The long awaited Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls came out this weekend, much to the anticipation of its many fans. Since the show ended about 10 years ago, many fans have wondered and speculated about the future lives of Rory and Lorelai Gilmore. Now, the time has finally come to revisit all of your favorite characters and see what has happened in Stars Hollow all these years.
The show revival is a pretty tricky art to master. There are often a lot of expectations riding on it being to be as good as and have the same magic as the original. Shows have to juggle creating interesting new stories, including old jokes, maintaining nostalgia and adapting to modern times. Doing all of this is certainly a lot easier said than done.
A prime example of a revival many were excited about is Fuller House. When people found out that Netflix was getting the whole family back together (minus the Olsen twins) there were lots of excited fans. People were ready for another chance to see one of their favorite families back together, teaching life lessons and hearing all of the iconic catch phrases. Though the new series supplied these things, it definitely had a bit of trouble juggling the nostalgia and trying to adapt modern times. The shows main characters, Danny, Jesse, and Joey, were hardly in the new one, instead trying to pave the way for a new show centered on the children of the family all grown up. Though I understand the effort, bringing the story of Full House out for a new generation, there were just times that the cheesiness became too much and the show could not stand on his own.
For this reason I was obviously nervous, as well as excited about them bringing back my all-time favorite show, Gilmore Girls. I had lots of questions when I first heard of it, who would come back? How would they do it? Could they all fall right back into their places in this perfect little world? Would they maintain the story lines and the quick-witted humor? Or would it be too sentimental and reminiscent? Would they try to bring up too many old memories, awkwardly bringing back old characters that don't belong? Being a show known for it's pop culture references, would it be able to add modern lingo and technology seamlessly into the show?
Without giving too much away for those who haven't seen it, the show definitely met and exceeded my expectations. It seamlessly picked up with a new and logical story line ten years later. They got back all of the major characters who were able to appear without it looking too forced (the appearance of Dean was worked in perfectly). The characters texted and used phones a reasonable amount of time, but not so much that it interfered with the flow of the story. They brought up TV and movies and pop culture as the Gilmore girls love to do but it never felt overdone. There were a few references to past episodes but they always tied into the story and could at least be understood by a first time viewer.
I think that most die hard Gilmore fans will be happy with the end result. There were the crazy town antics we have all come to know and love and appearances from everyone's favorite characters. And what is probably the most important part was that the writing was back in the hands of show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. Season 7 of the original series wasn't written by her and the weird storylines made that obvious. To finally have the ending that she envisioned after all of those years (those final four words were completely mind blowing!!) was truly satisfying to watch.
