TV Review: “Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life” Is A Fitting Tribute

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Set nearly a decade after the finale of the original series, this revival follows Lorelai, Rory, and Emily Gilmore through four seasons of change.

For years “Gilmore Girls” fans were left with reruns, and then a magical event happened: we were given four new episodes. The anticipation was built up for months; fans rewatched all seven seasons, which Netflix graciously supplied. Even better, the shows were released the day after Thanksgiving, when many people were already off of work and could binge watch. But was the nine-year wait worth the four episodes we received?

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: the ending (Warning: spoilers start now, click the back button now if you have not seen the new episodes). Rory is in her early thirties, not married and pregnant! But who is the daddy? Logan seems to be the most logical option for the baby daddy because of the incredible night where he rescued Rory from her bizarre return to Stars Hallow. Of course, the baby daddy could be some random Wookie who enjoys standing in long New York City lines. What we do know is the father is not Rory’s long-term boyfriend Paul, whom she forgets as soon as he is out of her direct line of sight. I’m rooting for Logan. He needs to dump his dynastic fiancé so he can be with Rory full time. Despite who the father is, what we can take from the ending is: there will be more new episodes!

Now we can move on to discussing the characters because this is why we wanted new episodes to begin with.

Rory changed so much. She is a leaf floating in the wind now, what? No, no, she needs to have decided to finish her masters or be working on a Ph.D. at this point, not a vagabond living nowhere and everywhere. I can see her not being married, what fun would that be? We all want to know if she is going to pick Dean, Jess, Logan, or someone entirely new, but to be sleeping with a promised man again? Her boyfriend Paul is a joke; she can’t remember him well enough to break up with him, let alone have a future with the poor sap. Why he was thrown into the mix I will never understand, this deviation is completely out of the script for Rory. While I hate that she was sleeping with Logan, who is otherwise engaged, I love that he is in her life, because I am on team Logan.

Lorelei is the same; she needs coffee more than oxygen. She is a breath of fresh air in these four episodes, despite her small breakdown attempt to go hiking in woods. Her script is nowhere near as elegant as with the original seven seasons, but she is solid. Somehow she has managed to stay with Luke and has not thrown herself back into Christopher’s arms, or sabotaged her and Luke’s relationship: hence the trek into the wild. She spent most of the episodes worried about Michel leaving like Sookie did. Sookie also made a brief, yet perfect appearance in the Dragonfly kitchen.

Luke is a constant; he hasn’t changed. I don’t think he even got a new hat or flannel shirt for the new episodes; they just pulled his old ones out and dusted them off. Christoper has a cameo; he is exactly where I expected him to be, growing up slowly but making progress.

Paris is still so annoying you want to smack her and hug her because you know there are some redeeming qualities hidden deep inside her. I did not see her going the fertility route. I expected her to be a senator following in the footsteps of Hilary or at least running a campaign. Although I did see her divorcing Doyle, she is her own worst enemy.

Lane is in the background; we see her, but we don’t really gain any new information. She is still with Zach, better her than me, raising their twins and occasionally rocking some tunes in the living room. Dean makes a cameo appearance where Rory asks about his wife and kids before joking about the infamous box of cornstarch. He is obviously taken out of the running for starring in Rory’s love life.

All of the town regulars are back, Taylor is still ruling over the town with his annoying voice. Patty is teaching dance. I want to know why the play was necessary. The producers could have shortened the play instead of showing so much, because it was a major waste of time with only four episodes. The entire town made the wise decision to prevent Kirk from procreating, leaving him to make yet another timeless short film. Babette was her usual sidekick to Ms. Patty.

Jess was the highlight of these new episodes, stepping up where Rory has been floundering. He may not be the baby daddy, but at this point, he would be a good father, and he is clearly good for Rory. His youthful transgressions are far in the past and he clearly still has feelings for our lovable perfectionist. The question is, can she get past her feelings for Logan since he is obviously not going to give up the family suitable fiancé?

Did I mention Emily yet? With Richard’s passing, she has a new take on life. Maids are no longer running out her massive front door with tear stained uniforms. She ate dinner in front of the tv! With a new boyfriend in tow, she leaves her old life behind and finds her own happiness. Basically, she was brilliant. She will always be a fan favorite.

While the nostalgia was strong in these four special episodes, something was missing, but I can’t quite place my finger on what was lacking. Either way, when I sit down to watch the entire show from the start again, these episodes will be on the watch list and thoroughly enjoyed. What I am waiting for now is a couple more episodes showing Rory as a mom and actually doing something with her brilliant brain, settled down with a supportive guy, and changing the world. Lorelei as a grandma will be a real treat. I envision her filling the babies sippy cup with coffee along with a smorgasbord of sugary foods while Luke is cooking and arguing about her food choices.

What about you? What did you like and dislike about the new episodes?

Now streaming on Netflix