SEASON 1
PILOT-
After Rory is accepted at Chilton, an extremely prestigious and expensive prep school, Lorelai's difficulty in raising the tuition money forces her to ask her wealthy parents, from whom she is estranged, for a loan. The elder Gilmores happily loan their daughter the money in exchange for an end to the estrangement and a family dinner every Friday night. In her last week at Stars Hollow High School, Rory meets a very cute new transfer student named Dean, which gives her second thoughts about attending Chilton. When Lorelai discovers that her ambivalence about Chilton centers on a boy, they argue about her future, but after the first Friday night family dinner at her grandparents' house, Rory makes up with her mother and decides to go to Chilton after all when she realizes the sacrifice her mother has made in agreeing to end the estrangement with her grandparents.
THE LORELAIS' FIRST DAY AT CHILTON-
Lorelai oversleeps on Rory's first day at Chilton, and discovers that all her good clothes are at the cleaners. She throws on a tiny tie-dyed top, Daisy Mae shorts, and cowboy boots to the dismay of Rory, the Chilton headmaster, and Emily, who has shown up for Rory's first day. Lorelai and Emily leave after some awkward moments in the headmaster's office, bickering the entire way out. Rory's day goes downhill from there. She's handed a three inch binder containing one week's worth of notes from one class and meets some insufferable classmates who are determined to make her life at Chilton miserable.
KILL ME NOW-
When Rory announces at Friday night dinner that she has to pick a team sport to play at Chilton, Emily insists that Richard take Rory to the club and teach her golf. Although Rory tees off to a rocky start, she soon gets into the swing of things and has a great time walking and talking with Richard. Later, Lorelai's mixed feelings as Rory tells her how much she enjoyed being with Richard at the club provokes her into an intensely stupid argument with Rory, which is soon patched up when Lorelai realizes that she's not losing Rory to her parents. At the Inn, Lorelai has her hands full overseeing all the preparations for an ornate double wedding ceremony and contending with a pair of spoiled and quarrelsome twin brides, their exhausted mother, their twin grooms, Michel, and the rest of her staff.
THE DEER HUNTERS-
Rory receives the first “D” of her life, pushing her to study like crazy for the upcoming exam. She and Lorelai stay up all hours reviewing every detail about Shakespeare, only to over-sleep and Rory misses the big test. Rory has a meltdown, telling off both Tristan and Paris in the process. Meanwhile, Lorelai meets Mr. Medina at the parent-teacher meeting and tells off the headmaster after Rory's meltdown.
CINNAMON'S WAKE-
A family member and a cat die, and which wake does Lorelai attend? Max and Lorelai get their feelings for each other out on the table, but what will Rory think of this? Lorelai attends a Chilton bake sale.
RORY'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES-
It's Rory's birthday, and her grandmother and mother each plan a party representative of their respective styles. Emily's elegant party so discomfits Rory that they argue. To make peace, Emily and Richard attend Lorelai's informal bash the next evening.
KISS AND TELL
Dean gives Rory her first kiss; fearful of her mother's disapproval, Rory decides not to tell Lorelai for a little while; Lorelai gets stressed when she hears about the kiss from Mrs. Kim instead of Rory; Rory freaks out at first when Lorelai invites Dean over to watch videos and eat junk food, but ends up having a good time after all.
LOVE AND WAR AND SNOW
It's snowing, and Lorelai is giddy. She runs into Max in Stars Hollow, and invites him back to her place. But they run into someone unexpected when they get there. Lane feels left-out of Rory's life.
RORY'S DANCE
During dinner at her mother's, Lorelai finds out that not only is there a formal dance at Chilton, but that Rory doesn't want to go. On the way home, Lorelai convinces Rory that she needs to have this experience, and even offers to make Rory a dress. Lane prods Rory into asking Dean to go, and she nervously does. Even though he says he doesn't really like dances, he agrees to go with Rory. When Emily arrives at Lorelai's the night of the dance to see Rory off and take some pictures, she finds that Lorelai has thrown her back out. She decides to stay and to take care of Lorelai, and they manage to get in some nice mother-daughter bonding during the course of the evening. The dance starts off well; Rory's dress is complimented, Dean is admired, and Paris is embarrassed when everyone finds out that her date is her cousin and that he insisted upon being paid to escort Paris. Unfortunately, Tristan baits Dean, and they almost get into a fight before Dean warns him never to come near Rory again. Rory and Dean leave, take a walk around Stars Hollow, decide that they are girlfriend and boyfriend, and fall asleep reading poetry in Miss Patty's studio. In the morning, Rory's absence causes Lorelai and Emily great alarm, and they have a major argument about Lorelai's parenting, her past, and Emily's parenting. Rory arrives home to hear her mother order her grandmother out of the house. Lorelai vents her fear and anger at Rory and Rory yells back, accusing Lorelai of actually being upset that she failed in front of Emily.
FORGIVENESS AND STUFF
Things are still chilly between Rory and Lorelai; Lane gives Rory advice about the right Christmas gift for Dean; Emily and Lorelai have a tiff about Christmas dinner, leaving Rory to go by herself; Dean and Lorelai patch things up; Luke makes a lonely Lorelai a Santa burger; Richard collapses and is rushed to the hospital; Luke gives a car-less Lorelai a ride to the hospital; relieved that Richard's collapse was only a bout of angina, the Gilmores settle their differences.
PARIS IS BURNING
As Lorelai and Max grow closer, Rory begins to get attached to the idea of Max in their lives, which freaks Lorelai out; Sookie and Lorelai have a frank talk about relationships; Lorelai tries to ease out of her relationship with Max during Parent's Day at Chilton, but ends up passionately kissing him in his classroom just as Paris walks by; stung by the details in the newspapers about her parents' messy divorce, Paris tells everyone in the lunchroom about Max and Lorelai to deflect gossip away from her and towards Rory; Rory confronts Paris, gets an apology, and offers a sympathetic ear, which is grudgingly accepted; Sookie asks Jackson out on a date and he accepts.
DOUBLE DATE
After Lorelai encourages Sookie to ask out Jackson, she finds herself on the double date from hell with Jackson's cousin, Rune, which makes Luke jealous enough to finally work up the courage to ask Lorelai out. Meanwhile, Rory and Lane get into trouble when they double date with Dean and his friend Todd without telling their moms.
CONCERT INTERRUPTUS
Lorelai organizes the Stars Hollow Charity Rummage Sale and buys a sweatshirt donated by Luke. When she wears it into the diner, he goes ballistic, much to her shock. Sookie tells her later that the sweatshirt belonged to his old girlfriend Rachel, who broke his heart. When Lorelai's curiosity gets the better of her and she demands details from Sookie, Sookie teases her about being jealous of Rachel, which Lorelai denies a little too strongly. Lorelai returns the sweatshirt to Luke, reminding him that it's okay to hold onto some good memories. To the delight of Lorelai and Rory, Sookie gets great tickets to a Bangles concert in New York City. When Lane's mother won't let her join them, Lorelai suggests that Rory invite Paris, Madeline, and Louise, who have gathered at the house to prepare for a school debate. The girls accept and take Skokie’s good seats while she and Lorelai head for seats in the nosebleed section that they bought at the door. During the concert, Madeline and Louise meet some cute guys and leave with them to go to a party, over Rory's objections. Lorelai is freaked when she finds out, but finally manages to track them down with the help of Sookie, Rory and Paris.
