Few shows scream “Fall Down” quite like this gilmore girls Indeed, it’s exactly what a rewatch is necessary this time of year. When I started rewatching this comedy series about a mother-daughter duo and their small-town adventures, I was reminded of the characters I loved, and the storyline that kept me on the edge. Competitors of Team EN, Team Jays and Team Logan. But just when the show is going well, there’s one character who always finds a way to disrupt Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory’s (Alexis Bledel) world: Christopher ·Hayden (played by David Sutcliffe), also known as Rory’s father.
It’s not enough that Lorelai has been Rory’s single mom since she was a kid, and Chris has to constantly remind viewers that he hasn’t grown into any stable father figure yet. (If you ask me, that’s where Scott Patterson’s Luke Danes stands. But that’s a story for another article.)
In case your brain has worked out all the disappointing ways Chris has appeared – or should we say, not – over the years, here’s why he’s probably the worst character in the entire series.
when he dropped Shirley on Lorelai and Rory.
In Season 2, Episode 14, Rory’s father calls to check on Lorelai and she invites him to Rory’s debate in Chilton. Not only is he late, but he fails to mention that he’s bringing Lorelai and Rory’s girlfriend of eight months, Shirley (Mechen Amick), who they’ve never met, which is a complete surprise.
He then had the nerve (!!!) to tell Shelly that if something “urgent” came up, Lorelai could pull Rory out of her weekly Friday dinner with her grandparents. Shelly does everything but hold Lorelai hostage until she agrees. Zhou’s dinner was angry.
When he left Lorelai to go to Sherry
In Season 2, Episode 22, Chris showed up to Rory’s doctor’s appointment unannounced and watched her take off the cast on her arm. Lorelai invites him to Sookie St. James’s (Melissa McCarthy) rehearsal dinner, which he attends. At the event, she invited him to Suki’s wedding, and he agreed. The night before their wedding, Lorelai and Chris rekindled their romance—even though Chris and Shelly had just ended things.
At the wedding, they acted like they were in love, holding PDAs and stuff. In fact, Richard and Emily attended the wedding, and when Lorelai told her mom, Emily admitted she was very happy about it. After all, Emily had always wanted her daughter to marry Chris since she got pregnant. However, just before Lorelai is set to walk down the aisle as bridesmaid, Chris says he has to go: Shelly calls to reveal she’s pregnant. He said he missed spending time with Rory and didn’t want to do the same thing to the new baby again. (Well hello, being a dad to a newborn and caring for Rory and Lorelai are not mutually exclusive!)
To make matters worse, before leaving the wedding, Chris had the nerve to ask Lorelai to tell Rory the situation for him. Chris is still unable to be a partner, a father, or even just a caring person.
When he didn’t attend Rory’s Chilton graduation
At this point in the series, Chris already has a child, but he still missed one of the most important days of her life in Season 3, Episode 22. Rai reveals that Chris won’t be attending because he’s out of town. Out of town? Out of town? As if that wasn’t bad enough, Rory is valedictorian, so she gives the speech and all. Luckily, she wisely refrained from thanking him and instead gave all the praise to her mom and her grandparents.
When he asks Lorelai for help with the baby
In Season 5, Episode 6, Shirley “left” – which we find out means she took the job in Paris and abandoned her newborn – and the nanny didn’t answer the phone. Desperate, Chris turns to Lorelai for help. The whole thing is ridiculous because he’s complaining to her about how hard it is…like she doesn’t have to do the same thing herself and is only 16.
Rory is upset to find out that Chris called her mom so she could come to the rescue. She shows up at her prodigal father’s place and tells him that her mom is happily in a relationship and that he needs to leave her alone because he’s going to mess it up. Rory was all too familiar with how her father would stagger back into Lorelai’s life, making promises but not delivering, leaving her mother disappointed.
