Television
A Year in the life
Gilmore girls
Ah the spunky, beautiful, and outrageous Gilmore’s are back in full swing. How could we not be ecstatic, excited, elated, and emotional!? This first 90 minute episode brought us back to the whacky and loveable town of Stars Hollow and it was as if no time has passed at all. Of course we have to play a fun quip here or there, starting off with a wonderful one stating how it seems like it has been forever since our lovely mother daughter team has seen each other. We are reintroduced to our favorites; Luke, Michel, Emily, Logan, Taylor, Gypsy, Miss Patty, Paul Anka, Lane, Zach, Paris, and even the snow! We see Emily and Lorelai with their typical repertoire, and no significant development in their relationship. Rory is living a vagabond existence with no clear cut path. Dearly departed Richard, still has a major role in the family and the story. (R.I.P. Edward Herrmann we all miss you) And, our favorite girls are facing challenges with their quick wit and determination.
Do Luke and Lorelai want to have children? How will Emily cope after losing Richard? Where will Rory end up with her career? Where is Christopher in all of this? (My own personal question) And the age old debate, who will Rory end up with?
I believe we will see them conquer all that they face by the end of the year’s journey.
Winter
Therapy… How will Emily and Lorelai ever survive? Emily, the driving force that she is, will she be able to work things out with her daughter, or has that ship sailed? An old topic, Luke’s diner, becoming a chain? Is Michel unhappy and will he leave the Dragonfly? Will Sookie come back? Even Rachel Ray could not satisfy Lorelai, so she must come back! An affair to remember, what is Rory doing… this situation seems a little familiar. The girls are back at it. Festivals, friends, the Jeep, Chilton, Friday night dinners, and secrets. We even got a reunion with Francie! I wonder if she ever did achieve the perfect liquid line?
There is so much to absorb in 90 minutes between our leading Gilmore ladies, Paris, Luke, Logan, and poor Paul. Even a cameo from Mitchum, still the powerful and arrogant man that he has always been. What is to become of our little town and our lovely ladies?!
Spring
11/25/16
11/25/16
Welcome all to some new and never before seen locations in the beautiful Stars Hollow, the Secret Bar (because the 5-O, AKA Taylor, would never allow a bar in Stars Hollow) and the Communal Pool, home of Luke’s generously donated floatie hut. We are not forced to endure the “Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer” song but a new event by our loveable oaf Taylor to attract tourism, “Stars Hollow the Musical”!! Here we are welcomed to guest stars including the incredibly talented Sutton Foster (love her) and their ability to keep a straight face! (HOW!?) Suddenly, I found myself relating to Lorelai (and Luke) on a whole new level. The whole town is way more insane than I ever believed!
Michel is trying to endure children. The Stars Hollow Gazette is shutting down after 89 years and guess who steps up as editor again? None other than the lost journalism major Rory. Emily may be having a break down and this is the longest we have ever seen the same maid in the Gilmore house! We are reintroduced to the DAR in all their pastel glory. And who else but Jess would finally make his appearance.
Our girls end up having a classic mother daughter spat. It is not always sunshine and rainbows and smiles with the Lorelai’s and yet good things always seem to come, eventually, from these disagreements in which they are given the chance to learn and grow. Our girls are “Not Unbreakable.” Is it now or never?
Summer
11/26/16
Fall
Wild, an adventure, the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking, and Lorelai? What could this mean? And what does this do to poor Luke?
The queens of pop culture and off the cuff are back for the final episode. Full of memories, a marriage(?), Miss Celene, Christopher, the Life and Death Brigade, Dean, Sookie, and all.
Feeling as if we are back in Oz for our last great adventure, Rory and Lorelai each have one of their own leaving them sure and finally set on a path after all of the flailing. Tradition sets the stage for our girls with Lorelai coming back to Emily because “You need money.” But everything cannot stay the same, and there are many differences, changes, but underneath, we are still the same.
Many reappearances in a whirlwind, exactly as the town of Stars Hollow demands. The kitchen of the Dragonfly finally is full of the spunk and beauty that is required of Sookie. Dean and Dosey’s Market and the cornstarch. Memories surround our happy little town and our girls because they are all ours.
Finally, we have come full circle. We end where we begin. But the story is never over. It will always live on. Elegant yet understated. GILMORE GIRLS.
11/27/16
I will forever love Gilmore Girls. It is everything I had ever wanted in a mother-daughter relationship. That is not saying that I don’t have a great relationship with my mother. On the contrary, I feel free enough to share anything with her and I know she will always support me. But it was a different story when I was sixteen. A Year in the Life is bringing back what we have always wanted but not quite. Yes, we see our favorite girls in all their glory and have many Gilmore moments but there is a mirade of silliness in between that is fun, yes, but unnecessary and leaving me craving more of what I used to love.
There was a lot of conflict revolving the return of Melissa McCarthy, and I am so thankful that she made an appearance, but I wish we had seen more of Sookie. She is a part owner of the Dragonfly Inn and she was gone for two years and it felt wrong. Sookie was always a bit different and comedic but she seemed like a completely different person when she finally returned. Then again, it has been ten years, and things change!
This mother-daughter team perfectly exemplifies how two people so closely related can be absolutely different, and yet share many, many similarities. In a sense, the whacky relationship shows how very similar these two girls are but they are different beings, with different interests, and different ways they run their lives.
A full circle is made in the show (if only it had been as it was intended 10 years ago) and Rory slowly takes on the role of her mother that played out before us. She is headed down the same path but has already, in my opinion, met her Christopher, her Max, and her Luke. If the story were to continue, I hope Rory can find the happiness (yes, romantically) that took her mother so long to find. I have no doubt that Rory will find her own way and her own happiness just like her mother, Lorelai, did. But I also believe, Lorelai will help and support her, like Emily always wanted to do. In the end, like mother, like daughter. I could only be so blessed as to say the same for myself.