THAT DAMN DONNA REED
An evening of "The Donna Reed Show" reruns infects Dean and both Gilmore Girls -- Dean expresses a longing for the type of family represented by the show, Lorelai helps Luke spruce up the diner with a fresh paint job and new curtains, and Rory dresses up like Donna and fixes a 1950s style dinner for Dean while pet sitting Babette's new kitten; when the baby chick that's the subject of Rory's midterm project gets loose in the house, Lorelai frantically calls Luke to help her search the house; both Sookie and Emily force Lorelai to confront her feelings for Luke; Christopher roars into town on his motorcycle, and agrees to stay at Lorelai's and Rory's during his visit.
CHRISTOPHER RETURNS
Wanting to play a greater role in Rory's life, Christopher settles in for his visit and lets Rory give him the grand tour of Stars Hollow. When his parents arrive in Hartford for a visit, Emily invites everyone to Friday night dinner, which turns out to be an unqualified disaster after Richard nearly comes to blows with Christopher's father over critical comments about Lorelai. In the aftermath of the ruined dinner party, Richard retreats to his study to calm down, Emily makes a plate for Rory in the kitchen and reassures her how much she is loved and regarded, and Christopher finds Lorelai on the balcony of her old bedroom and comforts her by repeating a little romantic history. The next morning, Lorelai awakens with a start, horrified that she forgot to help Luke paint the diner after dinner on Friday night. Grabbing a jacket, she races to the diner still clad in her pajamas, and begs Luke's forgiveness. He shrugs it off at first, but appears somewhat wounded when he realizes that Lorelai was with Christopher the night before. When Lorelai returns to the house, Christopher asks her to marry him and she regretfully turns him down, claiming he's not ready for the responsibility of a family quite yet. Christopher returns to California with the promise of doing a better job of staying in touch. The next morning, Lorelai surprises Luke by having the diner completely repainted when he arrives to open up for the day.
STAR-CROSSED LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS
Luke's ex-girlfriend Rachel arrives in Stars Hollow unexpectedly and immediately picks up on the attraction between Luke and Lorelai, which they deny. Rachel decides to stay for awhile, which leaves Luke and Lorelai with mixed feelings. Lorelai and Rory are amazed when Emily agrees to excuse Rory from Friday night dinner so that Rory and Dean can celebrate their three month anniversary. When Lorelai arrives for dinner, she discovers the source of Emily's largesse -- her mother has invited another guest -- a man with whom she secretly hopes to fix Lorelai up. After a painful dinner with one of the world's most boring men, Lorelai attempts to escape through the window of her old bedroom, but is caught in the act by Richard. When he is forced to admit that even he is bored by the man, he uncharacteristically covers for her and lets her make her getaway. Back in Stars Hollow, Dean treats Rory to a wonderfully romantic dinner, and then gives her a present -- a car that he's restoring for her. As they sit in the car, Dean professes his love, but Rory is unsure how to respond. Crushed, Dean breaks up with Rory, who is heartbroken.
THE BREAKUP, PART 2
Rory decides to engage in a flurry of activity to avoid thinking about Dean, despite Lorelai's advice to wallow; Lorelai runs interference as the residents of Stars Hollow reach out to console Rory and Luke attempts to bar Dean from the diner; Rachel pitches in to help Luke out at the diner; Jackson prepares dinner for Sookie, and has a tough time keeping her out of the kitchen; Rory decides to attend Madeline's party and takes Lane along for company; Lorelai decides to visit Max when she realizes how much she misses him; Lane is torn when she meets the perfect guy at the party; Rory attempts to befriend Tristan after he has very public breakup with his girlfriend at the party, and when he apologizes for his past bad behavior towards her and kisses her, she bursts into tears; at home, Rory sobs to Lorelai that she's ready to wallow now.
THE THIRD LORELAI
Emily becomes unhinged at the prospect of a visit from Richard's mother Trix; Paris is outraged when she discovers that Tristan asked her for a date at Rory's urging; fearing that she'll never see Lorelai again, Emily opposes Trix's offer to set up a trust fund for Rory.
EMILY IN WONDERLAND
Rachel finds an abandoned inn that Lorelai and Sookie fall in love with; Lorelai and Rachel spend the afternoon getting to know each other and Rachel asks Lorelai to put in a good word for her with Luke; as Rory takes Emily on a tour of Stars Hollow, Emily hits it off with Mrs. Kim and Michel, but becomes distraught when she sees Lorelai and Rory's first home; at Sookie's urging, Lorelai gives Jackson's cousin Rune a job at the Inn.
P.S. I LO...
Lorelai helps Luke shop for a birthday present for Rachel and goes wild outfitting him with a new wardrobe; overwhelmed by sadness at her breakup with Dean, Rory is distressed to discover that Lane and Dean have become science project partners, and incensed to find out from Max that Lorelai has neglected to mention that they are dating again, so she argues with Lorelai and then takes off for Hartford to spend the night at her grandparents' house without telling her mother; when an angry Lorelai confronts Dean and discovers the truth about his breakup with Rory, she fears that she has taught Rory not to commit to a relationship.
LOVE, DAISIES, AND TROUBADOURS
Paris wreaks her revenge after Tristan lies about going to a concert with Rory; Rachel leaves Stars Hollow after she becomes convinced that despite his protests, Luke is in love with Lorelai; Rory's defense of the Stars Hollow troubadour during a town meeting brings her back together with Dean, enabling her to finally say, and mean, the words that he's been longing to hear; Luke and Max meet and engage in a little not-so-friendly rivalry as Max begins to suspect, despite her protests, that Lorelai and Luke were once an item; Max proposes to Lorelai with a thousand yellow daisies.
SEASON 2-
SADIE, SADIE
Lane freaks out when her parents buy her a one-way ticket to Korea for the summer; Luke gives Lorelai a lot to think about when she tells him about Max's proposal; Lorelai finally says "yes" to Max and tells everyone except her parents; when Rory brings Dean to a special dinner at her grandparents' house to celebrate making it into the top 3% at Chilton and Richard attacks Dean for not meeting Gilmore standards of excellence, Rory springs to Dean's defense and creates a rift between Richard and his granddaughter; Emily is heartbroken when she finds out about the wedding from Sookie instead of Lorelai.
HAMMERS AND VEILS
Rory stresses out about being too far behind on extracurriculars, which puts a strain on her relationship with Dean; Henry expresses an interest in dating Lane; Richard and Rory patch up their differences; hurt over being the last to know, Emily gives Lorelai a frigid reception when her daughter finally tells her the good news; all of Stars Hollow turns out for Lorelai's and Max's engagement party.
