REVIEW: Give us more Gilmore Girls
By Annabelle Zhou,
BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–
Warning: Contains spoilers
This past holiday weekend a lot was worthy of giving thanks for, but Netflix’s new “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” released on Nov. 25 topped the list for fans of the original seven-season show that ended in 2007.
In the week leading up to the grand reveal, the Gilmore Girls stalked me through Spotify, YouTube and seemingly everywhere, in the form of ads. When the show was finally available for viewing, it did not disappoint, living up to the persistent build-up beforehand.
Although I heard so much about the show, the one thing that I did not hear upon watching, and missed, was the very fitting opening theme song.
Dynamic duo Lorelei (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel) return to the screen eight years later, exchanging the same fast-paced, witty remarks and pop-culture references while strolling around the Stars Hollow town square, as if no time at all has passed.
The year is divided into four 90-minute episodes by season, beginning with “Winter.” As the year progresses into “Fall,” almost every character makes an appearance, weaving together old storylines and reinforcing central themes. The revival succeeds by not trying to accomplish too much in adding unnecessary or surprising elements to the storyline; instead, it simply continues the Gilmore life in mostly expected ways and really manages to cover a lot of ground in a very caffeinated 90 minutes.
Catching up with Rory finds her unemployed, after a few writing jobs fell through, and lost in life.
While she tries to find herself, she reconnects with ghosts of boyfriends past. Rory is still seeing Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) although both of them are taken, receives life-changing advice from Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) who may very well still be in love with her and bumps into Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki), now married with kids, at the same Doose’s Market they shared their first kiss at.
Around town, Taylor Doose (Michael Winter) is still making heroic town changes, this time in the form of a town play and a new sewer system.
The relationship between Lorelei and her mother Emily (Kelly Bishop) remains strained, especially as they both still grieve for Richard Gilmore, Lorelei’s father and Emily’s husband.
These four episodes take the audience on a journey in need of tissues, for a leaky eye during sentimental and heartwarming moments alike, from when Rory cuts ties with longtime love Logan to when Lorelei finally marries Luke Danes (Scott Patterson).
As the show centers around main character Lorelei and Rory, their best friends Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy) and Lane Kim (Keiko Agena) take a backseat, perhaps due to limited screen time.
Michel (Yanic Truesdale) and Paris Geller (Liza Weil) return, just as grumpy but lovable, and even the Life and Death Brigade cruise through Stars Hollow one last time.
In closing, show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino was finally able to use the famous final four words she had planned for years, but these words did not offer satisfying closure. In fact, the cliffhanger left viewers begging for answers. It may have been placed strategically to show a central Gilmore theme coming full-circle, but this reboot only leaves fans wanting more.
