Gilmore Girls's cornerstone couple Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes have been through so much together during the 2000-2007 run of the TV show, as well as the revival Netflix series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which premiered on Nov. 25. In the new four episodes, viewers see the friends-turned-couple well into their romance — and trying to reconcile everyone else's expectations for their relationship with their own. By the conclusion of the revival, Luke and Lorelai's ending in the Gilmore Girls revival is so perfect. Stop now if you don't want spoilers for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Throughout the revival series, Luke and Lorelai explore having a child through surrogacy or adoption, franchising Luke's Diner as per the late Richard's will, therapy (with Emily's therapist), and keeping secrets from each other. It culminates in a public argument in Luke's Diner, in which Luke and Lorelai talk about how separate their lives are, even though they are together. After that, Lorelai decides to emulate Cheryl Strayed's Wild (the book, not the movie) and hike the Pacific Crest Trail (part of it, not the whole thing) in California. When she comes back to Stars Hollow, Luke pleads with him not to leave her.
In the kitchen of their house, he delivers the sweetest speech that encapsulates the evolution of their entire friendship and relationship:
This, right here, is all I will ever need. I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would happen. That you and me, that we would happen. But we did. Listen, I know I'm not the easiest guy in the world to build a life with, to share a house with, but there is no one who will be more here for you than me. I will never leave. I will never think about leaving. I will do whatever it takes to fix what's wrong.
In response to Luke, Lorelai tells Luke that she thinks they should get married — and Luke already has a ring ready. I'm not sure if it's the same ring from when they were engaged during the original series, but it's so sweet nonetheless. They decide to do the wedding at the same time as the Stars Hollow Harvest Festival on Nov. 5. But with all of the preparation stressing them out, Luke and Lorelai decide to elope, because it's Bingo Night and the town reverend is up late. So Luke and Lorelai tie the knot in a gorgeous late night ceremony in the town square that is a totally fitting next step in their long romance.
When Gilmore Girls first began in 2000, Luke and Lorelai were merely just friends — and series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino told Entertainment Weekly that she didn't originally intend to pair up the Stars Hollows couple. According to the interview, Luke was meant to be a woman named Daisy, but the network wanted Sherman-Palladino to add another male character, so Daisy became Luke. "We did a few shows and they just had chemistry," Sherman-Palladino told the publication. "It was the episode where they were in the market and Lorelai’s spying on Dean. Luke was there and they had this scene that didn’t mean anything."
But by the end of the series, Luke and Lorelai have meant everything to fans — and each other.
Images: Saeed Adyani (2)/Netflix
