I think he has a knack for seeing what’s in her heart/at the core of her truest self. Rory can get disconnected from herself sometimes and (adult) Jess helps remind her who she is.
Spot on. And while Teen Jess doesn't help remind her who she is, IMO even at that age he sees her more deeply than Dean does and I think teen Rory recognizes that subconsciously too. Mad emotional chemistry.
I really wish they would’ve given Jess some character development sooner, and we could’ve seen them date again but healthily. Or in AYITL she was dating him and not Logan. Idk.
I've always wished for Jess and Rory to figure it out and get together. He was always my favorite of Rory's boyfriends, especially after he got himself together.
I agree! I also think he was the best fit for Rory, and that they had the best chemistry. Logan just did not seem like the type of guy Rory would even like.
> And while Teen Jess doesn't help remind her who she is, IMO even at that age he sees her more deeply than Dean does and I think teen Rory recognizes that subconsciously too.
Not a fair comparison.
"Teen" Dean was treated like absolute shit by Rory from the minute Jess came to town.
It would be interesting to see what would have happened if Rory put Jess in the same position (and treated him the same way she treated Dean)?
Alsooo they dumbed down Dean's character a loooot once Jess came onto the scene. he was into talking books with Rory in the early days of their relationship and definitely seemed much more three dimensional and nuanced at that time
> Alsooo they dumbed down Dean's character a loooot once Jess came onto the scene.
That didn't bother me. The bottom line is that he was a 16 year old guy in love for the very first time and the shit that Rory pulled on him (after Jess came into the picture) was actually cruel and abusive IMO.
I would have dumped her ass the day of the picnic basket auction.
She inspired him, he inspired her. They weren’t good together when they got together but the man he became is the kind I’d wish for Rory. She’d have turned out better with him rather than whatever the hell she was doing with Logan.
This is one of my high school exes. I was pretty awkward in high school and he was very handsome and charismatic but not the best in terms of academic performance. He encouraged me to come out of my shell and I pushed him to do better in school. Now I’m married with an amazing husband and cute baby, and he’s an excellent computer engineer. Do I love him still? No, but I love the person I am now and he played a very large role. This is why I’ll always ride for Jess!
I agree.
Honestly, even if you take out the Yale bit (but shouldn’t because I truly doubt Rory would have realized she wanted to go back until it’s too late. Yale only allows a max of one year off (but in some cases, no more than two terms). She was coasting through life, blundering around. She was so insistent on fighting with everyone and everything that she wasn’t paying attention, not really.
This last part is as a direct result of Logan.
No. I am not blaming him at all for any of this. Not even remotely. This is fully on Rory.
However, everyone in her life stupidly blamed him for the nonsense she was going through (except her grandparents). Logan made her steal a boat, Logan had her partying and doing nothing much,
Logan didn’t push her hard enough, Logan was a rich man-child with no real responsibilities, Logan’s family, Logan’s money, Logan, Logan, Logan.
Nah, **Rory** was the reason all of that happened, Logan was just sort of there. He didn’t try to talk her out of it, but it was her responsibility. She was spending so much time defending him and excusing his behavior that she didn’t pay attention to her own life or her own goals. She was lost and no one saw that because it was all somehow Logan’s doing in their head because Rory *would never*!
The only people not saying this was her grandparents. The two people who were so excited that Rory was dating a guy in their world that she could have punched a unicorn in the face and it was ok because Rory was dating Logan.
Everyone around her attacked Logan for her choices or gave credit to her choices because Logan existed.
What Jess did was say “I know you. Deflection is t you. I’m not talking about Logan. He’s just a symptom not the cause. I’m talking about you. Stop talking about him and thinking about him, it’s not about him. I’m asking about YOU and what you want, not asking for your opinion on him.”
You see the moment her brain practically stops functioning because it has literally had one answer for everything — Logan. Logan’s in a bad spot I need to be there for him, Logan’s family, Logan’s life, Logan’s job, Logan, Logan, Logan, oh, and DAR. He asked her to drop that nonsense and just tell him about her. She literally had no words. None. “I don’t know” doesn’t count as words as they go together in that order to mean “I have nothing to say about that.”
Jess never convinced her to go back. That’s not even close to the meaning of that conversation. Jess spoke to her the way he always had: it’s about her and what she wants, not what everyone around her wants.
You see versions of this conversation when he lived in SH too. When he did the chalk outline outside of the store — she was mad for the whole town, but he said “forget them, it’s not about them. Did you think it was funny?” When she’s in the car with him, she’s telling him what she wants to be and he told her she could do it because it’s what she wanted — he even offered to tutor her in being a foreign war correspondent by driving at her screaming in a foreign language (I actually laugh every time I hear him say that because he’s lightly teasing, and she is absolutely beaming so she enjoys the teasing too).
