Season 2

[blueray]

Jess acts like a jerk but actually isn't one deep down. He hasn't had a stable childhood and saw how guys treated his mother (which was badly).  While that is no excuse, he does grow out of it eventually. Jess did like Rory, however had no idea how to be in a relationship and was 16 so that's okay. 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, blueray said:

Jess acts like a jerk but actually isn't one deep down. He hasn't had a stable childhood and saw how guys treated his mother (which was badly).  While that is no excuse, he does grow out of it eventually. Jess did like Rory, however had no idea how to be in a relationship and was 16 so that's okay. 

He was seventeen but your point stands. I hated Jess at first, especially after that confrontation with Lorelai when he and Luke came over for dinner. As time went on and and after several more viewings I have softened towards Jess quite a bit. Lol, but I dislike Dean more and more.

[marineg]

Hate Dean. I'm not going into it but he was emotionally abusive and manipulative. I've talked about it in detail in other posts.

For Jess, I agree with @peacheslatour. He was a bit of a jerk at first but he gets better. We need to remember he was 17 years old. We look at it with our 20-30-40yo eyes (not gonna guess your ages!). He grew up without knowing who his father was, and his mother basically gave up on him very early on, brought different men home all the time, etc. Who knows what he went through during those first 17 years of his life. After a year with a semi stable environment with Luke, you can already see positive changes. And I don't think he was a bad boyfriend to Rory. It was all good until ASP decides to try and give Jess his own show, set up Jess to almost sexually assault Rory, leave town like a thief in the night, and did that ridiculous backdoor pilot in LA for his spinoff. What a waste. The only good thing about the revival, apart from that delightfully absurd musical, was seeing Jess become the good guy I always knew he would have been had he stuck around.

Edited July 24, 2020 by marineg

[BlancheDevoreaux]

I'm the same age as Rory and hated Jess from the beginning, so I don't think it has to do with my current age. He was rude and disrespectful to everyone except Rory and even then, that was only until they got together. I liked him well enough in season 6(?) when Rory tried to use him to cheat on Logan and enjoyed him in the revival, but wouldn't buy them as a couple now. It's been too long and, ironically enough, I think Jess has outgrown her and is now too good for Rory. 

For what it's worth, same goes for the Dean we saw in the revival. Rory is pretty much the same person she was towards the end of season 7. Dean and Jess both appeared to act like men in their thirties. Let her be with Logan who will always be 21.

[Taryn74]

11 minutes ago, BlancheDevoreaux said:

Rory is pretty much the same person she was towards the end of season 7. Dean and Jess both appeared to act like men in their thirties. Let her be with Logan who will always be 21.

Ha! Great point.

[readster]

1 hour ago, BlancheDevoreaux said:

 

For what it's worth, same goes for the Dean we saw in the revival. Rory is pretty much the same person she was towards the end of season 7. Dean and Jess both appeared to act like men in their thirties. Let her be with Logan who will always be 21.

Jess and Dean are two guys who realized they were young and stupid and saw the consequences of their actions. They decided to accept what was their faults and move on with their lives. Rory was still acting like some idiot out of college and even that was a retro bomb of who Rory was graduating from Yale. 

[txhorns79]

On 10/18/2016 at 8:30 AM, deaja said:

the hypocritical condescension about the Cheshire, treating the Cheshire Cat owner so rudely with no empathy for the challenges of their very similar jobs,

Part of me would like to think the woman showed up at the Dragonfly years later and pulled the same crap with Lorelai.  I mean, Lorelai is basically Emily during that storyline.  She's judgmental, rude and acts like she is better than everyone staying at that place.  

[marineg]

I think the worst was saying that they didn't want to go OUT for dinner because they would have to have a 2 minute conversation with the other guests and they would ask if she had a boyfriend and how school went and about Lorelai's job.... What about sprinting out and if you're caught you say you have a reservation you can't miss. Or simply answer those questions with "no I don't have a boyfriend, school is good, and I work in the hotel industry". I don't get why they think that their lives are so interesting to strangers that they would spend an hour asking questions. And even if they did spend an hour asking questions, at least you get to leave and have a meal at the end of it, not some disgusting purse stuff and awful singing.

