(no subject)
OK, so i'm completely unreliable. i'm sure you all know this by now. i was going to post this list like a week ago, but i really have to post it now before i get the urge to change the order FOR THE HUNDREDTH TIME. and let me just tell you straight off: it is heavily-biased toward season one, which is not only my favorite gilmore girls season, but one of the best seasons of television i have ever seen.
25.
"the bracebridge dinner" (2.10)
LUKE: I gotta say, sleigh ride's a little much, but these horses are really beautiful.
LORELAI: Yes, especially from this angle.
LUKE: Not just from this angle.
LORELAI: Oh seriously, don't backtrack. Horse has got a nice butt there.
LUKE: It's not what I'm saying.
LORELAI: Nice firm hiney.
LUKE: Stop talking about the horse's hiney.
of course luke & lorelai and rory & jess would end up in sleighs together. this episode could probably even just start and stop there and i'd love it... i'd probably love it even more that way, actually, because there's some other parts of the episode that i don't really like that much. but whatever, it's here for the 'shippy goodness.
24.
"say something" (5.14)
LORELAI: I was just wondering if... do you remember in The Way we Were, how Katie and Hubbell broke up because his friends were joking and laughing, and the president had just died, and she yelled at them, and he was mad. And he was going out to Hollywood, and... which she hated, and he broke up with her, and she was really upset. And she called him and asked him if he would come over and sit with her because he was her best friend and she needed her best friend. And he did. And they talked all night, and they went out to Hollywood, which was a disaster, but it was good at first, with the boat and, uh, putting the books away... I've seen this movie a lot, so if you don't remember the putting-the-books-away scene, don't feel stupid or anything.
this episode is basically all about that scene for me, where lorelai calls luke on the phone and talks all about the way we were. it's just so sad, and so in character for her to take something like that from a movie.
23.
"concert interruptus" (1.13)
LOUISE: Ooh, cool hat.
PARIS: Put that down. It’s used.
LOUISE: Vintage, dear.
PARIS: Filthy, darling.
it's the episode where rory and paris actually start becoming friends! and learning about rachel and that luke actually had a life before lorelai is good too. and, for the record, it's the first of only two episodes on my list not written by amy or daniel palladino (good job, elaine arata).
22.
"the lorelais' first day at chilton" (1.02)
RORY: So, why are you insisting on doing this?
LORELAI: Well, because you're starting private school tomorrow.
RORY: Yes, but I'm going to be wearing shoes. Nobody's gonna see my feet.
LORELAI: Okay, but everybody knows that private school girls are bad, and bad girls always wear red nail polish. ... Are you nervous?
RORY: About what?
LORELAI: About starting Chilton.
RORY: Well, I wasn't until I heard about all those bad girls.
ah, classic. man, chilton was a completely ridiculous school, wasn't it? and paris! it was love at first crazy.
21.
"kiss and tell" (1.07)
LORELAI: What happened? Did the bag boy try something?
RORY: He's sitting in there and he's watching the movie and he's perfect and he smells really good.
LORELAI: What?
RORY: He smells really good and he looks amazing. and I'm stupid, I said 'thank you.'
LORELAI: Whoa, whoa, whoa. You said 'thank you?'
RORY: When he kissed me.
LORELAI: What, he kissed you again? What is he just out of prison or something?
RORY: No, not now. Yesterday. At the store.
LORELAI: Oh, all right. Strike the prison comment. He kissed you and you said 'thank you'?
RORY: Yes.
LORELAI: Well, that was very polite.
everything about this episode is so adorably awkward, i love it. and it's just so gilmore girls - dean hanging out with rory... and her mom, haha.
20.
"the deer-hunters" (1.04)
LORELAI: I hate when I'm an idiot and I don't even know it. I like to be aware of my idiocy, really revel in it, take pictures. I feel we missed a prime Christmas card opportunity.
the second and last of the episodes on my list not written by amy or daniel palladino (good job, jed seidel). how perfect for rory to get a D, and her and lorelai's freakouts are awesome. plus, we meet max.
19.
"but not as cute as pushkin" (5.10)
HEADMASTER CHARLESTON: I'm very glad to talk to you again, Miss Gilmore. Yale certainly sounds like it's agreeing with you. I hope it will also agree with Miss Fairchild.
RORY: Aww, like Sabrina.
HEADMASTER CHARLESTON: I beg your pardon?
RORY: Sabrina Fairchild, that was her name.
HEADMASTER CHARLESTON: Have we segued into discussing a movie?
