In Gilmore Girls, Rory and Lorelai may be good people... but they aren't always honest people, and sometimes they lie for no reason at all.
Lorelai and Rory Gilmore are fast-talking, pop-culture-loving coffee addicts from Stars Hollow. Throughout Gilmore Girls, the effect these two women had on those who knew them was an unspoken topic of conversation. There was always something about Lorelai and Rory that drew people to them. And while they were good people deep down, they weren’t always truthful (even to each other).
For whatever reason, whenever Lorelai and Rory had trouble speaking their minds or admitting the truth, they would lie. Knowing how close they are to each other, it was especially shocking when they were dishonest with each other. But fans can’t help but notice how unnecessary their lies were at times.
For Rory's 16th birthday, Dean gifted her a hand-made bracelet. Rory adored it and apparently wore it all the time. But in 'Lost & Found', Dean realized she wasn't wearing it. Instead of being shocked at its disappearance, Rory lied and said she took it off because she had a rash. This concerned Dean but he expected her to wear it again when her rash was healed. In reality, however, Rory should have just told him that she lost it! There was no point in lying about something that was an understandable accident.
When Rory had the house to herself, she was excited for a quiet night at home. She told Dean ahead of time that she was home alone and wanted it that way. But her quiet night was interrupted by a frazzled Paris and a lonely Jess. Jess showed up with food and claimed it was from Luke. Instead of leaving, he stayed with the girls and had dinner with them.
When Dean surprised Rory, she told him lied to him on the phone about what was going on. This made things worse when Dean showed up at her house and found both Paris and Jess there. Paris later covered for Rory and told Dean that Jess was there because of her... If Rory was honest with Dean and told him what happened from the start, she wouldn't have felt such guilt over it.
When Christopher's father died, Lorelai and Rory weren't necessarily on good terms with him. Lorelai knew she had to make it right, though, and showed up at Christopher's house with a bottle of tequila to drown their sorrows. Later, she and Rory lied about their whereabouts to Luke so that he wouldn't know about what happened with Christopher.
On the night of Emily and Richard's vow renewal, Lorelai quickly told Luke that she spent a night drinking with Christopher and apologized for omitting the truth. Luke was shocked and didn't understand why she kept that night from him. It was her secrecy that made Luke's guard go up, especially as she did nothing wrong.
The problem with Lorelai and Rory is that they don't always lie outright. They sometimes shade the truth and ignore relaying the full story. This still creates problems, however.
When Lorelai was with Max, she never told him that she was having doubts about their relationship. Lorelai should have called the whole thing off after her bachelorette party but instead, she called off the wedding, never told Max her reasoning, and fled town. Not being honest with her fiance was just as bad as a lie.
As close as Lorelai and Rory are, Rory had a hard time going to her mom when she was having relationship issues. It was as if her guilt was too much to bear and it was hard to speak the truth out loud. She wasn't forthcoming with Lorelai when she had a crush on Jess while with Dean. Even when Lorelai brought it up numerous times, Rory ignored it. She then never told her mom about the concert she and Jess went to after he stood her up on a Friday night. Her fears made it hard to speak the truth.
When Lorelai's former childhood friend, Jason, started working for her dad, the two friends started a secret romance. Jason wanted to be upfront about their relationship with Richard and Emily but it was Lorelai who wasn't ready. She was afraid of what they would do and say about her new relationship and kept it from them. The two lied to the Gilmores about being single and not knowing much about each other, which ended up biting them in the behind. Emily and Richard felt like fools and shunned Lorelai for her lies.
When Rory turned 21, Emily and Richard found out that she was potentially sleeping with Logan. As a (well-intentioned) result, they arranged dinner with a reverend to talk to Rory about her virginity. The reverend told Rory that her virginity was the "ultimate gift." Rory was refreshingly honest and told him that she has already had sex. When she told Logan about it, she told him that he had her "ultimate gift," implying that he was the first man she slept with. However, viewers all know Rory lost her virginity to Dean.
In "Christopher's Return," Lorelai had a plan with Luke to paint Luke's Diner. It doesn't sound like a monumental plan but it was for Luke. Luke wasn't comfortable painting his diner to begin with, but felt comfortable enough to do it with Lorelai. Sadly, Lorelai missed their paint date because she was with Christopher. When Luke asked her what happened, she started out with a lie; claiming she fell and "busted" something. Luke knew Lorelai well enough to know she was lying, which made it hurt even more.
When Dean and Jess erupted in a fight over Rory at a house party, the house was left in shambles. Things were broken, the police were called, and both Dean and Jess were injured. When Lorelai heard about the house party, Rory played it cool and didn't tell her mom the whole truth of what happened. It wasn't until later that Lorelai found out that the fight was between Dean and Jess, and it was over her daughter. It's obvious that Rory was embarrassed over it but why would she lie to her mom over it? Lorelai didn't care about the fight and wasn't mad. It was unnecessary to keep it from her.
After the demise of her relationship with Max, Lorelai should have learned from their time together and done better in her future relationships. But as viewers saw, when she and Christopher gave their romance another try, she continued lying to herself and to him. She wasn't ready to move out of Stars Hollow but entertained house shopping with him; she wasn't ready to get married but did it anyway; she didn't want to keep it from Rory but did it anyway. Lorelai lied to Rory, Christopher, and most importantly herself. This made their divorce all the harder.
