The stars of Gilmore Girls were just as taken aback as viewers were by the show’s final four words. Lauren Graham, Kelly Bishop, Scott Patterson and Alexis Bledel opened up about the Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, during the Today show on Tuesday, November 29.
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
“I did not know the four words until halfway through filming this duration of the series and I too was [like], ‘Huh, really? Huh?’ It makes sense in terms of the journey of the show, but I can understand it poses a question as well,” Graham, 49, told Savannah Guthrie. “Someone compared it to the end of The Sopranos where it left a little bit of a question in the air, which was similarly controversial but artistically satisfying. I don’t know.”
Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has teased the last four words since the show ended its seven-year run in 2007. On Friday, they were finally revealed when Rory (Bledel) told her mom, Lorelai (Graham), that she’s pregnant.
Like Graham, Bishop, 72, (Emily Gilmore) was surprised by the bombshell. “My reaction was, ‘huh,'” she told Guthrie.
Patterson, 58, meanwhile, joked that he wanted the last line to be given to Sean Gunn, who plays quirky Stars Hollow townie Kirk. “The top of my list was, ‘Kirk, drop the gun,'” he said.
But back to Rory’s love life. Some fan theories suggest that the baby is presumably Logan’s and that Rory will one day end up with Jess, played by Bledel’s real life ex Milo Ventimiglia. (To note: She had a cute scene with high school sweetheart Dean too.)
Bledel, 35, was stuck in traffic during the Today appearance, but called in to discuss Rory’s boy drama. “I really hope people are happy. I hope they enjoy the journey that Rory takes in these episodes,” she said. “All of her past loves appear, of course, so you get some sort of closure.”
Bledel and her costars had to keep tight-lipped about the revival for months. They began filming in February and wrapped in May. “It just felt like a relief to talk about it and share it with people,” Graham said on Today.
“There’s a basic sweetness to this show, a goodness,” Bishop added. “Everybody is liking it. I’ve only seen two, so I’m waiting to see the other two. To me, binge-watching is one each night.”
Bishop played Lorelai’s stubborn mother in the beloved series opposite the late Edward Herrmann, who played Lorelai’s father. The actor died at age 71 in December 2014. “He was my TV husband, my set buddy, and occasionally drinking buddy,” Bishop said. “I absolutely loved him and I knew he loved this show and he would have been thrilled to do this.”
Graham noted: “I do think part of the journey in these four episodes is a journey of healing. We’ve lost our dad and husband, respectively, and so that gives the show an emotional depth that I think is appropriate for 10 years later.”
Like Rory, Lorelai’s story line came “full circle,” as the revival often noted. She finally made the decision to wed Luke (Patterson) after going on a brief soul-searching journey, which she modeled after author Cheryl Strayed‘s experience and 2012 book Wild. On Saturday, Strayed thanked the writers for name-dropping her.
“I just found this out, it’s incredible,” Graham said of Strayed’s message for the cast during the third hour of Today. Graham now hikes off screen thanks to her boyfriend, fellow Parenthood alum Peter Krause. (Krause, 51, made a cameo in the revival as a park ranger.) “I have fleeces now. I have an assortment of fleeces,” she joked. “It’s hard.”