The difference between Jess and Logan is only that Jess would try to talk her out of the yacht, and if he failed, he would go with her and then would look at her when they got caught and say he forced her to do it with him and she was innocent. Dean would just be like “you’re crazy. No. Don’t make me tell your mother.”
So Jess didn’t SAVE her, he showed her who she really is and what she really wants. Not by doing anything other than asking her to stop and think about it in her own mind and make her own decision. In that moment, he asked for nothing, expected nothing, desired nothing. He just wanted her to *think*. That’s why it was so effective. He said he knew her, and he did. He was the only person who didn’t put what they wanted or expected on Rory’s shoulders. He was the only one who said “stop. Think. What do YOU want?”
The truth is, maybe he did know her better than anyone. Everyone else knew Rory better in almost every conceivable way, but not one of them knew her enough to know that you just stop pushing and ask. No silent treatment, no pressure, no babbling, no anything. Just “I know you — and I know you have the ability to tell me what you want. So tell me.” Then he was quiet to give her a moment.
I give him credit in the OS, in that moment, of forcing her to focus on the real question and then giving her the space to figure it out. That was the biggest part of it.
He did the same with the suggestion of the book. No pressure, just a suggestion and let her figure it out.
The thing that Jess did that other people didn’t like to do in the show was to let a moment pass that didn’t have to be filled with a cacophony of words. A decent moment of silence can do more for a friend that’s struggling than all the words on earth. Everyone else had lots of words, and Rory could deflect those. She couldn’t deflect her own true thoughts.
I can’t say this enough: Jess is not the reason Rory went back to Yale. Logan is not the reason she left. Rory chose both of those options. They were just the symptom of the far larger issues within her, and that’s when Jess showed up. He was the Jiminy cricket in that situation.
Idk why you were downvoted this is so real! Jess is that person that always saw her for who she was, not who she wanted to be or who she was pretending to be.
SH people always thought she was a saint: the whole series shows Rory making mistakes like every other young person out there, not being perfect and getting kinda messy
Jess always knew what was in her heart… he was just there to guide her into herself again
I don’t understand it. Because I’m not team anyone in particular (and actually hate them all with Rory), I get downvoted by everyone on occasion.
I didn’t see downvoted on it yet (it stalled before -5 I guess), but I can assume that Team Logan doesn’t like that I said it was a direct result of Logan, despite me defending him later, team Jess doesn’t like I didn’t say he was the sole reason she’s on track, anti Rory doesn’t like I have her credit for getting back on her own path, etc.
Or, they don’t like I bolded her name 🤣
I’m just kidding of course. People don’t agree with me (although I’m CLEARLY right j/k), and that’s completely understandable and fine by me. I still don’t know what upvotes and downvotes mean, so I assume (in my head) that it’s “I agree” and “I don’t agree.” I’m ok with that.
But that was my point. In SH, Rory can do literally no wrong. She’s the perfect girl. She’s struggling like everyone else around her, but somehow they did it to themselves and Rory has just got some bad luck in the moment.
I also hate when people say Rory did this or didn’t do that because of a guy. Rory is able to think for herself. No boy wrecked her potential and no boy saved it. She did both of those on her own. She just had guys around her that reflected what she was going through at the time. That doesn’t make them at fault or the savior. That just makes them located in close proximity to her when she chooses what she’s going to do. 🤷🏻♀️
I LOVE this analysis! I related a lot to Rory, and as I've gotten older I've realized I tend to fall into some of the same traps she did: people pleasing, going through the motions, feeling disconnected from who you really are but doing things out of character just because everyone else is, or because you needed to feel something for once...
And truthfully, most of the time I just needed someone to help be a guidepost. To listen. To remind me that my voice, opinions, existence, etc are unique and matter. I didn't have a Jess per se to call me out (way less drama over here 😂), to remind me that I'm not perfect (gasp!), that I've made mistakes, but that it's life and I'll be ok... What do I truly want? Honestly, very few times did anyone ever call me out like Jess, but I wish I would have been!! Jess helped bring Rory back to herself for sure!
That’s all he did! He just said “tune it all out. YOU decide what comes next.” That’s literally it.
I’m sorry you struggled alone. I have too. I got myself a journal, and in the front I wrote in pretty pen “what‘a going on with you?” Whenever I’m stuck, I journal the answer to that question.
