‘Gilmore Girls’: 3 Times Sookie St. James Was a Better Friend Than Lorelai Gilmore

Gilmore Girls besties Lorelai Gilmore and Sookie St. James were quite the iconic duo. They became fast friends when Sookie accidentally chopped off the tip of her finger while working at the Independence Inn and Lorelai took her to the hospital. The two took on the world together for years after that, even going on to become business partners at the Dragonfly Inn.

Lorelai and Sookie always supported each other in their endeavors. However, as many Gilmore Girls fans have noticed, their friendship seemed unbalanced at times. In some cases, Sookie put much more effort into their bond than Lorelai did. Here are a few times when Sookie was a better friend than Lorelai.

Sookie St. James always told Lorelai Gilmore the hard truth

We all need a friend who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. That’s how Sookie was to Lorelai, even though Lorelai often didn’t want to hear it. For example, in season 1 episode 11, “Paris Is Burning,” Sookie recognized a pattern in Lorelai’s relationships. She pointed out that Lorelai often bailed on her boyfriends when things started to get serious, including Max Medina (Scott Cohen).

This led Lorelai to deliver one of her meanest comments to Sookie: “When did you become a relationship expert? You haven’t been in a relationship in years.” Thankfully, Lorelai quickly apologized for being out of line.

Sookie continued to offer her relationship opinions throughout Gilmore Girls’ seven seasons, but she always seemed hesitant. That could be out of fear that Lorelai would lash out again. And though Lorelai never made another rude comment as she did in season 1, she did often get defensive when Sookie was just trying to show Lorelai another perspective.

Sookie dropped everything to help Lorelai on multiple occasions

Sookie definitely did her fair share of favors for Lorelai over the years. She often dropped everything to bring Lorelai some kind of homemade dish, whether it was a feast for Lorelai’s parents or catered dishes for Cinnamon’s wake.

Sure, fans didn’t always see what Sookie was up to off-camera — she could have been completely free and available. However, in season 5 episode 12, “Come Home,” Sookie cooked last-minute for Emily Gilmore’s (Kelly Bishop) bachelorette party after she had just put Davey down for bed. She was likely running on very little sleep but still sacrificed rest to help Lorelai.

On the other side of things, Lorelai sometimes hesitated to do small favors for Sookie. When Sookie wanted her to double date with Jackson Belleville (Jackson Douglas) and Rune (Max Perlich) in season 1 episode 12, “Double Date,” Sookie had to really convince Lorelai for her help. Lorelai also made it clear that night she really, really didn’t want to be there.

Sookie made an effort to bring Lorelai and Rory Gilmore together during their Yale fight

Finally, Sookie tried to help Lorelai mend her relationship with Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) when the two stopped speaking during their Yale fight. In season 6 episode 4, “Always a Godmother, Never a God,” Sookie invited both Lorelai and Rory to become her kids’ godparents.

Lorelai knew right away why Sookie wanted them both at the baptism. And yet, she thanked Sookie by interrupting the ceremony to argue with Rory. Sookie laughed off the incident, but many fans thought she should never have tolerated that behavior from Lorelai.