Gilmore Girls: The Last 4 Words Would Have Been a Terrible Original Ending

As a staunch defender of the Final Four Words on Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, I feel OK with saying that they would have been a terrible original ending. Amy Sherman-Palladino intended to wrap up the show with that exchange, but since she (heartbreakingly) wasn't on board for the final scene, she wasn't able to. While it meant we were in limbo for years and years, wondering if we'd ever find out what she wanted for Rory and Lorelai, I think it was to our (and the characters') benefit that The CW's series didn't end the way she wanted.

The last words — "Mom?" "Yeah?" "I'm pregnant." — would have occurred at the end of season seven, meaning Rory would have been 22 years old. She would have just graduated from Yale, and depending on how different the final season would have been if Sherman-Palladino were involved, she may have been about to hit the road to cover future President Barack Obama's campaign trail. Rory is a bundle of talent and potential; if she were pregnant, it would have (at least temporarily) stifled her ability to pursue a career in journalism.

Clearly, now that we've caught up with Rory nine years later, she's still struggling. She's not gainfully employed and her love life is frankly disappointing. It's not that she's in a better place to have a baby, but at least she's lived her 20s and discovered what she's capable of. While it's not the future we envisioned for Rory, it's important that she be given the opportunity to thrive. Hopefully we'll get to see her in the next phase of her life: motherhood.

I love Rory, but after watching A Year in the Life, I can confidently say she's not a great person. She's been the Other Woman not once but twice, she's crashed a boat in a fit of self-pity, and it turns out that she's not even a terrific journalist. (Why would she even agree to write that piece about lines?) Perhaps her talents lie in parenthood, and she's lived enough life now to embrace a new role, rather than potentially resent an unexpected pregnancy.

I'm not saying that's definitely how she would have felt (she's a fictional character, after all), but it wouldn't have been fair to a pregnancy on Rory at 22. However you feel about Sherman-Palladino's Last Four Words on A Year in the Life, it's an infinitely better story for 32-year-old Rory.