Last January, Netflix announced a revival miniseries to be released late this year. In preparation for this revival, I rewatched the whole series and had a fantastic time.
Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) Lorelai was a teen mom, and as the show opens, her daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel) is just turning 16, the same age she was when she had a baby and ran away from her privileged yet oppressive home. In the pilot, Lorelai is forced to reach out to her estranged parents, Emily and Richard (Kelly Bishop and Edward Hermann), when she needs money to pay tuition for the private school that has just accepted the precocious Rory.
Over the seven seasons of the show, we see Lorelai and Rory's evolving relationship with Lorelai's parents; Rory growing from a shy, bookish high school sophomore to a confident fast-talking newspaperwoman; Lorelai and Rory's romantic ups and downs with their various boyfriends; and plenty of wacky townspeople hijinks. Lorelai and Rory live in the fictional small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, where an ensemble cast of quirky oddballs adore them, notably the gruff diner owner Luke (Scott Patterson), Lorelai's clumsy chef best friend Sookie (Melissa McCarthy), and Rory's rebellious musician best friend Lane (Keiko Agena).
Gilmore Girls holds a special place in my heart. I was the exact same age as Rory Gilmore when it aired (although now I'm closer to Lorelai's age). I went away to college the same year Rory did. The summer after my freshman year, I used what little spare money I had working minimum wage at Staples to buy the first and second season DVD sets, and watching them after work was the highlight of my otherwise grim retail-industry day. It definitely has its guilty pleasure elements--the plotlines can be soap-opera-y; the style can be just too, too much--overall it has a remarkable ability to welcome you into its warm and whimsical world and relieve you of your cares.
Key Episodes
Because this show is heavy on slowly unfolding storylines, and the big moments don't feel big at all unless you know all the backstory, it's hard to pick out Key Episodes. The first season tends to be a bit more episodic and each episode can be watched individually. I chose two that I feel are representative, plus a fairly standalone season 3 episode which provides more backstory detail.1x1 Pilot I'm big on skipping pilots because they're usually different from the tone of the show, but not so with Gilmore, which already seems to have its voice right from the first. The pilot is an excellent introduction to the show and introduces all the important characters and relationships. A ton of backstory comes out naturally through the dialogue. Lorelai goes to her parents with her tail between her legs to beg for cash for Rory's private school tuition, prompting Emily to establish the tradition of Friday Night Dinners as a sort of cold business deal approach to developing a relationship with her estranged daughter and granddaughter.
1x6 Rory's Birthday Parties is another great early episode for the series-central Emily/Lorelai/Rory relationship network. After Emily and Richard throw Rory a classy catered birthday event for her sweet sixteen, Rory invites them impulsively to the casual house party her mother is throwing her. The contrast between the two worlds could not be more stark, and the episode does a great job of showing how Lorelai and Rory fit into the fabric of the town and how the townspeople are not just a quirky Greek chorus (as they are sometimes in later episodes) but actually a beloved extended family for them. The episode shows a classic Emily arc of knee-jerk hating anything she doesn't understand, to grudging respect of the life Lorelai has built for herself.
3x13 Dear Emily and Richard A hapless Rory is the only one to support her dad's new wife, Sherry (Madchen Amick), as she goes into labor. This storyline is intercut with flashbacks of scenes surrounding Rory's own birth. The actors that play young Lorelai and Christopher (Chelsea Brummet and Philip Van Dyke) do a great job of capturing the characters and portraying their relationship as a believable, flawed but likeable teen romance, and although we knew the broad strokes of this story, it's full of heartbreaking details that absolutely ring true to Lorelai's character.
Bonus Episodes
It's hard to narrow these down because I want to hit the main emotional beats of each season, but of course that's impossible, since they tend to be pretty spread over episodes, and often an episode will be unremarkable except for a specific scene or moment. I'll try to get you the episodes with the most, and most important, mythos. It's a seven-season show, so bear with me on the number here.1x9 Rory's Dance This was a serious contender for Key Episodes, but I swapped it with Rory's Birthday Parties at the last moment. Rory takes Dean to a dance at her school, leading to a clash between her town life and her school life. She and Dean accidentally stay out all night, leading to one of my favorite scenes (and Lauren Graham performances) in the series where Lorelai has one meltdown after another, first blasting the critical Emily over past hurts and defending Rory, and then turning on a dime and going nuclear on Rory for worrying her.
1x15 Christopher Returns This is the first episode with Rory's dad, Christopher, a lovable but irresponsible motorcycle enthusiast who claims to have turned over a new leaf and to be ready to be a family man. The first of many times!
1x16 Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers Rory has the world's most romantic date with Dean which, unbelievably, ends in heartbreak. Meanwhile, Lorelai endures her mother's attempt to "fix" her love life, and enlists her father's help in escaping.
1x17 The Breakup, Part 2 Rory tries to power through her breakup by being chipper and busy, including going to a Chilton party, but getting involved with her school's social life just reminds her of how much she's lost by breaking up with Dean. Meanwhile, Lorelai booty-calls her recent ex, Max. This is an episode that I remember really liking when I saw it the first time at age 16. The high school emotions really rang true for me.
1x21 Love, Daisies, and Troubadours is a slightly twee but deeply sweet season ender as Rory gets back together with Dean in a very classic romantic comedy type scene and Lorelai receives a visually stunning proposal from Max.
2x4 Road Trip to Harvard This is kind of a goofy episode because a lot of it is sort of a Harvard University pamphlet, but Rory's emotions at getting a taste of college--this big thing she has been working toward blindly since birth--are genuine. Lorelai has one of the nicest moments to date with Luke after finding that he has gone to the trouble of hand-carving a chuppah for the wedding she has called off.
