Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Rory starts at Yale, where Paris turns out to be her roommate, and finds that college reading and deadlines are harder to manage than she expected. She begins writing for the Yale Daily News and tries to build a life beyond Stars Hollow. Paris begins dating her much older professor Asher Flemming. Back home, Lorelai and Sookie renovate the Dragonfly Inn, but delays and money worries force them to take catering work. Sookie has a baby, and Lorelai feels the extra weight of keeping the inn project moving.
Richard takes Jason Stiles into his insurance firm as a partner, and Jason and Lorelai start a relationship they hide from her parents. When a lawsuit threatens Richard’s business, he abandons Jason, who responds by suing; Lorelai ends their relationship rather than take Jason’s side in the legal fight. Richard and Emily’s own marriage also fractures into a separation. Dean marries Lindsay, though he still misses Rory, and later works on the Dragonfly construction crew as his marriage strains over money and Lindsay’s wish to buy a townhouse.
Luke’s sister Liz returns to town and marries T.J.; at their wedding Luke asks Lorelai to accompany him, and they dance, opening a path to a relationship. Jess comes back for his car and asks Rory to run away with him, but she refuses. At the Dragonfly’s test opening, Jason appears despite his breakup with Lorelai, and Luke tells her he is serious about dating her; they kiss. That night Rory sleeps with Dean, who is still married to Lindsay. Lorelai is upset when she learns what happened, and mother and daughter end the season fighting.