Gilmore Girls and fall just go together. In fact, Lauren Graham (a/k/a Lorelai Victoria Gilmore) famously said at the 2025 Emmy Awards that Gilmore Girls “took the season of fall hostage” from the moment it premiered. Heck, even Richard defines himself as “an autumn.”
Dare I say that the fall episodes of Gilmore Girls are the best to rewatch? From back-to-school to harvest festivals, Rory’s birthday, orange everything, and, of course, Thanksgiving, these are the ones I press play on most often.
So, whether you’re taking the Rory Gilmore reading challenge with us to read the books on Gilmore Girls or just getting into this cozy season in Stars Hollow fashion, get the full list of episodes to rewatch this autumn, and the ten best ones I think you should prioritize.
Light a fall candle, throw on a Rory Gilmore sweater, and press play!
Quick List of All the Gilmore Girls Fall Episodes in Order
Note:
I personally tracked these episodes over the two years I spent creating my Unofficial Guide to the Books on Gilmore Girls. I noted events, clothing, nature, and original air dates as I categorized them.
- Season 1
- Episode 1: “Pilot”
- Episode 2: “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton”
- Episode 3: “Kill Me Now”
- Episode 4: “The Deer Hunters”
- Episode 5: “Cinnamon’s Wake”
- Episode 6: “Rory’s Birthday Parties”
- Episode 7: “Kiss and Tell”
- Season 2
- Episode 5: “Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy”
- Episode 6: “Presenting Lorelai Gilmore”
- Episode 7: “Like Mother, Like Daughter”
- Episode 8: “The Ins and Outs of Inns”
- Episode 9: “Run Away, Little Boy”
- Season 3
- Episode 3: “Application Anxiety”
- Episode 4: “One’s Got Class and the Other One Dyes”
- Episode 5: “Eight O’Clock at the Oasis”
- Episode 6: “Take the Deviled Eggs…”
- Episode 7: “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?”
- Episode 8: “Let the Games Begin”
- Episode 9: “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving”
- Season 4
- Episode 5: “The Fundamental Things Apply”
- Episode 6: “An Affair to Remember”
- Episode 7: “The Festival of Living Art”
- Episode 8: “Die, Jerk”
- Episode 9: “Ted Koppel’s Big Night Out”
- Episode 10: “The Nanny and the Professor”
- Season 5
- Episode 4: “Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too”
- Episode 5: “We Got Us a Pippi Virgin!”
- Episode 6: “Norman Mailer, I’m Pregnant!”
- Episode 7: “You Jump, I Jump, Jack”
- Episode 8: “The Party’s Over”
- Episode 9: “Emily Says Hello”
- Season 6
- Episode 3: “The UnGraduate”
- Episode 4: “Always a Godmother, Never a God”
- Episode 5: “We’ve Got Magic to Do”
- Episode 6: “Welcome to the Doll House”
- Episode 7: “Twenty-One Is the Loneliest Number”
- Episode 8: “Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out”
- Episode 9: “The Prodigal Daughter Returns”
- Episode 10: “He’s Slippin’ ‘Em Bread…Dig?”
- Season 7
- Episode 3: “Lorelai’s First Cotillion”
- Episode 4: “‘S Wonderful, ‘S Marvelous”
- Episode 5: “The Great Stink”
- Episode 6: “Go, Bulldogs!”
- Episode 7: “French Twist”
- Episode 8: “Introducing Lorelai Planetarium”
- Episode 9: “Knit, People, Knit”
- A Year in the Life
- Episode 4: “Fall”
10 Best Fall Episodes of Gilmore Girls That Highlight the Season
10. A Year in the Life: Fall
I know not everyone likes the reboot, but let’s at least appreciate that Gilmore Girls ends where it all began — Stars Hollow in the fall. Lorelai’s plan to recreate the hike in Wild falls apart, but she reconciles with Emily over Richard’s death and returns to Luke, suggesting they get married.
Meanwhile, Logan and his old college secret society friends suit up in costume and take Rory out, steampunk style. It’s dark academia, all over again.
Emily quits the DAR and moves to Nantucket to work at a museum.
Lorelai and Luke quietly marry in a whimsical gazebo ceremony reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. Talk about fall romance! Then, Rory tells Lorelai life-changing news.
(By the way, I do have a theory about what happens after those final four words of Gilmore Girls.)
9. Season 4, Episode 7: “The Festival of Living Art”
“The Festival of Living Art” earns its place here for being oh, so full of costumes it’s practically a Halloween episode of Gilmore Girls. In fact, the only Emmy it ever won was for this episode — Outstanding Makeup for a Series.
