I Think Ginny & Georgia Is Better Than The Gilmore Girls, And I Don't Care Who In Stars Hollow Knows It

Yes, you read that headline correctly – I think Ginny & Georgia is better than Gilmore Girls. And now I’m going to hide away forever.

On a real note, I’m the kind of person who really loves shows like this, where everything feels a lot more grounded. Sure, I’m also the kind of person who will willingly put herself through the most heartbreaking The Walking Dead deaths or the shocking Game of Thrones moments that still get to us today, but sometimes, I need a series like this one.

Surprisingly, there haven’t been many shows about mothers and daughters, with that being the sole purpose of the show, but these two are among the most notable. Gilmore Girls has been around for years, and Netflix hit it big with Ginny & Georgia. But to me, I really do think the latter is better than the first – and here’s why.

I Can Recognize The Icon That Is Gilmore Girls

Now, this article isn’t about to be me harping on how bad Gilmore Girls is because I’m not. In fact, I’m a fan of the show. I wouldn’t enjoy Ginny & Georgia if I weren’t a fan of mother-daughter shows.

There’s a lot to love about Gilmore Girls. It’s quaint and simple, discussing some crucial topics without getting too heavy and showcasing a mother-daughter relationship and how it evolves and changes over time. That’s something anyone can relate to.

There’s also the setting. I feel like everyone always focuses on the setting. Set in the fictional town of Stars Hollow (now that’s a book name), it’s cute; the Northeast feeling is one that I’m sure many have yearned for. The falling tree leaves, the small-town nature of it – it’s everything we all look for when autumn rolls around.

The show itself remains very popular to this day. Heck, there was even a miniseries years later that came from Netflix that was a massive hit for the platform. It’s a fun show to watch, and the Gilmore Girls cast is iconic in many ways.

There’s plenty to enjoy, but to me…Ginny & Georgia just hits harder.

But Ginny & Georgia Keeps It Real On A Personal Level

So here’s the thing – is Ginny & Georgia the perfect show? No. I really don’t think many Netflix shows could be considered perfect, even if it is one of the best shows to binge on Netflix. There are plenty of flaws in this series. Many moments don’t make sense.

But honestly, neither is Gilmore Girls. There are certain character decisions in that show that don’t feel like Rory or Lorelai, and it makes you scratch your head, wondering why the writers decided to go in that direction. Even now, years later, with that miniseries, some moments don’t feel like they line up with the characters that we know.

Ginny & Georgia is also that way. However, what I like most about this series is that, despite its flaws, it doesn’t try to hide things behind rose-tinted glasses. It keeps things real in a way that I can really appreciate.

We know straight out of the gate that Georgia has secrets. We aren’t hinted at as the show goes on – it’s one of the main things we end up loving about her, that she isn’t afraid to do what she has to do to protect her family. As the show progresses, the tone only gets darker while still maintaining its comedic elements.

The issues are there, not hidden behind this pretty northeastern town and fun, small-town vibes – we are fully introduced to this story as a family who is trying to get away from their past, and I’m here for it.

It Still Has The Typical Teenager Tropes We Would Expect, But On A Deeper Level

Something else that Ginny & Georgia does a much better job with than Gilmore Girls is the teenage tropes. Gilmore Girls keeps it relatively safe with the picks they make for Rory, giving her love triangles, the bad boy, or anything else you could think of. Many of the choices she makes echo several teen romance shows on Netflix.

But Ginny & Georgia? It presents us with those same tropes but subverts them, delving much deeper into what happens. We have the boy next door, the bad boy, Marcus, but in reality, he’s suffering a great deal, and we see him mentally break down throughout the seasons.

The love triangle? It’s there, but it’s shrouded in layers of trauma regarding race and identity that really only a show nowadays could dive into.

And, of course, something that Season 3 has only continued to improve upon is mental health in general, not even just with the ‘bad boy’ but with the entire cast. We really see how far they are willing to go to accurately portray what it is like in modern-day America for teenagers, and that is something I greatly appreciate – and it’s something that Gilmore Girls would never talk about, at least not to this extent.

It’s Not Afraid To Dive Deeper Into The Wedge Between Mother And Daughter

The biggest thing that separates Ginny & Georgia from Gilmore Girls is the mother-daughter relationship, and this series is not afraid to make these two fight. Seriously.

Yes, there were moments throughout Gilmore Girls where Rory and Lorelai fought and disagreed, which is fair – the entire show is about mothers and daughters, and it wouldn’t be realistic if they didn’t fight. But no matter what, these two are always made up. It was a rare day when we went from one episode to the next without these two being close or at least discussing something that was happening, because the entire series focused on how close they were, no matter what happened.

However, Ginny & Georgia wasn't afraid to show the wedge that appeared between the two when Ginny found out Georgia’s secrets – and went even further to show just how far Ginny was willing to go to protect her brother when, in reality, all Georgia did was to keep her family safe. It’s a great way to show the reality of a family because it’s not always sunshine and rainbows, and things aren’t all resolved with a big bow on top of a box of trauma.

It’s real. It’s gritty. And it’s something that, as someone who has grown up with intense shows on every streaming platform known to man, I can appreciate.

Sure, Ginny & Georgia isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay – sometimes we need an escape show like Gilmore Girls. But it’s a series that I’m tired of pretending isn’t as fun or as good – and if not, better. And hey, maybe I’m standing on my island for this, but I’ll keep watching this show until the very end, as long as my Netflix subscription is still active.

With that in mind, I can’t wait until Ginny & Georgia Season 4 – and for the fall to come around for another Gilmore Girls rewatch. We can live in a world where we like both!