[peacheslatour]

14 minutes ago, marineg said:

I think the worst was saying that they didn't want to go OUT for dinner because they would have to have a 2 minute conversation with the other guests and they would ask if she had a boyfriend and how school went and about Lorelai's job.... What about sprinting out and if you're caught you say you have a reservation you can't miss. Or simply answer those questions with "no I don't have a boyfriend, school is good, and I work in the hotel industry". I don't get why they think that their lives are so interesting to strangers that they would spend an hour asking questions. And even if they did spend an hour asking questions, at least you get to leave and have a meal at the end of it, not some disgusting purse stuff and awful singing.

I hated that episode. Lorelai was acting like a total bitch to Rory for no good reason and her superior attitude toward the other guests was pretty egregious.

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

I hated that episode. Lorelai was acting like a total bitch to Rory for no good reason and her superior attitude toward the other guests was pretty egregious.

For all of the throwing shade at Emily for being uppity, Lorelai was just as much of an elitist.

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, marineg said:

I don't get why they think that their lives are so interesting to strangers that they would spend an hour asking questions.

Well, this is Lorelai we're talking about here....LOL....

[Oldernowiser]

Well, I guess I’ll be the one to defend Lorelai on her hating the B&B. She was running away to regroup after breaking off the engagement...in her shoes, the last thing I would want to do is schmooze and make small talk with bored hotel guests, especially since that’s a big part of her job.

I don’t do those super-groupy-activity B&Bs either because I don’t want to have to chat with a bunch of strangers when I’m on vacation. And the proprietor was pretty bonkers...what with the disappearing cat and insisting bells be rung. And I hate floral wallpaper and twee. So Lorelai, on this one, I’m with you.

[andromeda331]

30 minutes ago, Oldernowiser said:

Well, I guess I’ll be the one to defend Lorelai on her hating the B&B. She was running away to regroup after breaking off the engagement...in her shoes, the last thing I would want to do is schmooze and make small talk with bored hotel guests, especially since that’s a big part of her job.

I don’t do those super-groupy-activity B&Bs either because I don’t want to have to chat with a bunch of strangers when I’m on vacation. And the proprietor was pretty bonkers...what with the disappearing cat and insisting bells be rung. And I hate floral wallpaper and twee. So Lorelai, on this one, I’m with you.

I agree but Lorelai didn't have to stay and chat with the B&Bs as @marineg pointed out she just had to say they had reservations somewhere and leave. At the scones part seemed out of character of Lorelai to be annoyed while claiming to be in publishing, Lorelai loves make up stories (like later in the episode she pretends to be a college student with that one guy)so you'd think she'd be having fun pretending to work in publishing. 

[alexa]

2 hours ago, Oldernowiser said:

Well, I guess I’ll be the one to defend Lorelai on her hating the B&B. She was running away to regroup after breaking off the engagement...in her shoes, the last thing I would want to do is schmooze and make small talk with bored hotel guests, especially since that’s a big part of her job.

I don’t do those super-groupy-activity B&Bs either because I don’t want to have to chat with a bunch of strangers when I’m on vacation. And the proprietor was pretty bonkers...what with the disappearing cat and insisting bells be rung. And I hate floral wallpaper and twee. So Lorelai, on this one, I’m with you.

I totally agree.  I couldn’t stand the B and B lady, and how pushy she was.  I had no issue with Lorelai’s concerns with the situation.  

[peacheslatour]

Dean is a insufferable ass. That is all.

[txhorns79]

On 7/28/2020 at 8:30 PM, alexa said:

I totally agree.  I couldn’t stand the B and B lady, and how pushy she was.  I had no issue with Lorelai’s concerns with the situation.

I didn't mind that Lorelai didn't like B&Bs, I just wanted to tell Lorelai to get over herself.  If you don't want to be there, leave!  It wasn't like they were stuck in some place where that was the only option.  They were within driving distance of Harvard.  However, if you are going to stay, grow up a little.   

