Gilmore Girls’ Paris Geller is many things: hyper-intelligent, laser focused, extremely intense…

“I want to win, and I’m going to win.”

She could be combative and, well, straight up mean… but she became a beloved character because as the show went on we got to peel back the layers and see Paris as less of a looming threat and more as a real person. As she evolved over the seasons, she never gave up what made her Paris, she just expanded her world and let down her walls (... a little bit.) While things always seemed to turn out great for Rory no matter what (at least for a while), Paris was hit with some big setbacks that caused her to have to rethink her single-minded goals for her future. So, who is Paris Geller, really? And how did she go from a glorified extra to an iconic character?

“I’m the most likely target, so I’ve made a list of enemies that I’ve narrowed down from 26 to 5.” “Just at Yale?!” “Just in this building.”

Accepting Nothing Less Than The Best

While Paris was originally just intended to be a short-term character for Rory to feud with upon arriving at Chilton, actress Liza Weil brought such an interesting energy to the part that the writers knew they needed to keep her around to see where this character could go. So while Paris is initially in full on villain mode

“I’m going to be editor next year.” “Good for you.” “I’m also top of the class and intend to be valedictorian when I graduate.” “Okay…”

Once it was decided that she would be sticking around, the show began taking more time to analyze why Paris behaves the way she does. Sure, she really, really wants to get into Harvard – but there’s clearly more going on there.

Paris is the quintessential “difficult” girl – she’s assertive, neurotic, ambitious, high-strung, and totally unafraid to speak her mind. But she isn’t just driven by ego – she works hard to be the best at everything because she feels like being the smartest, most driven person in any room is her only source of worth. While Paris comes from wealth, her home life is chaotic, with her parents constantly fighting and pretty much ignoring Paris and her needs as their child.

“I just can’t focus lately, things are so weird at my house. My dad finally figured out exactly how much it was going to cost to divorce my mom, and so he’s back.”

Her closest familial relationship is actually with her nanny – to the point that she was the only one who showed up for Paris on her graduation day, not her parents. School is the one place Paris has ever been able to feel like she’s truly in control – and so she focuses her entire being on getting perfect grades and being the perfect student. She’s set up acceptance to Harvard as the end all, be all in her mind – as if, once she’s accepted, her entire life will finally fall into place. Her singular drive causes her to ignore everything else about life – friends, dating, fun – to the point where she doesn’t even really know how to be a “regular” teen.

“I can’t do this.” “What?” “Date! I’m not genetically set up for it.”

Her high expectations for herself also lead to her pushing everyone around her towards the same goals… even if they don’t really want that for themselves. Her anxiety around slipping up even a bit – or being brought down by someone else’s failure – leads her to attempt to micromanage every aspect of the world around her.

While their relationship starts out rather antagonistic, Paris and Rory soon become friends because they fill important gaps in the other’s life: Rory is the only person that isn’t afraid of Paris, and so is able to actually reach her on a human level; and Paris is the only person who doesn’t think Rory is a perfect angel and so actually pushes her to fight towards her goals and stand up for herself. But this aura of perfection around Rory is also a big sticking point between the pair. While Paris works so hard – to get good grades, be in every club, try to get people to like her – things just always seem to fall into place for Rory without her really trying. When they meet, Rory has never even really thought about the fact that she might need to plan and work to get into the university she wants, while Paris has been molding her entire life towards that goal since she was in the fourth grade.

“I’ve been a camp counselor, I organized a senior literacy program, I worked a suicide hotline, I manned a runaway center. I’ve adopted dolphins, taught sign language, trained seeing eye dogs…”

As we discussed in our video on her, being surrounded by the idea that she was so special just by the fact of her existence actually hindered Rory – things alway just seemed to fall into her lap, so any time anything didn’t go her way, she couldn’t even comprehend it. Paris, on the other hand, always seems to get the short end of the stick. Even when she should come out on top, the show often throws a wrench in her plans to make sure that Rory comes out ahead in the end. One of the most egregious examples of this is of course Rory becoming valedictorian over Paris. As Lydia Venn wrote for The Tab, “She worked her arse off for four years, got perfect grades, was president of the student council, editor of the newspaper and on every committee going. What more did she need to do?” But Paris is always able to see the long game, to plan for the future.