RORY: And we can segue right out again.
rory's such a nerd! i seriously don't think she had ever been quite as big of a nerd as she is in this episode. she gives the entire history of a bench at one point. and she and logan's pranks on each other are hilarious.
18.
"they shoot gilmores, don't they?" (3.07)
RORY: Who’s Stanley Appleman?
LORELAI: Oh, he’s brand new in town. He works over at the hardware store, and the best part is, he used to be part of the touring company... of Riverdance.
RORY: Score!
LORELAI: I know! I’m completely jazzed. How ‘bout you, Mr. Potato? "I’m completely jazzed, too!"
FINALLY, JEEZE. rory and dean finally break up, and i'd probably love this episode just for that, but i also love the idea of a dance marathon for a wacky stars hollow event. plus lorelai and rory look so gorgeous in their old-fashioned outfits.
17.
"a-tisket, a-tasket" (2.13)
LANE: So we’ll rendezvous where I told you. Just drive by, honk twice, go around the block, and the second time you pass I’ll jump in the car.
HENRY: Gee, do you even want me to slow down?
LANE: Well yeah, of course. I mean, not to a total stop...
ah, more 'shippy goodness. and dean starts his downward spiral into jealous, spineless, annoying dickitude. though, granted, he has every reason to be jealous, because rory and jess bonding over ayn rand and ernest hemingway is a thing of beauty.
16.
"double date" (1.12)
LORELAI: I have to know where you are at all times, especially when you have my shoes on.
i love lane. i love her raving on and on about beck and nico and foo fighters (seriously, have you heard the acoustic "everlong"? especially the version dave grohl played by himself on the howard stern show). and dean's idiot friend is hilarious. plus there's luke and lorelai playing poker and sharing a moment, and lorelai's heart-to-heart with mrs. kim.
15.
"rory's birthday parties" (1.06)
LORELAI: Oh come on, give her a break. You invited all these Chilton kids without even asking her.
EMILY: They're her schoolmates. I assumed they were her friends.
LORELAI: Well, you know what they say when people assume things.
EMILY: No, what do they say?
LORELAI: That... you shouldn't.
EMILY: Very clever.
how perfect: rory gets a little taste of what it was like for her mother growing up in the gilmore house. and i really love the ending when emily realizes not that she doesn't know her granddaughter, but that she doesn't know her daughter.
14.
"raincoats and recipes" (4.22)
LORELAI: Did you notice anything different?
RORY: Like what?
LORELAI: Like a vibe, an attitude. Did he look at me differently?
RORY: Differently than what?
LORELAI: Differently than he did.
RORY: Differently than he did when?
LORELAI: Before.
RORY: Before what?
LORELAI: Before before.
RORY: Before before -
LORELAI: Rory.
RORY: How on earth can you be frustrated with me right now?
this episode could arguably deserve to be higher on the list just for the sheer brilliance of the way luke and lorelai get together and the disturbingly in-character ending for rory, but, at the same time, rory and dean just make me shudder every time they're on screen together in season 4 - uck - so that kills some of the enjoyment. but lorelai falling down and crashing into stuff is hilarious.
13.
"nag hammadi is where they found the gnostic gospels" (4.13)
LUKE: Jess, don't you think that we should discuss this?
JESS: Discuss what?
LUKE: T.J.
JESS: I thought we just did.
LUKE: Well, we didn't come up with a solution.
JESS: A solution to what?
LUKE: Are we having the same conversation? A solution to him.
JESS: A solution would have been birth control. Too late, move on.
welcome back, jess! even though my boy is definitely not grown up yet in this episode, i still love him. he's all self-loathing and taking it out on everyone around him, especially poor luke. i really love the scene where luke is drunk and he cuts himself on the broken window - it's so sad, and so sweet how lorelai takes care of him.
12.
"pilot" (1.01)
LORELAI: Does he have a motorcycle? 'Cause if you're gonna throw your life away, he better have a motorcycle!
this is probably my favorite pilot i've ever seen. it just sets up their world and their characters and they way they talk so perfectly. it has perfect structure, too, because, of course, when you set up a mother and daughter as best friends who are exactly alike and never fight, in act three they have to have a huge fucking fight.
11.
"christopher returns" (1.15)
LORELAI: Did you just curtsy?
RORY: Shut up.
LORELAI: Sorry, m'lady.
ah, christopher... back before i hated his fucking guts. i just remember how perfect it was to finally meet rory's dad; he's so much like lorelai - very witty and immature - except, you know, kind of a dick who was never really there for his kid. but, starting with this episode, he was a pretty good guy for a while.
