In the spring of 2022, NBC announced that This Is Us was coming to an end after six seasons. With Milo Ventimiglia as the beloved Jack Pearson, longtime fans were sad to see him go. More recently, his costar and TV wife Mandy Moore posted an emotional tribute to Ventimiglia and their time together on set. Fans are sad about the ending of an award-winning series but are excited to see what’s in store for the actors in the future.
No matter how many accomplishments or accolades Ventimiglia continues to get in his career as an actor, many loyal fans will forever view him as Jess Mariano from Gilmore Girls. In the series, Jess was Luke’s troubled nephew who came to live with him to get his life back on track. The duo hit plenty of speed bumps during their time together but they also had moments of growth and clarity in a few fan-favorite episodes of Gilmore Girls.
Fans who rewatched Jess' first episode would agree that he had some of the best character development in the series. At the start of season 2, Jess showed up at his Uncle Luke’s annoyed and bothered that he had to be in there at all.
In ‘Nick & Nora, Sid, & Nancy,’ Jess moved in with Luke and wasn’t keen on getting to know the people of Stars Hollow. Lorelai and Rory tried to help Luke by entertaining Jess but he saw right through their act and rebelled. This episode is an important one because it’s the start of the ongoing Luke and Jess storyline, not to mention the start of Jess and Rory’s ongoing friendship.
As frustrating as Jess could be at times, he was still just a kid who felt abandoned by his parents. As caring and helpful as Luke was, he wasn’t as patient with Jess as he could have been. Jess deserved better.
In ‘Lost and Found,’ Jess became closer to Rory despite her relationship with Dean. When Rory lost the bracelet Dean gave her, all signals pointed to Jess as the culprit. Meanwhile at Jess and Luke’s place, Luke grew tired of the tight space they shared in his studio apartment. Instead of organizing Jess’ things, Luke impulsively bought the building next door so he could expand his apartment to create more room for him and Jess. The moment Luke slammed a sledgehammer into the wall and handed it to Jess was one of the best. It was a new beginning for the uncle and nephew duo.
In season 4, Jess went back to Stars Hollow after some time away. The only reason why he went back was because his mom was getting remarried and she wanted him at the wedding. Jess wasn’t looking forward to seeing his ex Rory again because of unresolved feelings but he was in a better headspace with Luke. After knowing each other for a few years, Luke and Jess became closer.
Luke was in a new place in his life and was ready to settle down and commit to a person he always loved — Lorelai. Seeing that Jess was still in love with Rory, Luke helped Jess clear his mind by giving him a self-help book. Jess made fun of the book at first but once he read it, it did more for him than he realized. After years of rebellion, Jess finally matured on Gilmore Girls and even offered to pay Luke back for all the trouble he caused him.
Although there are plenty of fans who are Team Jess throughout Gilmore Girls, they didn’t always have great moments. Most of their chemistry and lure occurred during their friendship. Once they started dating, things got harder and their communication lacking.
In ‘Swan Song,’ Rory asked Jess to go to Friday night dinner with her to meet her grandmother. Jess was against the idea but promised her he’d go. In an awkward turn of events, Jess showed up late with a black eye and even left early. When he got home, Luke demanded Jess give him answers about what happened. Jess awkwardly told him the truth: he was attacked by a swan. What made this episode one of the best was Luke’s reaction to the attack and the two went out looking for the swan the following day.
‘The Ins and Outs of Inns’ was all about the town’s distaste for Jess. Even though he had only been in Stars Hollow for a short time, people like Taylor Doose were sick of his pranks around town. They even had a town meeting about how they were going to handle Jess.
While it was a harsh episode, it was a good one for Luke and Jess fans. Luke found out about the meeting and defended his nephew wholeheartedly. With Jess being a teen, he deserved a second chance. Jess later felt bad for all the pain he caused Luke and fixed the diner’s toaster that had been on the fritz to show appreciation.
In season 6, Jess made a few rare appearances. After being away from Stars Hollow for years, he invited Rory to his book launch in Philadelphia. Even though Rory was still dating Logan, she was frustrated with him and went to Philadelphia to see Jess anyway.
Jess was happy to see Rory and figured she was there because she still had feelings for him. However, the sweetest part about the episode was that Luke also drove to Philadelphia to support Jess and his book. Even sweeter, Luke brought his daughter April because it was time the two cousins met. The episode showed how much respect the two had for each other and that anything negative between them was in the past.
It’s an unpopular opinion to support Jess in ‘Teach Me Tonight’ after he crashed Rory’s car with the two of them in it. The two were having a rather eventful night and things went too far when he crashed.
Being a protective mom, Lorelai was bewildered when she found out her daughter was in an accident with Jess behind the wheel. Without thinking it through, Lorelai ran to Luke’s house to confront Jess herself. However, when she got there she was confronted by Luke who had no idea what had happened. Despite Lorelai’s eagerness to find Jess, Luke defended him and protected him from her like Jess was his own. When Lorelai left, Luke went to the pond where he found a scared and sad Jess sitting by the water. Jess told Luke he made sure Rory was okay before leaving the hospital, to which Luke understood and comforted him.
'The Bracebridge Dinner' wasn’t the biggest episode for Jess or Luke but they had funny moments. When Lorelai’s guests couldn’t physically make the event they had planned, Lorelai invited the town to the Independence Inn for the themed dinner instead.
Jess and Luke were fish out of water and didn’t know how to react around the hired actors and servers, which made for funny scenes. This was especially true when the two men didn’t know what kind of food they were eating. It was scenes like these that made fans like Jess and Luke better than Lorelai and Rory because their banter was easier to follow and fun to watch.
The parallels between Rory and Jess and Lorelai and Luke were strong in ‘I Can’t Get Started.’ Lorelai felt like she was failing as a mother. Luke wasn’t far away in his thoughts from practically raising Jess.
In a tender moment between uncle and nephew, Jess told Luke he wanted to come back to Stars Hollow after getting away for a little while. Luke could have denied Jess and sent him packing. Instead, he told Jess that he could come back and stay with him but things would have to change. Shortly after, Jess realized that Luke never touched his things and was most likely holding out on Jess going back home.
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