17 Years Later, Lane’s Pregnancy On Gilmore Girls Is Still Totally Unfair

The final season of Gilmore Girls featured several controversial storylines, including Luke and Lorelai’s breakup, and her subsequent marriage to Christopher (which is still a head-scratcher). But 17 years later, the plot development that really stings is Lane’s pregnancy.

Lane finds out she’s pregnant after returning from her honeymoon in Mexico, where her first time having sex was so bad that she decided she’d be OK with eliminating it from her marriage altogether.

It’s like Gilmore Girls was trying to add insult to injury, ensuring Lane not only had an awful experience but was reminded of it forever — with twins, no less. Nearly two decades later, the entire arc still reads like an unfair conclusion to a character that represented independence, adventure, and doing things her way.

It Felt Like A Punishment

Pregnancy isn’t inherently bad news for a newly married couple. But Lane’s horrified reaction makes it clear that it was for her. She tells Zack as much in the episode “Santa’s Secret Stuff.”

“It was such a small window,” she says. “A peephole, really. For years I was this repressed kid, and then, there was the briefest of windows — and now, slam. All of a sudden I’m this overburdened mother. I barely got to do it, Zack. I barely got the chance to be a person.”

It’s devastating that Lane didn’t get to enjoy her independence or pursue her rock-and-roll dreams in earnest. Zack assures her that she’ll be able to keep up with her music — and while that’s theoretically true, she ends up staying home with the babies while Zack goes on tour a few episodes later.

Yes, life happens, but Lane was a Gilmore Girls fan favorite. To sideline her passion for a path she didn’t really want (at least, not for a while) feels almost mean-spirited.

Lane’s Pregnancy Grew A Pattern

Has anyone ever had a consequence-free first time on Gilmore Girls? Paris had a very public meltdown after sleeping with Jamie and not getting into Harvard, while Rory and Dean’s tryst began a full-fledged affair that eventually ended with Dean and his wife getting divorced.

Lane’s pregnancy continues Gilmore Girls’ pattern of sex with consequences — while also carrying on the show’s tradition of unplanned pregnancies, which has afflicted Lorelai, Sherry, and Sookie (whose husband, in a terrifying twist, misled her about having a vasectomy). Not to mention Rory herself, a decade later!

On a different series, Lane’s pregnancy might have been a truly unexpected curveball. But on Gilmore Girls, it’s a grim reminder that women in Stars Hollow don’t get to have chill, happy sex lives — and that if they do become pregnant, they’re going to be moms. (Lest a potential A Year in the Life Season 2 proves otherwise.)

Even The Cast & Crew Spoke Out

Fans aren’t the only ones who have thoughts about Lane’s pregnancy. Keiko Agena, who played the young rocker, told Us Weekly in 2018 that the storyline was “so sudden” and that she wished Lane got to explore her music more.

“Everything that happened in Lane’s life — especially at the very end — was really quick,” Agena said. “She’s fighting with Zack and then all of a sudden she’s engaged to Zack and in an instant she gets pregnant after having sex for the first time during their honeymoon.”

Amy Sherman-Palladino, who created the show but left ahead of Season 7, told TVLine in 2016 that she was “a little disappointed” by the storytelling decision made in her absence. “I’m not saying it was executed poorly,” she clarified. “It was just the one thing I was like, ‘Damn.’ I would’ve preferred that Lane not have kids, only because it would’ve given us more options [in the revival].”