Emily Gilmore Was The Best Thing About 'GG'

Be honest: No matter how much you loved Lorelai’s addiction to coffee or Rory’s penchant for bad boys, the real reason you so often tuned in to and were obsessed with Gilmore Girls was because of the head matriarch herself, Emily Gilmore. It took me until about Season 5 to realize that the real reason I was watching Gilmore Girls with such enthusiasm was not because of Jess’ brooding good looks. No, the real reason I was watching was to see what Emily Gilmore would do next. Would she love Lorelai or be incapable of showing it? Would she pull out some of her whip-smart retorts and totally burn some society lady or would she brown nose her way through the DAR’s annual ball? You never really knew how she was going to play it, mainly because Emily Gilmore is a character of great complexity.

She is built on contradictions, always doing and saying the opposite of what she means, and it was those contradictions that made her such an amazing character. There were some moments when your love for Emily Gilmore most like blossomed beyond what you ever thought possible before. Just when you thought you were Team Lorelai forever, Emily would whip up some amazing response or show a softer side that just about broke your heart, and you’d land squarely back on Team Emily where you started.

Because, if you ask me, Emily Gilmore was the best reason to watch Gilmore Girls most weeks, and these moments are some of her very greatest.

1. When She Hated Pennilyn Lott

A good woman never lets a grudge die, and a woman dating her husband back in the day is enough of a reason to have a grudge for me.

2. When She Tried Dating And Was Having None Of It

Sure, it broke your heart, but you also probably totally felt her in this moment. Dating sucks. A lot.

3. When She Played Cards With The Girl She Thought Was Luke’s Daughter

OK, so it ends up not being April, but her enthusiasm for that insipid game of cards really is adorable. She’s trying, people.

4. When Rory Moved Into The Pool House

It may have pissed Lorelai off and not have been the best thing for Rory, but getting a glimpse of how Lorelai and Emily’s relationship disintegrated through Emily and Rory’s relationship while they lived together was so great.

5. When She Tells Off Shira Huntzberger

And solidified her spot as your favorite Gilmore girl of all time.

6. When She Looked After Lorelai

Remember that time she had a back spasm and Emily refused to leave her side? Her true compassion really came out that day.

7. When She Was A Really Good Mother

Even though no one ever knew it but you, she always had the best in mind for both Lorelai and Rory. All of her manipulative ways were really just thwarted attempts at trying in her own misguided way to love them.

8. When She Set The Code For Her Panic Room

Which is basically your password for everything: 11111.

9. When She Read Really Good Books

Rory doesn’t get her love of reading from nowhere. In one episode Emily mentions having read The Crimson Petal and the White, which was called “the first great 19th-century novel of the 21st century.” High praise.

10. When She Always Had A Pitcher Of Martinis At The Ready

This woman knows how to live.

11. Whenever Her Mother-In-Law Visited

And she was basically you every time you go home for the holidays.

See what I mean? There really was no better reason to watch Gilmore Girls than Emily Gilmore herself. Not even to find out whether or not Rory and Jess would end up together forever.

Image: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy (3)