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| "I smell snow." - Lorelai Gilmore |
Before the episode starts, quotes from the original series
are overlayed – building to a crescendo, and bringing us back into the Gilmore
world so many have craved, with its fast-talking dialogue and endless emotional
truth bombs. Now it’s time to return to Stars Hollow, in all its snow-covered
glory as Rory returns home after a successful New Yorker piece. We see Lorelai sitting under the gazebo waiting
for Rory, where they launch into their respective speeches before sharing a
sweet hug.
“How long’s it been?”
“Feels like years.”
To all the Gilmore Girls fans that made it 3115 days,
congratulations you’ve made it. It’s almost like nothing has changed – especially
not when Lorelai breathes in and says, “I smell snow”. It’s a reminder that
stings when we see how Lorelai and Emily’s relationship has changed (or not) in
the timespan we missed.
The Gilmore Girls are dealing with the loss of the ultimate
pillar of strength – Richard Gilmore.
Lorelai is coming to terms with the loss of a father she never
really shared true familial experiences with. Speaking from personal
experience, it’s already challenging enough to articulate love for your parents
after they have passed, but it’s even more difficult when you don’t have the
memories to explain that feeling. If there’s one thing the series emphasised,
it’s how easily Emily and Lorelai slip back into old patterns when certain
events occur. In this case, we’re reminded Lorelai is a serial word-vomiter
(particularly while wasted), and when she makes the ultimate cringe worthy
speech when pressed for a fond memory of her late father. Her words literally
send the series back to the pilot, as Lorelai and Emily share brutal exchanges -
years of tension and unresolved anger rising to the surface once again. The interesting
thing about their exchanges is how Emily knows how to make Lorelai tick. She
externalises Lorelai’s greatest fears, and it is heart wrenching to see Lorelai
crumble under the realisations she generally tends to avoid.
That’s not to say
Emily is the ultimate villain; her life has been torn apart from the loss of
her partner of 50 years but there’s a cycle of manipulation and secrecy in this
family which manifests itself into toxic arguments when things begin to
crumble.
That’s why it’s almost a relief when Emily manages to con
Lorelai to attend therapy with her. Wait, what?! Let’s backtrack. If there’s
one thing Rory is still handling well, it’s being the mediator in the endless
Lorelai and Emily debate. When Lorelai finally steps up, she finds Emily
completely unlike herself, dressed in Lorelai’s old jeans and a t-shirt (plus
pearls, because she’s still Emily Gilmore). It’s such a sad scene, but having
Lorelai support Emily during a time of such pain is special, to say the least.
“I don’t know how to do this – live my life. I was married for fifty years; half of me is gone.”
(However, I really wish the show would dispel the myth that
a committed relationship isn’t enough – or have Emily come to terms with this,
because it does not belittle her relationship in any way to admit this.)
Rory’s world couldn’t be farther from Emily and Lorelai in
many forms - her is entire life in boxes scattered across three different
states, she forgets Pete Paul constantly (a joke which loses its appeal
very fast, to be entirely honest) while having a casual thing with Logan, and
finds herself leading a vagabond existence as she chases her next big break
(and potentially somewhere to settle).
“This is my time to be rootless and see where life takes me,”
Rory insists. It’s a typical post-college experience, one I haven’t dealt with
personally – but makes perfect sense, particularly with Rory’s career being in
an industry which has reinvented itself in the aftermath of technological
advancement and changing societal interests. However, it’s disorienting for
someone like Rory – who consistently had a long-term goal in mind, and even her
detours barely made a dent into her career prospects. To me, it feels like
another reminder of Richard Gilmore’s absence, as Rory cannot seek comfort in
the primary family role model she has (barring Luke, who is so proud of Rory’s New Yorker article he prints new menus).
‘Winter’ is a welcome start to a new era in the Gilmore
world. It carries the same themes ‘Gilmore Girls’ did – but also reminds us
that the loss of Richard Gilmore has ultimately shaken up the world we know. This
episode pays homage to Ed Herrmann’s irreplaceable presence, by highlighting
the emptiness each character feels without his constant guidance and existence
that I, as a viewer, may have taken for granted.
Additional Notes:
- Lorelai chasing after Rory as she frantically finds a phone which provides reception.
- Ooo-ber: Kirk is the best. Fact. Dirk, however, has been a constant disappointment to the Gleason family.
- No one paid for parking metres so they removed it. Taylor is anti-sewerage and the town chipped in to buy Kirk and Lulu a pig so they wouldn’t have kids. Stars Hollow in a nutshell.
- I love playing ‘Spot the Actor’.
- “His power is that you can’t remember him even if you spend a lot of time with them. Kind of like every Marvel hero ever.”
- Luke lying about the WiFi password is an absolute joy, but Taylor completely steals the storyline when he snaps at the customers and wins Luke over long enough to get him on-board with the septic tank plan.
- Michel’s married and potentially going to have a child with his husband.
- “Full freakin’ circle” – We’ll get back to this later!
- Luke really doesn’t understand the concept of surrogacy, does he?
- Paris is back. And she’s divorcing Doyle?! I didn’t sign up for this. On the bright side, Paris’ career is flying.
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