Gilmore Girls Fan Theories That Completely Change Everything
For years, the most intriguing Gilmore Girls fan theories revolved around the mysterious "final four words" that show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino repeatedly told reporters she intended to use all along, but was ultimately unable to end the series with.
Even though those four words were finally revealed at the end of the GG Netflix revival season (SPOILER! Last chance to stop reading! Rory tells her mom she's preggo), there's still plenty to theorize about, from hidden character connections, to mysterious allusions, to, yes, of course, the parentage of Rory's baby. Here are some Gilmore Girls fan theories that would, if true, completely change everything.
In the Netflix revival episodes, Lorelai is in a coma
Did you notice some elements in the Gilmore Girls Netflix revival that seemed... out of place? For example, ambitious Rory is now a terrible journalist who doesn't prepare for her job interview, and uptight Emily has learned to embrace casual attire and relaxed seaside living?
Well, Reddit user TreeHugBookLove has a theory to explain all of this (and Glamour offers some additional analysis): Lorelai is in a coma, and the events in these episodes are her hospital hallucinations. In a detailed post, TreeHugBookLove explains, "This is why Emily and Rory are so out-of-character throughout Year in the Life, because Lorelai has a skewed perception of the world, believing that Emily is 100% irrational and Rory is immature and sex-obsessed."
And how did Lorelai get into a coma? The theory takes that into account, too: a car accident. Per the Reddit post, "this is supported by the numerous times her shitty car was mentioned throughout the show."
The mean letter that Emily brings up in therapy was written by Trix or a maid
In the Netflix episode "Spring," Emily reveals in a therapy session that she believes Lorelai wrote her a nasty anonymous letter one year on her birthday. Lorelai denies this. So who was it? While Lorelai (or Emily) could be outright lying, there are other suspects.
One potential culprit is Trix, Emily's late mother-in-law who never wanted her to marry her husband Richard in the first place. Shyla Watson at PopSugar notes that "Trix never liked Emily and made that clear on numerous occasions," plus Trix was "clearly a fan of writing letters," as we know from the letter she wrote Richard asking him not to marry Emily.
Another theory that got some traction on Reddit is the idea that an angry staff member of Emily's wrote the letter. User stillnotking wrote, "I think the most likely explanation is that one of Emily's maids wrote it. She has a rotating cast of people in her house who all have good reason to dislike her, would know some personal stuff about her, and wouldn't be likely to hold back if they'd just been fired, or suspected they would be." This would make sense to anyone who has watched Emily snidely mistreat her hired help over the many seasons of the show.
Rory and Logan mirror Emily and Richard
What will happen to Rory in the future? One fan theory suggests she's on a path similar to that of her grandmother, Emily. While Rory has always seemed so much more like her mother than her grandma, viewers have realized that there are striking parallels between the relationship of Rory and her Yale boyfriend Logan and the relationship of Emily and her husband Richard.
Emily Marcus at US Weekly compiled a rundown of the similarities: Rory and Emily are both the "forbidden college sweethearts" of their guys; Richard and Logan are both involved with other women during part of their courtship with their Gilmore loves; and the pairs both can lean on each other as steady partners, in addition to their romantic connection.
Caesar went to Chilton
Caesar, the line cook at Luke's diner, is usually strictly seen in the Star's Hollow portion of Gilmore Girls. But sharp-eyed viewers noticed that in one episode, he appears at Rory's prep school Chilton — in the background. In the season one episode "Rory's Dance," actor Aris Alvarado quietly appears in a Chilton scene as one of Rory's classmates.
Alvarado himself confirmed that it was in fact him, and that he was playing his character Caesar in that scene. He said at the Gilmore Girls Fan Festival (via HelloGiggles), "That was Caesar. It's funny because [the internet] just discovered that. I've been waiting, I never wanted to say anything [so I could] see who was going to find me one day!" He also confirmed the theory on Twitter.
Liza Weil plays the same character on Gilmore Girls and How to Get Away with Murder
Liza Weil plays the determined, studious, super-Type A Paris Gellar on Gilmore Girls. And she plays the loyal, troubled legal assistant Bonnie Winterbottom on How to Get Away with Murder. But some viewers think that these two characters might actually be the same person.
Kristen Kranz at Hypable sums up some of the reasons how this could be possible in a world where Rory never attended Chilton or came into Paris' life. We know Paris was considering law school as an option in addition to medical school in season seven, both characters are fairly friendless, they're both super ruthless, and without Rory's influence, the highly neurotic Paris could have snapped. So is Bonnie an alternate-reality-Paris, or is it a stretch?
It's a little reassuring to remember that Rory isn't the only friend who was able to break through Paris's shell — there's still Doyle!
The father of Rory's baby is Logan
Everybody wants to know the answer to the question: Who is Rory's baby daddy? The most obvious choice is Logan, and here's why:
He and Rory have sex the most times throughout Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life leading up to the reveal that she's pregnant. E! News straight up asked the actor who plays Logan, Matt Czuchry, if he's the dad. His response: "That's a question for Amy Sherman-Palladino.... I cannot answer that question." Not exactly a "no." Highly suspicious.
The father of Rory's baby is the Wookiee
Another potential suspect in the mystery we all know as "Who is Rory's baby daddy?" doesn't even have a name. In the Netflix revival, Rory hooks up with a guy dressed in a Star Wars Wookiee costume. Could Rory be pregnant with a little Wookiee?
This theory gained some momentum when Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham acknowledged it. She told People, "The first time I read it, I thought it was the wookie [sic]." Sounds like she doesn't think that anymore, though. Hopefully if this theory turns out to be true, Rory will track him down and find out the dude's name.
The father of Rory's baby is Paul
Rory does have a boyfriend at the time that she gets pregnant, so boring old Paul could be the potential dad. But since Rory keeps literally forgetting about him during the newest episodes and seems to never see him, the logistics don't seem to quite work out. The actor who plays Paul, who himself calls his character "very forgettable," was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about the likelihood of Paul being the baby's father. His response: "I guess I would doubt it, but I have no idea."
The father of Rory's baby is Jess
This one's a stretch. Even if you're on Team Jess, you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence that Jess is the father of Rory's baby. Wanting something does not make it so. While Jess and Rory do get some screen time together in A Year In the Life, they're not shown to have any type of romantic or sexual relationship anymore, which is, as your parents may have told you when you first learned about the birds and the bees, necessary for making a baby.
Even actor Milo Ventimiglia, who plays Jess, isn't buying this theory. According to People, Ventimiglia told the audience at a panel in June 2017, "Just so you know, its not Jess' kid." That sort of takes the air out of that theory. Or is Ventimiglia trying to deflect attention for a super shocking reveal?
Rory is a surrogate
Maybe all the theorizing about which of Rory's hookups fathered her baby is moot. One theory suggests that Rory could be pregnant with someone else's baby — possibly her own mom's! — as a surrogate.
In the revival episodes, Rory's longtime sorta-bestie Paris has become a fertility doctor. The idea of the underemployed Rory becoming a surrogate for Paris' patients is even mentioned (though briefly and not that seriously) in the show, and Rory's mom, Lorelai, makes an appointment with Paris to find out about her own fertility options.
So, is it possible that, while not shown in any scenes, Rory did decide to become a surrogate and birth someone else's biological child? As Twitter user Erin Marie Hoerchler posted, "calm down obviously Rory's pregnant because she's working for Paris as a surrogate." Us Weekly aggregated various tweets from other fans who echoed the same idea.
Though it would be super tricky of show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to attribute Rory's pregnancy to an offscreen plotline, it is possible.