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Unfortunately, the show's pacing problem rears its head again. Because Lorelai, somewhat uncharacteristically, joins the Musical committee, there is way more of the preview performance than is necessary. At one point it actually feels like the episode was put on pause. It's clear from the beginning that Lorelai is going to be the only one who hates the show. So, the fact that they linger on the actual performance for so long is, frankly, a bit distracting.

In fact, the only good thing to come out of this detour was a brief interaction between Lorelai and Violet (Sutton Foster), the lead performer on the musical. Foster played the lead in another Amy Sherman-Palladino show, Bunheads. Her character had a lot of similarities with Lorelai. Because of this, the scene plays like a dream meeting for fans of both shows.

So far, Logan (Matt Czuchry) has been the only one of Rory's exes to show up, so it is nice when Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) makes an appearance. He's in town to help Luke out. He has always been a divisive character for fans. Some believe he's Rory's true love, while others…strongly disagree. Fans of the show know this is a very heated topic and there are actually different teams for the guys that fans think Rory should be with.

But luckily, it's clear that A Year in the Life is not interested in stoking those flames. That means there won't be any repeats of the Season 3 brawl between Dean and Jess. Instead Rory and Jess share a very nice, friendly scene. The two had a very nice rapport even if they lacked chemistry. In fact, judging from this scene, it was hard to tell they ever dated.

There was always a sense that the writers of the show pushed the idea of Jess as being “the one” even though he was usually kind of terrible and almost always underwritten. Because of this, it was a nice touch when he suggested the idea that Rory write a book about her and Lorelai. It recalls the past when he was the one who got Rory to go back to Yale after dropping out. It was also sweet seeing Rory looking through old issues of the Stars Hollow Gazette to read about her mother's past.

Unfortunately, Emily (Kelly Bishop) was sidelined most of the episode, but as the show has already shown, patience is rewarded. It's clear that she's having a rough time adjusting to life without Richard, but it's also clear that the show is setting things up for her in the next episode.

And when Rory and Lorelai accompany Emily to the cemetery, one of the episode's biggest blowouts occurs. After Jess suggests the book idea, Rory becomes filled with a new sense of purpose. She was so excited that she has already begun working on it. Because of this, she's thrilled to share the news with her mom. Unfortunately, Lorelai doesn't share her enthusiasm. It turns out she is not too keen about her personal life being put out for the world to read.

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