*SPOILERS AHEAD*
There was a lot of anticipation about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. I was excited to see old characters, new faces, see what everyone had been up to, but the revival wasn’t everything I hoped it would be.
Things I didn’t like:
1.) Rory’s love life
What exactly was going on with Rory in the revival? First it seemed like she’d gotten herself a new boyfriend, who seemed to be a decent guy. Then it turns out they’ve been dating for TWO YEARS. So all signs would point to a new romance in Rory’s life, right? WRONG. Rory doesn’t remember she has a boyfriend most of the time and often forgets about him. She puts off breaking up with him for nearly a year. Let’s not sugarcoat it: Rory treated him like shit.
Then we have Logan. There’s always drama with Logan, isn’t there? Rory has been staying with him in London while she works on her book, and old feelings seemed to emerge. Here’s the catch though: Logan is ENGAGED. Come on now, kids. So Logan is cheating on his fiancé, whom Rory knows about, and Rory is yet again the other woman.
Let’s not forget about that weird one nightstand she has with a wookie. Yes, you read that right. Rory Gilmore has a one-night stand with a wookie.
2.) The weird scenes
What was with the musical? I want to watch Gilmore Girls, not a musical, and that’s what it felt like I was watching. The town puts on this musical, and instead of showing us the highlights, we basically watched the whole thing. Lorelai didn’t even like it.
The Life and Death Brigade made an appearance in the revival. You may remember them as Logan’s friends who wore the monkey masks. What upset me the most about them was that they got more screen time than more important characters. Not to mention how annoying and immature they still seem to be. I fast-forwarded through them the first time and I certainty fast-forwarded through them the second time.
3.) What about Jess and Dean?
While I understand bringing actors back on a show is hard because they’ve more than likely moved on and are working on other projects. However, the clips of the show featured Jess and Dean as if they were going to have a couple scenes. Dean had all of one two minute scene where we got more insight as to what his sister was doing than what he had been up to. Jess, on the other had, got a few scenes, but he was mostly there to pet Rory and give her advice. HE WASN’T EVEN AT THE WEDDING! WTF? We also didn’t get much insight as to what he’d been up to either.
4.) Lorelai and Jess
Lorelai doesn’t seem to have gotten over her issues with Jess. Why? It’s been ten years and longer than that since he and Rory were a thing. He gave Rory solid advice about what to do about her future, to which Lorelai got mad at him about. Remember that while she’s still holding grudges against Jess, Logan is cheating on his finance with Rory. Luke and Jess’ relationship seems good, so why does Lorelai still harbor ill feelings towards him?
5.) Emily and Lorelai
I wanted more closure with these two’s relationship. By the end, things were better between them after Lorelai told her favorite memory of her father. However, we’ve seen this pattern before. Emily and Lorelai fight, make up, things seem to be good, then they fight again. I wanted more to come out of their therapy session because these two have strong feelings towards one another. Nothing about their relationship was resolved and it ended as it was before – full of problems.
6.) Rory’s career path
I had such high hopes for Rory’s career as a journalist, but the revival only proved that Logan’s dad was right – Rory doesn’t have what it takes to be a journalist. She had one good piece in ten years and hasn’t had a steady job in the field. Once she’s offered one by a company who desperately wants her, Rory feels like she’s too good for me. As a last ditch effort to save her journalism dreams, she interviews for the job. She doesn’t even try during the interview process, and then gets angry when she’s not offered the job.
Her new goal of writing a book about her and her mom was sweet though.
7.) Lorelai and Rory’s relationship
Was it just me or did it seem like Lorelai and Rory’s relationship wasn’t the mother-daughter-friendship like we’d seen before? Sure, Rory has grown up so she’s not as close with her mom, but I wanted more moments between them.
8.) The lack of coffee
Where was all the coffee!? These girls practically have an IV of coffee running through them at all times yet they hardly drank any in the revival!
9.) April is still around
AKA, one of the most hated characters in history. Spoiler alert: she’s just as annoying as she was before. She’s in college now, which Luke pays for, spends her time smoking weed, and wants to go to Grad School which Luke also has to scrape up the money to pay for. What happened to her mom anyway?
10.) THAT ending
I thought the last four words were going to be epic, which in a sense they were, but only if we’re getting more episodes. It doesn’t seem like we are, so the writers gave us an ending that only brought up more questions than closure. Rory’s pregnant. Who’s the father? Is she carrying Lorelai and Luke’s baby as a surrogate? Is it going to be part-wookie? It looks like we’ll never know.
Things I did like:
1.) Michel’s openness about his sexuality
This was one of my favorite parts about the revival. It was pretty clear Michel was living in the closet throughout the series. He never talked about his sexuality or going on dates. He seemed lonely, having no one but his dogs. In the revival, he’s now married to his partner and thinking about adopting a child. I’m so happy Michel finally found someone.
Can I just say Michel in general was one of the greatest parts about the revival? He hasn’t changed at all, and his sassiness had me laughing the entire time.
2.) Emily Gilmore
Emily Gilmore was also one of the greatest parts about the revival. She hasn’t changed at all, and like Michel, she’s as sassy as ever. What has changed though is she’s finally found a maid whom she kept the entire year! Though she lost her husband, she seemed to have found comfort in her maid and her maid’s family. She also finally found her calling and is putting her history degree to good use at her new job at the museum!
3.) We’ll always have Paris
Paris is always great. She hasn’t changed much either. She still tells it like it is and is the same BAMF she was in the original series. Though, disappointingly, her and Doyle broke up, but I always thought she could do better than him.
4.) Mr. Kim
He exists! Are we supposed to believe he was there the whole time? Who cares? Mrs. Kim didn’t murder him in his sleep like I had thought.
5.) Dean finally got over Rory
From the little bit we got about Dean, we see that he finally got his life together and moved on from Rory. Thank GOD! Dean deserved better than Rory.
6.) Lorelai’s Wild trip
Towards the end of the revival, not a lot was solid about Lorelai’s life. Michel was leaving her, her mother was dating again, Rory was lost, Sookie wasn’t around, and she wasn’t sure about where her relationship with Luke was going. She decided to do the Wild trip (book not movie) to try to find herself. Though she didn’t actually make it on the trip (though are we really surprised? Can you imagine Lorelai Gilmore in the woods? I didn’t give her a week) she did come to conclusions about her life. She decided to make it official with Luke and marry him.
7.) Melissa McCarthy’s return to the small screen
Sookie and Lorelai were reunited! It’s weird seeing the movie star that is Melissa McCarthy transport back into Sookie St. James, but I’m not complaining. I’m so glad McCarthy found some time to go back to her roots and bring Sookie back. She of course reunited with Michel too and their bickering brought back all kinds of nostalgia.
8.) Emily shouting bullshit at the DR ladies
Those DR ladies are the worst. Emily shouting BULLSHIT over and over again was the perfect ending to her DR life.
9.) Lorelai’s story about her father
It turns out Richard Gilmore is a softy. Sure, he did some things wrong by Lorelai, but she finally remembered a good memory the two shared together. It brought everyone closure about their relationship, even the audience.
10.) Lorelai and Luke having their fairytale ending
It’s been a long damn time coming, but Lorelai and Luke FINALLY got married. It wouldn’t have been a Gilmore Girls revival if Luke and Lorelai hadn’t had their happy ending together.
Overall, I don’t feel like I wasted my time watching Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. It was diappointing in a lot of aspects, but I don’t regret watching the moments I’ve been waiting for.
Sources:
https://67.media.tumblr.com/286c06493e407e3f28bb7f041a8d6988/tumblr_oh8a…