‘Gilmore Girls’: The Worst Episode of Season 5, According to IMDb
Gilmore Girls Season 5 might have been the show’s most dramatic season of them all. The episodes depicted an emotional breakup between Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) and Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), a blowout fight between Lorelai and Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop), and the start of Lorelai’s temporary estrangement from Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel).
Additionally, season 5 featured some particularly harsh moments from Emily, as she caused Luke and Lorelai’s breakup. Overall, the season received mixed reviews from fans, but many viewers revealed they disliked the episodes where Emily was at her meanest. Which Gilmore Girls Season 5 episode did fans like the least, according to IMDb?
‘Gilmore Girls’ Season 5 Episode 20 received the lowest IMDb user rating
Season 5 Episode 20, “How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod?” received an IMDb average rating of 7.7 out of 10. Meanwhile, other episodes in the season ranged from 7.8 to 8.8.
In this episode, Rory brought her boyfriend, Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry), to Friday Night Dinner at Emily and Richard Gilmore’s (Edward Herrmann) house. Lorelai had been avoiding the weekly event because she was angry at Emily for causing her and Luke to break up. However, this week, she wanted to attend so she could meet Logan properly.
Emily insisted that if Lorelai came to this dinner, she had to return to the weekly Friday Night Dinner tradition. Lorelai agreed. However, when she arrived on Friday evening, Emily gave her the cold shoulder.
Emily and Richard spent much of the night discussing Yale University traditions with Rory and Logan, knowing that Lorelai couldn’t contribute to the conversation. Later, when Lorelai tried to convince her parents of the Huntzbergers’ wrongdoings, they shut her down.
Elsewhere, Rory started her internship with Logan’s father, Mitchum Huntzberger (Gregg Henry). Meanwhile, Lorelai considered selling the Dragonfly Inn.
Many viewers disliked how Emily Gilmore treated Lorelai in this episode
Emily had plenty of rude moments throughout Gilmore Girls. However, many fans weren’t fond of her behavior in this particular episode. In a Reddit discussion, some users said Lorelai’s mother was too harsh.
“Whenever people claim that Lorelai isn’t being fair enough to her parents, I think of this episode, where they belittle, disrespect, embarrass, and slight her in front of her daughter’s new boyfriend, as though they are drawing a line between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and placing Lorelai in the ‘them’ category,” one person wrote. “When I witness how they treat her during dinner in this episode, I understand why she chose to run away from home and shielded Rory from them.”
Another user noted that Emily’s actions usually have someone’s best interest at heart. However, in this incident, “she just comes off as being so callous and cruel.”
Additionally, some users pointed to this Friday Night Dinner as the start of the rift between Lorelai and Rory. Rather than defend Lorelai, Rory allowed Richard and Emily to alienate her mother.
“A couple of episodes before, Rory wouldn’t speak to Emily after what she did to Lorelai and Luke, and here she is just quietly accepting Emily’s abominable attitude toward her mother,” one user wrote in another thread.
What was the best episode of ‘Gilmore Girls’ Season 5, according to IMDb?
Gilmore Girls Season 5 Episode 13, “Wedding Bell Blues,” marked the 100th episode of the series. It was also the most popular episode of season 5 and possibly one of the most beloved episodes of the series. On IMDb, this episode received an 8.8 rating.
This episode focused on Emily and Richard’s vow renewal. During the reception, Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe) stirred up trouble between Lorelai and Luke. Lorelai found out that Emily invited Christopher to fight for Lorelai, which led Lorelai to cut her mother out of her life. Meanwhile, Rory and Logan almost hooked up.
“Wedding Bell Blues” included another example of Emily’s harsh behavior. However, many fans still loved the episode for the mix of drama and comedy. In Reddit discussions, many users pointed out highlights like Richard’s touching speech to Emily, Luke’s argument with Christopher, and Lorelai’s final words to Emily.
“This is such an emotionally hard yet adorable episode! It always breaks me to see Emily do something so hurtful to Lorelai,” someone wrote in one thread. “I feel like the minute their relationship is on track, Emily has to do something to make Lorelai feel like she can never trust her. I know Lorelai can be incredibly stubborn…but Emily never seems to think at ALL about the emotional fallout of her actions.”
