Already feeling festive? These are the best Gilmore Girls Christmas episodes
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Christmastime is nearly here(ish) and if you have any respect at all for the autumnal season, you’re likely already midway through your annual Gilmore Girls rewatch on Netflix. If you’re in need of a status report, it’s nearly November, which means Rory should probably be in her final year at Chilton and prepping for her Yale era. Speed up, slow down, or match pace accordingly.
One great thing about Gilmore Girls (of which there are many) is that its seasonality knows no hiatus. Each and every season of the series, including the reboot, features festive episodes for our viewing pleasure. In the spirit of good tidings, we’ve gathered each of these tinsel-tied and gift-wrapped episodes into a single list.
We’d rank these nine episodes in order of quality, but we have morals. Watch these episodes the way Amy Sherman-Palladino intended—in chronological order. Grow up with our girls, and feel your heart grow nine sizes.
“Forgiveness and Stuff,” Season 1, Episode 10
The great thing about a Gilmore Girls Christmas is that it never feels out of place. This season one episode is a natural fit in the season and the entire arc of the show, it just happens to be set at Christmas time. The episode begins with Lorelai being uninvited to the annual Gilmore family Christmas party, sending Rory in her place and spending the night at Luke’s Diner where she eats a Santa-inspired burger. While at the party, Richard collapses and is rushed to the hospital, bringing the family together (despite their best efforts).
“The Bracebridge Dinner,” Season 2, Episode 10
If season one gave us Christmas (Hartford’s Version), then season two is Christmas (Stars Hollow’s Version). This episode sees Lorelai in a classic innkeeper’s pickle, when a visiting holiday convention is trapped in Boston, leaving a festive seven-course dinner and Elizabethan style holiday party unclaimed. Ever quick on her feet, Lorelai invites the town to enjoy the feast.
“That’ll Do, Pig,” Season 3, Episode 10
Sure, this episode is festive. More than that, it features the ultimate trifecta of Gilmore Girls lore—Jess and Dean head to head, Paris’s antics, and the return of Trix. Much of the episode centres around Stars Hollow’s Winter Carnival and the surprise arrival of Trix into Hartford, which sends Emily into a spiral (our favourite version of Emily).
“In the Clamor and the Clangor,” Season 4, Episode 11
More wintry than Christmas-y, this episode sees Rory bumbling her way through her new college identity, while Luke and Lorelai conspire to break a few church bells.
“Women of Questionable Morals,” Season 5, Episode 11
Luke x Lorelai hive, are you here? Do you exist? Do you have a grump-kink, or there’s just something about Luke? Anyways, this episode gives us one of the most romantic Luke and Lorelai moments, when Lorelai falls out of love with snow (her longest and most stable relationship) due to winter trouble at the inn. Just when she is prepared to call off snow forever, Luke builds an ice rink in front of her house. Swoon, Lutz, Axel.
“Just Like Gwen and Gavin,” Season 6, Episode 12
The return of the Winter Carnival, oh joy! This episode sees Rory rise as editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News, and Lorelai learn of the existence of April, Luke’s long lost daughter. Grump-kink readers, sorry, this isn’t a great moment for Luke and Lorelai.
“Merry Fisticuffs,” Season 7, Episode 10
This episode begins our slow march to the end, or at least what we thought was the end until 2016’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. In its final season, Gilmore Girls gives us a couple merry moments to send us on our way. By this time in the series (we would say spoiler alert but it's been sixteen years, so be reasonable), Lorelai and Christopher are back together. This episode sees the pair (now married) quarrelling about commitment and wedding vows, meanwhile Lorelai reconnects with Luke over Liz’s new baby.
“Santa’s Secret Stuff,” Season 7, Episode 11
This season seven episode is Christmas interrupted, then rescheduled. While Rory is away in London, Lorelai and Christopher put a pause on the holiday, instead planning the ultimate festive day upon her return, decorating Christmas trees (months late) and baking Christmas cookies for the first time as a family (20+ years late).
“Winter,” A Year in the Life, Episode 1
It would be remiss of us not to say that A Year in the Life is one of the best series reboots the streaming Gods have given us, and on top of the series 153 total episodes, these four go down as some of the best. The four-part reboot kicks off with “Winter,” and this writer is already weepy. The episode begins with a snow-coated tour of Stars Hollow (as if we could forget), but soon breaks our heart with the news of Richard Gilmore’s passing (made doubly sad by the reality that the actor who played him, Edward Herrmann, passed away on New Years Eve of 2014.) This episode, like every other we’ve just reviewed, doesn’t feature Christmas so much as it features the season of winter. Still, we can’t get enough.
You Might Also Like
