Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
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Curious
Romantic
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“Rattlesnake monkey monkey underpants!” “When a woman gives birth to a crack baby you do not buy her a puppy!” “You’re like a pop up book from Hell!”
Gilmore Girls was certainly never short on its epic rants, quick wit, and masterful takedowns; this plays no small part in why the show became so beloved. When Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life dropped on Netflix last week, fans expected to find much of the same in the new episodes, and boy, did they ever! In fact, within the show’s first few minutes, we are treated to a fast talking monologue from Rory Gilmore herself where she discusses everything from zits to baseball caps to foot pumps in approximately five seconds. The revival continues much of the same, but, like the original show, breaks the mold as well.
The original Gilmore broke its own mold sparingly, but poignantly. In the Season 4 episode “Afterboom,” Lane realizes that no one came to her super cool gig and that her mom is trying to replace her with Kyon; she then sneaks into her house in the middle of the night to see her mother and kiss her on the forehead with only some “la las” narrating the moment. In the epic Friday Night Dinner fight in season six (“Friday Night’s Alright For Fighting”), there are a couple moments of silence that help the audience catch up to the Gilmore’s quickly placed jabs. In the new Gilmore, Team Palladino again used silence as a storytelling device specifically when Lorelai and Emily attend therapy together in “Spring.” As their newly acquired therapist Claudia informs them, “there’s a lot being said in the silences.” Lauren Graham happens to agree, and recently told the The LA Times that “…sometimes it’s what’s not said that has the most power. And for a show where there is nonstop talking, it was a nice change that Amy and Dan [Palladino] weren’t afraid for there to be some silence and let there be a different pace.”
But the silence is perhaps most profoundly heard in parallel scenes from season four’s “Last Week’s Fights, This Week’s Tights” and the revival’s final installment, “Fall.” All the way back in season four, Luke finally realizes both that he loves Lorelai and that he should probably do something about it, so he invites her to his sister’s wedding. The two have a wonderful, quip-filled time — save some bickering about Jess’s (and Luke’s) self-improvement book — and so when Luke invites Lorelai to dance she readily agrees. What follows, for once, was quiet. With only “Reflecting Light” playing in the background the audience is left to interpret facial expressions rather than an allusion to a particularly quirky thing that happened decades ago.
It’s almost a minute of dialogue free screen time and it’s truly incredible. Luke and Lorelai start by dancing just like middle schoolers do, far apart and supremely awkwardly. Lorelai looks down out of bashfulness at one point. Luke is just grinning like an idiot because, hey, he’s finally dancing with Lorelai! So much had been said about their relationship up until that point that there were just no words left. For a moment that the show had been building towards through the course of four seasons, it gave fans everything they could’ve hoped for and more.
Flash forward nearly twelve years later to “Fall” and we see Luke and Lorelai exploring the town square, their wedding venue — designed by Kirk, of course — in the middle of the night. With just Rory tagging along — and later joined by Lane, Michel, and Reverend Skinner — the two finally tie the knot. But we don’t hear the vows, the exclamations of joys, or the sighs of relief, all we hear is “Reflecting Light” playing in the background once again. Sure fans would’ve been happy, thrilled even, to witness the planned wedding the next day; to hear cheesy vows that would surely reference Lorelai’s chattiness and Luke’s grump factor; to hear the “I do” slip from their lips, but what we saw was so much more. It wasn’t played out, it wasn’t pretentious, and it wasn’t gushing. The silence coupled with the sentimental song granted fans the power absorb that the moment they waited for for years was finally happening.
When a scene deviates from the norm the show established, it has the added effect of standing out amongst others. I may not remember all of Lorelai’s quips — Can anybody? — and I may or may not be able to quote word for word Emily’s epic plane rant in Season 6 (“The Prodigal Daughter Returns”), but I can safely say that I will never forget the quiet moments. I’ll never forget Lane’s despair as she wanders through her house in the middle of the night; I’ll never forget the way Luke looked at Lorelai while they were dancing that first time; I’ll never forget the painfully real awkwardness that the Gilmores faced in therapy; and I’ll certainly never forget the moment Luke and Lorelai promised that they do, despite not actually hearing the words.