RED LIGHT ON THE WEDDING NIGHT
Lorelai, Sookie, Emily, Michel, and Rory go to a drag club for Lorelai's bachelorette party; Emily regales the group with stories about the week before her wedding, some of which give Lorelai pause about her own feelings about marriage; when everyone else leaves to call their sweeties, Lorelai calls Christopher instead of Max; later that evening at home, Lorelai announces to Rory that she's calling the wedding off because she's realized that Max isn't the one for her; mother and daughter decide to take a road trip to avoid the sympathies of all of Stars Hollow.
THE ROAD TRIP TO HARVARD
To escape everyone's reaction to the news of the broken engagement, Lorelai and Rory hit the road, and stumble upon the bed and breakfast from hell before eventually arriving at Harvard, where Rory gets a taste of college life and Lorelai muses over what might have been; Lane comes home loaded with bootlegs from Seoul; Lorelai breaks into tears when she sees the chuppah that Luke made for her; Luke commiserates with Lorelai even though he's secretly overjoyed to hear that the wedding's off; Lorelai decides to get serious about making her dream of opening an inn a reality.
NICK & NORA/SID & NANCY
Luke's sister Liz, afraid that her 17 year old son Jess is headed for trouble, puts him on a bus to Stars Hollow to live with Luke. Lorelai finds out and offers Luke some guidance on the care and feeding of a teenager, but is rebuffed. Undaunted, she hosts a dinner party for Jess, who is sullen and angry with everyone except Rory. At the first opportunity, he takes a beer from the fridge and sneaks out to the back porch. Lorelai finds him and gives him a lecture on how good he has it with Luke. Jess tells her what she can do with her little speech and then leaves. When Luke finds out about Lorelai's meddling, they quarrel and he goes to find Jess. Taylor calls Luke the next day to accuse Jess of stealing money from the bridge fund container at the market. Luke confronts Jess about this accusation, and becomes so frustrated at his response that he shoves him into the lake. Realizing that he needs Lorelai's help, he goes to her house to patch things up, only to find that one of Babette's gnomes is missing. He goes back to the diner, lays down the law to Jess and retrieves Babette's gnome. Paris is intent on making Rory's life miserable, so she sabotages her participation on "The Franklin" by giving Rory the wrong time for the staff meeting, and then assigning her to a story on the paving of the new faculty parking lot. Her plan is frustrated when the faculty advisor singles out Rory's article for praise. Undeterred, Paris assigns Rory the job of interviewing Max after she sees Rory and Max painfully avoid each other in the hall. Rory accepts the challenge, and after a few painful moments, Max and Rory express their regrets to each other about not being able to be stepfather and stepdaughter.
PRESENTING LORELAI GILMORE
At the urging of her friends, Emily decides that Rory's making her debut at a society ball will be just the thing to get Richard back into the social swing. To Lorelai's amazement, Rory willingly agrees and Emily goes into high gear shopping in preparation. Christopher agrees to escort Rory and Lorelai becomes entranced by his new responsible side, but gets a shock when she learns about his new relationship.
LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER
Headmaster Charleston decrees that both Gilmore girls need to improve their socialization skills at Chilton if they want him to write a glowing recommendation for Rory's Harvard application. Rory's first attempt to socialize leads her to ask a group of girls at lunch if she could join them. They agree and hit it off famously. After lunch, an insanely jealous Paris accosts Rory and tells her the group that she innocently stumbled into is "The Puffs", Chilton's famed secret sorority. Paris would do anything to join, and she begs Rory not to bad-mouth her to the group. At the next opportunity, Rory talks Paris up to the group and they are both accepted as pledges. The Puffs "kidnap" Rory, Paris and the other pledges very early one morning under the guise of taking them to breakfast, but instead take them to Headmaster Charleston's office to be initiated into the group. In the middle of the ceremony, they are discovered by Charleston and the security guards. He calls their parents and threatens their college careers, until Rory stands up to him and says that if he hadn't forced her to socialize, she wouldn't be there at all. He agrees and reconsiders, saying that she is a good student who deserves to go to Harvard. After being chided by Emily for her lack of participation, Lorelai joins the Booster Club and offers to host a fundraising fashion show at the Inn. To her dismay, she discovers that the Booster Club mothers are the models; not wanting to be mortified by herself, and to exact a little payback for being chided, she signs Emily up to model as well. On the day of the show, Lorelai calls Luke to fix the runway, and he catches the eye of Eva, the Booster Club president, who's quite taken with him. Lorelai becomes uncomfortable when she sees them huddled together talking. The day goes even further downhill when Lorelai discovers that she and Emily will be modeling matching mother-daughter outfits. They end up looking terrific and having a ball strutting their stuff on the runway, and the show is a tremendous success. Back in Stars Hollow, Lorelai visits Luke at the diner and asks him not to go out with Eva. She offers the pathetic reason that she wants to keep her Stars Hollow life and her Chilton life separate, and that Luke's dating Eva will combine the two. Luke sees right through her, and after letting her know that he'll date whoever he pleases, tells her that he's not interested in Eva and was only giving her directions back to Hartford. Lorelai, secretly happy but realizing she's made a fool of herself, hurries out of the diner, to Luke's amusement.
THE INS AND OUTS OF INNS
Lorelai and Sookie gear up their plans to open an inn, but encounter a roadblock when the owner of their dream location refuses to sell the property. The unexpected arrival of Mia, the absentee owner of the Independence Inn, complicates matters even further when Lorelai begins to experience pangs of guilt at leaving Mia with the responsibility of running the Inn again. When Lorelai finally summons up the courage to tell her about their plans, Mia is supportive and enthusiastic, and announces that this was just the opportunity she was waiting for to sell the Inn. Lorelai is saddened at this news and tells Emily how much the Inn means to her as the place where she and Rory grew up together, oblivious to the pain she is causing her mother. Lorelai's emotional turmoil culminates with having her first ever argument with Sookie. After a pep talk from Luke, Lorelai apologizes to Sookie and recommits to their friendship and partnership. Stung by the loss of years and memories while Lorelai and Rory lived at the Inn, Emily decides to meet Mia, the woman who was such an important part of their lives then. Mia explains that she took them in to give them a place to feel safe, while Emily explains that she wanted Mia to send them home. Emily asks Mia if she has any pictures of the girls from those days, and Mia eagerly agrees to send them to her right away. Someone has planted a fake murder scene at the front of Doose's market, complete with police tape and the chalk outline of a body. Naturally, this gets Taylor in a dither; after scouring Stars Hollow looking for the culprit, he confronts Luke at the diner and accuses Jess. Luke jumps to Jess's defense and throws Taylor out. Later that evening, Luke, Lorelai, Rory and Mia stumble upon a secret town meeting where Jess is accused once more and Luke is vilified for bringing him into town. Luke stands behind his nephew again, supported by Lorelai. The next day, Rory tells Jess that she knows he's really the culprit, and that he's being a jerk for letting Luke take all the heat from everyone in Stars Hollow. After Jess gets her to admit that it was a pretty funny prank after all, he agrees to lighten up and be more considerate of Luke's feelings.
