Why Lindsay and Dean Got Married: 3 Theories About the Doomed ‘Gilmore Girls’ Couple
Gilmore Girls is one of several series that continues to amass new fans while retaining its original viewers. Over the years, the series’ fans have debated every aspect of the show. Still, there are only a few storylines that are universally disliked. Dean Forrester’s marriage to Lindsay Lister is one of those storylines. In short, the teen marriage felt out of place and didn’t fit the show’s vibe at the time. Now, years later, we’ve come up with three theories about why the marriage happened in the first place.
Dean proposed to Lindsay as an overreaction to his breakup with Rory
Dean was deeply hurt by the end of his relationship with Rory. He certainly wasn’t over it when he started dating Lindsay, and he wasn’t over it when he married her. While Dean was the one to ultimately end his relationship with Rory, she essentially left him for another guy. Dean only broke up with Rory because he already knew she wanted to be with Jess Mariano.
It seems plausible that Dean specifically proposed to Lindsay in season 3 of Gilmore Girls to prevent her from leaving him as Rory did. It’s possible that Dean proposed to make things “official” so no other guy could swoop in on his girl. Dean’s insecurity and Lindsay’s desire for a traditional romance combined to create a perfect storm.
Dean and Lindsay’s marriage was the result of a fight
Dean approached Rory to inform her he proposed to Lindsay shortly after Dean and Jess fought over Rory in a season 3 Gilmore Girls episode. While Jess was traditionally the aggressor in his physical fights, this one was slightly different. Dean attacked Jess because he thought he had hurt Rory.
Since Lindsay was on hand for the fight, she knew exactly how and why it started. One could assume the couple had a pretty awkward conversation after the fact. We could even theorize that Dean and Lindsay had a huge fight over Dean’s unresolved feelings for Rory, and he proposed to prove he was totally over his previous relationship. It would be a pretty awful way to move a relationship forward, but we could see it happening with Dean and Lindsay.
Dean and Lindsay married in season 4 of ‘Gilmore Girls’ so they could have sex
Gilmore Girls wasn’t exactly against pre-marital sex, but the series was pretty sex-negative by nature, especially regarding the show’s teen couples. While Dean and Lindsay never mentioned their intimate relationship, the romance did seem rather chaste. Looking back at Rory and Dean’s relationship, they also had relatively few kissing scenes.
You could argue that Dean and Lindsay’s marriage resulted from a desire to wait for marriage to have sex. It wouldn’t be unusual for a couple to marry young specifically to move their intimate relationship forward. Neither Lindsay nor Dean mentioned being particularly religious, but Dean was pretty traditional.