[peacheslatour]

11 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I didn't mind that Lorelai didn't like B&Bs, I just wanted to tell Lorelai to get over herself.  If you don't want to be there, leave!  It wasn't like they were stuck in some place where that was the only option.  They were within driving distance of Harvard.  However, if you are going to stay, grow up a little.   

Her poor daughter was starving after being unceremoniously dragged out of her bed at some ungodly hour but Lorelai couldn't be arsed to make sure her child is fed because it would inconvenience Her Majesty to have to talk to the peasants.

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Her poor daughter was starving after being unceremoniously dragged out of her bed at some ungodly hour but Lorelai couldn't be arsed to make sure her child is fed because it would inconvenience Her Majesty to have to talk to the peasants.

Yeah, it was all Lorelai's fault. And she all she had to do was say they had reservations somewhere or they were going to eat out. That's it.

[NYGirl]

New watcher here.  I explained in Season 1 that I've never seen any episodes of this show.  I'm just now binge-hate watching.

I was fine with the beginning of Season 2.  Loralei almost seemed grown up and older than Rory.. until....

The Road Trip episode.  OMG.  I kind of figured she wasn't going to marry Max as they were dropping anvils.  I refused to pick them up but my son did.

I can't believe she just canceled the wedding just like that.   We just kept saying that we hoped that she actually told Max.   Rory was so smart in the argument.  Loralei was just being such a baby.  I almost turned it off.  Poor Sookie..not even my favorite character...making that beautiful cake and selfish Loralei... ::shaking my head:::

I did love Rory at Harvard though!!  

Edited January 6, 2021 by NYGirl

[peacheslatour]

26 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

New watcher here.  I explained in Season 1 that I've never seen any episodes of this show.  I'm just now binge-hate watching.

I was fine with the beginning of Season 2.  Loralei almost seemed grown up and older than Rory.. until....

The Road Trip episode.  OMG.  I kind of figured she wasn't going to marry Max as they were dropping anvils.  I refused to pick them up but my son did.

I can't believe she just canceled the wedding just like that.   We just kept saying that we hoped that she actually told Max.   Rory was so smart in the argument.  Loralei was just being such a baby.  I almost turned it off.  Poor Sookie..not even my favorite character...making that beautiful cake and selfish Loralei... ::shaking my head:::

I did love Rory at Harvard though!!  

Lorelai was acting like a spoiled toddler. Your child is hungry, you stupid bint, you make sure she has a balanced meal. What you don't do is deprive her because you're too much of a snob to walk by the little people who might *gasp* want to make small talk.

[andromeda331]

56 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Lorelai was acting like a spoiled toddler. Your child is hungry, you stupid bint, you make sure she has a balanced meal. What you don't do is deprive her because you're too much of a snob to walk by the little people who might *gasp* want to make small talk.

She really was. All she had to do was say that she and Rory were going out to dinner. That's it. No big deal. 

[NYGirl]

So I just saw the episode where Mia comes to visit and Lorelai and Sookie are talking about their inn.  This is the reason I don't like, nor will I ever like, Lorelai.

She's so afraid of commitment and she just lashes out at anybody and everybody when they try to talk to her. 

I hate that she made me feel sorry for Sookie whom I'm not fond of the character.

Then she gets mad that Mia wants to sell when she was looking to leave anyway TO OPEN AN INN IN COMPETITION WITH THAT INN!!!!

She's so damn selfish and babyish.  I just can't with her.

 

[alexa]

On 1/7/2021 at 4:16 PM, NYGirl said:

So I just saw the episode where Mia comes to visit and Lorelai and Sookie are talking about their inn.  This is the reason I don't like, nor will I ever like, Lorelai.

She's so afraid of commitment and she just lashes out at anybody and everybody when they try to talk to her. 

I hate that she made me feel sorry for Sookie whom I'm not fond of the character.

