the heart of Gilmore Girls is certainly its central mother-daughter relationship, the show's male love interests remain a hotly debated topic of conversation.
From the jealous Dean Forrester (Jared Padalecki) to the patient Luke Danes (Scott Patterson), Gilmore Girls has a true knack for exploring the intricacies of romantic relationships. None of the men of Gilmore Girls are perfect, and their failures make their breakups and makeups with the Gilmore women all the more realistic and true to life. The show picks up when Rory is a high school student and Lorelai, in her 30s, manages a local inn. Both Lorelai and Rory's positions in life introduce them to men from a variety of walks of life, with the latter occasionally following in the pattern of her mother's footsteps. After all, like mother, like daughter.
10 Christopher Hayden
Rory's Father And Lorelai's First Love Is Incredibly Inconsistent
Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe) is Lorelai's first love from high school. Lorelai became pregnant with Rory when she was 16 years old, and her wealthy parents and Christopher's powerful family urged the young couple to marry for the sake of their stability. Lorelai felt pressured and left her upper-class life in Hartford, Connecticut for small-town Stars Hollow, not ready to make this commitment at such a young age. While Lorelai remains a dedicated parent to Rory, inspiring her dedication to academics that propels her to study at Yale, Christopher drifts in and out of their lives, and is incredibly emotionally inconsistent.
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Christopher certainly could have made more of an effort to be an active parent to Rory. While he does learn from his mistake and attempts to be a better father to Gigi, his second daughter, from his relationship with Sherry (Mädchen Amick), Christopher continues to struggle with the responsibilities of parenthood. Even in his relationship with Lorelai, he struggles to offer her the stability and unconditional love she needs. He can barely even stand up to his own parents' harsh criticism of Lorelai, and that makes him rank dead last among the love interests of Gilmore Girls.
9 Dean Forrester
Dean Started As A Great First Boyfriend, But Things Took A Turn
Dean starts out as a great first boyfriend to Rory, when he first helps her carry her books on her last day at Stars Hollow High before she transfers to Chilton Academy. Her wholesome crush blossoms into something more in the iconic Gilmore Girls season 1 episode "Kiss and Tell", when he becomes Rory's first kiss at Doose's Market, prompting Rory to accidentally steal some corn starch in her love sick haze. Their relationship continues with movie dates and book recommendations and ultimately ends when the brooding Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) comes to town.
Dean takes a much more significant turn for the worse in Gilmore Girls season 4.
While Rory did not navigate her first breakup with Dean smoothly amid her burgeoning feelings for Jess, the breakup was always coming. Dean did not entirely understand Rory's aspirations of pursuing an Ivy League education and career, as illustrated by his distaste for her constant commitment to college prep work. Dean takes a much more significant turn for the worse in Gilmore Girls season 4, when he marries Lindsay Shaw (Arielle Kebbel) at only 18 years old. Shortly after his wedding, he sleeps with Rory, and begins an ongoing affair with her behind Lindsay's back.
While the affair casts both Rory and Dean in a negative light (especially since Rory now only wants him back when he is taken), Dean is significantly more at fault, as he was the one who was married to someone else. Dean's willingness to lie to the innocent Lindsay was a major character flaw, making him arguably the worst of Rory's love interests throughout Gilmore Girls.
8 Richard Gilmore
Richard Was Overall A Good Husband And Father, But Also A Product Of His Time
Richard was often an empathetic father to Lorelai when her mother, Emily, would harshly criticize her. Richard is also a Yale-educated wealthy insurance businessman who is always ready to go to bat for his wife, daughter, and granddaughter in their wealthy circles. The social scene that the Gilmores belong to has long been critical of Lorelai's teen pregnancy, and Richard is always the first to defend his family. This especially comes into play when Richard learns of the Huntzbergers' harsh treatment of Rory.