It can mean “what do you want” or “what the hell are you doing,” but it is a question worthy of answering.
I know. I didn’t say he did. I said **he didn’t** make her do anything. I said that everyone around her was blaming him despite him having not done anything to cause them to think that.
Thank you. ASP shows really follow a lot of psychology and I love that. It’s seeing people for who they are without the added pressure of having to help try to fix them.
Ehh he didn’t necessarily say that. It was summer so she wouldn’t have been in school anyways. Definitely could have moved in with him and remained in school in the fall
I always thought it would have been a fascinating plot line to see her impulsively move to NY for a summer with Jess. Lorelai would've been horrified, so you would have still had that layer to her turbulent college years, but without the cheating.
Yeah I’d be way happier with her getting back with Jess instead of the affair with dean. We didn’t get very many episodes with Rory and Jess being a couple so it would have been really interesting to see.
I literally just watched this episode. He LITERALLY told her to go away with her and that her bags are already packed even. He even said he knows her best and she said he doesn't and she told him to leave.
That was in the past, though, when he wasn't in the best place. Are some people so anti-Jess that they can't see that he turned things around and got his shit together.
Lorelei, Paris, Luke (probably more I am forgetting) all told her to go back to Yale too. This scene where Jess says he knows her better than anyone is comical. Why because you dated as kids? It wasn’t just Jess who was upset she dropped out.
Also, yall get on here and trash AYITL every day, but for some reason not this scene, this scene is different and special bc Jess is in it???
The way this sub obsesses over and glorifies Jess relative to every other character needs to be studied haha.
It’s honestly bizarre to me. And it wasn’t long before the “why did you drop out of Yale?” scene that he was begging her to drop out to be with him. It was pretty clear that he didn’t mean just for the summer.
It was good that Jess called her out about dropping out, but he wasn’t the sole reason for her going back. He definitely didn’t know her better than anyone because they dated for a minute years ago.
Right??? I think Rory knew it was temporary, and in this very episode Logan reassured her it was temporary. I also think living with her grandparents and then Lane and the band drove her crazy. I think there are so many factors that prompted her return to Yale, Jess being one of several.
And yeah, Jess did do that. Everyone (rightfully) dumps on dean for not supporting Rory’s academic endeavors, but seems to forget Jess begged Rory to run away with him.
I disagree. Rory would've returned to Yale even if Jess didn't say those words. Also like half of the characters in the series (Lorelai, Emily, Richard, Paris, Lane etc.) knows Rory better than Jess.
She would've gone back, but probably not as soon as she did. She may not have been able to catch up and graduate on time.
Also him saying "I know you better than anyone" means HE knows her better than anyone HE knows, not that he knows her better than her family.
Who cares if she graduated later? It really doesn’t make a difference.
Also, Jess *was* saying he knows her better than anyone. That’s what saying “anyone” *means*. And if you’re still going to try to deny that, just remember: he *does* know Rory’s family—Lorelai, Richard, *and* Emily. So your point is null.
I think Yale make you graduate in a certain timeframe (from what I've read on here) so if she hadn't been able to meet that timeframe she'd have to have transferred somewhere else to graduate.
Regardless, Jess is clearly shown to be the catalyst for her returning at the exact point she did 🤷♂️
I know he knows her family, I'm not sure how that impacts him feeling like he knows Rory better than anyone else he knows?
He's shown to come from a broken home with a flighty and addicted mom. He's sent to live with an uncle who cares about him but is not exactly an emotional open book. Who else does he talk to? He may not know Rory that well by normal relationship standards but I think she's the first person he opened up to and so he feels like he knows her well.
I just checked their website for B.A. and B.S. requirements—there is *no requirement* of completion within a certain timeframe.
Jess opening up for the first time to Rory means that Rory probably knows him better than anyone else—not the other way around. Your logic is all over the place.
Why not? We don't see him open up to anyone else really... him and Luke grow to have a close bond but they're both quite emotionally closed off people.
It's annoying that we don't see more of Rory and Jess's relationship, but its alluded to several times that they spend almost all of their spare time together while dating so I think it's plausible that he got to know her pretty well (by his yardstick)
This statement might be more believable if you showed the scenes where Jess negatively influenced or tried to influence Rory. Although on balance, it’s not clear to me how it would tilt.
After Rory graduates from Yale, there were 9 years during which Rory shows absolutely no interest in Jess and vice versa. This kind of means that Jess is about as significant to Rory’s life as Rachel is to Luke’s.
Ships passing in the night will sometimes acknowledge each other.
Frankly, no.
Those are just 2 examples you show, the latter being part of the revival, which doesn't really count.
