'Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life' Totally Replaced Chad Michael Murray With Another Actor

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Well this is awkward…

Netflix's highly anticipated four-part event, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, has finally graced our screens and it was jam-packed with many delightful and downright life-changing moments. (Read the full recap here!)

But there was one moment in the series' second episode, "Spring," that slammed our jaws onto the floor of Chilton's perfectly marbled hallways: Gilmore Girls replaced 2000s WB heartthrob Chad Michael Murray with another actor and hoped that nobody would notice. Yes, we're serious.

MORE: 'Gilmore Girls' Each Season's Biggest Moments and Those Last 4 Words Finally Revealed!

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When Rory returns to her old private school to speak to the students at Chilton’s alumni day, she is shocked when Paris stares off into the distance while simultaneously screaming, "Oh my god!" For a split second, the camera cuts to a tall, handsome, blonde man confidently hitting on a gorgeous girl in the hallways of Chilton.

"Tristan?" Rory ponders out loud to herself while Paris frantically kicks a gaggle of preteens out of the nearest ladies' room.

Not so fast!

Upon closer inspection, it's clear the actor portraying the casual smugness of Chilton badboy Tristan Dugray is not being played by Murray, who starred in the role for the first two seasons before being sent off to military school (AKA One Tree Hill). Instead, according to the credits, (and our own eyes,) the "Tristan Double" is played Days of Our Lives actor Anton Narinskiy. Gasp!

We have SO many questions: Why couldn't they get Murray to return to the Gilmore Girls revival? Did they really think we wouldn't notice that this is a completely different actor? Whose not-so-bright idea was this? And why the heck would Tristan even be at an alumni event in the first place, considering the fact that he never actually graduated from Chilton?!


Gilmore Girls further rubbed salt in our CMM-loving wounds by weaving their on-set deceit into the storyline. "Was that Tristan out there?" a doe-eyed Rory asks.

"Of course it was Tristan! That pouty mouth, those liquid eyes, who else?!" Paris snaps. Yes, we're currently asking “Who else?” that man is too.

ET recently caught up with star Liza Weil on the red carpet of Gilmore Girls’ world premiere event, and got the exclusive scoop on this confusing schoolboy switch-a-roo.

"I mean, it would've been nice [to have him in the revival], but he's busy," Weil spilled of Murray's M.I.A. status. "He's doing a lot of things and he's doing very well for himself, Chad Michael Murray, so I think in all, I think it plays."

Seeing Tristan "macking on the slutty biznatch," combined with the fact that she and Doyle are getting a divorce leads Paris into a full-fledged, not-getting-into-Harvard-level freak out.

"There was a lot going on in alumni day, but I was so glad that we were able to revisit Chilton," the How to Get Away With Murder star continued. "And it really did make so much sense to me, psychologically, and I could see how [seeing Tristan] would be a very big trigger for Paris."

But Trickster Dugray is not the only Chilton ghost to haunt the halls of Paris' high school nightmares. Former queen bee and leader of The Puffs, Francie Jarvis, also makes an appearance in the ladies' room right in the middle of Paris' downward spiral.

MORE: Behind the Scenes of the 'Gilmore Girls' Revival -- See All the Pics!

"Fine sure, we'll just catch up at the reunion of The Puffs next month," Francie says coyly after Paris kicks her out of the bathroom. "Oops! No we won't, because you never got puffed!"

When asked if Paris regrets never getting initiated into the secret society, Weil joked with ET that the snub "stings still." The 39-year-old actress added, "I don’t know if regret is the right word. I think it hurts. It left a mark."

Well, we can certainly empathize, because the fact that Gilmore Girls replaced Tristan Dugray with another actor is definitely going to leave a mark on our Murray-loving hearts for many years to come.

Can you believe that the powers-that-be at Gilmore Girls recast Tristan? Are you outraged or over it? Share your Chilton-loving thoughts with @LeanneAguilera on Twitter!

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