Then she gets mad that Mia wants to sell when she was looking to leave anyway TO OPEN AN INN IN COMPETITION WITH THAT INN!!!!

She's so damn selfish and babyish.  I just can't with her.

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by alexa

[NYGirl]

Just finished Season 2 and I'm anxious to start Season 3...right after the Bills game.  It's snowing in hell.  I actually felt sorry for Lorelai in the finale when Christopher just up and left her after all of his sweet talk about getting together. I'm beginning to get a feel on Christopher and it aint very nice.

Rory and Jess...I don't know where to begin on that one.  I'm not a fan of Jess in the way he talks to adults but I see growth in him and I think the more time he spends with Rory he will grow even more.  However, not a fan of her just cutting school and going to NYC just on the same day her mom was graduating.  I was upset for Lorelai.  I did enjoy Emily and Richard not reading the room and just going through with the filming of the graduation.

Lane however is going off the rails.  I did love the CD drop and I snorted when I realized it was Michel!!

I'm happy for Sookie and Jackson.  I hope she calms down some time soon.

I know a lot of you guys don't like Dean.  I did at the beginning but during this season I see your point.  I'm still stuck on him wanting to watch every rehearsal of a HS play and Rory being so nervous when Jess brought all that food over.

The episode I didn't think I'd like...I did!  Help Wanted.  Lorelai was so efficient in helping Richard.  I liked seeing them get along and Richard actually taking her advice and hiring Karen.

Ok..moving over to the Season 3 topic but I'm not going to read it ahead of time .  I got spoiled for future seasons by reading through all the pages of this one.

[peacheslatour]

See what we mean about the little things making the show worth watching? You have many more times to love or hate certain characters. It's worth sticking with though.

[NYGirl]

47 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

See what we mean about the little things making the show worth watching? You have many more times to love or hate certain characters. It's worth sticking with though.

I'm hooked...lol

[peacheslatour]

7 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

I'm hooked...lol

I remember when I got hooked. It was shortly after the 2016 election, not even during the show's original run. At the time all the news was so negative and gloomy so I started watching on Free Form. I was instantly hooked. I must have watched every episode about ten times by now and still catch it on Up TV when I know they're having an especially good episode.

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, NYGirl said:

I did love the CD drop and I snorted when I realized it was Michel!!

Ha! Never in a bazillion years will I believe Michel actually participated in that. Soooo funny.

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, Taryn74 said:

Ha! Never in a bazillion years will I believe Michel actually participated in that. Soooo funny.

He did have good form though!

[andromeda331]

I love that Michel did that for Lane. It was really nice.

[Meow25]

"Teach Me Tonight" is effing cringe.  
Seriously, a mother could be so blessed that the worst thing that ever happened to her daughter was a fractured wrist.  Lor and Chris are complete assholes in this episode.  The way she treated Luke was unforgivable.  

My daughter is a junior in high school and has epilepsy since age 6.  This really pissed me off, what a damn drama queen.  

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, Meow25 said:

The way she treated Luke was unforgivable.

Completely agree! I CHEERED when he shut her out for a few weeks over it.

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, Meow25 said:

"Teach Me Tonight" is effing cringe.  
Seriously, a mother could be so blessed that the worst thing that ever happened to her daughter was a fractured wrist.  Lor and Chris are complete assholes in this episode.  The way she treated Luke was unforgivable.  

My daughter is a junior in high school and has epilepsy since age 6.  This really pissed me off, what a damn drama queen.  

That scene really makes no sense. I might buy it if Lorelai ran into Luke before she arrived at the hospital. Sure Rory said it was no big deal but when your driving to the hospital after hearing your kid was in an accident you might still be freaked out and worrying about how bad it was or if Rory was playing it down or if Jess had been drinking. But by the time she goes off on Luke she's already seen Rory. She knows Rory's okay and its a fracture wrist. She doesn't even have a concussion or possibility of one. There was really nothing to warrent the freak out. And I hate Jess.  

1 hour ago, Taryn74 said:

Completely agree! I CHEERED when he shut her out for a few weeks over it.

