Very recently, Netflix released the official trailer for the 4-part revival series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. If you’re like me, you’ve already gone full investigative mode, i.e. pausing the video at every frame, analyzing each line, and making inferences about what we’re going to see starting November 25th. If you’re also like me, your love for the show runs deeper than Miss Patty’s love for velvet robes and is probably just as ardent as Lorelai’s love for coffee.
I compiled a wish list for the revival series for the sake of my own indulgence. And copper boom: here it is!
Fourth wall breaks, please!
Embedded in the show’s quirky writing is a plethora of pop culture references, and, inevitably, the characters will spew out said references in the revival. While it was rare, the show had been known to ‘bend’ the fourth wall from time to time. Case in point: in an earlier season, Lorelai says, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” as a nod to 1987’s Dirty Dancing, which starred her on-screen mother (actress Kelly Bishop) as Baby’s mother.
Similar references to actors’ post-Gilmore work would be hilarious. Imagine Lorelai (or any other character) confronting these actors’ respective characters with quips only subtly alluding to their projects — like Jared Padalecki’s participation in Supernatural, Liza Weil’s role in How to Get Away with Murder, or Milo Ventimiglia’s part in Heroes. Given that Mae Whitman is confirmed for a guest appearance, there is bound to be a Parenthood (Lauren Graham’s own post-Gilmore venture) reference in there, too.
I know that I’m supposed to be careful about what I wish for, so I hope that this brand of pop culture reference happens only sparingly. Fourth wall breaks, especially in a relatively insulated world like Stars Hollow, can fracture the format of any show. And I wouldn’t want Gilmore Girls to be too ‘on the nose.’ That’s just not what the show is.
No flashbacks! (We don’t want another Fuller House)
I’ll accept the sepia toned theme sequence as enough of a nostalgic device on this show. The thing about Gilmore Girls is that the dialogue is pointedly sophisticated, and everything else isn’t. The camera angles and the takes are all simple. And the show doesn’t try to cinematographically convey a character’s thoughts or present flashbacks. (The only exception might be characters’ dreams.)
If the revival dwells too much on flashbacks, it would not only disrupt a convention of the show, it would bank on nostalgia. Given the original series’ surprising cancellation in 2007, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is the rare reboot that is more creatively-driven than commercially-motivated.
#JusticeForLane
Lane Kim is the most tragic character in Gilmore Girls. This is not to say that her fate as a young mother to twin boys is regrettable. It’s just that she’s short-changed in a lot of ways. Lane essentially risked losing the respect of her only close relative to pursue her passion. And even when she got to pursue said passion as a drum player in her own rock band, she wasn’t met with the returns she had worked hard for.
Not to mention that she ends up with a guy from her band (a.k.a., not Dave Rygalski) who is not as impassioned as her and is also, basically, a man child. In the revival, I want to see Lane rekindle the rebellious spirit that had been inexplicably subdued in the series’ original run.
A more diverse Stars Hollow
It’s 2016. Stars Hollow had probably expanded in the nine years since we last saw it. That being said, I would like to see same-sex couples and a more racially and culturally diverse community. If this set photo is any indication of what Stars Hollow will look like, I’d say we’re on the right track. What remains to be seen is whether these new characters will be given a line or two and if their roles extend beyond being background extras.
Bonus:
– For Emily and Lorelai to have an easy mother-daughter rapport
– In the Dean/Jess/Logan poll, I’m for: Team Rory, Team Someone Else, or (okay, fine) Team Jess.
– If Luke and Lorelai marry, can Kirk officiate?
None of the images used belong to Her Campus UC Davis.