I love TV. I'm not even going to try to pretend that I'm above all that. I can happily sit down and devour a book or I can lay in bed watching hour upon hour of television. Either one's perfectly lovely to me.
My best friend, Kate, was in town this past weekend to help me with some health related stuff, and while plenty of the weekend's conversation was heavy, our conversation turned to lighter fare, and as it somehow always does...Gilmore Girls. Despite the fact that we have been quoting, debating, and analyzing this show since we met eight years ago, we still somehow have not managed to run out of things to talk about when it comes to our GG. We started chatting through this recent article where someone outlined what they thought happened to the characters after the show ended. Now, when you love characters as much as Kate and I love these ladies and gents, you care deeply about what happens to them but I have to say, I think this article got some things right, but we have a difference of opinion about a number of things. So here's my vision for now it all worked out...
Lorelei and Paul Anka (the dog, not the person) showed up at Luke's the day after Rory left to pack up his stuff and move him into her place. After some encouragement from Richard, she started serving as an independent consultant to innkeepers across New England; she and Sookie started holding workshops for people interested in opening their own inns across the country, making an effort to provide useful content and good snacks, two things the workshops they had attended sorely lacked. She continued to have offers to franchise the Dragonfly or open another inn but ultimately didn't want a job that took her too far from home, especially now that she was finally learning how to use her oven and her stove for things other than sweater and clothes storage. Plus, with the dawning of Netflix Instant, binge watching trash TV and movies had taken on all new meaning and someone had to make sure Luke caught up on his pop culture education. Luke and Lorelei got married in early January 2009 when Rory was able to make it home for a long weekend before the inauguration. The ceremony was small--outside, under the chuppah Luke built years ago--with April, T.J., Liz, Sookie, Jackson, Rory, Jess, and the Gilmores in attendance--followed by a celebration at the diner with the town afterwards. It wasn't quite the winter Russian Romanov wedding Emily had envisioned but she was happy just to have been invited, since her daughter seemed to have a penchant for cancelling weddings or eloping, so this was a nice change of pace. Lorelei pretended she didn't hear her mother's comments under her breath because with snow and Rory and Luke there, it was quite simply the perfect day.
Try as he might, Luke couldn't convince Lorelei to go completely off of coffee while she was pregnant. They named their son William after his dad and he bought a new Nationals baseball cap to celebrate the occasion, since he and Lorelei were in DC visiting Rory when she went into labor. He looked forward to April's visits during the year and when she enrolled at Wesleyan near Stars Hollow, he converted the garage into a full fledged bedroom so she'd have a comfortable place to escape to away from campus. He tried changing or altering the Luke's Diner menu several times but it rarely stuck. The one edit that stayed? A non-sequitur story Lorelai wrote about Paul Anka that went on the back of the menu. Next to the hardware order Luke's dad wrote on the wall behind the counter are the carved names of all the Danes/Gilmore clan.
Rory struggled initially on the campaign trail; her first few months were lonely and long. One of the youngest on the bus, she didn't immediately click with her colleagues and many of her fellow journalists were skeptical given her inexperience. She patiently worked hard on her pieces, hoping her work could speak for itself, and spent her spare time writing home to Lorelei and Lane and sending postcards to Paris, Jess, and Lucy and Olivia. After helping her more seasoned busmate Maggie when her cameraman was too drunk to focus the camera for a segment, she had an ally and from that point on, she felt more comfortable on the campaign trail . The night Obama was elected, caught up in the high emotions of the night, she called Logan for the first time in years. She visited him in San Francisco for a few days and while there were still sparks, it was clear that their lives were moving in different directions but she finally felt like she had some closure. She joined the White House Press Corps and moved to D.C., loving that she'd finally found a place where people spoke as quickly as her and her mother. Her primary focus was work, not romance, and that was more than fine with her, as she took on additional side projects, networked, and went home whenever she could to visit her brother. She went on a few disastrous dates which proved to be good fodder for her weekly calls with Lorelei.
