The fourth season of Gilmore Girls , an American dramedy television series , began airing on September 23, 2003 on The WB television network. The season concluded on May 18, 2004, after 22 episodes. The season aired Tuesday nights at 8 / 7c.
Overview
Season four marks a year of transitions for the Gilmores. Lorelai quits her job as a manager of the Independence Inn, realizing her ambition of opening her own, The Dragonfly, with her best friend, Sookie. Lorelai could have imagined. Lorelai and Sookie start a catering business to help pay for the expenses, made all the more difficult because Sookie is pregnant. Meanwhile, Rory is adjusting to her new life at Yale University, coping with the trials and tribulations that come with living at college. The stress of academia is bundled with her eccentric fellow students, especially her roommates, and the pressure of achieving her dream of becoming a journalist. All the while, the Gilmore girls still have to deal with Lorelai’s parents every Friday night, The Stars of Hollow. [1]
Cast
Main article: List of Gilmore Girls characters
Main cast
- Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore
- Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore
- Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St. James
- Keiko Agena as Lane Kim
- Yanic Truesdale as Michel Gerard
- Scott Patterson as Luke Danes
- Liza Weil as Paris Geller
- Sean Gunn as Kirk Gleason
- Chris Eigeman as Jason Stiles
- Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore
- Edward Herrmann as Richard Gilmore
Recurring cast
- Jackson Douglas as Jackson Belleville
- Liz Torres as Miss Patty
- Emily Kuroda as Mrs. Kim
- Sally Struthers as Babette Dell
- Ted Rooney as Morey Dell
- Michael Winters as Taylor Doose
- Todd Lowe as Zach Van Gerbig
- John Cabrera as Brian Fuller
- Wayne Wilcox as Marty
- Sebastian Bach as Gil
- Danny Strong as Doyle McMaster
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Liz Danes
- Michael DeLuise as TJ
Guest
- Jared Padalecki as Dean Forester
- Milo Ventimiglia as Jess Mariano
- Teal Redmann as Louise Grant
- Shelly Cole as Madeline Lynn
- David Clayton Rogers as Trevor
Episodes
| No. overall |
No. in season |
title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
US viewers (millions) [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | 1 | “Ballrooms and Biscotti” | Amy Sherman-Palladino | Amy Sherman-Palladino | September 23, 2003 | 176151 | 5.2 |
| Lorelai and Rory return from their whirlwind tour of Europe. Taylor and Luke have it out of the new soda shop. A very pregnant Sookie updates Lorelai on the latest baby news. Taylor does not take it well when Rory declines the privilege of being the Hollow Ice Cream Queen. Mother and daughter get caught up in a flurry of activity after Rory realizes that she wrote down the wrong date for freshman orientation, and she only had two days to get ready for Yale, instead of the week she was planning on. Emily is upset when Lorelai misses Friday night dinner and retaliates by turning it into a four-hour extravaganza, complete with ballroom dancing videos before the breath race. Lorelai is shocked when Luke finally tells her what happened on her cruise with Nicole. | |||||||
| 67 | 2 | “The Lorelais’ First Day at Yale” | Chris Long | Daniel Palladino | September 30, 2003 | 176152 | 3.9 |
| Lorelai’s last minute shopping trips to keep Rory’s room on the rest of the dorm , To say nothing of Lorelai’s seeming inability to drive a stick, losing his spare tire, and saddling him with the old mattress from Rory’s dorm room. Rory’s roommates, a 15-year-old prodigy, is a socially skilled, socially skilled man. Nicole’s Partner, Part 1, Part 2, Part 2, Part 1 Responding to Rory ‘ S attack of homesickness after just four hours, Lorelai returns to Yale and sets up a dorm-wide takeout to test the judge’s quality of the local restaurants, their delivery speed, and the cuteness of their delivery boys. The hotel is located in the heart of the city, close to the Lorelai’d shopping mall. | |||||||
| 68 | 3 | “The Hobbit, the Sofa and Digger Stiles” | Matthew Diamond | Amy Sherman-Palladino | October 7, 2003 | 176153 | 4.9 |
| To help meet the expenses of opening the inn, Lorelai and Sookie decide to become caterers on the side, with their first assignment being a Lord of the Rings theme party. At Yale, Rory returns from class to find that Emily has redecorated their common room. Meanwhile, Richard. | |||||||
