Logan’s 'Gilmore Girls' Plotline Was Supposed To Be For Chad Michael Murray

Was Tristan supposed to be Logan?

@chaitealattesandchilton So sad 🫤 #2000s #gg #gilmoregirls #gilmoregirlstiktok #gilmore #rorygilmore #lorelaigilmore #emilygilmore #richardgilmore #lukedanes #lukesdiner #jessmariano #loganhuntzberger #sookiestjames #parisgeller #starshallow #starshallowaesthetic #chilton ♬ Back to the Old House (2011 Remaster) - The Smiths

“Sitting in the same character for too long can get stagnant," he says. "Not that the character was stifling, they did a great job. But I was so young that I needed to find out who Chad is. Who is Chad as an actor? Where can I go? What can I do? And you know it led to me discovering so much about myself that I genuinely wouldn't be the man I was today without making that decision…On One Tree Hill, Lucas was a moral compass and I hadn't played that yet at that point in my career. I was always playing the bad boy, whether it was Dawson's Creek, Gilmore Girls, whatever it was. And so I chose the moral compass, and I wanted to go a different route and discover more about myself.”

“I just remember that I wanted him to be the guy that you didn't know if you should be close to him,” Chad says about Tristan's character. “I always wanted to keep everybody at arms distance, and so everything was a deflection…He found her intriguing, he thought she was smart, intelligent, beautiful, and that he did love her. Um, he just didn't know how to voice his feelings because he wasn't raised in a family that did such.”

Which leads me to wonder — how much of the the plans for Tristan were added to Jess’ or Logan’s plots? If you think about it, Jess and Tristan are both rebellious, snarky, and very intelligent, while Logan and Tristan’s families have the same prestige and wealth. While Jess became a larger character in Chad’s absence, I totally believe that Logan’s arc came from what Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted to write for Tristan.

Was Rory supposed to end up with Tristan?

One Reddit user points out that Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted Tristan to stick around as a next-generation mirror of Christopher, which is exactly how Logan comes across later in the show.

“ASP wanted Rory to have a chance to date someone like her dad both in character and status,” they say. “Tristan fit the bill but the character was written out due to Murray's contract with WB. I initially thought he was written out to make way for Jess but interestingly enough I think Jess was supposed to be a filler character.”

“I remember that, when Logan showed up l and started calling Rory ‘Ace’, my first thought was ‘Wait, they're doing Tristan again?!’” another user agrees, while a third is way happier with Logan than with Tristan.

“I can't stand Tristan at all,” they say. “I see the connection, but I find it irritating. There is nothing romantic about a guy that bullies, harasses, and hounds you. I'm glad his character departed. In my opinion, there was no chemistry between the two of them - just Chad being Chad. Logan is a much better use of this idea and is so much less whiny and pitiful than Tristan.”

Why did Tristan leave Gilmore Girls?

In season 2, Tristan DuGray leaves Chilton for military school in North Carolina because of bad behavior — and Chad Michael Murray left Gilmore Girls to film One Tree Hill in Wilmington, North Carolina.