Another thing I don't like is they never show us Lorelai apologizing to Luke. We only find out later that she's apologized a few (I think four? I could be wrong) times and one was a note. But they never show us any of them not even the first one. They just skip that to Lorelai telling him and us that she's already apologized a few times and its trying to go back to normal but Luke isn't interest.

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Sure Rory said it was no big deal but when your driving to the hospital after hearing your kid was in an accident you might still be freaked out and worrying about how bad it was or if Rory was playing it down or if Jess had been drinking.

I've always wished they'd have had a policeman call Lorelai, or maybe one of the nurses at the hospital (Rory could have been having tests done or something) and Lorelai convinced herself they were lying to her about how badly Rory was injured and had herself all worked up by the time she got to the hospital. Or even had Miss Patty or someone see the car, know it was Rory's, and call Lorelai before Rory had a chance to, so she was truly going up there not knowing anything. Anything other than she had actually spoken to Rory herself and knew she was okay enough to calmly tell her what had happened. I know being a drama queen is kinda Lorelai's thing, but her overreaction that night was truly ridiculous.

 

3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

But by the time she goes off on Luke she's already seen Rory. She knows Rory's okay and its a fracture wrist.

Plus, she doesn't even bother to tell Luke that Jess was okay, despite him specifically asking. It's all about how her precious little baby girl was hurt by his disgusting POS nephew who he never should have let come to Stars Hollow. G-d I hate Lorelai in that scene so much.

 

3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Another thing I don't like is they never show us Lorelai apologizing to Luke. We only find out later that she's apologized a few (I think four? I could be wrong) times and one was a note. But they never show us any of them not even the first one. They just skip that to Lorelai telling him and us that she's already apologized a few times and its trying to go back to normal but Luke isn't interest.

I never got the impression that her apologies were really sincere, meaning that she didn't acknowledge she had been wrong in what she said about Jess that night, she just wanted Luke to 'forgive and forget' and stop being mad at her. I think if she had really offered a sincere apology, Luke would have accepted it.

[andromeda331]

8 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

I've always wished they'd have had a policeman call Lorelai, or maybe one of the nurses at the hospital (Rory could have been having tests done or something) and Lorelai convinced herself they were lying to her about how badly Rory was injured and had herself all worked up by the time she got to the hospital. Or even had Miss Patty or someone see the car, know it was Rory's, and call Lorelai before Rory had a chance to, so she was truly going up there not knowing anything. Anything other than she had actually spoken to Rory herself and knew she was okay enough to calmly tell her what had happened. I know being a drama queen is kinda Lorelai's thing, but her overreaction that night was truly ridiculous.

That probably would have made more sense. Who wouldn't freak out if a cop or nurse called to say your kid was in an accident? I could see her freaking out while driving to the hospital and going off on Luke if she had come across him. Its very easy to starting thinking how bad it could be. Sure she'd still have to apologize when she found out Rory was okay. But her going off on Luke would make more sense.  

Quote

Plus, she doesn't even bother to tell Luke that Jess was okay, despite him specifically asking. It's all about how her precious little baby girl was hurt by his disgusting POS nephew who he never should have let come to Stars Hollow. G-d I hate Lorelai in that scene so much.

I hate that too. She should have told Luke that Jess was fine. She disagreed with how Mrs. Kim raised her daughter but when Lane went to Rory's after her band didn't end up playing in New York she immediately called Mrs. Kim to let her know she was okay. I really think she would have done that for anyone else. But Jess. Luke was his uncle and guardian she should have told him.

 

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

I never got the impression that her apologies were really sincere, meaning that she didn't acknowledge she had been wrong in what she said about Jess that night, she just wanted Luke to 'forgive and forget' and stop being mad at her. I think if she had really offered a sincere apology, Luke would have accepted it.