“I actually googled the personal histories of ivy league valedictorians going back 25 years and found some enlightening statistics. They don’t generally do too well in later life, did you know that?”

In the end, while Rory’s perfection may grate on Paris, and Paris’ overbearing nature may drive Rory a little mad, they make a good pair because they can support each other in ways that no one else can.

“Can you let her off the hook for god’s sake? In case you didn’t know it, Rory is a great person and she does not deserve to be treated this way. Anyone should feel lucky to call her a friend. I know I do.”

CH 2: Learning To Spread Her Wings

Focusing so singularly on school for so long allowed Paris to ignore every other aspect of her life. She’d built up a hard shell to keep anyone from getting too close, or getting in her way – but secretly she longed for connection but was afraid to reach out for it. Rory is able to help her start breaking down these walls she’s built up, and accept that it’s worth branching out a bit, even if everything doesn’t go perfectly. But unlike some other hardcore overachievers on screen, Paris doesn’t become a more well-rounded, happier person by giving up those “difficult” characteristics that make her her – she just opens herself up to new experiences in a very Paris way.

While Paris wants to believe she can do everything on her own, she does come to accept that sometimes even she needs help. She turns to Rory for advice on boys and relationships, and even finds connection with Lorelai when Rory drops out of Yale and leaves Paris floundering emotionally. Paris’ nanny had also played a big role in helping her with decision making and staying calm. When she started at University, she realized she still needed that kind of support in her life, and so hired a life coach. She never really chilled out, but she did soften her edges… a bit.

“The old Paris would have been bothered by your penchant to hover. It would have made her want to ring your neck until your eyeballs popped out. But now, I accept it because I can’t control everything.”

Old habits die hard, though and the old Paris does come back with a vengeance on occasion – like when she’s made editor of the newspaper at Yale. She’s so intense and overbearing that the rest of the staff literally mutiny and overthrow her (and, surprise, replace her with Rory.) But eventually Paris finds a way to use her ambitious, micromanaging nature for good – by starting a tutoring company to help other students succeed. She might not be nice, but if there’s one thing she knows, it’s how to get good grades.

When her parents flee the country and the IRS freezes all of their assets, she learns what it’s like to not have that safety net, and she’s not a fan. While Paris does expand her world during undergrad, she always keeps her eyes on the prize – she wants to set herself up for a future full of success. And while Rory begins faltering in college – her lack of work ethic and inability to deal with even the slightest criticism finally starting to catch up with her – Paris’ hard work finally starts to pay off. She might have gotten rejected by her dream school Harvard for undergrad, things do finally go her way when applying for grad school.

Success, the Paris Way

By learning to harness her powers instead of letting them ruin her life, Paris manages to continue to work towards her larger goals while also considering things like happiness and personal growth.

“I vote we get rid of craft corner.” “No! That’s my emotional homework!”

She takes her ambition and ability to learn pretty much anything and, as we learn in the revival series A Year in the Life, uses it to get a whole host of degrees (apparently graduating from Harvard Medical School and passing the bar) and eventually open her own fertility clinic. While golden child Rory is lost in a sea of malaise and fumbling around trying to figure out what, exactly, she’s doing with her life, Paris seems to have her life together. But that doesn’t mean she has everything figured out. That desire to be seen as perfect no matter what’s really going on still remains, even after she’s accomplished so much.

“Check out what’s in my briefcase… nothing. I brought it because I thought people would think I was more important if I was carrying a briefcase.”

But even if she does remain a little insecure, and that underlying fear of failure is never fully snuffed out, she has built a life she can be proud of – and she didn’t have to give up the more assertive, ambitious parts of herself to do it. Paris is the perfect example of how, if they’re willing to open themselves up a little and accept some uncertainty in life, so-called “difficult” women can use their abilities to create a better world for everyone – themselves included.

“You know, it’s weird… most of the time, I really hated you.” “Yeah, I really hated you, too.”