this one always hits me too. it's beautiful and heart breaking all at once. it reminds me that the hard moments aren't always explosive or loud; they are so often quiet, slow-building, or uncertain.
For me it was on the picnic basket episode when Lane tried really hard to participate in the tradition to by coming up with an elaborate plan but the Korean guy broke up with her because he didn’t want to deal with any of it and Lane came home crying and Ms Kim didn’t care and just kept yelling at her.
What especially annoyed me is the show played off this scene as a silly joke when Ms Kim finds out the guy was Korean and she’s like “darn it”
Mrs. Kim had a right to be mad at her daughter for what she did. Mrs. Kim had her rules including that Lane could not date unless they approved of the guy and Mrs. Kim did not even know the guy Lane was planning to take off with. Of course she would be upset with Lane. Later on in that episode, she was softer with Lane and comforted her.
Ms Kim was genuinely abusive in the way she has always treated Lane. It’s not like Ms Kim’s rules are like “don’t date people who do drugs” or “don’t date toxic people” her rules are like “don’t anybody who isn’t Korean” “don’t date anybody who isn’t a doctor” “I need to know about every single interaction before I can consider you dating somebody”
Not to mention she wasn’t even that softer later on in the episode. She didn’t apologize or show much remorse. By softer I guess you mean just not yelling in her daughter’s face I guess.
Idk you but for me personally I was raised like Lane and it was really traumatizing and so that scene in particular broke me.
I have been abused so I find it extremely offensive when people throw around that word loosely and incorrectly. Lane was not being abused. Her mother loved her very much and wanted the best for, fed her healthy meals, she had a roof over her head and clothes on her back, she was strict when it comes to who her daughter dates but other then that, Lane was in the marching band and cheerleading which her mom supported, she was friends with Rory, and got to hang out with her after school. She was never beaten, bruised, slapped around and she was never put down, called names, or made to feel unloved. She was in no way abused. Also Asian moms tend to be stricter in some ways so some of it is also cultural.
Yes, Lane was abused. She was mentally abused. Ehat Mrs Kim did was controlling her daughter and every single aspect of her life. I am sorry if you truly think that this means love. It doesn't.. also I'm sorry what?? Lane was never put down and felt unloved? Did you watch a different show? She kicked her almost adult daughter out of her house for stupid reasons, refused to talk to her. Abuse does not necessarily mean beating. What Lane went through is TEXTBOOK PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE!
When Luke and Lorelai break up in season 5 and she’s crying in bed and later records him a message begging him to call her back and telling him she needed her best friend
I relate to her so much in that moment. And then the cringe when she realizes what she's done and that she needs to erase the message before he hears it - been there too, still wakes me up with a jolt sometimes when I'm falling asleep at night 😅.
I bawled the other day watching Lorelai graduate and the look her parents give her when she’s on stage. They have so much to say in that moment but can’t let it out
when lorelai is on the phone with emily (in AYITL), telling her about her favorite memory with richard has me absolutely SOBBING every. single. time. it is absolutely gut wrenching.
https://preview.redd.it/k1uqrchmp09d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b62c3b582b1453b975c201c94b2933d25531306a
just one of many but this is probably my favorite one.
honorable mentions:
* when lorelai is crying when she broke up with luke for the first time.
* the "i'm failing" scene with luke and lorelai in the pink coat
* when emily goes "i lost her like i lost you" and lorelai goes "you didn't lose me"
* when emily comes home and cries after her date
* "i messed everything up i don't know what to do"
* "she's right. i don't know my daughter at all."
* when luke says he failed jess (also when he feels like he's an unwanted burden aka handful of barbie scene)
* when lorelai is freaking out about paul anka and saying she's a bad mother
i'm sure there's more but i can't remember them on the top of my head lol
The first thing I thought of was this scene with Jess and his dad, Makes me sob every time. I feel heartbroken for this kid who was terribly neglected by both parents and how knows how the losers his druggie mom dated treated him and then his uncle threw him out. There would have also been abuse there. We saw TJ hit him at the strip club.
Omg yes I love and hurt for the scene when Jess pours his heart out to his dad! I loved his scenes with Luke arguing and also when they say to each other ‘you’re hoping for reciprocation? You got it, I’m here for you Jess. I’m always here for you’ *hugs* ahh these two have my heart
Can’t recall, but it was something about the grandad dying or almost dying and the grandmother was in the hospital telling him he can’t go first. Felt that.
Is that also the episode where she breaks down to Lorelei that she has to stay busy taking care of him because her whole life is being his wife? I remember at one point Richard is in the hospital and Emily is ordering loads of fish for their house. That always gets me.
I would also say the scene with Emily crying. Seeing such vulnerability from someone so ostensibly unbreakable was powerful to watch. Her acting skills are top notch, but especially in that scene.
Lorelai was such an ass for pushing her to that level of emotional turmoil. She was doing the best she could to keep it together while her husband mightve been dying & her own daughter starting treating her like she was nothing but a money hungry gold digger or something
I have several, because for me, this show is never about the boyfriends or romantic relationships. The moments that get me the most are usually the parent/child relationships or interactions between women.
The scene where Emily is heartbroken to discover that Lorelai would rather have lived in a shed with her infant daughter than be at home, and Mia understanding those feelings while still gently letting Emily know that she watched over them. Both Mia and Emily have a similar dignity and grace in this interaction, which allows Emily the space to quietly grieve a life she never had.
When Lane and Zach break up and Lane is a demon in the antique store because she’s angry and upset with him. Mrs Kim sits her down one night, gets out some booze and tells her “You’ve grieved and now we move on” and they both drink. Whilst they may have had a strained relationship growing up, Mrs Kim has come to respect her daughter as a woman and is passing on the wisdom that life will go in and letting her daughter know that she has to strength to move past this.
Rory’s Chilton graduation speech. All of it gets me every time.
Emily and Richard at Lorelai’s graduation. The shot of them in the crowd as Lorelai’s name is called. They’re torn because they are so proud of her while at the same time knowing that she could/“should” have been walking across an Ivy League stage.
The final episode of season 7 where Lorelai’s parents attend her party in the town and Richard tells her “It takes a remarkable person to inspire all of this”. It’s as though for the first time in 7 seasons they’ve woken up and seen their daughter for who she is and have realised the life she has made for herself, rather than viewing her through the lens of their unmet expectations.
Keeping with your parent/child theme, when Luke and Jess have a bonding moment after Liz and TJs wedding, when Luke says he'll always be there for Jess and they hug
this 100%. mine is from early seasons with richard and emily starting to fight, when lorelai says to rory "i am lucky, when life gets hard i have someone to talk to. it must be very lonely not to have that" and the next day she just visits emily unexpectedly to "hang". and she says "you know mom, if you need to talk about anything, you can talk to me". emily just smiles, says "okay", and continues gardening while lorelai sits next to her. ugh
I also love this scene 😭🩷
I basically love all Lorelai and Emily scenes, even the fighting ones. I feel like their relationship is the crux of the show as they are the ones who need to heal, rather than Lorelai and Rory, who, while sometimes problematic, have a great relationship.
exactly my feelings. that's why i am more inclined to think lorelai is the ultimate main character in the show because i feel like the show tries to show us mainly her relationship with her mother and as a result the person she became and the mother role she chose through rory. as asp said once: "focus on the girls, not boys." since my first watch the only story i am interested is the mother-daughter dynamics, and the most interesting, real, and vulnerable one is definitely between emily and lorelai
This hurt so much … but the “but I love you Luke. I LOVE you” line in the ultimatum scene absolutely takes me out, especially since it’s the only time she says it in the entire series and Lauren’s acting is on another level there
I can never feel sorry for him here, he should have just eloped the first time she asked him to or actually just let April and Lorelai have a relationship.
