Almost 16 years after the original show started to air, the much-awaited revival of Gilmore Girls called Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life premiered on Netflix. Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life takes us back to the quaint and lovely town of Stars Hollow. Most of the characters from the show make an appearance and the show utilizes the nostalgia of its fans very well.
Lorelai and Rory are back on screen and fans were delighted to watch them again. The show starts out with Lorelai saying, "Haven't done that in a while," to which Rory replies "Felt good." There are many hits and a few misses though, and here are some of them.
HIT: Seeing Lauren Graham Back On Screen
Most fans will agree that Lauren Graham's portrayal of Lorelai has helped make the show what it is. She's fun, energetic, clever, funny, and talks really fast. Lauren Graham has brought all the characteristics fans had loved about Lorelai back. It is a delight for fans to watch her on the screen again. Lauren Graham doesn't disappoint. Though both Lauren and Lorelai have aged a bit since the show went off the air, the series tries to show what changes have come with the aging.
MISS: What Rory Has Been Up To
A generation of girls looked up to Rory as an inspiration. There were very few female characters on television at the time, who were nerdy, smart, and ambitious the way she was. And fans were repeatedly told that Rory was special and would go on to do great things. Fans are in for a disappointment when they see what Rory has been up to the past few years and where she is in her life at 32. She doesn't seem to be doing too well at all, and this is something that could have been better.
HIT: Stars Hollow
One of the key highlights of Gilmore Girls was the fictional town in which it was set. Stars Hollow was a beautiful place, with charming people who all cared for and about each other. It was the small town of fans' dreams.
It's wonderful for fans to revisit Stars Hollow again, and this time on Netflix's immense budget. There is a lot of beautification courtesy of that. All the places of Stars Hollow and the people of Stars Hollow are still there, happily existing in a world that moved far away from this small town.
MISS: Logan Is Back
Some fans of the show would prefer Dean and Jess over Logan as the right partner for Rory. And they would have been happy that she turned his offer of marriage down, to go chase her dreams in the original show. In Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, Rory is involved with an already engaged Logan. This will be very difficult for fans to digest. To say that this is the state of Rory's romantic life is disappointing, to say the least. Logan still being a part of Rory's life is one of those things that fans wish the show did differently.
HIT: Emily Is Beginning A New Life
Fans of the show were upset when they found out about the passing of Edward Herrmann who played the much beloved Richard on the original show. In Gilmore Girls: A Year In Their Life, Richard too has passed away and Emily is finding it difficult to resume her life after the death of her partner of many decades. Emily's growth and independence and her figuring out how the rest of her life should look like is wonderfully portrayed by the amazing Kelly Bishop. Fans have loved watching Emily's dynamics with her daughter once again.
MISS: The Mistreatment Of Lane
Fans love Lane, who is one of the best friends a girl could ask for. Lane was there for Rory through thick and thin and everyone is very fond of her. The showrunners have done a disservice to Lane, not giving her a shot at the life that she has dreamt of, a life that she so badly wanted.
Instead, she is restricted to domesticity and to Stars Hollow forever. Though it was wonderful to see Keiko Agena again, fans will thoroughly agree that Lane deserved a lot better.
HIT: Just Being Able To See What Happened To Everyone
Being able to go back to a series that fans have loved and grown up with, is a dream come true. And the fact that Netflix was able to bring back the original writer-director Amy Sherman-Palladino for the miniseries had the fans rejoicing. Despite the many things fans wish was done differently, the fact remains that to be able to go back into the world of Lorelai and Rory, and back to Stars Hollow, is something that has left fans elated.
MISS: The Show Doesn't Seem To Have Adapted To The Times
Gilmore Girls aired on television during the early 2000s and ended with Rory going on the campaign trail of the then-Senator Obama. The world has changed drastically since then. Within the span of a short 10 years, television has improved greatly and has increased its sensitivity as well. Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life still seems to be stuck in the early 2000s. Body shaming, jokes about sexuality and so on, makes it seem like the show is out of touch with today's sensibilities.
HIT: Jess Is Back!
Jess, played by the incredible Milo Ventimiglia (who is now the beloved father on This Is Us) is probably the best thing about Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. Jess seems to have grown up and matured the most. While all the qualities that made him a fan favorite, including his rugged charm and his dry humor have stayed, his teenage unreliable nature and rudeness have dissipated.
The Jess from Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life will have fans fawning over him more than his teenage self on the original Gilmore Girls.
MISS: The Episodes Are Too Long
The original show had 40-minute long episodes. This was just enough time for a single episode of the beloved dramedy. The runtime of the episodes from the miniseries on Netflix however, averages 90 minutes. There's just too much time and too little content. There are two musicals that seem a little excessive and unnecessary. Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life has 4 episodes, called Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. It goes to show that there can be too much of a good thing.