Whatever Happened to Lane's Dad?
Calling Mr Kim?
He was the Mister Snuffleupagus of Stars Hollow. The oft-referred but never seen father of Lane Kim, and husband to Mrs Kim. Throughout the show, Lane talked about her parents, but we saw neither hide nor hair of Mr Kim – not even at special occasions or family weddings.
Do you think writing him into the pilot episode was a mistake? The writers never explained away other drastic changes, like Dean’s metamorphosis from suave reference-picker-upper in the pilot episode to the fumbler we see thereafter. Was Mr Kim intended to be a running joke?
Or a reference to absent fathers? Perhaps Mr Kim represented the attitude that the presence (or absence) of a father figure doesn’t necessarily make any difference to a girl’s life. It’s Gilmore Girls after all, not Gilmore People. And Luke was originally written to be a woman – which would have made for a very oestrogen-rich environment. Why add another unnecessary male to the mix?
Certainly by not having him on-screen, Lane’s tortuous life was far easier to directly compare with Rory’s, both having strong mothers, apparently distant fathers, but very different outcomes.
Can you imagine a scene with Mr and Mrs Kim? Scolding Lane or accompanying Dave Rygalski a tambourine?
I can see him being a good fit for Stars Hollow and very watchable, if only to see his coping mechanisms in action.
Personally, I think Mrs Kim kept him chained up in a dungeon under the shop.
What do you reckon?