'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIG/8QAHhAAAgEEAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDAAQRIQUGEhT/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/8QAGhEAAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAAwQhMf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8Azp61Gb1rPjJGCxxSO31OW2gBPnzjGVJFQ/ZLwOwSOMLnWyNUpQMYl6wzdiFOhP/Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Gilmore Girls is an iconic show from the early aughts. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the comedy-drama revolves around the lives of a mother and daughter—Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel), respectively—who live in the small town of Stars Hollow and try to navigate life, career, and relationships.
Critically acclaimed for its witty and fast-paced dialogue, pop culture references, and authentic, nuanced portrayal of relationships, the show remains a staple in pop culture. However, there are moments when the show faltered and created some problematic scenarios. Here are eight times Gilmore Girls missed the vibe.
Rory's relationship with Dean, Lorelai's underestimation of Sookie, and other moments from Gilmore Girls when it missed the vibe
1. Lorelai’s running away from her wedding with Max
Gilmore Girls is known for its beautiful and realistic depiction of mother-daughter relationships. Lorelai is a fun, free-spirited mother who does her best to understand her daughter, and Rory is the academically gifted teen learning to find her identity while juggling studies and relationships. However, both characters sometimes find themselves in messy situations and behave immaturely.
Lorelai's dating life is full of ups and downs, and in season 2, her short-lived romance with Max ends abruptly. Not only does she run away from her own wedding, but she also takes Rory on a spontaneous cross-country trip to avoid the event. While her realization that she doesn't truly love Max—and ultimately loves Luke—is mature, her avoidance of an important conversation and her impulsive getaway feel jarring and uncharacteristic. For a show that prides itself on realism and nuance, this plot point missed the mark.
2. Rory misses her mom’s graduation
The tight bond between Lorelai and Rory is one that generations of mothers and daughters admire. As one of the few early-2000s shows to explore the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, Gilmore Girls stood out. But there are moments when that bond is tested—especially when it comes to boys.
In season 2, Rory makes a questionable decision: she skips her mother's graduation to chase after a boy in New York City—someone who isn't even her boyfriend. This was a major milestone in Lorelai’s life, and she wanted her daughter by her side. For someone as intelligent as Rory, it’s surprising she didn't factor in New York traffic and how it might delay her return. It’s one of those moments that feels out of character for Rory and leaves viewers disappointed.
3. Lorelai’s hesitation over Rory bonding with her grandparents
Gilmore Girls is not only about Lorelai and Rory’s bond but it is also about the relationships they form within the town they live and Lorelai’s problematic bond with her parents.
A major recurring plot point of the show is how Lorelai is not on good terms with her parents and how she therefore stops her daughter Rory, from also bonding with them. While the problems between Lorelai and her parents are separate, the need to mix Rory into it is problematic on Lorelai’s part.
Even though Emily and Richard love their granddaughter a lot and want to be a part of her life, Lorelai does not want her daughter to be affected by her grandparents’ show of wealth. Lorelai’s aversion to her parents is so great that when Rory gets into Yale, Lorelai is unhappy at first just because it is the alma mater of Richard. This recurring plot point is therefore a problematic part of Lorelai’s personality.
4. Lorelai’s mocking of bed-and-breakfasts
Lorelai loves to take a dig at everyone and everything, that is her personality in the series. However, there are moments when it seems to far stretched and insulting.
During season 2 of Gilmore Girls, when Lorelai and Rory are on a road trip as Lorelai is trying to run away from her wedding to Max, the mother and daughter stop by at a bed and breakfast inn. Rather than being grateful, Lorelai decides to rant about the place and pokes fun at them incessantly. While once or twice is fine, repeated poking seems insulting. The joking around also does not make sense because Lorelai herself works in hospitality and is therefore from the same industry.
While witty dialogues are the highlight of the show, sometimes they cross over from being witty to mocking, and that is where the show misses the vibe. For Lorelai to make fun of a bed-and-breakfast that is giving them shelter at a time when she is herself working in the same industry, felt like an immature move on the creator’s part.
5. Lorelai’s lies
Gilmore Girls is known for its fantastic characterization of Lorelai and Rory, who are two fully-developed characters in their own right and embody the mother and daughter role fully.
However, the age gap between the two is not large enough and while this results in the mother and daughter being close friends, it also sometimes leads to Lorelai taking undue advantage of Rory for herself.
In season 5, Lorelai visits Christopher after his father dies and tries to be there for him. Even though the two only drink and hang around, Lorelai feels guilty and does not share about her visit to Luke.
Further, she even involves Rory and makes her lie on her behalf to cover it up. The move seems childish for Lorelai, as she is generally a very independent and mature woman and mother. However, there have been times when Lorelai has found herself fumbling over her relationships with men. This particular instance is when Lorelai should have owned up about her meeting and specially made sure that Rory did not cover up and lie for her.
6. Lorelai’s underestimation of Sookie
The beautiful part about Gilmore Girls is its cozy vibe and the beautiful town of Stars Hollow. The town’s residents look out for each other and everyone loves Lorelai and Rory. However, Lorelai is blessed to have a working partner in the form of Sookie. She runs the kitchen for Lorelai, even though they both are working partners. The problematic part is that Lorelai always underestimates and sometimes even insults Sookie unknowingly. While Sookie is clumsy, scattered, and is trying to revive her love life, Lorelai does not have the right to call her names or make her feel small, especially when Sookie looks after Lorelai’s work. In one particular instance in season 1, Sookie has just given birth but Lorelai casually mentions that she has never been in a relationship in years. The sentence is problematic and soul-crushing for Sookie. However, she keeps making excuses for her friend’s remarks. This is one of the examples when Lorelai’s problematic nature is brought to the fore.
7. Rory’s relationship with Dean
Sometimes even the best shows miss the mark and such was the case with Rory in Gilmore Girls season 4. Like Lorelai, Rory also has had troubled relationships and a messy dating history. During the season, Rory loses all sense of right and wrong when she decides to sleep with Dean, even though he is now a married man. While the two had a rocky past and seem to not get over each other, it does not allow them to ruin poor Lindsay’s life, who is now Dean’s wife and has always been nice to Rory.
While the Rory of the earlier seasons was book smart and wise, her character transitions in the late seasons and she does some questionable discretions like this one with Dean. Tossing her maturity and conscience, she refuses to recognize the error in her ways for still seeing Dean. This is one of those times when the show completely misses the vibe and in an effort to complicate the character of Rory and give her layers, the makers instead, end up creating a problematic plotline.
8. Lorelai’s invasion of Rory’s privacy
Trending
Lorelai and Rory are bound together in a tight-knit bond and while fans of the show love this mother-daughter bond on Gilmore Girls, there are times when this bond gets so complicated that Lorelai forgets to let Rory live and oversteps her boundaries.
In season 5, Rory is now a sophomore in college and has started hooking up with boys. While in the earlier seasons, it was okay for Lorelai to scold Rory and give her a punishment as she was young, the fact that Lorelai has a breakdown over her adult daughter’s dating life, and still tries to control her with her anger, is problematic and crosses the boundaries of the mother-daughter relationship. This is one of those instances in the show when it misses the mark and showcases the complicated nature of Lorelai and Rory’s strong bond.
Reply
