I just saw
5.04-Tippecanoe & Taylor, Too. I'm re-watching the show through ABC Family and after going from Season 1 to Season 5. It's clear that there's a sense of evolution and de-evolution of Dean Forester.
I liked him in Season 1. He was the dependable good boy who liked Rory, he was willing to read books that she recommended. Lorelai liked him a lot, she gave him a chance. He was protective, managed to impress Madeline & Louise. Sure, he was possessive when it came to people like Tristan or how Rory reacted to him saying "I Love You". Yet, he was a good first boyfriend.
Then came Jess Mariano, Rory's intellectual equal. He definitely saw Jess as a threat. Yet, he tried to hold on to his relationship with Rory but realized that she had feelings for Jess. Rory tried to be loyal to Dean and tried to be the good girlfriend but breaking up with her in front of everyone had to be embarrassing. Sure, Jess played around and teased Dean for a bit. Yet, Dean really humilated Rory leaving her upset. When Jess dated Rory, Dean gave him a hard time. Jess was trying to be the good guy but Dean just kept being around. While Jess wasn't the dependable, protective character that Dean was in Season 1. He admitted to having guilt and shame of how he treated Rory and tried to redeem himself in Season 4 but Rory never gave him that chance.
Dean definitely became the stalker character of sorts by parts of Season 3 and Season 4. When he told Rory the news that he was getting married to Lindsay. Rory was like "what the hell" and Dean got angry over the fact that she couldn't accept it when she was still with Jess. When Rory and Jess broke up, it was too late. Dean was in a relationship with Lindsay and was still pining for Rory. When Luke saw a drunken Dean saying "Rory", he knew that Dean would cause a whole lot of trouble for Rory. Luke always put Rory first before anyone. He wanted to talk to Dean about the upcoming wedding and Dean just left. When Luke saw Dean pine for Rory, even as Dean is married. Luke knew things weren't going to work out for Dean and Lindsay while Rory would end up being hurt.
In
4.14-The Incredible Shrinking Lorelais, Dean was trying to help Rory but because he's married. He went against his own judgement and such. Luke may have been doing the same thing in the same situation to his marriage with Nicole, but he had no romantic history with Lorelai at that time. Sure, giving Lorelai a check for $30,000 may have helped contribute the end of Luke's marriage to Nicole but Luke did it as an act of friendship. Dean though, because he's young and having just been married while carrying feelings for Rory definitely puts him in a bad place.
Dean's claims that the marriage wasn't working may have been true from his mind but Lindsay was the one who wasn't giving up. Lindsay may have not been smart either by making him work, drop out of school, and such. Yet, did she tell him to do those things because she wanted some town house? I can understand why Rory always needed him to help her out in situations but she really should've explored her options a bit more. There's Lane, Paris, her mother. I think because Rory had been overwhelmed by her first year in Yale and the disappointment over her relationship with Jess the year before and his unpredictable nature. Dean was someone that she can depend on. Yet, she was asking questions on whether he was doing the right thing.
Dean lied to Rory about the state of his marriage only to get her into bed. That was the moment I think audiences and especially Lorelai lost all respect for Dean. Lorelai cared about Dean because he protected and cared for Rory. Yet, the moment she saw him come out of Rory's room. She couldn't really look at him. Then he comes home, yells at Lindsay for answering his cell phone. He treated Lindsay like crap and it was totally uncalled for. He became a cheating husband and then when Rory left for Europe, he probably got upset and once again, was stuck with Lindsay. The girl trying to be the good wife. Then came the letter and... tick, tick, tick... BOOM!!!!
I think Rory's intention in that letter was to stay away from Dean and let him deal with his marriage to Lindsay. Rory I don't think, wanted to hurt Lindsay but after the exposure of the letter. She felt extremely horrible and got an awful lecture from Lindsay's mother. I don't think Lindsay blamed Rory fully. I think she was more angry at Dean and just humilated. Then when Rory visited Dean at his home. I remember him saying "I feel like an idiot" and my response is, "oh really!" He blamed Rory for what happened not taking any responsibility for what happened.
Then they tried to maintain a relationship that was mostly about sex and that wasn't working. Rory I think wanted more while Dean I think, when he had sex with Rory the first time and other times, was thinking with his d*ck than the small brain inside his head. When Rory later asked him if he still would've left if Lindsay hadn't found that letter. I don't think he was being honest. Then came the double-date with Luke & Lorelai and Luke was definitely bothered by Dean's presence. He was more concerned about Rory and Dean's irresponsible ways. It was clear that Luke had vehmently disapproved of Dean. Though Luke may have been acting like a jerk and later apologized, it was only because he wanted to protect Rory.
Rory-Dean III was definitely doomed not because there were people disapproving the relationship including Richard and Emily Gilmore. It was also because they were both in different worlds. Rory has a life filled with promise and potential and she's moving on her way up. He's stuck working at Doose's like he did the time he arrived at Stars Hollow years ago. Making things worse, he's got debts to pay for the aftermath of his marriage and everything else. The final blow for me in that relationship was when Rory asked him questions about the Life & Death Brigade article she wrote and he couldn't give her straight answers. Then came the Yale Party which was Richard and Emily's plan to get rid of Dean for good and they succeeded thanks to the arrival of Logan Huntzberger and his buddies. Rory had a great time and when Dean showed up, he realized he doesn't belong in Rory's world anymore. While I give him credit for conceding and realizing everything else, the fact he did it again in front of other people was not the way to go. Rory was humilated but felt better thanks to Logan.
Dean's final appearance in
5.18-To Live & Let Diorama showed the final evolution of Dean Forester. The dependable, loyal, and caring boyfriend of Season 1 had now become a bitter ex-lover. Dean seeing Luke with Lorelai really must've pissed him off. Yet, Luke and Lorelai's relationship is different because it's more adult than what Rory and Dean had. Dean gave Luke some bad looks and Luke admitted that he acted like a jerk that night in the double date and apologized. Yet, Dean said things that were totally uncalled for about Luke's situation. I doubt the fact that he and Luke are the same. Sure, Luke is a loner, not really to be worldly or anything. Yet, I don't think Dean knows Lorelai that well either. Dean ends up putting doubts into Luke's head and would not be seen again for the show.
Though what Dean said would have some merit, Luke ended up in the series a changed man of sorts with a daughter, a surrogate daughter, and a woman he can always talk to and be with.
It's funny that Dean was a such huge character yet in post-Season 7 fan-fiction, not much was written about him. Writers prefer to write about Jess or Logan. In
Virtual Gilmore Girls Season 8, only Jess and Logan each made an appearance to help Rory out. It's clear that in the end, Jess became the guy Rory can depend on and talk to as he grew up into a stable, accomplished young man. The only problem is that since Luke & Lorelai are together and are likely to be married, they'd become step-cousins. Ew! Logan meanwhile, is also the same thing though he's trying to seek out his own goals and independence away from his father. Yet, he helped Rory in her own situation as Rory realize she's glad she's got Logan to talk to as well. Jess and Logan bring out the best in Rory and can understand her in ways Dean couldn't.
Season 9, via fan fiction, is coming Tues. It's likely that Jess and Logan will make an appearance (especially Jess since
Heroes is not going very well), will Dean?
I would compare Dean more to Christopher since they were the first loves of the Gilmore Girls. They were dependable, understanding, and caring yet they were also posessive, immature, and often lacking in common sense. Unlike Dean, Christopher at least is accepting in the fact that he's not the right guy for Lorelai no matter how much it hurt. Dean ends up just sulking and blaming whoever he thinks caused harm in that relationship.
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