It’s officially been 25 years since we were first introduced to the fast-talking, pop culture-referencing mother-daughter duo of Lorelai and Rory on Gilmore Girls. Even now, though, fans will take any excuse to revive the debate that’s been going on for years about Rory’s boyfriends. In discussing the coming-of-age series’ anniversary, Scott Patterson weighed in on the Team Dean, Team Jess, Team Logan of it all, and I am obsessed with his blunt take on the matter.
Over the course of seven seasons and a revival comprising four feature-length episodes, Gilmore Girls fans watched Rory (Alexis Bledel) grow from precocious teenager to Yale graduate. We’ve seen her fall in love, suffer heartbreak, have affairs and ultimately, become pregnant, and you can bet we’ve got opinions on all of it. Somebody else who watched Rory grow up? Luke Danes, the often-grumpy diner owner, who would eventually become her stepfather, and Scott Patterson has a hilarious take on picking a team, joking to People:
Don’t care about any of it. They’re all bums to me.
This is spoken like a true father figure, despite the fact that Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) is Luke’s actual nephew. It’s totally believable to me that no man would ever be good enough for Rory in his eyes. The actor continued:
Rory needs to mature out of these experiences with these boys. There’s fresh blood out there for her. She needs to redefine what she wants with her life, for her life. And I think that’s with a completely new person.
I guess we’ll put Scott Patterson down as Team Wookiee then?
I’ve got to say, he makes a really good point. I’ve always been a strong member of the Team Jess contingent, but it’s really unfair to limit Rory to three guys she met so early in life. Dean (Jared Padalecki) was her first love, so nobody can be blamed for carrying that torch, but do we really wish that had been endgame?
Then there’s Logan (Matt Czuchry), and I don’t care that Kelly Bishop — Emily Gilmore herself — thinks he was Rory’s best boyfriend, I just can’t see it. Czuchry couldn’t even fully deny his character’s shortcomings when asked if Logan was a bad partner.
I could defend Jess as the one who understood Rory the most, and it seems Scott Patterson may have sympathized with his on-screen nephew at one point, too, as he admitted to toggling between Gilmore Girls characters before coming to his ultimate conclusion. Patterson said:
I’ve been in either camp one time or another in the past, but now I’d like to see her have a completely new experience. None of these relationships worked out, and there’s a reason for that because they weren’t meant to.
So wise. This is why we need Luke (that, and for the coffee, of course). I’m not sure we’ll ever get more Gilmore Girls (or find out who the father of Rory’s child is), but the fact that we’re still debating her love life a quarter-century later speaks to how beloved this series is.
You can stream all seven seasons of the original show with either a Hulu subscription or Netflix subscription, while Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is available on Netflix.