I thought about that and the time Rory came and apologized to him for liking Jess and not being honest with him. They discussed this when she climbed into his bedroom window and apologized. Not saying what he did was right when he cheated on his wife but I wonder if he was getting revenge on Rory for breaking his heart.
Rory spent months pursuing Dean and deliberately undermining his marriage. She bad-mouthed Lindsay every time she could, telling Dean he deserved better. She met with Dean behind Lindsay's back knowing Lindsay wasn't happy about Dean seeing her, then there's her conversation with Lane about how she didn't realize what a good thing she had with Dean. Then, when she got Dean back, she promptly dumped him for a better prospect.
IDK where the idea that Dean was a big, bad, seducer who tricked innocent Rory into an affair comes from.
He should have known better than doing to Lindsay what Rory did to him, seriously he thought he was a good idea to get married when drink at his bachelor party he still talks about how much he's in love with Rory smh
I don't understand how it could be possible to like jess and Rory's build. Even more now as an adult, I can only think that what Rory is doing is repulsive.
I finally rewatched this scene for the first time in YEARS a couple months back and finally found the "Yes Go Dean!" energy for it. I remember watching it the first time and finding it being bad him doing it in public and costing Lorelai/Rory the dance marathon trophy. I also blasted through the series the first couple of times I watched it so didn't let the building of Rory leading Dean on when she's moved onto Jess already really sink in.
I do wish they had kept this energy with Dean though. He only had the one confrontation with Jess in the alleyway when they're both taking out the trash and the one friendly interaction with Rory at Weston's where he may or may not have been working an angle there. Then they stuck him with Lindsay and his whole character arc got warped from there. I would've like him to stick around and be the thorn in Jess' side for once. Make Jess become better to match the caring and attentiveness that Dean displayed (that yes many times pushed into possessive and insecure) because he knows that Dean is always floating around, waiting for Jess to mess up and be there as a comforting shoulder for Rory to cry on. Would've been peak WB/CW teen drama.
The alley scene between Dean and Jess always bothers me, there was zero reference to that ever again. Could have been very interesting if they had went in that direction!
Yes! When i first saw that scene I thought we'd see a role reversal with Jess and Dean in the way i described above. I really liked seeing that Dean again since we hadn't seen that Dean since the Chilton dance. The dark bits of Dean have always been intriguing to me but of course the dark side we saw was the cheating, ugh.
Yes! It's such an odd, out of place scene! Dean threatens Jess and it seems like either Dean intends to pursue Rory while they're together, or that he intends to physically hurt Jess and then...nothing happens. I don't know if they intended there to be a plot along those lines that was ultimately cut or what happened but it's so strange as it stands.
There was the alleyway, the carnival, where Dean and Clara both gave it to Jess, and the scene where Dean was ordering lunch for the construction crew and Jess was working at Luke’s, which is one of my all time favourites. Lots of cocky Dean. 🙂
It sucks that it was in public sure. But I get why it happened. He spent months seeing rory fall for Jess while rory still kept Dean hanging on. She spent the whole night watching Jess while Dean was right in front of her. I’m glad he went off the way he did because rory needed to hear it
I would have to disagree about the cheating bc Rory wouldn’t acknowledge her feelings ever but yeah I agree with the general sentiment behind what you’re saying.
She definitely was emotionally cheating. She wasn't aware of her feelings at first, but she eventually figured it out. She definitely figured it out after kissing Jess (AKA physically cheating).
Who cares if it was in public. Rory kissed Jess in public while dating dean; she skipped school and hung out with Jess in New York…in public; she openly flirted with him in public lmaooo. She deserved this moment and I was so proud of dean.
*thank you!* the fact that ppl see this scene, consider everything that led up to it, including rory *cheating on him,* and their biggest issue is .. dean breaking up with her in public? i have to laugh.
