What the fandom wants, the fandom doesn't always get

Nine years is a long time to pine for something. And once you're given the thing you've been pining for, it's impossible to not be disappointed in some way.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is a case of fans getting what they asked for, if not what they wanted. At least not everything they wanted.

Obligatory spoiler warning.

I was one of those fans who went into Thanksgiving thinking, "I get to watch new Gilmore Girls episodes tonight!" Even my family was on board, happily willing to replace our traditional Thanksgiving weekend Lord of the Rings marathon with Gilmore Girls (the revival graciously gave us two—that I remember—LOTR references as consolation). Watching "Winter" for the first time was, to steal a word from Kevin Porter of the Gilmore Guys, transcendent. The first 15 minutes or so felt forced, but once I got over the jarring sense of being back in uncharted Gilmore territory, that feeling I had yearned for for so long settled in: I was back in Stars Hollow. Whatever discontent was in store, that hour of warm fuzzies would make it all worth it.

I was familiar enough with Amy Sherman-Palladino's writing style to expect some frustration to go along with the delight. ASP isn't one to give us cake without serving it with a side of prunes.

The revival has its beautiful moments, some of the best of the entire series. Everything involving Emily is flawless (and Lorelai, too, for the most part). Richard's death was handled beautifully. Some of my favorite Kirk moments ever happened in these new episodes, and my stance on Jess went from Team Still Harboring Resentment Toward Season 2/3 Jess but He's Probably Still Better than Logan to Team Jess Is Too Good for Rory—Stay Far Away and Marry Someone Decent Like Mandy Moore.

The revival also has its problems, the most unforgivable being time. The whole point of the revival is to finally see the ending ASP had envisioned, but with nine years between the season 7 finale and "Winter," the story ASP has been harboring all these years doesn't quite work. Everyone is in the exact place we left them in, which is irritating. The actors all look exactly the same and it would have worked fine to only jump forward a few years, but instead we're supposed to believe that Luke and Lorelai waited nine years to have the "fresh kid" conversation and to get married just so we could see it, that Rory would still be trying to figure out how to adult even though she's in her freakin' 30s. (Netflix's lack of episode length restrictions also stuck us with time-wasters like the Stars Hollow Musical and another dumb Life and Death Brigade escapade.)

But what I think fans wanted more than anything was this: closure. Thanks to Rory being the Absolute Worst and those infamous final four words (which were, to Alexi Bledel's credit, delivered perfectly), that is exactly what we didn't get.

From a writing standpoint, I love it. The best writing always has divisive characters, and Rory's journey works thematically. But as a fan, I just wanted things wrapped up in a semi-neat bow. In this post-GG revival world, I feel like I'm right back where I started.

Which was probably ASP's evil plan all along.

Gilmore Girls: Prediction time

Whoever is running the marketing campaign for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life should get a giant raise. They could have announced the new episodes via an article on KSL and shoe-horned them into a one-week timeframe on Netflix with horrible streaming, and I would have gone out of my way to watch the girls in action again. I didn't need anything beyond the official "It's happening!" announcement to get me watching.

Netflix knew they were catering to a rabid fanbase, but they didn't settle for the typical, run-of-the-mill marketing (though there was still plenty of that). They hired Kirk to summarize each season in a series of two-minute videos. They launched a Stars Hollow website (run by Tayler Doose, paid for in part by an ad placed by Kirk, of course.) They turned 200 cafes in the US and Canada into Luke's Diner for a day.

I wasn't too far from one of the locations and happily would have stood in that two-hour line for something handed to me by a grumpy employee clad in flannel and backward baseball cap if I didn't like my job. So I had to settle for taking a quick selfie, not even managing to capture the authentic Luke's Diner sign. My selfie skills leave much to be desired. But, look—clouds!

All this before they released the trailer.



Let's just say, I've never been so excited for Black Friday.

Tragically, that's still a month away. I'm afraid I'll have to bore you with some fangirling as I finish out the last bit of this nine-year wait.

Prediction time!

