On Netflix, you can currently witness a Gilmore Girls paradox that puts every time travel phenomenon to shame. A brain knot is yours for the taking, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Gilmore Girls ran for 7 seasons between 2000 and 2007, is currently streaming on Netflix, and – aside from Lorelai and Rory’s fast-talking interludes – doesn’t really offer anything that will completely overwhelm audiences watching it. Or does it? Because one episode of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s cult series is causing a pop culture head-scratcher.
Meta brain knot at Netflix: Gilmore Girls collides with another cult series
In season 7, Gilmore Girls references another famous series, The Sopranos. Lorelai’s father Richard wears a jogging suit and is then mockingly asked by his daughter if he is meeting Tony Soprano for lunch. A nice nod from one series to another, one would think. But even in The Sopranos there is a reference to the other series: in season 6, during a break-in, an episode of Gilmore Girls is playing on TV in the background … and that’s where things get complicated.
Gilmore Girls meets Tony Soprano
Series paradox: Why the references between Gilmore Girls and The Sopranos are so complicated
What exactly is the problem? Reddit user Firstasatragedy describes the series paradox of Gilmore Girls and The Sopranos as follows: Apparently, in the universe of each series, the TV show of the other (fictional) series exists. This in turn means that each series has become a TV universe within its own universe.
Well, are you still coming along? Broken down: So when the Gilmore Girls (Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel) watch the Sopranos series, sooner or later they will recognise fictional versions of themselves on their TV. Conversely, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) will also catch the reference to himself if he watches up to season 7 of Gilmore Girls. The two series are like two mirrors endlessly duplicating each other. Welcome to the brain node of the Soprano Girls multiverse.