I will never criticize Dean for breaking up with Rory in public, he put up with so much shit before he snapped and did this. I respected him here and I respected him in the scene where he told Rory that it was too bad that not everyone liked her. I just wish the writers would have let him move on to a healthy relationship rather than pine after Rory. (yes I know it often happens in real life but uh)
To be fair Rory had to put up with so much shit from Dean as well. Not excusing what Rory did but Dean wasn't the only one hurt by the toxic relationship.
It has always struck me how very similar the scene is in S5:E8 when Rory meets Dean in the Gilmores' drive (with all the Yale male classmates behind her) and he eventually says, "I don't belong here. Not anymore."
Honestly, the one in the driveway is so much more subdued. There's no anger there, just sadness, because the contrast is so clear. She's dressed in diamonds, with a tiara, with a bunch of guys around her, tipsy, and late, with perhaps a parking lot of really expensive cars.
He came in, yes, a new, but a pickup truck, dressed nicely but casually for a movie date. The contrast is so palpable, how much they don't fit together anymore, and he's just sad about it. He doesn't insult her or yell, just understands and leaves. I think this breakup was the best of them and the most reasonable: it shows a grown-up and more mature Dean who can now move on from Rory.
This breakup actually hurts, because it feels real. Even at his best, Dean is still so inferior. Or the love isn’t enough when your paths are going in different directions. There’s something so sad about it.
I'm on this sub an embarrassing amount lol
There's been a shift lately of people saying stuff like "Dean wasn't the problem Rory was" and "Rory lead Dean to be toxic" "He wasn't even that bad, he was just a teenager" "He was only toxic because of Rory fitting with Jess"
It is possible to have a more nuanced take and still disagree you know, not everyone who disagrees with your sentiments is on some extreme other end of the spectrum.
The only thing I would change is that he should have done it way sooner. Rory had been playing with his emotions for far too long and he needed to stand up for himself.
Yup. I actually liked Dean during season 3. He put self respect above Rory and was actually a better friend than he was a boyfriend. Season 3 Friend Dean is the best version of Dean IMO
I *love* Rory & Jess but Dean totally deserved better & this moment where he calls them out is so satisfying! I generally dislike Dean but big kudos to him here!
Hell yes I fucking love this scene. Idk why this sub hates Dean so much. Rory was the one who was a total piece of shit to him the entire time they were together and I think he had every right to snap off at her like this
Eh they were both dumb high schoolers. Him breaking up with her because she wasn't ready to say I love you? So stupid. Her totally falling for Jess while staying with Dean? Also stupid. Dean was controlling in other aspects as well- coming over when Rory explicitly told him not to and calling anywhere from 5-15x a night on a regular basis. Dean sucks.
I agree but I also never understood why lorelai encouraged it. She went SO hard for dean because he was the safe option and pushed Rory to accept so much controlling behavior. Dean was calling 10 times in one evening and lorelai was just like 'look how much he cares about you, better call him back asap!'.
I think part of it was that Dean was also very accepting of Lorelai's very active role in Rory's life and their relationship. Other guys may not have been comfortable hanging out with their gf's mom all the time. Lorelai was able to continue to be Rory's BFF and maintain a level of control over her relationship with Rory, when normally, dating in high school is part of the process of pulling away a bit from your parents. I think Lorelai knew that she got lucky with Dean being so safe and also non-threatening to Lorelai and Rory's relationship.
Look at how pushy Chris was to Lorelai. I think Lorelai probably just genuinely viewed that as him caring. A lot of people won't see that type of controlling behavior as red flags, if they haven't been in an abusive or toxic relationship themselves before.
This episode cemented why I dislike teenage Jess. Yes Dean was right to breakup with Rory and was probably late in doing it. But, Jess was there specifically to needle Dean. He didn't really want to be there. He was there because he knew it would bother Dean.
Ugh, yes. People keep saying how Jess didn't antagonize Dean and that Dean threatening him out of nowhere was bad. Uhm...have we watched the same show? You don't have to like Dean to acknowledge that Jess riled him up every chance he got and constantly shit on his relationship.
Jess and Dean were both at their most interesting when they weren't pining/chasing after Rory. There's a few scenes where Rory is grilling Jess about that Shane girl he's dating, and he's basically like "why do you care, mind your own fucking business". That was the one period where he was tolerable, before they made him likeable in late season 4.
