Emily becomes unhinged at the prospect of a visit from Richard's mother Trix; Paris is outraged when she discovers that Tristan asked her for a date at Rory's urging; fearing that she'll never see Lorelai again, Emily opposes Trix's offer to set up a trust fund for Rory.

The episode was rated 7.71 from 535 votes.

The first snow of the season falls heavily, stranding Rory at Emily and Richard's house and their cook at home, leaving Rory to make dinner and introduce her grandparents to the joys of frozen pizza with extra cheese. Luke is obsessing about the silliness of the re-enactment of the Battle of Stars Hollow in the town square, which basically consisted of twelve men who stood waiting all night for Redcoats who never arrived. He finally relents and makes amends to all by bringing them coffee. Lorelai is enjoying a walk alone in the snow when she comes upon Max, whose car has died in Stars Hollow on the way home from Stamford. She whisks him off for fiesta burgers and the movies, and they have a marvelous time on their first date. Luke gets a very pained expression on his face as he sees them walk through town arm-in-arm and kiss. When they arrive at Lorelai's house, their passionate embraces are interrupted by a distraught Lane, who was waiting there for Rory. Lorelai has a heart-to-heart

The episode was rated 7.72 from 623 votes.

Lorelai organizes the Stars Hollow Charity Rummage Sale and buys a sweatshirt donated by Luke. When she wears it into the diner, he goes ballistic, much to her shock. Sookie tells her later that the sweatshirt belonged to his old girlfriend Rachel, who broke his heart. When Lorelai's curiosity gets the better of her and she demands details from Sookie, Sookie teases her about being jealous of Rachel, which Lorelai denies a little too strongly. Lorelai returns the sweatshirt to Luke, reminding him that it's okay to hold onto some good memories.

The episode was rated 7.72 from 584 votes.

Dean gives Rory her first kiss; fearful of her mother's disapproval, Rory decides not to tell Lorelai for a little while; Lorelai gets stressed when she hears about the kiss from Mrs. Kim instead of Rory; Rory freaks out at first when Lorelai invites Dean over to watch videos and eat junk food, but ends up having a good time after all.

The episode was rated 7.72 from 630 votes.

Rachel finds an abandoned inn that Lorelai and Sookie fall in love with; Lorelai and Rachel spend the afternoon getting to know each other and Rachel asks Lorelai to put in a good word for her with Luke; as Rory takes Emily on a tour of Stars Hollow, Emily hits it off with Mrs. Kim and Michel, but becomes distraught when she sees Lorelai and Rory's first home; at Sookie's urging, Lorelai gives Jackson's cousin Rune a job at the Inn.

The episode was rated 7.73 from 552 votes.

Lorelai oversleeps on Rory's first day at Chilton, and discovers that all her good clothes are at the cleaners. She throws on a tiny tie-dyed top, Daisy Mae shorts, and cowboy boots to the dismay of Rory, the Chilton headmaster, and Emily, who has shown up for Rory's first day. Lorelai and Emily leave after some awkward moments in the headmaster's office, bickering the entire way out. Rory's day goes downhill from there. She's handed a three inch binder containing one week's worth of notes from one class and meets some insufferable classmates who are determined to make her life at Chilton miserable.

The episode was rated 7.77 from 854 votes.

Max Medina gives Rory the first ""D"" of her life on an English paper. Paris taunts her non-stop about being a failure and gets Rory very stressed about an upcoming test on Shakespeare that will count for 20% of her English grade. Lorelai spends the week helping Rory study, and they both collapse exhausted at the kitchen table in the early morning hours of the day of the big test. Naturally, they oversleep. In her panic to get to school on time, Rory gets into a car accident -- she gets hit by a deer who runs into Lorelai's car at a stop sign. When she walks into class late, Max tells her that she can't take the test, and Rory has a meltdown, finally giving Paris and Tristan the chewing out they so richly deserve. Lorelai pleads Rory's case with the headmaster to no avail, and has her own meltdown, leaving with a few not-so-well-chosen insults to the headmaster and Chilton. On their way home, Rory insists that they stop and look for the deer to make sure it's all right and Loralei rea

The episode was rated 7.78 from 707 votes.

After Rory is accepted to the prestigious Chilton Preparatory School, Lorelai is forced to go to her wealthy parents for financial assistance. Her parents happily loan their daughter the money in exchange for an end to the estrangement and a family dinner every Friday night. Unfortunately, things hit a snag when a cute new transfer student flirts with Rory, leading the younger Gilmore to wonder whether leaving Stars Hollow High is really what she wants.

