Rory & Paris’ Friendship Actually Started In Gilmore Girls Season 1

While Gilmore Girls season 2 made Rory and Paris enemies, the pair’s eventual friendship was secretly foreshadowed way back in season 1 of the series.

While Rory and Paris may have been enemies in Gilmore Girls season 2 (and eventually became best friends), the seeds of their friendship were secretly sown back in season 1. Paris and Rory’s friendship was one of the less complex relationships in Gilmore Girls. Rory’s relationship with her mother Lorelei, her various romances with Jess, Dean, and Logan, and her attempts to make her grandparents proud all allowed Gilmore Girls to explore the character’s unique neuroses and quirks, from her commitment issues to her obsessive over achievement. In contrast, Rory’s friendship with Paris showed her laid-back side.

While Jess challenged Rory (and Dean attempted to contain her ambitions), Paris simply made Rory seem normal in contrast. Where Rory was invested in education, Paris was obsessively competitive. While Rory was a little detail-oriented, Paris was a perfectionist whose obsession with results eventually led her to numerous breakdowns. Where Rory struggled with emotional intimacy and trust, Paris compartmentalized her life in a cold, emotionless fashion. Essentially, Paris was Rory’s foil, whose presence always proved that, despite Rory’s flaws, she could be doing much worse. As such, it is not surprising that the two were always secretly destined to be friends.

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Rory & Paris’ Friendship Started In Season 1 Episode 13

While Gilmore Girls season 2 posited Paris and Rory as enemies, they were friends for a little bit in season 1, and this was what provided the foundation of their relationship. When Melissa McCarthy’s Sookie got Rory, Lorelei, and Lane tickets to a Bangles concert in Gilmore Girls season 1, episode 13, “Concert Interruptus,” Lane’s inability to attend led Lorelai to invite Paris, Louise, and Madeline. Most of the night turned into a nightmare, but it was Paris’ best night ever, and the ice began to thaw between Rory and Paris as a result. Later in season 1, Rory helped set up Tristan and Paris.

Paris even went to Rory’s house when she couldn’t figure out what to wear on their date, providing further proof that Paris and Rory were always destined to become close friends. Tristan’s antics soon got in the way of this but, while Paris held a grudge over this and was enemies with Rory in season 2, their Gilmore Girls story still started and ended with friendship. Even in A Year in the Life, the divisive Gilmore Girls revival that arrived in 2016, the pair have maintained a close connection that rivals Rory’s relationship with Lorelei.

Paris Went To Rory For What To Wear On Her Date With Tristan

The fact that Paris sought fashion advice from Rory (and soon conceded that she was really in search of emotional support since she was a nervous wreck over her date with Tristan) highlights the real nature of their relationship. Rory supports Paris in much the same way Lorelei supports her. She can be nurturing, but can also cross personal boundaries and end up hurting Paris as much as she helps. Still, Paris often returns to Rory despite this, much like Rory returns to Lorelei for advice despite her mother’s limitations. Since Gilmore Girls season 1, Rory has been the Lorelei to Paris’s Rory, which provides context for their many blowups.

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