• Let's get this one out of the way—Rory will pick Jess. (I'm still undecided which boy team I'm on, but I always got the impression that Amy Sherman-Palladino meant Rory and Jess to end up together.)
• And this one—Luke and Lorelai will get married. (This is the only thing that will devastate me if it doesn't pan out.)
• Sookie will be on some sort of cooking show that forces her to take time away from the inn.
• Dean will be happily married to someone nice, Jess will be doing something unconventional—dropping in to see Luke occasionally—and Logan will still be a rich, charming jerk.
• Emily will have a meltdown that will be both devastating and comedic.
• Something bad will happen on June 3.
• Kirk will open a cat store and call it Kirk's. Or decide to become a maid (that could explain the Friday Night Dinner appearance).
• Lane's dad will continue to be a mystery. And one of Lane's kids will follow in his grandma's footsteps and be a Seventh-day Adventist. The other will rebel and become a Mormon. (Why not?)
• The Gilmore Guys will get more than just a cameo, preferably a quick scene where they're confusedly discussing someone's fashion choices as the girls walk by. 
• Paris will run for Senate. Or be Hillary Clinton's right-hand woman.
• One of the crazy town functions will include a pig auction. Kirk's idea.
• The last four words will be . . . something no one's guessed yet.

I need to think about something else now. Like how I'm going to find the time to listen to all of seasons 5–7 of the Gilmore Guys podcast in the next 31 days. 

What the fandom wants, the fandom gets

Throughout earth's history of human habitation, it's the loudest voices who tend to shape its course. That has interesting consequences in the 21st century, particularly in light of fandom cultures that are like gluttonous monsters continuously fed by paparazzi and internet-theory side dishes.

Netflix is among the latest vying for the knight in shining armor position among fans. It houses most of the TV shows we missed out on but were mildly curious about. It allows for effortless binge-watching. It's responsible for letting us relive our childhoods via a Full House reboot.

Most importantly, it's made one of my biggest fandom dreams come true: Gilmore Girls is coming back! For most GG fans, the reboot isn't about reliving the glory days; it's about getting closure on something that wasn't wrapped up in a satisfying way. Fans have been loudly lamenting that lack of closure for eight years, and finally, the stars have aligned to make that happen.

Sure, this world has got problems, but it's a beautiful place when it makes your frivolous fantasies come true.

Now that I can check that item off the list, I just need a few more things:

• The Harry Potter encyclopedia (no, Pottermore isn't enough)
• Another Harry Potter book (or 12)
• A Harry Potter TV series (come on, let's make this happen)
• A Brandon Sanderson cosmere movie (I'll even let you pick which book to do!)
• A live-action version of all my favorite animated classics (done right, the way Cinderella was)
• For Once Upon a Time to get good again
• For Jimmer Fredette and Tyler Haws to do extremely well in their respective careers and somehow end up playing for the Utah Jazz together, preferably coached by John Stockton and Karl Malone
• For BYU to win all the championships

Oh, and one more thing:

• A Gilbert Blythe for me to marry

What the fandom wants, the fandom gets.

Some Gilmore love

Gilmore Girls has been getting a lot of love lately, what with a new generation of people discovering it on Netflix, the GG reunion panel last June, and this week's 15-year anniversary of the date the pilot aired. (Not to mention the popular "Gilmore Guys" podcast, which I love almost as much as "Alohomora." Harry Potter fandom always comes first.) Let me just say, it's nice to be validated in my choice of favorite TV show.

I discovered the show the summer before I started college. It was often on during the time I worked out, so it (ironically) became my motivation to hop on the treadmill at 11:00 a.m. on days I wasn't opening at Domino's. I stumbled upon the show during its worst arc (basically all of season 6) and was introduced to both Rory and Logan at their worst.

Which is probably why it took another summer of workouts for me to really get hooked on the show. While watching sporadic episodes, I related to Rory's shyness and love for books, I was constantly amused by Lorelai, and I wanted to live in Stars Hollow. I loved the humor of the show, and the further I got into my college education, the more references I understood. By my junior year of college I had watched every episode, and it has since become my go-to when I need something comforting and funny.

And like other devoted Gillys, the show has affected the way I live in seemingly odd ways.

• My hair progression tends to follow Rory's.
• Whenever I order pizza to complement movie watching, I sit on the floor and lean against the couch while I eat.
• I eat Pop Tarts a lot more than I did as a kid.
• I know what my order would be if I ever ate at Luke's Diner—the largest cheeseburger in the world Luke makes for Lorelai in the pilot (I think), which she doesn't even touch. Still mad at her about that.
• I am ashamed that I have never seen Casablanca.

