Stream: Gilmore Girls - A Year In The Life

Over Thanksgiving weekend Netflix released the much anticipated Gilmore Girls revival called "A Year In The Life." I watched Gilmore Girls live when it was on, I own the entire series on DVD and I've even re-watched all seven seasons on Netflix. For my fellow die hard fans, I am Team Jess. 

I was really anxious to see how Netflix would bring us back to Stars Hollow after all this time. The reason the new episodes are called "A Year In The Life" is because there are four installments - one per season (winter, spring, summer and fall). Each episode is 90 minutes long. 

*SPOILER ALERT! Do not keep reading if you do not want to know anything about these episodes, especially the ending.*

WINTER

The first season, winter, begins on the evening of a fresh snowfall (we know how Lorelai loves snow). Lorelai and Luke are living together in Lorelai's house and Rory has just come home from a work trip to London. I have heard a lot of people say "Lauren Graham doesn't age!" I have to say, I disagree. I think in the revival she looks bloated and puffy in the face and that they kept giving her terrible, dated hair styles. 

In this first episode we're told that Rory is now 32. How is Rory Gilmore my age? I couldn't compute that in my brain.

When Rory returns to Stars Hollow we get reacquainted with our most beloved townspeople - Babette, Miss Patty (who definitely had gastric bypass surgery), Taylor, Gypsy and Kirk. Kirk now has a pet pig named Petal. I was so happy to see that the town troubadour returned too! He was always my favorite.

We also learn in the first 90 minutes that Richard Gilmore has passed away (actor Ed Hermann passed away in December 2014). The grieving process colors most of Lorelai and Emily's interactions for the entire four episode run. 

SPRING

In episode two, spring, Paris appears! I have been used to seeing her as Bonnie on How To Get Away With Murder, so I had to adjust to her back in this role. Rory and Paris head to Chilton for an alumni day. Francie (queen of the Puffs) also came back and they wanted us to think we saw Tristan in the hallway, but that was definitely not Chad Michael Murray. 

Headmaster Charleston can sense Rory is unhappy with her freelance journalism career and invites her back to teach (flattering or depressing?). 

Fueled by the headmaster's pity party, Rory offers to write a story for a magazine about people who wait in line for things. The only redeeming part of that random storyline was the cameo from Parenthood's Mae Whitman. 

In the second episode we also learn that Richard left money is his will for Luke to franchise the diner. I wasn't terribly into this storyline, though Emily being pushy about it felt spot on. 

SUMMER

In summer, Rory moves back to Stars Hollow and decides to become the editor of the Stars Hollow Gazette. This just felt so sad to me. After getting into Yale and traveling the world, she just settles for coming right back to the start? It just seemed so unlike her.

One hour into this third episode, Jess emerges. I was always Team Jess (sorry, Dean) and I've been watching Milo Ventimiglia on This Is Us, so I am extra in love with him right now. Jess suggests to Rory that she should write a book about her life with Lorelai. 

Also this hour, Stars Hollow puts on a musical. Sutton Foster, Liza from Younger, is cast as the lead. I have no idea what they were thinking with this storyline, but I it felt like an excuse to write Sutton Foster into the script.

FALL

The fourth and final episode opens with Lorelai attempting to "Wild" on the Pacific Crest Trail. This storyline was super ridiculous (for all the reasons Luke mentioned) and I couldn't really buy in. That being said, I loved the cameos from Jason Ritter and Peter Krause, Lauren Graham's co-stars on Parenthood. 

In fall, Rory has one last crazy night with Logan and the Life and Death Brigade. This was such a fun montage and threw me right back to her very first overnight with them when she was covering their "secret society" for the Yale Daily News. 

At this point, there were still several main characters from the original show that had not yet returned - Sookie, Dean and Christopher. Thankfully we got to see all three in these last 90 minutes, including a bonus appearance for Gilmore family stylist Miss Celine! 

If anyone hasn't aged, it's Christopher. I always thought he was magnetic and he continues to be. 

Dean wound up exactly where you thought he would - in the midwest with a bunch of kids. 

The final 20 minutes of the revival focuses on two things - Luke and Lorelai's wedding and then the final four words Rory speaks to her mother. Let's start with the wedding. This sequence was super dreamy and everything Lorelai deserves. I just wish we had gotten to see the actual wedding! 

Now, the ending. The final line of dialogue is Rory confessing to Lorelai, "Mom, I'm pregnant." I screamed at the TV, "What?!" I simply do not believe that conscientious, ambitious Rory would get pregnant in this way, at this point in her life. Vox actually wrote a really interesting article about the ending and why it makes all the previous seasons feel like a sham.

During all four episodes I was so happy to be reunited with our Stars Hollow family that I honestly didn't care too much about the plot. It was like seeing the Sex and the City movie after the show had been off the air for years. You are just so elated to be back with your favorite people. That being said, I really and truly hated the ending and it kind of made me wish I hadn't watched the revival at all. 

Did you watch? Do you share my sentiments? I am so curious to hear your reactions! 

*Image courtesy of the Gilmore Girls Facebook page.