Gilmore Girls: 10 Biggest Ways Rory Changed From Season 1 To The Finale

On Gilmore Girls, Lorelai “Rory” Gilmore is one-half of the most enviable mother-daughter relationships to ever exist on the small screen. Brilliant, beautiful and sweet as a slice of pie from Luke’s, Rory is a throwback to the perfect teen daughter only found on 1950s sitcoms like The Donna Reed Show.

But over the course of seven seasons, Rory proves to be far from perfect. Some of her flaws make her harder to love, but mostly her missteps make her relatable. By the time Rory bids farewell to Stars Hollow on the series finale, she barely resembles the cherub-cheeked teen from the pilot. Here are the 10 biggest ways Rory changes from Season 1 to the finale.

10 She Becomes A Devoted Granddaughter

When Lorelai barters her and Rory’s Friday nights for tuition money, the obligatory dinners bring Rory closer to her grandparents. Perhaps even more resistant to the idea is Richard Gilmore. But both Rory and Richard’s reluctance give way to a very tight-knit relationship. They share the same taste in books and a passion for learning.

Rory isn’t quite as chummy with Emily — likely because Rory is so much like her mother — but she endures Emily’s overly solicitous behavior with much more patience and appreciation than Lorelai. Even though Richard and Emily never fit in with the residents of Stars Hollow, they are present and accounted for during Rory’s bon voyage party.

9 She Drops Out Of College

Rory graduates from Yale during Season 7’s penultimate episode, but at the start of Season 6, she drops out of college altogether. There are times throughout the series when Rory’s perfectionism can be grating, but after her hopes of becoming an ace reporter are dashed by Mitchum Huntzberger, the shine on her halo gets tarnished.

Unable to take criticism from a seasoned professional, Rory decides to drop out of Yale. This decision causes a ripple effect throughout the Gilmore family, causing varying degrees of friction with Rory at the epicenter. But after missing an entire semester, Rory still manages to graduate on time and land a job working full-time for an online magazine.

8 She Breaks Up A Marriage

During Season 1, Rory experiences her first kiss, her first boyfriend and first love. Dean is a huge part of Rory’s life for most of the series, even after she dumps him during Season 2 for bad boy Jess. Rory and Dean eventually decide to revisit their romance despite the fact that he is married, and his extra-marital sexual exploits lead to the end of his marriage. Rory is unapologetic about her treatment of Dean’s wife, believing she has prior claim since she was with him first.

Rory and Dean try giving their romance another chance during Season 5, but the two are on very different paths, and Dean doesn’t exactly fit in with the Life and Death Brigade crowd. He doesn’t make one appearance in the final season or even have a cameo in the finale.

7 She Ditches Harvard

Throughout Season 1, Rory is obsessed with attending Harvard. It’s not just the driving force behind her leaving Stars Hollow high in favor of Chilton, it’s her raison d’etre. Her walls are covered in crimson. During Season 3, after Rory receives her acceptance letter, she begins to question if Harvard is the right place for her after all. Instead, she attends Yale, her grandfather’s alma mater, keeping her close to home in nearby New Haven.

The entire town plans to attend Rory’s college graduation during Season 7 but has to settle for a crappy recreation of the ceremony and a farewell party for the Yale Bulldog instead.

6 She Gets Her Heart Broken

Rory only has eyes for Dean during Season 1, and fans learn how deep Rory and Lorelai’s intimacy issues go when Rory can’t tell Dean she loves him, leading to their breakup. They reunite but face a new threat as a couple during Seasons 2 and 3 — Luke’s nephew Jess. This bad boy proves to be bad news, ditching Rory and Stars Hollow just before prom.

Serial monogamist Rory is plagued by boy troubles during the entire series. As she readies to leave town to follow Barack Obama on the campaign trail, she is single and not quite ready to mingle.

5 She Receives A Marriage Proposal

Rory meets trust fund baby and party boy Logan Huntzberger during Season 5. Dating Logan turns out to be an emotional roller coaster for Rory as she tries to domesticate the heir to a publishing dynasty. Together for three years, Rory’s romance with Logan is her first grown-up relationship.

It proves to be a bit too grown-up for Rory when Logan pops the question following her college graduation. She turns him down, leading the couple to break up, and Rory free to pursue her first big job as a professional journalist.

4 She And Paris Become Besties

Chilton mean girl Paris Geller doesn’t welcome Rory to her new school with open arms. The two start out as rivals, but by Season 3, Paris considers Rory to be her best friend. Rory’s feelings for Paris aren’t quite on the same level, but she does consider Paris more friend than foe. The two continue to be integral parts of each other’s lives throughout college, helping each other navigate everything from boyfriends to breakups to bad life choices.

After graduating from Yale, Paris heads off to India with Doyle, and she refuses to wax sentimental about her and Rory’s time together. Their goodbyes are perfunctory, which seems apropos for Paris — who doesn’t appear in the finale.

3 She And Lane Grow Apart

Aside from her mother, Rory’s best friend is Lane. If it wasn’t for pizza and Pop-Tarts at the Gilmore house, Lane’s entire diet would have consisted of tofu during her formative years. Rory becomes Lane’s biggest fan when she joins a band, and the two confide in each other about everything, even their first times. When Rory heads to Yale, Lane is left behind in Stars Hollow. They remain in contact, but their relationship becomes less front and center during the show’s final three seasons.

Rory’s around for the big stuff like Lane and Zack’s wedding or to throw Lane a baby shower, but Lane’s priorities are being a wife and mother. Meanwhile, Rory is focused on college and starting a career. During the finale, the two reconnect, and they revisit childhood memories, acknowledging how far they’ve come. Lane and Rory prove that time and distance can’t break the bond between best friends.

2 She Accepts Uncertainty

With a few detours along the way, Rory Gilmore knows what she wants to do with her life: become a journalist and see the world. During Season 7, Rory faces the harsh reality that being a big dog in a small pond at Yale doesn’t guarantee she’ll land a job.

Not only does Rory lose out on a coveted internship at the New York Times, she’s also rejected by a ton of big-name dailies. But Rory learns to roll with the punches. When she rejects Logan’s marriage proposal, she tells him she’s okay with her future being up in the air. Of course, in the finale, she’s offered a dream job. It’s not the one she imagined, but a golden opportunity nonetheless.

1 She Embraces Being A Gilmore

Lorelai is never a fan of her parents’ way of life, but Rory is more open to all the perks. She’s able to attend a pricey private school; she becomes a debutante; her grandparents bankroll several semesters at Yale; she gets to enjoy an all-expense-paid trip to Europe with her grandmother; she moves into Richard and Emily’s pool house, which they turn into a lovely bachelorette pad. Rory even becomes a full-fledged member of the DAR. She’s thrust into their social circle and enjoys some of the benefits of their connections.

On the finale, she’s finally on her own, earning a pittance as a journalist, but she’s got that fat trust fund waiting for her when she’s older, and she acknowledges the instrumental roles her grandparents have played in her life.

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