarming than the so-so writing was the new Paris, whose witty, neurotic barbs have been replaced by blandly violent outbursts that are quelled as soon as they erupt by her slogan-spouting “life coach”. While it’s true that the old Paris was little more than a short-term, throw-away nemesis caricature, Liza Weil played her with such aplomb that the character was kept and allowed to evolve into one of the most interesting people on the show. But this new Paris seems more of a caricature of the old caricature, and one that Liza hasn’t made particularly convincing yet. Hopefully this will improve as the season unfolds — with most of my favorite shows either gone for good or on hiatus, there isn’t a helluva lot else on the tube anymore that I actually look forward to watching.