Gilmore Girls Bests and Worsts

[mstaken]

Here's a fun question: What would you name as your 5-7 most underrated episodes of the series??? These aren't necessarily your favorites, but just the episodes you really like or even love that most fans seem decidedly unenthusiastic about :) 

[amensisterfriend]

Okay. here's one---if you could pick just five (well, okay, 5-7!) favorite GG characters, who would they be? These aren't necessarily the most 'likable' or the ones you'd love to hang out with in real life, but the characters who you found most memorable, resonant, compelling, essential to your interest in the show, etc. Major and minor characters are all eligible :) 

[Guest]

Okay. here's one---if you could pick just five (well, okay, 5-7!) favorite GG characters, who would they be? These aren't necessarily the most 'likable' or the ones you'd love to hang out with in real life, but the characters who you found most memorable, resonant, compelling, essential to your interest in the show, etc. Major and minor characters are all eligible :) 

1) Lorelai

2) Emily

3) Rory

4) Luke

5) Richard

6) Christopher

 

I don't think you can realistically tell the story without any one of these pieces. 

[amensisterfriend]

I think you're right, deeja, though my list isn't nearly as sensible :) These are the characters that I find most compelling, interesting, memorable, tune-in-to-see-them-ish, etc. In no special order: 

 

1. Lorelai---She bugs the ever living hell out of me sometimes, but she's a vivid, memorable, fabulously alive character and a wonderful mix of strengths and flaws who's given me some of my favorite TV moments :) 

 

2. S1-S4 Rory---Aside from the fact that I'm a lot older than she was and, um, don't exactly look like Alexis Bledel (if only!), Early Seasons Rory is a character who I related to more than almost any fictional character.

 

3. Paris---Layered, fascinating, amusing, deeply flawed, incredibly smart character who gave the show so much energy and was, (IMO, obviously!) arguably the most consistent, well-drawn character of the series. The Paris/Rory frenemy-ship remains a huge highlight of the series for me for reasons that I've bored you guys with before!  

 

4. Emily (can you tell I think the show did a far better job with their female characters than their males?!) ---Her endless cycle of dysfunction with Lorelai started to annoy me more than it interested me, and Emily often crossed that dangerously thin line from a deeply flawed, compelling woman to someone so insufferable that I just wanted her off my screen. But Kelly Bishop's acting is brilliant, and Emily is such a huge part of many of my favorite witty and poignant and GG moments that I can't imagine the series without her. 

 

5. A zillion way tie :) 

 

Luke and his friendship-turned-romance with Lorelai is vital to the series and his relationship with Jess is among my favorite things about GG despite my own ambivalence about him as a character and SP as an actor.

I'm really tempted to pick Jess here, as Jess/Rory had more chemistry than any other GG couple IMO and still delight me despite their myriad problems, and, again, Jess/Luke is one of my favorite aspects of the show. But Jess himself is sometimes just the typical teenage 'bad boy who---shocker---is not actually so bad!' character for me, and as much as he's one of the many reasons I adore S2 and S3, he wasn't around long enough for me to claim that he's as truly indispensable for me as the four I mentioned above.  

Digger is witty and endearingly neurotic in that GG-esque way and probably the most unique and interesting of the show's many 'significant others' for me, but I don't think he had much romantic chemistry with Lorelai and was only around for one season so, again, I can't let him have that fifth spot all to himself :) 

I like Chris a lot more than most fans do, find him a really relatable mix of strengths and flaws and think DS is easily the best male GG actor not named Edward Hermann. But even *I* wouldn't give him that precious fifth slot :) 

Mama Kim, Michel and Tristan (yeah, I know...he's awful, but added a really interesting energy for me!), and a few others all enhance my enjoyment of the show quite a lot, but they're not prevalent or developed enough to get that fifth slot. 

I swear that i'm kind of tempted to nominate the Reverend and Rabbi ;) 

[cleo]

1. Lorelai

2. Emily

3.Richard (for me the biggest appeal of the show was the relationship between Lorelai and her parents, and simply Lorelai herself.)

4. Luke/townspeople inc. Paris

5. Rory- very low on my list overall. Maybe this is a UO. I just never found her character that interesting, and never really cared that much about her or her relationship with Lorelai except as it illustrated the kind of person Lorelai was, the choices she made, and the things she reacted to and against etc. 

[amensisterfriend]

Cleo, it warms my Paris-adoring heart that you included her on your list! 

[cleo]

Thanks. It's funny- writing the list out- it's the thought of Paris that makes me want to go rewatch old eps, which I haven't done in a couple years. Paris was a great character, funny and she could be mean but the sadder elements of her life always seemed real and moving without being overdone. Paris was way more interesting than Rory. 

