Gilmore Girls Season 1, Episodes 3-4: Rory's Golf Day and That Brutal D Grade Have Us Fully Hooked

We are still deep in our first watch of Gilmore Girls, and Episodes 3 and 4 gave us two very different but equally satisfying stories: Rory's surprisingly fun golf outing with her grandfather Richard, and the gut punch of her getting a D on her first Shakespeare paper at Chilton.

If you are a longtime fan wondering how newcomers react to these early episodes, our verdict is simple: the family dynamics and the writing are what is winning us over so far.

Rory and Richard's golf day wins us over

We loved watching Rory get roped into golfing with her grandfather after Emily manipulates the situation so neither of them can say no. What stood out to us is how Richard barely knew Rory going in and, based on the men in the steam room comparing granddaughters who are getting tattoos or running wild, seemed to expect a typical difficult teenager. Instead his pride creeps out as he brags about her 4.0 GPA and her Chilton enrollment. We both said we would give a lot for a day like that ourselves. Put plainly: "I would give my left arm for one more day with either of my grandfathers if I'm honest." We also talked about how grandparent relationships are naturally different from parent relationships since grandparents do not have to handle discipline, and we agreed Emily's motivations are messy but her heart seems to genuinely be in the right place when it comes to Rory.

Rory's D grade and the deer strike felt painfully real

The Shakespeare test storyline hit us hard. Rory studies obsessively, oversleeps, gets literally hit by a deer on the drive to school, and still misses the exam because Chilton starts class promptly. What we appreciated most is that the show did not magically fix it. Headmaster Charleston refuses to bend, and even Emily never swoops in to smooth things over. There was an admission, too: "It felt good, I almost wanted them to get it more... I wanted her to beat the crap out of Paris, but that would have been bad for her and the school." We also connected it to our own school experiences with a rough grade, and agreed the show captures how devastating a single D feels when you have always been the top student.

New teacher Max Medina makes a strong first impression, with one flaw

We liked Max Medina right away for eventually working out extra credit for Rory, though we criticized him for not standing up to the headmaster in the moment, calling him "a withering witherer" in that scene. We are curious whether he sticks around.

The craft keeps impressing us

We also praised the show's cinematography, noting a few soft focus two shots, and singled out the witty, fast paced dialogue and small bit characters, like the waiter with the goatee and the restaurant critic subplot, as some of the funniest material yet.

Do you think Emily should have stepped in to help Rory after the missed test, or was it right that she stayed out of it?