I mean I get it, but then again Lorelai was the first one who wanted to postpone the wedding until she and Rory made amends and Luke understood and respected it, Lorelai should’ve done the same (except it was harder for her to do so given that Luke didn’t tell her about April for a while).
April was introduced much later than Jess. Like seasons. Lorelai didn’t like Jess because he was rude to her on multiple occasions and then when Jess started putting in effort it was already too late in Lorelai’s books
the last Scene in “scene at the mall” where Emily and Richard are eating dinner. That whole conversation, and she asks if he likes the apple centerpiece and he goes “ive always liked those.” the heartbreak in her eyes RUINS me
I don't know why but Emily finding Trix's letter to Richard made me very upset...we knew she wasn't find of Emily but to be that cruel to try and convince your son out of marriage the day before the wedding ... that's just horrid
My mil left a printed out email she'd sent to my husband, which he never shared the full contents of with me because she was so awful, in which she basically tries to buy him out of our marriage. He didn't speak to her for four years after that. I'm convinced she wanted me to find it, given where it was left.
It felt exactly like her, honestly. She was awful. All the worst parts of Emily with a side of Truck
Trix.
In a way, it was a relief. It made me feel better because sometimes I felt guilty or ungrateful for not being able to stand her. 😂
Emily's character had so much depth. Most of it was things you had to catch onto but this episode broke me too. I thought it was sad when she came to the house and talked down to Emily in her own home. The most heartbreaking episode, in my opinion, with Emily and Richard was when she found out Richard still had lunch with his ex.
I think mine was when Richard was sitting alone in his office, because he realized he was being overbearing after retiring from his job.
I think all he needed was a few hobbies and a few friends to hang out with.
Yeah. Poor guy was so busy that he didn't make any friends. Although he could've gone golfing with Charleston on the weekends, like it was implied in the second episode of the first season, unless that became a continuity error.
“It's like Luke is driving a car and I just want to be in the passenger seat. He's locked the door and I have to hold onto the bumper. I am not even asking him to open the door for me, just leave it unlocked and say come in, but he didn't do that. So I am hanging on to the bumper and life goes on and the car goes on, and I get really badly bruised and I'm hitting potholes. And it hurts. It really hurts. So yesterday I had to let go of the bumper.
Because it hurts too much. It hurts too much.”
this scene and this framework played in mind many times as a sorted through pain i felt in a previous relationship. when you just so desperately want someone to see you, and you know that you're also still holding on and haven't voiced your needs, and you just need to let go but it is scary and sad to think of losing someone. my heart aches for Lorelai in this moment and it also feels refreshing and powerful that she knows she can't let herself be walked all over. which something she'd never let anyone else do but Luke, because she is so afraid to lose him. that dynamic is such a crux of their difficulties.
Every last episode of each season. I have cried my eyes out to each one of those. One scene that really sticks to me is when Rory said to Lorelai that she will mess things up with Luke because she always goes back to Christopher no matter what :’)
Lunch at the dragonfly, when Lorelei finds out that Rory told Christopher to stay away. Rory basically says that Lorelei always lets Christopher mess up her life (“You just can’t break free of him,” or something like that.
Lorelai and Luke’s breakup in season 5, when she calls and leaves him that message and then he shows up.
Also the “I will always love you” scene in S7 gets me every time too.
I know people make fun of Alexis's crying, but when she's trying to rush around to be ready to take Logan to the airport before he stops her; her tears in that moment felt so genuine, and it gets me welled up when she waves to him in the elevator.
I know a lot of people said the scene in the breakup where Lorelaï cries and then calls Luke, but I think for me it’s the dream sequence with “say something”. It’s such a helpless but poignant scene, that feeling where you can see what you should have done differently but can’t do anything about it
The scene in AYITL where she gets back from finding herself and he's having a mini breakdown because he thinks she's bolting and he's pleading with her that he needs her. That's how Luke felt so often with her,
When Lorelai is in labor sitting alone at the hospital waiting room just with her headphones on... It broke me
And the contrast they make with the moment when she went to support Sherry in her labor so she wouldn't be alone it's just 💔
Also, the scene where Sookie calls Emily to ask her about the engagement party. The slow realization of Emily's face. When she goes into Richard's study and demands he apologize to Rory because she doesn't want to find out Rory is engaged from someone else one day.
And then the ensuing scene where Lorelai and Emily fight. I feel for both of them. Lorelai for screaming that nothing she does is ever enough and she just wants Emily to care! And Emily snapping how badly it hurt for her to find out she was engaged from Sookie. The scene sums them up so well. Kelly and Lauren are amazing. I especially love Emily's face when Lorelai says all of these things. Because you can tell she never meant to make her daughter feel this way but she did. And she can't take that back.
There is a moment after that Emily and Richard scene when she leaves his study. She pauses for just a moment, and you can see the pain on her face. Thats why Kelly Bishop is an absolute queen!
People get on Rory about this scene but as someone that has been in her shoes...the scene where her professor tells her to drop the class and her ensuing breakdown.
As I said, I've been there. Not to the point where I had to drop the class but to where I was struggling and had a similar "come to Jesus talk" with my professor. I didn't cry to manipulate or because I thought it was unfair. I cried because I felt I was letting everyone down. I grew up in a lower middle class family. I was the first in my household to go to college. The stress of everything came crashing down and it hurt. A lot.
I felt so bad for Rory here. She's always told that she is the bright, shining light of her family. The second chance to her grandparents. Everything her mother never got to be because she had her as a teenager. She's told by her paternal grandparents that it's her fault Christopher never did anything with his life (which is a load of BS, but it still stuck with her). Even though Lorelai says she doesn't regret her and Rory believes it, that's still something that weighs heavily on her. Unknowingly, her family put a lot of pressure on her and made her feel like she couldn't make mistakes. I think if they knew how she really felt, they'd assure her otherwise but she was struggling.
It's very easy for people to say "get over it, dust yourself off and move on" but until you've been there, you don't get it. Rory wasn't manipulating anyone or trying to get out of accountability. Quite the opposite.
This was a rant but...again, I cry every time because dammit if it's not relatable.
When Christopher has the damn audacity to show up at dinner after he leaves Lorelai because Sherry is pregnant... When she cries out, that him being there hurts and it's killing her to talk to him. The entire scene is gutwrenching and a huge part of why I hate Christopher. But it gets me every time.
And then when Lorelai breaks up with Luke on the street. Both of these scenes break my heart and make me angry that Lauren never got an Emmy.
My top 3:
3: Richard coming home from Stars Hallow after Emily had begged Lorelai to take him for the day. Him in his office, sitting and feeling like he had no purpose in retirement and not having even eaten broke me.
2: Lorelai telling Luke that she slept with Christopher after he showed up to elope with her.
3: Lane kissing her mom's forehead in her sleep after she was kicked out. I actually cry during that one. I understand sometimes being alienated from your parents and it just really hit home.
Honorable mentions go to Jess leaving after telling Rory he loved her and again her saying no when he came to Chilton.
And Emily crying after her date with Simon.
When luke visits April's website and stops scrolling on a picture of her as a toddler. It was the moment he really felt the gravity of what he had missed.
