In season 1 of Gilmore Girls, Lorelai Gilmore insisted that she rarely dated. While that may have been true, she made an exception for Max Medina, Rory’s dreamy English teacher. Lorelai and Max’s relationship hit a few rough patches, but the duo was engaged by the end of season 1. They never actually wed, though. Max floated in and out of Lorelai’s life until season 3, when he disappeared for good. Max isn’t the most beloved of Lorelai’s suitors. Gilmore Girls fans have plenty of reasons to dislike Max Medina, but we think he was alright. We are here to defend Max Medina.
Max Medina had some pretty negative traits, but it was mostly situational
In an episode of I Am All In, an iHeart Media podcast, Scott Patterson asserted that Max Medina was completely inappropriate for asking out the mother of one of his students. The actor, who spent seven seasons portraying Luke Danes, argued that Max crossed a boundary early on in his relationship with Lorelai and continued doing it during the duration of their romance.
Patterson is right. Max did have some pretty negative traits. Still, we have to give Max Medina a little credit here. His most problematic moments were almost entirely situational. Gilmore Girls fans argue that Max Medina ran hot and cold with Lorelai. That is true, but we think he was wishy-washy because of his position at Chilton and Lorelai’s attempt to sprint away from the relationship early on.
Max could get a bit pushy, but that also was a product of the situation. Lorelai was difficult to pin down and had a hard time expressing herself. We think Max often pushed because he needed answers. He seemed to be hoping it would force Lorelai to work out the logistics of their admittedly complicated romance.
Max did try to incorporate Lorelai Gilmore into his life
Max’s sudden proposal caused a few hiccups in his relationship with Lorelai. We agree with most Gilmore Girls fans. Max Medina lept to propose long before he should have. Still, he seemed committed to moving forward, and he did try to integrate Lorelai into his life. She was the one not willing to integrate him into hers.
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Max asked perfectly reasonable questions about how their life as a married couple would eventually work. He wanted to understand where his place was with Rory, and he was taking his role as a stepfather seriously. Lorelai hated it. Still, Max wasn’t wrong. He was logical and responsible. He wasn’t a bad guy; his expectations and Lorelai’s expectations simply did not align.
He did take a step back when he needed to
While Max could be pushy, we have to give him credit for making a decision and sticking to it. After Lorelai called off the couple’s wedding, he stepped back and worked hard to distance himself from Lorelai without making Rory feel like she had lost a mentor.
He even made an effort to maintain a professional relationship with Lorelai and treat her the same as he treated the other parents when he was forced to work with her. Max might have been a bit pushy initially. Still, he did know how to take no for an answer eventually and never let his former relationship with Lorelai color his behavior at Chilton.
We don’t know what became of Max, but we’d like to think he found someone better suited to his lifestyle. Max struck us as someone looking to get married, have a family, and live a pretty traditional life. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, and we hope he found it. It simply was not going to happen with Lorelai.
