NEW YORK -- As everyone on Secret Confessions (2025) Week 7 Highlights 40the internet is all too aware, Gilmore Girlsreturns for four super-sized episodes on Netflix this Friday, Nov. 25.
Bad news: Unless you've been expertly checking out a few original episodes a day for weeks as part of a comprehensive re-watch, it's too late to start the whole thing now.
SEE ALSO: Critics weigh in on the 'Gilmore Girls' revivalBut! If you've previously seen the series but it's been a while, below are our picks for the 10 best episodes to re-watch to get ready. They run the gamut over the course of the show and are sure to make you laugh, cry, and want to call your mom.
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10. "Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out"Season 6, episode 8Thisis the Jess we're interested in. This episode takes place right toward the end of the whole "Rory is a brat who quits Yale" plot and it takes someone who knows her well (ahem, a former flame) to make her see the light. Additionally, Lorelai's "I'm a bad mother" speech to Luke later in the episode is enough to make you quietly sob.
9. "Rory's Dance"Season 1, episode 9Rory is going to a dance with Dean! Lorelai hurts her back and Emily decides to stick around and take care of her! This episode works because it flawlessly shows the differences between Rory's BFF-first friendship with her mother and Emily and Lorelai's much colder dynamic.
8. "Wedding Bell Blues"Season 5, episode 13You want drama at a wedding? The Gilmores have got you covered. For the show's 100th (!) episode, Emily and Richard renew their vows and it's lovely. Elsewhere at the ceremony? The Luke, Christopher, Lorelei issue rears its ugly head and a drunk Rory kisses Logan. Intrigue!
7. "Friday Night Alright For Fighting"Season 6, episode 13This episode will be remembered for the fighting in the title: a beautiful five-minute scene toward the end of the episode where all of our Gilmores yell and laugh and scream at each other, bringing up years-old conflicts both valid and insane. And after all that? Things are more or less back to normal. Long live Friday night dinners!
6. "You Jump, I Jump Jack"Season 5, episode 7Ok, we get the Logan appeal. Journalist Rory goes undercover with the Life & Death Brigade but ends up fairly seduced by the whole experience. We can't totally blame her: That jump at the end of the episode as part of the group's stunt is pretty dang cool. Our Rory is growing up.
5. "Lorelai's Graduation Day/I Can't Get Started" Season 2, episodes 21 and 22Yup, we're breaking the rules here and making these two back-to-back episodes one entry. Don't blame us: It's such a perfect 90-odd minutes. Rory has her big city adventure with Jess! Lorelai graduates business school and Rory misses it! Lorelai sleeps with Christopher (ugh, Christopher)! Sookie and Jackson get married! Rory kisses Jess because she just can't help herself! When Gilmoreis firing on all cylinders, like it is here, it's such a decadent treat: Full of small-town charm, first love, heartbreak and more -- these two episodes are an excellent showcase.
4. "There's the Rub" Season 2, episode 16 Two separate excellent plotlines make this one worth a re-watch. Lorelai gets trapped into a spa weekend with Emily, and the duo -- after some bumps -- reach an understanding about their relationship. Meanwhile, Rory is wrestling with her feelings for Jess and has an accidental group hang with Jess and Paris that is sure to make any book-loving, slightly nerdy teen swoon. Jess has read Jane Austen & knows the best way to eat french fries! What is Rory still doing with Dean?
3. "Those Are Strings, Pinocchio"Season 3, episode 22I dare youto watch Rory's Chilton graduation day speech about her mother ("The person I most wanted to be was her") without crying -- even Luke couldn't manage to stay quiet.
2. "They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?" Season 3, episode 7This is the gold standard for episodes that showcase Stars Hollow's weirdness, this time grounded in an all-too-real teen love triangle. When Dean breaks up with Rory while at the 24 hour dance marathon and then she sobs on her mom's shoulder it's crushing, but it's also a high point for the show.
1. "Raincoats and Recipes"Season 4, episode 22The Season 4 finale is funny, heartbreaking and just a little bit sexy. This is the episode where Luke and Lorelai finally kiss (!), but it's also the episode where Rory makes a terrible decision and has sex with married Dean in her childhood bedroom....which results in a fight with Lorelai. The final moment, when Rory calls Dean, gets his wife instead, and starts to cry while Lorelai, still upset, comes outside to her, is perfect television and a gorgeous distillation of Lorelai and Rory's unique mother/daughter relationship.
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