| 69 | 4 | “Chicken or Beef?” | Chris Long | Jane Espenson | October 14, 2003 | 176154 | 5.5 |
| Back home for the weekend, Rory has an uncomfortable encounter with Dean, her ex, and ends up getting her wedding the next day. Meanwhile, Lorelai and Sookie visit Michel at his trendy new workplace. | |||||||
| 70 | 5 | “The Fundamental Things Apply” | Neema Barnette | John Stephens | October 21, 2003 | 176155 | 5.5 |
| Rory accepts a classmate’s invitation to go out on her first date since breaking up with Jess, while her roommates engage in a war of wills. Meanwhile, Lorelai invite Luke over to share the traditional Gilmore movie night she used to have with Rory, although she is somewhat disturbed after discovering that the designer she just hired to decorate the Emily. | |||||||
| 71 | 6 | “An Affair to Remember” | Matthew Diamond | Amy Sherman-Palladino | October 28, 2003 | 176156 | 5.2 |
| Emily offers Lorelai and Sookie the job of catering the party to launch Richard’s new business venture, then runs them ragged with demands. Meanwhile, at school, Rory finds that her roommates’ activities are preventing her from studying. | |||||||
| 72 | 7 | “The Festival of Living Art” | Chris Long | Daniel Palladino | November 4, 2003 | 176157 | 4.7 |
| Sookie and Jackson. When the Holocaust is in a state of uncertainty, Kirk goes on to say, “The Last Supper,” while Lorelai has a bad case of fright. Meanwhile, Lane, Zach, and Brian finally find an awesome guitarist to replace Dave, but wonder if he is not too old to join the band. Nicole asks Luke if they can postpone the divorce and start dating again.
Note: This episode won the show’s only Emmy Award , for Outstanding Makeup for a Series (non-prosthetic). [3] |
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| 73 | 8 | “Die, Jerk” | Tom Moore | Daniel Palladino | November 11, 2003 | 176158 | 4.9 |
| Richard and Emily are a great place to stay in Atlantic City. Spurred on by her editor, Rory writes a strongly opinionated dance review that leads to a dining hall confrontation with the ballerina. Lorelai is a member of the Lorelai Society of the United States of America. Lane and Dave have long distance argument over pottery. Sookie and baby Davey. Sookie and baby Davey. Sookie and baby Davey. Sookie and baby Davey. Sookie and baby Davey. When she learns that Nicole and Luke have put their divorce on hold and have resumed dating, Lorelai becomes so flustered that she has an argument with Luke. Richard ecstatically roams throughout the house with his laptop after he goes wireless with Jason’s help, but Emily fails to be charmed by either the Internet or Mr. Stiles. | |||||||
| 74 | 9 | “Ted Koppel’s Big Night Out” | Jamie Babbit | Amy Sherman-Palladino | November 18, 2003 | 176159 | 5.2 |
| Rory and Paris have lunch at Yale with Richard, who introduces them to his friend, Professor Asher Fleming. During Friday night dinner at the Gilmore residence, Lorelai asks for an invitation to the Yale-Harvard game even though Rory clearly gives her an out. Emily is irritated when Lorelai shows up for the game wearing Harvard colors. The Gilmores tailgate in style with flasks, an RV, a BBQ, and servants to wait on their guests. Emily is upset when Pennilyn Lott, Richard’s first girlfriend, shows up and asks about the Inn, and Richard is forced to confess that he has an annual dinner with Pennilyn and Emily have been married. Lorelai takes Jason up on a date, but they leave the stuffy restaurant and have a great time dining al fresco at a local grocery store. | |||||||
| 75 | 10 | “The Nanny and the Professor” | Peter Lauer | Scott Kaufer | January 20, 2004 | 176160 | 4.1 |
| Luke becomes overwhelmed by Lane’s work. Michel exhibits a profound jealousy of Tobin. Emily and Richard find the treats they brought home from Switzerland are widely panned. Rory is a young man who has been living in Paris for a long time. As Lorelai and Jason grow closer, she begins to keep their relationship a secret from her parents. Rory’s talent for millinery combines with her talent for writing to win her a position on the “Daily Yale”. Inexplicably, Sookie and Jackson allow Michel to babysit for Davey, forcing Lorelai to come to the rescue when Michel, not being one to fail to disappoint, needs to get himself and Davey out of under a problem. | |||||||
