The bad: I agree with many of the criticisms leveled here against this revival. The surrogacy plotline defies believability in several ways, from the notion that Luke and Lorelei haven't discussed marriage or children during their relationship until now despite the timeline coinciding with the twilight of Lorelei's fertility, to the superficiality of their discussion of it now, to the unfathomably stupid portrayal of Luke's misunderstanding of the process, and finally to the far-fetched position of Paris at the helm of the fertility clinic. It's all pretty whackadoodle.
The "Wild" plotline would have worked if Lorelei had actually gone hiking and discovered some pleasure in camping and nature, which we know Luke enjoys (these are among his very few hobbies) but takes little interest in without Lorelei, and could have supplied another line of intimacy between them and a means of healthy compromise on her part to match his many willing concessions in the relationship. Of course, we don't want to watch Lorelei go through a cliched journey of self-discovery on the trail, but a less-uptight twist might have been a concession to at least go glamping with Luke or something like that. As it is, though, her "now or never" explanation, the nonsense about the permit, and the cheesy lightbulb moment make the whole thing feel like a flimsy way to drag out the suspense before they finally get married.
There's clearly some awkwardness with the chemistry among the performers, I can take or leave the musical bits, and there are various other plot threads that seem half-baked, if not so totally absurd.
The good, and the controversially great: Like others, I really liked Emily's story, but unlike others, I loved Rory's character development. I understand that fans were disappointed and perhaps struggled to believe that Rory would wind up floundering in her thirties despite all of her wonderful qualities and the best launching pad into life that anyone could hope for. But this does, in fact, happen all the time, especially to people with aspirations in creative and wobbly fields like traditional journalism and writing (and is probably much more realistic than the revival's portrayal of Jess's moderate success with a small publisher). Even more importantly, the Rory trajectory comports with the universe of the original show. A central theme and source of comfort is the idea that life's paths are winding and crooked, that plans go awry, but that happiness can be found even in unconventional circumstances that crusty old fossils disapprove of. Richard and Emily and the hoity-toity worldview of their country club and DAR friends would certainly expect Rory's early success to translate directly into career success and a respectable relationship ten years later-a steady, clear, upward progression-but life just isn't that linear or guaranteed. That works both ways; just as Lorelei could drop out of high school and become a single mother at 16, and yet still make a happy, successful, and fulfilling life for herself by 32, Rory can do everything right at 16 and find herself adrift at 32, and even find herself single and pregnant. And that's okay. So what if she hasn't become Christianne Amanpour? So what if she's not ensconced in a rat race of bourgeoise success and respectability? Her aimlessness is analogous to that of Jo March when she writes the fictional "Little Women" in Louisa May Alcott's book. And in that same vein, Rory's fictional "Gilmore Girls" reiterates the original show's fundamental themes that made it so great, which also echo those of "Little Women": women's lives and loves and whims aren't just frivolous detours on the way to some grand, real, serious destiny, but are the stuff of life itself. The Gilmore girls make mistakes as they try to define themselves and meaning in their lives, and those mistakes largely constitute the story. The girls aren't perfect, even if others want or expect them to be. Like everything else on the show, their perfection lies in their imperfections, and in coffee (and pizza and movies and jokes and snow and kisses and twinkly little lights). The revival gives us Emily and Lorelei's happy endings, for now, but it's just the beginning of Rory's story, just as the original series began with Lorelei's life at the same age. It's okay if she doesn't have it all figured out already at 32 or whatever. Many ways to skin a cat.
The revival is flawed, but if you're a fan of the original series and you've already come this far, it's all worth it for Emily's new leaf and the gosh darn wedding at the bitter end, finally, at last, thank goodness.
The "Wild" plotline would have worked if Lorelei had actually gone hiking and discovered some pleasure in camping and nature, which we know Luke enjoys (these are among his very few hobbies) but takes little interest in without Lorelei, and could have supplied another line of intimacy between them and a means of healthy compromise on her part to match his many willing concessions in the relationship. Of course, we don't want to watch Lorelei go through a cliched journey of self-discovery on the trail, but a less-uptight twist might have been a concession to at least go glamping with Luke or something like that. As it is, though, her "now or never" explanation, the nonsense about the permit, and the cheesy lightbulb moment make the whole thing feel like a flimsy way to drag out the suspense before they finally get married.
There's clearly some awkwardness with the chemistry among the performers, I can take or leave the musical bits, and there are various other plot threads that seem half-baked, if not so totally absurd.
The good, and the controversially great: Like others, I really liked Emily's story, but unlike others, I loved Rory's character development. I understand that fans were disappointed and perhaps struggled to believe that Rory would wind up floundering in her thirties despite all of her wonderful qualities and the best launching pad into life that anyone could hope for. But this does, in fact, happen all the time, especially to people with aspirations in creative and wobbly fields like traditional journalism and writing (and is probably much more realistic than the revival's portrayal of Jess's moderate success with a small publisher). Even more importantly, the Rory trajectory comports with the universe of the original show. A central theme and source of comfort is the idea that life's paths are winding and crooked, that plans go awry, but that happiness can be found even in unconventional circumstances that crusty old fossils disapprove of. Richard and Emily and the hoity-toity worldview of their country club and DAR friends would certainly expect Rory's early success to translate directly into career success and a respectable relationship ten years later-a steady, clear, upward progression-but life just isn't that linear or guaranteed. That works both ways; just as Lorelei could drop out of high school and become a single mother at 16, and yet still make a happy, successful, and fulfilling life for herself by 32, Rory can do everything right at 16 and find herself adrift at 32, and even find herself single and pregnant. And that's okay. So what if she hasn't become Christianne Amanpour? So what if she's not ensconced in a rat race of bourgeoise success and respectability? Her aimlessness is analogous to that of Jo March when she writes the fictional "Little Women" in Louisa May Alcott's book. And in that same vein, Rory's fictional "Gilmore Girls" reiterates the original show's fundamental themes that made it so great, which also echo those of "Little Women": women's lives and loves and whims aren't just frivolous detours on the way to some grand, real, serious destiny, but are the stuff of life itself. The Gilmore girls make mistakes as they try to define themselves and meaning in their lives, and those mistakes largely constitute the story. The girls aren't perfect, even if others want or expect them to be. Like everything else on the show, their perfection lies in their imperfections, and in coffee (and pizza and movies and jokes and snow and kisses and twinkly little lights). The revival gives us Emily and Lorelei's happy endings, for now, but it's just the beginning of Rory's story, just as the original series began with Lorelei's life at the same age. It's okay if she doesn't have it all figured out already at 32 or whatever. Many ways to skin a cat.
The revival is flawed, but if you're a fan of the original series and you've already come this far, it's all worth it for Emily's new leaf and the gosh darn wedding at the bitter end, finally, at last, thank goodness.