[Guest]

 

1. Lorelai---She bugs the ever living hell out of me sometimes, but she's a vivid, memorable, fabulously alive character and a wonderful mix of strengths and flaws who's given me some of my favorite TV moments :)

 

This is so perfectly said.  I could argue that Lorelai is a terrible person and have plenty of examples. I could argue that she is practically a saint and have many examples.  Or I could accept her as the wonderfully complex, intriguing character that she is and enjoy the show.  

 

Too often, show runners feel the need to pigeon hole their characters - "Good" "Bad" "Evil."  Especially for the first few seasons, ASP resisted the urge to do this with just about any of her characters, but none more than Lorelai.

[Aloeonatable]

I really realized that I don't have a favorite, let alone 5, character on GG. I could more easily list my least favorite characters. I could also list my favorite parings too.

I tried to think of ones who were on more than one episode.

 

Least favorite characters (not in any particular order):

Jackson

Francie

Logan

GiGi

Colin/Finn

 

Favorite pairing:

Rory/Paris

Luke/Jess

Emily/Lorelai

 

When I have time, I'll elaborate on my reasons. Right now I have to go take care of my granddaughter!

[AlinaRay]

Least Favorite:
Taylor 

GiGi

Francie  - All of these were just needlessly obnoxious to me

Christopher's parents - I understand they were disappointed in Christopher, but poor Rory lost out on a set of grandparents

[Guest]

Least Favorite:

Sherry

Anna

Francie

Tristan

Seasons 5-7 Sookie

 

Favorite Characters:

Lorelai

Emily

Seasons 1-3 Sookie (Season 4 Sookie is in purgatory for her "I had a baby!" attitude, but not irredeemable like Seasons 5-7)

Richard

Logan

Mitchum

[nolieblue]

Least Favorite:

 

Colin/Finn - Colin was especially awful.

Francie

Christopher

Anna

Lucy/Olivia  - I wouldn't have minded them if Rory had met them earlier but their introduction was so rushed and their friendship didn't feel authentic.

[amensisterfriend]

Seven characters I wish hadn't been on the show:

 

1. TJ

2. Liz

3. Colin 

4. Logan (I don't dislike him as much as the other characters I mentioned, but I just really dislike a lot of his storylines, his awful Life and Death Brigade friends and the way Rory seemed un-Rory-ish to  me while she was around him. Plus, the actor and his omnipresent smirk just really bug me!)

5. April (again, it's not about HER so much---though I'm not a fan---but I can't stand that whole story arc and think her scenes with Luke felt painfully forced and repetitive to me, and the actress had this really awkwardly loud way of shouting her lines)

6. Dean

7. Max

 

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationships:

 

1. Lorelai/Rory

2. Rory/Paris 

 

...and I might reverse the order :) 

 

Romantic pairings I think had the most chemistry: 

 

1. Jess/Rory (despite how crappy their actual relationship was, I just felt that 'they GET each other' connection between them

2. ...pretty much just Jess and Rory! I think this show gave us really unappealing male significant others---angry, jealous, petulant, etc.---and that ASP was pretty terrible at writing romance. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by amensisterfriend

[Eeksquire]

Favorite non-Lorelai/Rory characters:

Lorelai the first

Paris

Sookie

Mrs. Kim

Sebastian Bach*

 

Least favorite characters:

Jess

Any of the Puffs

Headmaster Charleton

Max

Christopher's Parents

 

*I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I heart Sebastian Bach.  Seriously, I adore him in this role.  I hope he's kind of like that in real life.  I find him utterly charming in every respect.

[amensisterfriend]

Max

 

How could I have failed to mention Max and Dean on my "wish they hadn't been on the show" list?! Thanks for reminding me :) 

[Taryn74]

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I heart Sebastian Bach.  Seriously, I adore him in this role.  I hope he's kind of like that in real life.  I find him utterly charming in every respect.

 

 

I completely agree.  I can't remember a time I ever didn't like Gil.

 

Plus, it's Sebastian-Freaking-Bach, people.  I love that so much.  I wish I had a picture of my daughter's face the first time she saw a Skid Row video and realized that was Gil.  >.<  I'm laughing right now just thinking about it.

[TyranAmiros]

Favorites:
1. Lorelai--Yes, she can be selfish and insensitive, but she carries the show.  It's her journey from living vicariously through her daughter and rebelling against her parents to finding herself that sells the show.

