Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016)

Written by Peter McGinn on April 27, 2022

After watching all of the original seasons with my wife, it was inevitable I would go on to watch this sequel series. In many ways it was as interesting and entertaining as the original to me. The dramatic elements seemed to burrow deeper into the main characters. Perhaps that was to be expected when the show had to take off dealing with the death of Richard, the father and grandfather who took up so much emotional and stage space in the original.

The show is recognizable from the first iteration, though it felt different at times. Maybe it was just me, but it almost felt sometimes like the main character was winking at us before one of the usual outbursts off fast talking and cultural references, as if saying, “Hang on; here we go again.” It felt forced, almost. But again, it may be my reaction to its presence in a show that was in many ways more serious then the original.

We definitely have a grown-up Rory here, navigating modern romance (well, relationships more tha romance) where the rules of commitment and being a one man woman are not a good fit for her modern life. She perhaps shows the most personal growth in this sequel, with her grandmother running a close second. Her mother and Luke at times seem to be spinning their tires in the personal growth area.

So it was worth watching and not the same old stuff. The characters have changed and the 90-minute formula of the episodes altered the story arc considerably. Like the original, well worth watching.