‘Gilmore Girls’: A Definitive Guide to Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore’s Relationship
Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore are considered the endgame couple of Gilmore Girls. While fans of the series still argue about which suitor was the best fit for Rory Gilmore, almost everyone agrees that Luke and Lorelai were always supposed to be together. Do you know their entire love story, though? We’ve collected all the facts in this definitive guide to the ultimate Gilmore Girls couple.
How did Luke and Lorelai Meet?
Luke Danes was a significant presence in Lorelai Gilmore’s life when fans first met the Gilmores. The character appeared in the pilot episode, and while romance wasn’t on the radar just yet, there was certainly a vibe. Their relationship was foreshadowed in the next episode, but how did they actually meet?
Gilmore Girls fans didn’t learn how Luke and Lorelai met until season 5. While on their first official date, Luke recalled their initial introduction. He told Lorelai that they first connected when she whirled into Luke’s Diner in search of a cup of coffee. The busy single mother was so desperate to be served that she penned Luke a custom horoscope to get his attention. Luke stated that he had carried the horoscope around for eight years. That means Luke and Lorelai first met when Rory was just 12 years old. Their first date happened when Rory was a sophomore at Yale.
When did Luke and Lorelai Gilmore start dating?
Luke and Lorelai flirted their way through four entire seasons of Gilmore Girls. Fans were sure the couple would get together in season 3, but Jess Mariano, Luke’s nephew, served as a roadblock. Luke eventually hooked up with Nicole Leahy and married her, trampling fans’ hopes.
Following Luke’s divorce from Nicole, Lorelai started seeing Jason Stiles. Eventually, Jason was forced to sue Lorelai’s father, Richard Gilmore, and their relationship ended abruptly. Only then were Luke and Lorelai clear to pursue a relationship, and that’s exactly what they did. In the season 4 finale, “Raincoats and Recipes,” the duo kissed for the first time. Three episodes later, after Luke returns from helping out Liz Danes and TJ, they had their first official date.
How many times did the couple break up?
Luke and Lorelai may have been destined to be together, but their relationship wasn’t all smooth sailing. They broke up more than once. In season 5, following the revelation that Emily Gilmore was purposefully trying to thwart their romance, Luke ended things with Lorelai, noting that he couldn’t be involved with the drama that was the Gilmores.
The breakup didn’t last too terribly long. In the season 5 episode, “So…Good Talk,” Luke and Lorelai got back together, partially thanks to Emily Gilmore. They became engaged several episodes later, but the revelation that Luke had a daughter he didn’t know about eventually ended their engagement. Lorelai was briefly married to Christopher Hayden, much to the chagrin of Luke, during the show’s finale season. When Gilmore Girls ended, both Luke and Lorelai were single but certainly interested in a reconciliation.
Did they ever get married?
While Luke and Lorelai’s relationship status was ambiguous when season 7 of Gilmore Girls drew to a close, the 2016 Netflix revival offered viewers all of the information they needed about the couple. In the nine years between the series finale and the revival, Luke and Lorelai did get back together. They lived together in the house Lorelai bought when Rory was still a child. They continued to run their businesses independently. Luke and Lorelai weren’t married when the revival opened, but they became man and wife by the end of the four-part special.
In the final installment of the revival, Luke and Lorelai tied the knot. Their entire wedding was not depicted on screen due to budget constraints. Still, fans were mostly satisfied knowing that Luke and Lorelai finally decided to make things official.
Where are they now?
While a follow-up installment of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life has yet to happen, we are confident that Luke and Lorelai are still together. Scott Patterson, the actor who spent seven seasons portraying Luke Danes, agrees. On November 6, Patterson took to Twitter to commemorate his on-screen anniversary, noting that Luke and Lorelai would be celebrating six years of wedded bliss.
Whether fans will ever get to see more from the couple is still up in the air. Last month, Lauren Graham revealed that she would be sitting down with Amy Sherman-Palladino for a chat in the near future. Several cast members have noted that they are interested in returning for a second revival season. No official announcements have been made, though.