2. Miss Patty/Kirk/Taylor/Babette/MAURY!--the townie episodes are the show's best in general, in my opinion.

3. Paris and Doyle--I really like Doyle and the episode where he and Paris break up and he gets drunk with Rory at the bar is one of my favorite scenes.

4. Sookie and Michel

5. Rune--the gift that kept on giving

6. Rory--I think she has a tendency to be weaker in scenes with any of her boyfriends.  I'm glad she chose herself at the end of the show; I don't hate Logan, but she can get selfish and mean whenever she's in a relationship.

 

Least Favorite:

1. TJ

2. Liz

3. April

4. April's mother (I basically can't watch a Luke scene after Season 4)

5. Logan's London friends (I may have just been watching those episodes)

6. Sherry, who probably would be fifth if I hadn't been watching that episode just now.

[Eeksquire]

 

Doyle and the episode where he and Paris break up and he gets drunk with Rory at the bar is one of my favorite scenes

Doyle! I do love that episode.  Was that the same one where he and Paris were learning Krav Maga to defend themselves from their neighbors?

[blueray]

favorite charcters:

Jess

Paris

Richard

Luke

Sookie

town people

 

Least favorite:

Francie (I wanted to stab her lol).

Dean (they ruined his character as the show went on)

Max (his character was to perfect the point where they had to make dumb reasons for her not to pick him)

Olivia and whatever her name was (they were just thrown randomly at the end)

Anna (and some ways April): I hated their storyline

Sherry (what a bitch for leaving her daughter and I couldn't stand her).

[Guest]

How did I forget TJ and Liz on my least favorite list?  I can't stand either of them. I like Liz even less than TJ.  She was horrible all the way around. I never saw one redeeming characteristic about her.  She said she loved Luke, but it seemed she really just loved using Luke.  

[amensisterfriend]

How did I forget TJ and Liz on my least favorite list?  I can't stand either of them. I like Liz even less than TJ.  She was horrible all the way around. I never saw one redeeming characteristic about her.

 

Amen, sister friend! ;) And, yes, I'll join you at the tiny table for two that hates Liz even more than TJ. I can't stand the actress or the character, and that fake 'hippy dippy', gross selfishness in the name of being adorably "free spirited" stuff drives me nuts. And at least we're *supposed* to think TJ is annoying; everyone immediately forgives and even adores Liz and pays attention when she delivers her obnoxiously unsolicited, hypocritical advice. For as much heat as a lot of the male characters like Christopher get for being crappy fathers, I never got why Liz subjecting Jess to a childhood marked by her drug abuse, multiple men and neglect before shipping him off to a strange town to live with an uncle he barely knew is handwaved away as Liz just being Liz. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by amensisterfriend

[junienmomo]

Oooh ooh! Put me on the Liz and TJ hating list. It's no fun when family members identify and milk a person's values for their own selfish benefit. I was quite pleased when TJ didn't show up in Bon Voyage. Luke, who repeatedly stated his family values of supporting them no matter what, was totally taken advantage of by Liz and TJ. For a while I believed that Lorelai was somewhat similar in depending on Luke, but she really does come through for him a lot, and I see the error of my belief.

 

So many of the characters are needed to make the story complete, that I can't bring myself to choose favorites. OK, my affection for Luke is obvious to anyone on this list, but he's nothing without the whole regular cast.

I am willing to make a few hates, though, especially of characters which could easily be replaced with a more plausible storyline, and those are:

• Liz and TJ
• Paul Anka
• Nicole
• Digger
• Zach
• the whole DNA-test-related storyline

I also reserve a special dislike for Kirk (UO, I know), but it's limited to the really over-the-top stuff. No need to screech over the assassins (wouldn't everyone in town know this already, including Lulu?)

[BC Mama]

My least favourite character of all is definitely Bruce, the best midwife on the eastern seaboard! She was nothing more than an obnoxious stereotype of what some people perceive midwives to be. 

[amensisterfriend]

I also reserve a special dislike for Kirk (UO, I know)

 

He could be really, deeply irksome and over the top. If I'm not in a certain type of mood, I find myself fast forwarding through many of his scenes :) 

 

Zach

 

Ugh, yeah, I loathed him until S7. DR's greatest miracle was making me semi-like the guy in the show's final season! 

 

Luke, who repeatedly stated his family values of supporting them no matter what, was totally taken advantage of by Liz and TJ.

