‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’: Duluth Minnesota Was Inexplicably Referenced in the Revival

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, the 2016 Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls, had several important storylines. Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore’s relationship was woven into all four episodes. The four-part revival ended with Luke and Lorelai’s marriage. While fans never got to see their wedding, they did get to see preparations for it, including a cake. Since the screen went black on the revival, fans have wondered why one of several cakes seemed to reference Duluth, Minnesota. The cake feels like an Easter egg, but what exactly was it referencing? 

Duluth, Minnesota was mentioned exactly once in the original series 

Duluth feels like a strange city to reference in revival about a show set in a fictitious Connecticut hamlet. While it certainly seems a bit out of place, Duluth was actually mentioned in the original series, albeit only briefly. 

Lorelai was engaged to Max Medina, Rory Gilmore’s English teacher in the show’s earlier seasons. The couple was pretty close to walking down the aisle before Lorelai called the whole thing off. They were so close to the wedding day that Max’s brother traveled from Duluth to Connecticut for Max’s bachelor party. That, however, was the city’s one and only mention in Gilmore Girls. 

Two ‘Gilmore Girls’ stars have ties to Minnesota 

The reference to the city in the original series seems too inconsequential to garner a reference in the revival. Still, Minnesota is connected to two of the stars’ real lives, though. Lauren Graham, the actor who played Lorelai, and Alexis Bledel, the actor who played Rory, are romantically linked to men raised in Minnesota. 

Following Gilmore Girls, Graham landed a role in Parenthood. On the set of Parenthood, her romance with Peter Krause bloomed. The couple has been together since 2010. Krause was born and raised in Alexandria, Minnesota. While Krause was raised in Minnesota, he doesn’t have a connection to Duluth, specifically. Alexandria is more than 3 hours from Duluth. The town of 15,000 is closer to Minneapolis. 

Alexis Bledel’s husband, Vincent Kartheiser, is also from Minnesota, just like Krause. Kartheiser isn’t from Duluth, either, though. The Mad Men actor was born in Minneapolis and went to high school in Apple Valley, a two-hour drive from Duluth. 

A second season of the ‘Gilmore Girls’ revival could clear things up

It’s been six years since Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life premiered on Netflix. No one has come forward to officially explain the Duluth connection. A second season could potentially clear things up. Fans have been asking for a second season since the premiere date. It still hasn’t happened, though. 

That doesn’t mean it never will, though. Several Gilmore Girls cast members have made it clear that they would happily return. Showrunner, Amy Sherman-Palladino, has expressed an interest, too. Still, Netflix doesn’t appear to be biting. Could another streaming platform order a revival? Sherman-Palladino nor a streaming provider has made any official announcement. Still, it doesn’t feel totally out of the question.