Every few weeks or so, the powers that be at Netflix bless the rabid public with a few more tantalizing Gilmore hints preceding the launch of the revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on November 25. On October 25, a month before the premiere, they released the most exciting bit of info yet, a full trailer for the revival series, which will be four supersized episodes, each taking place in one of the four seasons. While short, the preview confirmed quite a few of the theories fans had already formed based on production stills, social media posts, and the few tidbits dropped by show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and some of the stars. It also raised a few questions, including how and where did Emily purchase those jeans?
Here are 15 Things We Learned From the Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Trailer, as well as possible hints for what’s to come. Thanksgiving can’t come soon enough!
15. Emily Owns Jeans and at Least One T-shirt
Emily Gilmore has never been seen wearing anything other than something dignified, most likely designer, and impeccably tailored. The most casual she’s ever gotten on the show might be a cashmere sweater set. Yet here she is in the trailer, cleaning out her house of anything that doesn’t “bring her joy” in jeans and a t-shirt.
Yes, that’s right. Jeans. And a t-shirt. Even during her breakdown after finding that awful letter from Richard’s mother urging him not to marry her, Emily wore a fabulous dressing gown while day-drinking and smoking cigarettes in her living room. Apparently after Richard’s death, Emily felt sad enough to get super casual. Of course, the jeans and the t-shirt probably cost more than most people spend on half a year’s worth of groceries. After all, it’s not like she picked them up at Wal-Mart. But still, this is the most relaxed Emily has ever looked. Even with that gold necklace.
14. Rory is Jobless and Credit-less
In the preview, Rory is seen slinging whiskey in some sort of office with Jess (more on that in a minute), as she complains to him that she has no job, no credit, and no underwear. Our little girl is all grown up, and from the looks of things she’s lost a little bit of direction. This is a really great way for the show to go with this character. Throughout the series, Rory has always been working toward a specific goal (barring that short, weird period when she quit Yale). In high school she was working toward Harvard. Once at Yale, she was working towards her degree and an eventual job in journalism. It’s still unclear exactly what she’s been up to in the past nine years, but she seems to have lost sense of her goals. She’s found herself in the same sort of position many millennials find themselves these days.
13. Lane, Mother of at Least Two, Still Drums
Lane’s story took a bit of an odd turn in the last couple of seasons of the series. She married Zack, for reasons that are still something of a mystery, and soon thereafter gave birth to twin boys. It was a strange path for Lane, the impossibly cool human musical encyclopedia who lived for her band and her music. The trailer shows a short clip of Lane behind her beloved drum set and rocking a killer haircut, so it looks like she is still playing music at least part time, which is awesome.
It would be a real bummer if Lane put away all the goals and dreams she set for herself and worked so hard to achieve for all those years. What was the point of all her rebellion from her overprotective mother if in the end she wasn’t even going to act on them? Hopefully she’s found some sort of career in music and has found a way to blend her family life and motherhood with her musical ambitions.
12. Adult Rory Has Acquired a Taste for Whiskey Neat.
For most of the series, Rory was under the age of 21, which meant that she hadn’t really had time to acquire a mature taste in alcohol. We occasionally saw her indulge in a little college binging, though even that generally stayed on the tamer side. We know that Lorelai is fond of a gin martini with olives, and on Rory’s 21st birthday Emily had the bartender create a drink for her called “the Rory” which was pink and generally agreed to be disgusting.
In the preview she’s drinking brown liquor with no sign of rocks or soda, which is something of a departure from the demure teenage Rory of old. Maybe she inherited her grandfather’s taste for scotch, or maybe that’s all Jess had in his desk. Maybe she actually drinks gin martinis like Lorelai does. Obviously this is essential information that we need to know. What we do know, is that angelic little Rory is growing up.
11. Lorelai and Luke Are “Happy” Together
The good news is that Luke and Lorelai are still together. The way they should be. The bad news is that Lorelai seems a little, well, uncertain about how exactly she feels about it. After all that painful “will they or won’t they” and then the whole April debacle, fans were relieved when they finally got together for good at the end of Season 7. Now it looks like they’ve spent the past nine years in a relatively happy, stable relationship. But Lorelai is seen saying to a friend, “Luke and I are happy,” with an invisible question mark at the end.
