Gilmore Girls' seven seasons, and viewers might miss them among all the fast-talking shenanigans.
Such changes help explain why A Year in the Life doesn't live up to the original series despite being highly anticipated. Fans really wanted a revival when Gilmore Girls was canceled after season 7, but Netflix's addition to the show only highlights how much it changed over the years. A Year in the Life is worth a watch, but it's a far cry from the earlier seasons of the hit series — and the things that set it apart are largely responsible for Gilmore Girls' dip in quality during the later outings.
10 A Year In The Life Has A More Serious & Pessimistic Tone Than Gilmore Girls
This Change Was Seasons In The Making
Gillmore Girls: A Year in the Life takes on a more serious and cynical tone, and this contributes to the revival's criticisms. The early seasons of the show feel playful and lighthearted, even if they occasionally tackle serious subjects. They also feel hopeful; Lorelai builds a life for herself without her parents' help, and she pushes Rory to reach her full potential. At some point in the original series, however, Rory starts questioning her dreams and goals — and this isn't fully resolved during A Year in the Life.
Although Rory is working as a journalist, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life shows how little progress she's made in her career. The revival's ending also sees her following in her mother's footsteps by getting pregnant unexpectedly. While this isn't necessarily a negative thing, it does highlight the realities of adulthood far more than the early seasons. It also brings things full circle in a way that implies Rory's destined to become her mother. Lorelai's struggles with fertility and the loss of Richard Gilmore also make the revival sadder and more serious, and that starts several outings earlier.
9 Gilmore Girls Lost Some Of Its Small-Town Charm As It Continued
Stars Hollow Loses Its Luster As The Show Continues
The small town of Stars Hollow contributes heavily to Gilmore Girls' charm, but some of this is lost as the series continues. There are a couple of reasons for this. For one, Stars Hollow no longer seems novel after watching Gilmore Girls for seven seasons and a revival. Both the setting and the series' witty banter lose some of their luster over time, making later outings feel less exciting. Of course, Gilmore Girls also spends a lot more time outside of Stars Hollow in its later seasons.
A Year in the Life brings the focus back to Stars Hollow, but its more serious tone still fails to capture the magic of Gilmore Girls' glory days.
Although Rory and Lorelai are always traveling back and forth from Stars Hollow to Hartford after Rory enrolls in Chilton, the series still feels firmly grounded in their hometown. When Rory goes off to college, the show's scope expands in a way that makes it feel less quaint and cozy. A Year in the Life brings the focus back to Stars Hollow, but its more serious tone still fails to capture the magic of Gilmore Girls' glory days.
8 Rory Became A Less Likable Character In The Lead-Up To A Year In The Life
Rory Is Unrecognizable By The End Of The Show
Rory is a likable, if naive, heroine when Gilmore Girls begins, but her character takes a turn for the worst as the series continues. Rory changes dramatically when she goes to college in Gilmore Girls season 4, becoming more self-absorbed and making some major mistakes. Her affair with Dean is probably the beginning of Rory's downfall, and she only gets worse as she meets Logan, becomes insecure about her writing talents, and drops out of Yale.
Although Rory turns some of this around before Gilmore Girls season 7, she never fully returns to the likable, innocent character from the earlier outings. This is to be expected to some extent; Rory had to grow up during the show's seven-season run. However, Rory fails to win viewers back over, even in A Year in the Life. Looking back on the show overall, it's difficult to reconcile the woman from the revival with the high school student from season 1.
7 The Magic Of Luke & Lorelai's Romance Fizzled Out As Gilmore Girls Went On
The Pairing Depended On The Will-They, Won't-They Nature Of Their Relationship
Luke and Lorelai are Gilmore Girls' fan-favorite couple, and it's difficult to imagine the series without them at its center. Unfortunately, this pairing gets a lot less interesting as the series goes on. Luke and Lorelai finally get together in Gilmore Girls season 4, and their chemistry gradually fades from there. They have a few great moments, but it quickly becomes obvious how much the show benefits from their will-they, won't-they dynamic. Without it, there's a significant lack of tension.
By the time A Year in the Life arrives, it's hard to deny they've lost their spark.
It doesn't help that Gilmore Girls struggles to determine what's next for Luke and Lorelai after they become a couple. The series attempts to throw obstacles at them, from the arrival of April Nardini to Luke's reluctance to commit. These challenges feel fabricated for the sake of drama, and they make Luke and Lorelai's relationship harder to root for. By the time A Year in the Life opens, it's hard to deny they've lost their spark.
6 Gilmore Girls' Storylines Start To Feel Repetitive
Some Of The Characters' Patterns Get Old Over Time
Gilmore Girls' storylines are fresh and original in season 1, but they begin to feel repetitive over time. Unfortunately, the characters repeat a lot of the same behaviors and relationship patterns throughout the series, and it gets less interesting each time they do. Lorelai returning to Christopher is just frustrating after one or two times. And her issues with Luke in A Year in the Life are the same ones they had in the original show.
Likewise, Rory continues to flail in her career and love life throughout Gilmore Girls, and even A Year in the Life never adequately resolves these aspects of her life.