RUN AWAY, LITTLE BOY
Lorelai receives a late wedding present without a card attached, and insists that it be returned. Sookie sees to what great lengths Lorelai is going to find out who sent it, and tells Lorelai to move forward in life to get some closure on her relationship with Max. Lorelai takes her advice and accepts a dinner date with Paul, one of the other students in her business class. The date goes well, but they decide to remain friends because they don't have very much in common. When Paul appears at Luke's the following Saturday with his parents in tow, Lorelai gets ribbed by everyone in town because he's so young. Luke is uncharacteristically quiet, which Lorelai can't figure out until Sookie explains that he's had a crush on Lorelai forever. Lorelai goes to him to let him know that he'll always be a very important part of her life, and Luke brightens up again. Rory, Paris, Madeline and Louise are assigned to present the death scene from "Romeo and Juliet" as part of their class participation in the Chilton Shakespearean Festival. Since this production will account for half of their grade, Paris takes over as director and assigns Rory the role of Juliet. Tristan returns to school with Duncan and Bowman after their suspension, and is cast as Romeo against Rory's wishes. When a scheduling mixup occurs with the rehearsal hall, Rory is horrified to learn that Paris has rented Miss Patty's studio and that the group will convene in Stars Hollow to practice. Tristan wastes no time in going to the market and taunting Dean, and they nearly come to blows before Rory pulls them apart. The next day at school, Rory pleads with Tristan not to mention anything to Dean about their kiss at the party, because it meant nothing to her. She also cautions him about hanging out with Duncan and Bowman. Stung by her words, but hiding it well, Tristan storms off. The next day Dean shows up to watch rehearsal and Tristan taunts both Dean and Rory before he finally bails to go off with Duncan and Bowman. On the evening of the performance, Paris freaks out because Tristan is nowhere to be found. He finally shows up to tell Rory that his father has pulled him out of Chilton to send him to boarding school, because he was caught with Duncan and Bowman breaking into Bowman's father's safe on a lark. Paris storms off, puts on his costume, and takes over as Romeo, thereby saving the day, the performance, and their grades.
THE BRACEBRIDGE DINNER
A blizzard prevents a group from attending the historical dinner that Sookie has painstakingly prepared at their request, so she and Lorelai decide to invite all their friends in Stars Hollow to enjoy the feast at the Inn. At Rory's urging, Lorelai also invites Richard and Emily, in an attempt to boost Richard's spirits. During dinner, Emily is hurt and angered when Richard reveals that he has quit his job without consulting her. Jess tries to get between Rory and Dean when Dean is distracted by his little sister.
SECRETS AND LOANS
Lorelai and Rory have a major falling out after Rory goes against her mother's wishes and asks her grandparents to lend Lorelai the money she needs to repair termite damage to their house; Lane's desire to become a cheerleader causes a strain in her relationship with Rory; after an exhaustive and unproductive attempt to raise the funds she needs based on her own credit rating, Lorelai is forced to ask Emily to cosign a loan; Rory drives Paris crazy when she refuses to reveal her PSAT scores.
RICHARD IN STARS HOLLOW
Richard visits Stars Hollow, and drives Lorelai and Rory crazy by passing judgment on every aspect of their lives. Paris visits Stars Hallow searching for a "seedy underbelly" for the front story of the Franklin. Rory gains unexptected praise when she accidentally encourages censorship in the Stars Hallow Video store.
A-TISKET, A-TASKET
The annual Stars Hollow charity picnic basket lunch auction sparks controversies among couples throughout town; Jess outbids Dean for Rory's basket, causing Dean and Rory to quarrel when Rory abides by tradition and shares the lunch with Jess; Jackson refuses to bid on Sookie's basket after she leads him to believe that she doesn't want to move in together; Luke comes to Lorelai's rescue, bids on her basket, and feeds them both at the diner after Miss Patty sets Lorelai up with a trio of unsuitable bidders; Henry tires of the end runs around Mrs. Kim, and calls it quits with Lane; Rory and Jess hit it off at lunch and Jess leaves with a secret souvenir -- the bracelet that Dean gave Rory, which he picks it up and holds on to after Rory drops it; Sookie and Jackson work things out so well that he proposes and she accepts; Lorelai and Rory quarrel when Rory finds out that her mother lent a sympathetic ear to Dean's concerns about Jess; after Emily agrees with her daughter's distrust of Jess, Lorelai realizes that they're both wrong, and apologizes to her daughter.
IT SHOULD'VE BEEN LORELAI
Christopher comes to town on a business trip with his girlfriend Sherrie in tow. Since Sherrie and Christopher's relationship is getting serious, Sherrie wants to begin bonding with Rory -- on Friday night. Without consulting Emily, Lorelai excuses Rory from The Gilmore Friday Night Dinner, and takes Christopher with her instead. When Emily finds out about Sherrie over cocktails, she has a meltdown and rushes off to the kitchen. Lorelai follows her there and finds out that Emily has always envisioned that Lorelai and Christopher would end up together. Now that she sees that this isn't going to happen, Emily blames Lorelai for always keeping him, and everyone else, at arms length. After mulling over her mother's words, the next morning Lorelai tells Christopher that she's always thought that they would get back together, too, and that's why she's never had a relationship that lasted, including the one with Max. Christopher gets very angry, refusing to accept the responsibility for the way Lorelai's romantic life has turned out.
LOST AND FOUND
Rory embarks upon a campaign to improve Lorelai's relationship with Jess, and convinces her to let him clean out their gutters so he can make some extra money. Luke can't stand how cramped his living quarters have become now that his sister has sent all of Jess's things to Stars Hollow, so he goes apartment hunting, first with Jess and then with Lorelai, who finally finds him a great place to live. When he finds out later that Taylor will be his new landlord, he explodes, tells Taylor to throw out his application, impulsively buys the building which houses his diner and the flower shop next door, and begins to take down the adjoining wall to expand his living space. When Dean notices that Rory isn't wearing the bracelet he made for her, she covers her shock at its loss and lies that she removed it because of a rash on her arm. She searches for it frantically all over Stars Hollow, not realizing that Jess picked it up after she dropped it on the bridge two weeks earlier when they shared the basket lunch for which he outbid Dean. Jess hides the bracelet under Rory's bed when he sees how upset she is. Lorelai catches him leaving her room, and he makes an excuse about looking at Rory's books to see if she already had one he wanted to buy for her. Lorelai doesn't believe him for a minute, but decides to let it pass. Rory returns home thoroughly discouraged, and Jess urges her to keep looking for it. When Rory finds the bracelet in her room and happily runs off to tell Lane, Lorelai accuses Jess of stealing the bracelet, calling it Rory's most treasured possession. Jess counters that statement with the revelation that Rory didn't realize it was missing for two weeks, as he angrily denies its theft, leaving Lorelai bewildered. When she asks Luke later if he thinks that Jess is interested in Rory, Luke expresses his hope that he is, because Rory would be such a good influence on him. Lorelai agrees, but privately seems dismayed at the prospect.
THERE'S THE RUB
When Emily and Lorelai go to a spa for a weekend of relaxation, Emily lets her hair down, kicks up her heels and ends up bonding with Lorelai in a way that only her daughter could inspire. Thrilled that she has the house all to herself, Rory hopes to spend a quiet night at home doing laundry and eating Indian food. Her plans are foiled -- first by Paris, then by Jess, and finally by Dean. In the process, she discovers that she has a surprising savior, a secret suitor, and a skeptical sweetheart.
