Over the years that Gilmore Girls was aired on television, its popularity steadily increased, especially among female audiences. The show follows Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter Rory Gilmore from Rory’s high school career through her graduation from Yale. Lorelai was a single teen mom when she had Rory but has managed to carry on a very independent life. The show not only follows the two girls in their everyday lives, but it tracks their love lives as well. The way these two strong independent women act and the drama surrounding their multiple love interests quickly captivated the show’s audience. With the revival of the show just around the corner, (thank you Netflix!) it’s time we revisit just some of the many times we the viewers fell in love with two of our favorite love interests: Luke and Jess. Luke Danes, the diner owner and practically Rory’s adoptive father, and Jess Mariano, Luke’s “bad boy” nephew that he took in, found a way into our hearts regardless of where they stood with Lorelai and Rory. Here are just a few of those amazing times (*Caution: spoiler alerts below*).
“Double Date” S1 Episode 12
Let’s be honest with each other: we knew from episode 1 that there was something special between Luke and Lorelai. This particular episode follows Lorelai’s double date with Sookie, Jackson and Rune. Somehow, the group ends up at Luke’s (thanks to Lorelai’s genius) and after Rune finally leaves, Luke and Lorelai end up on their own mini date. The climax of this episode ends with Luke almost asking Lorelai out. This scene is completely swoon-worthy. From this moment on, viewers’ begin to feel a sense of loyalty to Luke regardless who Lorelai is with, because they belong together.
“Nick & Nora/ Sid & Nancy” S2 Episode 5
Hello Jess! Luke, being the amazing man he is, takes in his juvenile delinquent nephew, Jess. In an attempt to assimilate Jess into the community and make him feel welcome, Lorelai offers to have them both over for dinner. Thus begins the love affair between Rory and Jess. The way he looks at Rory, the fact that he’s a reader, and his “bad boy” persona automatically makes him an eligible bachelor for Rory. What’s not to love? After Jess bails out of dinner, Luke has a talk with Jess and ends up pushing him off of the old bridge in one of the best episodes of the season. Toward the end of the episode Jess runs up to Rory on the street and reveals he’s stolen her book…to mark it up for her! Rory comments that she thought he didn’t read that much, and Jess hits back with that famous line: “Well, what is much?”
“The Bracebridge Dinner” S2 Episode 10
The inn has a last minute cancellation due to a snowstorm, so instead of putting all their hard work to waste, Lorelai and Sookie have the genius idea to throw a party for the town, allowing their closest friends to have one big sleepover at the inn. Luke and Jess are of course invited, and Lorelai surprises them with horse-drawn carriages. When Lorelai hops in one she tells Luke that he has to come with her. Next, Jess jumps into Rory’s carriage. They proceed to take a romantic ride around the town where Jess questions Rory on her relationship saying Dean doesn’t seem like her type, hinting that he clearly is. Jess even commits a little property damage so that Lorelai and Rory win the snowman building contest.
“Teach Me Tonight” S2 Episode 19
After Luke convinces Lorelai to let Rory tutor Jess, the two teens end up at the diner after hours. Jess convinces Rory to go out for some ice cream and Rory barely hesitates before agreeing but asks Jess to drive her car so that she can read to him. On their way back from getting ice cream the pair does some flirting in the car before Jess tells Rory that he can either go back to the diner or take a turn and they can drive in circles for hours. Rory tells Jess to take the turn to go around the block again (making this the moment we all know that Rory has feelings for Jess). Jess ends up getting in a terrible car accident; when Lorelai rushes to the hospital to see if Rory is okay, Rory reveals that Jess checked on her to make sure she was safely in an ambulance before he did anything else. Lorelai becomes angry with Luke,who runs off to find Jess sitting on the old bridge. Jess is visibly upset, saying “I didn’t mean to hurt her,” at which point Luke comforts him in one of the saddest but most loving episodes of the show, revealing the true soft sides of both of these men.
“Nag Hammadi is Where they Found the Gnostic Gospels” S4 Episode 13
In this episode, Jess returns and Rory keeps running into him all over town. Jess runs from Rory the whole episode until Rory finally proclaims that it’s her town and she’s going to be the one running from him this time. When Jess finally catches up to Rory, he tells her that he loves her and walks away without giving her time to respond. How can you not love Jess after this episode?
“Luke Can See Her Face” S4 Episode 20
Luke’s sister Liz is getting married and somehow he gets roped into planning the whole thing. When Liz’s hints that she wishes Jess could be there, Luke tracks him down and tells him to be at the wedding and that he’ll be walking his mother down the aisle. Jess seems offset about it at first but shows up because he knows how much it means to Luke. They also share some gushy feelings about Jess’ confession to Rory. Also, after Luke asks Lorelai to the wedding, he throws his self-help love books at Jess telling him to “enjoy”.
“Last Week Fights, This Week Tights” S4 Episode 21
Jess has grown up so much. He is still very clearly in love with Rory but is still so much of a boy at the same time. Throughout the episode we catch glimpses of Jess reading those self-help love books and walking his mother down the aisle-there is just something in his smirk that tells you he is truly happy for her. Meanwhile, Luke is trying to convey his feelings for Lorelai. She accompanies him to the wedding and even saves the day by fixing Liz’s dress. The climax of this episode comes after all the wedding hoopla. Rory is at the door of her dorm room talking to Dean, when Jess walks in. Jess begs Rory to run away with him and says that if she really doesn’t want to be with him to say no. Rory says no and crushes Jess’s heart.