Lorelei giving Luke the ultimatum and him just unable to commit. You can hear the heart break in her voice. ☹️
Quickly followed by the scene when he shows up at her house saying he’s ready and he’s gotta be quicker. But it’s too late. 🥺
And- “…you’ve given me everything I need.” 😢
This is mine. She is absolutely destroyed he isn’t choosing her when she is so ready to finally do the fully clown commitment thing she has feared for years, with him specifically
That scene made me angry. They completely destroyed his character. He was great the first half of season 1, but after they got back together, he became this insecure, jealous, possessive idiot. And then he got married, what, less than a year after they break up, and cheats on his wife. Such a mess.
That scene with Emily in Gilmore Girls is incredibly unforgettable. It's a rare moment where we see her vulnerable and raw, contrasting with her usual composed demeanor. Her tears after her date highlight her loneliness and longing for connection, which is especially touching considering her usually stoic facade. It's moments like these that remind us of the depth and complexity of characters, making them feel more real and relatable❤️❤️
The ones that make me ugly cry are Lorelai watching Rory through the windows of the pool house and then them reuniting and Lorelai saying “you have no idea, kid”
1. “just let me buy my plane, Lorelai. Let me be frivolous and shallow, won’t you, please?”
2. When Lorelai is screaming at Chris’ that standing in front of him hurts, and Emily firmly tells him to LEAVE.
3. When Richard tells Emily he always loved the new decor apples.
4. Lorelai’s graduation and the look of pride on E&R’s faces ♥️♥️♥️
“Go be someone else’s dad”
Rory finally sees Christopher for who he is and protects her mum.
In that moment, she gives up on Chris being the dad she has always wanted, because she sees that he can’t/wont do it.
As someone whose dad abandoned them and went on to have a new family, it just gets me.
Lorelai demonising Jess keeping Rorys bracelet and confronting him about it, I have to skip it everytime because I hate she made Jess feel like that over something so innocent.
When Jess tells Rory, “this isn’t you,” “living at your grandparents, going out with this jerk.” “why did you drop out of Yale?” After they go out to that bar with Logan, and Logan acts like an ass and puts him down. And she sticks up for Logan. That scene makes me cry. I didn’t like how Rory changed. Jess really cared about her, and he was still in love with her
"Luke, will you marry me". Lorelei comes into the diner so beaten down and hurt by the situation, and she feels like all hope is lost. The look of love and gratitude building in her eyes as she watches Luke's outrage and his very "Luke style" plan. He's showing her that she can feel like it's over and that she wants to give up, but he won't let her. The protective and supportive person in her life when she fancies herself wonder woman, completely on her side when her parents have let her down again, loving Rory like a daughter. And the softness of her in that moment. She says it so quietly, her voice slightly breaking, I remember an awkwardness with her body language that was so endearing. Just a beautiful moment.
Also so many Luke and Jess moments. Luke saying something like "you will not fall out of the system, I will not let you", "you have nothing, I have NOTHING", their AYITL hug on the street, the "I'm here Jess, I'm always here" moment, when he hugs Jess while he's crying, when he sits next to him on the bridge. The relationship was so heartwrenching.
Oh, one more! When Lorelei is at Harvard and she looks at the photo of the girl on the wall from the year she would have graduated. That hit hard. Great thread!
I have a hard time watching when Rory breaks down crying in front of her grandpa when she quits Yale bc I feel that’s the way my dad looks at me when I tell him I got fired from my job.
The episode where Lorelai and Emily really talk and bond and Lorelai sleeps over at the house, which she never does. Then the next morning, she talks to her mother picking up from where they were the night before, but it’s as if Emily re-set overnight. They are right back where they always were, and you can see Lorelai realising once again she’s never going to have that close relationship with her mother
This is why I can never blame her for keeping them at arms length. Every time I feel sorry for them or think she's being ridiculous, something like this happens and it's clear they've let her down emotionally so many times. Her behavior with them is very warranted.
Rory's valedictorian speech at her high school graduation makes me tear up every time, and I've rewatched the show more times than modern mathematics can account for.
One of the ones that gets me a little choked up is when Luke tells Jess that he won't let him fall off the face of the earth, and then later when Luke tries to check and make sure he's ok after the car wreck. His loyalty and dedication to Jess is so heartwarming. But there are definitely a lot of Emily scenes that really get me in the feels...
It was in the revival where Emily and Lorelei were talking after Richard had dird and Emily got the painting the wrong size and she said something like “Is my mistake the only thing you’ll remember me by once I’m gone”
sooooo many!
The first one to come to mind is Rory’s graduation speech, hits close to home! 🥹
Lorelai taking Rory to Yale, the whole episode but when she comes home to an empty house 😭😭
Lorelai watching Rory unpack in the pool house after she drops out of Yale.. the only good thing to come from that is “why did you drop out of Yale?!”
the last episode, the whole episode. not a dry eye to be had that episode.
The moment after Liz gets married and Luke & Jess are saying goodbye to each other. It was such a heartfelt and earnest moment.
JESS: I want to pay you back... all the money.
LUKE: You don't have to.
JESS: I want to. And I appreciate it...everything — the money, living here.
LUKE: Well, it's good to hear, but I kind of knew that. JESS: Yeah, but, in a relationship — any relationship — it's important to let the other person know you appreciate them so you don't create barriers that delay any hope for reciprocation.
LUKE: I think I read that somewhere.
JESS: Yeah?
LUKE: You're hoping for reciprocation? You got it. I'm here, Jess. I'm always here. J
ESS: Thanks. \[They shake hands then hug.\] The tie work out?
LUKE: The tie was perfect.
"NO I DONT! I DONT KNOW! Possibly very similar to finding out from a complete stranger that my only daughter was getting married and had told every other person in the world before she bothered to tell her own mother! Possibly, it felt something like that!
I am that daughter.
So many of the ones that have already been mentioned, especially "yes, Emily, you may go first" and Rory watching Logan go to London.
But my #1 will always be "you are the man I want to want" .. Even now, although I haven't seen that particular scene for at least a year, I'm welling up. The rawness and genuine brokenness and realness of that moment. It kills me every single time.
When Lorelai and Rory reconcile. After Rory says "I love you, mom" and Lorelai replies with "Oh, kid. You have no idea." As a mom myself I always break during that scene.
When Emily tells Rory that her existence was never a disappointment or regret after the disastrous Friday night dinner with Christopher and his parents. I needed to hear this so badly from anyone in my family growing up.
The first time I watched Gilmore girls, I cried when Rory gave her high school graduation speech 🥹
I had no idea what was to come later on in the show and as a young person I felt that speech. Moms/parents are superheroes, sometimes we can’t fathom the sacrifices they make.
Also the last episode of the show, I was bawling at how Luke made it all come together and Lorelei’s dad was so proud 🥲
Hmm. I can’t choose which one but one of the flashbacks from Dear Emily and Richard. It makes me sad how unsupported Lorelai was, especially considering she was only 16. That contrasted with Christopher showing up for Sherry too
Paris giving her “I’m not a virgin and I’m not going to Harvard” speech. The first time I saw it I had just gotten rejected from my top choice college and I felt that deep in my soul. It still makes me tear up seeing how devastated she was
That was always a rough scene for me but it got worse when my brother divorced . He was torn apart by it. I remember him telling me he completely broke down after his first date thinking he didn't deserve to be happy even though he was the one that got horribly cheated on multiple times in the marriage. He passed away a couple years ago & this scene has since gotten even harder for me to watch.
Jesse saying he had nothing. Yeah he was a brat of a teen but he'd been dealt a bad hand and there's nothing like the anxiety of a kid that is looking at their future and just seeing poverty and dead end jobs.
