Review: You'll still laugh and cry at Netflix's return to 'Gilmore Girls'

It’s not often you get a second chance to make a last impression.

Well, if you assume this Netflix revival is the last we see of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (Nov. 25, *** 1/2 out of four), which these days in general — and with this show in particular — is probably unwise.

When WB's cult hit ended in 2007, after one last, unsatisfying season on CW produced without creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and writer Daniel Palladino, most fans feared they'd seen the last of Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Compounding the agony was a predominant — though hardly universal — feeling that the ending was unsatisfactory, a belief that has hardened with time into immutable truth.

Now the show is back with four 90-minute episodes, each named for one of the seasons, and all of them written by the Palladinos. You get the same stars (for the most part) and the same rapid-fire, pop-culture-infused dialogue, in a more concise package that actually serves the show well. The pace and the arch theatricality of all that chatter could grow exhausting over 22 hours — a problem clearly lessened when you only have to listen for six.

Brevity, however, is not the only advantage Girls has this time around. It benefits from having been gone long enough for many of us to miss it. And it returns, in all its dreamy, slightly loopy, generally optimistic lightness, at a time when many of us could use an escape, and TV could undoubtedly use a break from the grim, violent, conspiracy-laden dramas that currently dominate the landscape.

Once again, you’re following the Gilmores and their extended family — led by Lorelai’s on-again/off-again lover Luke (Scott Patterson) and her mother Emily (the always fabulous Kelly Bishop) — as they talk their way around the tourist trap that is Stars Hollow. Time has passed, and relationships have changed, but there’s nothing or no one fans won’t recognize and newcomers won’t be able to figure out.

Not everyone was able to return, of course: the late Edward Herrmann is much missed, though his character, Richard, remains a heartwarming presence. A few other actors are either under- or overused: You get much less of Melissa McCarthy’s Sookie than most would like, and much more of Sean Gunn’s Kirk than some will like. But overall, the balance feels about right.

As always, Gilmore is not without its frustrations, which means that those who always found the constant babble and the flights of fancy unbearably twee will continue to do so. There are plots that just peter out, abruptly change course, or get lost in some eye-roll-inducing diversion. Even the combined gifts of Christian Borle and Sutton Foster can't quite excuse a musical sequence that defies belief and owes far too much to Christopher Guest's parody Waiting for Guffman and Borle’s own Something Rotten.

Yet for every misstep, there’s a moment from Graham or Bledel that makes you laugh or breaks your heart, or that cuts through the cuteness to ring absolutely true. And even at its most exasperating (as with those infamous “final four words”), there is so much talent and charm on display, you’re likely to be in a forgiving mood.

So welcome back, Girls. Here's hoping the wait for the next last episode is a shorter one.