The 26 Best ‘Gilmore Girls’ Episodes, from a Self-Appointed Expert
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I could begin this beast of a story with some quip about how Gilmore Girls is sooo fall vibes!! I absolutely won’t. Gilmore Girls is more than an autumnal tradition. It is Girlhood televised, and it knows no season. Watch it in October. Watch it in January. Watch it in June. Kneel at the altar of Amy Sherman-Palladino, buy low rise flare jeans, drink black coffee, quote The Godfather, call your mother, and your grandmother too.
Now entering the Gilmore Girls Hall of Fame: the series' 26 essential episodes from a writer who grew up Gilmore and traces her life in televised story arcs. Where were you on the day of 1,000 yellow daisies? I was growing my last baby teeth. Today, I'm still watching, with different teeth.
“Rory’s Birthday Parties” - Season 1, Episode 6
You thought I’d start with the pilot? Think again, Gilmies. With 153 total episodes across seven seasons, I’ve whittled this behemoth of television history down to the essential 26 episodes. That said, the first “best” of the series goes to the 6th episode, “Rory’s Birthday Parties.” In this episode, Rory celebrates her 16th birthday across two celebrations, one extravagant and formally planned by her grandmother Emily and another informal (read: fun) planned by her mother Lorelai. What better way to world build than from behind the glow of candlelight and buttercream? This episode sets up what will become the essential struggle of Rory Gilmore’s life, finding balance between her ritzy roots and the kitschy town that holds her heart. The episode also sets up the essential struggle of Lorelai Gilmore’s life, finding a way to be a better, chiller, bouncier mother than her own.
“Rory’s Dance” - Season 1, Episode 9
In this episode, Rory hard launches her worst relationship of all time with Dean at a Chilton Preparatory School dance. I’ll put aside my disdain for this relationship in the name of journalistic integrity to admit that this episode has some sweet moments, including when Rory and Dean fall asleep in Miss Patty’s dance barn, causing Lorelai and Emily to spiral about the generational curse of teen pregnancy.
“The Road Trip to Harvard” - Season 2, Episode 4
This episode picks up after Lorelai calls off her wedding to Max (the hot, sweater-clad Chilton teacher who proposed with 1,000 yellow daisies), and sees Lorelai and Rory embark on a roadtrip to Rory’s dream school, Harvard. Join the club, bitch. Kidding, I aspired to a state school with a distasteful mascot.
“Presenting Lorelai Gilmore” - Season 2, Episode 6
Rory takes her talents to high society in this episode, making her “debut” at a ritzy function to help her grandfather Richard reenter the Hartford social scene. Rory’s young father Christopher returns in this episode to escort her, assuming the role he plays best—hot absent father.
“Richard in Stars Hollow” - Season 2, Episode 12
Any Richard Gilmore-centric episodes receive top billing—RIP to a legend. This season 2 episode sees Richard bounce around Stars Hollow to fill his post-retirement free time, sprinkling elitist digs across the town, the elderly rich man’s pastime. This episode also sees our girl Paris Geller explore Stars Hollow, which is reason enough to stream.
“Lost & Found” - Season 2, Episode 15
Jess girls, listen up. Don’t say I never gave you anything. This season 2 gem is Jess-heavy, following the moody short king as he cleans out the Gilmore’s gutters. Scintillating, right? The real rub here occurs when our melodramatic dream boy steals the bracelet Dean (redacted) gifted Rory.
“Eight O’Clock at the Oasis” - Season 3, Episode 5
This is an episode of memorable moments. Firstly, Lorelai meets a man at her mother’s society auction, which forces her to bow at the feet of Emily Gilmore to humbly request his phone number. Secondly, Lorelai and Rory agree to water their neighbor Dwight’s home, dubbed “The Oasis” and decorated atrociously. Thirdly, when Rory’s big Ivy League brain can’t figure out the sprinkler system, baby boy Jess saves the day, then re-triggers the system to allow Dean (redacted) his hero moment.
