This article includes discussions of sexual assault and verbal abuse.
Gilmore Girls is one of the most beloved TV shows from the early 2000s, but even this feel-good series includes storylines that fans would rather forget existed. This show follows the relationships and lives of three generations of the Gilmore family. Lorelai Gilmore, a woman who had a baby at sixteen, must reconnect with her parents Emily and Richard in order to ensure her daughter Rory gets a top-notch education. Gilmore Girls includes a number of heartwarming storylines that fans return to time and time again.
Despite the lovable characters and setting, Gilmore Girls also possesses some bad and downright offensive storylines. Some of the storylines were looked down upon at the time of release, but others only became disturbing with a retrospective lens. Fans have taken to social media websites like Reddit and YouTube to discuss parts of the series that they wish never occurred. Though lots of opinions exist, 10 storylines are generally agreed upon as objectively bad in Gilmore Girls.
10 Paris and Asher Have A Nearly 40-Year Age Gap
In Gilmore Girls, Paris struggles to develop meaningful romantic relationships. When she finally gets into a happy relationship with a Princeton student named Jamie, she sabotages this by having an affair with Professor Asher Fleming. This is considered one of Paris's worst story arcs. Though he’s never technically her instructor, Asher’s nearly 40 years older than her and a famous author. Meanwhile, Paris is a first-year student writing an article on him. Rory views Asher and Paris's power imbalance as weird and uncomfortable, especially since her grandfather introduced them. Other characters seem to side with Paris, though, normalizing the fact that Asher serial-dates his students.
In the years since Gilmore Girls' release, viewers have grown uncomfortable with this storyline. Many Reddit threads exist that discuss the disturbing nature of their relationship. Asher grooms young Yale students, cycling through them every year. Paris is also inexperienced in the romance department, making her an easy target. After her rare moment of clarity in the hospital, Asher love bombs her into staying with him. Then, he dies, making their relationship seem like a doomed love story instead of a predatory relationship.
9 Rory and Marty Pretend They Don’t Know Each Other
In one of the strangest Gilmore Girls storylines, Marty pretends to not know Rory when Lucy introduces them, and Rory goes along with the lie. The motivation for this situation makes Marty look bad. By the time they meet through Lucy, Marty's become the stereotype of "nice guy." He behaves creepy and mean because he has unrequited feelings for Rory. Gilmore Girls unfairly portrays Logan as the bad guy for calling them out. As Rory's partner, he shouldn't have felt jealous and insecure about the two hanging out. On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with Logan setting a boundary about not lying to Lucy.
8 Zack Proposes To Lane Instead of Apologizing
For all of its positives, Gilmore Girls has a problem with men getting jealous and lashing out at their partners. Brian and Lane have an innocent friendship that never included romantic feelings. Despite this, Zack flips out when Brian writes a song about Lane. Rather than talking it out or handling his emotions in a mature way, Zack ruins Hep Alien's potential big break by melting down on stage in front of record label agents. Instead of rectifying the problem, he proposes marriage to Lane.
Opinions are split on whether Zack and Lane are a good couple in Gilmore Girls. Regardless of which side people fall on, this particular moment is looked at negatively. Zach never apologizes to Lane for the events of the meltdown. He spends the whole proposal saying that he feels bad without Lane, instead of saying he loves her and feels good with her. Then, Lane agrees to marry him in a move that seems uncharacteristic of her. The whole event felt jarring and sudden.
7 Luke Hides April’s Existence From Lorelai
April is one of the most hated Gilmore Girls characters, though much of the hate has nothing to do with the character herself. She had potential as a character but was used as a plot device. Luke hides April from Lorelai for two months, causing a rift between the couple. While Luke and Lorelai's lack of communication isn’t uncommon, this seems too major a life event for Luke to hide. When Lorelai discovers April's existence, Luke goes out of his way to keep them apart, further dividing them.
After the way Luke stepped up for Rory in her youth, these actions make no sense. They've already shown to each other that they can work together to a child, even when they weren't a couple. Moreover, Luke's choice to hide April doesn't fit with his previous character. Whenever Luke panicked, he turned to Lorelai. This included him pushing Jess in the lake, buying the building, and getting arrested. As such, fans wish the April storyline never existed.