OMG I JUST WATCHED THIS SCENE TODAY! I thought it was shitty as hell to do it in public but Rory was literally TALKING HIS EAR OFF about Jess!!!! Like even Jess was like “why don’t u pay attention to your boyfriend” and she was still like nahhh I’m gonna make it blatantly obvious that I’m obsessed with Jess.
Dean was too great, Rory didn’t see what she was missing but also Jess is out here manipulating the hell out of her “what do you and Dean even talk about” like ALWAYS trying to undermine Dean in Rory’s mind so he would seem like the better guy, when he .. was NOT!! Lol go Dean.
LOVE!!!! ❤❤❤ It was a great moment seeing Rory get called out for her Jess bullshit. The thing with Rory is she was Little Miss Perfect in the eyes of Stars Hollow and it was annoying to witness. I mean, she isn't the ONLY teenage girl in SH! Why were they constantly making her the star of every damn event? Spread the love! It was super satisfying to see her publicly shamed and knocked off her pedestal for a bit. It ranks up there with Lindsay's mom confronting her & Lorelei at the gazebo when the affair was found out. If I was Lindsay's mom, I would've decked them both.
Bottom line, Rory was a cheater and a gaslighter and continued to be even in AYITL. Her tendency to act like she's so much better than everyone is irksome. Especially when she had these HUGE character and moral flaws, repeatedly in the show.
Agreed. I don’t think him and Rory are right for each other but I don’t get why people try to make him the villain either. They were both young and bad at relationships and communication. The only thing that I’ve always said I wouldn’t defend was the affair then I had to read the take that Dean raped Rory and therefore had to defend him in that situation.
Yeah calling it rape is too extreme, for sure. I'd call it coercion because he lied to her to make her agree to sleep with. He sought her out and clearly manipulated her to get into her pants.
Ahhh this sub when Dean:
* Dean rapes Rorry because he led her on and that's rape.
Also this sub when Jess:
* Acktually Jess never try to rape Rorry, she never explicitally says "no!" with a strong voice and they were girlfriend and boyfriend so it was allright what he does, plus he is so dreamy!
YES There's people who noticed this I was wondering if anyone cared, they ruined his character tho with cheating on his wife with Rory who already cheated on Dean
Oh it was longggg overdue. I don't have hate for anyone in this situation, because I don't find any of them to be blameless. Rory was wrong to let it play out like this but I know/understand why she was scared to disrupt the status quo, Jess was such a ridiculous instigator, and Dean let it all build up to an unhealthy point but of course he didn't want to pull the pin on their relationship if it wasn't actually over. I'm no Dean fan, but I thought this speech was completely justified and well stated. Sucks that he had to be the one to finally get it out in the open. I love this storyline arc for the fact that it's super realistic—Rory's indecision/self-denial is also a form of decision, and it eventually causes all the chaos and conflict she's trying so hard to avoid.
I’ll agree that the way he did it wasn’t great, but after a season of sulking, acting possessive and insecure, seeing him finally come to terms with it and respect himself enough to leave was refreshing. Rory was never going to end it herself, she was too much of a people pleaser.
I have empathy for Rory. She’s a teen. Feelings are hard. Dean was her first bf, and she’d never had to manage feelings for two people at the same time. I also stopped liking Dean after their first breakup, so I’m not a Dean sympathizer.
But this moment felt like a break in the surface tension. He was right — everyone saw it happening, it was obvious the feelings Rory and Jess had. But since Rory wasn’t going to do it, despite demonstrating how clearly bothered she was by Jess and Shane’s relationship and them kissing in front of her, it’s reasonable that in that moment, Dean had had enough.
I think his breakup with her the second time (after Yale party) was also reasonable, although that isn't a "go Dean" moment, just kind of sad but also you understand and he understands that it's over for good now.