“They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” - Season 3, Episode 7
One of the most iconic episodes of the series, this one centers around the Stars Hollow Dance Marathon, during which Lorelai is dead set on dethroning Kirk as four-time champion. Dean (redacted) attends to sulk and stare at Rory, but is triggered by Jess, and ultimately dumps Rory. In the end, we get the highly frame-able scene of Lorelai consoling a sobbing Rory on the dance floor. Kirk wins again, as is only right.
“Let the Games Begin” - Season 3, Episode 8
A direct follow up to the Dance Marathon episode, this episode begins the Harvard v. Yale story arc that will carry us into the next era of television’s best series. This episode features a canonical event, the first kiss shared between Rory and Jess. Later, our Gilmore girls attend Richard’s Yale reunion, during which he springs a surprise admissions interview on Rory, thus derailing her Harvard blueprint.
“Dear Emily and Richard” - Season 3, Episode 13
Gilmore Girls is not big on flashbacks, but when they do them, they do them well. This episode gives us a look back at Lorelai’s teen pregnancy and delivery of Rory, which she endured entirely alone.
“Here Comes the Son” - Season 3, Episode 21
Another big moment for Jess, this episode sees our sour teen idol visit his father in Venice, California in search of a place to live after ditching Rory at prom and fleeing Stars Hollow. This episode was originally intended to be the starting point for a spinoff series about Jess’ new life in Venice, but was not picked up. Ah, what could have been.
“The Lorelais’ First Day at Yale” - Season 4, Episode 2
Season 4 marks an entirely new era of the series, one in which Rory trades Chilton for Yale, Stars Hollow for New Haven, and a brooding brunette for a rich (endgame) blonde. In this episode, Lorelai helps Rory move into her new digs at Yale, meets her roommates, and inspires a dorm-wide taste testing of the city’s best takeout. The biggest takeaway from this episode should be Lorelai’s restaurant rating system—quality of the food, delivery speed, and cuteness of the delivery boys. DoorDash, your move.
“The Festival of Living Art” - Season 4, Episode 7
The flowers for this episode go to the town of Stars Hollow. The town holds a festival of living pictures, engaging the locals to pose as artistic figures. Naturally, Kirk plays Jesus in a reenactment of “The Last Supper.” In other news, Sookie (woefully unmentioned in this article up to this point) goes into labor. Fun fact: this episode won Gilmore Girls an Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup for a Series.
“Girls in swimsuits, Boys Doin’ the Twist” - Season 4, Episode 17
A rare episode, this season four gem takes us out of the state of Connecticut and down to sunny Florida as Rory, Paris, and the Yale crew escape for spring break. Editorial Note: the state was far more charming in 2004, better known for spring break parties and gator-themed amusement parks, as opposed to the right wing boat parades and flat earthers of today. This episode also features The Shins, so your indie boyfriend might watch it.
“Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller” - Season 5, Episode 1
In between spring break and this series premiere, some shit went down. In short, Rory lost her virginity to Dean (redacted), despite him being married to another woman. Lorelai is furious and disappointed, a rare look for her, so season 5 begins with a very tense pair of Gilmore girls. Looking to escape the shadow of Lorelai’s disappointment, Rory flees to Europe with Emily.
“You Jump, I Jump, Jack” - Season 5, Episode 7
By this point in season 5, Lorelai and Luke are a certified item, and as such, he is subjected to Friday night dinner at the elder Gilmore’s Hartford estate. Rory, on a journalistic assignment about Yale’s “Life and Death Brigade,” meets her next romantic arc, Logan Huntzberger, an impulsive, exciting, blonde heir to a publishing empire.
