Love is in the air as Stars Hollow celebrates their Founders Day Firelight Festival! In the midst of all this, we finally meet the mysterious Rachel. Rory and Dean celebrate their 3-month anniversary while Emily concocts a ridiculous set-up for Lorelai. Unfortunately, the evening does not end at all romantically for our Gilmore Girls.

Rory’s estranged father shows up out of the blue, wreaking havoc on the Gilmore Girls’ lives. Emily invites Christopher and his parents to a disastrous Friday Night Dinner that brings back old feelings for Lorelai and Christopher. All of the chaos causes Lorelai to forget about her paint night with Luke.

When Dean reveals that he likes the idea of the traditional 1950s housewife, Rory decides to teach him a lesson. Also, Lorelai persuades Luke to repaint the diner, and an unexpected guest shocks the Girls.

Rory gets stuck on a debate team with Paris, Madeline, and Louise. In an effort to help frenemies become friends, Lorelai invites them all to a Bangles concert in New York City with her and Sookie! Also, Lorelai organizes a charity yard sale and learns about Luke’s past love, Rachel.

Lane begs Rory to have a double date with Dean and Dean’s friend. This leads to some trouble when they are caught by a frantic Mrs. Kim. Also, we meet Jackson’s cousin, Rune, for the first time when he, uninvited, shows up at Jackson’s doorstep. This leads to an extremely awkward and terrible double date with Jackson and Sookie and Lorelai and Rune. AND we get our first real hint at a possible Luke-Lorelai romance!

As the relationship with Rory’s teacher, Max, grows more serious, Lorelai panics and decides to end it. But her attempt to break up with him during Parents' Day at Chilton causes even more trouble at school for Rory.

We pick up right where the last episode left off, with Rory and Lorelai just having had a huge fight with no reconciliation. At their Christmas dinner with the Gilmores, Richard has a medical emergency that brings up difficult memories and regret for Lorelai. Fortunately, Luke is there to lend some emotional support.

Chilton is having its first formal dance of the year, and Rory is nervous about asking Dean to go with her as she’s uncertain of the nature of their relationship. What begins as a fairytale evening ends up opening old wounds between Emily and Lorelai, and creating a serious rift between Lorelai and Rory.