7 most annoying storylines in Gilmore Girls history

Even the most diehard Gilmore Girls fans out there have probably one or two storylines that bothered them throughout the show’s 150+ episode run. It’s rare a series lasts that long anymore, but back in the day, when shows could carry on for 22-episode seasons and more, it was easy for writers to come up with somewhat off-the-wall storylines that could polarize the audience.

Not to say that doesn’t happen now, but generally not as often as it once did. Gilmore Girls had a lot of great content throughout its many years. It’s one of my favorite shows of all time and the ultimate comfort show, in my humble opinion. Still, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some storylines that irritated me!

Here’s the Gilmore Girls storylines I found to be most annoying throughout the show’s run:

• Francie coming between Paris and Rory
• Christopher and Lorelai getting married in season 7
• Luke hiding April from Lorelai
• Everything about Anna Nardini
• Rory and Dean getting back together in season 5
• Lane getting pregnant with twins
• Richard in Stars Hollow

Below I’ll go into more detail on each one and why, specifically, I found each one to be frustrating.

Francie coming between Paris and Rory

Paris and Rory’s friendship has always been complicated, full of push-and-pull, often because of Paris’ neurotic behavior. But once she and Rory started getting closer in season 2 and season 3, we got a lot of great scenes between them, until Francie came along and ruined things.

I didn’t necessarily mind the inclusion of Francie as an antagonistic presence to create drama at Chilton, but I hated how Paris immediately believed Francie and turned on Rory. While yes, it felt very in character for Paris to be so mistrustful, the way everything was handled was more irritating than entertaining to me. Paris didn’t even like Francie, so why would she automatically listen to her over Rory?

Christopher and Lorelai getting married

I was okay with Gilmore Girls exploring the relationship between Christopher and Lorelai when it felt natural back in season 2. I could have actually done without the Sherry storyline altogether and instead seen their relationship play out in the show’s third season. Instead, we ended up getting the forced marriage between them in the show’s seventh season, right after the fallout of Luke and Lorelai.

You’d be hard-pressed to find many fans who enjoyed how things played out within the love triangle in season 7. By the time the pair got married, it felt like an unnecessary obstacle just to add drama to Luke and Lorelai’s happiness and everyone was just waiting for their marriage to crumble and for Luke and Lorelai to get back together.

Luke hiding April from Lorelai

Luke’s secret daughter that comes out of nowhere is a really contentious storyline for Gilmore Girls fans. I don’t necessarily hate April’s inclusion in the show like many fans do, but I did hate the storyline revolving around Luke hiding the truth from Lorelai. It felt so silly to me. Lorelai already has a daughter, she would understand more than most what Luke was experiencing.

Why did he think sharing that with his partner, his fiancée nonetheless, would be a bad thing? I could have understood if it had only taken place over an episode or two, but the worst part was how long this whole thing got dragged out. It got very irritating, very fast.

Anna. Just Anna.

Anna Nardini, oof.  Not sure there is a more universally hated character on the show than this one, and it’s a shame since Sherilynn Fenn is yet another beloved Twin Peaks alum on here alongside Mädchen Amick. Anna is April’s mother and has kept the fact Luke has a daughter hidden from him throughout her child’s life.

Now, to be fair to this character, since April wasn’t established until late into the show, there isn’t much the writers could do to mitigate that fact. Anyway you slice it, Anna was going to look bad for keeping that secret from Luke. But then things get worse when Luke and April slowly start getting to know each other and Anna suddenly decides to move to New Mexico and take April away from Luke.

Things get nasty and Luke has to go to court to fight for partial custody of his daughter. The whole thing is a surprisingly dark, if realistic, storyline in the Gilmore Girls world and quite sad, although it does end happily for the most part. I think most of us were glad to see the last of Anna.

Rory and Dean getting back together in season 5

Again, most Gilmore Girls fans are in agreement that Dean Forrester was Rory’s worst boyfriend. I mean the debate about who was best for Rory rages on to this day, so I’m sure there are plenty of Dean fans out there, but still. Their relationship was very… teenager-y. Then when Dean got married to Lindsay he treated her horribly and later cheated on his wife with Rory.

It was such a messy storyline and while I appreciate that it helped add some depth and seriously adult problems to Rory’s life as a young adult, I wish it hadn’t happened. Or, at the very least, I wish it had ended with that night rather than putting Dean and Rory back together.

I can see some of the benefits, because Dean and Rory’s newfound relationship really helped them both realize they were no longer compatible, but, like with Anna, I was happy to see the last of Dean (although he does come back for one more late season 5 episode and he’s bitter as hell so Rory definitely dodged a bullet in the long run).

Lane getting pregnant with twins

Zack and Lane are another polarizing couple in the Gilmore Girls world. I’m personally not a fan and was always endeared to Lane and Dave. If anything, I’d rather Lane have ended up single and gotten to pursue her musical dreams. Even if they didn’t pan out! It still would have been nice to have her stay single for a while and date different people like Rory did.

Zack never felt like the right fit for Lane, but I could have dealt with it if it was more of a fleeting romance. The fact they get married and then Lane has terrible sex resulting in pregnancy with twins felt way too cruel to her character.

Everything about Richard in Stars Hollow

This storyline really only takes place in one episode, specifically the “Richard in Stars Hollow” episode in season 2, but it never fails to piss me off. I like Richard enough as a character despite his faults. Yet he acts like a literal menace in the episode where he visits Rory and Lorelai in Stars Hollow.

I get that he’s hurt they never ask him over until Emily pawns him off because she’s tired of him hanging around so much after leaving his job, but he judges Lorelai ALL. DAY. LONG. The way he acts is insufferable and in the end, the episode makes it seem like we’re supposed to feel sorry for him despite the fact he’s not apologetic at all for his behavior. Drives me nuts.

All seven seasons of Gilmore Girls, plus the revival, are currently streaming on Netflix.