True to his word, Doyle follows Paris wherever she goes, first to Boston for Harvard Medical School and then to Philadelphia for her cardiology residency. The Geller-McMasters finally settled in New York, the only city in the world that could possibly keep up with Paris' pace. Paris is quickly climbing the ranks at her hospital and having co-authored several important studies, is also becoming known in the wider medical community. Doyle works for CNN and together, he and Paris live a highly overscheduled life as they work and raise their two children Wyatt and Eleanor. Luckily, Nanny is with them to help.
Kirk and Lulu took over the dance studio once Miss Patty passed away and Cat Kirk remains a permanent fixture there, a favorite among all the students, friendly to all humans except Human Kirk. Lulu and Kirk still live with his mother, and Lulu makes a picnic basket for Kirk every year.
Though young Lane shuddered at the suggestion that she was well suited for a life in sales, adult Lane's accepted that she has a gift for it. She co-owns the music shop with Sophie now and has found her niche. She's got a knack for managing the books and really loves helping people discover and explore their love for music. Kwan loves the bass and gets lessons from his Uncle Brian but Steve is more interested in school, church, and community service (and really doesn't get why his mom keeps harping on The Clash and The Jam). Zack is mostly gone and away on tour so Mrs. Kim helps Lane raise the boys. In a weird way, much like Rory and Lorelei, Lane and Mrs. Kim ended up being the great love of each others' lives.
Jess' publishing house in Philadelphia goes under and he takes that as an opportunity to move to Boston. After self publishing his next novel online, he joined a larger publishing firm as a reader; while there's a part of him that feels like he's sold out, he also loves that he has the opportunity to get paid to read and decide what material makes it to his boss' desk to be considered for print. He and Rory stay in touch to varying degrees for several years, reconnecting more significantly at Lorelai and Luke's wedding as they trade war stories from the dating scene and talk through book recommendations for each other. When he's in D.C. for the launch of a new book, they grab drinks which turns into dinner which turns into a late night walking around D.C.'s Historic District. From that point on, they're together. A little older, a little wiser, and both more clear on who they are and how they fit together.
Dean moved out of Stars Hollow shortly after his second (third?) break up with Rory. He found a number of different construction opportunities in Philadelphia and while his stint there was initially meant to be temporary, he ended up making the city his permanent home. He lives in the suburbs with his wife Robin and by all accounts, their life is good. She teaches preschool and cooks dinner from scratch every night and he coaches their son's pee wee baseball team. He saw Paris once at a grocery store and hid behind the bread.
After a proper period of mourning for Chin-Chin, Michel got another Chow. He named her Celine. He thinks Celine (the dog and the person) are better than most other living beings. He's still trying to reach his goal weight and is anxiously awaiting Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion's next tours.
Sookie and Lorelei joke that her third child, Sadie, is destined to be "the older woman" in William's life. Though the kids and the inn keep her busy she finds the time to write a cookbook after the inn's success creates increased interest in her recipes. Writing the cookbook is one of the most anxiety inducing experiences of her life (she manages to throw out her back, burn her hand, and nearly chop of her fingers all while caught up in the stress storm of trying to create new recipes and decide on the right combination of dishes to include). The book's a modest success until Oprah features it in her magazine, at which point it goes to the top of the charts. Jackson doesn't have to worry about crunching numbers on his calculator anymore. After the book's success, she's presented with the opportunity to open up a farm to table restaurant with Jackson and while they're both compelled by the idea, for now her dreams are closer to home. She gets stopped on the street a lot for looking a lot like the woman who was in Bridesmaids.
Richard and Emily still have Friday night dinner with Lorelei but since William was born, they alternate hosting responsibilities with Lorelei and Luke. These dinners are still full of plenty passive aggression but love too, and Richard and Emily are determined to be in their grandson's life from the start, even if it means accepting more diner food and take out into their lives. Since they've spent more time in town, Emily's also found a friend in Taylor Doose, much to Luke's chagrin and Lorelei's amusement. Just as he had with Rory, Richard brings books from his library over for April when she is in town and he still tries to take Luke and William to the club for golf.
Fin.
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