Stars Hollow hosts a “living pictures” festival where Kirk gets overly into his role as Jesus and Lorelai gets stage fright.
Lane’s band finds a new guitarist they fear may be too old, while Nicole asks Luke to delay their divorce and try dating again.
Sookie worries after going past her due date and hires a midwife, then finally goes into labor.
8. Season 4, Episode 9: “Ted Koppel’s Big Night Out”
While Gilmore Girls isn’t known for athletic characters, they do partake in college football in “Ted Koppel’s Big Night Out,” where Rory and Paris also meet Professor Asher Fleming through Richard.
At the Yale–Harvard game, the Gilmores host an extravagant tailgate, where Emily, in her “Harvard Go to H-E-double hockey sticks” gear, gets upset after learning Richard has secretly maintained annual lunches with his old flame– that tart, Pennilyn Lott.
Meanwhile, Lorelai and Jason enjoy an unexpectedly fun first date after ditching a formal restaurant, and Rory is stunned to discover Paris kissing the teacher. Seasonal academia vibes at their finest.
7. Season 3, Episode 7: “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?”
“They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” is another costume-filled, fan-favorite episode, inspired by the movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Lorelai and Rory participate in the Stars Hollow Dance Marathon, hoping to dethrone Kirk. There, Dave pretends to be religious to impress Mrs. Kim. Dean finally realizes Jess and Rory like each other, and he dumps her. She cries, and Kirk wins yet again.
6. Season 2, Episode 5: “Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy”
In “Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy,” bad boy Jess Mariano arrives in Stars Hollow to stay with his uncle, Luke, only to find it looks like the Disney version of fall. Jess and Luke clash with Lorelai, but Rory is intrigued to learn he’s a book lover who steals Howl from her. There’s just something autumnal about their dusk conversation amid the twinkle lights. I can almost feel the brisk air.
Rory also starts school again–her second “first day” at Chilton–and gets undesirable assignments from Paris at the school paper, including an interview with Max Medina.
5. Season 1, Episode 7: “Kiss and Tell”
In “Kiss and Tell,” Stars Hollow is absolutely bursting with orange as it plans an autumn festival where Rory and Lane dress as pilgrims and Lorelai compares Luke to the fall book The Crucible, witch theme and all. Dean kisses Rory in Doose’s Market (and she shoplifts).
But Rory upsets Lorelai by not telling her. So she invites Dean to her literature-inspired, cozy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie night with Rory during sweater weather.
4. Season 1, Episode 6: “Rory’s Birthday Parties”
In “Rory’s Birthday Parties,” Rory turns sweet 16. Emily secretly plans a party with her Chilton friends at Friday night dinner, but it ends badly when Rory doesn’t like it—a very Freaky Friday moment for Lorelai.
The next night, Lorelai hosts a party at home with the Stars Hollow townspeople. Richard and Emily get a peek into the close-knit community she’s created there, while Richard discovers he’s “an autumn.”
Afterward, Dean gives Rory a bracelet, which surprises Lorelai.
3. Season 1, Episode 2: “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton”
In “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton,” nothing says back to school like Lorelai dressing as if the rodeo were in town for Rory’s first day at her new prep school. As Chilton students study Dickens and Tolstoy in the hallowed halls, baby-faced Rory faces more academic and social challenges than she ever imagined. The episode is as iconic as Lorelai’s cowgirl outfit, practically solidifying Gilmore Girls as a fall show.
2. Season 5, Episode 7: “You Jump, I Jump, Jack”
In “You Jump, I Jump, Jack,” Emily insists on meeting Luke after learning he’s dating Lorelai, leading to an awkward dinner.
Despite Lorelai’s warnings, Luke later accepts Richard’s invitation to a fall golf outing, causing more tension among the multicolored trees.
Meanwhile, journalist Rory joins Logan and his secret society, the Life and Death Brigade, for a weekend adventure that ends with her dressed in costume and taking a thrilling leap of faith. This episode is not just Team Logan. It’s Team Fall.
1. Season 3, Episode 9: “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving”
In “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving,” the only thing better than one Thanksgiving is four. Lorelai and Rory juggle their “best laid plans”— four very different dinners, from tofurkey at the Kims’ to deep-fried everything at Sookie’s and classic diner grub with Luke, all culminating with, you guessed it, family tension at Richard’s and Emily’s.
Are you sure Thanksgiving isn’t on a Friday?! You simply can’t top a tipsy Sookie and chocolate turkeys.
