It's not April Nardini or Rory Gilmore's infamous last four words, the worst thing about Gilmore Girls is the way it treated Lane Kim. Rory's best friend, played by the brilliant Keiko Agena, deserved so much better than what Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino gave her, and her arc remains one of the show's biggest letdowns.
Fans will recall how Lane spent the first few seasons of Gilmore Girls hiding her true, music-obsessed self from her strict and devout mother, Mrs. Kim. Lane keeps CDs, make-up, clothes and drumsticks under the floorboards of her bedroom and has transformed her closet into a psychedelic hideout. Eventually, Mrs. Kim kicks her out after discovering she snuck out to play a gig with her band, Hep Alien. This should've been Lane's big break - her chance to finally become the rock star she always dreamed of being. Instead, she ends up married to fellow bandmate and ultimate man-child Zack and pregnant with twins after her first time (which she describes as "horrible").
The thing is, Zack was never meant to be the end goal for Lane. She was based on creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's childhood friend, Gilmore Girls co-producer Helen Pai. Mrs. Kim was also inspired by Pai's mother and Lane's love interest before Zack, the ever sweet Dave Rygalski, was based on Pai's real-life husband and even has his name. On-screen Dave was played by Adam Brody, who got cast in The O.C. ahead of season 4 and was eventually written out, a decision that ultimately hurt the show.
Dave was undoubtedly more deserving of Lane than Zack. He not only shared Lane's love of music, he was also understanding about Lane's need for secrecy around dating and respectful of her family's values. He even earned Mrs. Kim's approval (sort of). Fans will never know if Lane would've ended up married to Dave and knocked up with twins after a terrible sexual experience if The O.C. hadn't whisked Brody away, but it's not hard to believe he would've been a much better husband and father than Zack.
Even then, Brody leaving Gilmore Girls shouldn't have meant Lane didn't get the rock star ending she deserved. That ending could have been many things, but it certainly didn't have to be a life tethered to Stars Hollow, a husband who can barely dress himself, and two perpetually screaming babies at the tender age of 22.
The parallels with Lorelai's journey are obvious, but, unlike Lorelai, Lane never gets to be master of her own destiny. The worst part is that the 2016 revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, did nothing to address this. Fans still don't really know if Lane ever recovered from that terrible sexual experience or if she's found fulfillment in her life - and that's the biggest Gilmore Girls tragedy yet.