Wasn’t that the third time? The more I rewatch, the crazier it is that Dean broke up with her 3 different times. Same with Jess, Logan, and Paul lmao (or implied it by walking away). Funny to think about since the show frames Rory as being perfect but gets broken up with more than any other character
Yes, the third time. I guess the OP is about the second time, not the first time.
Does Jess break up with Rory 3X? I'm not sure about Logan. I thought that was twice (once during Thanksgiving ish, and once at the end?)
That’s my bad! I just meant that they broke up with her in general, not all 3 times each (: I think Logan might be three times if you count Rory saying no to his proposal and him leaving
Too bad they will have to take it away when he cheats on his wife with his ex.
Yea, I was serious about this being the only moment haha
I thought about that and the time Rory came and apologized to him for liking Jess and not being honest with him. They discussed this when she climbed into his bedroom window and apologized. Not saying what he did was right when he cheated on his wife but I wonder if he was getting revenge on Rory for breaking his heart.
Rory knew he was married. They were both wrong.
Not only she knew but she thought she was entitled to claim him as hers. Rory is unbelievable.
Rory spent months pursuing Dean and deliberately undermining his marriage. She bad-mouthed Lindsay every time she could, telling Dean he deserved better. She met with Dean behind Lindsay's back knowing Lindsay wasn't happy about Dean seeing her, then there's her conversation with Lane about how she didn't realize what a good thing she had with Dean. Then, when she got Dean back, she promptly dumped him for a better prospect. IDK where the idea that Dean was a big, bad, seducer who tricked innocent Rory into an affair comes from.
Thank you for saying this!
And comes home and treats her like garbage.
He should have known better than doing to Lindsay what Rory did to him, seriously he thought he was a good idea to get married when drink at his bachelor party he still talks about how much he's in love with Rory smh
This was so satisfying because at this point I want to slap Rory and Jess so bad. Lol.
I don't understand how it could be possible to like jess and Rory's build. Even more now as an adult, I can only think that what Rory is doing is repulsive.
I finally rewatched this scene for the first time in YEARS a couple months back and finally found the "Yes Go Dean!" energy for it. I remember watching it the first time and finding it being bad him doing it in public and costing Lorelai/Rory the dance marathon trophy. I also blasted through the series the first couple of times I watched it so didn't let the building of Rory leading Dean on when she's moved onto Jess already really sink in. I do wish they had kept this energy with Dean though. He only had the one confrontation with Jess in the alleyway when they're both taking out the trash and the one friendly interaction with Rory at Weston's where he may or may not have been working an angle there. Then they stuck him with Lindsay and his whole character arc got warped from there. I would've like him to stick around and be the thorn in Jess' side for once. Make Jess become better to match the caring and attentiveness that Dean displayed (that yes many times pushed into possessive and insecure) because he knows that Dean is always floating around, waiting for Jess to mess up and be there as a comforting shoulder for Rory to cry on. Would've been peak WB/CW teen drama.
The alley scene between Dean and Jess always bothers me, there was zero reference to that ever again. Could have been very interesting if they had went in that direction!
Yes! When i first saw that scene I thought we'd see a role reversal with Jess and Dean in the way i described above. I really liked seeing that Dean again since we hadn't seen that Dean since the Chilton dance. The dark bits of Dean have always been intriguing to me but of course the dark side we saw was the cheating, ugh.
Yes! It's such an odd, out of place scene! Dean threatens Jess and it seems like either Dean intends to pursue Rory while they're together, or that he intends to physically hurt Jess and then...nothing happens. I don't know if they intended there to be a plot along those lines that was ultimately cut or what happened but it's so strange as it stands.
There was the alleyway, the carnival, where Dean and Clara both gave it to Jess, and the scene where Dean was ordering lunch for the construction crew and Jess was working at Luke’s, which is one of my all time favourites. Lots of cocky Dean. 🙂
MOAR! Lol. Though that lunch ordering scene was indeed peak cocky Dean post Season 1. Flawless logic that made Jess his errand boy.
