1.1 – “Pilot”
Rory: You’re happy.
Lorelai: Yeah.
Rory: Did you do something slutty?
Lorelai: I’m not that happy.

In this first episode, the supporting characters are a bit too broad, there’s some unnecessary sitcomish beats and the tone hasn’t been perfected yet, but Lauren Graham’s wisecracking MILF and Alexis Bledel’s witty teenager are instantly adorable and their hyper caffeinated banter is as hilarious as ever.

1.2 – “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton”
Rory: Yes, but I’m going to be wearing shoes. Nobody’s going to see my feet.
Lorelai: Okay, but everybody knows that private school girls are bad. And bad girls always wear red nail polish.

More coffee, more banter, more grandmotherly intrusion. Plus the introduction of queen bitch Paris, Lorelai starting to fall for Luke and a fuzzy clock that doesn’t purr on time.

1.3 – “Kill Me Now”
Lorelai: I’m talking about that you take my sweaters and you wear them and you stretch them out.
Rory: I couldn’t possibly stretch them out! Your boobs are way bigger than mine.
Lorelai: That is not true.
Rory: Yes it is.
Lorelai: Your boobs are totally bigger than mine!
Rory: You’re crazy!
Lorelai: Do you want to measure?
Rory: What?
Lorelai: I’m serious. Why don’t you get the measuring tape right now?
Rory: I am not going to measure my boobs.
Lorelai: Because you know that you are totally bigger.
Rory: I’m going inside.

Already, the show is flowing more smoothly, the comical supporting cast feels more natural and the tragicomic spine of the series is becoming clearer. Oh, and did I mention that I love Rory and Lorelai? Seriously, they might be my favorite TV duo, like, ever. Love them.

1.4 – “The Deer Hunters”
Rory: Oh my God! I just got hit by a deer!
Lane: You hit a deer?
Rory: No a deer hit me!

Not the best episode, but fits are thrown, coffee is had and, well, a deer is hit (or the other way around).

1.5 – “Cinnamon’s Wake”
Rory: Philadelphia? If you could live in any city in the world you’d pick Philadelphia?
Lane: M. Night Shyamalan lives there.
Rory: Who?
Lane: The guy who directed The Sixth Sense.
Rory: But what would you do there?
Lane: Hang out with M. Night Shyamalan.

Gotta love the random pop culture references. The little romantic interests that are developing are nice too, especially the way Rory is all flummoxed when the boy she likes is around.

1.6 – “Rory’s Birthday Parties”
Rory: Mom’s famous for her blowouts.
Lorelai: The best one was her eighth birthday.
Rory: Oh yeah, that was good.
Lorelai: The cops shut us down.
Luke: The cops shut down an eight year old’s birthday party?
Rory: And arrested the clown.

I’m increasingly enjoying the quirky folks of Stars Hollow, who conveniently pop up in every other scene, Springfield-style. But of course, the core of the series is in the three generations of Gilmore girls/women, from now sixteen Rory to spoiled rich Grandma Emily. Movies are awesome, but it’s great in long-form television how more and more pieces are falling into place, making you better understand these characters and where they’re coming from.

1.7 – “Kiss and Tell”
Lorelai: One of us has to do laundry tonight.
Rory: Why?
Lorelai: Because I haven’t had any clean underwear for three days.
Rory: So right now under your skirt you’re wearing…?
Lorelai: Not underwear.
Rory: Mom!
Lorelai: It’s kinda nice, actually — breezy.

Rory’s first kiss, Lorelai freaking about it and a LOT of junk food, even by Gilmore standards.

1.8 – “Love & War & Snow”
Rory: It’s Mr. Medina.
Lorelai: I know.
Rory: My English teacher is on my couch.
Lorelai: It was the snow. You know how I get, it’s like catnip. I was walking, he was there, his car was broken, we had fiesta burgers… it was the snow.

love love love Rory. Lorelai, too. Love them! Alright, these blurbs are boring, but I can’t put into words my ridiculous obsession with this show. There are funnier, smarter, more exciting series, no doubt, but there’s no other girls like the Gilmore girls. You just wanna jump into the screen and hug them, then go out and have coffee and exchange snarky banter and… Aww.

1.9 – “Rory’s Dance”
Lorelai: (shouting) C’mon already!
Rory: (from in her room) I’m primping!
Lorelai: You’re sixteen, you’ve skin like a baby’s ass, there’s nothing to primp!

Small quibble: the continuity is a bit iffy at times. Like, big development between Lorelai and her teacher dude one week, then we don’t even hear about him in the next episode? But as I said, small quibble, when said ‘sode in itself is great, the most touching so far. Loved Rory’s timid attempts at defining her relationship with her “gentleman caller”, loved when Dean put Chad Douche-Murray in his place, loved the emotional fireworks at the end between mothers and daughters.

1.10 – “Forgiveness and Stuff”
Lane: You got Dean a book?
Rory: Yeah, Metamorphosis.
Lane: Metamorphosis!?
Rory: It’s Kafka.
Lane: Very romantic.

A Very Special Episode of Gilmore girls, with an aborted Christmas party, a trip to the hospital… and a little harmless (?) flirting between Lorelai and Luke. Whatever happened to the teacher dude? Beats me.

1.11 – “Paris is Burning”
Rory: Every time Mom stuck her finger in his cage, he’d bite her.
Lorelai: And laugh.
Luke: Hamsters can’t laugh.
Lorelai: Oh, this one laughed – trust me.

