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The 8 Gilmore Girls Episodes We're Most Excited To Rewatch
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 26, 2014
Modified Sep 26, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 26, 2014
Modified Sep 26, 2014
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Gilmore Girls, one of the greatest television masterpieces gifted to us by Amy Sherman Palladino, will finally grace our Netflix queues come October 1st, when all seven seasons become available for streaming. This is no trifling matter, since Gilmore Girls was one of the soapy television highlights in the aughts, and as we previously noted, potentially the greatest comfort show of all time. And so, in eager anticipation of Gilmore Girls's transition to Silverlight, here are the episodes we're most excited to rewatch—leave yours, and your sexiest Jess Mariano GIFs, in the comments. **SPOILER ALERTS GALORE**
Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2: "Pilot" and "The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton"
Yes, duh, you need to watch the pilot episode, even though pilots are disorienting and plagued by characters/plot setups that never manifest again. Aside from the fact that it's fun to see what Alexis Bledel looked like nearly a decade-and-a-half ago, it's imperative that you start your GG bingeing with a quick glimpse of Rory and Lorelai pre-Chilton, pre-Friday night dinners, pre-boyfriends and pre-all the terribleness of the Rory/Lorelai Silent Dark Times in Season 5. Please pair the pilot with a viewing of the second episode, in which Rory first dons her Chilton uniform and Lorelai shows up at her daughter's new fancy pants school in a pair of Daisy Mae shorts.
Season 2, Episode 13: "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"
You can tell a lot about a person based on his or her preferred GG love interest. I was in middle school when Seasons 2 and 3 aired, and bad boy Jess Mariano was the dream. He was so pretty and angry and misunderstood, and when he and Rory first meet he borrows her copy of Howl, which proved he was both an intellectual and a subversive. Droooooooool. Pre-teen lustfulness aside, this episode—in which Jess outbids Ol' Boringface Dean for Rory's picnic basket at Stars Hollow's annual charity event—is all sorts of adorable. Bonus points for Sookie and Jackson getting engaged, and Luke coming to Lorelai's rescue after Miss Patty tries to pawn her off on some "eligible" bachelors.
Season 2, Episode 22: "I Can't Get Started"
Sookie and Jackson get married! Luke and Lorelai reconcile after not speaking to each other for two episodes! Christopher and Lorelai get back together! Christopher's girlfriend announces she's pregnant! And Rory and Jess finally lock lips, eliciting loud squeals from sassy youths nationwide. Season 2 finale FTW.
Season 3, Episode 7: "They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?"
This episode—in which Lorelai and Rory enter a 24-hour dance marathon—is a favorite among Jess/Rory shippers, since Dean finally realizes Rory's in love with Hot Intellectual Bad Boy and breaks up with her. Rory/Jess/Dean Boringface love triangle stuff aside, though, there's lots of good stuff in this, including a touching mother/daughter moment on the dance floor at the end.
Season 3, Episode 16: "The Big One"
Rory inexplicably gets into Harvard, Yale and Princeton, creating totally false college acceptance expectations for legions of future Ivy League rejects (thanks Brown!) More importantly, though, frenemy Paris gets rejected from Harvard, announces onstage at a Chilton that she lost her virginity to Princeton boyfriend Jamie and blames her sexcapade for the college rejection. The real joy here, though, is the oft-overlooked Paris's ability to converge all these growing pains into one hilarious, though somewhat heartbreaking outburst. Whatever, Harvard.
Season 4, Episode 22: "Raincoats and Recipes"
It feels a little strange to still get psyched about a teenaged TV character losing her virginity, but this Season 4 finale is a big deal. Rory and (married!) Dean Boringface finally do the deed, right before Lorelai walks in on them. Beyond the Rory/Boringface drama, though, Lorelai and Luke KISS, oh happy day! Also, Lorelai opens her new inn. Life changes all around for everyone.
Season 5, Episode 3: "Written in the Stars"
LUKE AND LORELAI MAKE SEX OH HELLO. Oh, and Rory meets Logan (urtrggghrgghblech), which is terrible because Logan is terrible, and everything that happens after this should be flushed down the WB toilet. Also, the old professor Paris was banging dies. Sad.
Season 6, Episode 5: "We've Got Magic To Do"
I like to forget everything that happened on Gilmore Girls after Rory started dating Logan and dropped out of Yale, but Emily Gilmore hasn't gotten her due yet in this list, and it's about time. In the midst of Rory's transformation into Terrible Old WASP Person, she throws a World War II DAR-themed party. Logan's horrible parents, Mitchum and Shira Huntzberger, attend and confirm that they don't think Rory's good enough for Logan, so Emily lays it on that fake-ass "golddigger right off the bus from Hicksville" in front of all the other mean ladies and gentlemen. Never forget that Emily Gilmore will verbally slay for her grandchild, and that's why she's the greatest TV grandma of them all.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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