Why Logan Calls Rory Ace In Gilmore Girls

Fans of "Gilmore Girls," Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino's cozy series about a mother and daughter living in the small hamlet of Stars Hollow, know that the younger Gilmore, Rory (Alexis Bledel), has three major relationships throughout the course of the show. As her mother Lorelai (Lauren Graham) looks on, Rory dates Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki) and Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) while she's still in high school at the prestigious Chilton Academy, and when she enrolls at Yale University, Rory meets the wealthy, quick-witted Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) and is immediately smitten. Sure, Rory has other trysts and flings, but these three guys are her main partners, and ever since the series ended in 2007, fans have been arguing about which one is best at length. (As I age, I realize the answer is ... Logan, actually.)

I could go on at length about how Dean is an emotional black hole and wet mop dressed up to look like a real boy who, at no point, was a good match for Rory, but this article isn't about Dean. It's about Logan and why he gives Rory a cute little nickname shortly after meeting her; specifically, he calls her "Ace." But why? Well, Logan happens to be the son of Mitchum Huntzberger (Gregg Henry), a newspaper magnate (remember, this show was made between 2000 and 2007, so "newspaper magnate" was an actual thing back then), so he meets Rory while they're both working at the Yale Daily News. Initially, Logan uses the nickname "Ace" to gently rib Rory, a dedicated reporter — because, in contrast, Logan doesn't care much about the paper at all. This all changes, though, when Rory investigates a secret society that happens to count Logan as a member.

After Rory discovers the existence of the secret Life & Death Brigade, Logan invites her along to an overnight "meeting" of the group in the season 5 episode "You Jump, I Jump, Jack." After the two take part in an elaborate stunt involving wires and jumping from a great height holding umbrellas, Rory is drawn in by Logan's devil-may-care attitude and thrilling lifestyle ... and because of her presumably excellent article about the group, Logan calls her "Ace" as an affectionate nickname from that point forward. Not only is it a reference to her being an "ace" reporter, but "ace" can also mean something akin to "the best." It's cute!

After they spend the evening at a Life & Death Brigade event, Rory and Logan become friends but don't date right away, largely because Rory is dating Dean for the second time (in short, Rory breaks up Dean's marriage to his other Stars Hollow sweetheart and the two embark on a deeply ill-advised relationship while Dean remains in the small town and Rory attends Yale). When Dean and Rory finally break up for good, the path is clear for Logan and Rory to date, and even though Logan initially resists by saying he's not cut out for relationships and that Rory deserves better, the two end up dating after they kiss at the vow renewal ceremony of Rory's grandparents Emily and Richard Gilmore (Kelly Bishop and the late Edward Herrmann). 

Things start to go seriously south when Rory meets the rest of the Huntzbergers for the first time. When she attends a dinner at their massive house, she's essentially told she's not good enough for the prospect of "marrying into" the Huntzberger family, even though Logan and Rory aren't even discussing marriage. (Rory's response, though, is pretty absurd; as she exclaims to Logan, "I mean, I'm a Gilmore! Do they know that? My ancestors came over on the Mayflower!") To smooth things over, Mitchum offers Rory an internship at one of his smaller newspapers, only to later tell her she doesn't have what it takes to be a reporter (her lifelong dream). Rory, acting out over receiving one (1) piece of negative criticism, goes absolutely nuts and steals a yacht with Logan, and they're both arrested.

Rory, continuing her insane streak, temporarily drops out of Yale, but through it all, she and Logan keep dating ... until they have a fight, leading Rory to believe they're broken up while Logan thinks they're just on a "break." (Very Ross Geller of him.) When they reunite, Rory finds out that Logan had dalliances with a bunch of his sister's friends in her absence, and they fight again but ultimately get back together and stay together until the season 7 finale, which serves as the series finale for the show's original run. So what happens then?

The original run of "Gilmore Girls" spanned 7 seasons, but in 2016, fans got a revival thanks to Netflix subtitled "A Year in the Life," which picks up years after the season 7 finale aired. In that finale, Logan proposes to Rory, but she turns him down and instead chooses to take a job following then-Senator Barack Obama around the United States as he campaigns. (Interestingly, when this finale aired, nobody knew that Obama would end up being President; he was just a "cool" Senator to name-drop, I guess.) So does Logan appear in "A Year in the Life," which follows Lorelai and Rory across four seasonally-themed, movie-length episodes nine years after the original finale?

He sure does! In "A Year in the Life," Logan is living in London and working for his father, and we learn that Rory often stays with him while she's in the British capital (Rory, throughout this miniseries, lives a sort of nomadic life and doesn't really have a proper home base until she returns to Stars Hollow). We also learn that he has a French fiancée named Odette, though she's never seen on-screen ... but he and Rory have been carrying on their relationship undaunted. Eventually, Rory breaks things off, frustrated with Logan's willingness to live a half-life with her, and he and some of their Yale friends show up in Stars Hollow for one last unforgettable night. In the very final moments of the miniseries' last episode, "Fall," Rory and Lorelai exchange the four words that Amy Sherman-Palladino always intended to end "Gilmore Girls:"

"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm pregnant."

Since "A Year in the Life" concluded, fans have wondered if the baby is Logan's, and in 2023, the show's costume designer said he's basically the only possible option ... so if we ever get more "Gilmore Girls," maybe we'll see Logan and Rory co-parenting across an ocean somehow. In the meantime, "Gilmore Girls" and "A Year in the Life" are both streaming on Netflix, and if you love this show, try these shows that fans of "Gilmore Girls" should definitely watch.