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Reese Witherspoon & Cheryl Strayed Touched By The ‘Wild’ References In Netflix ‘Gilmore Girls’

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 07:41 PST, Nov 30, 2016

**Possible Spoilers and Hints Might Follow**

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life has begun on Netflix, and no one was more surprised by the homage to the book and movie Wild than the author, Cheryl Strayed or Reese Witherspoon, the actress who played the lead in the movie version of the popular book. In the season of Fall, Lorelai takes a hint from Wild to go on her own pilgrimage to leave her past behind and embrace her future. The series on Netflix is laid out according to the Carole King song, “You’ve Got a Friend,” which has been the Gilmore Girls theme song since the beginning, “Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall…”

Ever since it was announced that Netflix was getting the Gilmore Girls team back together, fans have eagerly awaited every detail they could glean, says the Inquisitr. Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, was literally able to get all the major cast members back (aside from Richard Gilmore, who was played by Edward Hermann, who passed away in 2014) and most of the supporting cast to show fans what was now going on in the lives of some of the most beloved characters of all time.

But most fans did not see the turn where Lorelai Gilmore must leave it all behind, including Luke and Rory, to find herself, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, according to Entertainment Weekly. It seems that Lorelai was still holding on to some part of her relationship with her father, and it was something she needed to make peace with and resolve in order to embrace her future life. So she decides to pack up and hike after the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed inspires her.

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Author Strayed was shocked and honored that her personal story was played out on the new Netflix Gilmore Girls reboot.

“Gobsmacked & honored by the Wild homage in [Gilmore Girls:] Year in the Life. I watched it yesterday with my daughter, Bobbi (who is named after my mother). Like so many people, in Lorelai and Rory, I see pieces of myself, my mother, and my daughter.”

Cheryl Strayed hiked the Pacific Crest Trail as a way to cope with her own loss of a parent and then wrote about it in Wild. The popular book was then made into a movie of the same name, which starred Reese Witherspoon as Strayed. Cheryl Strayed says she was so overwhelmed by the ode, she wrote a thank you on Instagram.

“That scene when Lorelai wanders behind the closed store near the trail and looks out across the wild landscape then calls her mom? Took my breath away and made me cry (after laughing at so many others parts). I reached for my daughter’s hand and told her someday she’d understand why I was crying. She said, ‘I understand already, Mom.’ Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel and all the people who made this show: thank you. Y’all touched so many of our hearts.”

Fans who have lived years and years with Lorelai, Rory, and Emily were also touched by the breakthrough that Lorelai had on the trail, or rather, looking at the trail after being turned away by a ranger played by Peter Krause, Lauren Graham’s real-life love (so many layers of reality). Temple University film major Honora Feinberg, thought that the scene was critical as the end of the fourth episode in a four-part series because fans needed Lorelai to have some sort of epiphany.

“Throughout the whole original series, I was hitting myself on the head wondering when Lorelei would ever figure it out. This long overdue coming-to-God moment elicits a sigh of relief for me. Knowing that my long time friend, Lorelei is finally taking a step in the right direction provided me with comfort.”

What did you think of the Wild tie-in on Gilmore Girls? Were you surprised that the finale had yet another cliffhanger?

[Featured Image by Alberto Rodriguez/Getty Images]

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