‘Gilmore Girls’: In Defense of Taylor Doose
Gilmore Girls was filled with characters who were easy to cheer on; they were effortlessly likable. Taylor Doose was not one of those characters. Stars Hollow’s town selectman was rigid, difficult, and may have been more than a little corrupt. Still, was Taylor all that bad? While we didn’t absolutely adore him, he had some redeeming qualities. We are here to defend the man.
Taylor Doose was easy to root against
Stars Hollow didn’t have a lot of residents you could dislike. Even the town’s most eccentric resident, Kirk Gleason, was mostly likable. Taylor Doose, however, was easy to root against. Taylor was rigid, difficult, and could be downright mean in his pursuit of a town run to the letter.
We hated Taylor when he told Jackson Belleville he had to tear down his greenhouse because it was a hair too close to the road. He was just being petty. We despised him for giving Sookie St. James and Lorelai Gilmore a hard time over opening the Dragonfly Inn. We thought he overstepped a boundary when he installed a glass window between his candy shop and Luke’s Diner. Finally, we were shocked when he found out Taylor was rumored to accept bribes. Looking at all of that, he sounds awful. Was he all bad, though?
He just wanted what was best for Stars Hollow, though
Taylor may have been difficult and rigid, but at the end of the day, he really did take his job seriously. Taylor wanted to see Stars Hollow succeed, and he worked hard to ensure the tiny hamlet ran smoothly.
If you think about it, the town was more robust and vibrant because of Taylor Doose. He was the man who managed and organized most of the town’s events and festivities. He even spearheaded several improvement projects. Sure, not all of them actually improved the residents’ lives, but he was trying. How he went about things could have been better, but he was necessary. His influence was needed to lead Stars Hollow in the right direction.
Overall, Taylor may not have been the easiest character to root for, but he had some good qualities. He made Stars Hollow a better, more interesting place and challenged its residents to do better, too. We can’t hate on him for that. Don’t get us wrong, though; we’ll still hate on him for giving Lorelai and Sookie so much trouble over parking spots at the Dragonfly Inn.