 

And it's not even like she grew and improved throughout the series! In one of the very final episodes, she just drops off the horrifically named Doula with Luke, who's working at the time, without any warning or for any particular reason. And the fact that she's not acknowledged as a grossly narcissistic loser and is instead depicted as "adorably free spirited" or whatever makes me hate her all the more. If I could get rid of just three characters, she'd definitely be one of them :) 

Paul Anka

 

You hated the dog?! I found him more likable than about 90-95% of the show's human characters ;) 

[junienmomo]

I'm fine with dogs, just not with doggie geniuses whose owner displays more crazy cat lady traits than she was once afraid of that time two cats came to her front porch. Blue robe and bunny slipper time. That was not "good mom" it was psycho mom. And all of this to compensate for cutting off her own human daughter, something pre-S6 Lorelai would never have considered.

Hmmm, maybe it's S6 Lorelai I hate, not Paul Anka.

[Guest]

Oh, what was Jackson's brother's name? He was awful too. He was in so many fewer episodes than TJ and Liz that it's easier to forget him, but he was awful. His one appearance was fine, whatever. He didn't want to hang around for Davey to be born.  He was annoying. But having him in that episode was fine. But when they brought him back in Season 6 for the baptism and his storyline was that he thought Lorelai was a sex addict? No. Just no.  It wasn't funny. He added nothing to the story. He was just annoying.

[amensisterfriend]

Beau! (I kind of hate myself for knowing that so quickly...) 

[Guest]

One of my favorite scenes in the whole series is actually in Season 6.  When Jess and Luke talk at the bookstore and Jess wants to pay Luke back and you really see that Jess is a relatively well functioning, responsible adult and it's because of Luke. NOT BECAUSE OF LIZ. 

[pfk505]

Best:

 

Michel

Lorelai

Luke

Paris

 

 

Worst:

 

Jess

Dean

Liz

Babette (I often wonder whether Babette was written as having some sort of brain damage)

Taylor

Francie

April

 

Best pairs/relationships:

 

Lorelai/Rory

Luke/Jess

Paris/Rory

Lorelai/Emily

Richard/Rory

[solea]

Emily and Richard Gilmore are insufferable and irredeemably horrible people.  Well, I can't honestly say they're irredeemable because they are the reason I stopped watching early in Season 5, so I don't know if they were ever redeemed.  But I can't see how it's possible.

 

Haughty, meddling, self-absorbed, manipulative, deceitful lying liars the pair of them.  I'm at that point in my rewatch and it's all I can do to not toss my laptop out the window.  God! What awful, miserable people they are!!!

[readster]

Emily and Richard Gilmore are insufferable and irredeemably horrible people.  Well, I can't honestly say they're irredeemable because they are the reason I stopped watching early in Season 5, so I don't know if they were ever redeemed.  But I can't see how it's possible.

 

Haughty, meddling, self-absorbed, manipulative, deceitful lying liars the pair of them.  I'm at that point in my rewatch and it's all I can do to not toss my laptop out the window.  God! What awful, miserable people they are!!!

 

 There were many times that I really wanted to know what fantasy world Emily and Richard lived in. Especially to the points that Emily went to break up Lorelai and Luke with Christopher. Even when Lorelai told her they were done, a week later she was shocked that Lorelai was actually serious. Emily expected Lorelai was just mad and would calm down. She couldn't grasp the fact she was trying to break them up because she didn't want a diner owner for a son-in-law and kept thinking Lorelai would take her place in the DAR. As my mom put is simply: "She stopped caring about the DAR before she was even pregnant." Plus, she basically told Christopher he wanted Christopher before of his family and genes. Like he was a horse, this is why I still hate Christopher to this day. He should have told Emily right there: "Screw you, I'm not a horse and I'm done getting women pregnant." Yet, the moron proved why I never liked his character. The biggest problems I had with Richard was what happened with Digger because he dare to date his daughter and believing that the Huntzburgers didn't call Rory trash. When they then admitted it when they said that Rory couldn't be a DAR spokesman either. Then all of a sudden they realized that it was all true. Then don't get me on the point they couldn't believe that Rory who was almost 21 was having sex with Logan. Hello, Logan!

[junienmomo]

In Season 5 Emily became a soap opera caricature of the human, loving Emily in Season 1. They later made the occasional attempt to rehumanize her e.g. buying Luke and Lorelai a house, but it failed IMO.

Richard, as a "special appearance" character, was bounced back and forth between loving Grandpa and prop for irritating Lorelai or Emily so often that his character lost focus.

All in all, the relationship plot points between the elder Gilmores and the younger Gilmores suffered greatly in S5, S6 and S7.

