I have been waiting for November 25th to come for a few months now. I wasn't counting down the days like crazy or pronouncing the day a national holiday, I just wanted to see what happens. On the internet, I have come across several comments about season 7, how it is just not worth watching and how evident it is that the Palladinos were no longer part of the show. Personally, I didn't notice any major differences, to me it felt the same. Sadly, I cannot say the same about "A Year in the Life".
It just didn't feel right. The conversations between Lorelai and Rory seemed forced, everything did actually. How they were trying to relive their usual banter and the super long dialogues, but failed. The same goes with friendships: Sookie and Lorelai, Rory with Lane and Paris. The infamous "Gilmore pace" got lost somewhere in the last eight years, with only a few small chips of it surviving the passage of time, mostly to please the fans. And here we are, the "please the fans situation", the one that sucks. I hate when the revivals come down to it, I really do. Unfortunately, the "please the fans situation" is more than evident. The creators were trying so hard to bring all the characters back that it seemed kind of ridiculous. I mean what was with the back of Tristin's head, Francie, or showing Jackson just for the sake of it? Instead of trying to include so many characters, they should minimise the number and create better stories for them.
The biggest issue I have with "A Day in the Life" is the pace of it. Frankly, it doesn't feel at all like the show because it is muuuch to slow for it. From time to time I got a feeling that I was watching some sorts of a lifetime movie. It seems like they were facing quite some issues with filling those 90 minutes and apparently they figured that the best way to do it is with weird musical bits, slow long shots, even slower dialogue and unnecessary story lines that didn't contribute at all. The Stars Hollow musical (and other musical bits) was painful to watch, several times I wanted to skip ahead but forced myself not to. I don't know what was the point of it, perhaps they wanted to recreate the spirit of a typical Stars Hollow event. Anyhow - it was awful.
Also, I was not impressed with the whole Paul debacle. Maybe at the very beginning it was a bit funny how Lorelai and Luke couldn't remember the guy, but it all went downhill from there. Thinking back now, it seems to me that the writers were trying to downgrade the fact that Rory was (once again) having an affair even though she had a boyfriend. It feels like they were trying to portray Rory as an imperfect human being (which I applaud), but at the same time not disappointing the fans about her life decisions too much. Therefore they came up with this horrible idea to pair Rory up with this guy that she keeps forgetting about, trying and failing to make this fact funny, but resulting in making Rory a bit of a bit*h.
It seemed to me there were also quite a few story lines that were either completely unnecessary or too long. The part, where Lorelai has to tell a story about her father on his funeral was horrible. It was painful to watch and I think the story would progress the same way (or even better) without it. The way the writers approached the influence of Richard's passing on both Emily's and Lorelai's life was great. It showed Emily trying to handle the loss and reinventing herself as a widow and it sparked Lorelai's soul-searching. Which brings us to another needless story line - Lorelai's Wild period. Yes, at the end of it, it helps her realise that Luke is the man she wants to be with, but I believe if Lorelai's introspection would be set in therapy (where it started), the story would be much better and not so ridiculous and cliché. Which brings me to the kitchen scene when Lorelai returns home. Once again, spinning in circles, they portrayed Luke as this guy who would forget about everything he wants just to be with Lorelai. They touched this subject already at the beginning, but then at the end, having Luke say that he would change in a second if that meant he could stay with her, that was just horrible. Luke - Lorelai's puppy once again. Some people will probably think that I'm horrible to say this, but the whole thing about Rory writing Gilmore Girls book is just stupid. Once again the writers wanted to create that "oooooh" moment, bring the mother- daughter relationship to the centre of attention but failing miserably. To me it seems like an idea for this came from a mind of an eight year old who still dreams in unicorns and lives in teenage romantic comedies.
Finally, the end - the last four words. The Palladino duo really managed to bring the show full circle. Those four words we have been waiting for left us exactly where everything started, the history is repeating itself once again. Apparently, this is going to be a common theme with all the Netflix's revivals. Remember Fuller House I already mentioned once? The story is the same there. Different characters - same situation. Please, enough with nostalgia already. Based on the interviews with Amy Sherman-Palladino I knew better than to expect Rory to end up with one of the boyfriends for her happily ever after. But putting her in this position just so it would bring the nostalgic feeling to the end is just plain wrong. Next time, please, steer clear of the full circle idea and just write a real ending. Thank you.
