For seven seasons, Gilmore Girls fans laughed, dreamed that Stars Hollow was real, and wanted to order a cup of coffee at Luke's. While the story of a struggling single mom raising her teenage daughter could be depressing, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) created a wonderful life for her daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel). It's one that fans envy and love returning to time and time again.
Fans don't know if Netflix will release a second season of A Year In The Life. But even if there are no more episodes of this beloved series, there are thankfully seven seasons worth of episodes to binge watch. And now that it's officially fall, it's the perfect time to revisit how some of the characters grew over the course of the show, and how some others went in a negative direction.
Better: Dean Found Love After Rory
Dean and Rory broke up (again) in season five and the character (played by Jared Padalecki) told Rory about his happy ending in A Year In The Life.
Dean Forester found love again after his romance with Rory ended, and he married a woman named Jenny and started a family. He definitely changed for the better, becoming more confident and sure of himself.
Worse: Paris Never Became Nicer Or Friendlier
Rory's friend Paris Geller (Liza Weil) can be pretty polarizing. On the one hand, she's brilliant, tough, and easy to respect. But on the other hand, she's a bit of a tyrant, yelling at people who are less confident than she is and always expecting to get her way.
By the end of the show, Paris didn't change very much. She wasn't nice or friendly to people she didn't know, and she didn't really display a lot of character growth.
Better: Jess Finally Grew Up
Many teen dramas feature the same types of characters, and the bad boy or rebel is usually a major player. On Gilmore Girls, that character was Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), Luke's nephew who stayed with him for a period of time.
Jess never seemed all that interested in crafting a good life for himself, but thankfully, he pulled himself together. By the time that Rory met up with him years after their painful break-up, he had published a novel and was doing really well.
Worse: Christopher Never Got It Together
Rory always loved her dad Christopher (David Sutcliffe), but the character was never very impressive.
Christopher changed for the worse because he just never got it together. Even when he and Lorelai got married, he wasn't any closer to being an ideal father. Fans who revisited Stars Hollow and watched A Year In The Life saw that he hadn't changed much by then, either, and he was still pretty hands-off.
Better: Sookie Had A Great Family Life
Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy) was expecting her third child by the time that Gilmore Girls ended, and she had settled into a nice, happy, comfortable family life with her husband Jackson Belleville (Jackson Douglas).
It was amazing to see how much Sookie changed and in such a positive manner. Near the start of the show, she was super nervous about dating and she and Jackson could barely even speak to each other.
Worse: Lane Never Found True Happiness
Keiko Agena's Gilmore Girls character Lane Kim was mostly a great pal for Rory. But by the time that fans said goodbye to the series, it seemed like she hadn't really found true happiness.
Lane became a young mom and she didn't seem to have found her calling in life in of a career. Lane had always struggled with the fact that she loved music and wanted to be in a band but had to hide so much from her strict mother. It would have been nice to see Lane with a musical job by the end.
Better: Lorelai And Her Parents Came To An Understanding
While Lorelai and her parents would never have a wonderful relationship, as they didn't call each other just to chat or each other all that much, they did come to an understanding by the end of the series.
Lorelai said that she would keep going to their house on Friday night for dinner, and Emily knew that her daughter wouldn't ignore her again. This was definitely the best that they could do, and it was good enough.
Worse: Lorelai And Luke Struggled To Commit
Fans see a lot wrong with Lorelai and Luke's love story but many Gilmore Girls viewers feel that they're total soulmates.
Lorelai and Luke changed for the worse because by the beginning of season seven, it didn't seem like they could commit to each other. They both made awful decisions, from Lorelai running to Christopher (David Sutcliffe) to Luke seeming scared to tell Lorelai his thoughts and feelings. It took so long for these two to reunite.
Better: Rory Found Her Self-Esteem Again
Thankfully, by the time that Gilmore Girls aired its series finale, Rory was back to her old hardworking self.
Fans had seen her self-esteem go down quite a few notches when Logan's dad told her that she didn't have what it took to be a reporter. She actually believed him but when she got a job traveling and covering Obama's campaign, it was more than clear that she would thrive in her journalistic career.
Worse: Logan Didn't Realize Rory Wouldn't Marry Him
Logan (Matt Czuchry) proposed to Rory at the end of the series, and it was super obvious that it wouldn't go the way that he dreamed of.
Logan changed for the worse because he should have realized that Rory would say no. Many GG fans hate the final season and this was a confusing storyline, as no one would have expected Rory to get married so young, especially not before she really got into her career.