“Raincoats and Recipes” S4 Episode 22
The inn is finally open! To celebrate, Lorelai and Sookie invite their close friends to do a test run. Lorelai has recently ended things with Jason Styles and is now beginning to date Luke. When Jason tries to stir the pot by saying he’s still dating Lorelai, Luke and Lorelai end up on the front steps of the inn talking about the two of them as a couple, followed by their first kiss. It only took four seasons! Then to top it all off, Lorelai kisses Luke again!
“Written in the Stars” S5 Episode 3
This episode features the first (official) date of the epic couple. Luke brings Lorelai to “Luke’s”. The owners, two of Luke’s oldest friends, comment on how Luke never brings his lady friends there, hinting that Lorelai must be very special. Lorelai makes Luke recall the first time they met. He remembers exactly how he met Lorelai and then proceeds to pull the small clipping from the astrology section of the paper that she had given him from his wallet. He kept that piece of paper for 8 years! Then Luke proceeds to pledge to Lorelai that he is “all in,” and from that moment on so are we.
“The UnGraduate” S6 Episode 3
Luke is constantly winning viewers’ hearts by showing his dedication to Lorelai. We all know that Luke isn’t a big pets guy, but he still agrees to watch after Paul Anka, Lorelai’s dog, because Lorelai asked him to. After realizing that the dog is sick from eating chocolate, Luke rushes the dog to the vet. He wants to make sure that the dog is okay because in Luke’s words, “there’s a lot of ways I can screw up this relationship but I cannot lose her over the fact that I killed her dog!” Luke loves Lorelai, and he cares about anything Lorelai cares about; he will do anything to keep her happy.
“Welcome to the Doll House” S6 Episode 8
This episode features the return of Jess. He comes back and tracks down Rory at her grandparents’ house. He impresses Rory by explaining that he has written a book and is now on the right track in life, although Rory reveals to him that she has dropped out of Yale. Jess doesn’t say anything except that they should meet up for dinner to talk more. When Logan shows up and disrupts Jess and Rory’s plans to go out by tagging along, Jess is somewhat uncomfortable. Jess ends up walking out of dinner early (thanks Logan) and Rory runs after him. Jess confronts Rory saying that this isn’t who she is and that she needs to get back to Yale. Finally, someone who can get through to Rory tells her what she needs to hear.
“The Real Paul Anka” S6 Episode 18
Luke takes off on a field trip with his daughter April, who we are now in a love-hate relationship with. At one of the stops in Philadelphia, Luke and April go to a small printing company where Jess works. Jess ends up paying back Luke and thanking him for everything he has done. Luke always cared about his nephew and took care of him, and Jess is now more mature because of it.
“Santa’s Secret Stuff” S7 Episode 11
Luke and Lorelai have (much to our dismay) broken up, but that doesn’t stop Luke from asking Lorelai to write a letter of recommendation so he can gain custody of April. Lorelai struggles throughout the episode to write a letter about Luke until after she and Rory run into him and April at the mall. After that, Lorelai writes a letter proclaiming Luke as what he really is: one of the few amazing men out there. The letter showcases how much Luke cares for Rory above himself, how he’s always treated Rory as his own daughter and how wonderful of a person he is. Luke’s expression while reading the letter reminds viewers that he still loves Lorelai. He also calls Lorelai right after he finds out he won partial custody because who else do you celebrate good news with but the woman you’re in love with?
“I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia” S7 Episode 13
Lorelai’s father has yet another heart attack, and Christopher is nowhere to be found to comfort his girls. But as usual, Luke comes to the rescue. Luke immediately drives to the hospital to make sure Lorelai and Rory are okay and tries to help out Lorelai in any way that he can. Toward the end of the episode he even brings the family food and admits to Lorelai that he didn’t even know why he came, he just heard the news, and before he knew what he was doing he was driving to the hospital. Luke will do anything to make sure that Lorelai is okay and hates to see her sad or suffering. He will clearly rush to her side to be there in her time of need.
“Bon Voyage” S7 Episode 22
Rory gets a last minute job and Lorelai, as a result, has to cancel her big graduation party. Here comes Luke to the rescue yet again. He goes and secretly arranges a surprise party for Lorelai and Rory with the help of Sookie and other friends. He plans an entire secret party over the course of just two days! When Luke learns that the party could be rained out, he collects all the townspeople’s tarps and stays up all night tying them together to create a gigantic tent. This man is not a quitter. When Sookie reveals the secret to Lorelai and she asks him about it, all he says is: “I just like to see you happy.”
So no matter which pairings you ship, just remember these amazing times as you sit down on November 25th with your pop-tarts, pizza, Chinese food, ice cream and coffee to watch the glorious revival of one of our all time favorite shows. Sit back relax and enjoy this wonderful ride! Copper Boom!
Photo Credits: Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16