10.
"last week fights, this week tights" (4.21)
LUKE: How 'bout next week? Sunday?
LORELAI: Sunday?
LUKE: Sunday -- you free?
LORELAI: I-I think so.
LUKE: Okay, good. Good.
LORELAI: Good. Good.
LUKE: I'll see you... before then, but I'll see you then, too.
LORELAI: Yeah... I'll see you both of those thens.
i love luke and jess so much in this episode. i mean, of course i adore the date and the dance (so wonderful and beautiful, oh my god), but, seriously, the other most wonderful thing about this episode is the friendship between luke and jess. jess picking out luke's tie, and telling him how much he appreciates him, and the hug! my boy is definitely on his way to growing up in this episode, but he's not quite there yet, and the scene at the end with him and rory breaks my heart. just give him a year, rory! speaking of which...
09.
"let me hear your balalaikas ringing out" (6.08)
LOGAN: You penned the great American novel, Jess?
JESS: Wasn't quite that ambitious.
LOGAN: So what are we talking here? Short novel, Kafka length, or longer? Dos Pasos? Tolstoy? Or longer? Robert Musil? Proust? I'm not throwing you with these names, am I?
JESS: You seem very obsessed with length.
yay, my boy's all grown up!! i love him, i love him so much! i love that he's the one to shake rory out of her rut. this is another "FINALLY" episode - rory finally wakes up to her pointless existence. also the scene at the end with lorelai crying about paul anka and saying she's a bad mother, when she's really talking about rory, is brilliant and breaks my heart. and as far as i'm concerned, this episode is the series finale; i just fill in everything after it with my imagination.
08.
"lorelai's graduation day" (2.21)
RORY: Okay, here's an interesting question for you - "Have you given any thought to how children will work into your future plans?"
LORELAI: Oh, well, uh, they're not gonna stand in my way, that's for sure. I mean, I plan to have some, of course, but I'm just gonna knock them out and, uh, have Nanny catch them and care for them, make sure Mick Jagger doesn't come anywhere near them and then just return them to me when they're twenty-one.
RORY: Well, what about me?
LORELAI: You are my favorite eldest child, you get to stay by my side.
RORY: I feel so privileged.
i love rory losing her mind and skipping school to go to new york to see jess, and i love how she just shows up in the park and they both act like it's completely normal and no big deal, and they stay that way - just hanging out, no big deal - until the moment she gets on the bus to leave. i love those kids. and how perfect that rory misses lorelai's graduation while emily and richard take her place, and rory's freakout at the end is amazing.
07.
"nick & nora/sid & nancy" (2.05)
LUKE: What was I thinking? Why did I say yes to this?
LORELAI: Because you saw a kid in desperate need of some help and you thought you would throw him a line.
LUKE: But me, raising a kid? I don't even like kids. They're always sticky, you know, like they've got jam on their hands. Even if there's no jam in the house, somehow they've always got jam on their hands. I'm not the right guy to deal with that. I have no patience for jam hands!
how could i not love this episode? it brought that beautiful, fucked-up boy into my life, and it really developed luke's character into something more than just the surly, ranting diner owner and charming love interest. and i love luke's thing with his family - they make him so crazy but he loves them and he has to take care of them, even if he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing and he ends up pushing jess into a lake, haha.
06.
"that damn donna reed" (1.14)
RORY: Mother-daughter window washing. We should try that.
LORELAI: Yeah, right after mother-daughter shock treatments. "You know, Daughter, there's nothing more satisfying than washing windows -- oh no!"
RORY: "What? Did I miss a spot?"
LORELAI: "No, I just had an impure thought about your father, Alex. Funny -- I don't know why I had it. It isn't the second Saturday of the month."
RORY: (in a deeper voice) "Hey, I heard you had an impure thought about me."
LORELAI: "I must now sublimate all my impure thoughts by going into the kitchen and making an endless string of perfect casseroles."
DEAN: You're not even listening to the dialogue.
RORY: Ours is better.
i really did not remember how amazing this episode is until my rewatch. i think the scene in luke's diner where luke tells lorelai all about his dad and they find that corner where his dad took an order when he ran out of paper, that scene alone, would probably be worth the price of admission on this one. but i also love that rory and dean get into a fight about the donna reed show, and that rory is adorable and crazy.
05.
"wedding bell blues" (5.13)
EMILY: It's going to be fabulous. Isn't it, Lorelai?
LORELAI: Ab fab, sweetie darling.
