5 most disliked Gilmore Girls episodes (that we all watch anyway)

If you're a tried and true Gilmore Girls fan, then you definitely have a handful of episodes that you dread getting to during your latest rewatch. Whether it's because of a particular character, an incident that occurs, or the vibes just being off, we all know the feeling of groaning "Ugh, not this one..." when it's on deck in our Netflix queue.

Just because you love a show, that doesn't mean you have to love everything that happens in that show. You can disagree with character decisions, you could find fault with the story, or you can just straight up dislike the episodes for whatever reason you feel. That doesn't take away from the greatness of the series or your love for it. After all, Lorelai and Rory have strong opinions, too.

Now, for the purpose of this list, the disliked episodes aren't being determined by their ratings on IMDb or the most popular picks on Reddit forums. These disliked episodes are based purely on personal preference, meaning based on your own preferences, you could actually like these episodes or believe that there are episodes that are even more disliked. So, what made our list?

"That Damn Donna Reed" (season 1 episode 14)

One of the biggest turn offs of "That Damn Donna Reed" has to be Rory buying into Dean's fantasy of the 1950s housewife. His archaic views are entertained by his girlfriend, who gets a chuckle and deserved playful teasing from Lorelai. Rory does the whole cooking, cleaning, dress with an apron thing, and while there's nothing inherently wrong with a teenage girl trying to find herself and her role within her own relationship — her first relationship — it's still off-putting.

Again, there's nothing wrong with homemaking (though romanticizing the 1950s is a whole other conversation), I've always felt that this episode highlighted the issues in Rory and Dean's relationship. Maybe it's just me, but I frequently saw Rory as the one to compromise for Dean. He rarely changed his views or met Rory in the middle. He was often insecure about Rory's independence and ambition and even more so when Rory wasn't spending the majority of her time with him. Being so, Rory doing Donna Reed cosplay for Dean adds to my frustration for him.

"Richard in Stars Hollow" (season 2 episode 12)

It's so easy to love Richard Gilmore. Even though Lorelai has a tense relationship with her parents, she has such a soft spot for her dad, and in turn, her dad has the softest spot of them all for her daughter. But even with all of that adoration going around, there's still a reason Lorelai tends to keep her parents at arm's length, and that's never been more on display than in the season 2 episode "Richard in Stars Hollow." As the title suggests, Richard visits Stars Hollow in the wake of his surprise retirement, and he goes from driving Emily crazy to driving Lorelai away.

He pesters Lorelai about not starting her day with grapefruit, criticizes how she conducts herself at work, and later picks a fight with Dean over the car he makes for Rory. Richard effectively spends his entire day passing judgment at Lorelai for basically everything she does in her life, overstepping boundaries under the guise of "constructive criticism," when said criticism was not requested. When Lorelai finally pushes back and defends herself, Richard makes her feel guilty about acquiescing to Emily's demand for a pity invite to get him off her hands. All in all, it's an irritating episode.

"How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod?" (season 5 episode 20)

Notice how there aren't any episodes from seasons 3 and 4 on this list? Anyway, onto season 5! The second to last episode of the season, "How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod?," features a Gilmore family dinner featuring Logan. Lorelai meets Rory's new boyfriend for the first time, and it's not a great first impression. Of course, Logan gets along swimmingly with Richard and Emily, as they're from the same world and he's able to charm them. That's a downside for Lorelai, but that's totally on her.

Logan swipes one of Emily's nicknacks as part of some game of stealing items from rich people's homes because they never notice (shocker: Emily notices!), Lorelai's understandably unnerved about Rory's choice in boyfriend. (I, too, share Lorelai's concern in this episode, and I'm one of Logan's biggest defenders.) The reason this episode has been disliked by fans, I think, is because it begins to show the cracks in Lorelai and Rory's impenetrable bond. It's in the very next episode when Rory gets arrested and all hell breaks loose. It's the calm before the storm, and it's bone-chilling.

"Twenty-One Is the Loneliest Number" (season 6 episode 7)

The season 6 entry on the most disliked Gilmore Girls episodes list goes hand-in-hand with the previous episode from season 5. If "How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod?" previewed the cracks in Lorelai and Rory's foundation, "Twenty-One Is the Loneliest Number" exemplified just how awful their split could make us feel. Watching Lorelai approach Rory like a stranger on her 21st birthday, and Rory welcoming her mother into her childhood home like a guest, was nothing short of a punch to the gut.

True, there might be episodes in season 6 that are more disliked by fans, but watching Rory turn a milestone age while in such a horrible place with her best friend is depressing. Not to mention, the episode also features Richard and Emily spinning out about the prospect of Rory and Logan having sex and the grandparents inviting their pastor for dinner. It doesn't feel good, any of it. In two more episodes, Rory returns to Yale and she makes up with Lorelai, but my goodness did those last few feud episodes make us go through some pain.

"Knit, People, Knit!" (season 7 episode 9)

For some fans, the entirety of season 7 could be featured on this list. There are a vocal bunch who dislike season 7 as whole, mainly because Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino were no longer involved in the series, and oh, yeah... Lorelai marries Christopher. Again, it's a lot to take in on the heels of Lorelai and Rory's rift in the previous season. But of all the unforgivable things Christopher has done, ruining a town festival might be his worst infraction.

"Knit, People, Knit!" takes place in the midst of a knitting marathon festival in Stars Hollow as the town raises money to rebuild the Muddy River Bridge. Christopher, being flush with his dead father's inheritance, donates all of the money needed to build the bridge and ends the knitathon before it really kicks off. Yeah, Lorelai was justified in being worried to bring Christopher around town. Between Luke and Anna's custody disagreements and Rory's confrontation with Marty, the only real redeeming quality of the episode is the hilarity of someone having a 2002-themed party in 2006.

All seven seasons and the revival miniseries of Gilmore Girls are available on Netflix.