There are not enough words in a dictionary to describe the awesomeness of this revival, which is nostalgic yet develops the characters.
-
8
The long-time advertised Gilmore Girls revival has finally arrived on Netflix! Composed of four mini-films, it reached everyone’s hopes, right from the first episode.
Since the news came out earlier this year, die-hard fans have been restless, wanting to discover what eventually happened to their favourite characters. Did Lorelai get back together with Luke? Did Rory become a famous journalist? Did she kept in touch with Logan after rejecting his proposal? Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life has all the answers.
Rory (Alexis Bledel), now the same age as Lorelai (Lauren Graham) was when the show first started, returns to Stars Hollow to catch up with her mother after success as a journo. Everyone seems to have moved on with their lives; Rory now works freelance, often travelling to London, staying at Logan’s (Matt Czuchry) place. Lorelai, finally in a happy relationship with Luke (Scott Patterson), is keeping herself busy with her inn, missing a notably absent Sookie (Melissa McCarthy), who took a sabbatical holiday a year ago. However, this episode mainly focuses on the death of Richard and his funeral — leaving us with his inconsolable but still witty bereaved widow Emily (Kelly Bishop).
The first episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life undoubtedly meets the audience’s expectations, and it’s a joy to rediscover all the old characters. Amy Sherman-Palladino does a really good job with the plot, allowing her characters a mature in their traits, while still retrieving their core characteristics, showing that there was little need of transition, except for the untimely death of Richard (Edward Herrman sadly passed away in 2014) and its implication for the other characters. The new story is consistent and linked in so many ways to the previous episodes, yet including new hilarious stories, such as Rory’s new boyfriend, the forgetful Paul (Jack Carpenter).
Though the actors struggled a little to embody their characters at the beginning, Lauren Graham quickly reimbodies the exuberant and eccentric Lorelai. Alexis Bledel successfully develops an evolved Rory, whose trying to keep up with the evolving world. Yanick Truesdale and Sean Gunn heighten the revival as the angry/amusing Michel and the pecular/funny Kirk respectively, as if those ten years never happened. Finally, special applause must go to Paris’ (Liza Weil) return scene, as a magnificent showing of the character’s anger issue — it was the cherry on the top.
The chemistry between everyone’s characters can be felt immediately on screen. Watching Lorelai and Luke feels like watching them from Season 5, when they started dating, all over again; watching Rory and Logan feels like watching them before the failed proposal. Lauren Graham and Emily Bishop deliver outstanding performances for their characters’ interactions with each other, leaving us with a nostalgic taste. Of course, as the core of Gilmore Girls, the Rory and Lorelai relationship still makes you smile in front of your screen. It almost feels like those characters continued living their own way until we could catch up with them.
The first part of Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life is a complete success. Not only does it take the audience back in time, it delivers a new story, with characters that have actually changed with time, but in a way that fans would have imagined and wanted. After ten minutes, it seems we never truly quit Stars Hollow; definitely a great revival for fans. If you haven’t watch it yet, don’t fear — you will not be disappointed.
Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life is available to watch right now on Netflix. If you haven’t got round to it yet, check out our writers’ favourite episodes so far, the best Rory and Lorelai moments, and how to prepare for your revival binge-watch.