I never got that either. She flipped out over nothing and thought a few unheartfelt apologizes. Everything would go back normal. Your right. She never once said she was wrong about what she said about Jess. But expected Luke to just let it go and go back to normal. Lorelai was wrong to flip out and in what she said. But in the end she never has to apologize for it or even figure out that's why Luke's mad at her. I really wish she had to apologize for that before they made up. But she never did. I hate Jess too. He was an asshole who treated everyone like crap especially Luke. I can even kind of understand Lorelai's worried that he's going to hurt Rory or something is going to go wrong. Jess has a lot of issues. But she was completely wrong about the accident, Luke and Jess in regards to the accident. It was an accident. He wasn't drunk. He wasn't driving crazy (although asking Rory to take the wheel while he was eating a snowcone is not a good idea) or anything. It was accident.  

[Taryn74]

5 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Who wouldn't freak out if a cop or nurse called to say your kid was in an accident?

Exactly. This is sort of related but not really, LOL, but when my first child was born the hospital staff didn't do anything but hold her up and let me see her (c-section) before they whisked her away for the footprints and first bath and all that newborn stuff. Since I had spent my entire pregnancy watching A Baby Story and reading parenting magazines and such, I just assumed it was standard procedure that I would get to spend the first half hour or so with her laying on my chest for mother/baby bonding time and all that jazz. I was confused and slightly upset but I'm not one to make waves so I went along with it. Then it was literally hours later before I got to hold her, and that was only because I had hubby call down to the nursery and demand they bring her to my room Right!Now!, and by that time I had myself so worked up I was convinced she had died or that something was seriously wrong with her and everyone was just afraid to tell me. So I could understand a mom getting herself worked up over the unknown. Been there done that, LOL.

[Taryn74]

10 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Your right. She never once said she was wrong about what she said about Jess. But expected Luke to just let it go and go back to normal.

Another thought that just occurred to me, back in S1 when Sookie made the cha-cha-cha comment about Max, Lorelai got irritated and asked her since when was she such a relationship expert considering that Sookie hadn't been in a relationship in years, and she immediately dialed it back and issued what was IMO an over-the-top apology to Sookie (I say over-the-top because what Lorelai said to Sookie may have came out too harsh but it wasn't really out of line, it was just blunt). That's how she should have approached what she said to Luke, especially since she went beyond just being hysterical in the moment and actually told Luke he was obligated to put her and Rory over his own family. Lord, the audacity of this woman. LOL.

[andromeda331]

15 minutes ago, Taryn74 said:

Exactly. This is sort of related but not really, LOL, but when my first child was born the hospital staff didn't do anything but hold her up and let me see her (c-section) before they whisked her away for the footprints and first bath and all that newborn stuff. Since I had spent my entire pregnancy watching A Baby Story and reading parenting magazines and such, I just assumed it was standard procedure that I would get to spend the first half hour or so with her laying on my chest for mother/baby bonding time and all that jazz. I was confused and slightly upset but I'm not one to make waves so I went along with it. Then it was literally hours later before I got to hold her, and that was only because I had hubby call down to the nursery and demand they bring her to my room Right!Now!, and by that time I had myself so worked up I was convinced she had died or that something was seriously wrong with her and everyone was just afraid to tell me. So I could understand a mom getting herself worked up over the unknown. Been there done that, LOL.

That makes sense to me. You hadn't seen your baby in hours and they hadn't told you anything. That would make you worry that something was wrong.  You need to see that she's okay. 

5 minutes ago, Taryn74 said:

Another thought that just occurred to me, back in S1 when Sookie made the cha-cha-cha comment about Max, Lorelai got irritated and asked her since when was she such a relationship expert considering that Sookie hadn't been in a relationship in years, and she immediately dialed it back and issued what was IMO an over-the-top apology to Sookie (I say over-the-top because what Lorelai said to Sookie may have came out too harsh but it wasn't really out of line, it was just blunt). That's how she should have approached what she said to Luke, especially since she went beyond just being hysterical in the moment and actually told Luke he was obligated to put her and Rory over his own family. Lord, the audacity of this woman. LOL.