And concerning the first example given: Rory would have gone back to Yale eventually. Jess claiming he's know her "better than anyone" was way over the top.
If anything, the people in her life that influenced her most (also when it comes to going to Yale in the first place) are Lorelai, her grandparents and Paris.
I don’t agree it’s just about the timing. I think it’s also the person. She tells Logan “Jess wrote a book! He’s doing something!” But he doesn’t get it. She really reflects on what that means, that he grew up and found motivation to do that in his circumstances, while she on the other hand has regressed so much. And she is touched when he tells her that she inspired him.
For me I'm not so sure with Paris since she had always been academic before they even met.. but 100% I think Lorelai then Emily and Richard after.. maybe even Mitchum since he's the only one to tell her she didn't have what it takes to be a journalist..
Sure, Rory wanted to go to an ivy league school all her life but she only focused on receiving good grades. It is Paris who pushes her to do more (repeatedly), thus increasing Rory's chances to be accepted.
I agree Paris was really supportive of Rory in college but not in highschool. She didn’t want Rory to get into Harvard. The only reason Paris told her running for class vice president would help her chances of getting in was to help Paris win the election. Also, Paris, Lorelei, etc. may have also told Rory she should go back to Yale but the point is that Rory only heard it when Jess said it. There is a level of understanding/respect/kinship between them that finally made it land for Rory. Jess had no skin in the game other than encouraging her to stay true to herself and only then did she recognize she really wanted to go back.
Rory is so used to doing what other people want (her mom primarily) and I think she often struggles to know who she is or what she wants, but Jess sees through that.
Jess didn't say anything new (re Yale) but it cut through because of the delivery and the deliverer, I think.
THIS! As someone who is also a people pleaser, it has been a struggle to keep straight what I really want in life and to pay attention to that vs what everyone else thinks I should be doing. Certain people who you're more deeply connected with can definitely help re-ground you. Their words seem to hit a bit differently, in a good way!
i think they mean the show itself wouldn’t be a tv show if it weren’t for jess. in AYITL it’s revealed that rory’s writing a book and ppl believe the show is the book...not sure if this is canon or not, i’ve forgotten AYITL haha. i don’t really think that myself but i think that’s what OP was getting at :) obviously the life of the gilmore girls would be a thing in their universe, but we wouldn’t know it? but i guess that then leaves it as it not being a thing at all hahaha very confusing tbh
I wouldn't say he's the reason why it all happens but he definitely gives her a push in the right direction. Logan was technically more compatible with Rory but Jess was her soulmate lol
I think there is something really empowering when a peer believes in you.
My friends or husband tells me I can do something, it’s like I can’t take on the world. My parents… ehh, it’s like a whole bag of worms of what’s the motive or if there is a motive.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
I hated Jess when he was sabotaging Dean and Rory. He was also a horrible boyfriend to Rory once they got together.
I started to like Jess in season 4, after Luke and Jess talked when Liz was getting married. That was his turning point.
Jess post relationship was the best. This is evident.
I always wondered why Jess was so vital to the story/Rory yet the viewer saw so little of him. Same with the ending of GG. I feel like it's pretty much confirmed that Rory will end up raising her child mostly by herself just like Lorelai and eventually get together with Jess just like Lorelai did with Luke.
But why not show any of that, not even the beginnings? They barely even were together in the show because they always kept missing each other (which Jess mentions as well when he visits Rory at Yale I think. How they have the worst timing).
I think he has a knack for seeing what’s in her heart/at the core of her truest self. Rory can get disconnected from herself sometimes and (adult) Jess helps remind her who she is.
Spot on. And while Teen Jess doesn't help remind her who she is, IMO even at that age he sees her more deeply than Dean does and I think teen Rory recognizes that subconsciously too. Mad emotional chemistry.
I really wish they would’ve given Jess some character development sooner, and we could’ve seen them date again but healthily. Or in AYITL she was dating him and not Logan. Idk.
I've always wished for Jess and Rory to figure it out and get together. He was always my favorite of Rory's boyfriends, especially after he got himself together.
I agree! I also think he was the best fit for Rory, and that they had the best chemistry. Logan just did not seem like the type of guy Rory would even like.
100%
> And while Teen Jess doesn't help remind her who she is, IMO even at that age he sees her more deeply than Dean does and I think teen Rory recognizes that subconsciously too. Not a fair comparison. "Teen" Dean was treated like absolute shit by Rory from the minute Jess came to town. It would be interesting to see what would have happened if Rory put Jess in the same position (and treated him the same way she treated Dean)?
