While entire cast of Gilmore Girls shone in the original series, but the show was undeniably Lorelai and Rory’s shared story. The bond between the mother-and-daughter duo was always the show’s top priority, which sometimes meant that its all-important romantic subplots didn’t receive as much focus as they could have. This did not stop fans from obsessing over them and, in particular, partaking in the endless debate over Rory’s ideal partner.

Although she flirted with a handful of minor characters, Rory’s main love interests were Logan, Jess, and Dean. the funniest Gilmore Girls episodes included an early, unconventional date between Rory and Logan, and a brutal breakup between her and Dean at a dance marathon. Rory’s love life was always central to the show and Logan, Dean, and Jess shaped it.

Scott Patterson Thinks Gilmore Girl May Not Have Introduced Rory's True Love Yet

The Gilmore Girls Star Said Any Of Rory’s Love Interests Could Be The One

Despite how important all three love interests were to the character’s growth and evolution, Gilmore Girls star Scott Patterson doesn’t think Rory has necessarily met the love of her life yet, and he might be right. It might sound surprising to anyone who is a die-hard fan of Dean, Jess, or Logan, but Patterson suggested that Rory’s Mr. Right could be someone viewers haven’t even seen. Per the actor’s interview with ScreenRant, “I don't think she's met him yet. I will say, if Jess really got his act together, and it seems that he did, he probably would be it.”

While this sounds like Patterson giving Jess an edge over his competitors, he later noted that Logan and Dean could also reasonably turn out to be Rory’s romantic destiny. Luke’s actor even joked that the Wookie she had a dalliance with during Rory’s bizarre A Year in the Life story could be the one. The actor hit on an important point in this interview, albeit one that some fans might find hard to hear. Gilmore Girls felt fun, fresh, and original during its original run because it consistently showed viewers new sides of its titular heroines, which required new characters.

Gilmore Girls Season 9 Should Introduce A New Rory Love Interest

Any Revival Needs New Characters To Show A Fresh Side of Rory

While Dean, Jess, and Logan all fundamentally changed Rory and exposed new sides of her character, this was only possible because they were all new characters with new perspectives when they were first introduced. Dean seemed like a well-meaning sweetheart before Jess’s brooding revealed that he had a small-minded anti-intellectual streak. Similarly, Jess’s rebellious attitude might have mellowed, but he was always more volatile than the more laidback Logan. One of A Year in the Life's biggest sins was introducing Rory’s fiancée, Paul, but never fleshing him out and explaining what he offered Rory that her earlier suitors missed.

A revival should be ambitious enough to provide an older Rory with another new love interest who can challenge her, excite her, and push her out of her comfort zone.

ittedly, the fact that Rory was cheating on Paul with Logan throughout their engagement made the character more of a joke than a real love interest. However, this in itself highlights a major problem with A Year in the Life's approach to reviving Gilmore Girls. A revival should be ambitious enough to provide an older Rory with another new love interest who can challenge her, excite her, and push her out of her comfort zone as much as Dean, Jess, and Logan did. Instead, A Year in the Life was content with playing the hits by simply bringing the trio back.

Rory Could Still End Up With One Of Her Earlier Love Interests

Rory’s Story Could Return To The Original Show’s Set-Up

This is not to say that Rory couldn’t possibly end up with one of her childhood or adolescent sweethearts. Rather, it is important that any Gilmore Girls revival should offer Rory a new, original love interest who is as transformative as Logan, Jess, and Dean were for her. Rory doesn’t necessarily need to end up settling down with this character for them to change her. Emily’s A Year in the Life story needed to write out Richard thanks to his actor’s real-life ing, and this unexpected change ended up making her more fully rounded and believable than ever before.

A new season of Gilmore Girls shouldn’t just revive old characters and rehash old dramas, but should instead illuminate a new chapter in Rory’s life.

Pitting a new love interest against an existing one would allow maximum conflict and growth for Rory, whereas simply bringing back one of the original trio and pairing them off would feel old hat. Viewers might feel like they want nostalgic throwbacks from TV revivals, but the reality is that re-watches already fulfill this purpose. A new season of Gilmore Girls shouldn’t just revive old characters and rehash old dramas, but should instead illuminate a new chapter in Rory’s life. This is what Paul’s role in A Year in the Life failed to do, and what a new revival must prioritize.

How Gilmore Girls Turned Jess Into Rory's Best Existing Love Interest

Luke’s Nephew Matured Into A Perfect Partner For Rory

To be fair, Patterson is right to say Rory could end up with Jess, since he appears to be the most mature and fitting love interest for her as of A Year in the Life''s ending. Any Gilmore Girls reunion would need to see Rory improve after her disastrous A Year in the Life storyline, and Jess would be more equipped to help her with this than Logan. Jess appears to still hold a candle for Rory in A Year in the Life, and his stable career as a successful publisher makes him a perfect match for Rory.

However, Rory and Jess’s reunion should be a forgone conclusion and a new interest’s introduction would ensure that. Rory needs to change and grow. A Year in the Life made this abundantly clear when the revival revealed she was stuck in an aimless career and pointless relationship a decade after season 7’s ending. A new love interest could help her achieve this much like Dean, Jess, and Logan all highlighted previously unseen sides of her, and Rory could then end up with either this love interest or Gilmore Girls antihero Jess after getting her life back on track.

Gilmore Girls is available to stream on Hulu and A Year in the Life is available to stream on Netflix.

Source: ScreenRant