| 76 | 11 | “In the Clamor and the Clangor” | Michael Grossman | Sheila R. Lawrence, Janet Leahy | January 27, 2004 | 176161 | 4.4 |
| Lane sneaks out of the house when Gil gets the band at 1:00 am gig at CBGB’s. Luke and Lorelai take care of their own hands when newly restored church bells turn out to be less welcome than originally anticipated. Rory gets personal with William during a political discussion when she suspects that she’s been spreading embarrassing stories about her. Lorelai is initially distressed when she learns that Luke has moved to Litchfield to live with Nicole, but a visit to her diner dispels her worries. Lane and her mother have a long-overdue talk with life-changing consequences after Mrs. Kim discovers her daughter’s secret life. | |||||||
| 77 | 12 | “A Family Matter” | Kenny Ortega | Daniel Palladino | February 3, 2004 | 176162 | 4.9 |
| Luke has his hands full family members return to Stars Hollow: Liz for his high school reunion and Jess for his car. Lane Busies Herself at Yale by being the next Helpful Hannah. Lorelai agrees to accompany Jason on an office furniture shopping trip on his morning off, but the press of international business calls keeps getting in the way. Jamie’s in town, and Paris keeps avoiding him. Lorelai and Jason agree that Emily and Richard need to be told about their relationship, but Lorelai just can not bring herself to do it after Emily mocks both Jason and the idea that he would ever hit her off with her daughter. Rory is finally writing her mind on Paris’s romantic entanglements backfires when Paris decides she has a future with asher and breaks up with Jamie. Rory becomes concerned that her mother is having financial problems. | |||||||
| 78 | 13 | “Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels” | Chris Long | Amy Sherman-Palladino | February 10, 2004 | 176163 | 4.6 |
| Jess’ attempts to keep a low profile until Gypsy complete the repairs on Rory all over town. Taylor Puts Kirk in charge of the annual Firelight Festival, and his managerial skills, or lack thereof, place a strain on the preparations. Lane follows Rory back to Stars Hollow and a place on the Gilmore couch for the weekend, but is not quite ready to face her mother. Emily is in a dither about filling a table with a help and enlists the help of Lorelai and Jason, which she encourages to pretend that they are a couple. Luke is a young businessman who has been working for a long time. After Lorelai and Liz finally meet, Lorelai gets a renewed perspective on Luke. Liz ‘ S high school classmates descends on her brother and reveal long-held crushes on him. Richard is suspicious when Jason’s father greets his son at the benefit and does not inquire about the business. Lorelai fixed Luke’s broken heart after his confrontation with Jess while Luke fixed Lorelai’s broken window. Liz and TJ end their visit to Stars Hollow, but not before. Jess makes a startling confession to Rory before he leaves town. But not before. Jess makes a startling confession to Rory before he leaves town. But not before. Jess makes a startling confession to Rory before he leaves town. | |||||||
| 79 | 14 | “The Incredible Sinking Lorelais” | Stephen Clancy | Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino | February 17, 2004 | 176164 | 4.8 |
| When Trix returns to town and berates Lorelai and Richard for being financial failures, Richard angrily sets his mother straight, to Emily’s delight. Lorelai and Sookie explore ways to ease their financial crunch and raise money to pay for their construction. Janet and Paris go head-to-head over the constant presence of Janet’s boyfriend in the suite. Lorelai and Rory play an increasingly frustrating game of telephone tag. After Paris, Tanna, and Janet complain about close quarters in the suite, Lane moves out of the dorm and in with Lorelai, and gets her job back at Luke’s. Lorelai and Sookie have a heated discussion about sharing the responsibilities of opening their inn. Rory is distraught when one of her professors tells her to drop a class because she can not handle her run. Lane runs into her mother and receives a frosty reception. At the end of a very long, hard day, Lorelai and Rory, Luke for Lorelai, and Dean for Rory. | |||||||
