The One 'Gilmore Girls' Scene That Sums Up Rory & Lorelai's Relationship So Perfectly

In Gilmore Girls, the relationship between Lorelai and Rory illustrates how mothers and daughters can vary between best friends and rivals, and sometimes are both in one day. More often than not, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel) are the best of friends. All of the cliches about BFFs knowing each other better than they know themselves apply, and there are so many scenes that showcase their close relationship. And out of all the show's episodes, the one Gilmore Girls scene that sums up Rory and Lorelai's relationship perfectly is the one when the two Gilmore girls call a Harvard alum when Rory's preparing for college.

The scene, from Season 3's episode "Application Anxiety", illustrates not just how Rory and Lorelai work so well together, but also how they clash. Rory desperately wants to go to Harvard, while Lorelai skipped the four-year college track and opted for night school after getting pregnant with Rory at 16. It's a major contrast between the two women, and so a scene in which they call up a Harvard alumnus to schedule an informational meeting for Rory is definitely loaded. As different as Lorelai is from Rory in this regard, she still wants to help her daughter achieve her dreams, and in the scene, Lorelai prods Rory to make the call immediately.

Rory, however, would rather wait and think about the potential lunch meeting and write a lengthy pro/con list first. But Lorelai uses her impulsive ways to get Rory to call the alumnus and schedule the meeting — well, kind of. Rory ends up getting nervous after dialing the number, and Lorelai then takes matters into her own hands by doing a hilarious impression of Rory while leaving a message for the Harvard alum.

As supportive as Lorelai is of Rory, the fact that Lorelai still turns the phone call into a silly moment sums up how she operates, which is both helpful and concerning throughout Gilmore Girls. It's always so much fun that Lorelai can make a joke out of anything, but she also often fails to take things seriously, which sometimes strains her relationship with Rory.

As such, the fact that Lorelai and Rory reach a rough patch in their relationship later in the show's run, during Season 6, is a heartbreaking but necessary period in their relationship. Without it, their co-dependence might have deteriorated into a Grey Gardens situation, which is something both Gilmores joke about during one hilarious moment in the show.

But back to the scene when Lorelai and Rory call the Harvard alumnus together. Even though it illustrates how the Gilmore duo can sometimes depend on each other a little too much, it also proves that Lorelai truly wants nothing more than to help her daughter get off to college. Not only that, but Lorelai does it all with her regular can-do attitude that perfectly counterbalances Rory's cautious demeanor. "What's the worst that can happen? We're bored and we blow a meal," Lorelai says in the scene, referring to the potential lunch meeting.

And of course, no Gilmore Girls scene would be complete without some grade-A comedy. After Rory makes the fake-out call to the Harvard alum., the phone rings back and the ladies listen to the message that Lorelai has recorded for the answering machine. It ends with the line, "Don't commit rock and roll suicide, just crank a message at the feedback," meant for people calling to reach Lane Kim about an audition for her band. And after Lorelai gives her overly breathy imitation of Rory, the two go with Lorelai's hilarious impression and pretend they're named Trixie McBimbo and Bambi McBimbo. No matter what the Gilmore girls are doing, they always find a way to have fun with it.