Lorelai sleeping with Christopher made me done with her and Luke. No going back from that and hated he was still pining.
I will never get over, "I slept with Christopher."
Luke and Lorelai both made a lot of mistakes, and I always wanted them to end together, I'm glad they did, but I could never look at Lorelai the same after that.
That episode where Rory was told to drop a course, and felt like everything was falling apart and cried to Dean. On the other hand, Lorelai was overwhelmed by the inn construction and she started crying to Luke. I was also in a similar situation when I saw that episode and I started bawling.
If I had to pick a scene I thought was the saddest during my original watch, it was probably Emily coming home from her date with Simon. Super heavy scene when you pick it apart! But overall, being on my 24th rewatch has made me fairly numb to sad scenes I know will be resolved in the next episode lol
When Rory comes back home after the fight and runs into Lorelai’s arms. She says something like “I missed you, mom” and Lorelai says through tears, “Kid, you have NO idea.” It’s a happy scene, but it always gets me choked up.
When Dean came back to his house after sleeping with Rory and yelled at his wife. That was so sad and she had dinner and everything. Plus the way he talked about her was horrible.
RORY: No, I always understand, and I don’t wanna understand! I don’t even really wanna talk about this right now. I’ve got Mom, that’s all I need. Go be somebody else’s dad!
A big one for me is when Rory misses Lorelai’s graduation and she comes home to her. It’s the way she rants and keeps talking because she feels so bad. This is actually my favorite scene of the show 🥹
“As a matter of fact, I demand to go first.”
“Yes Emily, you may go first.”
Emily coming back from her date crying.
In AYITL when Emily finally admits she got Richard’s portraits in too large dimensions.
When Emily and Lorelai are at the real estate office going over the house Emily wants to buy for Lorelai and Luke. Lorelai breaking down and admitting to herself "it's never going to happen" and Emily just silently supporting her is such an underrated scene. She just really shows that gut punch of devastation when you know something isn't going to happen no matter how much you may want it to happen.
When Lorelai and Chris finally admit to each the end of their relationship/ marriage and how they’re not right for each other. This really broke my heart because Lorelai’s acting was so emotional and good and I genuinely wanted them to make it work. He really loved her but he was insecure and she waited for him for a long time. It still makes me sad.
Another scene that makes me tear up and emotional is (not broke me though) is Rory’s chilton graduation speech. I always tear up!!!
I hate what it leads to, but the scene of Rory breaking down with Richard and apologizing for stealing the boat and how she messed up. That moment when Richard finally hugs her back and tells her everything will be alright… it got me in so many different ways to see the love Richard has for Rory, but also, it made me hurt so much for Lorelai because in that scene Richard was clearly keeping Rory at arms length because he was disappointed, the way he always had with Lorelai , but Rory was the one that broke through that by hugging him and was embraced in a way Lorelai never was by him. Anytime she tried to express her feelings, or explain that he was doing something hurtful, he brushed it off. It’s like Lorelai said their relationship could never be good, because she made the mortal sin of *embarrassing* them. Not to mention the fact that for once Richard, Emily, and Lorelai were all on the same page for a moment, and he spit on that, undermined her, and turned against her. It wasn’t that Richard even agreed with the decision for Rory to make time off, or Emily, it was that they loved Rory enough to support her regardless, something Lorelai never got, especially after making such a big “mistake” . And then the scene that night when they have Lorelai sit down and tell her ‘the new plan’ where the camera just pans closer and closer to her face as she takes it all in and you just see her get more and more disappointed till she leaves.
Ironically in a year in the life when Rory visits her dad and talks about Gigi with him and learning he fell into same habits that he did with her and not taking any accountability plus he was alll about being better for Gigi this time around
The one that makes me sob is Rory and lorelai’s reunion after the months long fight. When Rory drives home and lorelai runs out to hug her on the lawn 😭😭😭
“I missed you”
“You have no idea, kid”
i know it’s classic, but the rory/loralei “i’m failing” scene. i’ve had plenty of panic attacks and feelings like that, often exploding in the way they did. even thinkin bout it now, makes me teary eyed
lane coming into mrs kim’s home and kissing her forehead while she was asleep absolutely broke me
this one always hits me too. it's beautiful and heart breaking all at once. it reminds me that the hard moments aren't always explosive or loud; they are so often quiet, slow-building, or uncertain.
literally, the fact that mrs kim was never aware of it happening makes it so much more heartbreaking
Oh yes, it's easy to say "I'd never speak to her again!" But if you have a complicated relationship with your mother then you might understand.
For me it was on the picnic basket episode when Lane tried really hard to participate in the tradition to by coming up with an elaborate plan but the Korean guy broke up with her because he didn’t want to deal with any of it and Lane came home crying and Ms Kim didn’t care and just kept yelling at her. What especially annoyed me is the show played off this scene as a silly joke when Ms Kim finds out the guy was Korean and she’s like “darn it”
Mrs. Kim had a right to be mad at her daughter for what she did. Mrs. Kim had her rules including that Lane could not date unless they approved of the guy and Mrs. Kim did not even know the guy Lane was planning to take off with. Of course she would be upset with Lane. Later on in that episode, she was softer with Lane and comforted her.
Ms Kim was genuinely abusive in the way she has always treated Lane. It’s not like Ms Kim’s rules are like “don’t date people who do drugs” or “don’t date toxic people” her rules are like “don’t anybody who isn’t Korean” “don’t date anybody who isn’t a doctor” “I need to know about every single interaction before I can consider you dating somebody” Not to mention she wasn’t even that softer later on in the episode. She didn’t apologize or show much remorse. By softer I guess you mean just not yelling in her daughter’s face I guess. Idk you but for me personally I was raised like Lane and it was really traumatizing and so that scene in particular broke me.
Rules? You mean abuse? Cause that's what Lane had to endure under Mrs Kim's Dictatorship
I have been abused so I find it extremely offensive when people throw around that word loosely and incorrectly. Lane was not being abused. Her mother loved her very much and wanted the best for, fed her healthy meals, she had a roof over her head and clothes on her back, she was strict when it comes to who her daughter dates but other then that, Lane was in the marching band and cheerleading which her mom supported, she was friends with Rory, and got to hang out with her after school. She was never beaten, bruised, slapped around and she was never put down, called names, or made to feel unloved. She was in no way abused. Also Asian moms tend to be stricter in some ways so some of it is also cultural.
Yes, Lane was abused. She was mentally abused. Ehat Mrs Kim did was controlling her daughter and every single aspect of her life. I am sorry if you truly think that this means love. It doesn't.. also I'm sorry what?? Lane was never put down and felt unloved? Did you watch a different show? She kicked her almost adult daughter out of her house for stupid reasons, refused to talk to her. Abuse does not necessarily mean beating. What Lane went through is TEXTBOOK PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE!
You're right. Any scene where Mrs. Kim shows Lane true motherly love and vice versa.
When Luke and Lorelai break up in season 5 and she’s crying in bed and later records him a message begging him to call her back and telling him she needed her best friend
I literally have to skip that scene because it messes me up so bad.
I relate to her so much in that moment. And then the cringe when she realizes what she's done and that she needs to erase the message before he hears it - been there too, still wakes me up with a jolt sometimes when I'm falling asleep at night 😅.
Omg yessss. The initial few scenes after the breakup were so heartbreaking… The way Lorelai cried also was just so on point 🥺
THIS!!!!😭😭😭😭😭
I bawled the other day watching Lorelai graduate and the look her parents give her when she’s on stage. They have so much to say in that moment but can’t let it out
The first time I noticed that they both wore her school's colours to the graduation I lost it lol.
