After seven seasons of quick, quippy, intergenerational banter, the Gilmore Girls said their goodbyes in a charming, emotionally satisfying series finale. Negotiations for an abbreviated eight season went down to the wire, but the seventh season finale felt like a fitting conclusion to the story of best friends who happened to be mother and daughter.

Rather than trying too hard to be a big blowout conclusion, Gilmore Girls simply celebrated the characters and their relationships, emphasizing the strong family bonds—even the strained ones—that have characterized the series. The most moving moment of the night was a guarded but subtly loving exchange between prickly grandmother Emily and her formerly estranged, independent daughter Lorelai.

The show’s strongest aspect has always been the complicated relationships between three generations of Gilmore girls, and the series finale was a perfect showcase of why we care so much about them all. Sweet, charming, but not cloying enough to choke you on the schmaltz, it was a happy ending to a too-cute show that was endearing all the same.