EMILY: Isn't she hilarious? I never have any idea what she's talking about, but she's so entertaining. Like a chimp. Isn't she like a chimp, Gypsy?
GYPSY: Please make your mother stop talking to me.
my god this episode is tense, and i love it. i mean, it starts out all cute and funny with emily's bachelorette party and poor luke and his wrinkled pants, but as soon as christopher shows up (way to be late to the ceremony, douchebag), you know shit's gonna go down. and rory and logan finally do something, which is hot, even if i do have a serious love-hate relationship with that damn boy.
04.
"rory's dance" (1.09)
EMILY: Just one more thing. Take a picture of Rory for me, please?
LORELAI: I will.
EMILY: On the stairs. And one by the front door. And one as she's getting ready, you know, putting her hair up, putting her makeup on.
LORELAI: OK, do you want one when she's shaving her legs? You know, one leg up in the tub, waving the disposable razor in the air?
this episode is so perfect. the set-up is adorable and hilarious (just note the quote and the image of rory walking in with the bib and taco), and the dance is like a total fantasy, and then it all just falls spectacularly to pieces at the very end. and i love, love, love how lorelai and emily bond so sweetly right before their huge, amazing fight at the end. so perfect. and, oh my god, this episode is so good, i don't even care there's no luke in it! how amazing is that?
03.
"teach me tonight" (2.19)
JESS: You’re gonna be an overseas correspondent?
RORY: Yes, I am.
JESS: You’re gonna crawl around in trenches and stand on top of buildings and have bombs going off in the background and wars raging all around you?
RORY: What, you don’t think I can do it?
JESS: No, I do. Just sounds a little too -
RORY: A little what?
JESS: Just sounds a little too rough for you.
RORY: Well, it’s not a little too rough for me. I hope it’s not a little too rough for me, I’ve been talking about this forever. I mean, I don’t even know what I would do if -
JESS: Hey, I didn’t mean to freak you out. I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll do it. You will, I promise. I’ll help you practice, okay? Tomorrow, you’ll stand in the middle of the street and I will drive straight at you screaming in a foreign language.
RORY: Well, you’re gonna have to learn a foreign language first.
JESS: Well, it’s lucky I’ve got me a tutor, isn’t it.
so much good stuff happens in this episode. of course i love rory and jess bonding over punk rock and ice cream and life plans (or the lack thereof) - their whole scene in the car is probably one of my favorite scenes in the whole series. then there's also luke and lorelai's great blowup fight, and luke and jess sitting next to each other on the bridge, and kirk's amazing short film, and of course rory getting hurt would be the thing to bring lorelai and christopher back together, and then jess leaves town and it's so sad!
02.
"the breakup, part II" (1.17)
LANE: I have a major problem.
RORY: What?
LANE: Henry, the guy I’ve been dancing with?
RORY: Yeah?
LANE: OK, so he’s really good in school, he’s going to be a doctor - pediatrician to be exact. His parents are extremely involved in their local church. He himself helps out with Sunday school. He speaks Korean fluently, he respects his parents, and he’s also really cute, very funny, and surprisingly interesting.
RORY: Lane, I’m sorry, but I’m totally failing to see the problem here.
LANE: I’m falling for a guy my parents would approve of! They’d love him! They’d go crazy! There’d be dancing in the Kim house! Dancing!
RORY: Really?
LANE: Followed by a lot of praying, but initially there’d be dancing.
it is still amazing to me to see a character deal with a breakup the way that rory deals with it in this episode. usually the girl just lays in bed and cries and cries (which can be good too if well-written), but, here, instead, rory just gets really energetic and rearranges the furniture and makes lorelai go shopping for a garden hose, haha. it's so unique! it's genius, i love it. and it's perfect that a kiss from tristan is the thing that finally breaks her.
01.
"love, daisies & troubadours" (1.21)
RORY: I guess he's taking Thursday afternoons off now. That's not good.
LANE: How is that not good?
RORY: Because that means he's moved on.
LANE: What are you talking about?
RORY: Obviously he's met one of those Thursday afternoon girls.
LANE: What's a Thursday afternoon girl?
RORY: They're those slutty girls that get guys to switch their Thursday afternoons with another checkout guy so they can go do slutty Thursday afternoon things.
LANE: Okay, you're reading way too much into this.
ohhh this episode is so ridiculously adorable! rory is the cutest stalker ever. and, seriously, "because i love you, you idiot" makes me grin so fucking big, my mouth hurts, every time. and luke the handyman, and battle of the troubadours, and max's proposal, and "our little corner of the world" - it's so wonderful.
phew. that was difficult. but fun! so, now...