2x5 Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy Luke's bad boy nephew, Jess, is sent to live with him because Luke because his mother can't handle him. Lorelai invites Luke and Jess over to dinner and tries to bond with him by trotting out her rebellious past, but he's not having any.
2x21 Lorelai's Graduation Day Rory lets down her mother in the biggest way possible to date by missing her business school graduation to be with a boy. Richard and Emily are nice!!(!)
2x22 I Can't Get Started Rory's and Lorelai's love lives both reach climactic moments at Sookie's wedding, as Jess drops by just after Rory has decided to recommit to Dean, and Christopher breezes into town claiming to finally be ready for a relationship with Lorelai.
3x7 They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They? Everyone is wearing 1940s garb for a dance contest, for some reason. Rory is overly annoyed when Jess comes to watch, and Dean is fed up with Rory's obsessing.
3x8 Let the Games Begin Richard springs a Yale interview on Rory unwillingly. Rory surprises him by standing up for herself… but surprises herself by really liking Yale, despite her lifelong allegiance to Harvard. Rory and Jess kiss, and Luke flips out about it.
3x22 Those Are the String, Pinocchio Rory graduates from Chilton and brokers a new deal with her grandparents.
4x7 The Festival of Living Art I actually think this town hijinks-heavy episode is kind of dull (and it's a total ripoff of Arrested Development), thought it was the only episode to win an Emmy (for makeup!) But the real significance to me is that it's first the episode for my bizarre favorite character: Lane's band's guitarist, Gil (played by real hair band rocker Sebastian Bach). He just strikes me as a really fun and realistic type of quirky townie: an easygoing, energetic, positive-attitude, highly dedicated rock'n'roll musician who just never struck it big and keeps trying to find bands to join while managing a sandwich shop during the day. I choose to believe he is the most important character in the series. HIS NAME IS GIL, PEOPLE. GIL MORE.
4x18 Tick, Tick, Boom Richard's business wheeling and dealing comes to a surprisingly Game of Thronesy head here. The other thing you need to know is that Dean has recently married his post-Rory girlfriend, Lindsay, way too young. This is the episode where Dean and Rory's ex friendship begins to get weird.
4x22 Raincoats and Recipes The season 4 finale feels a bit like a possible series finale as some of the most anticipated events of the show occur: Lorelai opens the inn she's been dreaming of; Lorelai and Luke finally kiss; and Rory and Dean get back together in the most ill-advised possible way.
5x3 Written in the Stars Lorelai and Luke go on a swoonworthy date in which he declares famously that he is "all in" (though, you know, later episodes will test that). Rory meets the infuriating playboy Logan Huntsberger.
5x7 You Jump, I Jump, Jack Rory follows Logan to a meeting of his secret society, the Life and Death Brigade. It's extremely dumb, but also great. Luke meets Emily and Richard, who, despite their estrangement, both have the same impulse to regard the relationship as a disaster to be fixed.
5x13 Wedding Bell Blues Emily and Richard renew their vows in a giant lavish wedding. Best Man Rory seduces Logan in an oddly homoerotic scene. Emily puppets Christopher into intervening in Luke and Lorelai's relationship.
5x21 Blame Booze and Melville Rory is shocked when Mitchum Huntsberger--Logan's dad and her internship boss--tells her she doesn't have what it takes to be a journalist, and so she steals a boat. Not kidding.
5x22 A House is Not A Home Rory turns to her grandparents, not her mother, for help following her arrest for stealing a boat (still not kidding), kicking off the estrangement that will dominate season 6. Luke flips out and goes full rant trying to figure out how to help Rory, prompting Lorelai to propose. Lane's band goes on tour.
6x5 We've Got Magic to Do Mid-estrangement, Rory uses her Lorelai-inspired party planning skills to plan a USO-themed DAR event. Emily and Richard yell at the Huntsbergers.
6x8 Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ring Out Jess returns for an episode to humblebrag about writing a terrible book. He appearance serves to put a nice little epilogue-y capper on his tenure in the show--look, he turned out pretty good!--and to get Rory to re-evaluate the way she is living with fresh eyes as she sees how far she's strayed from her intended path. Jess yelling at Rory is, for some reason, a soothing balm.
6x9 The Prodigal Daughter Returns Hey, this episode title has two meanings! Rory gets her life together, and Luke discovers he has a lovechild.
6x13 Friday Night's Alright For Fighting It's all hands on deck when Rory rescues her college newspaper from being destroyed by the increasingly unstable Paris. Logan legitimately and dashingly swoops in to help. The episode concludes with an almost self-parodying marathon of Gilmore fights.
6x20 Super Cool Party People After spending the back half of the season compartmentalizing, Luke finally allows Lorelai to bond with his daughter, as she throws her a 13-year-old's dream party. A fight with Logan ends when Rory gets that call that he has been injured in a dumb Life and Death Brigade stunt.
7x21 Unto the Breach Most of season 7 is pretty dull and feels kind of "off" since it's the only season not to be showrun by the original creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino. Let's skip right to the last couple episodes, which are actually pretty sweet send-offs for characters. Logan asks Rory to marry him. Rory and Paris graduate. Lorelai gets all teary-eyed.
7x22 Bon Voyage Rory takes a job as a reporter on Obama's campaign trail. Luke plans a blowout goodbye party. All the townspeople are there. Emily and Richard show up. Here's the George Bailey, the richest guy I know.
WHAT NEXT???? We'll have to wait for the revival to find out! I hope Jess yells at Rory some more.
