Luke & Jess's Relationship Matures In The Revival

I have never been shy about being #TeamJess. And I will always root for him, no matter how the Gilmore Girls revival concludes. But, Rory, don't make any rash decisions, please. Just because I love Jess' character doesn't mean I don't recognize his flaws. He has many. But I also think his character progression over the series was admirable and, apparently, so did the creators. So much so, that Gilmore Girls sent Jess on a straight path to real maturity. As Entertainment Weekly relays, "Jess and Luke's dynamic has changed" and it bodes well for Jess' continued upward trajectory.

As EW explains, it took a long time for Jess' progression to really take place. The "transition from troublemaker to appreciative adult," as the site dubs it, was gradual — pretty much taking place over the entirety of his time on the series — but it's something that was well-developed. And as the site points out, this continues into the revival. And it's reflected in how Jess' relationship with Luke now operates. Scott Patterson told the publication, "It’s like two men interacting now."

Meanwhile, Milo Ventimiglia explained to Entertainment Weekly,

"At a certain point, children grow up and they’re able to weigh in on their parents' lives. Jess was a kid when he first lived with Luke and then after a time, he grew up. Luke is a smart guy to see that in his nephew to say, 'He’s carved a path for himself, he’s done well, and more importantly, he’s happy.' And when people see someone that feels settled in their life, they’re going to be more inclined to listen to that person if they’re giving them perspective."

While it's heartwarming to hear that the uncle and nephew are getting along, that's not the most important aspect to take away from this revelation. In fact, the news of their relationship says more about Jess' character than anything else. After all, could he really have a meaningful relationship with Luke if he wasn't at peace with himself? I'm not sure he could.

The overarching theme I get from this Jess and Luke relationship insight is that Jess, the formerly brooding, rolling stone, is happy when we see him again in the revival. Could you have ever dreamed we'd get to this point? I sure hoped so, but I'll be honest, I wasn't certain it would ever happen. The revival could have tackled the issue of Jess in a much more dramatic way. They could have had him fall back into old, bad habits. They could have had him as a failure. They could have had him cynical and beaten down, but they didn't.

They chose to progress Jess, rather than regress him. And it's probably going to be one of the most gratifying things for a #TeamJess girl like me, who always championed the character's potential, to get to witness.

Image: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy