Rewatch Gilmore Girls

Some shows feel like a season, and Gilmore Girls is one of them for many people. A small town, a lot of coffee, a lot of sweaters, and two characters, a mother and a daughter, you’ll want to spend time with. A fall rewatch doesn’t need a plan. Start at the beginning and let it carry you.

Start at the pilot

Begin with the first episode, even if you remember it well. The show takes its time introducing the town and the people in it, and it makes more sense when you see how everything begins. If you’ve seen the first season many times, you could start a few episodes in, but watching the pilot sets the mood.

You don’t need to finish all seven seasons this fall. Think of it as something that lasts as long as you want it to. There’s also a four-part follow-up, A Year in the Life, which you can watch after the main series. Its four episodes are set across winter, spring, summer and fall.

Get the evening ready

You’ll need a streaming service or a disc set that has the show. Where it streams changes from time to time and differs by country, so check before you plan the night.

Then set the scene:

• A big mug of coffee, because it’s the show’s whole personality. If you don’t drink coffee, a tea or hot chocolate works.
• A blanket, and your warmest socks.
• Something to eat. The characters talk about food constantly, so it’s easy to get hungry. Think popcorn, pizza, something sweet.
• A lamp instead of the big light.
• Your phone in another room, or at least face down.

How to pace it

• Two or three episodes a night is a comfortable rhythm.
• Pick your nights. A Sunday evening and a midweek night, say, so it feels like a ritual and not a task.
• Don’t binge for the sake of it. If you’re tired, stop. It will still be there tomorrow.
• Keep track. Write down where you stopped, or use your streaming app’s list.

Make it a little more than watching

You can turn the rewatch into something you look forward to:

• Cook along. Make a snack or a full dinner to match the episode. Pizza, pancakes and pie are easy.
• Do something with your hands. Knitting, a puzzle or sketching during a rewatch makes it feel slower and cozier.
• Watch with a friend. A shared rewatch gives you someone to talk about the characters with. If you’re in different places, you can press play at the same time and message each other.
• Dress for it. A big sweater is the right look.
• Notice the seasons. The show is known for its autumn look, so you can pay attention to the colours and the clothes.

What if it’s different from how you remember

You’ll notice things that didn’t strike you before. Some of it will feel dated, some of it will hit harder, and some of the characters will seem different from how you saw them the first time. That’s part of the fun of a rewatch. You can enjoy what you love and let the rest pass.

If you don’t finish

Nobody needs to finish. If it’s cold and you’ve watched half a season, that’s a good fall. Pick it up again in winter, or next year. Having a show you can go back to is the point.

Things worth noticing the second time

When you’ve seen a show before, you can watch it differently. You might pay attention to the way the town fills up with fall decorations and festivals, the food, the books the characters carry, the fast talk that you missed first time round, or the side characters in the town. If you’re watching with a friend, each of you can choose a character to follow. You may also find your favourite character has changed since the last time.

Snacks worth making

You can build a small menu for the night. A pot of coffee for the start, a plate of something baked like cookies or a pie in the middle, and something warm like soup or pasta if it’s a long night. You don’t have to match the show exactly. A nice, cozy meal on a tray in front of the screen is the idea.

Make it a fall evening

Make a big coffee, put on a blanket and press play on the pilot. If you want to make it special, make a snack beforehand, like a pie or something from the apple pie recipe, and settle in. One episode is enough to start.