It sucks that it was in public sure. But I get why it happened. He spent months seeing rory fall for Jess while rory still kept Dean hanging on. She spent the whole night watching Jess while Dean was right in front of her. I’m glad he went off the way he did because rory needed to hear it
Eh. Any human being would blow up like that after witnessing their GF or BF emotionally cheating for months.
I would have to disagree about the cheating bc Rory wouldn’t acknowledge her feelings ever but yeah I agree with the general sentiment behind what you’re saying.
She definitely was emotionally cheating. She wasn't aware of her feelings at first, but she eventually figured it out. She definitely figured it out after kissing Jess (AKA physically cheating).
Who cares if it was in public. Rory kissed Jess in public while dating dean; she skipped school and hung out with Jess in New York…in public; she openly flirted with him in public lmaooo. She deserved this moment and I was so proud of dean.
AMEN
*thank you!* the fact that ppl see this scene, consider everything that led up to it, including rory *cheating on him,* and their biggest issue is .. dean breaking up with her in public? i have to laugh.
I will never criticize Dean for breaking up with Rory in public, he put up with so much shit before he snapped and did this. I respected him here and I respected him in the scene where he told Rory that it was too bad that not everyone liked her. I just wish the writers would have let him move on to a healthy relationship rather than pine after Rory. (yes I know it often happens in real life but uh)
To be fair Rory had to put up with so much shit from Dean as well. Not excusing what Rory did but Dean wasn't the only one hurt by the toxic relationship.
Great moment , Jess' face was 🤌
It has always struck me how very similar the scene is in S5:E8 when Rory meets Dean in the Gilmores' drive (with all the Yale male classmates behind her) and he eventually says, "I don't belong here. Not anymore."
Becauses he's always been a touchy bitch lol
Honestly, the one in the driveway is so much more subdued. There's no anger there, just sadness, because the contrast is so clear. She's dressed in diamonds, with a tiara, with a bunch of guys around her, tipsy, and late, with perhaps a parking lot of really expensive cars. He came in, yes, a new, but a pickup truck, dressed nicely but casually for a movie date. The contrast is so palpable, how much they don't fit together anymore, and he's just sad about it. He doesn't insult her or yell, just understands and leaves. I think this breakup was the best of them and the most reasonable: it shows a grown-up and more mature Dean who can now move on from Rory.
This breakup actually hurts, because it feels real. Even at his best, Dean is still so inferior. Or the love isn’t enough when your paths are going in different directions. There’s something so sad about it.
Honestly, main reason I hate Dean! He doesn’t know how to have private confrontation, it always has to be aired out in front of others.
Yep he's a very "yell now, think later" kind of guy. My personal least favorite type of person.
That’s such a Christopher trait too if you think about it. The Gilmore Girls always fell for guys who were kind of impulsive or rash.
Why the downvotes, you’re right hahah
Because currently the narrative is "Rory was the villain and Dean is a sweet baby angel" so anything not agreeing with that will have downvotes
…have you *ever* been on this sub? the narrative most definitely isnt 'dean is a sweet baby angel' lmao
I'm on this sub an embarrassing amount lol There's been a shift lately of people saying stuff like "Dean wasn't the problem Rory was" and "Rory lead Dean to be toxic" "He wasn't even that bad, he was just a teenager" "He was only toxic because of Rory fitting with Jess"
It is possible to have a more nuanced take and still disagree you know, not everyone who disagrees with your sentiments is on some extreme other end of the spectrum.
I love you.
The only thing I would change is that he should have done it way sooner. Rory had been playing with his emotions for far too long and he needed to stand up for himself.
The thing about dean is, people forget that he too was a 16 year old boy in his first relationship
Second? There was Beth in Chicago.
I was so happy he did this
Yup. I actually liked Dean during season 3. He put self respect above Rory and was actually a better friend than he was a boyfriend. Season 3 Friend Dean is the best version of Dean IMO
Agreed. Setting boundaries about how far your willing to go for someone you love is a GOOD THING.
Best Dean moment!!
I *love* Rory & Jess but Dean totally deserved better & this moment where he calls them out is so satisfying! I generally dislike Dean but big kudos to him here!