Not to mention there's a Gilmore quote for every situation.

When you are fed up with people: "People are particularly stupid today. I can't talk to any more of them."

When you're not in the mood for being single: "It's all any of us wants, to find a nice person to hang out with until we drop dead. Not a lot to ask!"

When someone is freaking out about looking moronic in front of someone they like: "I'm afraid that once your heart's involved, it all comes out in moron."

When your boss doesn't appreciate you: "If I am going to be treated like a dog, I would like a cookie and a raise."

When you really need to insult someone: "Butt-faced miscreant!"

When someone won't give your stubbornness the benefit of the doubt: "I can be flexible. As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I'm totally flexible."

When you're so frustrated you have to make up a new word: "That makes me so mad. And so sad. I'm smad."

When you need to quickly change the subject: "I love shrimp!"

Every Monday morning: "I feel like crap on toast."

When you're worried about not having a life: "Years from now, I want to read an in-depth biography of myself and not puke."

When someone gives you leftovers: "You brought us used dessert?"

When someone tries to get you to sit down when you'd rather stand: "Can't. These aren't my pants."

And, of course, when words just can't express your exasperation, you can always say: "Oy with the poodles already."

I don't think I'll ever stop re-watching this show, no matter how dated it gets. I get the feeling that Lorelai would approve.

Psychology, personality, and . . . something else that starts with a P

Sometimes I think it would be fascinating to study psychology. I've always been interested in certain facets of what makes us all human--who isn't?--but my academic instruction in that area has left me with more knowledge about crazy psychology teachers than the subject they thought they were teaching. My high school psychology teacher sniffed a few too many markers, and my college psychology professor spent all of his time conducting pointless mind games on us, the willing victims who walked unwittingly into his classroom. It really is a shame that even the most fascinating of subjects can be rendered dull by the skill of the speaker, er, teacher.

But despite my lack of sane instruction on how the mind works and all that jazz (or perhaps because of it), over the past few weeks I've been pondering certain motivations that shape a person's personality.

Allow me to use a real-life example to demonstrate my point.

There's this episode in Gilmore Girls where Lorelai's mother agrees with her 100 percent. For those unfortunate enough to not have yet discovered the delights of this show, just know that Emily Gilmore never agrees with her daughter on anything. At least not 100 percent. So, naturally, Lorelai freaks out and spends the rest of the episode reevaluating every decision she has ever made in her life, from how to style her hair to whether or not she likes pop tarts. For her, the motivating factor behind most of her decisions depends largely upon whether her mother would approve of her decisions. Would Emily approve of eating a cold pastry out of a box for breakfast (or lunch or dinner)? Of course not; that's why pop tarts are Lorelai's favorite food. Would Emily approve of of high-speed internet? Of course she would; that's why Lorelai and Rory make do with a slow, dial-up connection.

*To experience the true Gilmore Girls feel of the previous paragraph, read it really fast without taking a breath.*

I had a similar thought-altering experience a few weeks ago when I was sitting at work, off on one of my tangents. I was wondering yet again why anyone would voluntarily wear a dress and heels all day without being required to do so. I certainly would never in a million years do such a thing.

But then I started thinking about why I strongly dislike wearing church clothes, buying (and wearing) shoes, painting my fingernails, and accessorizing myself with necklaces, belts, and purses. Ever since the day my Aunt Deona told me that boys like girls with pretty nails, I have fed the tomboy within me and done everything I could to repress my more feminine side. Something as simple as trying to impress the boys with my manliness rather than my femininity has been the motivating factor behind a lot of my decisions, and not just the ones that have to do with fashion choices.

But do I really hate skirts and purses, or do I just feel like I have to hate them because a true tomboy would hate them? Do I really enjoy sports, or am I just trying to convince the guys that I can relate to them on their (sort of) level? Do I refuse to carry around lipstick and hairspray everywhere because it's impractical or because I don't want to be caught with such embarrassing items? Do I make these decisions because I want to, or because I feel like I have to?

So many decisions, so many different ways they could have gone.

Now I remember why I didn't try harder to find a decent psychology professor. This stuff gives me a headache.