The first year of living in Cornelius, Oregon, back in 2014, my siblings, mother, and I used to walk to the public library, spending at least an hour picking out all the picture books we could get our hands-on. Fridays, however, were my favorite because we would have a gigantic movie marathon. One Friday in particular, I remember walking down the street in my sunflower rain boots, splashing in puddles that lined the beautifully bricked buildings of downtown. As we looked through the many rows and shelves for some movies, nothing seemed to interest us, so my mom politely asked the librarian for suggestions. She took one look at us all and merely said, “I know just the one!” This began the Salathe family’s dorky obsession with the show Gilmore Girls.
The years to follow were filled with the show’s charming town of Stars Hollow and all its emotionally admirable characters. I bit my nails as the character Rory applied to Yale and Harvard, I bawled when Luke and Lorelai called off their wedding, I screamed in happiness when Rory had her first kiss, and I died a little when Jess left town. Watching these characters as I grew up shaped the way I saw the world and made my decisions. For example, when a cute guy walks into a party, my best friend and I immediately turn to each other and classify him as a Jess (moody and dark), a Logan (wealthy and cocky), or a Dean (friendly but confused). The characters’ stories have become my life in the sense that I look up to them and personally respect them because, by the end of season seven, Gilmore Girls became my family.
Since finishing the show, I have rewatched episodes here and there but have not had the time to sit down and entirely focus, only turning it on as background noise when I do homework.
That was until I received a Netflix notification on November 17th, 2016. Big news broke out that on November 25th, the Gilmore Girls were coming BACK! The whole cast was coming together again to produce four more last episodes. I flew down my stairs to my parents’ room and, as you can imagine, there was a whole lot of squealing and hugging! We had wished for this day to come ever since the show ended and it was finally here!
In that moment of pure, uncontrollable happiness, an idea struck me. It consisted of my very own Gilmore Girls marathon starting at 12:01 PT the day it came out and ending 24 hours later.
This is how it went:
It was 11:59 pm, and my eyes began to feel heavy as I scrolled through Instagram. My head sunk more in-depth into the arm of my cream leather couch. With two minutes remaining before the big release of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, I woke up my mother and younger sister to come to watch it with me. As I pressed “A” on my Wii remote, my hands began to shake in excitement. The opening scene sent my eyes from tiny and aching to wide and curious. As more characters made themselves present, an exhilaration of emotions got to me as I began to feel a warm, steady flow of tears down my cheek. It was like finally reuniting with old friends that you haven’t seen in years. This feeling lasted the whole episode.
Now it was 2:30 am, and I could almost feel my thanksgiving dinner up by my esophagus. My stomach was making painful sounds, almost as if orange juice was attacking my turkey. It was the strangest sound, but I didn’t let that stop me from oohing and awing as new plots became apparent. Rorey no longer had her baby face, and Lorelei had gained a few pounds. It was amazing how the producers could produce genuinely unique work even after so many years.
The next six hours were a blur. I didn’t eat or get up to go to the bathroom. My hair was sticking up in every direction, and my pajamas made themselves comfortable under my fuzzy purple blanket.
As the last episode of the new season ended, Rorey sent my heart flying as she mumbled, “Mom, I am pregnant.” I felt my mouth drop and my face start to heat up. How could they end it like that? Why do they like torturing the audience? I sat in bewilderment for a while, trying to figure out their meaning behind it. Then it came to my attention that they must be planning to continue the new season! I was excited once again and flopped back on the couch with a smile painted across my drowsy, wired face.
The rest of the day, I went on to watch older Gilmore girl episodes, but thankfully got up and brushed my teeth, and went to the bathroom.
As the clock turned 12:01 am again the next day, I finally turned the TV off and closed my eyes; they were burning with exhaustion. Through this experience, I learned that no one should ever watch TV for 24 hours straight because it’s just disgusting to sit in one spot doing nothing physically; it makes you feel sick and dirty. However, it was such a fun experience in the sense that I was able to finally relax and not have to worry about but the show. I loved it, and I hope you all decided to check out the show if you haven’t already! I highly recommend 🙂