Why I’m Team Jess

Regardless of if you’re team Jess, Dean or Logan; we all have to admit; Rory had some great boyfriends even being from a small town. While my thoughts on Dean will be peppered between my admiration of Jess, I have to make sure I set this disclaimer. I don’t think Dean was the worst by any means, I simply found his character to be boring. However, for the sake of the show, he was a great first boyfriend for Rory. But enough of that, on to the main reason I watch Gilmore Girls.

1. Jess is complex

While I have already stated that Dean was so boring, like really, he had almost no personality. Except when he told Rory “I love you” and she didn’t say it back right anyway did we even see any sort of emotions out of this guy. Ugh. Jess, by comparison has so much personality and complex emotions. His arrival to Stars Hallow shook the town; he added funny quips and was able to talk to Rory about books (which she wasn’t able to do almost at all with Dean). I have to say one of my favorite scenes of Jess and Rory is when he bids on her basket, and they are “eating” on the bridge, they talk about Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”. As a devote Rand fan, this brought me happiness to know that Jess would have been someone I could talk to about her books. We see that Jess manages to be a someone Rory comes to admire from his look of reading, that mimics her own. Though his control of his emotions was limited as a teenager, we see that he still would appreciate and apologize to Rory when he had his little tantrums. (Such as the episode where he goes to have dinner at Emily’s house and shows up with a black eye, and they have a fight; he eventually comes back around to apologize; which for men, is hard let alone a teenager.)

2. Jess was alluring

While the allure before Sookie’s wedding very muted compared to after the wedding; we see sparks with Jess and Rory nearly immediately. Rory seems to be one of the only people he wants to talk to when he first gets to town and he seems to love to try and make her smile. When Rory kisses Jess at the wedding, you see that the attraction is mutual. (Though I dare say, Rory had been giving many hints she was interested including during the basket bidding where she gaslit Dean into thinking Jess wasn’t up to anything when Jess won her basket.) When Rory comes back from DC, having not written to Jess at all; we see that he “moved on” but really he was making Rory jealous. Which, let’s not pretend, is alluring. Rory at this time, didn’t seem to have a physical connection with Dean that was even 1/4 of what she felt for Jess, and eventually that leads to Dean realizing he needed to leave the situation. (I will say it’s the only thing I approved of Dean doing, though the public dumping was wild.)

Jess had pursued Rory, and that in itself is hot. From helping with the water sprinkler, to destroying a snowman so she would win the competition; Jess was team Rory all the way. The way he pined for Rory will forever be burned into my retinas and will also be my favorite episodes to this day.

3. Jess is just attractive

This point speaks for itself, however I would be remiss to not point this out. Jess was that hardheaded, anguishing teenage boy; and Lorelai put it best “it was time for a Jess”. I have to say, he was a wild card and attraction wise that is interesting. While Dean had the, I’m from a small town and will never leave the small town vibe, we saw that Jess wasn’t afraid of risk and he wasn’t afraid to do things his way. Which is my theory on why Lorelai struggled with him, he reminded her of herself. Regardless, a boy who opens Rory’s eyes to life beyond the small town(Jess) was exactly what she needed to leave the fantasy land of her childhood and start to prepare for the future.

I’m the revival I didn’t get much from the scenes with Rory and Jess. I got the whole, the one that got away from Jess’s forlorn stare at Rory but ultimately I am hoping they are endgame. If only Rory could see what is right in front of her and accept that people do change from their younger selves. 😭 Though that theory then makes us think that Jess will be Rory’s Christopher; but I’m still hopeful that Jess is Rory’s Luke. As long as it’s never Dean ever again.