6 The Gilmores All Degrade Therapy
A running theme in Gilmore Girls is the Gilmore's disapproval of therapy. Emily scoffs when Lorelai suggests Richard talk to a psychologist. After returning to Yale, Lorelai and Rory start joking about Rory being “crazy” for seeing the school psychologist. Then, Lorelai claims therapists always blame the mother. When Emily sets Christopher up with a woman who's a therapist, Lorelai has a completely inappropriate therapy session in the back of the woman's car. However, during that session, she makes fun of other clients who do therapy. Then, in Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life, Emily has to trick Lorelai into going to therapy with her.
This storyline, minus the revival, was a product of its time. The stigma surrounding mental health and therapy was so strong in the early 2000s that people avoided going, especially in cultures that didn't air out dirty laundry. However, in retrospect, the running theme doesn't look good. Many therapists and people in therapy spoke out on Reddit about the negative perceptions in Gilmore Girls.
5 Jess Gets Mad At Rory For Stopping Sexual
When Rory comes upstairs during a party, she and Jess start making out. He moves to have sex and she stops him. She doesn't want to have sex at that time, in that environment. Jess initially gets mad and snaps at Rory, saying, "I did not invite you to come up here. You came up here on your own." As soon as she reacts, he realizes he was wrong and goes to apologize. While the attempted apology is better than nothing, this is Jess' worst moment in Gilmore Girls. He crosses boundaries of consent, no matter the reason. Due to the horrifying implications, many fans wish this scene didn't exist.
4 Lane Becomes Pregnant After Terrible Sex
In Gilmore Girls, Lane becomes pregnant with twins after marrying the second man she ever dated and having terrible sex once. This entire storyline is seen by many as Gilmore Girls' biggest failure. Fans discussed this storyline many times in a Reddit thread of disliked Gilmore Girls storylines. The storyline betrays the core of Lane's character. She previously expressed a dislike of babies and children when Sherry gets pregnant. At various times in the series, she expresses an interest in dating and romance. Once she left her mom's home, Lane could've grown and explored relationships. Instead, due to this storyline, Lane became an almost entirely different character.
3 Dean Treats Lindsay Horribly After Getting Married
When Dean gets married to Lindsay, he’s still in love with Rory. Rather than dealing with his emotions in a healthy way, Dean avoids Lindsay and verbally degrades her when they're together. He chooses to leave when he's not working, spending time at the arcade or with Rory. After cheating on Lindsay, he blows up at her for simply answering his phone. The conversation enters gaslighting territory, with Dean shouting, "You have absolutely no respect for me at all. That's obvious." Lindsay shrinks away from him throughout the interaction and immediately apologizes. Additionally, she appears afraid to touch him when she leaves to go to bed.
In reflection, many viewers have called Dean verbally and mentally abusive. People have realized that the problem extends further back as well. Multiple Reddit threads exist calling out the red flags of toxicity and control in his and Rory's relationship. If Dean and Lindsay's clearly abusive relationship didn't happen, viewers might've been able to overlook some of the concerning actions Dean had towards Rory. Mind you, that still wouldn't make the actions okay.
2 Christopher and Lorelai Get Married
At the end of Gilmore Girls season 6, as a rebound from Luke, Lorelai sleeps with Christopher. This is generally disliked by fans, but it gets worse when Lorelai and Christopher decide seven episodes later to get married, spur of the moment, in . At this point in the series, Lorelai has rejected Christopher time and time again. However, she changes her mind because marrying Christopher means she'll have the perfect family. She doesn't see him as her person as much as her idea of a person.
Meanwhile, Christopher saw this as the opportunity they never had. The timing is never right between them, and he thinks this will be his only opportunity to get Lorelai to say yes. Unfortunately, their marriage never felt right. Lauren Graham wrote in her book Talking As Fast As I Can, "[A]pparently during this season Christopher and Lorelai get married in Paris. OK. I have to it, this seemed so odd to me back then...that I somehow managed to completely forget it ever happened." Given the fact that the actress herself blocks out this storyline, audience who hate it are in good company.
1 Jackson Pretends To Have A Vasectomy
The relationship between Sookie and Jackson in Gilmore Girls is extremely wholesome and sweet until it isn't. After Sookie gives birth, she tells Jackson he's getting a vasectomy done. While it's his right to refuse, he decides to fake getting it done and not tell his wife. Sookie never consents to having sex without the vasectomy, and him hiding the truth from her while still engaging in sex turns all their sexual encounters into assault. Sookie only discovers the truth when she becomes pregnant with a third child. On one Reddit thread, the majority of commenters state they have to pretend this storyline never happened to continue enjoying the Gilmore Girls.