DEAD UNCLES AND VEGETABLES
Lorelai and Rory pitch in at the diner while Luke plans his Uncle Louie's funeral; Taylor is unhinged when a farmer's market opens in the town square and puts a damper on his business; Emily goes completely overboard in helping Sookie plan her wedding; Rory prods Jess into being more of a help; Luke is upset when family and friends cite Louie's unpleasant personality as a reason for not attending his funeral, but is comforted when Stars Hollow comes through for both him and his uncle in the end.
BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN
Rory asks Richard for help in creating and marketing a first-aid kit for Chilton's annual Business Fair, which leads him to realize that he is unhappy in retirement and wants to start a second career; fresh from having underbid on Rory's lunch basket and the loss of the bracelet he made for her, Dean goes overboard in trying to be close to Rory, afraid that she is losing interest in him, and finally becomes resigned to her affection for Jess; at first, Michel is ecstatic when his flamboyant mother Giselle visits, but after Lorelai causes problems for him when she reveals to Giselle that Michel has been holding back from his mother, Michel quickly is driven crazy by his mother's incessant questioning.
TEACH ME TONIGHT
Lorelai's complaint about Taylor's choice for "Movie in the Square Night" lands her the responsibility for picking the evening's entertainment, but her enthusiasm for the task is quickly dampened when Taylor informs her that she must make a choice from a list of free movies which doesn't include any masterpieces; against her better judgment, Lorelai agrees to Luke's request that Rory tutor an about-to-flunk-out Jess; Rory and Jess decide to take a break from studying to get some ice cream, and with Jess behind the wheel, get into a car accident which leaves Rory with a broken wrist and a totaled car; a distraught Lorelai blames Luke for the accident, creating a serious rift in their relationship; Christopher arrives in the middle of the night ready to go after Jess, but he's already left Stars Hollow to return home; Kirk's short film premieres at Movie Night.
HELP WANTED
Richard opens a new office and hires a secretary with Lorelai's help; Dean comes home; Lane falls in love with a drum set at Stars Hollow's new music shop and discovers that becoming a rock drummer is her new dream in life; Rory is dismayed to discover that everyone blames Jess for the accident despite her protestations; to the consternation of all in Stars Hollow, Luke closes the diner and goes fishing.
LORELAI'S GRADUATION DAY
Lorelai and Rory have breakfast at Sookie's in an effort to avoid Luke's, but Lorelai can't avoid an awkward encounter with him at Doose's Market, where he fails to pick up on her hints to patch things up; in an effort to help Lorelai through final exam stress, Rory gets her excited about attending her college graduation ceremony and secretly invites Richard and Emily, despite Lorelai's assertion that they'd never agree to attend; after a late night phone call from Jess, Rory impulsively cuts school the next day and visits him in Manhattan; Christopher sends Lorelai a graduation gift basket filled with fun goodies and an expensive necklace; Lorelai is shocked to see Emily, Richard and the film crew accompanying them to her graduation, and must contend with an obnoxious classmate with an attitude about the rich; Rory is furious with herself when she takes the wrong bus home and misses her mother's graduation; when Rory finally arrives home, Lorelai forgives her when she realizes that the trip to New York may indicate that her daughter has fallen in love with Jess, despite her protests to the contrary.
I CAN'T GET STARTED
Sookie's wedding draws near, while Lorelai finally relents and goes into the diner, where she apologizes profusely to Luke. Christopher comes to town for the removal of Rory's cast and decides to stay for Sookie's wedding. While Lorelai and Chris seem to be getting along, Sherry drops a bomb. Paris is running for student body president, and employs Rory as vice-president. .Jess returns to Stars Hollow and asks Luke if he can stay.
SEASON 3-
THOSE LAZY-HAZY-CRAZY DAYS
Amidst her sadness about Christopher, Lorelai has an intriguing dream about Luke; Rory returns from Washington to realize that she still may have feelings for Jess, but a chance encounter at the First Annual Stars Hollow End of Summer Madness Festival makes her realize that he may have moved on to someone else; relationship quarrels abound -- Sookie and Jackson over decorating their house, Lorelai and Rory over Jess versus Dean, Emily and Richard over Lorelai and Christopher -- but are on the path to resolution; and Rory once again guides Paris through the rocky shoals of preparing for a date.
HAUNTED LEG
To Lorelai's horror, Kirk asks her out on a date after being encouraged by Luke; Emily's lunch with Lorelai at Luke's ends badly; Christopher shows up uninvited at Friday night dinner and quarrels with both Lorelai and Rory before Emily asks him to leave; Rory runs into Jess and they each betray their hurt feelings -- Rory about Shane and Jess about not hearing from Rory all summer; and Francie targets Paris and Rory for a world of trouble if Rory doesn't stop Paris from running the student council like a dictatorship.
APPLICATION ANXIETY
Rory's application for Harvard arrives, plunging Rory, Lorelai and Emily into a frenzy; a Chilton seminar on college applications only adds to Rory's anxiety and sends Paris into a tizzy; Taylor steamrollers Luke into opening a soda shop next to the diner; Lane places an ad in the paper for a band and finds a musical soul mate; Lorelai and Rory have dinner with a Harvard alumni and his family which may assure her chances of acceptance; Dean has a talk with Rory about their future after she goes to Harvard.
ONE'S GOT CLASS AND THE OTHER ONE DYES
Lorelai's stint in the Stars Hollow High School local business success speakers forum gets derailed by some controversial personal questions, much to the delight of Luke and the consternation of some PTA mothers; Luke and Jess argue about the women in and out of their lives (and their closets); Lane alleviates her frustration about the strictures of her household and the future of her band through a colorful, if temporary, display of independence; Rory runs into Shane one too many times and succumbs to a severe bout of snarkiness.
EIGHT O'CLOCK AT THE OASIS
Lorelai attends Emily's society auction where she meets a very handsome man but neglects to get his number, forcing her to ask her mother for it; after a disastrous first date, Lorelai turns down an invitation to another, not realizing that Emily and Richard have a lot invested in her dating this son of their friends; after Lorelai and Rory agree to water their new neighbor's lawn while he's out of town, Jess comes to Rory's rescue when the lawn's sprinkler system malfunctions.
TAKE THE DEVILED EGGS...
Lorelai chauffeurs Rory to Sherry's baby shower in Boston and finds herself dragged into the festivities against her will; Miss Patty gets a new beau; Jess comes home with a car and Luke tries to find out where he got the money to pay for it; one of Stars Hollow's more eccentric citizens requests a permit to mount a demonstration in the town square.
THEY SHOOT GILMORES, DON'T THEY?
