She doesn’t hesitate and gives herself the freedom to go after the people she’s interested in. When it comes to Sterling’s personal journey of discovering her sexuality, her personality is an asset. This mentality gets her into trouble when bounty hunting. There’s nothing in Sterling’s brain that makes her think about consequences, which is both a positive and a negative for her. If she wants something, she goes after it. She has very strong opinions that tend to skew more liberal than her classmates and, unlike April, Sterling moves about with an enviable freedom. Despite the way her family life is turned upside down in the finale with the realization that her aunt is actually her mother, Sterling comes from a warm and loving home. Sterling is April’s opposite in many ways. Of course this is all speculation, but it would have been lovely to see April come into her own. Instead of compartmentalization, she could lead with openness and pursue a career that would keep people safe from men like him. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that April learns the truth about her father and rebels against the way of life he instilled in her. She could have overcome the harmful effects of her father’s parenting and learned that there’s a world much larger than the insular religious community she lives in. April was primed to have a different sort of self-discovery had the show been granted a second season. It seems unlikely that she would continue to hide herself for the sake of her family if she knew the truth about her father’s extramarital affairs and violence. Teenage Bounty Hunters was robbed of a second season, and it’s a real blow to what could have been for April.
She probably would’ve gone through high school without admitting it to anyone if Sterling hadn’t kissed her. April has everything figured out, she knows she’s gay, but she doesn’t want to act on it at all. It’s fascinating to watch the differences between April’s and Sterling’s self-discovery. The show is packaged in bubblegum visuals, pop songs, and quick banter, but Teenage Bounty Hunters sneaks in an earnest and honest look at teens who are trying to figure out their sexuality. Gilmore Girls tended to keep its storylines on a surface level, but there’s a deceptive depth to Teenage Bounty Hunters. In other ways, April and Sterling are far beyond Rory and Paris. Sterling is bubbly and sunnier than Rory, but they both have complicated relationships with their mothers, are academically minded, and are widely beloved in their communities. In many ways, April and Sterling feel like what Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Paris could have been if Gilmore Girls had been brave enough to go down that path. April gets to kiss Sterling, and they find a glimpse of happiness before the realities of their family situations ruin things. There’s none of the subtext of Gilmore Girls. Where April and Paris deviate is that April is canonically a lesbian. There’s no room in April and Paris’ lives for failure as determined by their parents. He is setting a high standard that she must meet. It’s not encouragement, it’s an expectation. “Team Stevens wins” is a mantra that April’s father has repeated to her time and again. A vulnerability they’re terrified to expose because that would show weakness, and they’ve been conditioned their entire lives to hide all shortcomings. They’re controlling perfectionists who rely on compartmentalization to make it through the day, but there’s also a softness to them.
They attend private school, have a crush on their academic rival, lack familial support, and are desperate to achieve academically so they can prove their worth to the people around them. In many ways, it feels as though Paris Geller (Liza Weil) from Gilmore Girls walked so April Stevens (Devon Hales) could run. All of a sudden, the things Sterling was sure of (her relationship, her sexuality) are thrown into a tailspin. When she accidentally becomes a part-time bounty hunter, she begins to reevaluate her life.
Sterling is chosen to be the Fellowship Leader at their Christian high school, she has Luke (Spencer House), her long-term boyfriend, and is involved in extracurricular academic activities. At the beginning of the show, Sterling is portrayed as more level-headed than the rebellious Blair (Anjelica Bette Fellini). She’s one half of the Wesley twin bounty-hunting duo. Perhaps the most obvious example of this balance is the character of Sterling Wesley (Maddie Phillips). It pulls off that highwire act so deftly that the amount of skill required is probably lost on most people. Teenage Bounty Hunters is an endearingly oddball show that manages to balance the utmost sincerity with pure chaos.
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