She’s also shown on some sort of hike doing some soul searching, presumably, as that is the only good reason for going on a hike. And Lorelai does not usually hike. Much in the way that her daughter, Rory appears to be going through something of a crossroads, so does Lorelai. One can only hope that she decides to stay in her relationship because she and Luke are soulmates, but she may need some re-convincing that this is where she wants to be.
10. Logan Has Apparently Moved Back into his College Apartment
We already knew that we would be seeing all three of Rory’s ex-boyfriends in the revival, but so far Jess is the only one who warranted more than a brief clip. Logan is seen lounging on his couch in a button down, iPad in hand, looking more like his character of Cary from The Good Wife than he does like the lovable and privileged bad boy Logan Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls. And it looks like his decorating tastes haven’t changed one bit. The couch still screams designer and he’s got a couple of guitars leaning against the back wall.
But if you look closely, you’ll notice that despite first appearances, it may not be the same fancy pad he shared with Rory back in the day. Through the window it looks like there’s a deck, and beyond that some blue, which could be the sky, or could be the ocean. Has Logan found new swanky digs with a harbor view? It’s not outside the realm of possibility.
9. Everyone’s Eating Habits Have Remained Entirely Unchanged
“Did we order Chinese, Greek, and Italian food last night?” Lorelai asks Rory at the beginning of the trailer. “And hot dogs,” Rory responds. Yep, the girls are back and so are their appetites. A few seconds later we see Luke refusing to make them tater tots because they are already eating tacos and mini donuts. It is still extremely hard to believe that these two tiny women have managed to maintain the metabolisms of hyperactive 8-year-olds while consuming nothing but incredible quantities of anything processed, fried, and covered in powdered sugar, but that’s Gilmore Girls.
This trait of theirs is either infuriating or endearing, but it is undeniably a part of the story and a part of the show and it’s nice to see this kind of continuity. Perhaps part of the revival plot will be that the women have taken up spinning or something. But we doubt it.
8. Kirk and Emily Have Dinner Together Now
In an intriguing snippet from the trailer, Kirk is sitting at Emily’s dining room table and remarking that the food is delicious. Emily asks Lorelai to explain to her again “who this person is.” To which Lorelai answers “Oh, that I could.” Obviously, Kirk’s presence at Friday Night Dinner raises a ton of questions. Starting with what, exactly, is he doing there? What on earth could have occurred to bring, arguably, the soul of wacky Stars Hollow to Emily’s dignified dining room table in Hartford. If he’s there, wouldn’t Emily at least have an inkling of who he is?
It’s possible that Emily and Kirk could have crossed paths before, but their worlds within the show have always remained distinctly separate, which is how Lorelai likes it. The blending of the oddest of oddball Stars Hollow characters with the most formal part of Hartford family life is perhaps the most surprising element of the trailer.
7. Town Meetings Are Still a Thing
As town meetings are a tradition that have been going on since basically forever, it would be truly bizarre if they were just given up but it’s still nice to know that they are as much a staple as ever, and that they are still just as strange. An older, though apparently no wiser Taylor Doose is presiding over one such meeting in the trailer, in which all the townspeople, with hands raised, repeat “Wow, are we excited about this!” to which he woefully responds, “No, people, the repeating part is over.” This is just so typical, and so familiar an element of kookiness that it can’t help but be heartwarming.
God knows what sort of festival or charity event or march or what the town is planning on putting together, but it’s safe to say that everyone is excited about it. And it probably has something to do with the groovy ’70s outfits Lorelai and Rory are seen wandering about town in– with parasols, for whatever reason.
6. Rory Has Lived In (or at Least Been to) Both London and New York
Rory has been living in a style that she calls “rootless,” Emily terms a “vagabond existence” and Lorelai calls “Jack Kerouacing. Pass the peyote.” Quick sweeping shots of London and New York City imply that these are just two cities in which Rory has been searching for her true goal in life. She says this is her chance to be truly rootless, so it’s interesting to see how that’s going to work out for her.
We know that Logan was sent to London by his dad, so perhaps Rory was with him. Or maybe their paths never crossed and she was just living in London on her own, doing some sort of journalism work or perhaps studying English literature, which she clearly loves. For someone with Rory’s talents, passions, and dreams, London and New York seem like ideal places for her to be traveling or living, so hopefully she was gathering experiences and trying her hand at things in those places.