Lorelai is determined to win the Stars Hollow Dance Marathon and wrest the trophy from four-time champion Kirk, but has trouble getting a partner until she finally convinces Rory to help her dance her way to victory. Dean sits on the sidelines to cheer his girl on, and is soon joined by Jess and Shane, who spend their time making out while Jess keeps his eye on Rory. Lorelai breaks her heel, and Dean takes her place while Luke plays shoe repairman. On the dance floor, Dean realizes that Rory is attracted to Jess and breaks up with her. Rory tearfully runs off, followed closely by Jess, and Kirk is declared the winner once again.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
In the aftermath of the Dance Marathon, Kirk parades around Stars Hollow with the trophy until someone steals it, while Lorelai and Rory painfully inch their way towards Luke's; after Lorelai tells Luke about Rory and Jess, he breaks up their first kiss and then lays down some ground rules with Jess about dating Rory; Lorelai and Rory reluctantly agree to accept Richard's invitation to accompany him and Emily to his Whiffenpoof reunion at Yale, where he springs quite an unwelcome surprise on all three women; back from New Haven, Lorelai and Rory head for Luke's, and Jess and Rory finally get to have those first kisses; Rory visits Dean to apologize and tell him that she misses his friendship; late at night, Lorelai and Rory each curl up with some bedtime reading -- the Yale brochure.
A DEEP-FRIEND KOREAN THANKSGIVING
It's Thanksgiving, and Lorelai and Rory have dinner at four different places: the Kim's, where Lane has managed to get Dave invited and Lorelai is forced to eat tofurkey; Luke's, where Luke and Jess make it a foursome with Lorelai and Rory; Sookie's, where Jackson and his family have deep-fried the turkey, the lawn and just about everything else; and Emily and Richard's, where, to Lorelai's horror, Rory reveals that she has applied to Yale. Kirk gets a cat, with disastrous results; Dave asks Lane out, and then kisses her; Paris is afraid her difficulty getting into a shelter will impact her acceptance to Harvard; and Dean faces off with Jess and lets him know that it's no more "Mr. Nice Guy" for Mr. Forester.
THAT'LL DO, PIG
Lorelai's grandmother arrives in Hartford unexpectedly on Richard's birthday and announces that she's moving back, throwing Emily into a tizzy until she follows Lorelai's advice on how to manage her mother-in-law; Rory declares war on Francie after she pulls a runaround on Paris with the Student Council; Paris finds herself in love after spending Christmas vacation with Jamie's family; after Rory and Dean bump into each other a few times, they decide to be friends again; Jess initially declines Rory's offer to attend the Stars Hollow High Winter Carnival, but changes his mind after they run into Dean and his sister Clara, who invites Rory to join them; Jess gets Dean alone at the carnival and lets him know that he's wise to his plans to get Rory back.
I SOLEMNLY SWEAR
Offers of dates ensue when Lorelai and Sookie attend a seminar on operating an inn and run into two handsome men -- an old friend of Sookie's and his business partner; Lorelai unsuccessfully resists being deposed when her mother is sued by a former maid for wrongful termination; after Rory and Francie butt heads at the student council meeting, Francie proposes a truce and then immediately lies to Paris that Rory is trying to undermine her; Paris is crushed that her best friend has betrayed her and lashes out at her during their fencing class, leaving Rory ostracized by the rest of the student body.
LORELAI OUT OF WATER
Luke is opposed to having Taylor's attorney Nicole oversee the paperwork for the construction of the new soda shop until he meets the attractive redhead, who takes as immediate a shine to Luke as he does to her; Lane's clever scheme to get her mother's permission to attend the prom horribly backfires; Luke offers to teach Lorelai the fine art of angling after Alex invites her to go fishing; Rory and Lorelai clear out their garage for Lane's band and Lorelai gains a new admirer from the band; Lane and Rory have some hearts-to-hearts about the men in their lives; Paris's ratcheting up the conflict between her and Rory when she calls for Rory's impeachment by the student council is brought to a swift end by Headmaster Charleston, who threatens to revoke the glowing letters he wrote to Harvard for each of them.
Luke and Nicole have a successful first date; Jess and Dean trade verbal blows; Sherry goes into labor with only Lorelai and Rory for company; Lorelai reminisces about her pregnancy and Rory's birth; Lorelai introduces Emily to modern entertainment technology; Richard and Emily decry Lorelai's and Rory's plans to backpack through Europe; the war between Paris and Rory continues when Paris picks a photo of the "Franklin" staff for the yearbook that has the worst possible shot of Rory.
SWAN SONG
Emily guilts Rory into bringing Jess to a Friday night dinner which turns out to be an unqualified disaster; Lorelai, Alex, Sookie and Jackson go to New York for the weekend; Jess gets a black eye in an altercation with an opponent he is too embarassed to reveal to anyone but Luke; Zach and Brian realize that Lane and Dave are hiding something from them, but miss the mark on the true nature of the secret; Rory and Jess have their first argument, and Luke helps patch things up.
FACE-OFF
The Doose clan invades the Inn for their family reunion; Trix comes for a short visit and drives Emily crazy until Emily finally finds something scandalous to hold over Trix's head; Lane and Dave cook up a fake-date scheme with Young Chui to get Mrs. Kim to allow Lane to date Dave, but neither Young Chui's real girlfriend or Dave is immune to a little jealousy; the Stars Hollow High hockey team reaches the regional semifinals for the first time in 40 years and everyone not attending the monster truck rally turns out to cheer the team on and endure Kirk's hopelessly inept play-by-play; after Jess's too laid-back attitude about going out leaves Rory sitting home alone for most of the weekend, she takes Lorelai's advice and heads for the hockey game, where she discovers that Dean has a new girlfriend.
THE BIG ONE
Rory and Paris compete for the honor of speaking at Chilton's Bicentennial; Sookie and Jackson get some very good life (and diaper) changing news; Paris and Rory reconcile; Lorelai runs into Max and it's apparent that they're not quite over each other yet; Paris sleeps with Jamie and then has a meltdown on national television when she fails to get into Harvard, thinking her sleeping with Jamie is the cause; Rory's college acceptance letters finally arrive; Paris isn't sure what to think about the latest development in her relationship with Jamie.
A TALE OF POES AND FIRE
A fire at the Independence Inn forces Lorelai to relocate its guests to her own house and those of her friends, and leaves her spending the night at Luke's, where she reveals her dream of being married to him and pregnant with their twins; Sookie invades Luke's with staff in tow to prepare breakfast for the Inn's guests, and gets into a culinary groove with Luke after a rocky start; questions arise about Jess's attendance at school when he receives the Employee of the Month award from Wal-Mart and Luke discovers that he's working there more than full time; Lorelai and Rory start picking up on weird and somewhat unfriendly vibes coming from Nicole and Lindsay; Rory visits Paris, who's missed five days of school to take to her bed and hide from the world, and prompts her to stop watching soaps, call Jamie, tell her parents about Harvard, get a life plan, and rejoin the land of the living; after making extensive pro-con lists in an effort to decide whether to attend Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, Rory has a heart-to-heart with Lorelai and chooses Yale.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY
Emily and Richard rejoice when Rory announces her decision to attend Yale; Kirk sustains baking-related injuries when Rory secretly enlists the help of her fellow Stars Hollows citizens to bake the world's largest pizza for her mother's birthday party; Michel and Tobin compete over giving Lorelai the best present, but Richard wins the contest hands-down with a check for $75,000 that's actually the proceeds from an investment he made in Lorelai's name at her birth; Luke confronts Jess about skipping school to work at Wal-Mart, but is blown off as usual; when Lorelai decides to use the money to pay back her parents for Rory's Chilton tuition, Emily becomes furious with Richard for giving Lorelai the money, fearing that the repayment of their loan is a sign that she'll never see either Lorelai or Rory again; Luke makes a bad impression on Nicole's parents, scaring them off with a rant on the horrors of parenting Jess.
