There's Still A Major Mystery On 'Gilmore Girls'

After four seasons — winter, spring, summer, and fall — fans who gobbled up the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix were left with one final, massive mystery. Tying into the final four words, Rory Gilmore dropped a truth bomb on Lorelai so unexpected that the cut to credits felt like a bigger punch in the gut than the revelation itself. Seriously, no amount of Pop-Tarts and coffee could've helped a diehard fan prepare for this final exchange. Spoilers for the Gilmore Girls revival ahead. Continue reading at your own discretion. If, unlike me, you were able to remain calm and go about your life once the credits rolled, then you may not be worried about losing sleep over the answer to the one question left in the world of the Gilmore Girls: Who is the father of Rory's baby?

There were a few options on the table as to who the father of Rory's baby may be. At 32, Rory has an active sex life — you go, girl — and while I am in no way going to shame Rory for having multiple partners (because, hello, that's dumb) what I will say is that this leaves a big question mark about paternity.

It's actually pretty easy to rule out a few options, though, so let's start from the beginning. In "Spring," Rory has her first one-night stand with a man dressed as a Wookie, who she met while working on a piece for GQ magazine. If Rory did have a little Wookie in her Millennium Falcon, then by the time the "Fall" episode rolled around, she would definitely be showing and it would be very, very noticeable.

As for Paul, Rory's adorable but oh-so-forgettable boyfriend of two years, I think it's safe to say he's off the table, too. Between Rory's constant jet-setting to London and back, constant search to find her path, and then settling down like a single lady in Stars Hollow once again, she's barely remembered to break up with Paul, let alone see him and get down to business. Paul never left a lasting impression in Rory's life, so it would be ridiculous to think that she would be pregnant with his child.

Which brings us to the true contenders: Jess and Logan. That's right. Two-thirds of Rory's definitive romantic canon had multiple appearances in the Gilmore Girls revival, and at many turns they offered Rory some clarity in her life. However, I was not expecting Logan to figure so prominently and Jess to figure so little. Now, whether Jess and Rory had an bit of offscreen trysting between running the Stars Hollow Gazette and extricating family members from a vegetable cult, respectively, we'll never know. But I also really, really doubt Jess is going to be a father; not to mention the slight "yuck" factor of Rory having a baby with an in-law. Amy Sherman-Palladino wouldn't do that to us.

That, my friends, brings us the the Gilmore Girls equivalent of Chekhov's gun: Logan. Sweet, handsome, confident, and totally engaged to another woman, Logan is most likely the father of Rory's baby but that doesn't mean he's the most readily available to be a father. Rory's consistent romantic entanglement with her Yale sweetheart was a through-line in the revival, and however morally and emotionally complicated their relationship is at this point in their lives, it was hard to ignore the swell of evidence pointing to the fact they still carried torches for one another.

Considering Rory had one final romantic night with Logan after a wild rumpus with the Life & Death Brigade during the "Fall" episode. All things considered about how that evening probably went once Rory and Logan retired for the evening, it's not out of the question that that was the night she got pregnant. If we remember that she wasn't yet showing but was chowing down on Pop-Tarts right before Luke and Lorelai's wedding, then it all loosely lines up.

So, there you have it. The true paternity of Rory's baby may be an eternal mystery, but it's not that tough to really land on the likely candidate when you think about it. Does this mean that we can have just one more special episode to discuss it? Pretty please?

Image: Saeed Adyani/Netflix; Netflix; Giphy (2)