When your show runs for as many seasons as Gilmore Girls did, it is only natural that it would become filled with subplots and romantic storylines that shaped where the characters ended up by the time that the finale rolled around.
But not all subplots were created equally and today, we are going to break down some of our favourite (and least favourite) storylines from both the original run of Gilmore Girls and its revival.
Perfect: Lorelai & Luke
It took a long time to get there, and it was a rather bumpy road, but we are rather pleased with where Luke and Lorelai ended up. We were willing to wait for their relationship to come to life in order for it to be done right, and we are truly satisfied with where it ended up.
In the revival, Lorelai is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis and needs to do a touch of soul searching in order to figure out what she wants, going forward. And Luke gives her the room she needs in order to do that. It is a loving and mature decision and we are here for it.
Needs Work: Rory’s Entire Life
Okay, so this may be considered more of a main plot rather than a sub-plot, but Rory’s chaotic post-season three life is filled with so many badly ended sub-plots that it had to be its own category. In the first three seasons of the show, Rory is a kind, thoughtful, slightly moody teen, with a heart of gold. But all of that changes the second she starts her post-secondary education.
She steals a boat because she had a bad day, abandons Yale because she is not given praise by someone she admires, she sleeps with multiple married men, she writes her mothers biography without asking, plays around with a job offer because she assumes that she is the best that they can get, and becomes a truly awful and entitled person.
Perfect: Emily’s New World
Though fan opinions on the revival have been rather mixed, all fans can agree that the best part of the new series was Emily Gilmore. In the original series, she was a rather controversial character as she was a truly awful mother (and at times grandmother) but she was also very amusing and filled with some of the best comebacks in the show.
Watching her realize that she no longer cares about the frivolous things that filled her youth and searching out things that will make her happy and fulfilled in the epilogue of her life was a truly rewarding journey and we are so happy that we got to see it.
Needs Work: Dean & Lindsay
If we are being honest, everything about Lindsay felt weird. Her obvious distaste for Rory rubbed fans the wrong way and some fans even believed that she was behind Dean’s decision to get married so young.
But as much as the fandom disliked her, she truly did not deserve the ending that she received. Not only did her husband cheat on her with his ex, but he also was truly cruel towards her (as seen in the scene where she presents him with a dinner she worked so hard on and he just loses it on her.) She later finds out about Rory and Dean, and is truly devastated. She did not deserve any of it and we truly wish her the best.
Perfect: The Future of Paris
Some fans were not to pleased to find out that Paris had divorced her husband by the time that the revival rolled around but, if we are being honest, we were not the biggest fans of her and her former partner as a duo.
Not all marriages work out and not all people are destined to be together. However, we really respected Paris for the way that she handled it, focused on her goals, and reached out to Rory when she was struggling with her own feelings about the subject. She does amazing things with her career, has a lovely family, and is still herself.
Needs Work: Everything About Sherry
Sherry is a truly confusing character. Some fans have attempted to rationalize her erratic behaviour and confusing storyline via claims of post-partum depression but such an explanation is only a theory.
When Sherry was first introduced to the show, her main goal was motherhood. She was so set on this plan that she had even contemplated artificial insemination. The next time she is seen, she is rather apathetic to the baby. She is much more focused on her work and is doing her best to schedule the child’s birth without affecting her own life. After the birth, she abandons her child entirely to pursue her career and that does not seem like the action of a woman who craved motherhood so badly that she was willing to forgo a partner and pursue said dream on her own.
Perfect: Jess & His Redemption Arc
Fans have always been quite divided on the topic of young Jess. When he first arrives in Stars Hollow, he is rude, rebellious, and obviously hurting. His mother pawned him off on the nearest relative she could find, his father abandoned him, and everyone has always treated him like a problem child that is destined to end up on the FBI’s most wanted list.
But those who loved the character could tell that he was just a boy who needed someone to believe in him. He needed to recover from the pain that caused him to act out and explore the person that he wanted to be, not the person he was told he was going to end up as. And luckily, the show did just that. As he grew up he was able to recover from his trauma, heal those old wounds, and work towards becoming a truly stand-up guy.
Needs Work: Christopher & Lorelai
We can’t decide whether or not we feel bad for Christopher. Sometimes Christopher seems like the victim of circumstance. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and nothing ever seemed to work out for him. Once heralded as the golden child simply brimming with potential, he continually fails at every plan he makes in his adulthood and is left by both of the women with whom he was children.
Though his story is a wonderful lesson in the way that a lack of responsibility can muck up a persons’ life well into adulthood, it just seems like he continually gets the short end of the stick, no matter what he does (and whether or not he deserves it.)
Perfect: April (Hear Us Out)
While we are very aware of the fandoms distaste for the character, we believe that her arc ended on a realistic and wholesome note. Though her initial appearance in the show came out of nowhere and was clearly done to stir things up and cause issues within Luke and Lorelai’s relationship, the revival tied up her storyline in a funny and lovely way.
We see her visiting her father and his family whilst in the midst of a rebellious phase of self-exploration that many experience in their early 20s/college years. It was truly rewarding and endearing to see April become a normal member of the family and to be accepted with open arms in the end.
Needs Work: Lane’s Life
There is nothing wrong with getting married young and having children. There are as many ways to live a life as there are people living it. But, at this point in the show, the plots were truly all over the place and many fans felt like characters were receiving endings (that did not fit their story) for the sake of tying up loose ends and injecting a bit of drama into the show.
Though we love the fact that Lane’s mother is revealed to be just as rebellious as her daughter (a revelation that bonds the two of them and helps heal some adolescent wounds,) the end of Lane’s story felt a touch out of character, rushed, and like it was the product of a studio that was begging for more drama.
Next: 10 Pieces Of Relationship Advice From Gilmore Girls
