By
Liz Hersey
Published 33 minutes ago
Liz Hersey is an Editor for ScreenRant's Classic TV team, editing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to rewatch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year.
With a passion for all things books, Liz frequently attends Toronto literary events and conferences, and loves interacting with her book lover community. In addition to being an avid reader of the romance and thriller genres, Liz is a writer of several short stories, and is currently at work on a young adult witch novel.
When she's not working, reading, or writing, Liz can be found seeing movies at her local cinema, attending live jazz events, or curling up on the couch to binge her favorite TV shows.
You can reach her at [email protected].
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While every Gilmore Girls fan has their favorite relationship, one of the show's most important is too often ignored. As fans, we also love dissecting Lorelai's relationship with Luke and choosing whether we're Team Dean, Jess, or Logan, while the Gilmore girls' close friendships are also a major component of the show.
Of course, no relationship is more important than Lorelai and Rory's tight mother-daughter bond, but Gilmore Girls also explores other familial complexities, particularly Lorelai's incredibly fraught relationship with her mother, Emily. Given the show's title, this makes sense, but there's another member of the Gilmore family who tends to be left out of the conversation.
Richard & Lorelai's Fractured Relationship Was Established In Gilmore Girls’ Pilot
Lorelai and Rory's fast-talking, tight-knit bond was established in Gilmore Girls' riveting first 10 minutes, and the pilot also went on to show how much distance Lorelai put between herself and her parents. Of course, Richard and Emily come back into Lorelai's life in a big way when she swallows her pride and asks them to help her pay for Rory's private school education.
One of Richard's most famous Gilmore Girls quotes is the condescending, "You need money," and he's all too happy to write a cheque and send Lorelai on her way. It's Emily who insists on Gilmore Girls' now-iconic Friday Night Dinners as a condition of the loan, seizing the opportunity to have her daughter and granddaughter back in her life, whereas in the pilot, Richard couldn't seem to care less.
When the night of the first dinner arrives, Richard behaves abhorrently to Lorelai, remarking that Rory must have gotten her intelligence from her father, Christopher. This is an incredibly callous thing to say to his only daughter, who single-handedly raised Rory herself while Christopher flitted in and out of their lives.
Typically, Emily is the one blamed for driving Lorelai away, and she certainly had a hand in shaping her daughter's trauma. But it's Emily who goes after Lorelai when she storms off, hurt at Richard's cutting words.
Granted, Emily more or less sides with Richard, but the pilot only further emphasizes that Lorelai's parents are thoroughly responsible for their fractured relationship, and how Emily is the only one trying — albeit badly — to repair it.
Richard Finally Gives Lorelai The Respect She Deserves In The Series Finale
Though Lorelai and Richard have their sweet moments throughout Gilmore Girls' seven seasons, they never fully heal their relationship. Richard is an old-fashioned man set in his ways, and he's never shy about vocalizing his disapproval of everything from how Lorelai conducts business to how she lives her life.
However, a couple of events in season 7 shift Richard's perspective dramatically — his heart attack and Rory's graduation from Yale. In Gilmore Girls' penultimate episode, at the graduation ceremony, Richard commends Lorelai and tells her that the moment is as much hers as it is Rory's. It's the closest thing to approval he's ever really shown his daughter.
But that's nothing compared to their interaction in the Gilmore Girls series finale. Stars Hollow plans to throw Rory a graduation party, but when torrential rain threatens the celebration, the whole town bands together to pitch in terms, which Luke sews into a giant tent.
Richard and Emily attend the party, and Richard, in particular, is bowled over by how Stars Hollow turned up in full force. He acknowledges that, while the event is in Rory's honor, everyone is really there to celebrate Lorelai. Richard even gets choked up when he tells his daughter, "It takes a remarkable person to inspire all of this."
These heartfelt words couldn't be further from the demeaning way Richard treated Lorelai in the pilot. While one acknowledgement of Lorelai's impressiveness isn't enough to wipe away the years of hurt and conflict, it was a huge step in the right direction — and the fact that this is Lorelai and Richard's final scene together is incredibly significant given future events.
Lorelai & Richard’s Mended Relationship Was Even More Important In Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
The announcement of Gilmore Girls sequel series, A Year in the Life, was bittersweet. Of course, the prospect of getting more time with these beloved characters was thrilling. However, Richard actor Edward Herrmann became the first Gilmore Girls cast member to pass away, as he died in 2014, two years prior to the release of A Year in the Life.
Given Richard's importance in Gilmore Girls, his death was written into A Year in the Life, and a major part of that storyline was Lorelai struggling to share a happy memory of her father with Emily. Though they did have some nice times together in Gilmore Girls, including the events of the series finale, Lorelai still harbored so much hurt over his lack of emotional support.
Of course, Lorelai is eventually able to recall a poignant moment she shared with Richard, and tells Emily about a time when she was 13 and had her heart broken by a boy. She skipped school and fled to the mall, where she ran into Richard, and instead of scolding and punishing her, he bought her a pretzel and took her to the movies, vowing to keep the afternoon a secret from Emily.
It's impossible not to shed a tear as Lorelai recounts this special memory, but the moment wouldn't have been as impactful if Richard hadn't shown her the level of respect and kindness he did at the end of Gilmore Girls season 7. When he was alive, Richard's relationship with Lorelai was always complicated, but in the end, it was also hopeful, and that deserves more acknowledgement.
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