‘Gilmore Girls’: 3 Times Emily Gilmore Was Absolutely Awful to Lorelai Gilmore

Lorelai Gilmore took a rough situation and turned it into a life she truly enjoyed. Her life in Stars Hollow, with Rory, was seemingly picturesque. While Lorelai seemed happy enough with how things turned out, it was clear her mother, Emily Gilmore, was not. In fact, the friction between Emily and Lorelai was one of the most enduring Gilmore Girls storylines. While Emily had plenty of great qualities, there were moments when she was truly awful to Lorelai.

When Rory went missing after a dance, Emily was awful to Lorelai

During the first season of Gilmore Girls, Rory goes to a dance with her then-boyfriend, Dean Forrester. At just 16, the duo was in the early moments of their relationship. Emily showed up to see Rory off, but when it became evident that Lorelai had seriously hurt her back, she hung around. This sweet moment was undermined when Rory doesn’t show up at home, and Emily tells Lorelai she’s a terrible mother and that Rory is going to end up pregnant.  

So, sure, panic set in because Rory was missing, but Emily failed to realize that Lorelai was also panicked and worried. Essentially calling Lorelai a horrible mother because of something Rory did was a pretty low blow, even for Emily, who, at times, could be pretty harsh. Emily wasn’t interested in apologizing for the low blow, either.

Emily effectively broke up Luke and Lorelai, then couldn’t figure out why Lorelai was mad

Emily is the perfect example of someone who can’t seem to mind their own business. She was so dismayed by Lorelai’s relationship with Luke Danes that she tried to break them up by enlisting Christopher Hayden to express his feelings. Christopher fell into the trap, and, for all intent and purposes, Emily did manage to break up Luke and Lorelai. That’s pretty bad, but that fact that she couldn’t fathom why Lorelai was so angry might be worse.

Emily was a smart woman by all accounts. She was educated, poised, and had a knack for throwing great parties. Considering all of that, it’s pretty shocking that she had so little self-awareness that she couldn’t understand how her behavior was not only hurtful but totally out of line. Richard’s insistence that he understood why she did what she did wasn’t his finest moment, either.

Emily held Lorelai’s teen motherhood against her for year

Everyone gets it, Lorelai getting pregnant at 16 wasn’t what her family envisioned for her. Lorelai refusing to marry the father of her child seemingly made it worse. Emily’s way of managing the issue, however, was pretty rough, and it was evident that she was still bitter about the situation for decades, even after she began developing a close relationship with Rory.

Disappointment is one thing, but the little digs at Lorelai regarding her pregnancy, her life, and the men she chooses to date, takes things in a toxic direction, surmised Reddit users. It’s safe to say that Richard, Emily, and Lorelai probably could have benefited a great deal from family therapy.