Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but was Kirk right? In the Season 6 premiere of Gilmore Girls, ‘The New and Improved Lorelai Gilmore‘, Miss Patty and Babette start off bombarding Luke with questions about how he proposed to Lorelai and he seemed uncomfortable telling them that Lorelai proposed to him. Later, when Kirk comes into the store to sell Luke a ring for Lorelai, he goes on about how disappointed Luke must be.
Kirk thinks that Lorelai stole his thunder, which she potentially did, but I’m not sure Luke would have cared if other people didn’t keep seeming disappointed on his behalf. Kirk continues, saying it must be embarrassing and upsetting for Luke:
“Now you’ll never have that moment. You won’t get to be the romantic one, to sweep her off her feet.”
Now, that may resonate with Luke. Remember their first date? That was a sweep-you-off-your-feet moment. In Luke fashion. Luke now seems determined to have his moment, but do you think this really shook him? Why and how?
Watch ‘The New and Improved Lorelai’:
Check out Gilmore Girls on TheWB.com here.
Image: TheWB.com
I think that in a way Luke did feel cheated about not being the one to ask. I think that if and when in the future (can we say movie?) it were to happen it would be a total Luke move. Having Lor do the asking is typical Lor but I think even Ms. Amy wouldn’t do that to us twice. Luke is a slow starter but now he knows what he wants and how to get it he would be the one to ask this time.
Definitely feeling you, Arieanna. Luke wouldn’t have felt any disappointment or embarrassment if the others hadn’t said anything. I think a part of Luke was still thrilled that he’d gotten Lorelai at all – SHE proposed to HIM, it’s the ultimate expression of how much she wants him, and has accepted him as the love of her life. Remember when Kirk and Luke appealed to the town elders about the Twickham house? “We all watched Luke pine for Lorelai for nine long years. He waited for her while she went through her many relationships. He won her.” We can’t forget all those significant sideglances over the years, at mentions of Christopher, Alex, or Jason. But Lorelai proposing was *her choosing him* – his only reaction was pure joy, till everyone else made it out like he was a wuss.
Lorelai definitely stole Luke’s thunder. It was obvious that he was getting ready to propose but as everything in his life he “ponders very slow” (it took him 8 years to ask Lorelai out!) while Lorelai is the spontaneous kind.
When she saw that Luke cared so much about Rory, she probably felt overwhelmed and she felt like it was right. He was the one, he was it. So she didn’t need to think.
And I definitely agree with Alli: Luke must have been disappointed that he didn’t do it first, he probably felt embarrassed in front of the townies but he was ultimately thrilled that SHE did it while they had never even mentionned the W-word before.
After going through so many relationships, being oblivious to Luke’s feelings for so many years, Lorelai chose HIM. She was making the decision that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And that speaks volume, IMO.
Pfff. Maybe Lorelai stole his thunder, but I don’t think Luke ever would have gotten around to popping the question. To me this fits in perfectly with my theory that Luke and Lorelai were not meant to be together.
I agree with Wonder Y, atleast as far as the proposal. I don’t think that Luke would have ever come around to asking Lorelai to marry him, atleast not for some time yet. He could never come around to asking her out yet alway felt hurt when she dated someone else. Even though I understand why Lorelai did ask Luke to marry her, I was still surprised because I remembered when Max proposed during the argument and Lorelai got mad saying that wasn’t the time or way to propose. I do, however, feel that Lorelai and Luke were meant to be together. Luke did get to make up for the lack of being the one to propose by giving her the ring. I would like to believe that he did it in a great way and I wish that they would have shown it. Let us actually see him be the man.
What?! Luke would have absolutely proposed (eventually). “What about the kids!”, anyone? He’s always thought about their relationship in the long term. At that town meeting, he declared “There’s not going to be a breakup!” – that right there carries some kind of marriage implication.
Remember: he took the initiative to pursue Lorelai in the fourth season. He bought the tapes. He listened, he worked at it. He asked her to the wedding and the movie night. And it paid off. Sure, at the time of Lorelai’s proposal Luke was content with the status quo and just happy that he *had* Lorelai, but he was definitely counting on them staying together. When the timing was right, he would have taken the same initiative and proposed.
I think it’s important to note that even if Luke had been planning on proposing soon – like, ring in pocket and everything – he would never have done it at that time. Things were hectic and chaotic; Rory had just gotten arrested and was dropping out of school; and she, Emily and Richard had all just turned their backs on Lorelai. Luke would never propose under those conditions. But for Lorelai, she needed stability and some kind of grounding, and she tends to get spontaneous during chaos – remember that spur-of-the-moment road trip to Harvard?
But yeah. Luke would have, eventually.
Alli, I couldn’t agree more with you.
And I truly believe that Luke and Lorelai were meant to be together, even though they went down a bumpy road…