This Is The Best Rivalry In Gilmore Girls

On its face, Gilmore Girls doesn't seem like a show that's filled with rivalries. After all, it's really a seven-season, small-town dramedy about a mother and a daughter who work to balance the various parts of their lives, with occasional betrayals thrown in. Within that broader story, though, there are a fair number of rivalries. 

Some of these rivalries are romantic. Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki) and Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) get pretty heated when it becomes clear that Jess is trying to win over Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) in spite of the fact that she's in a relationship with Dean. Similarly, Luke (Scott Patterson) and Christopher (David Sutcliffe) spend much of the show in a tug of war over Lorelai Gilmore's (Lauren Graham) affections.

Not all of the rivalries are purely romantic, of course. There are some Gilmore Girls rivalries that happen because of competition over a job or a spot on a school team. For much of the series' run, Rory and her initial nemesis Paris Geller (Liza Weil) are academic rivals, but they eventually become great friends. 

But none of these rivalries is the best that Gilmore Girls has to offer. That honor goes to the hot-headed relationship that exists between Luke and Taylor Doose (Michael Winters).  

The rivalry between Luke and Taylor exists because they both share a passion for Stars Hollow, the small Connecticut town they call home. Taylor spends much of the series planning wild activities for the town and its people, and Luke is, in general, quite opposed to these things. He'd rather the town run in a quieter, less flashy way, but Taylor believes that outlandish events are the only way to both keep the townspeople engaged and draw tourists to the area. 

Given their disagreements over how Stars Hollow should operate, it's only logical that Luke and Taylor spend much of Gilmore Girls' seven seasons screaming at one another. Their rivalry isn't one born out of hatred; rather, they just have fundamentally different perspectives on things. Thankfully, the arguments between Luke and Taylor were often hilarious. Luke, a man who is very set in his ways, often comes at Taylor with ruthless attacks, and Taylor fends them off as best he can. 

While their rivalry could certainly be ferocious, Luke and Taylor were actually friends who expressed their love for one another through bickering. Whenever Taylor was really down, Luke was always there to lend a reluctant hand. When it comes down to it, they were rivals simply because they both loved their hometown and its people — and that's part of what makes Gilmore Girls so special more than 20 years after it premiered.