‘Gilmore Girls’: 5 Mistakes and Plot Holes You Might’ve Missed in Season 1

When Gilmore Girls kicked off season 1, the writers hadn’t completely figured things out yet. As a result, many fans noticed subtle changes to key details in the first few episodes. Perhaps the biggest example of this is Sean Gunn’s shift from Mick to Kirk, two equally quirky yet potentially different characters. Most of these adjustments to Gilmore Girls Season 1 were minor and didn’t affect the bigger picture, but some resulted in plot holes. Here are some of the early continuity errors and mistakes.

Trix Gilmore came back to life

In Gilmore Girls Season 1 Episode 3, “Kill Me Now,” Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) mentioned that her mother-in-law, Lorelai “Trix” Gilmore (Marion Ross), handed down her dinner plates. Now, that alone might not be enough to suggest Trix died before the show began, but a monologue from Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann) later in the episode could raise suspicion:

Lorelai the first was my mother. She was an extremely accomplished equestrian, a distinguished patron of the arts, and she was also world-famous for her masquerade balls. She was quite a woman, my mother.

Richard didn’t outright mention his mother’s death, but the past-tense dialogue seemed to hint at it. However, in episode 18, “The Third Lorelai,” Trix Gilmore arrived at her son’s home, alive and healthy and ready to make Emily’s life hell. Trix visited the Gilmore household several more times until her death in season 4.

This slip of the tongue didn’t affect the story too much, but it was certainly enough to bug some detail-oriented viewers.

Rory broke the law

Another Gilmore Girls Season 1 plot hole came when Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) broke the law. No, we aren’t talking about the time she accidentally stole corn starch from Doose’s Market in episode 7.

In season 1 episode 4, “The Deer Hunters,” Rory overslept for her major test at Chilton Preparatory School. In a panic, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) told her 15-year-old daughter to drive the Jeep to school to hopefully make it to class in time. Of course, that led to the infamous scene where Rory got hit by a deer, but the whole situation wasn’t exactly legal.

According to Connecticut law, you must be at least 16 years old to receive a driver’s permit. Additionally, with a permit, you must have a licensed driver of at least 25 years old in the passenger seat.

The idea might have been for Rory to actually be 16, but that would create a continuity error because she celebrated her 16th birthday just two episodes later. Rory wouldn’t have been eligible for a license and driving on her own until at least six months after her birthday. It’s a good thing she didn’t call the police when the deer hit her.

Lorelai didn’t know about Rachel

Lorelai moved to Stars Hollow with baby Rory at 17 years old. It was never exactly clear when she met Luke Danes (Scott Patterson), but in such a small town, it’s hard to believe she went several years without visiting Luke’s Diner or seeing him around the neighborhood.

By the time season 1 began, Lorelai and Luke had presumably known each other for years. However, when Lorelai learned of Luke’s serious relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Lisa Ann Hadley), she never knew Rachel existed. How was it possible that Lorelai, as such a close friend to Luke, never knew he had a serious girlfriend?

Many Gilmore Girls fans have tried to dissect this plot hole for years. As one fan on Reddit pointed out, when Lorelai and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) discussed Rachel in season 1 episode 13, Sookie said Lorelai was busy raising a child on her own. She might not have had the time to notice Rachel.

Alternatively, another user in the thread suggested that Luke and Lorelai really might not have met yet. Gilmore Girls never established at what age Luke opened his diner; it might have still been a hardware store when Lorelai moved to town.

Rory could’ve killed Dean with cookies

Imagine learning about your new boyfriend’s walnut allergy and then giving him walnut-filled cookies just days later. That seems to be what happened to Rory and Dean (Jared Padalecki). In season 1 episode 7, “Kiss and Tell,” Lane (Keiko Agena) told Rory what she learned about Dean at school. Among the list was a “deathly” walnut allergy.

Fast-forward to the next episode, “Love and War and Snow,” when Rory and Dean were in the early stages of their relationship. Rory had Sookie make her some rocky road cookies for Dean because those were his favorite. That’s an interesting choice, considering rocky road cookies usually include walnuts. Of course, it’s entirely possible Sookie’s recipe avoided walnuts to keep Dean out of the emergency room.

How long have Kirk and Miss Patty known each other?

In Gilmore Girls Season 1 Episode 5, “Cinnamon’s Wake,” Miss Patty (Liz Torres) supposedly met Kirk for the first time. She visited Doose’s Market and ate the fruit, prompting Kirk to threaten to call the police. He later apologized, noting that he didn’t know of her high status in Stars Hollow.

In later episodes, it became clear that Kirk had lived in Stars Hollow since he was a boy. He even took some ballet classes with Miss Patty, so how did they not know each other? To be fair, episode 5 was Kirk’s first appearance, so his backstory probably wasn’t developed yet.

Gilmore Girls and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life are now streaming on Netflix.