When he showed up at Richard and Emily’s vow renewal ceremony
In Season 5, Episode 12, Emily realizes that Lorelai and Luke are getting serious. So she shows up at Chris’ place, slips him an invitation to renew her and Richard’s vows, and more or less says he has to swoop in and win Lorelai back. Chris showed up at the wedding and walked in late. At the reception, he had the nerve to look at Lorelai and Luke together and pout. He then tells Rory about his first kiss with Lorelai. Uh, okay?
Later, Lorelai spots Rory and Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) making out in the back room, and Chris and Luke catch a glimpse of them. After a few drinks in the evening, Chris tried to play dad and act tough like he was going to hit Logan. The scene then changes to one between Chris, Lorelai and Luke, with Chris drunkenly telling Luke that he’s with her “for now” and that he and Lorelai “belong together.” Now, has Emily invited him? Yes. Does this mean he has to come get drunk and be involved in Lorelai and Luke’s breakup? No.
when he actually disappeared for a whole year
Stealing a yacht, getting arrested, and taking a leave of absence from Yale were just the beginning of the serious difficulties Rory experienced from the end of season five into season six. Exactly. That’s because he didn’t call his daughter or try to patch things up with Lorelai for an entire year! It wasn’t until the ninth episode of season six that he called to tell Lorelai the “good news.” In the next episode, we find out that Chris’ grandfather passed away and left him a lot of money. He raised his young daughter, Georgia “Gigi” Hayden (Nicolette Collier), and now wants to buy Lorelai and Rory anything they want, eventually becoming Rory Tuition at Yale University.
Well, maybe this is his way of trying to make amends, so I’ll give him this.
when he appeared for much of season seven
I hate that Chris got something he wanted but didn’t deserve: Lorelai. A series of hiccups add up to the end of Lorelai’s engagement to Luke, and Chris becomes Lorelai’s rebound into a serious relationship. *sigh* Here are some more moments to remind you how bad Chris is:
- In episode seven, when Lorelai and Chris travel to Paris so Gigi can start a relationship with her mother, he mentions getting married during the trip — even though Rory, you know, the one he always seems to forget The daughter was not there. Lorelai didn’t like the idea, but Chris persisted and they got married. When they returned to Stars Hollow, Chris was completely unaware that he hadn’t anticipated how Rory would feel about not being told or being there, and instead wanted to have a drink.
- In episode 10, Chris pouts because Lorelai doesn’t want to have kids with him at the time. He then pops the question in front of Emily – which we all know will annoy Lorelai to no end. At the end of the episode, Chris and Luke meet, and Chris initiates a physical fight.
- Chris found the witness letter Lorelai wrote for Luke’s custody battle in episode 11. Yes. Should Chris have told Lorelai an episode earlier that he was chasing her ex-fiancé? Also, yes. But he didn’t, so he had some nerve to be angry with her over the secret. Personally, I think half the reason he was angry about the letter was because Lorelai wrote about Luke’s support for Rory, including giving her birthday gifts and attending her high school graduation. Chris couldn’t say the same thing, and he had no one else to blame but himself.
- In episode 12, when Richard suffers a heart attack and requires emergency open-heart surgery, Rory, Lorelai, Emily and Logan head straight to the hospital. Where is Chris? Nowhere to be found. Suki and Michelle Gerard (Yannick Truesdale) check on their friends and deliver snacks, and Luke doesn’t even think twice about it; he just goes to the hospital to see if he can help, And do something for Emily. Then he returned to the hospital and brought enough food for them from the restaurant. When Chris finally shows up, he has the courage to get angry when he sees Luke there. Sorry, someone actually cares and wants to bring food so they don’t have to live on hospital sandwiches, Chris!
- After not showing up at the hospital in time, we learn that Chris was only there for an hour before disappearing again because he needed space. In episode 14, Chris said he couldn’t stand seeing Luke all the time and acted like a victim in it all.
Thankfully, fans won’t have to put up with Chris being a fool “for too long.” After talking to Lorelai he decided their relationship was inappropriate and they divorced. Still, Chris’s dirty deeds make people feel angrier every time (every year) they’re rewatched.
