The leaves are starting to change. There’s a brisk electricity in the air. The Starbucks pumpkin spice latte has been back for over a month. The autumnal equinox has passed. Even with temperatures still sneaking up past 80 degrees, it doesn’t matter. Everyone dons their red flannel, puts “All Too Well” on aux, and cruises to pick up their pumpkin spice treat. It’s officially that time of year to light a candle, fill up a mug (or two … or three) with steaming hot coffee, put in a large Chinese food delivery order and throw on Netflix. It is officially the “Gilmore Girls” season.
Amy Sherman-Palladino’s 2000s cult classic which aired on the Warner Bros. network between 2000 and 2007 follows the lives and relationship of Rory Gilmore in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Rory and her mother Lorelai have an abnormally close relationship as Lorelai got pregnant when she was 16, roughly the age Rory is when we first meet her. The closeness of Lorelai and Rory’s relationship gives them a solid foundation as they pursue their individual ambitions: Lorelai’s dream of opening an inn and Rory’s goal of attending her dream school, Harvard University. They grapple with the complicated dynamics of Lorelai’s estranged relationship with her parents following her teenage pregnancy, navigate the ups and downs of romance and nurture their friendships, and they’re surrounded by and thrown into a pool of small-town drama.
Many of the most iconic moments in the series take place within the fall season: Luke and Taylor fighting over a corn maze for the Autumn Festival, running through the town and subsequently covering up Luke’s Diner; Lorelai and Rory attempting to fit four Thanksgiving dinners in one day; Lorelai and Rory attending the Harvard-Yale football game with their Yale-loving grandparents; Rory and Logan attending a secret society event where autumn air brushes past them as they jump from a high structure; Luke and Lorelai’s Stars Hollow Planetarium date. All these moments, frozen in a show that premiered over 20 years ago, get revived and relived by its persisting audience as fall rolls around each year.
Fall has been collectively deemed as the time its fans rewatch the series. This is due, in part, to the aesthetics of Stars Hollow. The picturesque small New England town (or the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank that depicts it) is at its peak when the trees are adorned with colorful fall foliage and the town gazebo is decorated with pumpkins and sunflowers. Lorelai and Rory bundle up in chunky sweaters and other warm 2000s-style get-ups and go around town drinking coffee from Luke’s Diner, the warm hues of orange and yellow serving as the backdrop for their quippy conversations with other townspeople. Even as time progresses, technology develops and Rory moves out, in each passing autumn — in both real life and in the series — Stars Hollow retains its slow, small-town character.
As autumn is making its way to Notre Dame, I get to live out my own ”Gilmore Girls” fantasy. As someone who grew up in a place without seasons, there is nothing more joyful than crunching a fallen leaf underneath my boot or picking apples from an orchard. While I am not in quaint Stars Hollow, I get my own northern community to partake in the autumnal joys. And most of all, like Rory, I get to live out my academic dreams in the blissful cool air of fall.
”Gilmore Girls” is eaten up by sentimental women like me because of its simplicity and heart-warming nature. It is centered on the everyday lives of two women at different stages of their lives seeking to fulfill their dreams and be active members of their community. Rory and Lorelai both struggle to find themselves as they traverse romance, education and careers. Conflict is often small-scale and plays out through long, witty dialogue. Stars Hollow is a place where everyone knows everyone and community support is high. To quote my boyfriend, “the show is clearly made for the female gaze.” In a fast-paced, demanding world that demands everything of women, ”Gilmore Girls” is an idyllic world to seek comfort in.
In the same way, many women like me love fall because it marks a time of slowing down, reflecting inward, and enjoying simple pleasures like drinking overpriced lattes, carving pumpkins, wearing cardigans and replaying the same comfort shows, like ”Gilmore Girls,” over again. Fall is the time to tap into ourselves and nurture our relationships. You may be rolling your eyes at my clearly “basic girl” depiction of fall, but as our Hot Girl Summers come to an end, we once again get to celebrate Christian Girl Autumn.
So, it is finally the season to embark on over 150 episodes of comedic gold. It is the season to divide ourselves up into Team Dean, Team Jess and Team Logan (although we all know Jess is the only one of merit). It is the season to listen to Carol King’s “Where You Lead.” It is the season to groan alongside Luke and Michele and gossip with Miss Patty and Babette. It is the season to cheer along Lorelai and Rory. It is finally ”Gilmore Girls” season.
Kat Regala is a junior studying the Program of Liberal Studies with minors in Computing and Digital Technology and Science, Technology and Values. She originally hails from Naples, Florida, but loves traveling. When not reading or writing, you can find her drinking coffee, practicing yoga or binge-watching reality television.
