This Is The Biggest Betrayal On Gilmore Girls

When it wanted to, Gilmore Girls could be a fairly pleasant, low-key show. The characters were all people of relative privilege, and the problems that they had were often fairly petty or benign. That doesn't mean, however, that the show didn't know how to turn on the drama when it wanted to. 

Over the course of its seven seasons on the air, there were plenty of knock-down, drag-out fights between Lorelai (Lauren Graham), her daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel), and her mother Emily (Kelly Bishop), as well as the show's various supporting players. Those seasons also feature plenty of betrayal, although the show ultimately resolves many of its conflicts fairly quickly. Occasionally, though, the actions of one character have a more permanent effect on the dynamics between them and the rest of the cast. That was definitely the case for the biggest betrayal the show ever depicted, which was when Rory dropped out of Yale and decided to move in with her grandparents.

At the end of season 5, Rory and Logan (Matt Czuchry) steal a boat together and get arrested. At the same time, she announces that she's planning to take some time off from Yale. Lorelai is furious and refuses to let Rory stay at home if she's not going to school. Initially, Lorelai's parents agree to this plan, but when Rory shows up in tears, they ultimately allow her to stay with them. 

It's a betrayal that impacts much of season 6, as Rory and Lorelai stop speaking with one another, and Lorelai stops speaking to Richard (Edward Hermann) and Emily as well. The move is a gut punch not just because Richard and Emily go back on their word with Lorelai, but also because Rory stops listening to what her mother has to say. Throughout Gilmore Girls, Rory has leaned on Lorelai as both a mother and a friend. In the season 5 finale, though, she goes to her grandparents instead.

Although the betrayal leaves deep wounds that impact much of the next season, Rory and Lorelai ultimately patch things up. The love between mother and daughter can't be permanently destroyed, and Rory eventually realizes she needs to go back to Yale.

Even so, Rory left a mark with her decisions at the end of season 5. It was proof that the bond between the Gilmore girls was strong but that there were decisions they could make that would shake it to its core. Rory leaving Yale was the ultimate betrayal because Yale was the thing that she and her mother had been working toward for her entire life. Lorelai sacrificed her pride and her vanity to get Rory what she needed to go to a great college, and for a minute, it seemed like she was going to throw it all away. She didn't, but that doesn't mean the betrayal hurt any less in the moment.