 

My preference for S5:

The 100th episode (the vow renewal) should have been LnL's wedding or at least engagement, if they really found it necessary to toss Christopher in the mix. Then they would have had another season and a half to push Rory through Yale, maybe skipping a year, build a good Gilmore relationship, and ended the series after a robust six seasons. 

[amensisterfriend]

I forgot how fun this is! The below is all, of course, just my own weird opinions :) 

 

Best Season: 2 (with 3 a close second)

Worst: Season 6 (and, honestly, it isn't even all that close!) 

 

Best episodes: Those Are Strings, Pinnochio, They Shoot Gilmores, Like Mother Like Daughter, Lorelai's Graduation Day

Worst episodes: Literally about 95% of S6. Go Bulldogs, Introducing Lorelai Planetarium, the last five episodes of S5! 

 

Best romantic connection/chemistry: Jess/Rory 

Worst:...most of the show's other romantic relationships! 

 

Favorite relationships (non-romantic): Lorelai/Rory, Rory/Paris, Rory/Richard, Luke/Jess 

 

Best aspects of the show: The brilliant dialogue, the life-affirming warmth and sparkly charm, the fact that the show celebrated learning and life's small pleasures, its ability to illustrate larger truths through seemingly commonplace events and conversations, the amazing fans it attracts!   

 

Worst aspects of the show: Characters being exaGGerated to the point of shrill annoyance, the depiction of romantic relationships, most of its male characters, plotting and pacing

Edited December 29, 2014 by amensisterfriend

[Aloeonatable]

Best season: For me, it has to be 2.

Worst season: 7. As much as I too hated season 6, I totally lost interest in season 7. Burn out? 

 

Best episodes: Rory's Birthday Parties, Bracebridge Dinner, Lost and Found, Lorelai's Graduation Day

Worst episodes: I honestly cannot even name season 7 episodes, so I'm saying all of them. 

 

Best romantic connection/chemistry: I have to agree, Jess/Rory.

Worst: Lorelai/Chris. I even hated it in "I Can't Get Started." Also not a particular fan of the Luke/Lorelai pairing.

 

Favorite relationships (non-romantic): Luke/Jess, Rory/Paris (even at their worst.)

 

Best aspects of the show: The witty pop cultural references and the the relatable characters. They may have been exaggerated at times, but their emotions were genuine and spot on most of the time. 

 

Worst aspects of the show: Some characters, sometimes acting out of character. I think in later seasons the writing became lazy.

[junienmomo]

Best season: 2 for me as well.
Worst season: 6. I could forgive tons of OOC action in S7, but 6 was a hot mess.

Best episodes: Rory's Birthday Parties, Uncles, Lost and Found, Let the Games Begin
Worst episodes: S6, especially any episode with April, and I deleted 704-709 and several other S7 episodes when space on my iPad became scarce

Best romantic connection/chemistry: Luke/Lorelai (Javajunkie here)
Worst: Lorelai/Max. So much wrong with them.

Favorite relationships (non-romantic): Luke/Jess, Rory/Paris 

Best aspects of the show: dialog

Worst aspects of the show: Kirk, April, several other characters. The worst OOC elements. Missing "I love yous" from pretty much everyone. Lorelai's loss of the capacity for logical thought after Season 1.

[amensisterfriend]

Seeing so much love for S2 and for the Rory/Paris frenemy-ship warms my weird little heart :) 

 

 

 

Worst: Lorelai/Max. So much wrong with them.

 

God yes. I've said this elsewhere, but while I understand how and why Lorelai connected with Christopher, Luke, and Digger for different reasons and in different ways, I just honestly never got Max or Lorelai/Max on any level. And what's with the 'we can't get along for longer than five minutes at a time, so clearly the solution is to get engaged' nonsense at the end of S1?! They're right up there with Rory/Dean as my least favorite of the main pairings. (Luke/Nicole somehow don't even matter enough for me to count them!) Lane/Zach and Rory/Logan get my (dis)honorable mentions :) 

 

 

 

Rory's Birthday Parties,... Let the Games Begin

 

Both of these episodes are in my top 10 :) 

 

 

 

Worst aspects of the show...April

 

This earns yet another Amen, Sister Friend from me ;) 

 

How about your five "best and worst" episodes from each individual season???

