First thing is first: it happened again. I grew to hate Jess when he was with Rory. It was cute when they were flirting while she was still with Dean, but once they get together Jess turns into a real dick. He sucks. He doesn’t try and she deserves better. I see why the writers did this. There was no guarantee that Milo Ventimiglia was going to stay around (he signed for a short contract), especially after they decided to go ahead with a spin off that was rightfully not picked up.
It’s hard for me to hate Jess because I always considered him the one that Rory ended up with after the series ended. Somehow they get back together because he grew up and stopped being a git.
But that’s in the future; let’s worry about the now. The third season concludes with a lot of things happening. While I’m still on Jess, I just want to say his backdoor pilot, “Here Comes the Son” still remains an awkward viewing for me. He’s a great secondary character, but couldn’t pull a lead. Not how he was currently written.
But his moving away is completely heartbreaking. Watching Rory discover he’s left without saying goodbye was too much for me to handle. Especially right after she is on such a euphoric high after graduating from Chilton.
Other than Rory breaking up with Jess, the last batch of episodes contains a lot that shapes the future of the series forever. Instead of going to Harvard, Rory decides on Yale, because it has more pros than cons compared to the other schools. More importantly it is closer to Stars Hallow and makes the show not have to focus on the distance between Boston and Rory’s hometown.
Lorelai’s life takes an unexpected turn as well. First the Independence Inn burns down, which gives Lorelai and Sookie the motivation they need to buy the Dragonfly Inn. Everything seems to be going according to plan when she receives $75,000 as part of an investment deal her father made the day she was born. She repays Richard and Emily and Friday night dinners cease to exist. The rest of the money is to be used for the new inn; however when Rory receives no financial aide for Yale, Lorelai decides to put her dreams of owning an inn on hold for her daughter’s dreams. Plans change yet again when Rory goes behind her mother’s back to get a loan from her grandparents and reinstates Friday night dinners. This means the rest of the money can actually be used to buy the Dragonfly and a new business arc for Lorelai and Sookie can commence in the fourth season.
Her love life gets murkier as well. Max comes back for a hot minute, but nothing comes of it. The interest thing in her personal life is actually the fact the Luke has a girlfriend and is about to go on a cruise with her. Lorelai jokes about their engagement, which gets Luke freaked. Then it is revealed that Luke has a dream about Lorelai telling him not to get engaged to his girlfriend, alluding to the fact that they both have feelings for one another. This end caps the season nicely with two dreams by Lorelai and Luke about their love for one another. Setting up a lot more romance between the two in the years to come.
Other things to note is that Lane and David finally are together, even though Lane is grounded for lying to her mother. Dean gets engaged to his rebound girl. Michel turns into one of the funniest characters on the show.
Oh, and Rory’s valedictorian speech was killer. And made me tear up a bit. No shame.
It was a great batch of episodes and a terrific way to end the third season. I honestly can’t wait to start he fourth. In fact, I have it ready to go once I hit ‘publish’ on this post.
ADAM VITCAVAGE 