Gilmore Girls is one of those shows that fans love despite its many flaws. Whether its characters are drinking from obviously empty mugs or the seasons magically changing from summer to winter and back again, the mistakes simply don't matter. It's not because people aren't able to see them, if anything they're the most critical.
The fans don't love the show for its production value. You can nitpick continuity errors and plot holes all day, but it doesn't matter when the show incorporates it's many jokes, references, and relatable characters so well.
There are, however, some plot holes that even the most diehard fans can't ignore. A nagging few questions that keep fans up at night, regardless if they are a member of team Dean, Jesse, or Logan.
Many of these problems have some kind of explanation, but none are ever adequately explained on the show. You'll have to decide for yourself whether these problems ultimately detract from your enjoyment of the Gilmore Girls.
Here are the 15 Unresolved Mysteries and Plot Holes The Show Left Hanging.
15. How did Rory manage to be valedictorian?
Rory is a very good student. She is accustomed to getting A's in her classes and excelling above her classmates. If she had stayed at Stars Hollow High, she would have undoubtedly been first in her class by a fairly large margin.
This wasn’t the case when Rory moved to Chilton Academy. For the first time in her life, Rory struggled academically. While she was able to find her groove eventually, her grades slumped for a time.
Meanwhile, when Rory was getting a D and missing a crucial exam in Mr. Medina’s class, Paris Geller wasn't missing a beat. Paris was a straight-A student who excelled even at Chilton. This begs the question, how did Rory manage to become the valedictorian? How was she able to catch up to Paris?
14. Where is Lane's dad?
It would be safe to assume that Lane Kim is the result of an immaculate conception. Her very religious mother is a regular character in the early seasons of Gilmore Girls, but her father is never seen. We have absolutely no idea who or where Lane’s father is, but we know he exists.
Lane regularly refers to her parents, not only her mom. She alludes to her father frequently enough, saying things like “my parents want me to go to the hayride” or “my parents just brought the suitcase I’m supposed to take on my trip.”
Despite these frequent mentions, he’s never seen on the show. Even when Lane eventually marries Zach, her father is absent. You’d think he would want to show up for his own daughter’s wedding.
13. Why was Rory accepted to Chilton after the semester had already started?
In the show’s very first episode, Rory is accepted into the prestigious Chilton Academy. This should come as no surprise, as Rory was an excellent student, and also had a number of connections through her grandparents.
What is surprising, is how Rory was accepted after the semester had already started. The show opens with Rory starting the semester at Star’s Hollow High, and later sees her trying to catch up at Chilton. It seems odd that such a well-known school would put a new student in such a difficult situation.
The most likely explanation is that a student simply dropped out or left to fill a role on Broadway, but it still would have been easier for her to start at the beginning of the next semester.
12. How many people actually live in Stars Hollow?
Stars Hollow seems like an ideal place to live. It’s small and quirky, and is only 30 minutes away from the more urban Hartford. It’s similar to the real Connecticut towns of Wallingford (pop. 45,134), Essex (pop. 6,683), and Washington (pop. 3,579).
It’s never clear how big Star’s Hollow actually is, but we can assume it’s population is somewhere between Wallingford and Washington. It is clear that Star’s Hollow is incredibly small, as Luke puts it, “This is Stars Hollow, you take three left turns and you’re back in the center of town.”
Given the approximate size of Star’s Hollow, it seems impossible that it could sustain the number of boutique stores and restaurants that can be seen around town. One could argue that the numerous events and festivals it hosts can only be sustained by an incredibly wealthy town, but the numbers still just don't seem to add up.
11. Kirk introduces himself as Mick in episode 2
In episode 2 of season 1, Lorelai comes home to find a crew installing a DSL line in her home. A character, played by Sean Gunn, introduces himself as “Mick” before being kicked out.
He later appears as a man delivering swans to the Independence Inn, and again as the new assistant manager at Doose’s Market. He is only referred to as Kirk by Miss Patty, when she calls him “Kirk the Jerk." Everybody called him Kirk after that, completely negating his previous introduction.
Perhaps this was a simple continuity error, but many fans believe that there may be something more sinister going on. Kirk is shown to have different jobs over the course of the show, with as many as three in one episode. The most logical solution is that Kirk has a secret twin-- a doppelganger, who is passing himself off as Kirk around town.
10. Where does Rory get her money from?
When we see Rory again in the Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, she’s working as a freelance writer. She is very excited when The Atlantic calls her and wants her to write a 2,500-word feature.
This seems like a very lucrative possibility for Rory until you find out that typically The Atlantic pays, at most, $.20 per word. This means Rory would at most be paid $500 for the article.
Meanwhile, she’s renting an apartment, presumably by herself, in one of the country’s most expensive places to live. That's not even counting the amount of times she flies back and forth between London and New York. All this without even cutting back on her food and coffee expenses.
Perhaps her bills are being paid by Logan or she has money from her grandparents, but either of those options should have been mentioned in the show.
9. What happened to Dave Rygalski?
Dave Rygalski was arguably the best boyfriend on Gilmore Girls. He was respectful, selfless, and caring. We should all strive to be more like Dave. He was the kind of person willing to spend his Thanksgiving singing hymns, just so he could be a little closer to the people he loves. It was both surprising and disappointing when he was unceremoniously omitted from the show after season 4.
Adam Brody, who played Dave, ended up leaving the show in 2003 to play Seth Cohen on The O.C. This happens all the time in television, and can often be worked around.
He was unceremoniously written off with a single line, explaining that he had gone to college in California. While this was no doubt a reference to his new show, it was underwhelming to accept that such a good character didn't get the closure the fans wanted.
