Gilmore Girls: Was Lindsay Lister Supposed to Be the ‘Villian’ in Her Marriage to Dean Forrester?

There are a few Gilmore Girls storylines fans of the famed series almost universally dislike. One of the most hated was Dean Forrester and Rory Gilmore’s season 4 affair. The story arc is largely considered the moment that Amy Sherman-Palladino destroyed the character of Dean. During a rewatch, we couldn’t help but notice something new. It seems plausible that the show’s writers were trying to make Lindsay Lister the villain in her young marriage. It didn’t work, though. 

Fans saw very little of Linsday Lister before she married Dean Forrester 

Dean and Lindsay’s marriage came seemingly out of nowhere. Rory and Dean broke up in the fall of their senior year. A few months later, Rory found out that Dean was dating Lindsay. The relationship had to be relatively new since Lane Kim, who attended Stars Hollow High with the couple, had no clue they were an item. 

By May, the couple was engaged and wed the following fall. All told, Lindsay and Dean dated for all of six months before heading down the aisle. Gilmore Girls fans saw Lindsay just twice before she and Dean got married. 

Before Rory and Dean slept together, Lindsay Lister was shown as demanding and entitled 

While Gilmore Girls fans largely agree that Dean was 100% wrong for sleeping with Rory, a rewatch reveals that the show’s writers tried hard to make Lindsay seem unlikeable and difficult in the lead-up to cheating incidents. Dare we say, she was almost painted as a villain. 

Lindsay was shown bringing lunch to Dean at work, which was nice, but more often than not, the show’s writers portrayed her as difficult and demanding. In one scene, she yelled at Dean for working. In another, Dean confided in Rory that, while Lindsay didn’t work or go to school, she wanted him to work harder so they could afford a townhouse and a new car. Dean even implied that Lindsay didn’t support his academic goals. 

Lindsay was also characterized as jealous and controlling

It would have been bad enough if Lindsay had been demanding and entitled. Gilmore Girls writers took it one step further. They made sure she appeared jealous and controlling, too. Shortly before Rory and Dean’s affair happened, Dean revealed that Lindsay wanted him to cut off all contact with Rory. 

The ask was a big one and certainly made Lindsay seem a little controlling and more than a little jealous. Those characteristics could have made Dean look like a suffering spouse if the once-beloved character had been even remotely likable in season 4. The fact that Dean married Lindsay while he was still into Rory and went on to yell at his wife immediately after sleeping with his ex-girlfriend ensured fans were going to side with Lindsay. Even if Lindsay was difficult, Dean was so much worse. The marriage was an awful storyline, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the affair, and the strange attempt at a third relationship that followed. Dean’s character left the show in season 5 without explanation.