There is no denying that Gilmore Girls is an iconic teen drama of the 2000s and was immensely influential for its generation. Packed with quirky characters, witty banter, fun romance, and the endearing dynamic between Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), the bold, progressive series has been a comfort show for an entire generation. Amy Sherman-Palladino’s cozy mother-daughter drama was a cult hit during its broadcast and became massively popular in the streaming era, which also exposed fans to some of the more dated aspects of the storytelling.
The comedy-drama does feature several key arcs and gags that may feel outdated when seen through today’s lens, particularly by a younger audience. Several episodes of Gilmore Girls take questionable stances on gender roles, body image, social sensitivity, representation, personal identity, and relationship dynamics, and these have become problematic in the modern context and brought the show some retrospective criticism, though that hasn’t in any way diminished the popularity of the series. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the Gilmore Girls episodes that simply don’t hold up today, including episodes from both the original run and the 2016 revival.
1
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket”
Season 2, Episode 13
As has been the tradition of this show, Gilmore Girls features various quirky events to fuel its cozy, small-town energy, and the annual Stars Hollow charity picnic basket auction is an iconic one. In the second season, during the annual Bid-on-a-Basket, Lorelai and Rory find themselves in a stiff competition for their baskets, while Jackson (Jackson Douglas) and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) work through a conflict. The episode also explores tensions between Rory and her boyfriend, Dean (Jared Padalecki), after Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) wins Rory’s basket.
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket” is considered problematic today because it is seen as normalizing toxic male behavior and unhealthy relationship dynamics. While it is not unnatural to explore jealousy or passiveness in teen romances, this particular episode of Gilmore Girls also serves as a dark foreshadowing of Dean’s troubling behavior in the future.
2
“Here Comes the Son”
Season 3, Episode 21
In this penultimate episode of the third season of Gilmore Girls, Rory is worried about her final exams and gets ready for graduation from her prep school. Meanwhile, Lorelai faces difficulty paying Rory’s tuition at Yale and ends up in a feud with her mother, Emily (Kelly Bishop). Outside the Gilmores, the episode also follows Jess traveling across the country to Venice, California, to meet his estranged father, which ends up causing further complications.
“Here Comes the Son” is not problematic in the way some other episodes of Gilmore Girls are, in terms of bad jokes or inappropriate arcs or character behavior. Rather, it’s a storytelling problem. The conflict between Jess, his father Jimmy, and Jimmy’s girlfriend brings an unnecessary shift in the narrative tone of the show, which is otherwise mostly a nuanced, heartwarming drama. The episode was meant to be a potential backdoor pilot for a planned spin-off show, which never materialized and feels out of place, distracting from the main character’s major life event.
3
“Girls In Bikinis, Boys Doin’ The Twist”
Season 4, Episode 17
In this Season 4 episode, Rory and her friend Paris (Liza Weil) head to Florida for their first spring break, which is the key plotline of the episode. Meanwhile, back home, chaos unfolds for Lorelai and Luke (Scott Patterson), as Lorelai struggles with her new romance and Luke gets in trouble with the law. This episode also sees Rory getting drunk and calling Dean.
“Girls In Bikinis, Boys Doin’ The Twist” is quite a divisive chapter of Gilmore Girls and one of the most poorly aged episodes of the comedy drama. On the one hand, this episode has some hilarious fish-out-of-water gags as Rory and Paris experience spring break and Florida for the first time. But on the other hand, the episode is rife with 2000s college tropes and spring break clichés, and takes an unnecessary “cool-girl” stance toward the intellectual Rory and Paris, who constantly judge other girls enjoying their vacation.
4
“That’s What You Get, Folks, For Makin’ Whoopee”
Season 7, Episode 2
In the second episode of Gilmore Girls Season 7, Lorelai deals with the aftermath of sleeping with Christopher (David Sutcliffe), Rory’s biological father, which angers her daughter. Rory is also upset about her long-planned Asia trip with Logan getting canceled, and Lorelai tries to cheer her up by creating an Asia-themed “wonderland” at home. Meanwhile, Rory’s best friend, Lane (Keiko Agena), returns from a disastrous honeymoon with shocking news.
The seventh and final season of Gilmore Girls is widely considered one of the most controversial seasons, with its character arcs, plotlines, and tropes dividing fans in their opinions. And the very second episode, “That’s What You Get, Folks, For Makin’ Whoopee,” proves that. One of the worst elements of this episode is Lorelai’s feeble attempt to bring an Asian experience to Rory, with a cartoonish, inappropriate aesthetic, which depicts cultural stereotyping and insensitivity to outdated tropes. The episode is also criticized for writing off Lane’s arc with a sudden pregnancy instead of giving her character positive closure.
5
“Summer”
‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’, Episode 3
In the third episode of the Gilmore Girls revival series, A Year in the Life, Rory takes up an unpaid editor job at the town’s local newspaper, the Star Hollow Gazette, in an attempt to keep it from shutting down. She is also offered an opportunity to write a book about her and Lorelai, which Lorelai instantly shuts down, leading to a huge mother-daughter fight. With the added chaos of the town’s bizarre musical, Lorelai decides to go on a journey of self-discovery.
When A Year in the Life was released, it certainly brought back the nostalgia that the show had come to be known for, but the four-episode revival also features the most uncomfortable element of the entire show. In the opening scene of the third episode, “Summer,” Lorelai and Rory sit fully clothed by a public pool and make fun of other people wearing swimsuits, body-shaming everyday people and making harsh jokes. To some viewers at least, this kind of commentary appears to be in poor taste and mean-spirited, and fails to hold up in the context of modern perceptions of TV tropes.
6
“To Live and Let Diorama”
Season 5, Episode 18
In this Season 5 episode of Gilmore Girls, an old resident of the town dies and leaves his house to the town to be run as a museum for the first two months, and Luke volunteers to help. Meanwhile, Rory, Paris, and Lane deal with relationship troubles while getting drunk on the punch at the Founder’s Day celebration. On the other side of the episode, Lorelai makes some unfiltered comments in a magazine interview.
Another episode of Gilmore Girls that has not aged well, “To Live and Let Diorama,” is not problematic today because of any offensive commentary or interpretations. Rather, the relationship dynamics and character tropes explored in the episode feel completely out of touch with today’s reality and have not aged well. Additionally, the museum gags don’t quite communicate small-town charm the way they used to and have been criticized for being fairly cringey now.
7
“That Damn Donna Reed”
Season 1, Episode 14
This episode from the very first season of the show explores Rory and Dean’s budding romance as they begin their relationship and have their first fight. When Lorelai invites him to participate in the mother-daughter ritual of making fun of the titular hit television show from the ’50s, Dean reveals that he supports traditional gender roles. Rory fights with Dean about his patriarchal views, but ends the evening by dressing up like Donna Reed and cooking him dinner.
“That Damn Donna Reed” has been criticized for its mixed signals on feminism and foreshadowing Dean’s toxic control. It mocks conventions of ‘50s lifestyles, while also romanticizing the same for its characters and ultimately reinforces the gender norms it initially set out to criticize. The episode also lays the early groundwork for Dean’s controlling behavior, which is explored later in the show, and to modern audiences, it all comes across as somewhat toxic.
Gilmore Girls
- Release Date
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2000 – 2007-00-00
- Network
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The WB, The CW
