‘Gilmore Girls’: In Defense of Jess Mariano
Rory Gilmore’s love life is divisive. Gilmore Girls Fans are pretty evenly split between Logan Huntzberger and Jess Mariano being the right man for Rory. While Jess has plenty of fans, he has haters, too. Jess’ opponents argue that he was angsty, inconsiderate and mean, especially to Rory. Fans claim he was smart, insightful, and wounded. Both sides are correct, but we still think we need to defend the angsty New York native.
Jess Mariano’s early life explains a lot of his behavior on ‘Gilmore Girls’
Jess might have been angsty and a bit difficult, but we must give the kid a pass, at least for some of his bad behavior. He was dealt a difficult hand, and we can’t blame him for acting out. Jess was raised in New York, abandoned by his father, and eventually ditched by his mother.
By the time he was sent to Stars Hollow to live with Luke Danes, Jess was comfortable with his life in New York. After being forced to move to a small town, where he knew no one and was seemingly a bit insecure, he acted out. He certainly didn’t go about things well. Stealing Peirpont was completely unacceptable, but we think his overall behavior was kind of understandable.
Jess was smart and had glimpses of compassion
Jess might have been the most angsty and difficult Gilmore Girls character, but he also had some good qualities. He was smart and deeply invested in literature. That quality allowed him to spar with Rory and keep her interested in him. In fact, Jess’ love of literature is what set him apart from Rory’s first love, Dean Forrester.
Being smart and well-read isn’t enough to make someone a good person, though. Jess wasn’t just smart. While he was mostly moody, every so often, when no one was looking, he was incredibly empathetic, especially toward his uncle. Jess fixed a toaster without telling Luke and even secretly planned an after-funeral event, knowing it was important to his uncle. He might not have wanted Luke to know it then, but he liked and appreciated him.
Jess eventually grew into a responsible adult
Jess’ teen years were not great. The way he treated his uncle and Rory was pretty awful. His treatment of the rest of Stars Hollow’s residents wasn’t exactly stellar, either. If we look at who he became, things start looking much better for Jess.
After leaving Stars Hollow, Jess found his way. He moved to Philadelphia, started working for a publisher, and published a book. When fans reconnected with him in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, he was a 30-something who was thoughtful, kind, and responsible. We might not have loved how teenage Jess acted all the time, but we really like who he became. Our only problem is that we didn’t learn more about his adult life in the Netflix revival.
