12 plot holes and errors you probably never noticed on 'Gilmore Girls'

On season one, episode four, "The Deer Hunters," Rory (Alexis Bledel) drove herself to school after oversleeping on the morning of a test, and on her way to Chilton, a deer runs into her car. 

But perhaps more concerning is the fact that Rory was seemingly only 15 years old and she was driving a car by herself — she doesn't turn 16 until a few episodes later, "Rory's Birthday Parties."

In the state of Connecticut, where the fictional town of Stars Hollow is located, you must be 16 years old to get your learner's permit or driver's license. Even if she was 16, she would still need another licensed driver in the car, a law that rule-abiding Rory would be likely to follow even if she was running late for a test.

When viewers watch "Gilmore Girls" for the first time, they might think that they're seeing double because several supporting actors played more than one character throughout the series.

Actor Sherilyn Fenn played both Jimmy's girlfriend, Sasha, and April's mother, Anna. Alex Borstein played the Dragonfly Inn's crotchety harpist, Drella, and Emily's stylist, Miss Celine.

And Sean Gunn first appeared as Mick the DSL installer on episode two and "Swan Guy" on episode three before he eventually became the series regular Kirk.

On season one, episode three, "Kill Me Now," Babette (Sally Struthers) referred to her beloved, "260-year-old cat" Cinnamon as a "him." But two episodes later, "Cinnamon's Wake," Babette uses the pronoun "she" to describe the now-dead cat.

The minor error almost seems in character for Babette, who is one of the more absent-minded neighbors in Lorelai and Rory's small town of Stars Hollow.

Lane Kim (Keiko Agena), Rory's best friend, makes references to her parents (plural) throughout the entire original series, but viewers only ever meet her mother, Mrs. Kim (Emily Kuroda).

The character reminded a complete mystery until the "Spring" episode of the revival aired in 2016. Mr. Kim suddenly appeared on screen for a few short moments during the Stars Hollow International Spring Food Festival.

The cameo was most likely added as an inside joke for die-hard "Gilmore Girls" fans, but absolutely zero questions about the character were answered — other than the fact that he does, indeed, exist.

On season one, episode seven, "Kiss and Tell," Lane told Rory everything she had learned about her friend's new crush, Dean (Jared Padalecki), from his best friend.

One of the things she finds out is that Dean "is deathly allergic to walnuts." 

On the next episode of the show, "Love and War and Snow," Rory asks Sookie for a batch of her rocky-road cookies, a treat that is traditionally made with an assortment of nuts, including walnuts.

Rory later gives Dean these cookies and he seemed to be very enthusiastic about the fact that they were rocky road — a reaction that seems confusing if he's really allergic to the nuts.

Due to the fact that Dean doesn't end up in the emergency room, it's safe to assume one of the following things: the "Gilmore Girls" writers forgot about their line concerning his allergies, the cookies were made following an untraditional, walnut-free recipe, or Dean never actually ate the cookies Rory gave him. 

On season one, episode three, Loreli's (Lauren Graham) mother, Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop), pointed out that her dinner plates used to belong to Lorelei Gilmore the First, Richard's mother.

During that same episode, Richard also said: "Lorelai the First was my mother. She was an extremely accomplished equestrian, a distinguished patron of the arts, and she was also world-famous for her masquerade balls. She was quite a woman, my mother."

Throughout his monologue, he refers to her in the past tense as though she were dead.

But 15 episodes later on "The Third Lorelai," Rory's great-grandmother is alive, well, and terrorizing Emily. 

Lorelei the First, played by Marion Ross, made several more appearances before her character dies (seemingly for a second time) on season four, episode 16, "The Reigning Lorelai."

Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) is first introduced on the first episode of season two, "Sadie, Sadie." Luke (Scott Patterson), Jess' uncle, told Lorelei that the teenager's dad walked out on him and his mom two years prior, so, from this information, it seems like his dad left when Jess was around 14 or 15.

However, on season three, episode 20, "Say Goodnight, Gracie," Luke confronts Jess' dad, Jimmy, and says, "The last time I saw you is right after Liz gave birth. You were gonna go out and buy some diapers and meet us back at the apartment. Remember that? You went out, but you never came back."

This seemed to contradict Luke's earlier statement, implying that Jess's dad actually left when his son was a baby, not a teen.

Friday dinners with Emily and Richard are often a non-negotiable outing for Rory and Lorelei. 

On season one, episode 16, Rory attempts to get out of dinner to celebrate her anniversary with Dean, who has a big night planned out. Lorelai scoffs, knowing it will be tough to get out of dinner with her parents. 

As Lorelai goes to get the phone, a boom microphone drops for a quick moment. 

On the third episode of season two, "Red Light on the Wedding Night," Lorelai and Rory are holding coffee cups that appear to go from red to blue to red again in a matter of seconds while dining at Luke's.

Despite Lorelai's consistent affirmations that she and Rory are fairly broke, their lifestyle seems to contradict that.

The pair rarely, if ever, re-wear clothing on the show. They also order takeout from pizza joints and Chinese restaurants on almost every episode, which adds up.

Additionally, real-estate listing site Trulia estimated that Lorelei and Rory's Connecticut home was probably worth around $445,000. Plus, she renovated and fixed the house several times throughout the series. 

Although her parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore, are wealthy, Lorelei is prideful about the fact that she doesn't receive financial help from her parents — except when it comes to Rory's education. So all things considered, it's unclear how Rory and Lorelei can afford to live the way they do. 

During season five, Luke was told he must move his father's boat from a garage he had been renting. That plotline reveals that the boat had supposedly been in the garage for over a decade. 

However, when Luke previously went to the same garage on season four, episode 12, "A Family Matter" — no more than about a year earlier — there was no boat to be seen.

During an episode of "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," a great debate raged between the townspeople about whether or not Stars Hollow should remain on the septic system.

But way back on season one, when Rory is telling Dean about the town's tendency to go overboard with events, she says they held a monthlong celebration when they got off the septic system.

This story was originally published in April 2019 and most recently updated on Octover 25, 2024. 

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