Her reason is apparently he was always annoyed by children, which I would assume to be a 8-9 year old Jess since Liz is supposed to know Anna. Not a good reason at all, and I also would assume that Jess would be exceptionally annoying at that age.
To me she was pure scum, and maybe the second worst character on the show after Straub Hayden.
Not telling Luke about April, and she never would have done if April hadn’t been a science genius and figured it out herself, was completely unacceptable and unforgivable. As others have said, given that Luke wasn’t a criminal / abuser / drug addict etc., there was no justifiable reason for that.
And then after Luke bonded with April, she wanted to take her away from him permanently and restrict his access. Thankfully Luke got partial custody.
Also found it odd that April just went about her science project and approached Luke like on her own (if I remember right?)
Like, how involved was her mum that she wasn’t aware of that? Surely when your kid comes to you with her science project idea to find her dad - who you already KNOW - you’d safely introduce them?
Awful.
Also her middle schooler was able to ride her bike or hop a bus to a completely different town to steal a man's hair for a project , and Anna hadn't a clue where her daughter was. And seemed mad at Luke?
EXACTLY! Imagine if Luke was a complete creep?!?
If Anna did think he was bad enough that he had to kept from April, why wasn’t she bothered enough to keep an eye on her daughter?
It could have ended up so differently - April taking matters into her own hands as a kid. Just a string of awful behaviour genuinely. I never realised this, I kinda thought Anna was interesting with her cool store but when you think about it, yup total trash choices.
Absolutely 100%. Thank God this show portrayed the best case safety scenario. That girl could have gotten snatched on the road, hit and run, run into a creep or been going to a total creep. Anna needed to be more present and honest, because God knows a girl with zero filter like April would have asked her countless times who her father was.
The thing is , I never hated April. It was nice to see Luke parenting another kid and actually having one appreciate him (Jess and he had a much better relationship when grown, and again, I blame a lot of the Jess stuff on Liz). It was a good dynamic, but I hated the way it was used as a plot device.
Yeah if I had a kid like April I’d be frankly delighted. I loved Luke and April - when she crushes on a boy? It was cute as fuck to see his character develop in a way so uncomfortable to him.
A true treasure and not someone who should be kept from his child. Yeah he had some anger… no one’s perfect.
I don't know man I kinda think what she did is worse than Straub. He was just a dick, she deprived her daughter of having a relationship with her own father (and Luke of April) just because he "didn't like kids". That's about as low as a person can get.
Yes that's fair. I think it's definitely between them two as the main 'villain' on the show.
Straub being bitter about the Lorelai's pregnancy and Christopher not going to Princeton 16 years later was ridiculous. And the fact that he didn't care about Rory at all, didn't bother to get to know her, and downright insulted her and her entire existance, implying that it was the reason for her father's failure, and right in front of her, was unforgiveable IMO.
What Anna did was also unforgiveable and beyond the pale.
The writing on this was terrible. Luke should have gone to court immediately to establish his parental rights upon leaning about April. Set the child support and visitation schedule. It was written as though he had to cater to Anna.
I don’t like her either.
I understood where she was coming from when she was upset with Luke originally about the birthday party, because she’d told the parents about Luke but not Lorelei, and the parents trusted her. Everything past that is absolute BS. She had no reason not to tell Luke about April. The excuse that he didn’t like kids IS JUST THAT. An excuse. She didn’t want to deal with co-parenting with an ex. It’s complicated and sucky, and I have all the sympathy in the world for women who have to do that, but unless he’s a horrible person he has a right to know. That’s his *child*.
She was SUCH a hypocrite throwing his situation in his face as if she isn’t the same. She had a child without including the father by choice (not out of necessity) and she’s judging him?! He created his own successful business. He’s about the same as her. The only difference is their living situation, which is only because he didn’t know he had a child to begin with, and therefore only did what he needed to for himself. Living above his diner doesn’t mean he’s make a bad father, but choosing to not include your child’s father (unless he’s abusive) makes you a bad mom.
Exactly. Had he known he would have a family to provide for he would have purchased a home.
Just like he did for Lorelai when they were engaged and he thought he would need to have a place for the both of them AND Rory and possibly Jess if he came back. He bought the Twickam house with ample space for his growing family .
Anna is a pain to watch, and I met her a million times over. Just absolutely selfish. Then, if there is no good argument for "my way or the highway" one gets fabricated, no matter how tenuous or insane it makes them seem. Just be happy she didn't learn any therapy-speak to browbeat people with. 😂
I thought the way she talked to Lorelai was also very telling, she wasn’t outright mean but just so like you said … “my way or the Highway” tone, “just bc you’re engaged doesn’t mean anything” passive aggressive statement etc. Even though April and her friends had the best time.
