‘Gilmore Girls’: Should Luke and Lorelai Have Stayed Just Friends?

Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore were relationship goals for many Gilmore Girls fans. The famed couple’s will-they-won’t-they trope helped drive the show for several seasons before they finally kissed on the porch of The Dragonfly Inn. Most viewers were equally delighted to see the couple still together nearly a decade later in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Still, a small group of fans largely believe the couple was better off as just friends. So, did Luke and Lorelai make better friends than lovers?

Luke and Lorelai had absolutely nothing in common

Lorelai and Luke were cute during the flirtation stage of their friendship, and they were adorable when they first got together. As their relationship progressed, something seemed off. When you think about it, Luke and Lorelai had absolutely nothing in common with each other.

Lorelai enjoyed all of the town activities that Luke could not stand. She was social and well-liked, while Luke was a loner with a surly attitude. Luke enjoyed the outdoors, while Lorelai most assuredly preferred indoor activities. Lorelai was a pop culture junkie, while Luke knew extraordinarily little about music, television, and movies. 

They were both incredibly stubborn and had a difficult time with change

Luke and Lorelai’s difference could have worked in their favor as a couple. After all, it’s often said that opposites attract. Their problems lay in the fact that along with having almost nothing in common, the pair were both incredibly stubborn and had difficulty communicating.

Lorelai wanted to change exactly nothing about her life once she got into a relationship with Luke. Luke refused to communicate important pieces of information with Lorelai, even though they were engaged at the time. Their lack of communication and their stubborn natures wouldn’t have mattered much in their mostly surface friendship, but once they got into a romantic relationship, it was certainly problematic.

Luke and Lorelai lacked the chemistry fans want to see from a couple

Perhaps most importantly, some fans believe they lacked sexual chemistry once they became an actual couple. While plenty of fans were waiting to see the pair finally make things official, it fell flat once it happened. In fact, Luke and Lorelai seemed to have more chemistry as pals than they did as an actual romantic couple.

So, who would Lorelai have been better off with? Reddit users argue that Lorelai seemed to have the most chemistry with Christopher Hayden, Rory’s father. Jason Stiles comes in as a close second. Lorelai dated Jason after reconnecting with him when he went into business with Richard Gilmore. Jason grew up with both Lorelai and Christopher.