Let’s break down the pilot of Gilmore Girls, which first aired on October 5, 2000. Here, Rory is accepted into Chilton, but Lorelai needs funding from her parents. Below you’ll find both an episode and a literary recap to help you take our Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge to read from the list of books mentioned on Gilmore Girls. So, grab your jumbo coffee and enter Stars Hollow!
Summary of Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”
In “Pilot,” Rory is accepted into Chilton Prep School, but she’s hesitant to attend because she has a crush on Dean. Meanwhile, Lorelai needs financial help to cover the tuition, so she reluctantly turns to her wealthy parents, Emily and Richard, with whom she has a strained relationship due to her decision to raise Rory on her own. Rory and Lorelai eat at the local diner, Luke’s.
For background, at that time, I had just begun college near New England (in a small town in Northeastern Pennsylvania). I studied political science and English and worked at the iconic American retailer Gap, which has many overlaps with the show in pop culture, fashion, and music—more on that in future podcast episodes. The point is, I totally “get” time and Rory, and am so excited to share all the things with you!
In the “Pilot,” the bright, book-loving teen, Rory Gilmore, is accepted into Chilton Prep School in Connecticut, but she’s hesitant to attend because she has a crush on Dean Forester, the tall and handsome “new guy” at Stars Hollow High School in her small town.
Meanwhile, her young, single, coffee-addicted mother, Lorelai Gilmore, a manager at the local Independence Inn, needs financial help to cover the tuition, so she reluctantly turns to her wealthy Hartford, Connecticut, parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore, with whom she has a strained relationship, due to her decision to raise Rory on her own as a teen mom. The Gilmores agree to cover the tuition in exchange for the girls attending Friday night dinners at their home.
(Side note: Our name, Friday Night Readers, is inspired by this. But instead of dining at the Gilmores, we stay home and read like Rory.)
We also meet Rory’s best friend, Lane Kim, a music-obsessed Korean teen with a strict mother, and Lorelai’s best friend, Sookie St. James, a sweet and friendly chef at the Inn.
Then, Rory and Lorelai eat at the local diner, Luke’s. The owner, Luke Danes, is a friend and potential love interest for Lorelai.
Literary References
Books
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: An American slavery classic mentioned at Stars Hollow High.
- The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen: Rory says that standing at the door is a reenactment of this fairy tale about a poor girl.
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert: Dean saw Rory read this “obscene” book.
- Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt: Rory takes this gothic romance out of her locker.
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Dean saw Rory reading this whaling classic.
- Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford: Lorelai says Rory will treat her like this controversial mother.
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Lorelai says, “the best laid plans.”
- “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785” by Robert Burns: the original source of “The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry.”
Tip:
Of Mice and Men‘s title refers to how simple American dreams can be hard to attain, given social, economic, and intellectual limitations.
Extras
- Lorelai refers to Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac and horror author Stephen King.
- Lane refers to American author Mark Twain.
- Rory and Dean discuss the psychological horror adaptation of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, about a demonic child.
Why It Matters
The first author mentioned on Gilmore Girls is Jack Kerouac. Lorelai calls the guy hitting on her in the opening sequence “a regular Jack Kerouac.” Kerouac was an American novelist and poet in the Beat Generation, a literary movement of the 1950s that rejected mainstream culture. Kerouac is best known for On the Road, a novel about a cross-country journey in search of meaning. Both Kerouac and the Beat Generation recur throughout the series, particularly through Jess Mariano’s character.
The first book mentioned on Gilmore Girls is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This popular classic, often banned for racism and profanity, follows young Huckleberry “Huck” Finn as he escapes his abusive father and journeys down the Mississippi River with Jim, an enslaved man seeking freedom. Its early reference in the show may be a nod to the fact that showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino conceived the concept while visiting Mark Twain’s Connecticut home.
Next, Dean admits that he first noticed Rory reading:
“After school you come out and you sit under that tree there and you read. Last week it was Madame Bovary. This week it’s Moby Dick.”
Rory says it’s “cliche” that Moby Dick is her first Melville. This is because it’s his most famous work. Considered by many to be the Great American Novel, this is an epic novel about Captain Ahab’s obsessive quest to hunt the white whale– man vs. nature.
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert’s controversial 1856 novel about an affair, considered to be obscene. Seriously– Flaubert was tried, but acquitted, of the charge. To be honest, I haven’t heard the best reviews of this novel from readers in our Rory Gilmore reading challenge over the years.
Lorelai also refers to standing outside like The Little Match Girl (a Christmas book on Gilmore Girls) by the Brothers Grimm. I don’t want to say too much about this very brief fairy tale, because it would give the plot away, but trust me when I say that despite being a “Christmas story,” it is, indeed, as “grim” as the name of the authors.
Lastly, Lorelai also asks Rory if she’s going to give her the “Mommie Dearest” treatment. This #1 bestselling book by Christina Crawford, which was also adapted into a popular movie, is about a controlling and overbearing mother.
Complete Book List From Season One
- Season 1, Episode 2: “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton”
- Season 1, Episode 3: “Kill Me Now”
- Season 1, Episode 4: “The Deer Hunters”
- Season 1, Episode 5: “Cinnamon’s Wake”
- Season 1, Episode 6: “Rory’s Birthday Parties”
- Season 1, Episode 7: “Kiss and Tell”
- Season 1, Episode 8: “Love and War and Snow”
- Season 1, Episode 9: “Rory’s Dance”
- Season 1, Episode 10: “Forgiveness and Stuff”
- Season 1, Episode 11: “Paris Is Burning”
- Season 1, Episode 12: “Double Date”
- Season 1, Episode 13: “Concert Interruptus”
- Season 1, Episode 14: “That Damn Donna Reed”
- Season 1, Episode 15: “Christopher Returns”
- Season 1, Episode 16: “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers”
- Season 1, Episode 17: “The Breakup, Part 2”
- Season 1, Episode 18: “The Third Lorelai”
- Season 1, Episode 19: “Emily in Wonderland”
- Season 1, Episode 20: “P.S. I Lo…”
- Season 1, Episode 21: “Love, Daisies and Troubadours”
Every Gilmore Girls Book in One Place
Get my Unofficial Guide to the Books on Gilmore Girls, which breaks down every episode of Gilmore Girls by the books referenced in it and provides customizable trackers, so you can easily become as well-read as the characters, while also having more fun rewatching the show.