5. Jess Is Still Dreamy
One of the reasons Jess is probably the most popular and beloved of Rory’s ex-boyfriends is that he is the one that always seemed to truly understand her gifts, and always encouraged her to stay true to herself and be her best self. This was evident even as he was trying to steal her away from Dean, seducing her with long chats about books and punk music, and even more so when he got through to her after she quit Yale when nobody else could. Jess was Lorelai’s least favorite of Rory’s guys because he was so obviously the bad boy, but he was the one who really seemed to get her.
Now an adult, having gotten his life together by the last time we saw him in season 6, it looks like he’s still the one she turns to when she needs a little outside encouragement, or maybe even a little tough love. When she mournfully tells him she could have been a contender, he says she still is. Yes, he may have grown up a little (and thank God for that) but Jess is still Jess, and he is all the more beloved for it.
4. A Pig Gets Loose in Town (Probably the Girls’ Fault)
Paul Anka notwithstanding (by the way, where is Paul Anka?), the Gilmores have never been particularly good with animals. So much so that, on more than one occasion throughout the series, they were sternly rebuked for even thinking about adopting a pet. There was the hamster they killed, the turtle, and the baby chick named Stella that got loose before Lorelai adopted Paul Anka.
Now, in the trailer, there is a small pig running wild through the town, and it only stands to reason that this is because he or she was under Lorelai and Rory’s charge. There’s a reason they were always discouraged from having any pets of their own. Of course, it’s always possible that the little pig was someone else’s responsibility. Kirk immediately comes to mind as someone who might lose a pig. Regardless of who was supposed to be watching it, it’s free now, for better or worse.
3. Rory Is Going Back to Chilton
Rory appears to be making a pitstop in her rootless, Jack Kerouac existence, at her old high school; the formidable institution of Chilton. She stands among the plaid-skirted students and the imposing high buildings and looks around with a nostalgic smile on her face. This is somewhat surprising, as Chilton was not always the greatest place for her. In fact, it was probably one of the most hostile adolescent environments ever depicted on television.
Aside from the ridiculously rigorous academic pressures, Rory was bullied by that weird sorority the Puffs, and by her frenemy Paris, was continually sexually harassed by Tristan who called her “Mary” for much of the first season, and finally found herself in a power struggle with a red-haired Heather named Francie in her senior year. Nevertheless, Rory graduated valedictorian, which must mean she got some warm fuzzy feelings from the place. It’s unclear what she’s doing there, but it looks like Paris will be joining her. So get ready, basically.
2. Miss Patty Looks Fabulous
Nobody from the town of Stars Hollow seems to have changed their look much. Sookie is still wearing her bandana, Gypsy still has her pigtails, Taylor still has his beard, and of course Luke still wears his famous baseball cap. Miss Patty, however, was on first glance almost unrecognizable. The flirtatious dance instructor who has all the best stories, naturally, generally kept her look pretty much the same throughout the series. Now, with her shoulder-length and straightened hair, she looks completely different.
Miss Patty has always been fabulous and she looks just as fabulous now with her new “do” and slightly updated look. No one else seems to have changed much, and bets are that she is just as over-the-top and amazing as ever. It’s been nine years, but she seems to have hardly aged a bit. Maybe she’s even found herself a new husband since the last time we saw her in Stars Hollow.
1. The Inn is Still Thriving (Obviously)
It was always Lorelai’s dream to own an inn, and in the fifth season she finally realized her dream by opening The Dragonfly with Sookie. The Dragonfly was an immediate success, and at least career-wise, it looked like Lorelai was absolutely killing it. From the looks of the trailer, Lorelai is still working at her thriving in, which is filled with people as usual. She’s still got her trusty team of partner Sookie and the ever-caustic yet amusing Michel. “I live for moments like this,” he says drily in his French accent, which is as thick as ever.
The design of the place is the same as well, though it’s possible it’s not bringing Lorelai the same satisfaction as before. She says that she thought she knew where she was going, but things seem hazier now. She could be only talking about her relationship with Luke, but it’s possible that she’s also talking about her career and the Inn. Lorelai was never one to settle.
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life will be available to stream on Netflix on November 25th.
