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Gilmore Girls might focus on the trials and tribulations of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore’s lives, but Stars Hollow and everyone living in the town quickly become important background characters. There were a ton of minor characters that are considered fan favorites, like Kirk and his 8 million jobs. Fans also love Babette and Miss Patty. Even Taylor Doose has a fan club, but all fans seem to detest Anna Nardini and her daughter April by proxy.

Anna seems oddly unapologetic about her decision to hide April from Luke

To be fair, Anna Nardini, portrayed by Sherilyn Fenn, shows up in Gilmore Girls as a different character before she ultimately takes on the role of April’s mother. As Jess’s stepmom, she seems pretty cool, but every ounce of chill gets evaporated when she turns into April’s mom. For someone who appears so oddly interested in protecting her child, she seems strangely unemotional about her decision to hide the kid from Luke Danes for 12 years. April has the same attitude about finding her father, too, and fans find it a little bit unsettling.

Anna claims she had her reasons for avoiding Luke during the 12 years between giving birth to April and April rolling into the diner to steal Luke’s hair for a science fair project. Her reasons, however, aren’t really all that good. So, Luke didn’t like diaper commercials and didn’t want to sit next to kids while eating. None of that automatically means he hates all children. It’s not like Luke was abusive, or vehemently stated he had no desire to raise a child. Anna was totally in the wrong in this scenario, but she never seems to take any real responsibility.

Anna pushes Luke to follow all of her rules

After ensuring your ex doesn’t have a chance to see the early years of his daughter’s life, you’d think you’d be a bit accommodating. After all, what Anna did was really messed up, but no one ever seems to acknowledge it. Instead of apologizing and allowing Luke to parent his child, finally, Anna turns into a complete control freak. She decides where, when, and how he can spend time with his child, and she seems to want to drive a wedge between Luke and Lorelai.

Anna refuses to let Lorelai be involved at all with Anna and appears to purposefully diminish their relationship status. Sure, there is no need to introduce your child to everyone you date, but by the time April shows up on the scene, Luke and Lorelai are already engaged. Frankly, Anna seems pretty bitter that Luke is happily involved, and some fans think she was downright resentful that Lorelai managed to nail him down.

She jets the second she doesn’t get her way

The deep hatred for Anna is undoubtedly rooted in how she messed up Luke and Lorelai’s relationship, but she was pretty selfish overall. Not only did she keep April a secret from Luke, but she tried to blame him for it, then jetted the second she didn’t get her way. In fact, she and her lawyer even tried to use Luke’s lack of relationship with April against him when he finally wisened up and sat down with a lawyer.

Anna, who is presented as “nice” initially, quickly reveals herself to be an absolute sociopath. Her complete inability to understand Luke’s feelings is unsettling. Even if you hate Luke, although few true Gilmore Girls fans do, one has to note that Anna’s actions were pretty selfish towards April, too. Anna’s decision was never about letting Luke off the hook or protecting April. Anna wanted complete control, and the second she didn’t get it she freaked out. Anna might be the worst co-parent in the world.

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