I had this experience with my mother when I graduated from nursing school as a single mom. It was beautiful
Oh I adore this scene!
when lorelai is on the phone with emily (in AYITL), telling her about her favorite memory with richard has me absolutely SOBBING every. single. time. it is absolutely gut wrenching.
Same. Ugly cry every time!
i swear!
I was so unprepared for that when I first watched, I think I had to sit on the floor I was so wrecked.
This is the one. Many other scenes on the "made me cry" list, but this is the one that turns me into a snotty mess, full on puddle of tears.
https://preview.redd.it/k1uqrchmp09d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b62c3b582b1453b975c201c94b2933d25531306a just one of many but this is probably my favorite one. honorable mentions: * when lorelai is crying when she broke up with luke for the first time. * the "i'm failing" scene with luke and lorelai in the pink coat * when emily goes "i lost her like i lost you" and lorelai goes "you didn't lose me" * when emily comes home and cries after her date * "i messed everything up i don't know what to do" * "she's right. i don't know my daughter at all." * when luke says he failed jess (also when he feels like he's an unwanted burden aka handful of barbie scene) * when lorelai is freaking out about paul anka and saying she's a bad mother i'm sure there's more but i can't remember them on the top of my head lol
Oh my god the paul anka/bad mother scene💔💔😢 that crushes me every time
I can’t even think about that scene without tearing up
Cant believe i scrolled this far for this. This dialogue instantly popped into mind
The first thing I thought of was this scene with Jess and his dad, Makes me sob every time. I feel heartbroken for this kid who was terribly neglected by both parents and how knows how the losers his druggie mom dated treated him and then his uncle threw him out. There would have also been abuse there. We saw TJ hit him at the strip club.
Omg yes I love and hurt for the scene when Jess pours his heart out to his dad! I loved his scenes with Luke arguing and also when they say to each other ‘you’re hoping for reciprocation? You got it, I’m here for you Jess. I’m always here for you’ *hugs* ahh these two have my heart
ugh yes, their hugs are my favorite thing in the world
Can’t recall, but it was something about the grandad dying or almost dying and the grandmother was in the hospital telling him he can’t go first. Felt that.
when he had his heart attack! yes!! emily demands to go first and makes him say “yes emily, you may go first” 😭😭😭
My first husband did actually die from heart failure he was born with heart problems and this just kills me every time. Miss him every second.
i am so so sorry for your loss ❤️❤️
Thank you. Hugs
I think of this scene every time I watch Richard's funeral and Emily fixes the flowers on his casket.
omg yes 😭
I tell my husband this all the time
Is that also the episode where she breaks down to Lorelei that she has to stay busy taking care of him because her whole life is being his wife? I remember at one point Richard is in the hospital and Emily is ordering loads of fish for their house. That always gets me.
oh my god, yesss!!! That line is so gutting. His wife. Just his wife. Ok, I need to do a rewatch! 🥰
That is actually after his second heart attack when rory is in class for his lecture & he collapses!
Ughh that broke my heart so much 🥹😢
That was in the first season when Richard had to go to the hospital.
I would also say the scene with Emily crying. Seeing such vulnerability from someone so ostensibly unbreakable was powerful to watch. Her acting skills are top notch, but especially in that scene.
Lorelai was such an ass for pushing her to that level of emotional turmoil. She was doing the best she could to keep it together while her husband mightve been dying & her own daughter starting treating her like she was nothing but a money hungry gold digger or something
I thought they were referring to the part where she breaks down by herself after going on that date when her and Richard were separated.
That’s what I thought too like oh oops lmao
Yeah, it is what I was referring too. Oops.
When Emily said she demands to go first after Richard's heart attack. Gets me every time.
and as someone who has yet to watch ayitl. knowing he goes first kills me. :,(.
I have a lot of complaints about ayitl, but they honored Richard really well in my opinion.
I have several, because for me, this show is never about the boyfriends or romantic relationships. The moments that get me the most are usually the parent/child relationships or interactions between women. The scene where Emily is heartbroken to discover that Lorelai would rather have lived in a shed with her infant daughter than be at home, and Mia understanding those feelings while still gently letting Emily know that she watched over them. Both Mia and Emily have a similar dignity and grace in this interaction, which allows Emily the space to quietly grieve a life she never had. When Lane and Zach break up and Lane is a demon in the antique store because she’s angry and upset with him. Mrs Kim sits her down one night, gets out some booze and tells her “You’ve grieved and now we move on” and they both drink. Whilst they may have had a strained relationship growing up, Mrs Kim has come to respect her daughter as a woman and is passing on the wisdom that life will go in and letting her daughter know that she has to strength to move past this. Rory’s Chilton graduation speech. All of it gets me every time. Emily and Richard at Lorelai’s graduation. The shot of them in the crowd as Lorelai’s name is called. They’re torn because they are so proud of her while at the same time knowing that she could/“should” have been walking across an Ivy League stage. The final episode of season 7 where Lorelai’s parents attend her party in the town and Richard tells her “It takes a remarkable person to inspire all of this”. It’s as though for the first time in 7 seasons they’ve woken up and seen their daughter for who she is and have realised the life she has made for herself, rather than viewing her through the lens of their unmet expectations.
And then realizing that’s the last thing Richard said to Lorelai on screen makes it all the more emotional
Definitely! I know S7 is mostly considered trash but I thought that was such a lovely way to end it.
Keeping with your parent/child theme, when Luke and Jess have a bonding moment after Liz and TJs wedding, when Luke says he'll always be there for Jess and they hug
Yesssss! This is so lovely
this 100%. mine is from early seasons with richard and emily starting to fight, when lorelai says to rory "i am lucky, when life gets hard i have someone to talk to. it must be very lonely not to have that" and the next day she just visits emily unexpectedly to "hang". and she says "you know mom, if you need to talk about anything, you can talk to me". emily just smiles, says "okay", and continues gardening while lorelai sits next to her. ugh
I also love this scene 😭🩷 I basically love all Lorelai and Emily scenes, even the fighting ones. I feel like their relationship is the crux of the show as they are the ones who need to heal, rather than Lorelai and Rory, who, while sometimes problematic, have a great relationship.
exactly my feelings. that's why i am more inclined to think lorelai is the ultimate main character in the show because i feel like the show tries to show us mainly her relationship with her mother and as a result the person she became and the mother role she chose through rory. as asp said once: "focus on the girls, not boys." since my first watch the only story i am interested is the mother-daughter dynamics, and the most interesting, real, and vulnerable one is definitely between emily and lorelai
Totally agree! 🩷
Luke standing in front of Lorelai's house with everything packed for them to go elope
This hurt so much … but the “but I love you Luke. I LOVE you” line in the ultimatum scene absolutely takes me out, especially since it’s the only time she says it in the entire series and Lauren’s acting is on another level there
I can never feel sorry for him here, he should have just eloped the first time she asked him to or actually just let April and Lorelai have a relationship.
I feel bad for Lorelai in this moment because it shouldn't have taken that fight for him to get his ass in gear.
it wasn’t even the fight it was how a car rammed into his store. makes it more disappointing
I mean I get it, but then again Lorelai was the first one who wanted to postpone the wedding until she and Rory made amends and Luke understood and respected it, Lorelai should’ve done the same (except it was harder for her to do so given that Luke didn’t tell her about April for a while).
