I think it’s interesting that Paris is ultimately the one who has a relationship with a professor at Yale. AND the fact that it’s consensual and a fulfilling romantic & physical relationship for her. I think it makes a ton of sense that they’d go with this plot for her, given her academic prowess, her relative maturity, and her vulnerability (even if fans mostly think it was icky… yeah, it was). But I also feel like, after Asher passes, there’s practically no other mention of him, aside from maybe a Doyle comment. Though, I forget where & when this happened.
What an interesting way for the show to tackle this topic…Anyway, I did some digging and found out that, in 2010, Yale imposed a blanket ban on all intimate relationships between faculty and undergraduate students. Before that, they’d only banned them between faculty who supervised and/or taught undergrads in class. So, in theory, in a 2003-4 Yale world, it would be…okay(?) since Paris wasn’t his student, per se (someone correct me if I’m wrong about this). But Asher WAS Rory’s professor and Richard’s friend, so that’s…well, that. What a strange set of episodes.
All of this happened around the time Jess comes back to Stars Hollow and drops the love bomb…wow. Season 4 is literally a fever dream 😅
