This year for millions across the world, Thanksgiving wasn’t the only highlight of November 2016. Neither was Black Friday which seems to only get bigger every year despite the availability of online shopping. The infamous "Gilmore Girls" took the world by storm almost two decades ago with their quick banter and endless coffee, only to come back this past Friday with four episodes in the TV miniseries "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." While it brought many satisfying endings to some, it also left many open ended questions.
First, we finally got to meet the Mr. Kim of Stars Hollow. In the previous seven seasons, there was never a single mention of Mr. Kim, Lane’s dad. There is never any mention of his career, where he’s at or why he is never in any single scene of the entire series. However, in the second episode of the mini-series, Mr. Kim is introduced as if he has always been a part of the story line. Previously, he was included in the mentioning as Lane’s parents, so we knew he existed, but never had a face with a name.
The second satisfying ending is that Luke and Lorelai finally get married. The actual wedding reception isn’t shown, but of all the people to not follow the generic plan of weddings, Lorelai did it in a classy way. Best man and maid of honor anyone? It did seem off seeing that her best friend wasn’t there and kind of mean because Emily Gilmore wasn’t involved, but it was perfect in every way. I wish they did play more on showing everyone’s reactions to them finally tying the knot because after all, this is Luke and Lorelai.
The last satisfying ending for me is that I feel like a lot of millennials can understand and feel where Rory is coming from. She graduated from an Ivy League university as the top in her class, yet has no job, no credit and no underwear. Most of us probably have underwear, but the other two are definitely questionable. There is so much pressure from high school teachers, parents, guidance counselors and future employers to get a degree before going out in the real world, but the real world isn’t as welcoming student debt.
There were a lot more satisfying moments in the mini-series, but there were just as many disappointing moments as well. The first one that comes to mind is the final four words. There was a lot of hype put into these four words on social media and interviews before the show aired. Now that I’ve heard the four words, it’s all I’m thinking about. I sincerely hope that there is some sort of spin-off or a second season to follow up with because it’s almost too much of a cliffhanger. I can totally see where it is a full circle kind of thing, mother like daughter, but that leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Another dissatisfying point of the mini-series is the lack of wholesomeness. A friend pointed out that the addition of technology irritated her. I defended it in the moment because to me it made sense. The show is very into the current culture and up to date on just about everything in existence, so it does make sense to portray the current culture in America. However, it was almost a little too much. It was like they were more focused on showing how much Rory relied on her cell phones and the townspeople relied on Wi-fi.
Another major dissatisfying point was the amount of bad language. The mini-series didn’t pop off every other line with nasty four letter words that we would smack our children in the mouth with, but there was a number of lines that would not have been allowed a few years ago. It took away the charm for me. I get that they’ve grown up and the show has progressed. I get that Rory is an adult, but it still takes away from the wholesomeness of the original show.
All in all, I feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of great endings. The last four words make me think that this isn't it. Maybe they’re looking to see how well this went? No one knows for sure, no official word is out. All of the major characters were brought back, no matter how minor the role. We got to see little glimpses of all of their lives and the lives of Stars Hollow. But any true "Gilmore Girls" fan should be satisfied either way. I’m sure regardless of what happens, we’ll follow, wherever they lead.