8. How does Lane get away with buying so many things without her mom noticing?
Mrs. Kim had very strict rules and high expectations for Lane, that ultimately ended up distancing the two. Despite these strict regulations, Lane is able to sneak a surprising amount of contraband into the house. She has admitted to hiding CDs under the floorboards and also had a rock and roll shrine in her closet.
This begs the question, how did Lane manage to sneak that much contraband past her mom? Mrs. Kim is shown catching Lane several times in the show, but she never seems to realize just how far down the rock and roll rabbit hole her daughter had gone.
You’d think at some point Mrs. Kim would have caught Lane sneaking music into the house, or questioned where she was spending all of her money.
7. How does the town troubadour make any money?
Stars Hollow wouldn’t be the same without the town troubadour. Whether rain, sleet, or snow, he is there to provide a cheerful song or an appropriate scene transition.
He is even the focal point of one episode’s subplot, in which he has to chase another would-be bard off his turf. He is later elected the sole minstrel of Stars Hollow, before leaving the town in season 6.
A title as prestigious as “town troubadour” may not appear to be very lucrative. He is said to not collect money, and is never shown with an open guitar case, hat, or tin to collect donations. Perhaps he receives a stipend from the town or is independently wealthy, but it seems impossible that he could support himself.
6. What the heck is Yale teaching its journalism students?
Yale is without a doubt an excellent university. According to USNews, it is tied with the University of Chicago as the 3rd best university in the country. Only 6.3% of those who apply to the school are accepted, and 96% of its graduates are either employed or accepted to graduate school six months after receiving their diploma.
Rory is lucky enough to not only be attending one of the best universities in the world, but she also ends up becoming the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper.
Unfortunately, Rory Gilmore is a terrible journalist. While Rory is working as a freelance writer, she shows next to no ambition and a poor work ethic. She receives very few opportunities, and when she finally does get the chance to write for GQ, she is very lackadaisical about her assignment.
There was even the time when she takes Lorelai with her. Rory ends up falling asleep during her first interview, before taking a coffee break.
5. How did Taylor become town selectman again?
There was a political revolution in season 5 of Gilmore Girls. After years of petty squabbles and annoyances, Taylor Doose is finally ousted as Star’s Hollow’s town selectman and is replaced by Suki’s husband, Jackson Belleville. This doesn't quite turn out how Jackson imagined, who quickly discovers that being the town selectman brings problems of its own.
Jackson dislikes being the selectman for the remainder of season 5, but when season 6 begins, the title is once again held by Taylor Doose. It’s safe to assume that Jackson simply quit and Taylor was the only one who was willing to fill the position, but it is never addressed in the show.
You would think they would be able to add a single line to explain what happened.
4. How Does The Stars Hollow Gazette Actually Function?
After flying back and forth from London to New York for half a year, Rory returns home and finds out that The Star’s Hollow Gazette is shutting down. While the rest of the town readily accepts the paper’s demise, Rory decides to save it and become the paper’s editor-in-chief.
This transition appears to be fairly smooth, but in reality, The Star’s Hollow Gazette is a catastrophe. The paper only has two employees who seemingly do nothing. The paper still use computers that run MS-DOS and have no established means of distribution.
On top of that, Rory is never shown writing a single article. Who writes the paper’s articles? Who handles page design? How is the paper printed? Is it a paid subscription or a free paper? Who handles advertisement?
It would have been interesting to see Rory thrive in an environment she should love, but unfortunately we never really get to see this.
3. How does Lorelai maintain her lifestyle with one job?
It is a point of pride for Lorelai that she supports herself and Rory independently, without asking her parents for money. When the show starts, she is working as the manager of the Independence Inn, a relatively well paying job. The average hotel manager’s salary is $53,646 today. When adjusted for inflation, her salary was somewhere in the ballpark of $37,000.
This is a respectable wage that the girls should be able live comfortably on. That is, until you factor in the amount of times they eat out instead of cooking at home. They also regularly buy coffee multiple times a day.
Given their poor budgeting, it seems highly unlikely that Lorelai could afford such a nice house. In fact, very few could. According to Trulia, Lorelai’s house would cost over $2 million.
2. How does Kirk keep getting hired?
One of the best running gags on Gilmore Girls is the number of jobs Kirk has. Overall, he is shown to have 62 different jobs throughout the course of the show. Several of these jobs can be lumped together, as he is shown to be a swan, flower, and firewood delivery man.
He was self-employed for some of these opportunities, but for the majority of his jobs, he would have had to have been hired by a manager. These types of jobs include working with kitchen staff, as well as being a receptionist and a cashier.
Kirk is undoubtedly a hardworking guy, even though he can come off as a bit of a dunce. He is always willing to take up the most menial of tasks, but it seems unlikely that he would be able to keep getting hired after so many years of ineptitude.
However, perhaps Taylor is a fantastic reference. It could also be that he’s the only one who applies to a lot of these random jobs.
1. Why is Lorelai's house so big on the outside and so small on the inside?
This is something that any huge fan of the show would have questioned at one point. From the outside, Lorelai's house looks like it is bigger than the Independence or Dragonfly inns. The exterior shots never seem to make sense once the camera moves inside.
There are only two bedrooms and one bathroom that appear on the show, and the kitchen looks cramped when more than two people try to fit inside it. There is a wrap-around porch, but it isn’t enough to make up for the size discrepancy.
Perhaps the writers saw this and tried to amend it in seasons 5 and 6, when Luke and Lorelai undertake a major expansion to the house. Even then, it mostly involved making the upstairs bedroom larger.
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Did we miss any glaring plot holes that have been bothering you from Gilmore Girls? Let us know in the comments!