Edited December 30, 2014 by amensisterfriend

[readster]

Seeing so much love for S2 and for the Rory/Paris frenemy-ship warms my weird little heart :) 

 

 

 

 

God yes. I've said this elsewhere, but while I understand how and why Lorelai connected with Christopher, Luke, and Digger for different reasons and in different ways, I just honestly never got Max or Lorelai/Max on any level. And what's with the 'we can't get along for longer than five minutes at a time, so clearly the solution is to get engaged' nonsense at the end of S1?! They're right up there with Rory/Dean as my least favorite of the main pairings. (Luke/Nicole somehow don't even matter enough for me to count them!) Lane/Zach and Rory/Logan get my (dis)honorable mentions :) 

 

 

 

 

Both of these episodes are in my top 10 :) 

 

 

 

 

This earns yet another Amen, Sister Friend from me ;) 

 

How about your five "best and worst" episodes from each individual season???

 

 April and her mother was one of the worst ideas that ended up taking over the show. This entire plan by the Ps to mess up Luke and Lorelai's relationship. Plus prove: "Luke can't handle surprises" was so horribly thought up and executed how anyone thought it was a good idea is beyond me. GG was not the first show to think of an idea and have no idea where it would go. Tons of TV shows, books, comic writers have done this for years. However, they are so ready to throw a wrench into their own writing it takes over the show and ruins it. The best example was on one of my favorite TV shows, Everwood. They decided to make the character of Madison pregnant and the creative team said: "We wanted to see where it went." The problem was, the actress was already cast on another show, the main creator of the other shows were busy getting another TV show off the ground and when it was all over. They admitted: "Maybe we shouldn't have done it without a plan." 

  On Gilmore GIrls even after the show has ended, the creators still admit that April was an idea that took on a life of its own and didn't work out as they envisioned. Not to mention they still don't get why the audience reacted so negatively about it. They never thought for one second that the character of April would completely undo the character of Luke, especially how he reacted to it. Never mind the actress playing April's bitchy mother was busy with other TV projects so her filming would be limited. Not to mention her character was so one dimensional you couldn't understand how Luke ever got involved with her 15 odd years ago. Then when they admited they were almost at a dead end with the story, Rick Suttfliff was free again and they went: "Hey, Christopher can put the nail in the relationship, let's do it!" When they admitted when season 6 ended, they had no idea how to resolve the storyline, the Ps left the series and the new showrunners had no idea what to do but have Christopher and Lorelai relationship play out most of the season with the general plan they would fall apart in the end and move on with their lives after over 20 years. Then with the ratings tanking and the showrunners saying they wanted another season like the Ps wanted. They told them, they ruined the show, so they could either end it on a good note or not. 

   Sad how some creators get so caught up in their egos they ruin their own shows. April being a great example.

[Taryn74]

   Sad how some creators get so caught up in their egos they ruin their own shows.

 

So, so true!  ASP was almost manic sometimes in wanting to "ruin" fans' favorite characters and storylines.  It was bizarre.

[amensisterfriend]

I'm answering my own question because, yeah, I'm THAT bored ;) 

 

Season 1's Four Best Episodes (or, more accurately, my personal favorites that I'm most likely to rewatch!): Rory's Birthday Parties, Double Date, Concertus Interruptus The Third Lorelai 

Four worst: P.S. I Lo..., Love, Daisies and Troubadours (Can you tell how much i "love" Dean and Max?!), Christopher Returns (weirdly loooong, clunky, heavy-handed scenes), Kiss and Tell 

 

Season 2's Four Best Episodes (or, more accurately, my personal favorites that I'm most likely to rewatch!): Like Mother Like Daughter, Lorelai's Graduation Day, Road Trip to Harvard (I totally get why people find Lorelai and Rory hard to take here, but I adore this episode for many reasons---and it actually contains one of my favorite L/L scenes of the series!)...guys, I can't pick a fourth from this beloved season; it's, like, a 13-way tie!!!

Four worst:  Sadie Sadie (ugh---such a bad start to one of my all-time favorite seasons of TV!), Nick and Nora (the L/L fight REALLY bothers me here), Help wanted (I normally love the opportunity for more Richard/Lorelai scenes, but the town's idiotic overreaction to the minor freaking car accident really irks me), Ins and Outs of Inns (I couldn't care less about the widely revered Mia and the Sookie/Lorelai fight stresses me out!) It Should have Been Lorelai has actually kind of grown on me, and the covert CD drop is classic :) 

 

Season 3's Four Best Episodes (or, more accurately, my personal favorites that I'm most likely to rewatch!): Those Are Strings, Pinnochio (One of the best hours of any show ever!), They Shoot Gilmores, Lazy Hazy Crazy, Let the Games Begin (I love S2 more than S3 overall, but the best of S3 may be even more amazing for me than the best of S2)