KEG! MAX!
On their first free Friday night, Lorelai and Rory are at a loss over how to spend the evening, while Emily and Richard cavort at the party they're hosting; Lorelai is appointed Grad Night Treasurer and runs into a playing-it-cool Max at her first Chilton Booster Club meeting; Lane's band gets their first gig at a party and rocks the house, but Dave rocks Lane's world when he flips out after discovering that Young Chui is in love with her; a despondent Lane indulges in a little too much beer, and then drunkenly calls her mother and confesses all; when staff cutbacks at the Inn force Lorelai to do turn-down service, she becomes very unsettled at seeing a cozy Luke and Nicole in the room she's offered as thanks for Luke's help with repairs after the fire; Jess's inability to tell Rory that his frequent absences have caused him to flunk out of school and miss graduation and the prom prompts an argument between Jess and Rory, and then a full-blown brawl with Dean after Dean comes upon a tearful and distraught Rory.
SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE
Fran Weston dies and Lorelei and Sookie try to buy the Dragonfly Inn; Rory and Jess try approaching each other but fail to talk; Dean tells Rory that he's engaged to Lindsay; Mrs. Kim agrees to let Lane go to the prom with Dave; Luke finds out about Jess and Dean's fight at the party and gets even angrier at Jess, Jess's father comes to Stars Hollow and Luke tries to scare him out of town before he makes raising Jess even harder for Luke.
HERE COMES THE SON
Jess heads out to Venice California only to learn that his father's community is just as quirky as Stars Hollow; the rift widens between Lorelai and Emily; Luke tells Lorelai that Jess took off for good; Lorelai waits for the right moment to break the news to Rory, who is stressing over finals and graduation.
THOSE ARE STRINGS PINOCCHIO
Rory finally learns her mother can't afford to buy the Dragonfly Inn since financial aid for Yale didn't come through. She decides to take matters into her own hands with a quick visit to her grandparents' right before graduation. Luke has second thoughts about a trip with Nicole after something Lorelai tells him. Jess makes silent contact with Rory after she gives her speech at Chilton.
SEASON 4-
BALLROOMS AND BISCOTTIS
Lorelai and Rory return from their whirlwind tour of Europe; Taylor and Luke have it out over the new soda shop; a very pregnant Sookie updates Lorelai on the latest baby news; Taylor doesn't take it well when Rory declines the privilege of being the Stars Hollow Ice Cream Queen; mother and daughter get caught up in a flurry of activity after Rory realizes that she wrote down the wrong date for freshman orientation, and she only has two days to get ready for Yale, instead of the week she was planning on; Emily is upset when Lorelai misses Friday night dinner and retaliates by turning it into a four hour extravaganza, complete with ballroom dancing videos before the soufflé course; Lorelai is shocked when Luke finally tells her what happened on his cruise with Nicole.
THE LORELAIS' FIRST DAY AT YALE
While Luke is willing to lend Lorelai his truck to help Rory move into her dorm, he's not too thrilled when the project turns out to take all day to accommodate Lorelai's last minute shopping trips to keep Rory's room on a par with the rest of the dorm, to say nothing of Lorelai's seeming inability to drive a stick, losing his spare tire, and saddling him with the old mattress from Rory's dorm room; Rory's roommates turn out to be a jock, a 15 year old prodigy sorely lacking in socialization skills, and none other than Miss People Person herself, Paris Geller, who arrives with a life coach in tow; Nicole's partners descend on the diner and threaten to ensnare Luke in a morass of paperwork and legal complications when he refuses to hire a lawyer or even discuss accepting a settlement; responding to Rory's attack of homesickness after just four hours, Lorelai returns to Yale and sets up a dorm-wide takeout food test to judge the quality of the local restaurants, their delivery speed, and the cuteness of their delivery boys; as a thanks for the takeout feast, the next morning some dorm mates arrive with breakfast, having "Lorelai'd" a few places on campus to find the best place for coffee and muffins.
THE HOBBIT, THE SOFA, AND DIGGER STILES
To help meet the expenses of opening the inn, Lorelai and Sookie decide to become caterers on the side, with their first assignment being a "Lord of the Rings" theme party. At Yale, Rory returns from class to find that Emily has redecorated their rooms. Meanwhile, Richard ponders a proposal to take on a new business partner.
CHICKEN OR BEEF?
Back home for the weekend, Rory has an uncomfortable encounter with Dean, her ex, and ends up getting invited to his wedding the next day. Meanwhile, Lorelai and Sookie visit Michel at his trendy new workplace, but run into problems getting the permit they need to begin construction on the inn.
THE FUNDAMENTAL THINGS APPLY
Rory accepts a classmate's invitation to go out on her first date since breaking up with Jess, while her roommates engage in a war of wills. Meanwhile, Lorelai invites Luke over to share the traditional Gilmore movie night she used to have with Rory, although she is somewhat disturbed after discovering that the designer she just hired to decorate the inn used to work for Emily.
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
Emily offers Lorelai and Sookie the job of catering the party to launch Richard's new business venture, then runs them ragged with demands. Meanwhile, at school, Rory finds that her roommates' activities are preventing her from studying.
THE FESTIVAL OF LIVING ART
Sookie and Jackson decide to have a home birth and enlist the services of a formidable midwife. When Stars Hollow mounts a festival of living pictures, Kirk goes way overboard in getting into character for his role as Jesus in "The Last Supper", while Lorelai has a bad case of stage fright. Meanwhile, Lane, Zach, and Brian finally find an awesome guitarist to replace Dave, but wonder if he isn't too old to join the band. Nicole asks Luke if they can postpone the divorce and start dating again.
DIE, JERK
Richard and Emily hold widely differing points of view on the success of their business trip to Atlantic City; spurred on by her editor, Rory writes a strongly opinionated dance review that leads to a dining hall confrontation with the ballerina; even though she continues to resist his interest in her, Lorelai can't help but be impressed by Jason's smooth moves as he manipulates a frosty Emily into inviting him for Friday night dinner so that he can woo Lorelai; Lane and Dave have a long distance argument over pottery; Michel is back on the staff of the still-under-reconstruction Dragonfly Inn, but his one sneeze has Bruce erecting barriers to his attending a staff meeting which includes an overly-protective new mother Sookie and baby Davey; when she learns that Nicole and Luke have put their divorce on hold and have resumed dating, Lorelai becomes so flustered that she has an argument with Luke; Richard ecstatically roams throughout the house with his laptop after he goes wireless with Jason's help, but Emily fails to be charmed by either the Internet or Mr. Stiles.