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However, while he has seemingly not committed infidelity, throughout Gilmore Girls it is revealed that he still keeps in touch with his ex-girlfriend Pennilyn Lott (Linda Gehringer), who he was in a relationship with before meeting Emily. Additionally, Emily often feels conflicted about her purpose in life, often saying that she does not a time in which she was Richard's wife. Unfortunately, their dynamic is evidently a product of their time.
7 Max Medina
Lorelai's First Fiancé
Max Medina (Scott Cohen) is one of Rory's teachers at Chilton Academy. He meets Lorelai by chance after a chaotic first day of school for Rory, and the two start up a relationship after an initial coffee date. Max is overall kind and patient with Lorelai, who has strict boundaries for her dating life as a single mother. Max is also understanding of their relationship's impact on Rory, and keeps his personal relationship with Lorelai separate from his treatment of Rory at school.
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Rory, though initially hesitant, warms up to Max, as she sees how well he treats her mother. Max even manages to accomplish the impossible and charms Richard and Emily Gilmore. Towards the end of their relationship, Max begins to express jealousy towards Lorelai's platonic relationship with Luke. This was likely a factor in Lorelai realizing that while Max was great on paper, he just was not the one for her. Gilmore Girls season 3, and drives out of town on the day they were meant to be married.
6 Morey Dell
Lorelai and Rory's Neighbor And Babette's Husband
Lorelai and Rory's eccentric next-door neighbors, Morey (Ted Rooney) and Babette Dell (Sally Struthers) are uniquely one of the healthiest couples in Gilmore Girls. Known for her raspy voice and humorous storytelling, Babette has a number of unique hobbies and treats her cat as if it was her child. The low-key and quiet Morey is the perfect contrast to balance her out, and their uniquely humorous dynamic creates a sense of unconditional .
The quirky couple are an underrated pair in the world of Gilmore Girls.
This is seen when Morey is immediately willing to go to great lengths to assist with the funeral of their cat in Gilmore Girls season 1. Morey is also very tall and Babette is very short, and he lives in a house with lower sinks and appliances catered to Babette's height, even if this is an inconvenience for him. The quirky couple are an underrated pair in the world of Gilmore Girls, as they experience the simple pleasures of life together while consistently giving back to their community.
5 Jackson Belleville
Sookie St. James' Husband
Jackson Belleville (Jackson Douglas) starts out as a lovable curmudgeon who works as a farmer and independent produce supplier. He provides the produce for the Independence Inn, where Lorelai works as a manager and Sookie works as a chef at the start of Gilmore Girls. The pair's relationship begins with constant witty banter about the quality of his vegetables in relation to how Sookie can use them in her dishes. Their sparring eventually turns romantic when Sookie asks Jackson out on a date in Gilmore Girls season 1.
While Jackson is another example of a Gilmore Girls man who is a ive partner and overall emotionally intelligent, he is not without faults. After the pair are married, and she gives birth to her second child, Sookie tells Jackson to get a vasectomy to prevent pregnancies in the near future. While Sookie does order Jackson to get this procedure immediately after she gives birth, and it could have warranted a longer conversation, Jackson is dishonest about it. He never gets the procedure, resulting in Sookie's third pregnancy in Gilmore Girls season 7. Jackson's dishonesty is why he ranks lower than some of the other men of Gilmore Girls.
4 Logan Huntzberger
Rory's Final Boyfriend In Gilmore Girls And Likely Father Of Her Child
Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) is introduced as a wealthy playboy who Rory dates at Yale. Logan is initially a womanizer, and Rory agrees to a casual relationship because she has just come off her affair with Dean. Upon realizing that she does not want a casual relationship, Logan immediately recognizes Rory's value and commits to a monogamous relationship. Throughout Gilmore Girls, Logan grows to become increasingly self-aware of his privilege while charting his own path separate from his father's publishing business.
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Logan is one of the only characters in Gilmore Girls that offers Rory constructive criticism while still remaining a source of unconditional love in her life. He encourages Rory to challenge herself and understand that while she was raised by a single mother, she is still more privileged than most. While Logan is arguably the best match for Rory into adulthood, Rory broke off her engagement to him at the end of Gilmore Girls, and is revealed to be having an affair with him in Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life.
