All of it feels like the writers trying to drive a wedge further and further between them so this marriage thing doesn't happen.

To be fair, it is hard to have chemistry with a cardboard cut-out.

I agree with you about Nikki.  It is in line with her character, and her beliefs are COMPLETELY the driving force behind marrying so young.

I totally agree that these are two not-great episodes in a pretty great season, but the line "I heard he controls the weather and wrote the screenplay to Glitter!" is one of my favorite lines from a TV show, ever.

Yeah, it's definitely something to do with Cohen's delivery.  Those two lines make my worst list, for sure.

I always tear up at the tiara scene.  Always.

That's a great thought.  I always read that scene between Richard and Dean as one of absolute panic.  Richard has no idea how to process what's happening, and he goes on the immediate defensive.  W/r/t Emily and Jess, she's had time to prepare and can put on a brave face.

Me too, but I'm going to blame it on the fact that the WB/CW was never considered much of a "real" network.

This always bugged me, too.  We never, ever get anything resembling an answer to this.

Chad Michael Murray doesn't step up to the role because he's incapable of it.  He's kind of the worst.

I love when she says the Bush thing.  It seemed like a moment of pure panic, and OF COURSE it was the wrong thing to say.  Still hilarious, though.

I guess I always felt that Christopher was this incredibly childish, emotionally stunted character who also had the misfortune of not being very interesting.  I don't think I'm going to be the person who is best able to really explain it to you, but I really disliked him.

This is a perfect description of the two, which makes me wonder if Sims accidentally flipped their characteristics in the recap?

Well, weren't both characters sort of intentionally dull so they wouldn't compete with Lorelai?