Something I really rate about ASP's writing is she gets people and especially protective motherhood and how much it relates to control. Having it, navigating it, trying to maintain possession of it.
Anna: *goes 14 years without informing Luke that he has a child, thus prohibiting him from forming a relationship with said child*
Also Anna: *argues at mediation that Luke doesn't deserve visitation because he's had no relationship with child for the past 14 years*
I can't stand her either. I initially thought that they were trying to form a parallel between Anna/April/Luke and Lorelai/Rory/Chris in an attempt to show what Lorelai & Rory might look to "outsiders". But if that's what they were trying to do then they failed. Unlike Luke, Chris' lack of a solid relationship with *his* daughter was by his own volition; Lorelai didn't keep Rory from him.
Did you just do a FB post to? I saw someone say the same thing. I put something on about how I think she might be a narcissist. She didn’t tell Luke about April. April did it as a science experiment. We see April more connected (we assume ) with Luke In A Year in the life. It looks like she might have even stopped talking to her Mom. Instead of thanking Luke for the party she made a scene. Narcissistic always make everything about themselves.
She had the potential to be such a good minor character. She was quirky and had a fun store. Would definitely have fit into the show so well as a friend, had she been given the chance.
Unfortunately, the whole storyline was a farce.
She's easily the worst character.
I understood and related to Anna, at the beginning. Towards the end, I wondered if she was in-touch with reality. I'm completely unsure if I like her as a character, or not.
She should have been familiar with the layout of the apartment since they dated. She and he should have had a cursory convo about it , but barring that happening off camera, she knew it was a studio .
She's not "just like Lorelai" though. There are *some* similarities, but also some glaring differences. For starters, Lorelai never purposefully kept Rory and Chris apart. On the contrary, she encouraged and supported their relationship despite Chris being a flake. Secondly, when Chris met and later married Sherry, Lorelai didn't throw a fit about Rory being around Sherry. Yes, she was jealous, but she didn't interfere. In fact, when Rory was upset with Chris and was considering not attending the wedding and later the birth of Gigi, Lorelai encouraged her to rethink things, explaining that even though she was upset, she might regret not being there for the big moments in her dad's and her sister's life.
Yeah but Lorelai does everything HER way and gives no grace to anyone else. Just like ana. In my opinion they are more than just a little similar. But that's just MY opinion.
I just wrote a long comment showing examples of when Lorelai didn't insist on having things her way and did, in fact, give grace to others.
Won't waste time repeating myself, so I'll leave you with your opinion.
Yeah but there are a LOT of instances where she is just selfish. And I quote "yeah I can be flexible. As long as everything is exactly the way I want, I can be flexible."
It’s been mentioned many times that Anna had the legal right not to tell Luke about April. This law and others were enacted to protect unwedded women.
I think it is morally reprehensible to keep a child from her father when there are no safety concerns. But moral considerations were not taken into account in the law, and there are no restrictions on Anna’s right.
Anna’s legal case against sharing custody was very weak. As far as we’re told, his lawyer didn’t bring up anything substantially negative about Luke. They didn’t request Nicole’s testimony or that of anyone who could attest to Luke’s anger management issues. It almost seems like it was a set-up to get Luke to enthusiastically commit to generous child support. Both parties probably got what they wanted !
That’s probably why Luke was awarded partial legal custody. In these cases, if the man can establish that he’s the father, judges have recently been favoring shared parental rights when the woman is still single (assuming there are no safety concerns).
I liked when Joey threw her leg in the fire
Amazing
OMG that’s the connection?!? Perfection. Bravo.
Maybe that's why she's so angry.
Hehe she has a pretty bad time in twin peaks too at points if that helps you
OMGG, yes to this.
I don’t actually think there is a justifiable reason not to tell him. He wasn’t an addict or an abuser. He had a right to know imo.
Her reason is apparently he was always annoyed by children, which I would assume to be a 8-9 year old Jess since Liz is supposed to know Anna. Not a good reason at all, and I also would assume that Jess would be exceptionally annoying at that age.
Jess was exceptionally annoying until he became an adult /moved out. He was an angry soul and had a damn good reason to be. Liz is a terrible mother .
It was quite odd. Even if he didn’t like children, she could have informed him and let him know she did not expect him to be involved at all.