It just didn't feel right. The conversations between Lorelai and Rory seemed forced, everything did actually. How they were trying to relive their usual banter and the super long dialogues, but failed. The same goes with friendships: Sookie and Lorelai, Rory with Lane and Paris. The infamous "Gilmore pace" got lost somewhere in the last eight years, with only a few small chips of it surviving the passage of time, mostly to please the fans. And here we are, the "please the fans situation", the one that sucks. I hate when the revivals come down to it, I really do. Unfortunately, the "please the fans situation" is more than evident. The creators were trying so hard to bring all the characters back that it seemed kind of ridiculous. I mean what was with the back of Tristin's head, Francie, or showing Jackson just for the sake of it? Instead of trying to include so many characters, they should minimise the number and create better stories for them.
The biggest issue I have with "A Day in the Life" is the pace of it. Frankly, it doesn't feel at all like the show because it is muuuch to slow for it. From time to time I got a feeling that I was watching some sorts of a lifetime movie. It seems like they were facing quite some issues with filling those 90 minutes and apparently they figured that the best way to do it is with weird musical bits, slow long shots, even slower dialogue and unnecessary story lines that didn't contribute at all. The Stars Hollow musical (and other musical bits) was painful to watch, several times I wanted to skip ahead but forced myself not to. I don't know what was the point of it, perhaps they wanted to recreate the spirit of a typical Stars Hollow event. Anyhow - it was awful.
Also, I was not impressed with the whole Paul debacle. Maybe at the very beginning it was a bit funny how Lorelai and Luke couldn't remember the guy, but it all went downhill from there. Thinking back now, it seems to me that the writers were trying to downgrade the fact that Rory was (once again) having an affair even though she had a boyfriend. It feels like they were trying to portray Rory as an imperfect human being (which I applaud), but at the same time not disappointing the fans about her life decisions too much. Therefore they came up with this horrible idea to pair Rory up with this guy that she keeps forgetting about, trying and failing to make this fact funny, but resulting in making Rory a bit of a bit*h.
It seemed to me there were also quite a few story lines that were either completely unnecessary or too long. The part, where Lorelai has to tell a story about her father on his funeral was horrible. It was painful to watch and I think the story would progress the same way (or even better) without it. The way the writers approached the influence of Richard's passing on both Emily's and Lorelai's life was great. It showed Emily trying to handle the loss and reinventing herself as a widow and it sparked Lorelai's soul-searching. Which brings us to another needless story line - Lorelai's Wild period. Yes, at the end of it, it helps her realise that Luke is the man she wants to be with, but I believe if Lorelai's introspection would be set in therapy (where it started), the story would be much better and not so ridiculous and cliché. Which brings me to the kitchen scene when Lorelai returns home. Once again, spinning in circles, they portrayed Luke as this guy who would forget about everything he wants just to be with Lorelai. They touched this subject already at the beginning, but then at the end, having Luke say that he would change in a second if that meant he could stay with her, that was just horrible. Luke - Lorelai's puppy once again. Some people will probably think that I'm horrible to say this, but the whole thing about Rory writing Gilmore Girls book is just stupid. Once again the writers wanted to create that "oooooh" moment, bring the mother- daughter relationship to the centre of attention but failing miserably. To me it seems like an idea for this came from a mind of an eight year old who still dreams in unicorns and lives in teenage romantic comedies.
Finally, the end - the last four words. The Palladino duo really managed to bring the show full circle. Those four words we have been waiting for left us exactly where everything started, the history is repeating itself once again. Apparently, this is going to be a common theme with all the Netflix's revivals. Remember Fuller House I already mentioned once? The story is the same there. Different characters - same situation. Please, enough with nostalgia already. Based on the interviews with Amy Sherman-Palladino I knew better than to expect Rory to end up with one of the boyfriends for her happily ever after. But putting her in this position just so it would bring the nostalgic feeling to the end is just plain wrong. Next time, please, steer clear of the full circle idea and just write a real ending. Thank you.