Logan is likely the father of Rory's child.
Logan is likely the father of Rory's child. While their strong bond and compatibility make Logan a strong contender as one of the top love interests of Rory's in Gilmore Girls, his eventual inability to stand up to the pressures of high society are his downfall. He is engaged to an heiress named Odette in A Year In The Life, and the engagement is strongly insinuated to have been arranged to elevate his status. His lack of integrity in the affair is what knocked him out of the top three love interests in Gilmore Girls.
3 Jess Mariano
Rory's Second Boyfriend In Gilmore Girls
Jess is introduced as Luke's brooding nephew who moves to Stars Hollow after finding himself in trouble back home in New York City. Jess is sarcastic and rough around the edges, though he is highly intelligent. His love of books is the first thing he bonds over with Rory, and the pair's strong connection comes easily to them. However, Jess' emotional immaturity gets in the way, and as a young adult, he is not a good match for Rory.
Later in life, after a stint in California with his father and a published novel, Jess has clearly worked on himself and grown into a strong character as an adult. Even though they are no longer romantically involved, Jess is the only person to encourage Rory to return to Yale after a leave of absence and truly work on finding herself. He is incredibly selfless, and even reappears in Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life for the same purpose of inspiring Rory to believe in herself.
2 Dave Rygalski
Lane Kim's First Boyfriend
Dave Rygalski (Adam Brody) is Lane Kim's (Keiko Agena) first boyfriend. Dave, a member of Lane's band Hep Alien, is introduced as a comionate and understanding character who is more than willing to embrace Lane's Korean roots, despite himself coming from a different cultural background. As Dave is Jewish and Lane comes from a family of devout Christians, Dave even goes as far as reading the entire Bible in one night to win her mother over and ask to take her to the prom.
While Dave is seen as calm, collected, and emotionally advanced for his age, his relationship with Lane is short-lived. Dave is written to go off to college, when in reality, Brody left to the main cast of The OC. It is unclear how Dave and Lane's relationship would have played out had the character been on the show longer, but he is certainly a contender for the best love interest in Gilmore Girls.
1 Luke Danes
The Best Love Interest Of Gilmore Girls
Luke Danes wins the number one spot as the best love interest in Gilmore Girls. Luke is consistently a devoted friend to Lorelai and a father figure to Rory in Christopher's absence. Despite his grumpy exterior, he is often incredibly selfless and helpful to various of the community. He offered unconditional friendship to Lorelai even when he knew she was not interested in him romantically, and remained devoted to her once they got together in "Raincoats and Recipes."
A major aspect of the realism of Gilmore Girls is its complex characters, and of course, Luke Danes is not perfect. He later learns that he has a daughter from a previous relationship that he was unaware of, and he immediately steps into her life. This causes a brief rift between Luke and Lorelai, rooted in Luke's constant feelings of remaining a stable pillar for everyone in his life. Luke is always in Lorelai and Rory's corner, seen through his grand gestures of sewing together a tarp for Rory's rained out graduation party, building Lorelai a chuppah, fixing her house whenever she needs, and more.
Luke's selflessness and honesty is what continues to make his character resonate.
Luke is highly ive and understanding of Lorelai's trauma associated with her family and the expectations of high society. At the same time, he is unapologetically himself, and while Emily in particular does not like him at first, she comes to respect his integrity. Luke's selflessness and honesty is what continues to make his character resonate with generations of Gilmore Girls viewers.
Gilmore Girls
- Release Date
- 2000 - 2007-00-00
- Network
- The WB
- Writers
- Amy Sherman-Palladino
WHERE TO WATCH
In the fictional town of Star's Hollow, single mother Lorelai Gilmore raises her high-achieving teenage daughter Rory. Mother and daughter rely on each other throughout their own life changes, romantic entanglements, and friendships.
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