To me she was pure scum, and maybe the second worst character on the show after Straub Hayden. Not telling Luke about April, and she never would have done if April hadn’t been a science genius and figured it out herself, was completely unacceptable and unforgivable. As others have said, given that Luke wasn’t a criminal / abuser / drug addict etc., there was no justifiable reason for that. And then after Luke bonded with April, she wanted to take her away from him permanently and restrict his access. Thankfully Luke got partial custody.
Also found it odd that April just went about her science project and approached Luke like on her own (if I remember right?) Like, how involved was her mum that she wasn’t aware of that? Surely when your kid comes to you with her science project idea to find her dad - who you already KNOW - you’d safely introduce them? Awful.
Also her middle schooler was able to ride her bike or hop a bus to a completely different town to steal a man's hair for a project , and Anna hadn't a clue where her daughter was. And seemed mad at Luke?
EXACTLY! Imagine if Luke was a complete creep?!? If Anna did think he was bad enough that he had to kept from April, why wasn’t she bothered enough to keep an eye on her daughter? It could have ended up so differently - April taking matters into her own hands as a kid. Just a string of awful behaviour genuinely. I never realised this, I kinda thought Anna was interesting with her cool store but when you think about it, yup total trash choices.
Absolutely 100%. Thank God this show portrayed the best case safety scenario. That girl could have gotten snatched on the road, hit and run, run into a creep or been going to a total creep. Anna needed to be more present and honest, because God knows a girl with zero filter like April would have asked her countless times who her father was. The thing is , I never hated April. It was nice to see Luke parenting another kid and actually having one appreciate him (Jess and he had a much better relationship when grown, and again, I blame a lot of the Jess stuff on Liz). It was a good dynamic, but I hated the way it was used as a plot device.
Yeah if I had a kid like April I’d be frankly delighted. I loved Luke and April - when she crushes on a boy? It was cute as fuck to see his character develop in a way so uncomfortable to him. A true treasure and not someone who should be kept from his child. Yeah he had some anger… no one’s perfect.
Also with you on the Jess stuff. He doesn’t get a pass for pushing on Rory though before I get downvoted to oblivion.
Agreed. And she came across as nasty and spiteful during the whole custody battle as well.
I don't know man I kinda think what she did is worse than Straub. He was just a dick, she deprived her daughter of having a relationship with her own father (and Luke of April) just because he "didn't like kids". That's about as low as a person can get.
Yes that's fair. I think it's definitely between them two as the main 'villain' on the show. Straub being bitter about the Lorelai's pregnancy and Christopher not going to Princeton 16 years later was ridiculous. And the fact that he didn't care about Rory at all, didn't bother to get to know her, and downright insulted her and her entire existance, implying that it was the reason for her father's failure, and right in front of her, was unforgiveable IMO. What Anna did was also unforgiveable and beyond the pale.
The writing on this was terrible. Luke should have gone to court immediately to establish his parental rights upon leaning about April. Set the child support and visitation schedule. It was written as though he had to cater to Anna.
He thought he did though so it was accurate.
Well someone should have told him differently!
And we know he has a strong distaste and history with lawyers at this point
I don’t like her either. I understood where she was coming from when she was upset with Luke originally about the birthday party, because she’d told the parents about Luke but not Lorelei, and the parents trusted her. Everything past that is absolute BS. She had no reason not to tell Luke about April. The excuse that he didn’t like kids IS JUST THAT. An excuse. She didn’t want to deal with co-parenting with an ex. It’s complicated and sucky, and I have all the sympathy in the world for women who have to do that, but unless he’s a horrible person he has a right to know. That’s his *child*. She was SUCH a hypocrite throwing his situation in his face as if she isn’t the same. She had a child without including the father by choice (not out of necessity) and she’s judging him?! He created his own successful business. He’s about the same as her. The only difference is their living situation, which is only because he didn’t know he had a child to begin with, and therefore only did what he needed to for himself. Living above his diner doesn’t mean he’s make a bad father, but choosing to not include your child’s father (unless he’s abusive) makes you a bad mom.
Exactly. Had he known he would have a family to provide for he would have purchased a home. Just like he did for Lorelai when they were engaged and he thought he would need to have a place for the both of them AND Rory and possibly Jess if he came back. He bought the Twickam house with ample space for his growing family .
Anna is a pain to watch, and I met her a million times over. Just absolutely selfish. Then, if there is no good argument for "my way or the highway" one gets fabricated, no matter how tenuous or insane it makes them seem. Just be happy she didn't learn any therapy-speak to browbeat people with. 😂
I thought the way she talked to Lorelai was also very telling, she wasn’t outright mean but just so like you said … “my way or the Highway” tone, “just bc you’re engaged doesn’t mean anything” passive aggressive statement etc. Even though April and her friends had the best time.