WHAT SHOW SHOULD I DO NEXT?
25.
"the bracebridge dinner" (2.10)
LUKE: I gotta say, sleigh ride's a little much, but these horses are really beautiful.
LORELAI: Yes, especially from this angle.
LUKE: Not just from this angle.
LORELAI: Oh seriously, don't backtrack. Horse has got a nice butt there.
LUKE: It's not what I'm saying.
LORELAI: Nice firm hiney.
LUKE: Stop talking about the horse's hiney.
of course luke & lorelai and rory & jess would end up in sleighs together. this episode could probably even just start and stop there and i'd love it... i'd probably love it even more that way, actually, because there's some other parts of the episode that i don't really like that much. but whatever, it's here for the 'shippy goodness.
24.
"say something" (5.14)
LORELAI: I was just wondering if... do you remember in The Way we Were, how Katie and Hubbell broke up because his friends were joking and laughing, and the president had just died, and she yelled at them, and he was mad. And he was going out to Hollywood, and... which she hated, and he broke up with her, and she was really upset. And she called him and asked him if he would come over and sit with her because he was her best friend and she needed her best friend. And he did. And they talked all night, and they went out to Hollywood, which was a disaster, but it was good at first, with the boat and, uh, putting the books away... I've seen this movie a lot, so if you don't remember the putting-the-books-away scene, don't feel stupid or anything.
this episode is basically all about that scene for me, where lorelai calls luke on the phone and talks all about the way we were. it's just so sad, and so in character for her to take something like that from a movie.
23.
"concert interruptus" (1.13)
LOUISE: Ooh, cool hat.
PARIS: Put that down. It’s used.
LOUISE: Vintage, dear.
PARIS: Filthy, darling.
it's the episode where rory and paris actually start becoming friends! and learning about rachel and that luke actually had a life before lorelai is good too. and, for the record, it's the first of only two episodes on my list not written by amy or daniel palladino (good job, elaine arata).
22.
"the lorelais' first day at chilton" (1.02)
RORY: So, why are you insisting on doing this?
LORELAI: Well, because you're starting private school tomorrow.
RORY: Yes, but I'm going to be wearing shoes. Nobody's gonna see my feet.
LORELAI: Okay, but everybody knows that private school girls are bad, and bad girls always wear red nail polish. ... Are you nervous?
RORY: About what?
LORELAI: About starting Chilton.
RORY: Well, I wasn't until I heard about all those bad girls.
ah, classic. man, chilton was a completely ridiculous school, wasn't it? and paris! it was love at first crazy.
21.
"kiss and tell" (1.07)
LORELAI: What happened? Did the bag boy try something?
RORY: He's sitting in there and he's watching the movie and he's perfect and he smells really good.
LORELAI: What?
RORY: He smells really good and he looks amazing. and I'm stupid, I said 'thank you.'
LORELAI: Whoa, whoa, whoa. You said 'thank you?'
RORY: When he kissed me.
LORELAI: What, he kissed you again? What is he just out of prison or something?
RORY: No, not now. Yesterday. At the store.
LORELAI: Oh, all right. Strike the prison comment. He kissed you and you said 'thank you'?
RORY: Yes.
LORELAI: Well, that was very polite.
everything about this episode is so adorably awkward, i love it. and it's just so gilmore girls - dean hanging out with rory... and her mom, haha.
20.
"the deer-hunters" (1.04)
LORELAI: I hate when I'm an idiot and I don't even know it. I like to be aware of my idiocy, really revel in it, take pictures. I feel we missed a prime Christmas card opportunity.
the second and last of the episodes on my list not written by amy or daniel palladino (good job, jed seidel). how perfect for rory to get a D, and her and lorelai's freakouts are awesome. plus, we meet max.
19.
"but not as cute as pushkin" (5.10)
HEADMASTER CHARLESTON: I'm very glad to talk to you again, Miss Gilmore. Yale certainly sounds like it's agreeing with you. I hope it will also agree with Miss Fairchild.
RORY: Aww, like Sabrina.
HEADMASTER CHARLESTON: I beg your pardon?
RORY: Sabrina Fairchild, that was her name.
HEADMASTER CHARLESTON: Have we segued into discussing a movie?
RORY: And we can segue right out again.
rory's such a nerd! i seriously don't think she had ever been quite as big of a nerd as she is in this episode. she gives the entire history of a bench at one point. and she and logan's pranks on each other are hilarious.