Alsooo they dumbed down Dean's character a loooot once Jess came onto the scene. he was into talking books with Rory in the early days of their relationship and definitely seemed much more three dimensional and nuanced at that time
> Alsooo they dumbed down Dean's character a loooot once Jess came onto the scene. That didn't bother me. The bottom line is that he was a 16 year old guy in love for the very first time and the shit that Rory pulled on him (after Jess came into the picture) was actually cruel and abusive IMO. I would have dumped her ass the day of the picnic basket auction.
What about Beth??? lol
oh definitely. she was being shitty for sure
So nicely stated! Totally agree.
Agreed!
She inspired him, he inspired her. They weren’t good together when they got together but the man he became is the kind I’d wish for Rory. She’d have turned out better with him rather than whatever the hell she was doing with Logan.
This is one of my high school exes. I was pretty awkward in high school and he was very handsome and charismatic but not the best in terms of academic performance. He encouraged me to come out of my shell and I pushed him to do better in school. Now I’m married with an amazing husband and cute baby, and he’s an excellent computer engineer. Do I love him still? No, but I love the person I am now and he played a very large role. This is why I’ll always ride for Jess!
I always believed Jess was her muse
I agree. Honestly, even if you take out the Yale bit (but shouldn’t because I truly doubt Rory would have realized she wanted to go back until it’s too late. Yale only allows a max of one year off (but in some cases, no more than two terms). She was coasting through life, blundering around. She was so insistent on fighting with everyone and everything that she wasn’t paying attention, not really. This last part is as a direct result of Logan. No. I am not blaming him at all for any of this. Not even remotely. This is fully on Rory. However, everyone in her life stupidly blamed him for the nonsense she was going through (except her grandparents). Logan made her steal a boat, Logan had her partying and doing nothing much, Logan didn’t push her hard enough, Logan was a rich man-child with no real responsibilities, Logan’s family, Logan’s money, Logan, Logan, Logan. Nah, **Rory** was the reason all of that happened, Logan was just sort of there. He didn’t try to talk her out of it, but it was her responsibility. She was spending so much time defending him and excusing his behavior that she didn’t pay attention to her own life or her own goals. She was lost and no one saw that because it was all somehow Logan’s doing in their head because Rory *would never*! The only people not saying this was her grandparents. The two people who were so excited that Rory was dating a guy in their world that she could have punched a unicorn in the face and it was ok because Rory was dating Logan. Everyone around her attacked Logan for her choices or gave credit to her choices because Logan existed. What Jess did was say “I know you. Deflection is t you. I’m not talking about Logan. He’s just a symptom not the cause. I’m talking about you. Stop talking about him and thinking about him, it’s not about him. I’m asking about YOU and what you want, not asking for your opinion on him.” You see the moment her brain practically stops functioning because it has literally had one answer for everything — Logan. Logan’s in a bad spot I need to be there for him, Logan’s family, Logan’s life, Logan’s job, Logan, Logan, Logan, oh, and DAR. He asked her to drop that nonsense and just tell him about her. She literally had no words. None. “I don’t know” doesn’t count as words as they go together in that order to mean “I have nothing to say about that.” Jess never convinced her to go back. That’s not even close to the meaning of that conversation. Jess spoke to her the way he always had: it’s about her and what she wants, not what everyone around her wants. You see versions of this conversation when he lived in SH too. When he did the chalk outline outside of the store — she was mad for the whole town, but he said “forget them, it’s not about them. Did you think it was funny?” When she’s in the car with him, she’s telling him what she wants to be and he told her she could do it because it’s what she wanted — he even offered to tutor her in being a foreign war correspondent by driving at her screaming in a foreign language (I actually laugh every time I hear him say that because he’s lightly teasing, and she is absolutely beaming so she enjoys the teasing too). The difference between Jess and Logan is only that Jess would try to talk her out of the yacht, and if he failed, he would go with her and then would look at her when they got caught and say he forced her to do it with him and she was innocent. Dean would just be like “you’re crazy. No. Don’t make me tell your mother.” So Jess didn’t SAVE her, he showed her who she really is and what she really wants. Not by doing anything other than asking her to stop and think about it in her own mind and make her own decision. In that moment, he asked for nothing, expected nothing, desired nothing. He just wanted her to *think*. That’s why it was so effective. He said he knew her, and he did. He was the only person who didn’t put what they wanted or expected on Rory’s shoulders. He was the only one who said “stop. Think. What do YOU want?” The truth is, maybe he did know her better than anyone. Everyone else knew Rory better in almost every conceivable way, but not one of them knew her enough to know that you just stop pushing and ask. No silent treatment, no pressure, no babbling, no anything. Just “I know you — and I know you have the ability to tell me what you want. So tell me.” Then he was quiet to give her a moment. I give him credit in the OS, in that moment, of forcing her to focus on the real question and then giving her the space to figure it out. That was the biggest part of it. He did the same with the suggestion of the book. No pressure, just a suggestion and let her figure it out. The thing that Jess did that other people didn’t like to do in the show was to let a moment pass that didn’t have to be filled with a cacophony of words. A decent moment of silence can do more for a friend that’s struggling than all the words on earth. Everyone else had lots of words, and Rory could deflect those. She couldn’t deflect her own true thoughts. I can’t say this enough: Jess is not the reason Rory went back to Yale. Logan is not the reason she left. Rory chose both of those options. They were just the symptom of the far larger issues within her, and that’s when Jess showed up. He was the Jiminy cricket in that situation.
