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Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life: 17 Things We Need to See in the Revival
Justice for Lane! Lots of Jess! The first snow!
On Friday, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life will finally premiere. And after months of anticipation and years since the last episode of Gilmore Girls aired, we have a lot of expectations surrounding the Netflix revival, because it's more than just a show; it's a lifestyle and a religion.
Will all our Gilmore dreams come true in the four-part series? Probably not, but that's OK. We can be flexible - that is, as long as everything is exactly the way we want it. Then we're totally flexible, as Lorelai (Lauren Graham) would say.
Here are the 17 things we need to see in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
1. The town troubadour (Grant-Lee Phillips). What is Stars Hollow without its town troubadour? Nothing. It's nothing, we tell you! The town troubadour is so crucial to this world that Gilmore Girls once dedicated an entire storyline to a troubadour rivalry. That's why, if we don't hear him crooning his tunes outside the gazebo at least once, the revival will only be a hollow copy of the original.
2. Justice for Lane (Keiko Agena). Lane is, without a doubt, the coolest person in Stars Hollow. So why did she end the series as a married mother of two who hates sex and stays home to take care of the twins while her husband goes on tour? Let's see Lane living her rock star dream! Let's see Zach (Todd Lowe) sacrificing to support her! Let's all pretend her Season 7 storyline doesn't exist!
3. A tribute to Edward Herrmann. Although almost the entire Gilmore Girls cast is returning for the revival, it will be missing Richard Gilmore. Herrmann, who played the lovable Gilmore patriarch, passed away in 2014, something which the show will deal with by writing Richard's death into the series.
A Year in the Life will pick up a few months after Richard's passing, and the family's grief will be explored in all four installments. We know Emily (Kelly Bishop) will react to the loss of her husband in unexpected ways - wearing a Candies t-shirt, throwing out most of her stuff, commissioning a larger than life portrait of Richard - but we hope to see more than just Emily, Lorelai and Rory (Alexis Bledel) mourning Richard. We also would love to see a celebration of him and Herrmann, who added so much to this world we love dearly.
4. Luke (Scott Patterson) and Lorelai's happy ending. It's easy to forget that Luke and Lorelai spent the majority of the final season broken up, only to reconcile at the very last moments of the series finale. And after nine years of waiting to see what Luke and Lorelai's relationship looks like without any Christopher (David Sutcliffe) or April (Vanessa Marano) drama, now is not the time to throw a major obstacle in their way. Please, just let us see Luke and Lorelai being happy. We've earned that.
5. A less annoying Rory. Let's get real: Rory was always the worst part of Gilmore Girls (except maybe Dean's marriage to Lindsay). But now that she's all grown up, we would love to see a Rory who's much less sheltered and far more self-aware. Let's see a Rory who comes down from her high horse and is a bit more relatable. Let's see a Rory who faces real problems that have nothing to do with her love life or which Ivy League school she should attend. And let's see a Rory who doesn't start spiraling the second things don't fall in line with her plan. Basically, no more stealing yachts, OK?
6. Lots of Jess (Milo Ventimiglia). Whether or not you think he and Rory made the greatest couple, there's no denying the magnetic charisma of Jess Mariano. That hair. Those eyes. The book he always kept in his back pocket. That time he made out with a girl against a tree with one hand in her back pocket. There is literally no such thing as too much Jess Mariano.
7. But also a good amount of Logan (Matt Czuchry). Logan often gets a bad rap in the Gilmore fandom, but he's far more than just a spoiled little rich boy. Logan was also charming as hell and challenged Rory in a way none of her other boyfriends ever did. That's why the idea of seeing a more mature Logan who's outgrown his party bro tendencies is very appealing, and one we'd like the revival to explore in depth.
8. Very little Dean (Jared Padalecki). Sorry, Dean fans. The last thing we need is to spend a lot of time with this adulterer. Next!
9. Lots of Emily and Lorelai bonding. Look, Emily and Lorelai will never be bosom buddies, but the rare times that they do get along - the fashion show, their weekend away, the mashed banana incident of 2000 - are so sweet, and we can't imagine a revival without some serious mother-daughter bonding, particularly in the wake of Richard's death.
10. Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) and Jackson's (Jackson Douglas) kids all grown up. The last time we saw Davey and Martha, they were nothing more than wee tots, but when A Year in the Life picks up Davey will be 12, Martha will be 10 and they'll have an 8-year-old younger sister or brother to boot! So how will Sookie and Jackson handle parenting a couple of pre-tweens and a young child? That is definitely something we need to know!
11. Paul Anka. How could we ever forget the Amazing Doggy Swami? Short answer: We never could. And we hope the revival hasn't either.
12. Paris (Liza Weil) being a boss bitch. Paris Geller is an unstoppable force of conviction, ambition, intelligence and blunt talk. We can only imagine how much she's accomplished in the years since she and Rory graduated from Yale. Did she become a world-class doctor as planned? Did she change her mind again and become a high-power attorney? Did Paris become the first ever surgeon-attorney, because why have just one awe-inspiring career when you can have two? We wouldn't put anything past Paris at this point.
13. Miss Patty (Liz Torres) and Babette (Sally Struthers) being, well, Miss Patty and Babette. In a town full of kooks and quirks, Miss Patty and Babette always manage to stand out, which is quite the feat. Whether they're hitting on younger men, talking sexually about plums or hitting on more younger men, they are our favorite townie duo by far.
14. Kirk (Sean Gunn) working at least two different jobs. After decades of swapping jobs every other week, there are those who might hope Kirk will have finally found his career passion when A Year in the Life picks up. But can a man as complicated, nuanced and entrepreneurial as Kirk ever truly be happy with one job for the rest of his life? We doubt it.
15. Emily having at least four different maids. If Emily doesn't change maids once in each season covered by A Year in the Life, we're calling bullsh--. Emily could barely keep a maid longer than a week in the original series. How could we ever expect her to keep one maid for an entire season?
16. Drunk Sookie. Sookie was never a big drinker, but "A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving" is one of the best Gilmore Girls episodes of all time due in large part to McCarthy's amazing performance as a wasted Sookie. Let's get more of that, please!
17. The first snow. Gilmore Girls is most often associated with fall, but there's nothing Lorelai loves more than the first snow. We've got to see her and Rory having a late night, heart-to-heart stroll as the first snowflakes of the season fall around them. That's non-negotiable.
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life debuts Friday on Netflix.