Four Worst: Keg!Max! (I haaaaate this episode....granted, not as much as I hate many post-5.17 episodes, but close!) Take the Deviled Eggs (I like the Town Loner stuff, but you know how most people hate Lorelai and Rory's behavior in Road Trip to Harvard to the point where it ruins the episode? That's kind of how I feel about this episode...plus, Sherry irks beyond the telling of it. It's got great moments, but overall this is just kind of a mean-spirited, unpleasant episode for me), Face Off, Happy Birthday Baby (Much to my own shock, I'm not including Here Comes the Son, though it would have earned my fifth slot. The California scenes are dreadful, but the Connecticut scenes delight me to the point where I prefer this episode to the other four I listed here! Oh, and I Solemnly Swear earns my grudging affection due to the deposition ::) 

 

Season 4's Four Best Episodes (or, more accurately, my personal favorites that I'm most likely to rewatch!): The Lorelais' First Day at Yale (a lot of things bug me about this one, but I'm emotionally attached to it anyway!), The Fundamental Things Apply, The Hobbit, The Sofa and Digger Stiles, Scene in a Mall 

Four worst: Tick Tick Tick, Afterboom, Nag Hammadi, Girls in Bikinis, (though I was tempted to put Ted Koppel, LWF, TWT, TISL and a couple others as well!)

 

Season 5's Four Best Episodes (or, more accurately, my personal favorites that I'm most likely to rewatch!): But Not as Cute as Pushkin, Come Home, A Woman of Questionable Morals, So...Good Talk (I'm always surprised all over again by how much I love this one!)

Four worst: Kropogs, But I'm a Gilmore, The Party's Over, You Jump I Jump, Blame Booze and Melville, Diorama...oh, yeah, that's a bit more than four, isn't it?! Please don't make me choose! 

 

Season 6's Four Best: Sidekick and...yeah, I'll just move on ;) 

Four worst: The rest of the season 

 

Season 7's Four Best Episodes (or, more accurately, my personal favorites that I'm most likely to rewatch!): Farewell My Pet (though I skip the Logan/Rory parts!), WYBMLG?, Santa's Secret Stuff, Bon Voyage, 

Four Worst: Go Bulldogs, Lorelai Planetarium, I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia (i think the awfulness of this one is underrated, especially when you consider it's a lazy, inferior retread of Forgiveness and Stuff!), To Whom It May Concern

 

I'm always surprised and mildly alarmed to find that I actually enjoy more of S7 than S5 :)  

 

I'd love to read other people's lists. Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2015! 

[Guest]

Best season: Season 2
Worst season: Season 7

Best romantic connection/chemistry: I think Lorelei and Chris had the best chemistry. As far as a relationship working, probably Babette and Maury. It was relatively non-dysfunctional. :) 
Worst: Lorelei and Alex ties with Luke and Nicole.  Were we supposed to take either one seriously?

Favorite relationships (non-romantic): Luke and Jess.
Worst relationship (non-romantic): Liz and anyone
 

[amensisterfriend]

Worst relationship (non-romantic): Liz and anyone

 

YES. yes, yes, yes! And yes :) 

[amensisterfriend]

Speaking of which...

 

My 10 least favorite characters:

 

Liz, TJ, Dean, Colin, Zack, April, Max, Anna, Logan, Louise Dishonorable mention: Nicole

[Eeksquire]

 

Worst: Lorelei and Alex ties with Luke and Nicole.  Were we supposed to take either one seriously?

I don't know - I thought Lorelai and Alex were ok, for the brief moments we saw them.  It seems like that relationship was more designed to get Lorelai out of the house and leave Rory alone (and thus have to deal with the downsides of being in a relationship with Jess) more than it was really there to provide an actual relationship for Lorelai.  Alex himself was a total cipher. Nicole, at least, we know some things about.  That relationship was bizarre and ill-suited from the beginning, but at least I feel like we, the audience, had enough information about it to make that call.

[amensisterfriend]

Alex was really into coffee and was also a parent...that alone elevated him above Nicole and Max for me in the 'significant others who may actually have connected on some level and make a tiny bit of sense' department :) 

[junienmomo]

My bests and worsts

 

Season 1

Bests: 

• Rory's Birthday Parties
• Forgiveness and Stuff
• Double Date
• That Damn Donna Reed

Worsts:

• The Deer Hunters
• Cinnamon's Wake
• Love and War and Snow
• Paris is Burning
• Christopher Returns

 

Season 2
Bests:

• Red Light on the Wedding Night
• Run Away Little Boy
• Lost and Found
• Dead Uncles and Vegetables
• Teach Me Tonight

Worsts:

