Our supercaffeinated recaps have brought us to the middle of the third season, and an important Gilmore Girls milestone: Rory is getting closer and closer to high school graduation. On top of that, Rory and Jess are officially dating, Rory and Lorelai attend four Thanksgiving dinners, Richard’s mother decides to move back to town, and Lorelai starts seeing someone new. These ladies never have a dull moment, do they? Which, honestly, is probably for the best because watching Lorelai and Rory paint their nails might not make for the most compelling television… No, I’d watch that.

Anyway! Let’s discuss the highlights from the middle of season three.

Maximum Eating Effort

When I go back to rewatch single episodes of Gilmore Girls, “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving” usually wins. Lorelai and Rory were invited to four Thanksgiving dinners and attended all of them. I like to eat, and I love to watch this episode to marvel at their incredible skill at putting food away. Yes, I know they’re fictional characters, but I can still admire the mother and daughter dream team. I have so much to learn from them.

Aside from multiple feasts and some amusing bits with a deep-fried turkey, the subplot featuring Kirk and his new cat, also named Kirk, never fails to crack me up. His feline was testy, picky, and violent. It was pushed to extremes for humor, but honestly, I can totally picture a cat being that level of mean. If you’ve ever seen the glimmer of death in your cat’s eyes, you understand this feeling.

The episode also touched upon an important point for Rory and Lorelai. Rory applied to Yale as one of her back-up schools but didn’t tell her mom. When it came out at Richard and Emily’s, Lorelai lost it. It was too over the top, too selfish—it’s territory Lorelai steps into on a regular basis, but she came across as especially irrational on the Yale topic.

Favorite quote: “I ate tofurkey! How do you think I feel?” – Lorelai

Babies New and Old

Ready to be slapped across the face with emotion? Of course you are. “Dear Emily and Richard” has that effect. It’s one of the heaviest and rawest installments of the series (and it’s coming not long after “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?”). As Sherry went into labor with her and Christopher’s baby, we were treated to flashbacks showing what it was like when Lorelai found out she was pregnant. We heard how Lorelai’s and Christopher’s parents discussed what to do about the baby without consulting them, and how Emily was absolutely impossible.

The most heartbreaking part? Lorelai thought she had to deal with the birth by herself and went to the hospital alone when she went into labor. When Emily found out, she didn’t arrive with a kind word and supportive tone. Nope. Instead she berated Lorelai as the young teen was being wheeled down the hallway on a hospital stretcher. Man. It was rough to watch Emily’s behavior, even if you try to rationalize it by thinking about her fear and disappointment. Poor Lorelai.

Favorite quote: “If a horse-drawn carriage shows up here, my throwing up will be eternal.” – Jess

Not Being That Girl

Rory made her choice about Jess a few episodes ago, but “Face-Off” brought the first time we saw her maybe regret it. The fact that Dean treated her better doesn’t necessarily mean she should have stayed with him if he’s not who she wanted, but Jess might not quite be Rory material. He wasn’t about making concrete hang-out plans, and the result was him giving just enough information for Rory to assume they were going out—she ended up sitting by the phone instead. I think many of us can relate to Rory’s frustration.

After Jess didn’t get in touch for two weekend nights in a row, Rory happily gave him what for in an answering machine message (we call them voicemails now). However, she backed down from her stance when Jess surprised her with tickets to a concert. Ugh Jess. Ugh Rory. None of this is right. And it wasn’t helped by Rory seeing Dean with his new girlfriend. She seemed to forget breaking up meant Dean would move on as well. I adore the Gilmores, but man, they’re skilled at only thinking about themselves.

Favorite quote: “‘Just do it’ takes on a whole new meaning doesn’t it?” – Lorelai

Think back to season three and which episodes you loved the most and then tell me about them in comments. I’d especially love to hear your favorite quotes from them!

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IMAGES: Warner Bros., jillianakajill, Gilmore Gifs, missmegrose, Friday Night Dinner