Off the back of Netflix’s bi-annual Engagement Report, you’ll see a lot of people talking about the big hitters; Squid Game, Adolescence, Ginny & Georgia, but there is only one metric I care about. Gilmore Girls retention.
I, among hundreds of thousands others, rewatch Gilmore Girls every year, and every year I go through the same rollercoaster of frustrations as the seasons plow on. There is a certain point where I always consider closing the app. Moving forward to a new show, or perhaps looping back to Bob’s Burgers, but I’m no quitter. When I start I’m going to watch every single episode and round it out with the incredibly mid A Year In The Life special. But it does get me wondering how many among us are not as strong? Not as brave? How many of us claw our way through to ultimately give up after season five?
Apparently quite a few.
| Season | Hours viewed | Views |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 75,800,000 | 5,000,000 |
| Season 2 | 71,900,000 | 4,500,000 |
| Season 3 | 69,300,000 | 4,400,000 |
| Season 4 | 68,900,000 | 4,300,000 |
| Season 5 | 69,000,000 | 4,300,000 |
| Season 6 | 63,300,000 | 4,000,000 |
| Season 7 | 56,400,000 | 3,600,000 |
| A Year in the Life | 16,800,000 | 2,700,000 |
According to Netflix’s data, season one has the highest number of views sitting at five million in the first half of 2025. There is a big drop coming into season two which makes complete sense to me. If you haven’t connected with the characters yet then the chances are low you’ll bother following them into the next season of their lives. So we lose half a million views initially, but then things start to stabilise.
The second season introduces Jess (the person Rory should have ended up with, but actually ends up being too good for her), and with him in the picture there is a lot more tension. Not just between the Dean, Rory, and Jess love triangle, but Lorelai, Chris, and Sherry too, plus the conflict in Lorelai and Luke’s relationship. The stakes are high across the board. It is popcorn television at its finest.
From here we lose only another 100,000 views rolling into season three where the triangle shatters, Rory graduates, and we finish the season with Rory’s touching valedictorian speech. A true high point, which sees just another 100,000 drop in viewers heading into season four. Despite the change in format in season four it is my favourite season because finally we get Luke and Lorelai’s first kiss, which is rounded out by Rory making another in her string of terrible decisions and losing her virginity to a married Dean on the exact same night. A true swings and roundabouts kind of finale which makes for a net zero loss in viewers moving into season five.
By now we have only lost 14% of the original viewers, which averages out to be a 3.5% drop per season. If we exclude the initial bulk drop off after season one, it becomes 1.25% season on season, which is just incredible retention. And yet, those numbers, like the show, are about to tumble off a cliff.
After the tedium of Emily and Rory in Europe, and Rory and Dean the sequel, the whole show feels like it grinds to a halt. This is usually when I start having it on in the background while I do something else, and clearly I’m not alone in my sentiments because 300,000 viewers drop off after season five. That is more in one season than the previous four combined, and it blows out that 3.5% average to 5% in one fell swoop.
It just continues to tumble from here, dropping another 400,000 going into the final season, and a full 900,000 for the A Year in the Life limited series. Over the past six months, the show lost the same amount of viewers in the final two seasons, as it did in the first five seasons put together. Anyone who has watched the show in its entirety could anecdotally tell you how badly the quality drops after season four, but to see it validated in data is something else.
If there is a lesson in these numbers, it is to heed the signs. Don’t force yourself to bravely go where so many have fallen away, but instead save yourself 42 suboptimal viewing hours, and turn off the TV after season four of Gilmore Girls ends.
Anula Wiwatowska
Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram
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