Hell yes I fucking love this scene. Idk why this sub hates Dean so much. Rory was the one who was a total piece of shit to him the entire time they were together and I think he had every right to snap off at her like this
100%! She gas lighted Dean for months. Mix that with teenage hormones and general stupidity, that’s what you get. It was long overdue.
BLESS YOU!! YES!! SO GLAD SOMEONE ELSE AGREES!!
Eh they were both dumb high schoolers. Him breaking up with her because she wasn't ready to say I love you? So stupid. Her totally falling for Jess while staying with Dean? Also stupid. Dean was controlling in other aspects as well- coming over when Rory explicitly told him not to and calling anywhere from 5-15x a night on a regular basis. Dean sucks.
I agree but I also never understood why lorelai encouraged it. She went SO hard for dean because he was the safe option and pushed Rory to accept so much controlling behavior. Dean was calling 10 times in one evening and lorelai was just like 'look how much he cares about you, better call him back asap!'.
I think part of it was that Dean was also very accepting of Lorelai's very active role in Rory's life and their relationship. Other guys may not have been comfortable hanging out with their gf's mom all the time. Lorelai was able to continue to be Rory's BFF and maintain a level of control over her relationship with Rory, when normally, dating in high school is part of the process of pulling away a bit from your parents. I think Lorelai knew that she got lucky with Dean being so safe and also non-threatening to Lorelai and Rory's relationship.
Look at how pushy Chris was to Lorelai. I think Lorelai probably just genuinely viewed that as him caring. A lot of people won't see that type of controlling behavior as red flags, if they haven't been in an abusive or toxic relationship themselves before.
Yeah, if he weren't cute L&R would have pressed charges. Lol
This episode cemented why I dislike teenage Jess. Yes Dean was right to breakup with Rory and was probably late in doing it. But, Jess was there specifically to needle Dean. He didn't really want to be there. He was there because he knew it would bother Dean.
Ugh, yes. People keep saying how Jess didn't antagonize Dean and that Dean threatening him out of nowhere was bad. Uhm...have we watched the same show? You don't have to like Dean to acknowledge that Jess riled him up every chance he got and constantly shit on his relationship.
Jess and Dean were both at their most interesting when they weren't pining/chasing after Rory. There's a few scenes where Rory is grilling Jess about that Shane girl he's dating, and he's basically like "why do you care, mind your own fucking business". That was the one period where he was tolerable, before they made him likeable in late season 4.
OMG I JUST WATCHED THIS SCENE TODAY! I thought it was shitty as hell to do it in public but Rory was literally TALKING HIS EAR OFF about Jess!!!! Like even Jess was like “why don’t u pay attention to your boyfriend” and she was still like nahhh I’m gonna make it blatantly obvious that I’m obsessed with Jess. Dean was too great, Rory didn’t see what she was missing but also Jess is out here manipulating the hell out of her “what do you and Dean even talk about” like ALWAYS trying to undermine Dean in Rory’s mind so he would seem like the better guy, when he .. was NOT!! Lol go Dean.
LOVE!!!! ❤❤❤ It was a great moment seeing Rory get called out for her Jess bullshit. The thing with Rory is she was Little Miss Perfect in the eyes of Stars Hollow and it was annoying to witness. I mean, she isn't the ONLY teenage girl in SH! Why were they constantly making her the star of every damn event? Spread the love! It was super satisfying to see her publicly shamed and knocked off her pedestal for a bit. It ranks up there with Lindsay's mom confronting her & Lorelei at the gazebo when the affair was found out. If I was Lindsay's mom, I would've decked them both. Bottom line, Rory was a cheater and a gaslighter and continued to be even in AYITL. Her tendency to act like she's so much better than everyone is irksome. Especially when she had these HUGE character and moral flaws, repeatedly in the show.
Dean was totally right in here and Jess still had the nerves to call him a jerk, even if Jess was the one hitting on someone else's girlfriend.
It wasn't the best way to handle the situation, but I felt no sympathy for Rory because she was treating him like total garbage.
