Gilmore Girls - The Complete Third Season (DVD, 2005)

Take this review with a grain (scratch that, a tub) of salt. I am so enamored with the Gilmore Girls that it's not possible to write objectively about them. I will probably name a future daughter Loralei or Rory or some variation thereof...but I digress.

Gilmore Girls - The Complete Third Season is as quick and clever as its predecessors. Our friends in Stars Hollow continue to struggle with some of the same issues they encountered in season two (does Rory love Dean? Or is she destined for that perpetual bad-boy Jess?), but they also evolve into more complex characters with new and interesting challenges (should Loralei REALLY date someone that she met at a charity auction organized by Emily and what about Luke in a serious relationship?)

Season 3 is really a segue from the "younger" Loralei and Rory (content within the confines of Stars Hollow and the Independence Inn) to the more "worldly" duo found in seasons 4 and 5. It is during this period that they start to imagine what their lives might look like in the future and begin taking the steps towards achieving their long-lived dreams. Loralei moves forward with her goal of purchasing and running her own Inn (the Dragonfly property might just be on the market...) and Rory contemplates the many choices she will have post-Chilton (Harvard at last?).

The writers of this show continue to stuff each episode chock full of mind-tickling references to literature, music, pop culture, history, and so on. After 2 or 3 viewings of an episode, you'll feel compelled to consult the "Guide to Gilmorisms" included with the set so that you feel a little bit more "in the know" (notice I say "feel" not "are"). Whether you catch all of the witticisms uttered at breakneck speed or not, you simply have to watch Season 3...and there's no time like the present!