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'Let me tell you about the time a haircut completely ruined Gilmore Girls.'

If you've been a lifelong fan of Gilmore Girls, you've likely found yourself contemplating where it all went wrong for our girl Rory Gilmore.

In Season One she was a nerdy little freak who loved cable-knit sweaters, coffee, and bad boys who weren't really that bad. They just wore leather.

By Season Five she was sleeping with married men, complaining non-stop, dropping out of Yale — RORY, WHY DID YOU DROP OUT OF YALE — and feuding with her mother. Her mother! Lorelai Gilmore! The woman who raised her and gave her every opportunity in life to be fantastic.

But as someone who watches Gilmore Girls every single night — and that is not an exaggeration — I know the truth.

It all went wrong when Rory came home with that fuck. ass. bob. Don't get mad at me, that's what the internet calls it now when you don't have enough panache to carry off the bob. And she did not.

In Season 4, Episode 4, Rory Gilmore walked in the door to her mother's home with a new haircut.

"I love it," Lorelai declared, acting as though the new 'do was the epitome of chic. No, it wasn't. It was the beginning of the end for the Rory we knew and loved.

I'm not shading the haircut, I had it too once upon a time. In fact, we've recently celebrated the return of the bob in its flickiest and flippiest form here at Mamamia. A trending 'do that's all the rage! The girlies love a bob.

But the bob was too much for Rory Gilmore. Her long locks held her secret power of likeability and with the chop so went her agreeable nature.

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The bob that started it all.

After debuting her new look in Stars Hollow (where she accepted an invite, but then bailed, on Dean Forester's wedding), Rory took her new bob back to school. The sass overpowered her, and she slowly transformed.

It began with some awkward dates as she tried to put herself out there in college. Normal enough behaviour, okay, but her whining had certainly been dialed up by about 50 per cent.

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Next came her whining about studying: her roommates make noise (how dare they), the library was too quiet and drafty (okay, that's the point?), and some guy stole her study tree (that's not a thing). Lorelai tried to reign her in here, telling her to grow up and behave like a college student. But she did not.

Then she wrote threw a hissy fit because her editor called one of her stories a "yawn." So she then worked her way into the Yale Daily News by writing a brutal review about a ballerina… who she compared to a hippo. She proceeded to play the Bambi victim when she was called out for her, let's be honest, nasty review.

She acted like a toddler when her roommate, Paris Geller, embarked on a new romance with an older professor. Live a little, Rory! Have a gossip instead of a breakdown over things that do not remotely impact you, queen!

Then there was the whole "me and my bob can't get a man so I'll just sleep with my married high school boyfriend instead." Which, of course, led to the most triggering line in all of Gilmore Girls: "he's Dean, my Dean."

She looked good, sure, but at what cost?

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You know what else the bob led to? Her meeting Logan Huntzberger and somehow becoming even worse.

Despite the fact that I'm actually very pro Logan, it has to be said that the Logan era only enhanced her brattiness (even if her hair did grow back). She had new bob energy and she was committed to being the whiniest and worst version of herself.

I'll play devil's advocate for a moment, because whomst among us has not let a bad haircut define — or destroy — our lives? At least for a day or two.

I once got the ugliest balayage long bob you've ever seen after a decidedly bad breakup, and I don't know what was worse: the heartbreak or the damn balayage bob. I showed them a picture of Lara Bingle and honestly came out looking like Willy Wonka. Had I also been a trust fund baby at an Ivy League College, I might've let it turn me into a raging narcissist too.

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But, I digress.

Post-bob Rory went on to drop out of Yale because she received one piece of criticism, was arrested for stealing a boat, she mocked rich trust-fund kids while actively being one, caused a ruckus in her relationship because her party-boy boyfriend actually liked to party, tried to cheat on him with her former boyfriend Jess Mariano, she made fun of Paris constantly, and threw an A-grade hissy fit when her grandparents became too involved in her life (even though she went directly to them to finance her life and sort out her mess).

Though her long hair came back, her vibes did not. She continued her downward spiral into brattiness until the final episodes of Season Seven.

Of course, the bob didn't actually ruin Gilmore Girls itself. I love the later seasons for every other reason, just not for Rory.

I often see fans online trying to pinpoint where it all went wrong with Rory, whose high school personality stands in stark contrast to her college years. Original Rory would never quit school because of one comment or cut off her mother to be bankrolled by her grandparents. But college Rory would, and did.

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I can excuse a little teenage and early '20s rebellion. You're allowed to fall off your pedestal and be imperfect, I'm all for it actually.

But a spoiled and whiny rich kid who thinks she's a notch above every other person in her life? I care not for your struggles, bob-era Rory Gilmore.

This diva.

Feature Image: Gilmore Girls.