| 80 | 15 | “Scene in a Mall” | Chris Long | Daniel Palladino | February 24, 2004 | 176165 | 4.8 |
| Kirk branches out of dog sitting for Lulu into a new canine-centered career. Paris goes into germ-phobic overdrive when Rory gets a cold. Lane gets an apartment with Zach and Brian and faces a frigid reception from her aunt and mother, and an over-eager, non-stop-talking cousin when she packs up her things and moves out. When they realize that their relationship is increasingly over the phone, Lorelai and Rory decide to play hooky and go shopping in the mall, where they run into the middle of a shopping binge meltdown. Luke lends Lorelai the thirty thousand dollars she needs to finish construction on the Inn. After Emily confesses that the shopping binge and bickering with Richard stems from her anger is being ignored, neglected, and made to feel useless by her husband, Lorelai reassures her husband and her husband to her husband and wife. Rory and Luke get a peek into Dean ‘s life as a married man, and Luke gets an inkling that’ s amiss when he catches Dean ‘s wistful looks towards Rory as Dean unsuccessfully tries to paint a picture of life with Lindsay and her parents. | |||||||
| 81 | 16 | “The Reigning Lorelai” | Marita Grabiak | Jane Espenson | March 2, 2004 | 176166 | 5.0 |
| The rift between Emily and Richard widens when he goes on a golf date with clients instead of accompanying his wife to the funeral of her best friend. Doyle goes on a theft and plagiarism rant. Trix dies suddenly and stricken with grief and guilt, Richard is inconsolable. Emily calls it quits on arranging Trix’s funeral and drops everything in her daughter’s lap after finding a letter in which her mother-in-law pleads with her on the eve of her wedding to Emily to marry Pennily instead. Luke and Nicole have all of Hollow’s listening in and reading lips as they quarrel. Worried about her parents and frantic over fulfilling Trix’s exacting requirements for her funeral, Lorelai has a meltdown while shopping for Trix’s funereal undies. After the service, cousin Marilyn regales family and friends with tales of Lorelai the First. | |||||||
| 82 | 17 | “Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin ‘The Twist” | Jamie Babbit | Amy Sherman-Palladino | April 13, 2004 | 176167 | 4.5 |
| Rory, Paris, Janet and Glenn escape a Dickensianly cold winter in Connecticut and head to Florida, where they run into Madeline and Louise, who show them the spring break ropes. Jason gives Lorelai the key to his apartment as a symbol of his commitment to their relationship. Lorelai bails Luke out of jail after he’s arrested for being a part of Nicole. Lorelai and Rory get the dubious honor of the first ride in Kirk’s latest venture, the Hollow pedi-cab. | |||||||
| 83 | 18 | “Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom!” | Daniel Palladino | Daniel Palladino | April 20, 2004 | 176168 | 4.2 |
| Luke makes a bigger fuss than Davey when Sookie and Jackson bring their own into the diner. All of Stars Hollow is amused when Taylor returns from his Caribbean cruise with a drastic change in his appearance. Richard and Emily are stunned when Floyd informs them that Lorelai and Jason have been dating for months. Luke comes to the rescue when Kirk’s failure to make a map of the Easter eggs in the town square gets Taylor’s nose out of joint. Richard and Jason discover that Floyd’s peacemaking overtures are a disguise for his plan to ruin Richard financially by suing them for stealing his clients. While shopping with Lane in Doose’s, Rory has harsh words about Lindsay as she relives her quarrel with Dean over his plans to drop out of college to earn more money to buy a house, Unaware that his wife is listening in the next aisle. Richard solves his problems with Floyd at Jason’s expense. Dean and Rory agree to continue their friendship despite Lindsay’s request that they stop speaking to each other. | |||||||
| 84 | 19 | “Afterboom” | Michael Zinberg | Sheila R. Lawrence | April 27, 2004 | 176169 | 4.3 |
