‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ Contradicted Everything We Thought We Knew About ‘Gilmore Girls’
May 19, 2016, was a monumental day for Gilmore Girls fans. That was the day that word spread like wildfire that the cast would return for a revival. But if we are totally honest, Nov. 27, 2016, was kind of a letdown. That was the day after Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was released. The revival had its good moments. But after viewing the Netflix event, it’s hard to look at Gilmore Girls, the original series, the same way again. That’s because the revival seemingly contradicted everything we thought we knew about Rory and Lorelai Gilmore.
Rory wasn’t earnest and kind; she was an entitled brat
When the series began, Rory, a high school student, was a touch socially awkward but seemed smart, sweet, and motivated. Cracks in that façade started to show around season 3 of the series. But fans were happy to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Once the revival rolled around, it was pretty hard to ignore her behavior. Rory wasn’t good-natured and kind. She was an entitled brat who could not empathize with other people if her life depended on it.
Rory’s lack of empathy was really showcased in A Year in the Life. She didn’t feel an ounce of guilt over her affair with Logan Huntzberger. She didn’t seem to think about how Paul, her boyfriend, would feel if he found out she was cheating. And she certainly didn’t care how Odette, Logan’s fiancee, would feel.
Revival Rory was no longer a hardworking overthinker. She was carefree and rootless. She walked into interviews unprepared and frankly didn’t seem to take the career she was so serious about as a student seriously at all.
Lorelai wasn’t the perfect mom; she was overcompensating for her own repressed childhood
Let’s be honest: Lorelai got lucky. Getting pregnant at 16 and then leaving your entire life behind isn’t exactly a turn of good fortune. But everything that happened after that was pure, unadulterated luck.
She happened upon an inn owner who was kind enough to give her a job, a place to live, and career advancement. Rory, who was studious and pretty antisocial by nature, didn’t seem to give her many problems. And she always had the Gilmores to fall back on if things really got dire.
There was a lot Lorelai did right as a mother, but there was also plenty she did wrong. Her overarching crime, however, was failing to give Rory guidance because she was overly concerned with overstepping an imaginary boundary. Look, we get it. Lorelai did not want to be like her mother. But she may have overcorrected a bit. And the revival showcased Lorelai’s inability to offer Rory an opinion.
Luke and Lorelai’s relationship is terribly flawed
Luke Danes was supposed to be the perfect man for Lorelai. It took her forever to realize it, but eventually they settled into a nice rhythm. Sure, the relationship had some hiccups. But ultimately they figured things out.
When fans returned to the couple in 2016, they had settled into domestic bliss. That should have been the end of the story. But Lorelai and Luke were forced to navigate a few more curveballs before they got their happily ever after. When the revival ended, they were portrayed, once again, as the perfect couple. But when you look at it, Luke and Lorelai’s relationship is actually really flawed.
Communication was always an issue for the pair. Luke hid his daughter from Lorelai, and Lorelai hid her resentment about that situation from Luke. He bought a house without telling her, and she danced around the fact that she didn’t want to live in that house until he figured it out on his own.
Years into the relationship, nothing had changed. The pair still couldn’t manage to air their grievances constructively, and that’s not exactly the makings of a union that is built to last.
