Review: Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

ABOUT THE SHOW

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

created by Amy Sherman-Palladino

Set nearly a decade after the finale of the original series, this revival follows Lorelai, Rory and Emily Gilmore through four seasons of change.

MY THOUGHTS

I cannot even begin to describe the feelings that went through me when I turned on the first episode, Winter. I was ecstatic, nervous, excited.. my heart was racing and I quite literally could not sit still. I know there was a grin on my face and tears brimming my eyes. The show that I had been waiting to return since 2007 was FINALLY here! It was like seeing an old friend again for the first time in years. It was like returning home after being gone on a really long vacation and seeing that everything was the same, yet slightly different. And you were too. It was like jumping into a relationship head first not knowing where you'll land, yet knowing it's exactly where you belong. It was like magic.

**NOTE: Just a forewarning, there are a few spoilers ahead. Nothing major. I tried to keep most of it as general as possible, but some of it had to be commented on. If you haven't seen this yet (and if not, why haven't you???), I suggest reading maybe only the first episodes review. If you don't care to read a little bit of spoilers, or you've already seen it, then by all means proceed.**

Episode 1: Winter

The opening scene for Winter was simply a black screen with voices. The voices of the actors saying some of their most famous lines from the original series and you think, holy CRAP. THEY MADE IT. They FINALLY made the final season we've been waiting for. And then there they are. Rory and Lorelai. Talking fast, witty and bantering and referring to pop culture once again. Winter was probably my favorite episode of A Year in the Life, simply because it's the start of the return. It's a return to a world  that I've always wanted to be immersed in. My favorite characters finally come alive again, though slightly older and in a new place in life, and we finally get a feel of the dynamics of each relationship between Lorelai, Rory and Emily, and even Luke. And let me tell you, it was executed perfectly, even though things in their life aren't perfect. No where close to that, in fact. We begin to follow Lorelai, Rory and Emily as they figure out a way to maneuver through life without a husband, father, and grandfather. Their hearts hurting. Their heads held high. Wondering if their pain will ever end, and if they'll ever find a sense of "normal" again. 

With the introduction of new characters, and the return of our old favorites, minus our Richard Gilmore, Edward Hermann, Winter was a great start for us to be back into the world of Stars Hollow's Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.

Episode 2: Spring

The Spring episode is where things start to get a little crazy. Their lives come a little bit more unhinged than in the first episode. Our leading ladies lives are starting to spiral out of control. Lorelai's odd dreams continue to get weirder and weirder, and she's struggling to find a new chef for the inn to cover Sookie's absence. Rory's work and love life aren't going as she'd planned. Emily begins going to therapy with Lorelai, but it doesn't amount to much. And Luke gets dragged into the chaos with them.

I don't really want to spoil anything from this episode so I'm not going to go into any details here with what all goes on, but I do have to mention a couple of things... I was super excited to see another Kirk film!! He's such a fun and quirky character and it was so nice to see that quirkiness show up in another short film.

I'm still confused by the whole Logan and Rory dynamic. Not really sure why or how it started, but I'm not liking it at all. Both Logan and Rory seem to have regressed as far as character development in this area. And frankly, I'm not really liking Rory much in this episode. I mean, I understand she's going through a lot, but she's acting so entitled and, if I'm being honest, bratty. She's throwing fits when things don't go her way. She's doing things that I thought as a 30-something year old woman she wouldn't be doing. She's just not the character that I remember her being at the end of the original series.

While still enjoyable, the Spring episode just didn't life up to the Winter episode for me. I know that we're building up to the climax of the series, but it was incredibly difficult for me to watch one of my favorite characters be completely different and have a lot of my favorite things about her not be present thus far.

Episode 3: Summer

What to say about the Summer episode...
Our leading ladies' lives are spiraling more out of control. Rory is living back at home, in the middle of a career crisis. Everyone in town is telling her "Welcome back!" and she retorts "I'm not back!" Lorelai is finding herself even more lost, as if she's just drifting around, not knowing where she's going to land. Things that she normally loves and finds quirky, she's not finding to be tiresome and annoying. Emily's role in this episode isn't as big as usual, but the impact is still very significant. The things she used to hold so dear and in high regard are now meaningless to her and it shows. Rory is very concerned with her well-being, while Lorelai is just kind of floating and isn't taking much initiative to make sure her mother is okay.

One thing, I'm really excited about is the fact that JESS IS BACK! It sucks that it took this long for him to show up in revival. I was hoping to get more a back story of what was going on with him, but we don't really get much in this episode.

I'm still really hating the Logan and Rory dynamic. It's horrible. I don't understand why Rory would allow herself to be put into that kind of situation and she's clearly not okay with it, but she goes along with it anyways. She just really needs to come to her senses soon. I'm just really not liking her character's story AT ALL. I thought it would be so much more than it is. I'm still glad that the revival happened, but I'm hating how everything has turned out for her character. I'm also hating what's going on with Lorelai and Luke. They seem to be having issues that a couple that's been together as long as they have should have worked out a long time ago.

With only one episode left, we're really starting to see our characters being pushed to their breaking point. It's all speeding up, and all those emotions and turmoil has to be dealt with.

Episode 4: Fall

SERIOUSLY?? THAT'S HOW IT ENDS??? THOSE ARE THE FOUR FINAL WORDS??? WHAT EVEN IS THAT???

Up until that final scene, Fall is probably my second favorite episode of A Year in the Life. The whole scene with the Life & Death Brigade was fantastic, and Lorelai's monologue at the end to her mom absolutely had me in tears. Actually, several scenes in this episode had me in tears. It was such an emotional episode, but (almost) everything finally came together. I think I loved Emily's story line and character growth the most. She changed into a character that I didn't have a love/hate relationship with. She became a character that I actually genuinely like. I'm pretty sure my favorite like of this whole series is "BULLSHIT!" And if you've seen it, you'll know why. It says so much about how far Emily has come throughout this series.

I'm still strongly irritated with the ending. I can't even believe that that was how Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted to end the series from the very beginning. It does nothing to give us closure. In fact, all it does, is leave everything open. Actually, the last episode left several things open. There's definitely room for another season after that, and I know that there isn't anything in the works at the moment, and that they haven't really said anything about there being plans for there to be another season, but I strongly hope that there will be. I think that after those last four words, we should have another season. I guess only time will tell.

I'm so glad that we got another season of my all-time favorite show. It meant so much to me to see these characters come to life again, to see where life has led them all of these years, even if it wasn't where I had hoped they had gone. I'm still holding out hope that there's another season--that we get another year in the life of my favorite characters.

RATING