For those Gilmore Girls fans of a certain vintage, you might remember that episode when Milo Ventimiglia’s bad boy, Jess Mariano, takes a break from terrorising Stars Hollow with his abject misery and woe-is-me misanthropy, and heads for California to try and reconnect with his biological father. Airing towards the end of the third season, the episode — entitled “Here Comes the Son” — saw Jess land in a very hipster, grungy kind of neighbourhood on Venice Beach.
The episode served as a “backdoor pilot” for a potential spin-off series, which was meant to be called Windward Circle. A cast was assembled, including Rob Estes as Jimmy Mariano, Jess’s wayward dad, and Sherilyn Fenn, who played a character named Sasha, who was Jimmy’s girlfriend. Fenn would later return to Gilmore Girls in another role, that of Anna Nardini, the mother of Luke Danes’ (Scott Patterson) previously unknown daughter. Speculation at the time suggested that the series wasn’t picked up due to the costs of shooting on the West Coast.
Now, speaking to People, Gilmore Girls writer Stan Zimmerman has revealed that the golden glow of the Pacific beachside was hugely appealing to creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, who loved the idea of the crisp, fall colors of Stars Hollow to be contrasted with the Californian sun, but admitted that it never quite got off the ground.
“We hung out there a lot. We’d go have crazy lunches. [Sherman-Palladino] loved Venice … It’s a very colorful part of L.A. I think she really wanted that to be such a different vibe from the leaves falling in Stars Hollow to being out in Venice in California. It just never gelled into anything, but it was interesting to see Jess’s life and what that would’ve been like.”
What Happened to Jess After Windward Circle Never Took Off?
In the fourth season, Jess returns to Stars Hollow to try and convince Rory (Alexis Bledel) to abandon college and run away with him, before being firmly rebuffed. Jess also made sure to reconcile with his Uncle Luke, for whom he had been a colossal pain in the ass. By Season 6, Jess had matured significantly. He had written and published a book, showing a more stable, responsible side of him. He also played a key role in helping Rory realise that she needed to return to Yale after she had dropped out.
In the 2016 Netflix revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Jess appeared again, now even more mature and settled, and working in publishing. It was clear he was still harboring lingering feelings for Rory, but their relationship was unresolved by the conclusion.
Gilmore Girls is currently available for daily binging on Netflix.
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