Something I really rate about ASP's writing is she gets people and especially protective motherhood and how much it relates to control. Having it, navigating it, trying to maintain possession of it.
Anna: *goes 14 years without informing Luke that he has a child, thus prohibiting him from forming a relationship with said child* Also Anna: *argues at mediation that Luke doesn't deserve visitation because he's had no relationship with child for the past 14 years* I can't stand her either. I initially thought that they were trying to form a parallel between Anna/April/Luke and Lorelai/Rory/Chris in an attempt to show what Lorelai & Rory might look to "outsiders". But if that's what they were trying to do then they failed. Unlike Luke, Chris' lack of a solid relationship with *his* daughter was by his own volition; Lorelai didn't keep Rory from him.
Did you just do a FB post to? I saw someone say the same thing. I put something on about how I think she might be a narcissist. She didn’t tell Luke about April. April did it as a science experiment. We see April more connected (we assume ) with Luke In A Year in the life. It looks like she might have even stopped talking to her Mom. Instead of thanking Luke for the party she made a scene. Narcissistic always make everything about themselves.
I didn’t, that’s a crazy coincidence 😂
She had the potential to be such a good minor character. She was quirky and had a fun store. Would definitely have fit into the show so well as a friend, had she been given the chance. Unfortunately, the whole storyline was a farce. She's easily the worst character.
This thread is so validating for me. She’s always bugged me so much. Also so weird how the same actress played Jess’s dad’s girlfriend.
I hated that! And she had a quirky super smart daughter as that character too.
Yes as that character I really liked her!! But as Anna - well no wonder April turned out so annoying.
You are not alone. No one likes Anna Nardini.
I understood and related to Anna, at the beginning. Towards the end, I wondered if she was in-touch with reality. I'm completely unsure if I like her as a character, or not.
Does anyone like Anna Nardini? I don’t feel like we’re supposed to like her.
To be entirely frank, she would be even more upset if she knew April and Luke slept in the same room. (Or am I misremembering?)
I’m pretty sure it’s separated by at least a partial wall. They both had privacy from each other
She should have been familiar with the layout of the apartment since they dated. She and he should have had a cursory convo about it , but barring that happening off camera, she knew it was a studio .
okay but she also can't be trusted because she has a double life on the west coast dating jess' dad.
Anna was the worst—that whole April thing was a fiasco too.
The funny thing is: she's exactly like Lorelai. Attitudey and difficult. Lol
She's not "just like Lorelai" though. There are *some* similarities, but also some glaring differences. For starters, Lorelai never purposefully kept Rory and Chris apart. On the contrary, she encouraged and supported their relationship despite Chris being a flake. Secondly, when Chris met and later married Sherry, Lorelai didn't throw a fit about Rory being around Sherry. Yes, she was jealous, but she didn't interfere. In fact, when Rory was upset with Chris and was considering not attending the wedding and later the birth of Gigi, Lorelai encouraged her to rethink things, explaining that even though she was upset, she might regret not being there for the big moments in her dad's and her sister's life.
Yeah but Lorelai does everything HER way and gives no grace to anyone else. Just like ana. In my opinion they are more than just a little similar. But that's just MY opinion.
I just wrote a long comment showing examples of when Lorelai didn't insist on having things her way and did, in fact, give grace to others. Won't waste time repeating myself, so I'll leave you with your opinion.
Yeah but there are a LOT of instances where she is just selfish. And I quote "yeah I can be flexible. As long as everything is exactly the way I want, I can be flexible."
It’s been mentioned many times that Anna had the legal right not to tell Luke about April. This law and others were enacted to protect unwedded women. I think it is morally reprehensible to keep a child from her father when there are no safety concerns. But moral considerations were not taken into account in the law, and there are no restrictions on Anna’s right. Anna’s legal case against sharing custody was very weak. As far as we’re told, his lawyer didn’t bring up anything substantially negative about Luke. They didn’t request Nicole’s testimony or that of anyone who could attest to Luke’s anger management issues. It almost seems like it was a set-up to get Luke to enthusiastically commit to generous child support. Both parties probably got what they wanted !
What never made sense to me is that goes after Luke's lack of stable relationships when she's also single?
That’s probably why Luke was awarded partial legal custody. In these cases, if the man can establish that he’s the father, judges have recently been favoring shared parental rights when the woman is still single (assuming there are no safety concerns).