"Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" premiered on Netflix this Friday, November 25. While many people went out to celebrate Black Friday, fans of this beloved classic snuggled up in bed and binge-watched. The miniseries took place nine years after the show ends; it was split up into four episodes, each of them based off a season. The show revolved around the lives of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, and their trials and tribulations. We were able to see for one last time, the lives of those in Stars Hollow, try to catch up with the witty banter, and laugh and cry over every special moment.
The first episode, "Winter," begins with a dark screen. We hear classic lines from the show. We are automatically filled with nostalgia and excitement as we prepare to jump on this emotional rollercoaster. And then, Lorelai and Rory appear. As soon as they being their chatty dialogue, it's like coming home again. Throughout the episode we learn Luke and Lorelai are still together, Rory is in the process of writing a book, and Emily is grieving the loss of Richard. We see each of these characters begin to get lost, thus determining their paths in the show.
The second episode, "Spring," brings uncomfortable therapy sessions, uncomfortable affairs, and the downfall of Rory Gilmore's journalistic career, and possibly Rory Gilmore herself. Lorelai begins to question her own happiness, as her original duo of Michel and Sookie start looking for more than their Dragonfly Inn, and she begins to wonder if Luke is happy in their relationship.
In "Summer," Rory is back at home with Lorelai and Luke, and writing for the local newspaper, still in a rut in her career and her love life. There is a musical in process about Stars Hollow. Emily begins to move on. Jess returns and convinces Rory to write a story about Lorelai and herself, thus leading to friction between Rory and Lorelai. This in turn causes friction between Luke and Lorelai. In the end, Lorelai decides she wants to do Wild in order to figure things out.
Finally, in the "Fall" finale, Rory seems to be getting her life back in order. Lorelai figures things out without having to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and patches things up with Emily, Luke, and Rory. Emily finally becomes the new person she is meant to be without Richard, and moves up to Nantucket. Luke and Lorelai elope. We learn Jess still loves Rory. And then, there's the last four words nobody was expecting to hear (no, you're not going to expect it! Here's a hint: baby).
I'm a big Gilmore fan, and while I think there's barely any flaws in the show overall, there were many things I disliked about the revival. For starters, I think the limitation of four episodes caused it to be rushed, and because of this, some things just did not seem right (*cough* those last four words).
Rory's character was quite literally out of character. In the revival, I saw her settling instead of facing reality. Rory was once the other woman (late season 4 and early season 5 were NOT good times for her), so to see her not only cheating on her forgettable boyfriend Paul (where did he come from?!) and sleeping with her engaged ex boyfriend Logan struck a nerve in me. It's one thing to still be in love with him, but why bring back the past? I understand the concept of her being in a rut, because it happens to the best of us. But I will never understand how she could make the same mistake over and over again. Rory has always been someone who learned from her mistakes and was more mature than Lorelai herself. I look up to Rory Gilmore, so to see this come out of her disappoints me. It brought no character development in my opinion, and it proves that seven seasons of rooting were for nothing.
Going off character developments, the character of Logan has been completely crushed. When we meet Logan in season 5, he's a hotshot playboy who doesn't want to commit but ultimately does. He stops his cheating ways and works extremely hard to be with Rory. He straightens up and we are left swooning for him. Yet, this season just proves that once again, it was for nothing. We see someone who has forgotten about loyalty and is stringing along poor Rory. Anyone can tell that he is in love with her, but he does not commit. In fact, instinctive drift has gotten to him, for he reverts back to the cocky character we initially abhorred.
But, there were things that I enjoyed. I want to praise the character development of Jess Mariano (yes, I am in fact Team Jess). Jess was the bad boy, the angry kid your parents warned you about. He had a rough background, both of his parents being absent. He was sent to live with his uncle, which brought him to Rory; while it took him years to straighten up, he did. In fact, he's probably more mature than Rory Gilmore herself. He becomes this wise 30-something-year-old who can guide anyone on the right path. Jess deserved more screen time than he was given, and he deserved a better storyline. I fully believe that while he should end up with Rory (as it has been foreshadowed), he shouldn't be seen as the advice giving ex boyfriend who'll pine over her. He should have gotten more successful, had someone else who deserves him, and should have his own section of the show.
Something that struck a chord in me was Richard Gilmore's death. Richard Gilmore himself, Edward Herrmann, passed in 2014 after a struggle with brain cancer. Richard was the happy grandfather who believed wholeheartedly in his granddaughter. He didn't have the best relationship with his daughter, but the scenes he had with Lorelai were powerful. He was Emily Gilmore's other half, and when she lost him, she lost herself. Richard gave and gave and expected nothing in return. He had his faults, but his assets compensated. He reminded me of my own grandfather, whom I love very dearly, so to lose him was like losing my own grandfather. It was the emotion that actors portrayed whenever discussing Richard (Lorelai breaking down on the phone when discussing her favorite moment with him, Emily's recovery, Rory going into her grandfather's study for inspiration) that truly made me realize that the ones we love might leave us physically, but they'll never leave us spiritually.
Emily Gilmore is the character I love to hate. She was too stuck up and couldn't let go of the past. She would always be firing maids. She always loved to pick fights with Lorelai, and never truly let loose. In the revival, I saw her struggle. I saw her angry, depressed, happy; I saw her for the person she is: someone who is misunderstood. After Richard's death, her growth was something like no other; she learns to let loose and move on and become her own person, as seen when she calls "bullshit" in her DAR meeting. I've grown to love Emily as both the uptight grandmother and as the transforming widow who works at a whale museum in Nantucket.
I just enjoyed seeing new episodes, and I can't wait for these do become ABC Family and UP TV reruns. "Gilmore Girls" is a show that touches the heart and soul. I started watching this show not knowing what it was about, watching if because I had heard about it from friends, and I left transformed. It truly makes you appreciate what and who you have in your life. It inspires you, makes you joyful. Of course, there will always be things you wish were different, but the writer will never be able to please everyone. Amy Sherman Palladino did an amazing job with the revival overall. Where she leads, we will follow.
