We Should Cut Logan Some Slack On 'Gilmore Girls'

Logan, eh? What a slimeball. There was his elite hangout squad who spent way too much time and dollar organizing parties. There was that time he humiliated Rory in front of her whole class at university by pretending to fight over her with another of his friends. And, oh boy, there was the fact that he supported her dropping out of Yale because his dad was mean to her during her internship. Don't even get me started on that. I'm guessing, if you're reading this, you're unlikely to be a card-carrying member of Team Logan. But in Entertainment Weekly's interview with the actor, Matt Czuchry talked about Logan in such a way that Team Logan actually became convincing choice for Rory's relationship endgame.

In discussion with the magazine, executive producer Daniel Palladino (who was also interviewed) establishes some information the audience should know about Logan:

“He’s a really strong guy who never really realized how trapped he was by his family and by his father. We always saw Logan as looking to Rory for salvation because he knew that his family did not want him to be with her.”

This feels surprising on some level and poses the audience a new question: Dean Forester and Jess Mariano both loved Rory. But did they really need her?

According to Matt Czuchry, this was a theme that unfolded over the course of their relationship: “I think he started to grow to realize over the course of the original series that he was trapped by this idea that he was the heir apparent in his family and that’s not something he necessarily wanted to be a part of. That was a big theme for Logan, this idea that he was trapped." He then went on to say,

"What I liked about the relationship with Logan and Rory was that, as fans of the original series will know, Logan’s family wasn’t too happy about Rory and Logan dating, but Logan stuck by Rory despite his family not wanting them to be together. I loved that quality about Logan. He was always trying to fight against those circumstances within his family because he did feel trapped and he didn’t care what they thought. He loved Rory.”

This makes you think some. For a start, it suggests that Rory was actually necessary for Logan's growth as a person, which, if you're a soft-hearted soul, might make you root for them getting back together.

Another argument for Team Loga, is that the sentiments above actually make Logan seem extremely similar in personality to one of the most sympathetic characters on the show and someone who Rory got on with best: Lorelai Gilmore. After all, just like Lorelai, Logan felt trapped and claustrophobic around his wealthy family ,and, just like Lorelai, Logan begins to try to fend for himself.

It suggests that despite the less sympathetic aspects of his personality — such as when he makes little jabs at Jess for maybe not having as much money as he does ("It's on me, don't let the price put you off") — Logan is doing his best to escape his circumstances. Unlike Lorelai, he doesn't have the dramatic life event of a pregnancy to force him to forge his own path so young. So, sure, he's a little rich and coddled, but since he doesn't have any life experience being financially independent from his folks, we should cut him some slack. As Czuchry highlights, Logan stuck around for Rory even when his family turned hostile. His heart's in the right place.

So maybe it's time to give Logan another shot: perhaps, older and wiser, he'll have reached a more mature place that could give him and Rory a chance. Here's hoping. Dean was sweet, Jess was cool, but Logan defied his own family to make space for Rory in his life. We shouldn't forget that.

Images: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy