I joined the Gilmore Girls band wagon pretty late and when I did I made up for the delay by binge watching the whole 7 seasons in 2 months time. I loved the show, the quirky characters, the special bond between Lorelai and Rory and the smothering but adorable Emily and doting Richard and tons of more things…. I mean what’s not to love!!
I felt the show was positive and progressive. Lorelai did make a mistake when she was 16 and got pregnant but she took it in her stride and raised her daughter without any help from her rich parents. In her own words “she stopped being a child when the strip turned pink”. She worked hard, starting off as a maid and working her way to the management of the inn. I appreciated her parenting style, she was fun and friendly and just the right amount of strict and probably that’s why she raised a strong willed, ambitious daughter who was a really good kid. She dated responsibly and had a great value system in place like the time when she was very unhappy with Rory sleeping with a married Dean. She’s kind and is genuinely nice with Kirk, Paris, Lane and Dean even after Rory’s break up with him.
Yes, her relationship with her parents is debatable but over the seasons you can see where she was coming from. She could have treated Luke better too but her behavior is driven by her self-centered personality, she’s not really being mean or selfish.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 7 seasons and loved to watch both mother and daughter grow up. It was also endearing to see the way Lorelai’s relationship changed with her parents over the years. Season 7 ended on a happy positive note and I was left craving for more so I immediately indulged in Gilmore Girls – A Year In Life, and man I was disappointed!!
- Since the beginning of the show Rory is the super smart kid who’s really good and kind and ambitious. The sequel defies all of that. Not only does she seem to be wasting her life and fancy college education but also having an affair with a guy who’s engaged while having a boy friend who she keeps forgetting about. Her life in general is very unstable – no job, no permanent place of residence, no steady relationship. I expected more from her… much more.
- Richard Gilmore is sorely missed and Emily’s widowed version makes his absence even worse. She is so soft and mellow. No more cockiness, no more new maids. She is so lost and depressed that she’s almost unrecognizable for the most part. In season 7 she once had fired a maid because she saw the maid talk to Rory and in the sequel she doesn’t care who is coming in the house and even asking the maid to rest while she warms soup for her!! WAY too hard to digest !!
- There is no real story. It feels they got all old characters together for giving a closure of sorts and then randomly created a story to fit all those characters in 4 episodes. For example, bringing Paris and all the drama around IVF was totally unnecessary. There also is very random referencing with past events trying to create a sort of connection between the original 7 seasons and the sequel but it falls flat because of the sequel’s many short comings. Lorelai saying “I smell snow” also sounds so fake this time around.
- Many of the cast members seem to have lost their spark, Lorelai included. Sookie was not there for most part, and even when she appears in the last episode she is so unlike her character that I wished she hadn’t appeared at all. Luke, Jess and Michel were the only ones that did justice to their characters, everyone else has paled since the glorious 7 seasons.
- The sequel was made more eccentric and whimsical, there were more dramatic bits like the town musical and the whole dance and music thing with life and death brigade. Both are utter waste of time. The directors tried to give more glamor to the show through the life and death brigademusical but it didn’t work because we actually liked the charming homey vibe of the show that the sequel sorely lacked.
- I was rooting for Logan through season 6 and 7 and was looking forward for more of his amazing chemistry with Rory. However, he disappoints too. He had quit his father’s empire and taken up a job when season 7 ended, but now, not only is he back but he is also engaged to someone his family chose and is cheating on his fiancee with Rory. Also his older version is not half as charming as his younger self.
- Stars Hollow looks as warm and cozy as it did earlier but Emily and Richard’s house looks almost lifeless. It feels like Richard not only filled the frame but also gave more life to the set.
- The shot with Mr. Kim was terrible. During whole 7 seasons there is no mention of Mr Kim anywhere, just bringing him up at the end seemed very casual and unnecessary. Same goes for Lorelai’s therapist turning up for the audition and acting crazy.
- I didn’t like the way it ended. Rory gave Lorelai the news of her pregnancy and we didn’t even get to see Lorelai’s reaction!!! What was the point of it anyway? If the idea was to draw parallels between Lorelai and Rory‘s lives that now Rory will be raising a child by herself like her mother did 32 years ago, it sucks! First of all Lorelai was much more responsible adult than Rory has shown to be. Lorelai didn’t shirk away from working hard but Rory seems to have an arrogant, entitled air around her in the sequel. Lorelai got pregnant when she was almost a child herself but Rory has no excuse for being careless.
- Last but not the least, I was put off by how old the whole cast looks. Yes, the show did progress by 10 years but since I binge watched all of the 7 seasons right before I watched the year in life I was so taken aback by the way everyone looks. Only Babette looks just like she did earlier, while time took a toll on each and everyone else. Forget Lorelai, even Rory shows wrinkles.
These are most of my opinions of the sequel. It totally spoiled the gooey happy place Gilmore Girls had created for me and I wish I could erase these 4 episodes from my memory. If you have watched Gilmore Girls or the sequel A Year In Life do leave a comment below and tell us how you feel about it.
-A
