All of this ! This is an unpopular opinion but I feel like Max really didn ' t do anything wrong . He loved Lorelai and cared a lot for Rory . In return he almost got fired and was left at the altar so to speak . Even the whole key issue he gets crap for but if I am engaged to someone who asked me to move in , I do expect a key within a reasonable amount of time . like a day since Home Depot , Walmart , Lowes etc can all make keys in seconds . Max may have been boring but he was for the most part a respectful , kind man who had the bad luck of falling for an immature adult . She even tried pursing him again even after leaving him on their wedding weekend , who does that ? <| sep |> Are we sure Steven ask for the same person ? My guess is no he didn ' t . I never believed this because like you said , she was the only one that photo ' d that area and Steven knew it because she had been there many times . I bet the call was more like , Hey can you send that girl to photo another car we want to sell .