Since 2007 with the series finale, the hit series Gilmore Girls left fans both heartened that Lorelai and Rory had finally found their place, yet curious to how the continuation of their lives would turn out. Luckily for these anxious fans, it was announced in October of 2015 the Netflix would feature a four episode special about the current lives of these leading ladies, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Each of these episodes is longer than the usual 40 minutes (each being around an hour and a half) and is divided as each episode representing a different season of the year, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, respectively.
While it was enjoyable to see how each character has progressed since the audience had last saw them, and interesting to see their physical aging from the past decade, this revival left me feeling more disappointed than anything else.
The first epsiode, Winter, reintroduces the characters and gives the audience background about what these Stars Hollow residents have been up to since we last saw them. It is comforting to see that although time has moved past, and the characters are at different points in their lives, the quirkiness and humor of the characters has remained. In regard to reintroducing the cast, it is inevitable that in a revival the entire cast from the show will return. For example, Richard Gilmore – who had passed away in real life – had suddenly passed away on the show; a factor which creates a major plotline of the revival, with which the Gilmore girls are still coping. Additionally, like many other fans I am sure, I was excited to see Melissa McCarthy in the revival since achieving such prolific fame following her role on Gilmore Girls. To my dismay however, McCarthy did not make an early presence on the show because her character, Sookie, “abandoned them” for a farm. Also featured in this first episode, is Rory’s tangled love life. A new character, Paul, is introduced as Rory’s “boyfriend” a person about whom she, as well as Lorelai and Luke, constantly forget and disregard. On the other hand, when Rory is flying back and forth to London, she is staying with her old romantical interest, Logan, who is engaged. This complicated love triangle makes Rory seem as though she has not matured since we last saw her and is still caught in an unrealistic love affair.
The next episode, Spring, centers around Lorelai and Emily in therapy, trying to work through the grief of losing their father and husband, respectively. This plot line shows the quintessential Lorelai-Emily relationship of sarcasm and passive-aggressiveness, which is enjoyable to fans who appreciate the humor of how Lorelai and Emily interact. This episode also features Rory’s occupational dilemma in which she is trying to land a job, but ultimately fails. This is the point of the series in which Rory realizes she is without a job, a place to live, and a successful romantic life (unless you think her adulterous relationship with Logan is successful). This was upsetting to me, because watching Rory thrive at Yale and ten years later seem almost like a failure shows she is going in the wrong direction, which is not what a fan wants to see on a revival.
In the Summer episode, things start to really heat up (pun intended). Rory struggles with the idea that she has moved back home, and all of Stars Hollow is aware of it. While taking on a job at a local paper, she is encouraged by an old flame Jess, to pursue a novel about the life she and her mother lived. This leads to an outburst between Lorelai and Rory because Lorelai does not wish to have her personal life publicly displayed in book form. After the dispute, Lorelai returns to the diner where she has another fight with Luke which escalates. After a long day of fighting, the episode ends with Lorelai telling Luke she plans to find herself by hiking alone on a trail in the woods. This was the first episode in which real drama and action occur to set a good path for the final episode of the series, Fall.
The Final Fall episode begins with Lorelai’s journey while she tries to find herself on the hiking trail. Although quickly enough, abandons her hiking gear to return to Stars Hollow, with the big confession that she wants to tie the knot with Luke! Once settled back in, Rory presents to Lorelai the book that aroused their fight, fittingly titled, “The Gilmore Girls.” Later, just like old times, Lorelai is asking Emily for money, only this time to expand the Dragonfly Inn, and Emily complies only under the condition that Lorelai and Luke agree to visit her. Finally, with 20 minutes left of the series, Sookie is found in her element, cooking in the Dragonfly Inn’s kitchen and the dynamic duo of Lorelai and Sookie is united once again. To conclude the series, in a heartwarming scene, Lorelai gives her approval to Rory to continue writing her book about their lives, but states that she should change the title to just “Gilmore Girls.”
Finally, after living for nine years as “partners” Lorelai and Luke get married in the center of town, under the gazebo which throughout the series has been symbolic of representing the center of Stars Hollow. The episode and series concludes with a scene of Lorelai and Rory talking about their lives. Finally, Paul texts Rory breaking up with her, although she is unfazed, but the big cliff-hanger — and, possibly one of the worst show endings of all time — is Rory’s final words, “I’m pregnant.”
In these four episodes director and creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is able to capture the essence of the characters and show that although their lives have changed, they have not. However, as an avid fan of Rory’s throughout the series, it was frustrating that at the end of the revival, she has still not found herself, as Lorelai has. The ending to this revival left me with many questions, emotions, and much confusion. But who knows, perhaps another revival is on the way!
Photos courtesy of etonline.com, media.en.melty.ca, and Buzzfeed.