There are very few things in life that are certain to come around. Two main things that people joke about being for sure are death and taxes, but there is a third event that simply cannot be avoided - Friday night dinners at Richard and Emily's house in Gilmore Girls.
During the seven seasons that the show was in production, the Gilmore grandparents hosted over seventy Friday night dinners, and viewers came to feel like they too were in attendance of the weekly meals. Sometimes the dinners brought laughter and other times, tears, and they definitely weren't without their share of drama. In order of appearance, here are ten of the worst Friday night dinners from the show:
Pilot
The pilot is the episode that starts all of the Friday night dinners. Lorelai reluctantly goes to her parents and asks them for money for Rory's school, and in exchange, Emily wants the girls to come over every Friday for dinner.
Lorelai doesn't want Rory to know about the money, so Rory is very confused as to why they must attend dinner out of the blue. At dinner, Lorelai and Emily get into a fight, and the real reason for their visit comes out.
Christopher Returns
Christopher in town, and he as well as his parents Straub and Francine are invited to Friday night dinner. Rory is nervous about meeting her other grandparents, and they don't seem to take well to her.
It turns out that they are still bitter that Lorelai got pregnant, and they blame her for "ruining" Christopher's life. A fight breaks out, resulting in Richard kicking Straub and Francine out of the house.
Sadie, Sadie...
Emily tells Rory that she can bring a friend to dinner, so she brings her boyfriend Dean. Richard seems to be acting strangely, and eventually, he starts grilling Dean about his grades and plans for the future.
He makes it quite obvious that he does not think that Dean is good enough for Rory, making everyone else uncomfortable. Rory and Richard get into an argument about how he is treating Dean, and the dinner ends with upset feelings.
Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days
Richard and Emily have wanted Lorelai and Christopher to be together for a long time, and that's why Lorelai is dreading telling her parents that they broke up. Her mother begins to lecture her about how it's ridiculous that they can't get their lives together, but then Lorelai tells her that Christopher's girlfriend is pregnant.
A heated conversation comes about, in which Richard says he understands that Christopher is handling his responsibilities, and Lorelai eventually leaves while her parents are arguing.
Haunted Leg
After splitting up, Christopher bursts into Friday night dinner to see Lorelai because she won't answer his calls. They get into a fight, and Christopher says how hurt he is that Rory hasn't called him back either. Rory reveals that it was her own decision, and her mom was not the one keeping her from Chris.
Chris and Lorelai continue to yell at each other, with Chris saying that he doesn't like the way that things turned out. Lorelai says it is what it is, and she tells him how much it hurts having to talk to him. Eventually, Emily tells him to leave.
Ballroom & Biscotti
Lorelai and Rory are back from their summer trip, and now Rory has barely any time to prepare for Yale because she wrote the date down wrong for her orientation. She still has to go to Friday night dinner, but Lorelai skips out, this time around to finish getting things done for Rory.
Emily intentionally stretches out the evening with a multi-course dinner and hours of ballroom dance competition tapes, forcing Lorelai to come and relieve Rory of the night, much to Emily's dismay.
Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom
Lorelai has been dating her father's business partner Jason, but they have been keeping it a secret. Jason and his father, who used to be in business with Richard, are invited to Friday night dinner.
Things start out alright, but eventually Jason's father Floyd reveals that he is suing Richard and Jason's company. A fight breaks out (doesn't it always?) and Floyd also tells Richard and Emily that his private investigator found out that Jason and Lorelai are dating.
How Many Kropogs To Cape Cod?
Lorelai has not been showing up for Friday night dinners, but she decides to put her grudge behind her when Rory's boyfriend Logan gets invited because she wants to get to know him. Things become awkward because Lorelai gets ignored and weirdly treated by her mother while all of the positive attention gets showered onto Logan.
Logan attempts to take part in a Yale secret society tradition in which he tries to steal a knick-knack and replace it with another, but Emily notices her item's disappearance. The evening only gets odder when Emily and Richard start implying a wedding and children for Logan and Rory, which leads to an argument between Lorelai and her parents.
Twenty-One Is The Loneliest Number
During this grandparent dinner, there is a refreshing change of pace in that there is no fighting. It is, however, quite awkward for Rory, who has been getting a little too close to Logan, which causes Richard and Emily to invite their reverend to dinner. Both grandparents excuse themselves from the table, leaving Rory alone with the minister, who happens to have a topic in mind to discuss. He brings up her boyfriend and intense feelings that can come with young love.
This turns into a talk about the precious gift of her virtue, which she should save for the right man. Rory then has to break it to the reverend that "the ultimate gift ship has sailed."
Friday Night's Alright For Fighting
This episode contains one of the most amusing and entertaining Friday nights at the Gilmores, where the dinners are being reestablished for the first time since Rory made up with her mother. After moving out quite suddenly, Rory is still at odds with Emily and Richard, and an argument breaks out among everyone.
The camera goes back and forth between parties in a quick manner, watching everybody fight. Scenes switch from laughing and eating to bickering about issues among the family that has been building for over twenty years. What a way to restart the dinner tradition.