The episode was rated 7.79 from 1050 votes.

An evening of ""The Donna Reed Show"" reruns infects Dean and both Gilmore Girls -- Dean expresses a longing for the type of family represented by the show, Lorelai helps Luke spruce up the diner with a fresh paint job and new curtains, and Rory dresses up like Donna and fixes a 1950s style dinner for Dean while petsitting Babette's new kitten; when the baby chick that's the subject of Rory's midterm project gets loose in the house, Lorelai frantically calls Luke to help her search the house; both Sookie and Emily force Lorelai to confront her feelings for Luke; Christopher roars into town on his motorcycle, and agrees to stay at Lorelai's and Rory's during his visit.

The episode was rated 7.82 from 563 votes.

Lorelai helps Luke shop for a birthday present for Rachel and goes wild outfitting him with a new wardrobe; overwhelmed by sadness at her breakup with Dean, Rory is distressed to discover that Lane and Dean have become science project partners, and incensed to find out from Max that Lorelai has neglected to mention that they are dating again, so she argues with Lorelai and then takes off for Hartford to spend the night at her grandparents' house without telling her mother; when an angry Lorelai confronts Dean and discovers the truth about his breakup with Rory, she fears that she has taught Rory not to commit to a relationship.

The episode was rated 7.82 from 545 votes.

Rory decides to engage in a flurry of activity to avoid thinking about Dean, despite Lorelai's advice to wallow; Lorelai runs interference as the residents of Stars Hollow reach out to console Rory and Luke attempts to bar Dean from the diner; Rachel pitches in to help Luke out at the diner; Jackson prepares dinner for Sookie, and has a tough time keeping her out of the kitchen; Rory decides to attend Madeline's party and takes Lane along for company; Lorelai decides to visit Max when she realizes how much she misses him; Lane is torn when she meets the perfect guy at the party; Rory attempts to befriend Tristan after he has very public breakup with his girlfriend at the party, and when he apologizes for his past bad behavior towards her and kisses her, she bursts into tears; at home, Rory sobs to Lorelai that she's ready to wallow now.

The episode was rated 7.85 from 567 votes.

Things are still chilly between Rory and Lorelai; Lane gives Rory advice about the right Christmas gift for Dean; Emily and Lorelai have a tiff about Christmas dinner, leaving Rory to go by herself; Dean and Lorelai patch things up; Luke makes a lonely Lorelai a Santa burger; Richard collapses and is rushed to the hospital; Luke gives a car-less Lorelai a ride to the hospital; relieved that Richard's collapse was only a bout of angina, the Gilmores settle their differences.

The episode was rated 7.90 from 611 votes.

Paris wreaks her revenge after Tristan lies about going to a concert with Rory; Rachel leaves Stars Hollow after she becomes convinced that despite his protests, Luke is in love with Lorelai; Rory's defense of the Stars Hollow troubadour during a town meeting brings her back together with Dean, enabling her to finally say, and mean, the words that he's been longing to hear; Luke and Max meet and engage in a little not-so-friendly rivalry as Max begins to suspect, despite her protests, that Lorelai and Luke were once an item; Max proposes to Lorelai with a thousand yellow daisies.

The episode was rated 7.91 from 565 votes.

It's Rory's birthday, and her grandmother and mother each plan a party representative of their respective styles; Emily's elegant party so discomfits Rory that they argue; to make peace, Emily and Richard attend Lorelai's informal bash the next evening.

The episode was rated 7.94 from 654 votes.

During dinner at her mother's, Lorelai finds out that not only is there a formal dance at Chilton, but that Rory doesn't want to go. On the way home, Lorelai convinces Rory that she needs to have this experience, and even offers to make Rory a dress. Lane prods Rory into asking Dean to go, and she nervously does. Even though he says he doesn't really like dances, he agrees to go with Rory. When Emily arrives at Lorelai's the night of the dance to see Rory off and take some pictures, she finds that Lorelai has thrown her back out. She decides to stay and to take care of Lorelai,and they manage to get in some nice mother-daughter bonding during the course of the evening. The dance starts off well; Rory's dress is complimented, Dean is admired, and Paris is embarrassed when everyone finds out that her date is her cousin and that he insisted upon being paid to escort Paris. Unfortunately, Tristan baits Dean, and they almost get into a fight before Dean warns him never to come near Rory aga

The episode was rated 8.02 from 620 votes.