There's something exhilarating about snuggling up with the raggedy emotional support blanket you've been lugging around since middle school to watch two women run amok in their fantasy-like town.
The multi-award-winning 2000s TV series Gilmore Girls might seem an odd pick for a guilty pleasure. But it's not the dynamic plot, compelling love stories, or the nearly 80-page episode scripts that have solidified its place in my heart. I'm in love with the series as a perfectly unhurried depiction of Elysian life.
Filler episodes have long been the bane of many a television binge-watchers' existence, taking time and space away from the show's main plot and stultifying progress for longer story arcs. As a result, many shows have done away with filler episodes in favor of giving fans in a hurry their wish: the 8 to 10 episode season. This evil episodic style has taken over the industry and left zero space for filler. (RIP to default 22-episode seasons.)
Filler episodes' bad rep is mainly due to watchers' belief that if the story has nothing to do with the main conflict, then what's the point? Gilmore Girls combats this notion with their filler episodes, utilizing their slow pace to deeply establish characters with dynamism, backstory, emotions, motives, and distinct attitudes far beyond overused tropes like “the dumb blonde” or the intentionally unlikeable no-good-doers.
Each episode of the situational dramedy is an escape from my everyday routine; a journey to a place where everyone is unrealistically cheery and frivolous spending is never questioned. The show was always a lighthearted mother-daughter drama that had just enough angst to get us through the week. In 2022, we also need to recognize that Gilmore Girls is actually a slow-paced utopian universe set in a walkable city filled with slow burns, undemanding enemies-to-lovers tropes, too many brooding Byronic heroes to count, and, of course, the central duo of lovable cottage-core wannabes, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, to tie the town together.
For me, the best bits are small moments, like when Lorelai sends Rory to pick up Sixteen Candles while she orders Chinese takeout for dinner — because the only edible things that take up her cabinets are Pop-Tarts and donut holes.
When your life feels like a perpetual rush, Gilmore Girls is a perfect reminder of the beauty in leisure. If you’re binge-watching the show to speed into the drama and climatic elements, you’re watching it all wrong. The plot points or that final kiss you've been waiting on forever wouldn't be nearly as sweet with rushed development or a sloppily constructed romance!
"When your life feels like a perpetual rush, Gilmore Girls is a perfect reminder of the beauty in leisure."
The beauty in Gilmore Girls filler episodes is that while they may seem like 40-minutes-worth of just their famous "La-la" score, all that buildup toward the more memorable plot points makes these underrated journeys wildly exciting. Instead of simply watching characters make their decision and incite action, we learn why they commit to certain causes, giving us background for when they ultimately decide to reject the marriage proposal from the hot guy you were rooting for or choose the unlikely university acceptance letter over their dream school.
In Season 1 filler episode 12, "Double Date," not much of the main plot is established beyond the budding romance between Lorelai's best friend, Sookie, and her hotel's produce guy, Jackson. Instead, viewers get a comical introduction to Lorelai's unlucky dating streak as she goes on a blind double date with lovebirds Sookie and Jackson — and an ornery man who’d rather be anywhere but. After the date, Lorelai and diner owner (and eventual love interest) Luke Danes exchange quips and cute glances. This moment serves as a small appetizer to feed into one of the greatest slow-burn romances of TV.
The episode provides an additional glimpse into the famous friendship between Rory and her equal, Lane. As their own double-date-turned-catastrophe unfolds, the two lie to their moms about their whereabouts, since Lane’s mom forbids her from dating. Both Rory and Lorelai go above and beyond for their best friends in the episode, solidifying the duo as the ultimate "girl’s girl" pair for the rest of the series. Even when the teenage girls' lies come to the surface, Rory and Lorelai are quick to re-establish their unique and almost fantasy-like mother-daughter dynamic that reigns supreme throughout the show’s lifespan. (We also get pretty cool banter about Claudine Longet, the inspo behind “Claudine” by the Rolling Stones.)
My unhealthy attachment to Gilmore Girls is tied to our current network season order model. We used to have arcs and dynamic characters who work to win you over! You might be asking, “But why would anyone prefer to watch meaningless filler episodes?" You may not realize how much we as viewers have lost more than we've gained with the death of episodes where "nothing much happens." If not for the many filler episodes that set up the harrowing season finales, slow-burn romances would have no place for nurturing within the series, and you can forget the frequent deep-cut film and music references, from The Shawshank Redemption to Yoko Ono, which provide those ever-so-lovely "Hey! You know that, too?" moments.
There aren't many shows that can rip your heart out in gut-wrenching season finale twists and then seamlessly cut to the image of the town's troubadour playing a rendition of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." Gilmore Girls just has a je ne sais quoi that simply can't be replicated in a 10-episode-series era, when the action leaves the room as soon as it enters. From Carole King's "Where You Lead I Will Follow" Gilmore Girls theme song to the shining cast that can brighten any gloomy day Stars Hollow could offer, the utopia that is the 2000s sitcom will remain my comfort until cutsie filler episodes make a hard comeback!
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