Gilmore Girls Quietly Spoiled Rory’s Biggest Problem 16 Years Before the Revival

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Right from the start of the series, Rory Gilmore was shown as an incredibly gifted and promising young journalist. She excelled in school, becoming valedictorian, editor of her college newspaper at Yale, and quickly found a job as a reporter after graduation. However, nine years later in A Year in the Life, we see a very different Rory – she’s lost her job, doesn’t have a home or a car, and seems to have lost her drive and ambition.

Although some viewers were surprised by this outcome, it actually makes sense considering Rory’s journey throughout the series. Despite her many achievements, she wasn’t suited for the competitive world of journalism. She was a talented writer, but her difficulty coping with failure held her back from truly succeeding. Looking back, it’s clear that one episode foreshadowed this result.

“The Deer Hunters” Showed Rory’s Inability to Handle Failure in Gilmore Girls

The episode “The Deer Hunters” shows Rory facing her first real challenges at Chilton, where she quickly learns that succeeding isn’t as simple as it was at Stars Hollow High. She receives a D on an assignment, oversleeps and misses an exam, even though she was trying hard to keep up. Instead of learning from these setbacks, Rory becomes incredibly upset and lashes out at both Paris and Tristan, leading to her being sent out of class and receiving a stern talking-to from Headmaster Charleston.

When the episode originally aired, it seemed natural to assume Rory’s behavior was due to stress and typical teenage exhaustion. “The Deer Hunters” isn’t a fan favorite like episodes such as “Rory’s Birthday Parties” or the season one finale, “Love, Daisies and Troubadours,” and it lacks their heartwarming or romantic qualities. At the time, her outburst seemed like a normal part of growing up, given the show’s usual lightheartedness. However, revisiting the episode now reveals a different story. It shows the flaws beneath Rory’s seemingly perfect exterior, exposing a level of immaturity that she never fully overcomes.

It can be hard to accept, but “The Deer Hunters” reveals that Rory has a pattern of missteps. In the first season of Gilmore Girls, viewers see her as a perfect student who’s unchallenged at Stars Hollow High and eager for Chilton’s rigor. However, this episode hints at the difficulties she’ll face later in A Year in the Life. In both situations, Rory jumps into big challenges expecting success, rather than preparing realistically. It’s natural for even bright students to struggle with a new, difficult school, and for even the most talented graduates to have trouble finding a job.

Rory has always acted like everything comes easily to her, and that attitude followed her to Chilton. She was surprised to encounter classmates who were just as smart and capable, even though she was used to excelling. She still wanted to be the best, though. This pattern repeats later when she interviews at SandeeSays in the A Year in the Life episode “Spring.” Rory goes to the interview without any prepared ideas and seems shocked when things don’t go as planned. She expected to get the job without much effort, and her frustrated reaction is similar to the mistakes she made at Chilton. While it might seem like Rory’s struggles in A Year in the Life are a new development, the episode “The Deer Hunters” actually shows us that Rory has always struggled with failure and hasn’t dealt with it well.

“The Deer Hunters” Proved Rory Was Never Going to Succeed as a Journalist in Gilmore Girls

While Mitchum’s approach wasn’t ideal, he had a point in Season 5. Rory was bright and ambitious, but also very sheltered and used to getting everything she wanted. Growing up, everyone told her she was exceptional, especially in Stars Hollow, and treated her like a future star journalist. This helped her succeed in school – she became valedictorian and got into four prestigious Ivy League universities – but that kind of upbringing doesn’t necessarily prepare you for the challenges of the real world.

I’ve always been frustrated watching Rory. One little setback – a bad grade, not getting a fellowship – and she’d completely fall apart. It wasn’t just disappointment, it was a full-blown crisis. She’d obsessively study, then mess up even more, and sometimes have really public emotional breakdowns. It was heartbreaking to see. When Mitchum questioned her abilities, she impulsively stole a boat and just…gave up on Yale. Even when she finally landed a job in political reporting, it felt like she hadn’t really learned to cope with the pressures of the industry. Journalism is tough, constantly changing, and you really need to be adaptable to survive. Sadly, that’s one skill Rory just never seemed to develop.

After a promising start with an article in The New Yorker, her career stalled. She faced rejections, clashed with her editor Naomi Shropshire, and wrongly believed she’d landed a position at SandySays. Rather than pushing through this difficult period, she decided to quit, return home, and unexpectedly took charge of the Stars Hollow Gazette. Her experience highlights that while intelligence and talent are valuable, succeeding in journalism also requires persistence, flexibility, and the ability to cope with setbacks.

Her struggle with a poor grade and the demands of Chilton revealed that she still believed she was exceptionally gifted and could succeed at anything, as she’d been led to believe growing up. Because of this, even a small failure felt devastating and led to a significant downturn. While she did eventually recover – improving her grade and catching up at Yale – much of her success relied on unrealistic factors, like Max’s strong feelings for Lorelai and the forgiving nature of college life.

Watching Rory try to make it as a journalist was tough, because it quickly became clear she just wasn’t cut out for that world. There’s no room for error in a field like that, and honestly, her reactions to setbacks just weren’t helpful. It wasn’t a new thing either – I always felt like her behavior mirrored what we saw back at Chilton. Headmaster Charleston really had a point! She seemed much better suited to something more stable, like teaching, where it’s okay to make mistakes and bouncing back is more important than being perfect. It wasn’t a sudden change in her character, but something that was always there.

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2025-11-14 01:37