Gilmore Girls’ Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes’ Complete Relationship Timeline: Platonic Pals to Endgame

Credit: Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Gilmore Girls' Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes' Complete Relationship Timeline: Platonic Pals to Endgame

They’re “all in!” Throughout Gilmore Girls’ tenure, eager fans watched lovable grump Luke Danes pine for leading lady Lorelai Gilmore until he eventually won her heart.

“I am always, always, always going to go with the very first time that we see those two together in the diner,” Scott Patterson — who portrayed the Stars Hollow diner owner for seven seasons on The WB series — exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2021 of his favorite scene opposite Lauren Graham’s Lorelai. “And she comes up and I say, ‘You have a problem, you know, how many cups?’ … It says everything about the relationship. It says everything about the sexual tension between the two and the way she played it, it was just absolute perfection. And it was the moment I realized that I was going to have a lot of fun working with Lauren and that the work was going to be on a very high level.”

The “I Am All In” podcast host added at the time: “That’s what you hope to get, a partner that’s that skilled and scene present in the scene.”

Gilmore Girls was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Daniel Palladino, and originally ran for seven seasons between 2000 and 2007. Netflix later revived the beloved dramedy for a four-episode revival, titled A Year in the Life, in November 2016. The show introduced dedicated fans to the mother-daughter pair of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) in their quirky small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Melissa McCarthy, Jared Padalecki, Milo Ventimiglia and Matt Czuchry also starred.

In addition to balancing life as a single mom to 16-year-old Rory and running the local town inn, Lorelai is frequently searching for her ideal partner. Through the years, the Dragonfly Inn co-owner dated the likes of Max Medina (Scott Cohen), Jason “Digger” Stiles (Chris Eigeman) and Rory’s father, Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe), before she finally admits she has feelings for the ever-dependable Luke.

“[Luke's] gruffness brings out [Lorelai’s], sort of, flirtatiousness,” the Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist alum told Entertainment Weekly in November 2016. “There’s a chemistry there. Over time they really connect. They need each other as balance; she lightens him up and he roots her a little bit, but it took a while to get there.”

Luke and Lorelai finally confessed their feelings for one another during season 4, but it still took a while for the duo to take the next step. By the Netflix revival, fans learned that the twosome eventually wed in the finale.

“We did it in one of these four [Netflix] chapters,” Patterson exclusively teased his favorite scene with Graham to Us in August 2016. “There are two that are penultimate Luke and Lorelai scenes. It will be the scenes to end all Luke and Lorelai scenes. They are just fantastic. I haven’t seen them, but I’ve been told.”

Scroll below to revisit Luke and Lorelai’s sweet journey to happily ever after:

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Keeper of the Coffee

The series — which later aired its final original seasons on The CW — began with Lorelai entering Luke’s Diner, pleading with Luke to pour her another cup of coffee. Already well-established friends, Luke was hesitant to feed Lorelai’s caffeine addiction since she already drank multiple cups at home.

While the pilot's diner scene was the pair’s first onscreen interaction, the characters’ story first began eight years earlier. Luke recounted in season 5 that Lorelai, in a hurry, stormed into the diner asking for coffee and interrupted his daily service. She asked him for his birthday, found his coordinating star sign and horoscope in the local paper and scribbled: “You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she will go away.”

Credit: Netflix

Just Friends

Throughout seasons 1 and 2, Lorelai remained unaware of Luke’s affections as she flitted between her various relationships. Luke was always in her corner — both in and out of the diner — to assist in any capacity, including when he led a search for a loose baby chick in her house.

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Always There

Lorelai’s estranged father, Richard Gilmore (Herrmann), suffered a heart attack during season 1’s Christmas episode. Despite an ongoing feud with both her father and mother Emily (Bishop), Lorelai was frazzled thinking of his mortality. Lorelai, who spent the holiday festivities at the diner eating a Santa Burger made by Luke, found solace in her pal after she received the news. Luke even drove Lorelai to the hospital without a second thought, waiting with her until Richard was alert and stable post-surgery.

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New Love?

Unaware of Luke’s intentions, Lorelai eventually sparked a connection with one of Rory’s teachers at the Chilton School, Max Medina. After an on-and-off romance, the pair got engaged in season 2. Luke, ever a supportive friend, even carved a wooden chuppah for the nuptials. (Lorelai eventually broke off her engagement after realizing she wasn’t fully in love with Max.)

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Luke Meets Nicole

Luke tried to move on as well, connecting with lawyer Nicole Leahy (Tricia O’Kelley), who joined the show during season 3. Nicole was hired by the ever-present Town Selectman Taylor Doose (Michael Winters) to handle contracts for his forthcoming candy shop. Luke and Nicole spontaneously eloped off-camera during an Alaskan cruise before eventually getting a divorce.

