Ohhhhh am I allowed to say both?? Id say mostly (badly) driven by insecure love, but there was definitely some manipulation in there too (mostly everything at Emily and Richards renewal)

I never liked this guy

Then why did he have another kid and couldn’t even get her to stop crying and had to call Lorelai? He’s a failure as a parent and a partner, let’s be honest, just like almost any other character in that show.

Chris always gave off man-child vibes, always looking for the next big adventure and when Lorelai kept the baby everyone made it ok for him to be an absentee father. I think he genuinely wanted to be all in when he proposed to her in Paris but the truth is the time had passed for all of them.

I think he was more driven by his OBESSION with Lorelei…. Rory didn’t exist to him if Lorelei wasn’t in the picture

I don’t think he was ever given the chance to be a dad. It’s clear Lorelei pushed him away and told him to go be free. Should he have fought harder as a teen dad? Yeah probably. But she never let him be an equal parent. He wanted to marry her and get a job and raise the baby. She insisted he needed to be free and ran off to raise the baby on her own. The storyline with Chris is so inconsistent but I always felt like Lorelei wanted the drama of him being absent.

He’s a man-child and a product of his environment. He grew up extremely privileged and was extremely willing to let others take care of his problems. I also don’t think he was giving a fair shot at being a father to Rory. Lorelai shoved him (and everyone from her childhood) away to be a single mom and get away from conservative (oppressive) parents. It doesn’t seem like she ever owns up to allowing him to be so carefree and then gets mad when he is.

I think he was more opportunistic than manipulative. He was easily manipulated, though. And I think he just didn’t think…through things, for himself, about consequences, etc. But I also think he knew this to some degree and stayed away because it was easier.