18.
"they shoot gilmores, don't they?" (3.07)
RORY: Who’s Stanley Appleman?
LORELAI: Oh, he’s brand new in town. He works over at the hardware store, and the best part is, he used to be part of the touring company... of Riverdance.
RORY: Score!
LORELAI: I know! I’m completely jazzed. How ‘bout you, Mr. Potato? "I’m completely jazzed, too!"
FINALLY, JEEZE. rory and dean finally break up, and i'd probably love this episode just for that, but i also love the idea of a dance marathon for a wacky stars hollow event. plus lorelai and rory look so gorgeous in their old-fashioned outfits.
17.
"a-tisket, a-tasket" (2.13)
LANE: So we’ll rendezvous where I told you. Just drive by, honk twice, go around the block, and the second time you pass I’ll jump in the car.
HENRY: Gee, do you even want me to slow down?
LANE: Well yeah, of course. I mean, not to a total stop...
ah, more 'shippy goodness. and dean starts his downward spiral into jealous, spineless, annoying dickitude. though, granted, he has every reason to be jealous, because rory and jess bonding over ayn rand and ernest hemingway is a thing of beauty.
16.
"double date" (1.12)
LORELAI: I have to know where you are at all times, especially when you have my shoes on.
i love lane. i love her raving on and on about beck and nico and foo fighters (seriously, have you heard the acoustic "everlong"? especially the version dave grohl played by himself on the howard stern show). and dean's idiot friend is hilarious. plus there's luke and lorelai playing poker and sharing a moment, and lorelai's heart-to-heart with mrs. kim.
15.
"rory's birthday parties" (1.06)
LORELAI: Oh come on, give her a break. You invited all these Chilton kids without even asking her.
EMILY: They're her schoolmates. I assumed they were her friends.
LORELAI: Well, you know what they say when people assume things.
EMILY: No, what do they say?
LORELAI: That... you shouldn't.
EMILY: Very clever.
how perfect: rory gets a little taste of what it was like for her mother growing up in the gilmore house. and i really love the ending when emily realizes not that she doesn't know her granddaughter, but that she doesn't know her daughter.
14.
"raincoats and recipes" (4.22)
LORELAI: Did you notice anything different?
RORY: Like what?
LORELAI: Like a vibe, an attitude. Did he look at me differently?
RORY: Differently than what?
LORELAI: Differently than he did.
RORY: Differently than he did when?
LORELAI: Before.
RORY: Before what?
LORELAI: Before before.
RORY: Before before -
LORELAI: Rory.
RORY: How on earth can you be frustrated with me right now?
this episode could arguably deserve to be higher on the list just for the sheer brilliance of the way luke and lorelai get together and the disturbingly in-character ending for rory, but, at the same time, rory and dean just make me shudder every time they're on screen together in season 4 - uck - so that kills some of the enjoyment. but lorelai falling down and crashing into stuff is hilarious.
13.
"nag hammadi is where they found the gnostic gospels" (4.13)
LUKE: Jess, don't you think that we should discuss this?
JESS: Discuss what?
LUKE: T.J.
JESS: I thought we just did.
LUKE: Well, we didn't come up with a solution.
JESS: A solution to what?
LUKE: Are we having the same conversation? A solution to him.
JESS: A solution would have been birth control. Too late, move on.
welcome back, jess! even though my boy is definitely not grown up yet in this episode, i still love him. he's all self-loathing and taking it out on everyone around him, especially poor luke. i really love the scene where luke is drunk and he cuts himself on the broken window - it's so sad, and so sweet how lorelai takes care of him.
12.
"pilot" (1.01)
LORELAI: Does he have a motorcycle? 'Cause if you're gonna throw your life away, he better have a motorcycle!
this is probably my favorite pilot i've ever seen. it just sets up their world and their characters and they way they talk so perfectly. it has perfect structure, too, because, of course, when you set up a mother and daughter as best friends who are exactly alike and never fight, in act three they have to have a huge fucking fight.
11.
"christopher returns" (1.15)
LORELAI: Did you just curtsy?
RORY: Shut up.
LORELAI: Sorry, m'lady.
ah, christopher... back before i hated his fucking guts. i just remember how perfect it was to finally meet rory's dad; he's so much like lorelai - very witty and immature - except, you know, kind of a dick who was never really there for his kid. but, starting with this episode, he was a pretty good guy for a while.
10.
"last week fights, this week tights" (4.21)
LUKE: How 'bout next week? Sunday?
