The Gilmore Girls Revival I wanted to love

Warning: slight spoilers ahead. But no, I would never reveal the last four words. That would just be mean.

There are very few television shows that make me more emotional than Gilmore Girls. It’s one of those feel-good comedy dramas that makes everything better, even if the episode leaves you sobbing into your pillow while eating a bucket of ice cream.

Gilmore therapy — that’s what I call it.

To give you an idea of how much I love the show, back in October, I stood in a line for nearly two hours to get some free coffee at a pop-up Luke’s Diner. Despite the fact that I knew I would get nothing more than a coffee sleeve, I stuck it out anyways. So, when Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, came out on Netflix on Friday, I knew I needed to make it quite the affair.

I invited my girlfriends and fellow Gilmore girls to my place on Saturday morning to binge the revival. The table was covered in snacks Gilmore-style. We had the staples — poptarts with an apple centerpiece, tater tots, marshmallows, smartfood popcorn, and pizza — as well as a few “healthy” options we barely touched. Dressed in sweat pants, sweaters, and some plaid, we all settled in for what we knew would be an incredibly long emotional rollercoaster. After watching the last two episodes of the original season, we dived in to the revival; ready for whatever the writers were going to throw at us.

Note: we started watching television around 11:30 a.m. and we finished around 9 p.m. I think I can say I’ve officially mastered the binge.

It’s taken a few days to digest my feelings about the show, but after much consideration, I would give the revival a solid b-minus. The theme was very much about transitions — what you do when life throws you a curveball. Emily, Lorelai, and Rory Gilmore are each struggling to get their lives back on track, and each challenge brings the family closer together. Emily must deal with the loss of her husband, Richard, who was played by the late Edward Herrmann. Lorelai is in a rut, both in her relationship with Luke and in her professional life at the Dragonfly Inn, unable to move forward. And Rory is jumping from guy to guy with no set clear path career wise.

There was a lot to love about the revival. Kirk’s film and his oooooo-ber business, Paris taking the heads off of Chilton’s next generation, and of course the extensive cameo list. There were moments that made me snort in my coffee and cry into tissues. The draft of the book entitled “The Gilmore Girls” was a cute add-in that I really enjoyed. And, of course, the set of Stars Hallow was still as beautiful and quirky as ever.

But —and while it it pains me to say it — there was a lot lost in the new four episodes.

What appealed to me about the original series was the strength of the characters. These ambitious women tackled problems independently, without aide or dependence from their partners. They were comfortable with who they were. It’s also one of the few shows that didn’t have unnecessary relationship drama (the emergence of April notwithstanding). The boyfriends, fiancés, and husbands were always there, but they were never the focus. The only relationship that mattered was that between mother and daughter.

But those strong characters completely deteriorated in the revival. Rory, the bookworm that stole my heart and soul so many years ago, lost all her journalistic fire. Where was the woman that sent out hundreds of resumes by hand or harassed an editor in his office with a book full of writing samples and a handful of pitches? It seemed like she was just waiting for opportunities that were presented to her instead of going out and finding a story, something the old Rory Gilmore would have done in an instant. Professional life aside, where was the girl that fled the country after realizing she was “the other woman” in an accidental affair? Now, the character seems to have completely devolved, actively engaging in an affair with an engaged former beau. And what about poor Paul!!

And then there were the fillers. The Stars Hallow musical, for example, was strange and way to long. Yes, it gave Carol King an opportunity to make a cameo, but it was 15 minutes of weird unnecessary song and dance from two Broadway stars that worked with the writers on other projects. Also, the 30-something gang was kind of offensive. It perpetuates the false stereotype that millennials are lost and apathetic, mooching off their parents and spending their time watching YouTube and doing weird Internet challenges. Kudos to Rory for not getting caught into it all, but I was hoping she would get them involved in the Stars Hallow Gazette to prove they had actual purpose.

All in all, Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life fulfilled my withdrawal. It had enough good moments to counter some of the bad, and it presented a great opportunity to get together with friends and eat a ton of junk food. The last four words were worth waiting for, and it does bring the story full circle, ending the revival in an intriguing and suspenseful way, but also leaving room for a possible continuation.

I hope that if Netflix does decide to keep Gilmore Girls running, they do a bit of a better job at returning the characters to their former glory. I really wanted to love the revival, and I really want to love whatever Netflix decides to do with the show next. Until then, I’ll just say this:

I smell snow. 

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