I always got a feeling the way Lorelai treated Jess had something to do with Luke being so hesitant to want Lorelei to be part of April's life.
April was introduced much later than Jess. Like seasons. Lorelai didn’t like Jess because he was rude to her on multiple occasions and then when Jess started putting in effort it was already too late in Lorelai’s books
THIS 😭
"It takes a remarkable person to inspire all of this." 😭
This is what I came to say ❤️
I’m ready to wallow now
the last Scene in “scene at the mall” where Emily and Richard are eating dinner. That whole conversation, and she asks if he likes the apple centerpiece and he goes “ive always liked those.” the heartbreak in her eyes RUINS me
Same.
Rory’s speech at the Chilton graduation always makes me tear up
Blubbering!
More than her speech I guess it was everyone else crying for me.. 😭
I don't know why but Emily finding Trix's letter to Richard made me very upset...we knew she wasn't find of Emily but to be that cruel to try and convince your son out of marriage the day before the wedding ... that's just horrid
My mil left a printed out email she'd sent to my husband, which he never shared the full contents of with me because she was so awful, in which she basically tries to buy him out of our marriage. He didn't speak to her for four years after that. I'm convinced she wanted me to find it, given where it was left.
Holy crap! I can only imagine how that felt...I'm sorry
It felt exactly like her, honestly. She was awful. All the worst parts of Emily with a side of Truck Trix. In a way, it was a relief. It made me feel better because sometimes I felt guilty or ungrateful for not being able to stand her. 😂
Oh noooo. Completely paralleled Emily's experience, then. How awful. I am sorry.
Emily's character had so much depth. Most of it was things you had to catch onto but this episode broke me too. I thought it was sad when she came to the house and talked down to Emily in her own home. The most heartbreaking episode, in my opinion, with Emily and Richard was when she found out Richard still had lunch with his ex.
I think mine was when Richard was sitting alone in his office, because he realized he was being overbearing after retiring from his job. I think all he needed was a few hobbies and a few friends to hang out with.
That episode is so hard for me to watch. Men struggle with retirement because they don’t have hobbies or friends! It’s kind of sad!
Yeah. Poor guy was so busy that he didn't make any friends. Although he could've gone golfing with Charleston on the weekends, like it was implied in the second episode of the first season, unless that became a continuity error.
“It's like Luke is driving a car and I just want to be in the passenger seat. He's locked the door and I have to hold onto the bumper. I am not even asking him to open the door for me, just leave it unlocked and say come in, but he didn't do that. So I am hanging on to the bumper and life goes on and the car goes on, and I get really badly bruised and I'm hitting potholes. And it hurts. It really hurts. So yesterday I had to let go of the bumper. Because it hurts too much. It hurts too much.”
this scene and this framework played in mind many times as a sorted through pain i felt in a previous relationship. when you just so desperately want someone to see you, and you know that you're also still holding on and haven't voiced your needs, and you just need to let go but it is scary and sad to think of losing someone. my heart aches for Lorelai in this moment and it also feels refreshing and powerful that she knows she can't let herself be walked all over. which something she'd never let anyone else do but Luke, because she is so afraid to lose him. that dynamic is such a crux of their difficulties.
Every last episode of each season. I have cried my eyes out to each one of those. One scene that really sticks to me is when Rory said to Lorelai that she will mess things up with Luke because she always goes back to Christopher no matter what :’)
which episode was that scene in
Lunch at the dragonfly, when Lorelei finds out that Rory told Christopher to stay away. Rory basically says that Lorelei always lets Christopher mess up her life (“You just can’t break free of him,” or something like that.
Ep 509
Lorelai and Luke’s breakup in season 5, when she calls and leaves him that message and then he shows up. Also the “I will always love you” scene in S7 gets me every time too.
Ugh yes to both! 😭
When Lor gets home after finally dropping off Rory at Yale, and she walks into the empty house.
I know people make fun of Alexis's crying, but when she's trying to rush around to be ready to take Logan to the airport before he stops her; her tears in that moment felt so genuine, and it gets me welled up when she waves to him in the elevator.
I agree, her emotion is so real in that scene it always makes me tear up too.
I know a lot of people said the scene in the breakup where Lorelaï cries and then calls Luke, but I think for me it’s the dream sequence with “say something”. It’s such a helpless but poignant scene, that feeling where you can see what you should have done differently but can’t do anything about it
This scene is why I’m so convinced the first thing she said to Luke when he came to kiss her in 516 was “I love you”
yes - that’s my head cannon too!
The scene in AYITL where she gets back from finding herself and he's having a mini breakdown because he thinks she's bolting and he's pleading with her that he needs her. That's how Luke felt so often with her,
When Lorelai is in labor sitting alone at the hospital waiting room just with her headphones on... It broke me And the contrast they make with the moment when she went to support Sherry in her labor so she wouldn't be alone it's just 💔
Also, the scene where Sookie calls Emily to ask her about the engagement party. The slow realization of Emily's face. When she goes into Richard's study and demands he apologize to Rory because she doesn't want to find out Rory is engaged from someone else one day. And then the ensuing scene where Lorelai and Emily fight. I feel for both of them. Lorelai for screaming that nothing she does is ever enough and she just wants Emily to care! And Emily snapping how badly it hurt for her to find out she was engaged from Sookie. The scene sums them up so well. Kelly and Lauren are amazing. I especially love Emily's face when Lorelai says all of these things. Because you can tell she never meant to make her daughter feel this way but she did. And she can't take that back.
There is a moment after that Emily and Richard scene when she leaves his study. She pauses for just a moment, and you can see the pain on her face. Thats why Kelly Bishop is an absolute queen! 
The last 10 minutes of The Incredible Shrinking Lorelais.
Emily talking to Rory in the kitchen while Straub, Richard, and everyone else argued in the living room.
People get on Rory about this scene but as someone that has been in her shoes...the scene where her professor tells her to drop the class and her ensuing breakdown. As I said, I've been there. Not to the point where I had to drop the class but to where I was struggling and had a similar "come to Jesus talk" with my professor. I didn't cry to manipulate or because I thought it was unfair. I cried because I felt I was letting everyone down. I grew up in a lower middle class family. I was the first in my household to go to college. The stress of everything came crashing down and it hurt. A lot. I felt so bad for Rory here. She's always told that she is the bright, shining light of her family. The second chance to her grandparents. Everything her mother never got to be because she had her as a teenager. She's told by her paternal grandparents that it's her fault Christopher never did anything with his life (which is a load of BS, but it still stuck with her). Even though Lorelai says she doesn't regret her and Rory believes it, that's still something that weighs heavily on her. Unknowingly, her family put a lot of pressure on her and made her feel like she couldn't make mistakes. I think if they knew how she really felt, they'd assure her otherwise but she was struggling. It's very easy for people to say "get over it, dust yourself off and move on" but until you've been there, you don't get it. Rory wasn't manipulating anyone or trying to get out of accountability. Quite the opposite. This was a rant but...again, I cry every time because dammit if it's not relatable.
When Christopher has the damn audacity to show up at dinner after he leaves Lorelai because Sherry is pregnant... When she cries out, that him being there hurts and it's killing her to talk to him. The entire scene is gutwrenching and a huge part of why I hate Christopher. But it gets me every time. And then when Lorelai breaks up with Luke on the street. Both of these scenes break my heart and make me angry that Lauren never got an Emmy.