LORELAI: Sunday?
LUKE: Sunday -- you free?
LORELAI: I-I think so.
LUKE: Okay, good. Good.
LORELAI: Good. Good.
LUKE: I'll see you... before then, but I'll see you then, too.
LORELAI: Yeah... I'll see you both of those thens.
i love luke and jess so much in this episode. i mean, of course i adore the date and the dance (so wonderful and beautiful, oh my god), but, seriously, the other most wonderful thing about this episode is the friendship between luke and jess. jess picking out luke's tie, and telling him how much he appreciates him, and the hug! my boy is definitely on his way to growing up in this episode, but he's not quite there yet, and the scene at the end with him and rory breaks my heart. just give him a year, rory! speaking of which...
09.
"let me hear your balalaikas ringing out" (6.08)
LOGAN: You penned the great American novel, Jess?
JESS: Wasn't quite that ambitious.
LOGAN: So what are we talking here? Short novel, Kafka length, or longer? Dos Pasos? Tolstoy? Or longer? Robert Musil? Proust? I'm not throwing you with these names, am I?
JESS: You seem very obsessed with length.
yay, my boy's all grown up!! i love him, i love him so much! i love that he's the one to shake rory out of her rut. this is another "FINALLY" episode - rory finally wakes up to her pointless existence. also the scene at the end with lorelai crying about paul anka and saying she's a bad mother, when she's really talking about rory, is brilliant and breaks my heart. and as far as i'm concerned, this episode is the series finale; i just fill in everything after it with my imagination.
08.
"lorelai's graduation day" (2.21)
RORY: Okay, here's an interesting question for you - "Have you given any thought to how children will work into your future plans?"
LORELAI: Oh, well, uh, they're not gonna stand in my way, that's for sure. I mean, I plan to have some, of course, but I'm just gonna knock them out and, uh, have Nanny catch them and care for them, make sure Mick Jagger doesn't come anywhere near them and then just return them to me when they're twenty-one.
RORY: Well, what about me?
LORELAI: You are my favorite eldest child, you get to stay by my side.
RORY: I feel so privileged.
i love rory losing her mind and skipping school to go to new york to see jess, and i love how she just shows up in the park and they both act like it's completely normal and no big deal, and they stay that way - just hanging out, no big deal - until the moment she gets on the bus to leave. i love those kids. and how perfect that rory misses lorelai's graduation while emily and richard take her place, and rory's freakout at the end is amazing.
07.
"nick & nora/sid & nancy" (2.05)
LUKE: What was I thinking? Why did I say yes to this?
LORELAI: Because you saw a kid in desperate need of some help and you thought you would throw him a line.
LUKE: But me, raising a kid? I don't even like kids. They're always sticky, you know, like they've got jam on their hands. Even if there's no jam in the house, somehow they've always got jam on their hands. I'm not the right guy to deal with that. I have no patience for jam hands!
how could i not love this episode? it brought that beautiful, fucked-up boy into my life, and it really developed luke's character into something more than just the surly, ranting diner owner and charming love interest. and i love luke's thing with his family - they make him so crazy but he loves them and he has to take care of them, even if he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing and he ends up pushing jess into a lake, haha.
06.
"that damn donna reed" (1.14)
RORY: Mother-daughter window washing. We should try that.
LORELAI: Yeah, right after mother-daughter shock treatments. "You know, Daughter, there's nothing more satisfying than washing windows -- oh no!"
RORY: "What? Did I miss a spot?"
LORELAI: "No, I just had an impure thought about your father, Alex. Funny -- I don't know why I had it. It isn't the second Saturday of the month."
RORY: (in a deeper voice) "Hey, I heard you had an impure thought about me."
LORELAI: "I must now sublimate all my impure thoughts by going into the kitchen and making an endless string of perfect casseroles."
DEAN: You're not even listening to the dialogue.
RORY: Ours is better.
i really did not remember how amazing this episode is until my rewatch. i think the scene in luke's diner where luke tells lorelai all about his dad and they find that corner where his dad took an order when he ran out of paper, that scene alone, would probably be worth the price of admission on this one. but i also love that rory and dean get into a fight about the donna reed show, and that rory is adorable and crazy.
05.
"wedding bell blues" (5.13)
EMILY: It's going to be fabulous. Isn't it, Lorelai?
LORELAI: Ab fab, sweetie darling.
EMILY: Isn't she hilarious? I never have any idea what she's talking about, but she's so entertaining. Like a chimp. Isn't she like a chimp, Gypsy?
