From 2000 to 2007, Gilmore Girls aired on both The WB and The CW, existing as a critical darling and a cult favorite, even if it was never a ratings success. The series chronicled the lives of the three generations of the Gilmore family: grandmother Emily and grandfather Richard; mother Lorelai; and daughter Rory. The series highlighted the differences in class between the world of Lorelai's parents and the world she chose to live in, and also showcased plenty of romantic relationships, both good and bad.
When the series ended in 2007, many fans were unsatisfied with all the threads that had been left hanging. That was why, in 2016, Netflix produced a revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Picking up with the Gilmores a decade later, the series strove to offer plenty of nostalgia and closure for fans everywhere - but also left plenty of new and old storylines still completely unresolved. We're recapping just 10 of the storylines that still need answers.
Emily's new career
Following the loss of the family patriarch, Richard, Emily Gilmore finds herself feeling untethered, dealing with profound changes in her life as she tries to give away belongings she no longer feels she needs anymore. She also enters into therapy with her daughter, Lorelai, and decides she's had enough with her snobbish high society friends, quitting her position as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
At the end of the series, however, Emily makes some truly startling life choices: she leaves the comfort of her Connecticut family home and moves instead to the island of Nantucket, where she lives on her own and puts her historical knowledge to work in a job at a whaling museum. We'd love to know more about how she made these decisions, and what she's up to now.
Paris and Doyle's future
Gilmore Girls put together plenty of romantic relationships that nobody was expecting during its original run, but arguably one of the quirkiest and most beloved was the romance between overachievers Paris Gellar and Doyle McMaster. When the original series ended, it seemed like these two were destined to become super successful and also be together forever.
By the time the revival rolled around, however, it turned out that only one part of that suggestion was true. Paris and Doyle were in the middle of divorce proceedings during the revival miniseries, but we never got a definitive answer regarding the future of their relationship.
Sookie and Lorelai's friendship and partnership
After Gilmore Girls ended, Melissa McCarthy's career was off like a rocket, leading her to become one of the most successful and versatile comediennes working in Hollywood today. As a result, McCarthy's role in the revival was limited to one scene - which still proved to be lengthy and considerably meaningful, seeing as it took place between longtime partners and best friends Sookie and Lorelai.
Sookie had previously left Lorelai and their business, the Dragonfly Inn, in order to take a six month culinary course. But that soon turned into a few years of finding herself through her work. When Sookie returns the night before Lorelai's wedding, it's unclear if she intends to stay or not, or whether she'll be resuming her role in the running of the Dragonfly Inn.
The expansion of the Dragonfly Inn
The Dragonfly Inn has always been Lorelai's biggest dream, so it's both exciting and a total surprise when Lorelai takes the initiative to look into franchising the cozy little inn with some of the money that her father left in his will. However, as exciting as that prospect may be, we never get any clear answers regarding just what will be happening with the new location she plans to open.
Furthermore, as we've already said, we don't know if Sookie will be back on the team at either of these locations. And Michel, too, expressed some ennui regarding his current status in his life. Will Lorelai be launching a new inn venture all on her own?
Luke and Lorelai's real wedding
In the final episode of the revival, "Fall," Luke and Lorelai are planning for their long-awaited, much-delayed wedding. The night before the final episode's final scene, however, the longtime lovers impulsively decide to get eloped in the gazebo in the town square, with only Rory, Michel, Lane, and Reverend Skinner witnessing the union.
The morning of the final scene, however, is just before the real wedding was about to take place. Did it actually happen? Did anyone ever learn about the first wedding? And how did people like Jess, Luke's own nephew, and Sookie, Lorelai's longtime best friend, feel knowing that they were left out of the main event?
Jess's whereabouts
More than any of Rory's other love interests, Milo Ventimiglia's Jess Mariano served a truly significant role in the series, as Luke's biological nephew but metaphorical son. He arguably underwent some of the most significant character growth out of the entire series' cast of characters, and by the time the original series wrapped, he seemed like he was doing well for himself, running a publishing house with a few friends.
When he returns in the revival, however, not much is made clear about what he's up to now. He's just breezing through Stars Hollow for family reasons, the few times he does appear, and beyond clearly still carrying a torch for Rory after all these years, we really don't learn anything about what he's up to now. We have questions, and lots of them.
The hateful letter Emily received
During one of Emily and Lorelai's riveting therapy sessions, Emily accuses Lorelai of sending her a "heinous" letter filled with "the accusations, the profanity, the abuse." It's a letter that has seemingly haunted Emily for years, since she affirms that she can even "remember the envelope" and "remember the color of the ink."
But Lorelai swears again and again that she has no idea what her mother is talking about, and that she certainly never sent her any such letter. So who did send it? What was the point of this letter? Was there ever a letter at all? When was this letter written, or sent, or found? So many unanswered questions.
The fate of Rory's book
It's a cheeky but satisfying moment in the revival, when Jess Mariano tells Rory Gilmore that all the inspiration she needs for writing can come from looking at her own life. And so, Rory sets off on writing the great novel of the Gilmore girls themselves - to her mother's initial horror and absolute offense.
As the revival wraps, Rory finally wins her mother over to the idea of sharing their intimate life stories in the form of the novel, naturally titled Gilmore Girls as well. But will Rory actually succeed in publishing it, considering her poor business etiquette and track record so far?
Rory's love life
It's virtually impossible to walk away from Gilmore Girls, the original and the revival both, having an opinion regarding all of Rory's main love interests. Whether you were a member of Team Dean, Team Jess, or Team Logan in the original series' run, there's no denying that the revival left Rory's love life in a decidedly unsatisfying place.
The only one of Rory's boyfriends to have a definitive ending is Dean, who is now happily married. But Logan has been cheating with Rory and stringing along a fiancee that he is destined to marry, because of Huntzberger lineage reasons. And Jess still seems hopelessly in love with Rory from afar. Viewers deserved a better, clearer answer regarding Rory's romantic future, than what the series offered.
Rory's baby's paternity
Which brings us to our next point. Not only did the series leave Rory's romantic future totally open in a completely frustrating way, it also left her entire future, romantic and otherwise, up in the air. The series' final words found Rory revealing to her mom that she was unexpectedly pregnant. And with that, and a shot of Lorelai's shocked face, the series ended, possibly forever - again.
There are a few options for the paternity of Rory's child - Logan, with whom she'd been cheating; Paul, the boyfriend she always conveniently forgot; the guy in the Wookiee costume she slept with on assignment; or even Jess, who was conveniently in town a few times throughout the revival. Even almost three years after the revival, we still have no idea who the father could be - and boy, do we still want to know.