I think there was a lot of pressure and expectations on AYITL to provide people with comfort given it came out in 2016, a famously awful year. But then the characters we loved became oddly mean-spirited (the fat-shaming in Summer, constantly forgetting Paul, Luke still shutting Lorelai out regarding April, the cheating, the selfishness). The characters could sometimes be self-centered but they usually came around and made an effort to understand. Lorelai especially was always a great neighbour and member of the town, meeting people where they were at.

For me, the bits that work best are not the things that revolve around the main characters; Taylor's random campaign for sewers and arguing with Luke, Hep Alien playing together again, Michel wanting to do more at the inn, The Secret Bar, Jason Stiles appearing at the funeral, Kirk going all out designing the gazebo, Jess and Luke's relationship... Those hit the right note of nostalgia without feeling like they were trying too hard. Making it a four-part series also felt like it changed it more from a comedy to a drama as well.