GYPSY: Please make your mother stop talking to me.
my god this episode is tense, and i love it. i mean, it starts out all cute and funny with emily's bachelorette party and poor luke and his wrinkled pants, but as soon as christopher shows up (way to be late to the ceremony, douchebag), you know shit's gonna go down. and rory and logan finally do something, which is hot, even if i do have a serious love-hate relationship with that damn boy.
04.
"rory's dance" (1.09)
EMILY: Just one more thing. Take a picture of Rory for me, please?
LORELAI: I will.
EMILY: On the stairs. And one by the front door. And one as she's getting ready, you know, putting her hair up, putting her makeup on.
LORELAI: OK, do you want one when she's shaving her legs? You know, one leg up in the tub, waving the disposable razor in the air?
this episode is so perfect. the set-up is adorable and hilarious (just note the quote and the image of rory walking in with the bib and taco), and the dance is like a total fantasy, and then it all just falls spectacularly to pieces at the very end. and i love, love, love how lorelai and emily bond so sweetly right before their huge, amazing fight at the end. so perfect. and, oh my god, this episode is so good, i don't even care there's no luke in it! how amazing is that?
03.
"teach me tonight" (2.19)
JESS: You’re gonna be an overseas correspondent?
RORY: Yes, I am.
JESS: You’re gonna crawl around in trenches and stand on top of buildings and have bombs going off in the background and wars raging all around you?
RORY: What, you don’t think I can do it?
JESS: No, I do. Just sounds a little too -
RORY: A little what?
JESS: Just sounds a little too rough for you.
RORY: Well, it’s not a little too rough for me. I hope it’s not a little too rough for me, I’ve been talking about this forever. I mean, I don’t even know what I would do if -
JESS: Hey, I didn’t mean to freak you out. I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll do it. You will, I promise. I’ll help you practice, okay? Tomorrow, you’ll stand in the middle of the street and I will drive straight at you screaming in a foreign language.
RORY: Well, you’re gonna have to learn a foreign language first.
JESS: Well, it’s lucky I’ve got me a tutor, isn’t it.
so much good stuff happens in this episode. of course i love rory and jess bonding over punk rock and ice cream and life plans (or the lack thereof) - their whole scene in the car is probably one of my favorite scenes in the whole series. then there's also luke and lorelai's great blowup fight, and luke and jess sitting next to each other on the bridge, and kirk's amazing short film, and of course rory getting hurt would be the thing to bring lorelai and christopher back together, and then jess leaves town and it's so sad!
02.
"the breakup, part II" (1.17)
LANE: I have a major problem.
RORY: What?
LANE: Henry, the guy I’ve been dancing with?
RORY: Yeah?
LANE: OK, so he’s really good in school, he’s going to be a doctor - pediatrician to be exact. His parents are extremely involved in their local church. He himself helps out with Sunday school. He speaks Korean fluently, he respects his parents, and he’s also really cute, very funny, and surprisingly interesting.
RORY: Lane, I’m sorry, but I’m totally failing to see the problem here.
LANE: I’m falling for a guy my parents would approve of! They’d love him! They’d go crazy! There’d be dancing in the Kim house! Dancing!
RORY: Really?
LANE: Followed by a lot of praying, but initially there’d be dancing.
it is still amazing to me to see a character deal with a breakup the way that rory deals with it in this episode. usually the girl just lays in bed and cries and cries (which can be good too if well-written), but, here, instead, rory just gets really energetic and rearranges the furniture and makes lorelai go shopping for a garden hose, haha. it's so unique! it's genius, i love it. and it's perfect that a kiss from tristan is the thing that finally breaks her.
01.
"love, daisies & troubadours" (1.21)
RORY: I guess he's taking Thursday afternoons off now. That's not good.
LANE: How is that not good?
RORY: Because that means he's moved on.
LANE: What are you talking about?
RORY: Obviously he's met one of those Thursday afternoon girls.
LANE: What's a Thursday afternoon girl?
RORY: They're those slutty girls that get guys to switch their Thursday afternoons with another checkout guy so they can go do slutty Thursday afternoon things.
LANE: Okay, you're reading way too much into this.
ohhh this episode is so ridiculously adorable! rory is the cutest stalker ever. and, seriously, "because i love you, you idiot" makes me grin so fucking big, my mouth hurts, every time. and luke the handyman, and battle of the troubadours, and max's proposal, and "our little corner of the world" - it's so wonderful.
phew. that was difficult. but fun! so, now...
WHAT SHOW SHOULD I DO NEXT?