Gilmore Girls fans may have hated Rory’s A Year in the Life storyline, but there’s a way it could have worked. Once the golden child of Stars Hollow, the 2016 Netflix revival miniseries finds Rory totally adrift. She bounces around to scant freelance journalism gigs, doesn’t have a place to call home, and worst of all, Rory carries on an affair with the engaged Logan.
This is a far cry from the brilliant, ambitious teenager who, on her first day at Chilton, said that her dream was to become Christiane Amanpour. While we didn’t expect her life to be perfect in A Year in the Life, we hardly wanted to see Rory end up pregnant and alone either. Frustratingly, the show had already created the perfect opportunity to see Rory flounder in a way that would have worked.
Rory’s Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life Storyline Should Have Been In Season 5
Though Rory struggled to get ahead of the Chilton curve at the beginning of Gilmore Girls, other than that, her academic career is smooth sailing throughout the show. Everything comes easily for her, with Rory being declared valedictorian, having her pick of Ivy League colleges to choose from, and, despite a few small bumps, hitting her stride at Yale.
Most Gilmore Girls fans prefer the show’s early seasons, and I can’t help but feel that Rory’s storylines are a big part of that. We saw her be the apple of everyone’s eye, whether it be her family’s, Chilton’s, or Stars Hollow. Seeing this repeated again at Yale was a bit same-y, and robbed her character of getting to experience new challenges.
Many of us who have the opportunity to attend college choose to pursue our passion — whether that’s a particular art, sport, or subject in school. Chances are, we grew up being known for this passion, and may have even had a reputation as being the best at it.
Then, when we get to college, we realize that we’re now part of an entire group of young people who also grew up being the best at that thing. The whole deck reshuffles, and very few of us find ourselves at the top. This can lead to some major insecurities and identity struggles, and this is what should have happened with Rory in Gilmore Girls season 5.
As a sophomore at the Yale Daily News, Rory is assigned a beat for the year. She wants features, and she gets it, as per usual. However, it would have been so much more interesting if she hadn’t. If Rory really and truly failed for the first time ever here, she would be so much more relatable because we all go through a version of this when we’re her age.
In contrast, A Year in the Life finds Rory as a directionless thirtysomething. Despite every advantage afforded to her, she’s flailing and failing, and it’s so much more difficult to be sympathetic to her, given the cushy ride she’s had up until this point, including her Yale years.
Rory Stealing A Yacht Would Have Made More Sense If She Were Already Floundering
Outside of anything in the unpopular Gilmore Girls season 7, one of the show’s most hated storylines comes in the season 5 finale. When Rory is hurt by Mitchum’s criticism that she “doesn’t have it” when it comes to being a journalist, she acts out and steals a yacht to go joyriding with Logan.
Though Rory is used to being told she’s the best at everything, and any feedback to the contrary understandably comes as a huge shock to her, the yacht theft seemingly came out of nowhere. It would have been more likely that Rory would have run crying to Lorelai and spent a few days in Stars Hollow, where everyone adores her, to nurse her bruised ego.
However, had Rory already been floundering in Gilmore Girls season 5, her rebellion in the finale would have worked so much better for the story. Imagine Rory not getting the features beat at the Yale Daily News and not being allowed to write about what interests her. Imagine Doyle not liking her work, giving her tons of harsh criticism, and possibly not even running some of her pieces.
Now, let’s keep the storyline of Rory’s internship at Mitchum’s paper the same — he gives her a position after feeling bad about how his family treated her, and she thrives as an assistant. Even if she’s not the star of her school paper, who cares, because serious journalists at a real newspaper love her, right?
But deep down, Rory’s lack of success at school is eating away at her. Then, when Mitchum hits her with the harsh blow that she doesn’t have it, the rug is completely pulled out from under him. Meanwhile, this whole time, she’s been seeing what an easy, breezy, consequences-free life Logan leads as a rich person. All this comes together to push Rory over the edge and motivate her to steal the yacht.
From there, Gilmore Girls could play out how it did, with Rory dropping out of Yale and feuding with Lorelai before returning to school, freshly humbled and ready to work. If we saw Rory really struggle in season 5, not just receive one piece of negative feedback, it likely wouldn’t have been such a devastating blow in A Year in the Life.
Rory Still Could Have Struggled In The Revival, But It Would Have Felt More Realistic
The real reason why we were so annoyed with Rory in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is because of how passive she was in her situation. It seemed like she was just waiting around for the world to rediscover how special she was and hand her the fabulous life she wanted.
A big reason for this is that Rory never learned that this isn’t how the world works, and that’s evident from how things shake out for her throughout Gilmore Girls. However, had Rory faced real hardships back in her Yale days, she would have realized that things don’t always fall into her lap, and the revival could have seen her more actively trying to achieve the life she wants.
Then, if Rory was still struggling to find a job in her field, an apartment, and a loving relationship, we’d be cheering her on every step of the way. We’d be relieved when she decides to cool her heels in Stars Hollow and happy for her when Jess inspires Rory to write her memoir.
Ultimately, we want to see Rory win, but more than that, we want to see her fight for what she wants, and the drive to do so should have already been instilled in her in Gilmore Girls.