Yes, she did. She also apologized to Sookie when she freaked out after hearing Mia was selling the Independence Inn. She should have apologized to Luke.  

[peacheslatour]

45 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

That makes sense to me. You hadn't seen your baby in hours and they hadn't told you anything. That would make you worry that something was wrong.  You need to see that she's okay. 

Yes, she did. She also apologized to Sookie when she freaked out after hearing Mia was selling the Independence Inn. She should have apologized to Luke.  

She took Luke so much for granted. He was so lovesick he just took all her abuse and only ever mildly criticized her. It was infuriating.

[Hera]

On 4/22/2021 at 1:54 AM, Taryn74 said:

It's all about how her precious little baby girl was hurt by his disgusting POS nephew who he never should have let come to Stars Hollow.

I never really understood how Jess was "troubled" anyway. I mean, we know his parents were a mess (or were—what we were actually shown was that they were flighty but not actually malicious or in any way bad people themselves), but as far as Stars Hollow went, his "crimes" were trying to drink beer, mouthing off to Lorelai and Luke, drawing a chalk outline on the ground as if there had been a corpse there, stealing a lawn gnome, getting into fights at school (for no stated reason), and cutting school to work at Walmart. None of this sounds troubled to me; at worst it sounds like teenage dumbassery. The ditching school for Walmart part is strange (and short-sighted, though teens sometimes are)—shouldn't his manager have realized he was working during school hours? Wouldn't Luke have had to give permission for Jess to work there anyway? But either way it's not troubled in a way that the residents of Stars Hollow should object to.

I always felt like the writers wanted Jess to be a drug dealer, but for whatever reason (not having the guts, network interference) never actually went there. Drug dealing would have preserved the "where is Jess getting all his money from?" story line, it would have explained the fights he got into (him chasing money people owed him/people who disapproved of his activities targeting him), would have explained him cutting school, and would have allowed him to hang out with "shady characters" around Stars Hollow, which would have explained why people like Taylor kept insisting Jess was trouble (that, and noticing that the local teens were suddenly using drugs that weren't previously available).

In a later season,

Spoiler

when Jackson finds cannabis among his vegetables and he and Sookie have to get rid of it, I thought it was going to turn out to be Jess's. But no, it only lasted a single episode and the culprit was never found.

On the other hand, all that might have made it harder for the audience to accept him as a love interest for Rory, never mind her boyfriend. You'd really have to lean hard on the charm of the actor, the intelligence of the character, and explicitly show how awful/neglectful his parents are.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Spoiler

when Jackson finds cannabis among his vegetables and he and Sookie have to get rid of it, I thought it was going to turn out to be Jess's. But no, it only lasted a single episode and the culprit was never found.

 

They said it was the Something brothers that used to work for Jackson.

Quote

 would have explained him cutting school, and would have allowed him to hang out with "shady characters"

There weren't any shady characters in Stars Hollow.

[Hera]

47 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Quote

would have explained him cutting school, and would have allowed him to hang out with "shady characters"

There weren't any shady characters in Stars Hollow.

No, but that's part of the problem. Everyone seemed to agree that Jess was a Troubled Youth™, but we as the audience never saw anything that would lead a reasonable person to believe that he really was all that troubled. Even if they didn't want to take it to a place where Jess himself was doing anything wrong, why not have shady people from his old life in New York come for a visit? At least then it would be clearer what people found so threatening about Jess.

[peacheslatour]

Just now, Hera said:

No, but that's part of the problem. Everyone seemed to agree that Jess was a Troubled Youth™, but we as the audience never saw anything that would lead a reasonable person to believe that he really was all that troubled. Even if they didn't want to take it to a place where Jess himself was doing anything wrong, why not have shady people from his old life in New York come for a visit? At least then it would be clearer what people found so threatening about Jess.

I never expected realism for GG. He was a pissed off, lonely kid. That was enough for the goody two shoes denizens of SH.

