‘Gilmore Girls’: In Defense of Logan Huntzberger
It has been six years since Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life wrapped on Netflix. Even before the revival, fans had mixed feelings about Logan Huntzberger, Rory Gilmore’s college boyfriend. The revival certainly didn’t make him look better. When fans reconnected with him, he was still sleeping with Rory while following Mitchum Huntzberger’s dynastic plan by marrying a never-seen heiress. Logan, in the revival, had regressed from the Logan fans watched walk away from Rory after she turned down his marriage proposal. The super-rich heir to a media empire wasn’t a terrible person, though. Frankly, we think he deserves a bit more credit than he gets
Logan Huntzberger was one of the most self-aware ‘Gilmore Girls’ characters ever to grace the show
Gilmore Girls fans who dislike Logan Huntzberger argue that he was a privileged brat who used his family name to get his way. They aren’t wrong. Logan was incredibly privileged. He did use the importance of his family to get what he wanted, and he could often act in a rash and immature manner. Still, there was something special about Logan.
Unlike his Yale pals and many other Gilmore Girls characters, Logan Huntzberger was completely self-aware. Logan understood that his background and upbringing afforded him things others did not have. He was also willing to call other people out when they refused to acknowledge their own privilege. In season 7, he called out Rory for refusing to recognize just how charmed her own life had been after she wrote a scathing essay about the rich attendants of a party.
We have to give Logan Huntzberger credit for that. He knew who he was and understood what it meant. We prefer his behavior over Rory’s. She irritated fans by using the Gilmore name only when convenient for her. We also vastly prefer that over Lorelai Gilmore’s decision to completely shun every opportunity presented to her, as if she had been deeply burdened.
Logan was pretty open and communicative during his relationship with Rory
Logan and Rory’s relationship start a bit differently than her other relationships. Dean Forrester and Jess Mariano both fell for Rory immediately and chased her, often molding themselves into someone she would like or playing mind games with her.
Logan was different. He was the first of Rory’s love interests that were open and honest with her. When Rory first approached him about his interest in her, he made it clear that while he liked her, he wasn’t a “relationship” person and was trying to steer clear for that reason. He double-checked with Rory several times during the hookup stage of their relationship to ensure she was still OK with it and eventually agreed to try monogamy.
Logan wasn’t perfect in his relationship with Rory. He was, however, consistently communicative and seemed to understand Rory better than her other love interests. Maybe that was their age, or Logan was more emotionally intelligent than Rory’s other love interests.
The heir to the Huntzberger fortune almost always wielded his power benevolently
Logan might have had moments when he was reckless and whiny. He used his privilege to his advantage any chance he got, but he also wielded that power benevolently when it mattered. In season 5, he jumped to help Rory return to Stars Hollow without questioning why she had to get home so urgently. He and Rory barely knew each other at that point.
In season 6, he used his connections to ensure the Yale Daily News went to press. In the episode “Friday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” Rory rushed to get the paper to the printer on time, despite almost the entire staff quitting under Paris Geller’s tyrannical reign as editor. While Logan didn’t actually care about the paper getting printed in time, he used his family name to ensure it happened.
Logan may be a divisive character. He might not be the right guy for Rory long-term now, and we can say some of his behavior was questionable at best. He was a good guy deep down, and he did care deeply for Rory, though. We are fairly certain she would have had a lovely life if she had accepted his marriage proposal. That’s not how it played out, though. Still, he deserves some credit.