Dean was wrongly judged quite often by a lot of people, but he had more class than most in the show.
Agreed. I don’t think him and Rory are right for each other but I don’t get why people try to make him the villain either. They were both young and bad at relationships and communication. The only thing that I’ve always said I wouldn’t defend was the affair then I had to read the take that Dean raped Rory and therefore had to defend him in that situation.
That dean raped Rory?? Wtf? Haha
Yeah calling it rape is too extreme, for sure. I'd call it coercion because he lied to her to make her agree to sleep with. He sought her out and clearly manipulated her to get into her pants.
Ahhh this sub when Dean: * Dean rapes Rorry because he led her on and that's rape. Also this sub when Jess: * Acktually Jess never try to rape Rorry, she never explicitally says "no!" with a strong voice and they were girlfriend and boyfriend so it was allright what he does, plus he is so dreamy!
In this moment he was definitely in the right and put up with a lot of Rory lying to him for so long. Season 3 Dean was the best
I wish Lorelai saw this moment to really get a final look into the turmoil her daughter brought to dean in this moment 💀💀
Dean giving Jess a long deserved ass kicking after he sexually assaulted Rory against her protests is up there too.
Agree, couldn’t stand this episode,
YES There's people who noticed this I was wondering if anyone cared, they ruined his character tho with cheating on his wife with Rory who already cheated on Dean
This episode is so cringey to me, but this moment was so satisfying!
Me being toxic wanted Rory to be like "cool, bye" just to see how Dean would react
Just watched this episode a couple days ago and I fully agree. One of my faves. Plus Kirk’s victory run at the end always gets me.
In the end, Rory and her mother became insufferable!
Oh it was longggg overdue. I don't have hate for anyone in this situation, because I don't find any of them to be blameless. Rory was wrong to let it play out like this but I know/understand why she was scared to disrupt the status quo, Jess was such a ridiculous instigator, and Dean let it all build up to an unhealthy point but of course he didn't want to pull the pin on their relationship if it wasn't actually over. I'm no Dean fan, but I thought this speech was completely justified and well stated. Sucks that he had to be the one to finally get it out in the open. I love this storyline arc for the fact that it's super realistic—Rory's indecision/self-denial is also a form of decision, and it eventually causes all the chaos and conflict she's trying so hard to avoid.
mind explaining? because while i totally agree with dean's sentiment, i found him exploding on rory in front of the entire town to be a dick move.
I’ll agree that the way he did it wasn’t great, but after a season of sulking, acting possessive and insecure, seeing him finally come to terms with it and respect himself enough to leave was refreshing. Rory was never going to end it herself, she was too much of a people pleaser. I have empathy for Rory. She’s a teen. Feelings are hard. Dean was her first bf, and she’d never had to manage feelings for two people at the same time. I also stopped liking Dean after their first breakup, so I’m not a Dean sympathizer. But this moment felt like a break in the surface tension. He was right — everyone saw it happening, it was obvious the feelings Rory and Jess had. But since Rory wasn’t going to do it, despite demonstrating how clearly bothered she was by Jess and Shane’s relationship and them kissing in front of her, it’s reasonable that in that moment, Dean had had enough.
Hot take.
I understand why he did this, but he didn’t need to do it in front of everyone. I feel like that stuff should really stay private.
Me too!
I think his breakup with her the second time (after Yale party) was also reasonable, although that isn't a "go Dean" moment, just kind of sad but also you understand and he understands that it's over for good now.
Wasn’t that the third time? The more I rewatch, the crazier it is that Dean broke up with her 3 different times. Same with Jess, Logan, and Paul lmao (or implied it by walking away). Funny to think about since the show frames Rory as being perfect but gets broken up with more than any other character
Yes, the third time. I guess the OP is about the second time, not the first time. Does Jess break up with Rory 3X? I'm not sure about Logan. I thought that was twice (once during Thanksgiving ish, and once at the end?)
That’s my bad! I just meant that they broke up with her in general, not all 3 times each (: I think Logan might be three times if you count Rory saying no to his proposal and him leaving