[chitowngirl]

3 hours ago, Hera said:

I never really understood how Jess was "troubled" anyway. I mean, we know his parents were a mess (or were—what we were actually shown was that they were flighty but not actually malicious or in any way bad people themselves), but as far as Stars Hollow went, his "crimes" were trying to drink beer, mouthing off to Lorelai and Luke, drawing a chalk outline on the ground as if there had been a corpse there, stealing a lawn gnome, getting into fights at school (for no stated reason), and cutting school to work at Walmart.

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Don’t forget stealing all the baseball team’s baseballs. They were forced to use tennis balls! 😆

Edited April 23, 2021 by chitowngirl

[Taryn74]

4 hours ago, Hera said:

None of this sounds troubled to me; at worst it sounds like teenage dumbassery.

YES. You are speaking my language! Jess did some stupid sh!t, but most of his "crimes" really were just on the level of pranks, shaking things up a bit in a town that was way too pearl-clutchy for their own good. Lorelai's stories of her and Chris's teenage years were far worse than anything Jess ever did.

Too bad Emily wasn't over there the first night Lorelai met Jess, for him to mouth off to instead. Lorelai probably would've started planning his and Rory's wedding LOL.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Taryn74

[SJC]

On 4/22/2021 at 10:29 AM, Taryn74 said:

she went beyond just being hysterical in the moment and actually told Luke he was obligated to put her and Rory over his own family

The shamelessness of Lorelai at that moment !!! She thought that Rory & her should be #1 with EVERYONE.  :-(

[scarynikki12]

I'm bringing part of the Max talk here since what I'm referencing was in season 2. I think it made sense for Max to ask Lorelai what he should do with regard to parenting Rory. Yes, she was two years away from college and not likely to get into trouble but a step-parent is still a parent and should know what's expected of them even if they defer to their spouse in general. We saw Lorelai go into Mom Mode before Rory graduated high school so her assertion that Rory was all done wasn't even supported by her own actions.

Let's say that Max and Lorelai had gotten married and Lorelai was busy at the Inn during some of the events of the season. Rory absolutely could still have gone to her for advice and she'd have helped but whose to say that she wouldn't have turned to Max? We know she wanted him to be her stepfather so she may have gone to him if Lorelai wasn't readily available. He also taught at Chilton so he was right there if she needed anything.

What if Lorelai had been busy with a big event at the Inn when Jess crashed the car and Rory couldn't reach her right away? She'd know she could call her stepfather Max and he'd also try to reach Lorelai (let's say she was down by the lake or wherever she wanted Kirk to take those swans) while coming straight to the hospital. 

Max may have had the money in the termite episode and that could have caused some tension with Emily since we know she liked having Lorelai indebted to her. 

Rory didn't have to be the kind of kid who got into trouble for Max to have a role in her life beyond being her teacher. Maybe all he would have done was drive her to and from school, attend Friday Night Dinners, and just be there to talk to about her day but he still needed to know what was expected of him. Lorelai's horror when he brought it up was a bit much since I doubt she'd want him to turn a blind eye if Rory had decided to reveal a rebellious streak. I know the reasons were because she didn't love him and didn't want to marry him and not wanting to give him parameters for being Rory's stepfather was a symptom of that so I get the reaction but it's not an absurd thing to ask. 

[Taryn74]

5 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I think it made sense for Max to ask Lorelai what he should do with regard to parenting Rory. Yes, she was two years away from college and not likely to get into trouble but a step-parent is still a parent and should know what's expected of them even if they defer to their spouse in general.

Yeah, I see both sides of this one. Max definitely needed to know what was to be expected of him wrt being Rory's stepfather and not just Lorelai's live-in boy toy (and I'm only halfway joking there since Lorelai herself pretty much described him that way LOL) but it seemed like he was expecting to need to "parent" Rory like she was still a young child and not almost heading out to college. He could have worded his questions differently for sure.

[Guest]

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I think Lorelai treated Max horribly.  He was far from perfect, but I think him snapping at her over the key is indicative of how she treated him - as an after thought.  He was supporting cast in the Lorelai and Rory show. (I don't mean the literal show. I mean how she acted.)