Luke Danes
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Portrayed by Scott Patterson
T.J. (brother in law)
April Nardini (daughter)
Jess Mariano (nephew)
Dula (niece)
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[edit] Character Description
Luke Danes is Stars Hollow's local diner owner. He has lived in Stars Hollow his entire life, and his dad's hardware store (Williams Hardware, in the middle of town) became his diner after his dad passed away. While his father was heavily involved in town events, Luke has resisted all of them, including most Town Meetings and the War Re-enacters. Luke attended Stars Holllow High where he Lettered in Track (hurdles), a successful team that went to the State Finals more than once. After his father died, Luke moved into the office above the diner and converted it to an apartment. He lived there alone until his nephew Jess is sent by his mother to live with Luke. Luke has an ongoing anamosity towards Stars Hollow's unofficial leader, Taylor Doose, who continually harasses Luke. Taylor opens an Old Fashioned Ice Cream shop next door, installing a viewing window between the two shops, without asking Luke's permission. Taylor also destroys the shop front of the Diner in Season 7 by causing a car to crash though the front window. The focal point of much of the show, however is Luke's long term love interest, Lorelai Gilmore. Since Lorelai doesn't cook, Luke feeds Lorelai and Rory. But their relationship runs deeper than that. From episode one, Luke and Lorelai have a chemistry that show writers acted on, Although it took four seasons for this relationship to eventuate. In season one, Luke's past flame, Rachel (who is "Elle McPherson pretty") returns to Luke's life. While happy to see her, he is apprehensive about what this reapperence means, as Rachel is an photographer and was never happy being in Stars Hollow, and left without a word previously. At the end of Season 1, Rachel leaves, citing another woman, Lorelai, as her reason. She could see that Luke Loved her even if he had never acted on it. However, Lorelai was engaged at the time and Luke didn't act. In Season 3, Luke dates Taylor's lawyer, Nicole; eventually marrying her while on a cruise. This marriage was a mistake and they divorce when Luke discovers Nicole is seeing another man. This discovery also results in Luke's arrest for beating up "the other man's" car. At the end of season 4, after a flippant remark about self help books by Lorelai, Luke buy's a book that makes him realise he is in love with Lorelai ("Luke Can See Her Face"), and after taking her to his sister's wedding, Luke kisses Lorelai on the opening of the Dragonfly Inn. In season 5, he takes her out on their first official date and tells her that he has saved a horoscope she gave him on the first day they met in his wallet ever since. He has been pining for her ever since he met her ("Written in the Stars").
At the end of season 5, Lorelai proposed to Luke, and he quickly accepted. However, their relationship became more and more strained throughout season 6 as Luke pushed away his commitment to Lorelai to deal with the confusion of his daughter, April, who appeared in his life as a 12 year old. He discovered his paternity when April conducted a science fair experiment to discover which of three men were her father. April is a daughter of Anna Nardini, and old girlfriend of Luke's. The inclusion of Anna into Luke's life caused much confusion for Luke who was unsure of how to combine his relationship with Lorelai with his blossoming relationship with his daughter. In the season 6 finale, Lorelai gives Luke an ultimatum - her or April. Luke panics, and cannot commit, and Lorelai walks away. In the last scene of Season 6, we find Lorelai waking up in bed with Christopher.
In Season 7, Lorelai starts dating Christopher and eventually gets married to him. The relationship between Luke and Lorelai is initially sour, especially after Lorelai tells Luke that she slept with Christopher, in a pivotal scene at the end of 7.01. Eventually, some reconciliation occurs, Lorelai ends her marriage with Christopher and begins to rebuild her relationship with Luke. This relationship takes a massive step forward when Lorelai needs Luke's help with purchasing a new car and he goes to great lengths to help her. Audiences see a glimmer of hope in episode "Lorelai? Lorelai?" where Luke returns to his signature blue baseball hat (a gift from Lorelai in season one) and a drunk Lorelai serenades Luke with "I Will Always Love You" at a karaoke party. The series ends with a kiss between Lorelai and Luke, after he worked all night to throw a goodbye party for Rory. What happens after that, we will never know.
[edit] Character Quirks
- Presented as a health nut concerned about Rory and Lorelai's unhealthy food habits, although this is toned down in later episodes.
- Has adverse reactions to hospitals (1.10)
- Kept his father's hardware shop as it was externally, but turned it into a Diner
- Hates town events but attends town meetings
- Always wears Flannel or Plaid Shirts, jeans and a backwards baseball hat
- Has broken his nose at least twice, the first time as a kid during his "hockey phase." (5.11)
- Gets frustrated and has regular tiffs with Taylor Doose.
[edit] Fan Reactions
[edit] What Fans Love about Him
- Manly.
- Handy.
- Kind.
- Always there for Lorelai and Rory and would do anything for them.
- Made Rory a coffee cake for her 16th birthday.
- Kept a Horoscope Lorelai gave him for 8 years.
- He waited for Lorelai and always loved her.
[edit] What Fans Hate about Him
He's grouchy. He's closed with his feelings. Inflexible.
The character of Luke was initially developed as a woman. [1]
