‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’: Why was the reboot so horrible?
For those of us who grew up watching Gilmore Girls, the reboot was a much-needed closure. Fans are all aware of why the last season of Gilmore Girls was such a disaster. The show’s creator Amy Sherman-Palladino had walked away from the show at the end of the sixth season, so she wasn’t part of the creative process.
That’s why we were stuck with a dent in Luke & Lorelai’s love story, saw Rory’s relationship with Logan go downhill, among other catastrophes. After years of anticipation, when the revival was finally announced, fans could look for some closure for the characters who deserved so much better.
Revivals, however, can be tricky territory. Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life brought back the warmth of the original series, bringing our beloved characters back to us, including the quaint small town of Stars Hollow. But it wasn’t entirely satisfactory to see how our beloved characters had progressed as individuals & in their relationships. Here are a few reasons why.
Whatever happened to Rory?
Up to some extent, we empathize with Rory. After all, the world she grew up in changed so drastically by the time she actually ventured out as an adult that we don’t blame her for her failure to pin down the media industry. Having said that, the Rory in the revival was not the Rory we had known from years ago.
The Rory we knew was driven & disciplined. The Rory in the revival was anything but. She was living a nomadic life — which we wholeheartedly encourage — but hasn’t had a stable job in years, was living off the glory of her one New Yorker piece, was helping Logan cheat on his fiance, and the list goes on. She even kept forgetting to break up with her very considerate boyfriend Paul.
It isn’t just her personal life that she was a wreck in. In her professional attempts, she hardly seemed motivated. When she was asked by a new-age digital publication to come work for them, she went unprepared for the interview. When she got an opportunity to work for a media giant on-spec, she dozed off in the middle of interviewing a source in New York. None of this screams work ethics, now, does it?
Lorelai & Luke weren’t yet married?
In the revival, we saw Luke & Lorelai living as a couple & had all reason to think they were married until Emily Gilmore brought it to our notice that they were living like “roommates.” That hurt even us, Emily. But the truth hurts. Sure, Lorelai had to do some soul-searching after Richard’s death, but when she came back from her “On The Road” experiment, it almost felt like Luke would misunderstand her yet again.
Thankfully, he didn’t & at their wedding, we got a moving tribute to the most eccentric character in television history, Kirk. Sookie, and Michel didn’t feature big in Lorelai’s life either. We know things change & nothing remains a constant in our lives, but it was heart-wrenching to see how far Sookie & Michel had drifted from Lorelai.
One annoying thing that hadn’t changed? Emily’s unwanted intrusion into the couple’s life. Even in death, Richard has managed to rope Luke into his plans to build an empire of Luke’s Diners.
That wild cliffhanger
Much has been said about the last four words of the show. The creator always wanted these words to ring in the curtains, but for a show that’s supposed to bring us comfort, the cliffhanger is frustrating. It doesn’t help that actors Milo Ventimiglia & Matt Czuchry keep throwing hints about who Rory’s baby daddy is.
It also matters because the whole premise of Gilmore Girls was how Lorelai got pregnant at the age of 16 and brought up her kid as a single mom. That Rory would get accidentally pregnant — even though at 32 — while juggling guys without any relationship stability, feels too distasteful.