• Hammers and Veils
• Richard in Stars Hollow
• It Should've Been Lorelai
• Back in the Saddle Again
• I Can't Get Started

 

Season 3
Bests:

• Haunted Leg
• Take the Deviled Eggs
• Let the Games Begin
• A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving
• Say Goodnight, Gracie

Worsts:

• Eight O'Clock at the Oasis
• Dear Emily and Richard
• Swan Song
• Face-Off
• Those Are Strings, Pinocchio

 

Season 4
Bests:

• The Fundamental Things Apply
• The Festival of Living Art
• Luke Can See Her Face
• Last Week Fights, This Week Tights
• Raincoats and Recipes

Worsts:

• The Lorelais' First day at Yale
• The Hobbit, The Sofa and Digger Stiles
• Die Jerk
• The Reigning Lorelai

 

Season 5
Bests:

• Written in the Stars
• But Not as Cute as Pushkin
• Jews & Chinese Food
• So…Good Talk
• But I'm a Gilmore

Worsts:

• Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller
• A Messenger, Nothing More
• Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too
• Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant
• Women of Questionable Morals

 

Season 6
Bests:

• Fight Face, but only the part where Luke tells Lorelai to talk to Rory (high ground) and "Hole!", my single favorite Lorelai moment

Worsts:

• Anything with April, TJ or that damn dog

 

Season 7
Bests:

• The Long Morrow
• That's What You Get, Folks, For Makin' Whoopee
• I'm a Kayak, Hear Me Roar
• It's Just Like Riding a Bike
• Lorelai? Lorelai?

Worsts: (did I mention I hate Christopher?)

• 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous
• The Great Stink
• Go, Bulldogs!
• French Twist
• Introducing Lorelai Planetarium

[amensisterfriend]

Eight O'Clock at the Oasis, The Hobbit, The Sofa and Digger Stiles

Die Jerk

 

*whispers* I really like these episodes. God knows why :) 

 

I'm so curious as to why Pinocchio is a "worst" for you, Junie! It's one of my all-time favorites. 

 

Cinnamon's Wake

 

Ugh, yes---I know this one is popular, but I find it really annoying. 

 

Love and War and Snow

 

This is in my special 'episodes which induce the most whiplash' category, along with Nick and Nora, Teach Me Tonight and Wedding Bell Blues.  These episodes all scenes that i absolutely LOVE...and other scenes that I loathe with a passion :) 

[ghoulina]

Worst: Lorelei and Alex ties with Luke and Nicole.  Were we supposed to take either one seriously?

 

LOL, I will totally agree about Luke and Nicole. That was an utter joke from day one. 

 

I was okay with Lorelei and Alex. They had kids, they had coffee, they had a similar sense of humor. They tried, but it didn't go anywhere. 

 

I still think Lorelei was the worst with Christopher. But he just bugs me. Always has, always will. 

 

LOVE Sookie and Jackson together! Non-romantic - Rory and Paris has always been favorite. Emily...and...anyone. That girl slays me. 

 

 

Least favorite characters - Mitchum, Christopher, Logan, Nicole, Max, Dean (only the later years), Kirk's Mom (I know we never see her, but she sounds like a real pill), Jimmy, The Long Haired Troubadour (I'm partial to the original), and Colin. 

 

 

 

 

Long time fan, just found this forum. This should be fun!

[junienmomo]

Re: Pinocchio,

With the exception of Lorelai and Rory, I found the dialog stilted and plot points for Luke, Emily and Richard were particularly weak. How often does Emily have to be passive-aggressive about seating. And the whole "men only talk about insurance and construction" bit was too thin for the three men.

Lorelai's and Rory's part was great.

[Guest]

I think what I disliked about Lorelai / Alex was that there was no resolution and I didn't see much chemistry. He was another guy that looked great for Lorelai on paper, but their relationship just felt flat. I almost wondered if it was directed that way so people wouldn't ship them over her and Luke.  And then it was ended with a throwaway line in Keg!Max!  At least with Max, I saw some chemistry.

[junienmomo]

I got the impression that Alex and Peyton were simply people she dated, with Lorelai liking Alex somewhat more than Peyton, whom she loathed. 

Alex seemed to serve several purposes:

• show yet one more time how Lorelai doesn't sustain a relationship (Sookie's last words about Alex were: "Are you sure there was really an Alex?" in response to Lorelai's statement of how intermittent their relationship was)
• show just how low Luke would go to avoid asking Lorelai out, and how much effort she made to avoid talking to him about the guys she dated
• be a foil to Nicole. Both L&L had steady dates, but neither was claiming true love or even BF/ GF status with them