Warning!

This post contains spoilers!

Apologies for taking so long to post this. I did, after all, watch this on Friday. I had my notes. I wrote half of the post. Then life (and a weather-induced headache) got in the way.

Anyway, if you haven’t yet seen Gilmore Girls: A Year in The Life, but do have a soul, do not read any further until you’ve watched (at least once). Well, I suppose if you don’t care about the show, you can continue reading, but it’s not going to make any sense. So, do yourself a favor. Start with Season 1, Episode 1 (it’s all on Netflix), and come back when you’ve caught up.

I’ve been waiting a very long time for this. A VERY LONG time. Since the first hints of it were uttered by Scott (Luke) on the Today Show and by Amy (Sherman-Palladino) at the Gilmore Girls reunion panel at the ATX Festival in June of 2015. Ok, really since Rory hit the road with Barack Obama’s campaign in May of 2007. Finally, November 25, 2016 arrived, a night so special that it warranted opening my favorite bottle from our Napa trip – the 2014 Syrah from Pride.

It wasn’t long before I had comments running through my head, and I knew I wanted to talk about them, but wasn’t going to Facebook it all, lest I spoil the experience for anyone else. So, I took notes.  And that may make some of the rest of this seem very disjointed. But, I’m ok with that if you are, and I think you are. Oh, I’ll just bullet point it. Works for me.

• First – sigh. The dreamlike echo of the memories through the opening title was so divine. I got serious warm fuzzies because I knew every quote and could instantly recall the scene and episode plot for each and every one. Oh, all the feels – and it’s just a blank screen

 

• The first scene convo at the gazebo was fab in that it took the moment to recognize how awesome this all is, and yes, it’s been too long. I wonder – if the part following “winded” came about because of outtakes, because I could totally see that, can’t you?

 

• Are those satin sheets on the bed? Luke and satin sheets?!

 

• Michele and his Brioni suit. Lorelai must pay very well, if he can afford to dress as well as Richard did.

 

• And yay for Michele being married! Why didn’t we get to meet his husband? Is he from Canada?

 

• His creepy little chest aside, I’m surprised to find myself noticing how well Kirk has aged.

 

• OMG – the whole Paul thing! Hilarious! And she manages to forget him when she’s in London with Logan. How convenient. Ha ha. But, really, I am bothered by the whole thing. I’m staunchly team Jess, so I’m not thrilled with her and Logan anyway. Couple that with the fact that she’s cheating on Paul and he’s cheating on Odette (stupid, French heiress name. She doesn’t sound like someone he’d marry. She sounds like someone Mitchum would want him to marry). While she did do the adulteress thing before with Dean (and I didn’t love it then either), it somehow didn’t feel as bad, (even though it was worse). I’m not at all surprised that Logan is fine cheating on Odette, but I’m disappointed in Rory. She’s better than that. She should be better than that.

 

• Kirk singing Top of the World to Lorelai as he drove her to Emily’s in his Ooober car. The way she acquiesced to his Carpenter restriction with a reminiscent smile seemed to take her out of Lorelai and into Lauren just a bit – like in the opening scene. Nothing could be more perfect, could it? Such a Stars Hollow moment. I’m sure my smile mirrored Lorelai’s.

 

• I’m so, so very glad they made the funeral a flashback. It’s a lighthearted show at heart, and recreating Ed Herrmann’s passing and all of the accompanying grief would have been far too much of a downer for the show, don’tcha think? Those of us watching have already mourned him with the cast at the festival panel (link) and today show discussion (link), and the cast and Palladinos certainly went through that whole grief process already, and this felt like such an appropriate way to honor his memory without re-opening that wound too wide.

 

• And, about after that funeral – is that a tallit on the desk in the kitchen corner?!

 

• We watched this episode as a family. So, with all the talk about whether or not Luke would have to have sex with the surrogate, I kept waiting to see if The Girl would ask what “having sex” means. She didn’t. Whew. Crisis averted.

 

• After seeing the maid a couple of times (and shocked – because Emily has never kept a maid long enough for two appearances) I started asking myself, “Is the maid Gypsy?” I searched the web, IMDB, etc. and Berta is not credited. But, I’m not the only one who is thinking such things:
  https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.romper.com/p/who-plays-berta-in-the-gilmore-girls-revival-she-might-look-familiar-23331/amp  
  and
  https://www.bustle.com/articles/196696-who-is-berta-in-the-gilmore-girls-revival-gypsy-may-have-2-roles-this-time-around
  If any of you see a quote from Amy S-P about this, please send it my way.

 

• My friend Amanda messaged me to ask if she was seeing things, or if that was Sebastian Bach doing a cameo with Hep Alien. Oh, how could anyone forget Gil? Maybe because he was so old. Ha ha. But, the more important question is this: why is Gil’s hair so greasy in the scene? Ick.

 

• One more note on appearance: does anyone else think that Emily looks like a lollipop head person in the Candie’s top & jeans?

 

• Dolly was a great choice for closing out the ep.

 

Next… Spring. I’ll try to be more prompt… if re-watching doesn’t get in the way of my writing. Because I am re-watching.