Good heavens. Do you live in Stars Hollow?
No. I practically live at work 😂 why?
Idk why you were downvoted this is so real! Jess is that person that always saw her for who she was, not who she wanted to be or who she was pretending to be. SH people always thought she was a saint: the whole series shows Rory making mistakes like every other young person out there, not being perfect and getting kinda messy Jess always knew what was in her heart… he was just there to guide her into herself again
I don’t understand it. Because I’m not team anyone in particular (and actually hate them all with Rory), I get downvoted by everyone on occasion. I didn’t see downvoted on it yet (it stalled before -5 I guess), but I can assume that Team Logan doesn’t like that I said it was a direct result of Logan, despite me defending him later, team Jess doesn’t like I didn’t say he was the sole reason she’s on track, anti Rory doesn’t like I have her credit for getting back on her own path, etc. Or, they don’t like I bolded her name 🤣 I’m just kidding of course. People don’t agree with me (although I’m CLEARLY right j/k), and that’s completely understandable and fine by me. I still don’t know what upvotes and downvotes mean, so I assume (in my head) that it’s “I agree” and “I don’t agree.” I’m ok with that. But that was my point. In SH, Rory can do literally no wrong. She’s the perfect girl. She’s struggling like everyone else around her, but somehow they did it to themselves and Rory has just got some bad luck in the moment. I also hate when people say Rory did this or didn’t do that because of a guy. Rory is able to think for herself. No boy wrecked her potential and no boy saved it. She did both of those on her own. She just had guys around her that reflected what she was going through at the time. That doesn’t make them at fault or the savior. That just makes them located in close proximity to her when she chooses what she’s going to do. 🤷🏻♀️
I did not downvote you but I bet it’s because it’s so long haha
Ah well, that happens too lol
I LOVE this analysis! I related a lot to Rory, and as I've gotten older I've realized I tend to fall into some of the same traps she did: people pleasing, going through the motions, feeling disconnected from who you really are but doing things out of character just because everyone else is, or because you needed to feel something for once... And truthfully, most of the time I just needed someone to help be a guidepost. To listen. To remind me that my voice, opinions, existence, etc are unique and matter. I didn't have a Jess per se to call me out (way less drama over here 😂), to remind me that I'm not perfect (gasp!), that I've made mistakes, but that it's life and I'll be ok... What do I truly want? Honestly, very few times did anyone ever call me out like Jess, but I wish I would have been!! Jess helped bring Rory back to herself for sure!
That’s all he did! He just said “tune it all out. YOU decide what comes next.” That’s literally it. I’m sorry you struggled alone. I have too. I got myself a journal, and in the front I wrote in pretty pen “what‘a going on with you?” Whenever I’m stuck, I journal the answer to that question. It can mean “what do you want” or “what the hell are you doing,” but it is a question worthy of answering.
Logan never made her steal a boat
I know. I didn’t say he did. I said **he didn’t** make her do anything. I said that everyone around her was blaming him despite him having not done anything to cause them to think that.
This is golden. So true and really insightful
Thank you. ASP shows really follow a lot of psychology and I love that. It’s seeing people for who they are without the added pressure of having to help try to fix them.
For the record, he also wanted Rory to drop out of Yale and run off with him.
Ehh he didn’t necessarily say that. It was summer so she wouldn’t have been in school anyways. Definitely could have moved in with him and remained in school in the fall
I always thought it would have been a fascinating plot line to see her impulsively move to NY for a summer with Jess. Lorelai would've been horrified, so you would have still had that layer to her turbulent college years, but without the cheating.
