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Long before Lorelai Gilmore ended up with Luke Danes, she cycled through several boyfriends. Some were casual, while others were far more serious. Before settling down with Luke for good, Lorelai married Christopher Hayden. Even before that, though, she had marriage on her mind. Lorelai almost married Max Medina, Rory Gilmore’s high school English teacher. Fans watched the relationship unfold for a full season, and yet, they weren’t given the chance to see the breakup happen. There is a good reason for that, though.

What happened between Lorelai and Max?

Lorelai and Max meet while Rory was in high school, and while their relationship got off to a decent start, things got rocky pretty quick. Lorelai attempted to break up with Max, only to end up kissing him in view of Rory’s nemesis-turned-pal, Paris Geller. The news spread around the school pretty quickly, humiliating Rory in the process.

That seemed like that would be that between Max and Lorelai, but alas, they end up back together again after Rory and Dean Forrester break up the first time. The relationship moves pretty quickly and they get engaged after an argument. Clearly, that was foreshadowing. With a wedding date set, it looked like Lorelai as going to head down the aisle, and then suddenly she calls it off. Fans would think a relationship that almost ended in a marriage would have been deserving of a breakup scene, but it never appeared. Before fans knew what happened, Lorelai was chucking Rory’s clothes into a bag for a road trip.

Why did Amy Sherman-Palladino avoid a dramatic breakup?

Amy Sherman-Palladino cut her teeth in the world of television writing for Roseanne. For four years, she learned the craft of television writing from veterans of the industry and seemingly picked up some hints. According to The Los Angeles Times, Sherman-Palladino learned how to take small moments and make them the basis for a show. Like when Darlene gets her period on Roseanne, she once explained in an interview.

What she learned during her time with Roseanne clearly carried over. While Sherman-Palladino didn’t shy away from injecting drama into the series, she did often sidestep showing the more dramatic moments. She was happy to show the aftermath, she was delighted to explain the leadup to the significant event, but the actual dramatic moment was often shied away from. The method was fairly nuanced, and fans who look closely during the next rewatch can likely pick out moments that sidestepped showing actual drama.  

Very few of the breakups were actually dramatic

While Sherman-Palladino made the decision not to show Max and Lorelai’s actual breakup, she had no issue showing other breakups. The thing about those breakups, however, is that they weren’t particularly dramatic. The only truly dramatic relationship endings came between Rory and Dean (the second time) and Luke and Lorelai.

The end of Christopher and Lorelai’s marriage was pretty muted, as was the end of Rory and Logan Huntzberger’s first attempt at dating. Even Rory and Logan’s second breakup, as far as breakups go, was pretty anticlimactic. There was no screaming, no throwing of things, or declarations of hate. Instead, those love interests just walked into the sunset. It, if you think about it, is actually pretty refreshing.

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