Hey, teacher dude. Plus more touchy-feely stuff. The show’s still funny, but the relationships are digging in deeper and tears are threatening to come as frequently as laughs.

1.12 – “Double Date “
Lorelai: Who the hell is that anyways?
Rory: Claudine Longet.
Lorelai: The chick who shot the skier?
Rory: Uh, sure, why not.
Lorelai: Wow – Renaissance woman.

Sookie and Jackson, eh. Lane’s cool, too, little music geek. Then there’s Luke… Cool too!

1.13 – “Concert Interruptus”
Louise: I find your mother completely fascinating.
Rory: Funny – so does she.

There’s kind of a “Heathers”/”Mean Girls” thing going on between Rory and her “friends” from school. Then they go to see The Bangles!

1.14 – “That Damn Donna Reed”
Sookie: Well, you call someone and say “Can you come over and help me look for my loose chick”…it’s a little…
Lorelai: A little what?
Sookie: Sounds a little like code for “I’m not wearing any underwear”.

The thing with TV series, for better or worse, is that stories go on and on and on… I know, because I’ve been watching Season 6 of Gilmore Girls, when it’s all about the upcoming wedding between Lorelai and Luke, and now that I’m going back to the early episodes from years earlier, the seeds are already there. And then you got something totally out of left field: Christopher…

1.15 – “Christopher Returns”
Lorelai: Did you just curtsy?
Rory: Shut up!
Lorelai: Sorry, milady.

Rory’s father pops in, then there’s a big mash-up with Lorelai and her parents and Christopher and his parents and… Eh, not good.

1.16 – “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers”
Lorelai: Wow, it’s gonna be just like Lady and the Tramp. You’ll share a plate of spaghetti, but it’ll just be one long strand, but you won’t realize it until you accidentally meet in the middle. And then, he’ll push a meatball towards you with his nose, and you’ll push it back with your nose, and then you’ll bring the meatball home and you’ll save it in the refrigerator for years and…
Rory: Mom!

I’m fascinated by the writing on this show. It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but it’s amazing how precise yet effortless it feels. Take the Lorelai-Luke thing – we know they’re meant to be together, but the writers find all these little ways to postpone it (re: exes returning). Lorelai’s relationship with her mother is also effectively running on a thin thread of love and hate… And how about Rory getting her perfect romantic moment, then blowing it. Things flow, back and forth… That’s life for you.

1.17 – “The Breakup, Part 2″
Lorelai: I think what you really need to do today is wallow.
Rory: Wallow?
Lorelai: Oh yeah, get back in your pajamas, go to bed, eat nothing but gallons of ice cream and tons of pizza, don’t take a shower or shave your legs or put on any kind of make up at all and just sit in the dark and watch a really sad movie and have a good long cry and just wallow. You need to wallow.

First love, first heartache… Hard. But when your whole town’s got your back, it’s not so bad, right? Meanwhile, Lorelai’s libido is flying out of bounds and- wait, about Rory’s heartache? It IS so bad. Poor girl!

1.18 – “The Third Lorelai”
Madeline: (to Paris) Looks like we’re going to have to do the Pink Ladies makeover on you.
Louise: We’ll turn you from a sweet Sandy to a slutty Sandy. Dancing at the school fair with high heels, black spandex and permed hair.

Ooh, a fourth generation of Gilmore girls! Enter great-grandma Lorelai! Plus, more of Paris and the Mean Girls. Good times.

1.19 – “Emily in Wonderland”
Rory: I like this song. It makes me gloomy.
Lane: Gloom is good.
Rory: Really gloomy.
Lane: Like Joy Division Gloomy? Nick Cave gloomy? Robert Smith gloomy?
Rory: Johnny Cash gloomy.

It’s an obvious thing, but when you think of it, it’s pretty unusual to have a show where the two main characters are a mother and a daughter. What’s more, the grandmother is also a lead. This makes for a very interesting intergenerational dynamic. Yeah.

1.20 – “P.S. I Lo…”
Lorelai: I’m not even talking specifically about Dean. I mean just generally in life. For example, say you’re dating Taylor Hanson.
Rory: Why am I dating Taylor Hanson?
Lorelai: It’s a hypothetical scenario, go with it. So, uh, you and Taylor have been seeing each other pretty regularly. .
Rory: How did I meet Taylor Hanson?
Lorelai: You went to his concert, you got backstage, your eyes met across the crowd and you’ve been seeing each other ever since.
Rory: Hanson’s still together?
Lorelai: They’re the new Bee Gees. So. .
Rory: And why would you not stop me from going to a Hanson concert?
Lorelai: Hey, someone’s trying to make a point here.

Man, sad Rory is the saddest thing in the world! She’s usually so sweet and upbeat, it’s killing me to see her all bummed down. Damn you, Dean!

1.21 – “Love, Daisies and Troubadours”
Dean: Your boyfriend’s waiting.
Rory: He’s not my boyfriend! I hate him!
Dean: Whatever.
Rory: Dean!
Dean: What?
Rory: Stop!
Dean: Why?
Rory: Because I love you, you idiot!

I don’t know if the writers’ goal was to end the season in a way that makes it IMPOSSIBLE not to want to run and get the next DVD set, but it sure accomplishes that. You get not one but two of those perfect rom-com climaxes, and then it’s over! Can’t wait to see what’s next.

NEXT: Season Two!!!