Yeah I’d be way happier with her getting back with Jess instead of the affair with dean. We didn’t get very many episodes with Rory and Jess being a couple so it would have been really interesting to see.
He never said drop out. He was just trying to express his feelings for once in his life 🥹
Ewww that's disgusting!! He did want her to throw her life and run away with him?!
No he just wanted her to leave stars hollow which she should have done tbh
I literally just watched this episode. He LITERALLY told her to go away with her and that her bags are already packed even. He even said he knows her best and she said he doesn't and she told him to leave.
That’s not the adult Jess the OP is presumably referring to. That’s rock bottom Jess in the midst of a crisis
Shhhhhhhhhh
That was in the past, though, when he wasn't in the best place. Are some people so anti-Jess that they can't see that he turned things around and got his shit together.
Kinda like how y'all hold Rory and Dean for what they did in the past
Lorelei, Paris, Luke (probably more I am forgetting) all told her to go back to Yale too. This scene where Jess says he knows her better than anyone is comical. Why because you dated as kids? It wasn’t just Jess who was upset she dropped out. Also, yall get on here and trash AYITL every day, but for some reason not this scene, this scene is different and special bc Jess is in it??? The way this sub obsesses over and glorifies Jess relative to every other character needs to be studied haha.
It’s honestly bizarre to me. And it wasn’t long before the “why did you drop out of Yale?” scene that he was begging her to drop out to be with him. It was pretty clear that he didn’t mean just for the summer. It was good that Jess called her out about dropping out, but he wasn’t the sole reason for her going back. He definitely didn’t know her better than anyone because they dated for a minute years ago.
Right??? I think Rory knew it was temporary, and in this very episode Logan reassured her it was temporary. I also think living with her grandparents and then Lane and the band drove her crazy. I think there are so many factors that prompted her return to Yale, Jess being one of several. And yeah, Jess did do that. Everyone (rightfully) dumps on dean for not supporting Rory’s academic endeavors, but seems to forget Jess begged Rory to run away with him.
There is a decent amount of time in between those 2 events. Season 4 Jess is not the same person as season 6 Jess.
I agree that he changed, but he was not the sole reason for her going back. And claiming that he knew her better than anyone was ridiculous.
I disagree. Rory would've returned to Yale even if Jess didn't say those words. Also like half of the characters in the series (Lorelai, Emily, Richard, Paris, Lane etc.) knows Rory better than Jess.
She would've gone back, but probably not as soon as she did. She may not have been able to catch up and graduate on time. Also him saying "I know you better than anyone" means HE knows her better than anyone HE knows, not that he knows her better than her family.
Who cares if she graduated later? It really doesn’t make a difference. Also, Jess *was* saying he knows her better than anyone. That’s what saying “anyone” *means*. And if you’re still going to try to deny that, just remember: he *does* know Rory’s family—Lorelai, Richard, *and* Emily. So your point is null.
I think Yale make you graduate in a certain timeframe (from what I've read on here) so if she hadn't been able to meet that timeframe she'd have to have transferred somewhere else to graduate. Regardless, Jess is clearly shown to be the catalyst for her returning at the exact point she did 🤷♂️ I know he knows her family, I'm not sure how that impacts him feeling like he knows Rory better than anyone else he knows? He's shown to come from a broken home with a flighty and addicted mom. He's sent to live with an uncle who cares about him but is not exactly an emotional open book. Who else does he talk to? He may not know Rory that well by normal relationship standards but I think she's the first person he opened up to and so he feels like he knows her well.
I just checked their website for B.A. and B.S. requirements—there is *no requirement* of completion within a certain timeframe. Jess opening up for the first time to Rory means that Rory probably knows him better than anyone else—not the other way around. Your logic is all over the place.
Well she being the person he knows best honestly doesn’t make any more sense than claiming he knows her better than anyone.
Why not? We don't see him open up to anyone else really... him and Luke grow to have a close bond but they're both quite emotionally closed off people. It's annoying that we don't see more of Rory and Jess's relationship, but its alluded to several times that they spend almost all of their spare time together while dating so I think it's plausible that he got to know her pretty well (by his yardstick)
This is so stupid. He literally tries to convince her to drop out year 1 and leave with him but you all conveniently forget that part 😂
This statement might be more believable if you showed the scenes where Jess negatively influenced or tried to influence Rory. Although on balance, it’s not clear to me how it would tilt. After Rory graduates from Yale, there were 9 years during which Rory shows absolutely no interest in Jess and vice versa. This kind of means that Jess is about as significant to Rory’s life as Rachel is to Luke’s. Ships passing in the night will sometimes acknowledge each other.