“To Live and Let Diorama” - Season 5, Episode 18
Another moment in Stars Hollow history, this season 5 episode sees Taylor (woefully unmentioned in this article up to this point) turn Luke’s beloved historic Twickham House into a living museum of the town’s history. Meanwhile, Lorelai gets interviewed by a magazine about her new inn, but accidentally badmouths her mother and lives to regret it. Relatable queen. This is the last appearance of Jared Padalecki’s Dean, until the series’ 2016 four-part reboot. Despite the slander, we appreciate your service Jared. Everyone needs a shitty young boyfriend, and sordid early sexual experiences build character.
“How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod?” - Season 5, Episode 20
The one that introduced the Yale-specific word “kropog” to the popular culture lexicon, this season 5 episode sees a Friday night dinner attended by the usual suspects plus Logan Huntzberger, Rory’s new beau. Logan gets on famously with Richard, bumps heads with Lorelai, and attempts to steal a Gilmore heirloom—a popular pastime amongst America’s young elite, apparently.
“New and Improved Lorelai” - Season 6, Episode 1
Season 6 begins with our girls in a rough spot. Rory has dropped out of Yale, following a complete career confidence annihilation at the hands of Logan’s famous father, and Lorelai is so furious that she’s passed her off to Richard and Emily. Not to mention, Rory is suffering the consequences of stealing a yacht in the season 5 finale—another popular pastime amongst America’s young elite, apparently.
“Twenty-One is the Loneliest Number” - Season 6, Episode 7
Enter the series’ most pivotal three-episode arc. A somber episode, this one follows Rory’s 21st birthday, a day she and Lorelai had been planning basically her entire life. Unfortunately at this moment, they are not speaking. As such, Emily throws the party, which is unsurprisingly, a formal snooze. Lorelai does attend the party, and we get the first small moment of reconnection between mother and daughter in seven episodes.
“Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out” - Season 6, Episode 8
Directly following Rory’s birthday episode, we get the grand return of Jess, who stops into New Haven with his hit new book and that published writer's ego that comes with it (written here with an air of self awareness). While in town, he gets drinks with Rory and Logan, where he gives us a certified top five series quote, “WHY did you DROP out of YALE?!”
“The Prodigal Daughter Returns” - Season 6, Episode 9
At long last, Rory and Lorelai are reunited following a blowout between Rory and her grandmother. As such, the pair makes up for lost time with a Gilmore-inspired reunion tour of Stars Hollow. Also, a random tween enters Luke's Diner, and as it turns out, she is his biological daughter, April.
“A Vineyard Valentine” - Season 6, Episode 15
Another moment away from the Connecticut state lines, this episode sees Rory, Logan, Lorelai, and Luke vacation together at the Huntzberger’s estate on Martha’s Vineyard for Valentine’s Day. Luke and Logan bump heads, and the young buck flexes his wealth, as he is wont to do.
“Partings” – Season 6, Episode 22
A big one for our girls and our town, this episode sees the beloved Stars Hollow town troubadour leave for a Neil Young gig—which is, in itself, an incredible joke. As a result, the town is flooded with aspiring troubadours, filling every corner of town with dreadful folk ditties and pork pie hats.
“Gilmore Girls Only” - Season 7, Episode 17
This episode gives the series its final girls-centric, generational moment, as Emily, Lorelai, and Rory embark on a road trip to attend the wedding of the innkeeper who took in a pregnant Lorelai and infant Rory so many years ago. Plus, our girl Lane (woefully unmentioned in this article up to this point) gives birth to twins.
“Unto the Breach” - Season 7, Episode 21
I will not end this list with the series finale, because as made clear via word count, I care. I care about the Gilmore Girls legacy, and more than that, I care about Jess Mariano (who is not present in this episode but remains prominent in the heart and mind of this writer). The series’ penultimate episode is one of the best, ending with a party on the eve of Rory’s graduation from Yale, during which Logan surprises the crowd with a marriage proposal. On graduation day, Rory declines his proposal.
In the series finale, Rory accepts a job working for a presidential campaign and the town of Stars Hollow organizes a tear-jerking going away party in her honor. The series ends as it should, with Lorelai and Rory, our Gilmore Girls, at a table in Luke’s Diner.
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