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Always Lorelai

Fresh off his divorce, Luke was willing to put in the work to find love, thanks to a self-help tape. After visualizing Lorelai’s face while listening, Luke understood the extent of his feelings. He first asked Lorelai out in season 4’s “Last Week Fights, This Week Tights” episode during the Renaissance Faire-themed wedding of his sister Liz Danes (Kathleen Wilhoite) and T.J. (Michael DeLuise). The pair shared a sweet waltz and planned a second date to the movies, which Lorelai couldn't stop thinking about days later.

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Sealed With a Kiss

The big one! Lorelai invites her loved ones for a test-run weekend of the Dragonfly — including Luke, who invested in the property — during the season 4 finale. After presenting Lorelai with a beautiful bouquet, Luke works up the nerve to kiss his crush after urging her to “just stand still.” However, their moment is cut short by a naked Kirk (Sean Gunn) running across the lobby.

“It was a big deal on set and it was a big moment. There were a lot of people from Warner Bros. — executives — that came on the soundstage to watch that moment,” Patterson recalled to Us of the smooch in January 2018. “Because that was a big deal and everybody knew it. And we just wanted to get it right. I know it’s hard to screw up a kiss but there is a little more that goes into it. You don’t want to do it too hard or too passionately. You want the right tone of the kiss.”

Credit: Netflix

Finally Together

The pair embark on their first official date in season 5’s “Written in the Stars” episode, where Luke reveals that he kept the horoscope from their first encounter in his wallet the whole time. While the twosome intended to keep their romance private from the town, diner patrons put two-and-two together when Lorelai came downstairs for coffee in nothing but Luke’s signature flannel shirt.

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Needing Space

After a swoon-worthy relationship start, the pair hit a rough patch at Emily and Richard’s vow renewal party. Emily, thinking the Stars Hollow native was an unsuitable match for her only daughter, schemed to invite Christopher to the ceremony to get in the middle of the budding romance. Chaos soon erupted when Luke found out the truth, revealing he needed space. The pair broke up, dividing the town into two respective camps.

Credit: Netflix

Ready to Wed

While Lorelai was still furious with Emily for breaking up her and Luke, the Gilmore matriarch thought if she could speak with Luke, all would resume as normal. Turns out, Emily’s monologue about not standing in his way anymore worked, and he promptly reconciled with Lorelai. Their relationship continued to heat up, getting engaged in season 6.

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April in the Middle

Despite Lorelai and Luke planning a June 3 wedding and renovating her beloved house, things took a turn when the unexpected arrival of the daughter he never met breezes into town. While Luke gets to know April (Vanessa Marano), he hides the paternity shocker from his fiancée. Lorelai eventually finds out after she stops by the diner and sees April refilling salt shakers. As a result, the engaged pair get into an explosive fight in the town square.

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The Ultimatum

The couple postponed their nuptials while Luke got to know his daughter better, however, Lorelai felt excluded. In the season 6 finale, she issued her beau an ultimatum of eloping at that precise moment. Instead of jumping into their romance, Luke hesitated and Lorelai walked away.

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Not Too Late?

The next day, Luke realized he did not want to lose his better half and drove up to her house with a fully packed trunk of travel supplies for a potential elopement. Lorelai told him it was too late and that she slept with Christopher — who Luke had a longstanding feud with — the night before. Luke silently left her house as they went their separate ways. (It was revealed in the following episode that Luke drove to Christopher's Boston apartment where he sucker-punched Lorelai's ex.)

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Going Their Separate Ways

The former Independence Inn manager went on to date Christopher, who was now a single father to dad Gigi, during season 7. (Christopher shared the toddler with ex-fiancée Sherry Tinsdale.) While embarking on a trip to Paris with GiGi, the high school sweethearts spontaneously tied the knot. Lorelai and Christopher eventually split after she wrote a character letter on Luke’s behalf regarding his custody arrangement of April, in which she revealed her true feelings.

Credit: Netflix

One More Chance

Luke and Lorelai eventually go back to being friends before sharing a sizzling kiss at Rory’s college graduation party in the season 7 finale.

Credit: Netflix

They Do!

The pair were living in domestic bliss upon the Netflix revival’s premiere, even looking into potential surrogacy options to have a biological child together. They eventually wed in the finale.

“I think we will obviously be together. These two — we’re going to end up in our 90s — and I hate to sound morbid but it’s going to be one of those things where we are so connected that once she passes or I first then she is going to pass one minute later,” Patterson exclusively told Us in January 2018 of the beloved duo. “It’s going to be the ultimate romantic ending for us. And I hate to even put that out there because I think these two are so eternal and so universal.”