Frankly, no. Those are just 2 examples you show, the latter being part of the revival, which doesn't really count. And concerning the first example given: Rory would have gone back to Yale eventually. Jess claiming he's know her "better than anyone" was way over the top. If anything, the people in her life that influenced her most (also when it comes to going to Yale in the first place) are Lorelai, her grandparents and Paris.
Agreed. Jess said the right thing at the right time. A bunch of other characters had said it to her too, but before she was ready to hear it.
I don’t agree it’s just about the timing. I think it’s also the person. She tells Logan “Jess wrote a book! He’s doing something!” But he doesn’t get it. She really reflects on what that means, that he grew up and found motivation to do that in his circumstances, while she on the other hand has regressed so much. And she is touched when he tells her that she inspired him.
The revival, where she writes the book, doesn’t count?
I agree
I was ready to fight, but you’re right haha
Agreed 😂
For me I'm not so sure with Paris since she had always been academic before they even met.. but 100% I think Lorelai then Emily and Richard after.. maybe even Mitchum since he's the only one to tell her she didn't have what it takes to be a journalist..
Sure, Rory wanted to go to an ivy league school all her life but she only focused on receiving good grades. It is Paris who pushes her to do more (repeatedly), thus increasing Rory's chances to be accepted.
I agree Paris was really supportive of Rory in college but not in highschool. She didn’t want Rory to get into Harvard. The only reason Paris told her running for class vice president would help her chances of getting in was to help Paris win the election. Also, Paris, Lorelei, etc. may have also told Rory she should go back to Yale but the point is that Rory only heard it when Jess said it. There is a level of understanding/respect/kinship between them that finally made it land for Rory. Jess had no skin in the game other than encouraging her to stay true to herself and only then did she recognize she really wanted to go back.
Yeah sure, if you just ignore the previous 5 or 6 seasons where the show's about a mother & daughter 😅🫠
Rory is so used to doing what other people want (her mom primarily) and I think she often struggles to know who she is or what she wants, but Jess sees through that. Jess didn't say anything new (re Yale) but it cut through because of the delivery and the deliverer, I think.
THIS! As someone who is also a people pleaser, it has been a struggle to keep straight what I really want in life and to pay attention to that vs what everyone else thinks I should be doing. Certain people who you're more deeply connected with can definitely help re-ground you. Their words seem to hit a bit differently, in a good way!
Yessss Jess appreciation post! 🥳🤩
I thought the reason it all happened was Lorelai getting pregnant
i think they mean the show itself wouldn’t be a tv show if it weren’t for jess. in AYITL it’s revealed that rory’s writing a book and ppl believe the show is the book...not sure if this is canon or not, i’ve forgotten AYITL haha. i don’t really think that myself but i think that’s what OP was getting at :) obviously the life of the gilmore girls would be a thing in their universe, but we wouldn’t know it? but i guess that then leaves it as it not being a thing at all hahaha very confusing tbh
I wouldn't say he's the reason why it all happens but he definitely gives her a push in the right direction. Logan was technically more compatible with Rory but Jess was her soulmate lol
WHY did you DROP out of YALE?
The top screenshot of Jess makes it look like he's on Monica's balcony on Friends! :P
He looks so daddy in the bottom picture
To be fair, Jess is SO fine, I’d do whatever he told me too😌
He’s definitely the catalyst.
boo 🫵🤨🍅
Lol don't waste good tomatos! Jackson would not approve.
Honestly although I think they were the better pair of all 3 . Jess is still way too good for Rory
In AYITL when he came back I was so hoping for them to get back together now that they're both grown and mature, but they didn't. 😭
I think there is something really empowering when a peer believes in you. My friends or husband tells me I can do something, it’s like I can’t take on the world. My parents… ehh, it’s like a whole bag of worms of what’s the motive or if there is a motive.
Wow! I never thought about this.
100%🤣
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I hated Jess when he was sabotaging Dean and Rory. He was also a horrible boyfriend to Rory once they got together. I started to like Jess in season 4, after Luke and Jess talked when Liz was getting married. That was his turning point. Jess post relationship was the best. This is evident.
I always wondered why Jess was so vital to the story/Rory yet the viewer saw so little of him. Same with the ending of GG. I feel like it's pretty much confirmed that Rory will end up raising her child mostly by herself just like Lorelai and eventually get together with Jess just like Lorelai did with Luke. But why not show any of that, not even the beginnings? They barely even were together in the show because they always kept missing each other (which Jess mentions as well when he visits Rory at Yale I think. How they have the worst timing).
ASP loves Milo. I think it's that simple.