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And the next morning…the infamous four words are finally heard.

“Mom,” Rory says.

“Yeah?” Lorelai answers.

“I’m pregnant.”

And just like that, the ending and a lot of A Year in the Life is turned upside down. The first thing that comes to mind is how this will impact her relationship with Logan. The show had Rory finally come to her senses long enough to end her “arrangement” with Logan, who is about to get married. And assuming the baby is his, what does that mean for them?

But on second viewing, it also impacts the earlier scene with her father. In the first go-round, it seemed like Rory was not only doing research but also using the book as a reason to finally get things off her chest. But now it becomes clear that she was actually asking to find out what she should do next. Would Logan want to be part of the baby’s life? Should she let him? Or should she raise the baby on her own?

And although it’s been repeatedly made clear that this was the ending Amy Sherman-Palladino had planned all along, it’s hard to believe that this was the impact she was aiming for. The fact is that sometimes A Year in the Life seems to want audiences to ignore Season 7 or the nine years that have passed since the end of the show’s original run. Most likely the show was originally planned to end when Rory was in her early 20s, and that would have changed the context of the final reveal. If we had gotten those four words then, it would have felt like a real ending. It would have brought things full circle, with Rory essentially repeating her mother’s life.

But now all it does is raise a lot of questions. Rory is in a completely different place then her mother was when she got pregnant, so it’s not necessarily a parallel situation. What will Rory do with the baby and what will happen to her book and career? Those are just a couple of the many questions it raises.

The ending also seems to retroactively rework Rory’s narrative on the show. When Season 7 ended, Rory claimed her independence from Logan and was seen off by the entire town as she triumphantly left Stars Hollow to follow her dreams. Gilmore Girls became, at least in part, about her ambition and the ending was the culmination of all of her hard work. But now Rory is being kneecapped and her story becomes about being relegated to repeat her mother’s mistakes.

Revivals always have very high expectations. People obviously want to see it play out a certain way and it doesn’t always match up with what the creators choose. Fortunately, A Year in the Life had great story arcs that were true to the spirit of the show. They were also entertaining and emotional. And the series didn’t overstay its welcome. Yet, it did leave some questions unanswered, like what happened with Paris and Doyle? What would a Steely Dan Flash mob look like?

But even though A Year in the Life wasn’t perfect, it was definitely a great and worthy addition to the Gilmore Girls canon. And in the end, A Year in the Life was a welcome trip to Stars Hollow. It was like reuniting with old friends, catching up and being reminded why you cared so much about them in the first place.

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