Written by David S. Rosenthal and directed by Lee Shallat-Chemel, the episode was originally broadcast on The CW in the United States on May 15, 2007.
In this episode, Rory gets a job offer, which forces her to cancel her plans to go on vacation with her mother, and the town of Stars Hollow organizes a farewell party for her.
Even cast members, including Kelly Bishop, Liza Weil and Edward Herrmann expressed their dissatisfaction with the conclusion.
"Bon Voyage" remained as a conclusion to Gilmore Girls until October 2015, when Netflix picked up the series for an additional four 90-minute episodes as a limited run.
Lorelai then talks about their plans for their one-month trip across the United States and, while Rory finalizes her 74 résumés, she announces the town is preparing a graduation party for her.
She announces to Lorelai and her grandparents Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann) that she has been offered a job as a reporter to cover Barack Obama's presidential campaign and his bid for the Democratic Party nomination for an online magazine, after another reporter dropped out at the last moment, and that she has to leave in three days for an unknown period.
The next day, the girls prepare for Rory's departure and have breakfast at Luke's and decide, to the town's disappointment to cancel the party as there is no time for it.
In April 2006, series' creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino did not renew their contract for a seventh season and left the show.
"[2] The original script underwent changes, which Graham commented: "My feeling was [the episode] just felt too light to me - even as a season finale.
[...] The show returned to feeling like one helluva coffee fix with friends: a sassy, low-key affair, high on caffeine and free of melodrama.
She called the kiss between Lorelai and Luke "a brief but super-charged moment, it was more than enough to satisfy" and disagreed with the disappointed cast members, saying: "the ending was all about new beginnings.
While admitting dialogues were of less quality during the final season, McNutt applauded Rosenthal for focusing on the mother-daughter relationship "which is the heart of this series, and which offer the strongest moments here.
"[9] PopMatters's Michael Abernethy gave the episode a 6-star rating out of 10, saying: "The 15 May series finale wisely left the door open for various futures.
He continued: "While it’s true that the dialogue wasn’t quite so rapid-fire during the final season, the series retained familiar elements.