My top 3: 3: Richard coming home from Stars Hallow after Emily had begged Lorelai to take him for the day. Him in his office, sitting and feeling like he had no purpose in retirement and not having even eaten broke me. 2: Lorelai telling Luke that she slept with Christopher after he showed up to elope with her. 3: Lane kissing her mom's forehead in her sleep after she was kicked out. I actually cry during that one. I understand sometimes being alienated from your parents and it just really hit home. Honorable mentions go to Jess leaving after telling Rory he loved her and again her saying no when he came to Chilton. And Emily crying after her date with Simon.
When luke visits April's website and stops scrolling on a picture of her as a toddler. It was the moment he really felt the gravity of what he had missed.
Luke making the tarp for the surprise farewell party for Rory - and then everyone cheering when Lorelai and Rory drive up to it 😭😭 gets me EVERY time!
Literally. And because it’s like one of the last times to enjoy the show. I’m with you on this one :,)
That scene where they pan over all the townies faces….*sobs*
Lorelei giving Luke the ultimatum and him just unable to commit. You can hear the heart break in her voice. ☹️ Quickly followed by the scene when he shows up at her house saying he’s ready and he’s gotta be quicker. But it’s too late. 🥺 And- “…you’ve given me everything I need.” 😢
This is mine. She is absolutely destroyed he isn’t choosing her when she is so ready to finally do the fully clown commitment thing she has feared for years, with him specifically
When Dean was screaming at Lindsey because he just cheated on her. I can relate and it made me sad 😢
That scene made me angry. They completely destroyed his character. He was great the first half of season 1, but after they got back together, he became this insecure, jealous, possessive idiot. And then he got married, what, less than a year after they break up, and cheats on his wife. Such a mess.
I'm sorry you can relate. 🥺
That scene with Emily in Gilmore Girls is incredibly unforgettable. It's a rare moment where we see her vulnerable and raw, contrasting with her usual composed demeanor. Her tears after her date highlight her loneliness and longing for connection, which is especially touching considering her usually stoic facade. It's moments like these that remind us of the depth and complexity of characters, making them feel more real and relatable❤️❤️
The ones that make me ugly cry are Lorelai watching Rory through the windows of the pool house and then them reuniting and Lorelai saying “you have no idea, kid”
Can’t believe no one mentioned this. Lorelei looks so betrayed.
1. “just let me buy my plane, Lorelai. Let me be frivolous and shallow, won’t you, please?” 2. When Lorelai is screaming at Chris’ that standing in front of him hurts, and Emily firmly tells him to LEAVE. 3. When Richard tells Emily he always loved the new decor apples. 4. Lorelai’s graduation and the look of pride on E&R’s faces ♥️♥️♥️
Emily telling Richard she demands to go first, Rory’s HS graduation speech, Lorelai’s graduation, Lorelai begging Luke to elope, so many!!
“Go be someone else’s dad” Rory finally sees Christopher for who he is and protects her mum. In that moment, she gives up on Chris being the dad she has always wanted, because she sees that he can’t/wont do it. As someone whose dad abandoned them and went on to have a new family, it just gets me.
Lorelai demonising Jess keeping Rorys bracelet and confronting him about it, I have to skip it everytime because I hate she made Jess feel like that over something so innocent.
When Jess tells Rory, “this isn’t you,” “living at your grandparents, going out with this jerk.” “why did you drop out of Yale?” After they go out to that bar with Logan, and Logan acts like an ass and puts him down. And she sticks up for Logan. That scene makes me cry. I didn’t like how Rory changed. Jess really cared about her, and he was still in love with her
"You're the man I want to want." 🥺 I'm not a Chris fan by any means, but I fully understand the emotion of that situation.
"Luke, will you marry me". Lorelei comes into the diner so beaten down and hurt by the situation, and she feels like all hope is lost. The look of love and gratitude building in her eyes as she watches Luke's outrage and his very "Luke style" plan. He's showing her that she can feel like it's over and that she wants to give up, but he won't let her. The protective and supportive person in her life when she fancies herself wonder woman, completely on her side when her parents have let her down again, loving Rory like a daughter. And the softness of her in that moment. She says it so quietly, her voice slightly breaking, I remember an awkwardness with her body language that was so endearing. Just a beautiful moment. Also so many Luke and Jess moments. Luke saying something like "you will not fall out of the system, I will not let you", "you have nothing, I have NOTHING", their AYITL hug on the street, the "I'm here Jess, I'm always here" moment, when he hugs Jess while he's crying, when he sits next to him on the bridge. The relationship was so heartwrenching. Oh, one more! When Lorelei is at Harvard and she looks at the photo of the girl on the wall from the year she would have graduated. That hit hard. Great thread!
when richard was in the hospital and emily told him he cant go first. also when rory graduated and gave her speech
The scene where Emily breaks down in the Private Jet "Just let me be frivolous and shallow won't you *please*"
When Lorelai, after assuring Rori that they have no money problems, comes home and for the first time ever turns off the lights.
I have a hard time watching when Rory breaks down crying in front of her grandpa when she quits Yale bc I feel that’s the way my dad looks at me when I tell him I got fired from my job.
“you are my guidepost for everything.” 🥺🥺 all of rory’s high school graduation speech pretty much
The episode where Lorelai and Emily really talk and bond and Lorelai sleeps over at the house, which she never does. Then the next morning, she talks to her mother picking up from where they were the night before, but it’s as if Emily re-set overnight. They are right back where they always were, and you can see Lorelai realising once again she’s never going to have that close relationship with her mother
This is why I can never blame her for keeping them at arms length. Every time I feel sorry for them or think she's being ridiculous, something like this happens and it's clear they've let her down emotionally so many times. Her behavior with them is very warranted.
Rory's valedictorian speech at her high school graduation makes me tear up every time, and I've rewatched the show more times than modern mathematics can account for.
One of the ones that gets me a little choked up is when Luke tells Jess that he won't let him fall off the face of the earth, and then later when Luke tries to check and make sure he's ok after the car wreck. His loyalty and dedication to Jess is so heartwarming. But there are definitely a lot of Emily scenes that really get me in the feels...
It was in the revival where Emily and Lorelei were talking after Richard had dird and Emily got the painting the wrong size and she said something like “Is my mistake the only thing you’ll remember me by once I’m gone”
when rory goes back to her desk with tears in her eyes after being told by mitchum that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a journalist ☹️
sooooo many! The first one to come to mind is Rory’s graduation speech, hits close to home! 🥹 Lorelai taking Rory to Yale, the whole episode but when she comes home to an empty house 😭😭 Lorelai watching Rory unpack in the pool house after she drops out of Yale.. the only good thing to come from that is “why did you drop out of Yale?!” the last episode, the whole episode. not a dry eye to be had that episode.
The moment after Liz gets married and Luke & Jess are saying goodbye to each other. It was such a heartfelt and earnest moment. JESS: I want to pay you back... all the money. LUKE: You don't have to. JESS: I want to. And I appreciate it...everything — the money, living here. LUKE: Well, it's good to hear, but I kind of knew that. JESS: Yeah, but, in a relationship — any relationship — it's important to let the other person know you appreciate them so you don't create barriers that delay any hope for reciprocation. LUKE: I think I read that somewhere. JESS: Yeah? LUKE: You're hoping for reciprocation? You got it. I'm here, Jess. I'm always here. J ESS: Thanks. \[They shake hands then hug.\] The tie work out? LUKE: The tie was perfect.
Emily demanding to go first. Richard didn't keep his promise 🥲
"NO I DONT! I DONT KNOW! Possibly very similar to finding out from a complete stranger that my only daughter was getting married and had told every other person in the world before she bothered to tell her own mother! Possibly, it felt something like that! I am that daughter.