| Luke finalizes his divorce. The band’s latest gig is a big hit, but leaves Lane feeling lonely. As the Dragonfly Inn nears its opening date, Sookie is back in the kitchen, if not on her feet. Doyle clues Rory in on Asher’s reputation as a serial student dater. Lorelai and Richard have it out of his treatment of Jason. Lane is upset to discover what her mother has taken in a Korean exchange student who could be her double, and confronts the girl when she sees her wearing her old clothes. When Jason decides to sue Richard after discovering his treachery, Lorelai breaks up with him. Afraid that Richard’s actions will make a rift in their relationship with Lorelai and Rory, Emily asks her husband to reconsider, but he brushes her off. Asher is displeased when Rory issues whether the “ | |||||||
| 85 | 20 | “Luke Can See Her Face” | Matthew Diamond | Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino | May 4, 2004 | 176170 | 4.2 |
| Jackson’s devotion to his wife and her famous zucchini soup set the stage for the perfect antidote to the stress surrounding the opening of the Inn. Luke unwittingly comes to the rescue when Sookie tries to set Lorelai up with the poultry supplier. Liz returns to Stars Hollow to announce that she’s getting married in the town square in a week. Paris and Asher decide to travel to England together during the summer. TJ has a tumultuous bachelor party. At Luke’s request, Jess changes his mind about attending his mother’s wedding and returns to Stars Hollow for the festivities. Rory tries to hide her discomfort when Lorelai tells her about overhearing a fight between Dean and Lindsay. A self-help tape helps Luke clarify his thinking, and a talk with Jess gets him on the path to having the relationship he ‘ | |||||||
| 86 | 21 | “Last Week Fights, This Week Tights” | Chris Long | Daniel Palladino | May 11, 2004 | 176171 | 4.6 |
| As Stars Hollow prepares for the Renaissance-themed wedding of Liz and TJ, Kirk feels slighted when Miss Patty chooses someone else as the maypole dance captain. Lorelai discovers an equine visitor in the Dragonfly Inn’s lobby. Rory’s suite mates depart for summer vacation. Lorelai urges Mrs. Kim to call Lane. Lorelai unsuccessfully attempts to get Emily to admit to separation during Friday night dinner. TJ revels in the wonders of tights, but discovers their hand drawback during the ceremony. Mrs. Kim gets some good advice from Lorelai after a few weeks in the past. Rory calls Dean to rescue her from the disastrous date Emily has arranged for her with her son of a friend. Luke and Lorelai share a glance during a wedding, which prompts Luke to ask Lorelai out on a date. Jess expresses his gratitude to Luke before saying goodbye. Rory tells Jess it’s over between them when he asks her to go away with him. | |||||||
| 87 | 22 | “Raincoats and Recipes” | Amy Sherman-Palladino | Amy Sherman-Palladino | May 18, 2004 | 176172 | 5.5 |
| Momentous changes in the air as the Dragonfly Inn approaches opening day by having a shakedown weekend. Rory and Dean take a major step forward in their relationship to Lorelai’s dismay. Emily and Richard admit that they’re separated. Kirk decides to let Lulu in the deep, dark secret of his night terrors. Jason appears at the Inn to plead his case with Lorelai, to no avail. Luke answers Lorelai’s question about the status of their relationship when he makes it passionately clear to Lorelai that they’re dating, to which she enthusiastically agrees. However, as Lorelai returns home she founds that Rory had lost her virginity to a married Dean.
In 2009, TV Guide ranked this episode # 75 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. [4] |
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DVD release
| The Complete Fourth Season [5] | ||||
| Set details | Special features | |||
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| Release dates | ||||
| North America | United Kingdom | Continental Europe | norway | australia |
| September 27, 2005 | July 27, 2009 | June 14, 2006 | November 15, 2006 | July 5, 2006 |
References
- Jump up^ “Product Description – Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season” . Amazon.com . Retrieved September 1, 2015 .
- Jump up^ ” ” Gilmore Girls “USA ratings” .
- Jump up^ IMDb: Awards and nominations for Gilmore Girls . Retrieved 2008-06-10.
- Jump up^ “TV Guide’s Top 100 Episodes” . Rev / Views . Retrieved July 4, 2016 .
- Jump up^ Lecter, Scott (October 16, 2005). “Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fourth Season” . DVD Talk . Retrieved February 20, 2012 .