Likewise, Rory continues to flail in her career and love life throughout Gilmore Girls, and even A Year in the Life never adequately resolves these aspects of her life. Sure, you can argue that Rory needs to be alone to figure things out. But there are only so many times viewers can watch Rory make the same decisions and mistakes before it becomes predictable.
5 Lorelai's Issues With Her Parents Are Gradually Resolved
She Makes Strides Towards Repairing Her Relationships With Emily & Richard
When Gilmore Girls opens, Lorelai's relationship with her parents is taut. This serves as the entire premise of the first season. In order to send Rory to Chilton, Lorelai must allow her parents back into their lives. As the series continues, Lorelai reluctantly begins to mend her relationships with Emily and Richard, making Friday night dinners far less awkward. And although there's some drama in the later seasons of the show, Lorelai and her parents remain in each other's lives.
This outcome is unimaginable in Gilmore Girls season 1, but it makes sense after the characters' gradual progression throughout the series.
A Year in the Life even sees Lorelai and Emily going to therapy in the aftermath of Richard's death. This outcome is unimaginable in Gilmore Girls season 1, but it makes sense after the characters' gradual progression throughout the series.
4 Lorelai & Rory's Relationship Isn't As Compelling
They Feel Less Close In Later Seasons Of Gilmore Girls
As one might expect, Rory and Lorelai grow apart as Rory enters adulthood — and unfortunately, this impacts Gilmore Girls' later seasons and revival. The series' appeal is its central mother-daughter relationship, but that bond withers while Rory is in college. There's the entire fallout between Lorelai and Rory when the latter drops out of Yale. But even when they set things right, they don't quite reach the level of closeness they had in the earlier outings.
It doesn't feel like they're as close during A Year in the Life, either. The fact that Lorelai doesn't Rory's book idea drives that fact home. Lorelai and Rory have a tight-knit, ive relationship with one another in Gilmore Girls season 1, but they feel more distant from each other as time goes on. Perhaps this is inevitable with Gilmore Girls following Rory into adulthood, but it's still disappointing.
3 Paris Geller Became A Fan-Favorite Character
Paris' Transformation Is The Opposite Of Rory's
One of the few positive ways Gilmore Girls changes from season 1 to A Year in the Life involves its portrayal of Paris Geller. Paris is introduced as a stuck-up bully who views Rory as her rival at Chilton. However, Paris becomes a far more likable character over Gilmore Girls' seven-season run. The series digs deeper into why Paris acts the way she does, and it sees her coming around to Rory as a friend. When they end up in college together, Paris becomes one of the most likable people in Rory's life.
She's just as entertaining and likable in A Year in the Life, meaning her growth during Gilmore Girls' later seasons stuck.
A Year in the Life continues this trend, depicting Paris positively in her adult life. She's a successful woman running a fertility clinic in the revival, which fits Paris' ambitious personality very well. She's just as entertaining and likable in A Year in the Life, meaning her growth during Gilmore Girls' later seasons stuck.
2 Gilmore Girls' Best ing Characters Get Less & Less Attention
Lane & Sookie Aren't As Important In Later Seasons
Lane and Sookie play incredibly important roles in Gilmore Girls season 1, as they're the best friends of the titular heroines. However, both characters get less and less attention as time goes on. The rebellious and spunky Lane fades into the background significantly by the time A Year in the Life begins, and the rock-star future she envisions in season 1 isn't the one she gets. Sookie's absence in the revival has to do with an understanding between Melissa McCarthy and the producers, and it's sad she doesn't get a proper send-off.
Sookie and Lane both feel less important in later seasons of Gilmore Girls and especially in the revival. It sort of makes sense that Lorelai and Rory see less of their friends as their storylines come to focus on work and romance more. Still, being able to visit their friends regularly was part of Stars Hollow's small-town charm.
1 The Series Becomes Increasingly Less Nostalgic
A Year In The Life's More Modern Setting Doesn't Work As Well
The original Gilmore Girls is set in the early 2000s, and this is part of why it feels so nostalgic to watch. The walkable nature of Stars Hollow and the limited use of technology feels totally foreign to modern culture. The show's references and style are also products of their time, and this contributes to the charm. Unfortunately, Gilmore Girls gets closer and closer to the 2010s as it continues. And A Year in the Life takes place in 2016, which forces the writers to modernize it a bit.
The modern aesthetic and references don't work as well, as they feel like a significant departure from the Gilmore Girls viewers know and love. A Year in the Life confirms that Gilmore Girls' success is at least partially due to when it debuted. The show doesn't land as well with a 2010s setting, and it certainly doesn't feel like a distraction from the less charming elements of modern life. It also ignores too many major world events to feel grounded in reality.
Gilmore Girls
- Release Date
- 2000 - 2007-00-00
- Network
- The WB
- Writers
- Amy Sherman-Palladino
WHERE TO WATCH
In the fictional town of Star's Hollow, single mother Lorelai Gilmore raises her high-achieving teenage daughter Rory. Mother and daughter rely on each other throughout their own life changes, romantic entanglements, and friendships.
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