Hit series Gilmore Girls draws such an impressive fan base for the unique mother-daughter relationship shared between Lorelai and Rory — in addition to the extended family drama between Lorelai and her parents. But the many romantic relationships that flourish throughout the show also play a huge part in making it a hit.
From the Team Dean/Jess/Logan debate in Rory’s love life, to the Luke/Max/Chris dispute in Lorelai’s, there have been plenty of romantic ups and downs for fans to follow, and with this came some pretty damn impressive romantic gestures. Reminiscing on some of the stand-outs, here are 10 of the biggest and best romantic gestures in Gilmore Girls.
Luke Builds Lorelai The Ice Rink
Is there a more romantic gesture than the time Luke built Lorelai an ice rink? As every Gilmore Girls fan knows, Lorelai has a very special relationship with snow. She knows when it’s coming (she can smell it in the air, apparently) and amazing things happen in her life when snow comes about.
But when snow seemingly turns against her in Season 5’s episode, “Women of Questionable Morals,” Luke does his best to help her reconcile her relationship with it by building her an ice rink, even providing ice skates for her. This is one of the many selfless gestures throughout the show that showcases how much Luke cares for Lorelai.
Dave Tries To Win Over Mrs. Kim
Remember Dave? Before Zack stole Lane’s heart, there was Dave. He wanted to be with Lane, but with Mrs. Kim’s strict dating rules, he had to get creative. This is how he ended up posing as a Christian guitar player and playing at Mrs. Kim’s family functions, often for hours on end.
Eventually, Dave confronts Mrs. Kim about his ambitions to date Lane, and she responds with a vague statement that he assumes was extracted from the Bible. After Dave stays up all night reading the sacred book from cover to cover, he exclaims that he can’t find it. She then tells him the statement was actually a quote from Shakespeare, but she’s so impressed that he stayed up all night to read the Bible that she lets him take Lane out.
Emily And Richard Renew Their Vows
Emily and Richard broke our hearts when they split, but they reconciled with a formal renewal of their vows in the show’s 100th episode. The real romantic gesture came when Richard told the crowd about a specific song Emily loved, “Wedding Bell Blues,” in which the lead singer talks about a man called Bill, and how she would joke about wishing Richard’s name was Bill so that this could be their song. Richard admits that while he’s not a fan of the song himself, he declared to Emily, “For tonight and tonight only, my name is Bill and this is our song.”
Luke And Lorelai’s First Kiss
In Season 4’s finale, “Raincoats and Recipes,” Luke and Lorelai finally share their first kiss. When Luke moves in to kiss her initially, she hesitates and says, “What are you doing?” to which he responds, “Will you just stand still?”
It was perfectly awkward and the best way for these two to finally move out of the friend zone. There wasn’t a Gilmore Girls fan alive who hadn’t been waiting for this moment. And, of course, the perfect moment was interrupted by naked Kirk.
Lorelai Saves Luke’s Boat
When Luke irrationally tells the woman who is housing his boat to sell it, Lorelai buys it for him, anticipating that he may later regret the decision. Luke is angry when he initially finds out that she did this, but realizes that the gesture undeniably comes from the right place. Audiences are used to seeing the many romantic gestures offered by Luke, so this was a pleasant turn of events for Lorelai to be able to reciprocate.
Max Gives Lorelai A Thousand Yellow Daisies
In the finale of Season 1, Max Medina proposes to Lorelai in the middle of a fight. It wasn’t the ideal time to do it, but the intention was there. Lorelai responds by telling him that a proposal should be something more than just a desperate act to end a bickering match. She points out that there should be a grand gesture involved, such as a thousand yellow daisies. She is then shocked to find later that Max has delivered one thousand yellow daisies to the inn, to which she couldn’t say no to, and accepts his proposal.
Rory Tells Dean She Loves Him
It’s an awkward moment when you tell someone you love them and they don’t say it back. This was the situation that Dean found himself in, and he took Rory’s lack of response as rejection. The two have a short breakup, but then Dean comes to Chilton to resolve it, which is when he sees her with Tristan and is understandably outraged. As he’s about to leave, Rory screams after him to stop. “Why?” he asks, to which she replies, “Because I love you, you idiot.”
Luke Tells Lorelai He’s “All In”
On Luke and Lorelai’s first date, she asks him if he remembers the first time they met. He recalls that it was at the diner, it was lunchtime and it was packed. He remembers Lorelai tearing into the place in a caffeine frenzy. He was serving another customer at the time, but she interrupts him begging for coffee and follows him around until he eventually turns to her and tells her she’s being annoying. He tells her to sit down and he’ll get to her when he gets to her.
She then asks him what his birthday is, and he gives in and tells her. She opens the newspaper under the horoscope section, writes something down, tears it out and hands it to him. Under his star sign, Scorpio, she’s written, “You will meet an annoying woman today, give her coffee and she’ll go away.”
After Luke tells this story, we find out that he still has this horoscope in his wallet. This was such a sweet moment in itself, but it got even sweeter when he turns to Lorelai and tells her, “This thing we’re doing me and you, I just want you to know that I’m in. I am all in.”
Luke Buys Lorelai The Twickham House
He may have dressed like a lumberjack, but there’s no denying that Luke was the king of romantic gestures. In Season 5, we see Luke fight the town elders to buy the Twickham House for himself and Lorelai to live in. He saw them getting married, having kids and growing old in that house. While he had all the best intentions, he should have consulted Lorelai before making such a huge life decision, and he should have anticipated that she never wanted to leave her home. In spite of this misjudgment, he still gets credit for the enormous and romantic gesture.
Rory Kisses Jess
It was obvious from the moment Luke’s nephew arrived in Stars Hollow that he and Rory were going to end up together. No matter how hard Dean tried to keep her, Rory’s attention was drawn to Jess. Audiences were still taken by surprise though in the Season 2 finale when Jess turned up to Sookie and Jackson’s wedding and Rory took the initiative to kiss him… and then ran away. It’s a shame she had to do it while still being in a relationship with Dean, but it was a romantic gesture nonetheless.