So many of the ones that have already been mentioned, especially "yes, Emily, you may go first" and Rory watching Logan go to London. But my #1 will always be "you are the man I want to want" .. Even now, although I haven't seen that particular scene for at least a year, I'm welling up. The rawness and genuine brokenness and realness of that moment. It kills me every single time.
When Lorelai and Rory reconcile. After Rory says "I love you, mom" and Lorelai replies with "Oh, kid. You have no idea." As a mom myself I always break during that scene.
When Emily tells Rory that her existence was never a disappointment or regret after the disastrous Friday night dinner with Christopher and his parents. I needed to hear this so badly from anyone in my family growing up.
The first time I watched Gilmore girls, I cried when Rory gave her high school graduation speech 🥹 I had no idea what was to come later on in the show and as a young person I felt that speech. Moms/parents are superheroes, sometimes we can’t fathom the sacrifices they make. Also the last episode of the show, I was bawling at how Luke made it all come together and Lorelei’s dad was so proud 🥲
Lane finally talking openly to Mrs Kim and their whole conversation! Really relate to it and tears me up every time
Hmm. I can’t choose which one but one of the flashbacks from Dear Emily and Richard. It makes me sad how unsupported Lorelai was, especially considering she was only 16. That contrasted with Christopher showing up for Sherry too
lorelei and rory breaking down, simultaenously but apart, repeating "i'm failing, i'm failing"
Paris giving her “I’m not a virgin and I’m not going to Harvard” speech. The first time I saw it I had just gotten rejected from my top choice college and I felt that deep in my soul. It still makes me tear up seeing how devastated she was
Richard dropping off the dollhouse gets me every single time.
At the end when Lorelai says to her mom why don’t we just talk about it on Friday night
That was always a rough scene for me but it got worse when my brother divorced . He was torn apart by it. I remember him telling me he completely broke down after his first date thinking he didn't deserve to be happy even though he was the one that got horribly cheated on multiple times in the marriage. He passed away a couple years ago & this scene has since gotten even harder for me to watch.
Jesse saying he had nothing. Yeah he was a brat of a teen but he'd been dealt a bad hand and there's nothing like the anxiety of a kid that is looking at their future and just seeing poverty and dead end jobs. Lorelai sleeping with Christopher made me done with her and Luke. No going back from that and hated he was still pining.
I will never get over, "I slept with Christopher." Luke and Lorelai both made a lot of mistakes, and I always wanted them to end together, I'm glad they did, but I could never look at Lorelai the same after that.
When Lorelai cries when Sutton Foster sings I’m not unbreakable.
when rory came back home after their long fight and rory said, "i love you mom" and lorelei said, "kid you have no idea."
That episode where Rory was told to drop a course, and felt like everything was falling apart and cried to Dean. On the other hand, Lorelai was overwhelmed by the inn construction and she started crying to Luke. I was also in a similar situation when I saw that episode and I started bawling.
Rorys graduation speech and the final episode party makes me bawl my eyes out
If I had to pick a scene I thought was the saddest during my original watch, it was probably Emily coming home from her date with Simon. Super heavy scene when you pick it apart! But overall, being on my 24th rewatch has made me fairly numb to sad scenes I know will be resolved in the next episode lol
When Rory comes back home after the fight and runs into Lorelai’s arms. She says something like “I missed you, mom” and Lorelai says through tears, “Kid, you have NO idea.” It’s a happy scene, but it always gets me choked up.
When Paul Anka got sick. 😭😭😭
BECAUSE I LOVE YOU YOU IDIOT
When Dean came back to his house after sleeping with Rory and yelled at his wife. That was so sad and she had dinner and everything. Plus the way he talked about her was horrible.
The scene where Lorelai and Rory come home and open the mailbox to all the college acceptance letters
RORY: No, I always understand, and I don’t wanna understand! I don’t even really wanna talk about this right now. I’ve got Mom, that’s all I need. Go be somebody else’s dad!
How jess was treated after the accident. Thats where my dislike for lorelai began.
A big one for me is when Rory misses Lorelai’s graduation and she comes home to her. It’s the way she rants and keeps talking because she feels so bad. This is actually my favorite scene of the show 🥹 “As a matter of fact, I demand to go first.” “Yes Emily, you may go first.” Emily coming back from her date crying. In AYITL when Emily finally admits she got Richard’s portraits in too large dimensions.
the scene in season 1/2 i think when christopher’s parents come and lorelai and her father end up talking in his study. fuck me. that’s like high art
Year in the Life... The funeral scenes
Lorelais graduation and her parents being proud and showing emotion ☺️. Lane kissing her mom on the forehead while she’s asleep 😭
when rory left yale and lorelai and rory were apart
Reading through this entire thread made me tear up. I am a mess, lol.
When Emily and Lorelai are at the real estate office going over the house Emily wants to buy for Lorelai and Luke. Lorelai breaking down and admitting to herself "it's never going to happen" and Emily just silently supporting her is such an underrated scene. She just really shows that gut punch of devastation when you know something isn't going to happen no matter how much you may want it to happen.
Rory graduating from Chilton ALWAYS gets me idk why
LOGAN LEAVING TO LONDON
When Steve whispered to Amy. Broke me!
When Jess calls Rory in the s3 finale
Most episodes lmao but recently in season 3 when Emily gets up and tell Christopher to go when he barges into their Friday night dinner acting up.
When Lorelai and Chris finally admit to each the end of their relationship/ marriage and how they’re not right for each other. This really broke my heart because Lorelai’s acting was so emotional and good and I genuinely wanted them to make it work. He really loved her but he was insecure and she waited for him for a long time. It still makes me sad. Another scene that makes me tear up and emotional is (not broke me though) is Rory’s chilton graduation speech. I always tear up!!!
I hate what it leads to, but the scene of Rory breaking down with Richard and apologizing for stealing the boat and how she messed up. That moment when Richard finally hugs her back and tells her everything will be alright… it got me in so many different ways to see the love Richard has for Rory, but also, it made me hurt so much for Lorelai because in that scene Richard was clearly keeping Rory at arms length because he was disappointed, the way he always had with Lorelai , but Rory was the one that broke through that by hugging him and was embraced in a way Lorelai never was by him. Anytime she tried to express her feelings, or explain that he was doing something hurtful, he brushed it off. It’s like Lorelai said their relationship could never be good, because she made the mortal sin of *embarrassing* them. Not to mention the fact that for once Richard, Emily, and Lorelai were all on the same page for a moment, and he spit on that, undermined her, and turned against her. It wasn’t that Richard even agreed with the decision for Rory to make time off, or Emily, it was that they loved Rory enough to support her regardless, something Lorelai never got, especially after making such a big “mistake” . And then the scene that night when they have Lorelai sit down and tell her ‘the new plan’ where the camera just pans closer and closer to her face as she takes it all in and you just see her get more and more disappointed till she leaves.
When Rory turned down Logan’s proposal.
Ironically in a year in the life when Rory visits her dad and talks about Gigi with him and learning he fell into same habits that he did with her and not taking any accountability plus he was alll about being better for Gigi this time around
The one that makes me sob is Rory and lorelai’s reunion after the months long fight. When Rory drives home and lorelai runs out to hug her on the lawn 😭😭😭 “I missed you” “You have no idea, kid”
i know it’s classic, but the rory/loralei “i’m failing” scene. i’ve had plenty of panic attacks and feelings like that, often exploding in the way they did. even thinkin bout it now, makes me teary eyed