TED KOPPEL'S BIG NIGHT OUT
Rory and Paris have lunch at Yale with Richard, who introduces them to his friend, Professor Asher Fleming; during Friday night dinner at the Gilmore residence, Lorelai asks for an invitation to the Yale-Harvard game even though Rory clearly gives her an out; Emily is irritated when Lorelai shows up for the game wearing Harvard colors; the Gilmores tailgate in style with flasks, an RV, a BBQ, and servants to wait on their guests; Emily is upset when Pennilyn Lott, Richard's first girlfriend, shows up and asks about the Inn, and Richard is forced to confess that he has continued to have an annual dinner with Pennilyn the entire time that he and Emily have been married; Lorelai takes Jason up on his earlier offer of a dinner date, but they end up leaving the stuffy restaurant and having a great time dining al fresco at a local grocery store; Rory walks back to the dorm after the game and discovers Paris kissing Asher Fleming.
THE NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR
Luke becomes overwhelmed by Lane's work ethic when he hires her to work at the diner; Michel exhibits a profound jealousy of Tobin; Emily and Richard find the treats they brought home from Switzerland are widely panned; Rory is less than thrilled with the new man in Paris's life, especially when she learns that he's teaching her contemporary political fiction class; as Lorelai and Jason grow closer, she begs him to keep their relationship a secret from her parents; Rory's talent for millinery combines with her talent for writing to win her a position on the "Daily Yale"; inexplicably, Sookie and Jackson allow Michel to babysit for Davey, forcing Lorelai to come to the rescue when Michel, not being one to fail to disappoint, needs to get himself and Davey out from under a problem; Richard becomes intensely irritated when the Chez Gilmore walking tour benefiting the Historical Society overstays its welcome.
IN THE CLAMOR AND THE CLANGOR
Lane sneaks out of the house when Gil gets the band a 1:00 a.m. gig at CBGB's; Luke and Lorelai take matters into their own hands when newly restored church bells turn out to be less welcome than originally anticipated; Rory gets personal with William during a political discussion when she suspects that he's been spreading embarrassing stories about her; Lorelai is initially distressed when she learns that Luke has moved to Litchfield to live with Nicole, but a visit to his apartment over the diner dispels her worries; Lane and her mother have a long-overdue talk with life-changing consequences after Mrs. Kim discovers her daughter's secret life.
A FAMILY MATTER
Luke has his hands full as family members return to Stars Hollow: Liz for her high school reunion, and Jess for his car; Lane busies herself at Yale by being the suite's Helpful Hannah; Lorelai agrees to accompany Jason on an office furniture shopping trip on his morning off, but the press of international business calls keeps getting in the way; Jamie's in town, and Paris keeps avoiding him; Lorelai and Jason agree that Emily and Richard need to be told about their relationship, but Lorelai just can't bring herself to do it after Emily mocks both Jason and the idea that he would ever hit it off with her daughter; Rory's finally speaking her mind on Paris's romantic entanglements backfires when Paris decides she has a future with Asher and breaks up with Jamie; Rory becomes concerned that her mother is having financial problems; when Lorelai and Rory discover Jess sleeping in his car in the freezing cold after an argument with his uncle, Lorelai intercedes on his behalf with Luke, who relents and allows Jess to come inside while Luke spends the night in Litchfield.
NAG HAMMADI IS WHERE THEY FOUND THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS
Jess's attempts to keep a low profile until Gypsy completes the repairs on his car are put to the test as he keeps bumping into Rory all over town; Taylor puts Kirk in charge of the annual Firelight Festival, and his managerial skills, or lack thereof, place a strain on the preparations; Lane follows Rory back to Stars Hollow and a place on the Gilmore couch for the weekend, but isn't quite ready to face her mother; Emily is in a dither about filling a table at a benefit and enlists the help of Lorelai and Jason, whom she encourages to pretend that they're a couple; Luke is less than impressed by Liz's latest business venture and newly-arrived boyfriend, which prompts Jess to give his uncle an earful about minding his own business; after Lorelai and Liz finally meet, Lorelai gets a renewed perspective on Luke; Liz's high school classmates descend upon her brother and reveal long-held crushes on him; Richard is suspicious when Jason's father greets his son at the benefit and doesn't inquire about the business; Lorelai fixes Luke's broken heart after his confrontation with Jess while Luke fixes Lorelai's broken window; Liz and T.J. end their visit to Stars Hollow, but not before T.J. has a few choice words for Luke; Jess makes a startling confession to Rory before he leaves town.
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LORELAIS
When Trix returns to town and berates Lorelai and Richard for being financial failures, Richard angrily sets his mother straight, to Emily's delight; Lorelai and Sookie explore ways to ease their financial crunch and raise money to pay their construction crew, one of whom is now Dean; Janet and Paris go head-to-head over the constant presence of Janet's boyfriend in the suite; Lorelai and Rory play an increasingly frustrating game of telephone tag; after Paris, Tanna, and Janet complain about close quarters in the suite, Lane moves out of the dorm and in with Lorelai, and gets her job back at Luke's; Lorelai and Sookie have a heated discussion about sharing the responsibilities of opening their inn; Rory is distraught when one of her professors tells her to drop a class because she can't handle her course load; Lane runs into her mother and receives a frosty reception; at the end of a very long, hard day, Lorelai and Rory still can't manage to connect, and end up taking solace in the arms of the married men in their lives, Luke for Lorelai, and Dean for Rory.
SCENE IN A MALL
Kirk branches out from dog sitting for Lulu into a new canine-centered career; Paris goes into germ-phobic overdrive when Rory gets a cold; Lane gets an apartment with Zach and Brian and faces a frigid reception from her aunt and mother, and an overly-eager, non-stop-talking cousin when she packs up her things and moves out; when they realize that their relationship is increasingly being conducted over email and the phone, Lorelai and Rory decide to play hooky and go window shopping in the mall, where they run into Emily in the middle of a shopping binge meltdown; Luke lends Lorelai the thirty thousand dollars she needs to finish construction on the Inn; after Emily confesses that the shopping binge and bickering with Richard stems from her anger at being ignored, neglected, and made to feel useless by her husband, Lorelai reassures her of how much she's accomplished and urges her to talk to Richard, but Emily can't seem to make the connection with her husband she so desperately desires; Rory and Luke get a peek into Dean's life as a married man, and Luke gets an inkling that something is amiss when he catches Dean's wistful looks towards Rory as Dean unsuccessfully tries to paint a happy picture of life with Lindsay and her parents.
THE REIGNING LORELAI
The rift between Emily and Richard widens when he goes on a golf date with clients instead of accompanying his wife to the funeral of her best friend. Doyle goes on a theft and plagiarism rant; Trix dies suddenly and stricken with grief and guilt, Richard is inconsolable; Emily calls it quits on arranging Trix's funeral and drops everything in her daughter's lap after finding a letter in which her mother-in-law pleads with her son on the eve of his wedding to Emily to marry Pennilyn instead; Luke and Nicole have all of Stars Hollow listening in and reading lips as they quarrel; worried about her parents and frantic over fulfilling Trix's exacting requirements for