Gilmore Girls S01 E20 – Fights and forgiveness

Previously: Lorelai helps Rachel and Luke’s relationship.
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Blinvy: Hey all, I’m back, I’ve got my “Good at TV” shirt on, and it’s time to recap another episode of Gilmore Girls. Let’s do this.

This episode starts us at Luke’s where Lorelai is telling a story about how a magician ripped up her $20 bill and had to pay her back in quarters. Rory barely reacts to this story because she’s busy yawning over lack of sleep. Lorelai flags down some coffee and tries to wake Rory up by playing a game. The game in question is called 1,2,3, in which they pick three men and have to choose one of them to be their “husband.”

Lorelai is first and passes on an older man because she’s “not Anna Nicole Smith” and she passes on a much younger guy because she’s “not Mary Kay Letourneau” and I chuckle at the dated references. Luke pops in at this moment and asks what they’re looking at, but regrets his question when Lorelai starts explaining their little game. Rory asks if Luke is number three (YES!) (G: YAY NUMBER THREE) but he stops the idea in its tracks (boo).

Rory says that guy number three is crossing the street and all three of them look out the window, even though Luke has no idea why he’s looking. The man in question is Kirk. Rory jokes that he’s her new dad, and Luke gives a bewildered Kirk his congratulations. Kirk quickly realizes that he’s the butt of some kind of joke and starts panicking that a kick me sign is on his back again. I kind of feel terrible for Kirk, it’s weird. It started out as kind of a funny bit but the more Kirk starts panicking about the sign on his back while everyone laughs, the more I feel bad about laughing at him. Poor guy.

Kirk storms out and now it’s Rory’s turn. The very first guy to walk by for her is Dean. Ooops. Rory is no longer cheered up and is sad-face all over again.

WHERE YOU LEAD!

Independence Inn. Max is calling for Lorelai but Michel answers. I kind of love how the second he learns that the call is of a personal nature, he just tosses it at Lorelai with no explanation and a look of disgust. Max and Lorelai banter a bit before he asks her on a real date and she agrees. I summed up so much dialogue in just a sentence and I feel like I’ve accomplished a big feat, you guys.

Grace: It’s a difficult thing to do with this show!

Blinvy: I take my victories where I can.

Doosey’s Market. Rory is waiting outside when Lane pops out of the store with a bag of stuff that’s entirely for Rory. Has it been mentioned that Lane is the best? Because she totally is. She calls Rory out on avoiding Dean, but Rory denies it. Ever the good friend, Lane mentions that Dean doesn’t work Wednesdays so she’s good to go in by herself in the future. Rory makes a note of this on her list that she claimed she wasn’t making.

Lorelai spots Luke coming out of a cheesy cat novelty store. I was wondering if this store was like a pet supply place just for cats but apparently he bought cat pot holders, so it appears to be cat related gifts? That’s an incredibly niche market. Luke awkwards that they’re a present. Lorelai correctly asks if they’re for someone he hates but nope, they’re for Rachel.

Luke goes on a patented Luke rant about how he hates buying gifts, and Lorelai tells him that he can’t give her the pot holders to which Luke readily agrees. She suggests he goes to the mall but he hates malls. Lorelai stops him from making a second rant about malls by offering to go and get a gift for him. It’s a super nice offer but you know this is going to backfire.

Dean shows up at Kim’s Antiques and is immediately accosted by Mrs. Kim asking if he’s there to date Lane. Lane rescues him just as he’s about to run out the door and explains that they’re science partners. Mrs. Kim is accepting but still wary so she takes them to the kitchen table, seats them at opposite ends, and warns them to stay put.

Dean agrees and equates her with Patton. They start to study but soon devolve into a conversation about Rory. I do kind of side eye Lane for telling Dean that Rory is less than good about the break up. I would think that’s a thing that Rory really wouldn’t want Dean to know, but I think Lane knows that Rory didn’t really want to break up with Dean and is maybe trying to help?

Grace: I get what Lane is trying to do here but the cardinal rule of the best friend role in this situation is pretending you don’t know how your friend feels about the guy in question. Don’t give more info than you get!

Blinvy: Yes! Thank you! It felt icky for her to out her friend like that. Lane is normally the best; it’s disappointing.

Lane starts to ask if they’ll ever get back together, but Rory shows up and things are super awkward now.

Rory storms out, and Lane tries to apologize to her for not telling her that her science partner was Dean. Rory is pissed but refuses to acknowledge it. Lane apologizes profusely, but Rory isn’t having it and storms off in a huff.

The next morning, Lorelai tries to get Rory up for school and sees that she’s in a terrible mood. She tries to cheer Rory up by inviting her to come with her to the mall and skip school. Best. Mom. Ever. Why doesn’t Rory take her up on this? Oh yeah, because she’s in a pissed off mood.

Luke’s Diner. Lorelai returns from her shopping trip with a crazy amount of shopping bags which makes Luke uncomfortable. He quickly demands his credit card back, remarking that it looks tired when she hands it to him. She excitedly tells him about how her and Rachel were talking about Out of Africa and she mentioned she’d never read the book. So, she got her a copy of the book. Luke is skeptical but then Lorelai says that it’s to be put in her brand new camera bag. Luke grudgingly admits that the gift seems right and thanks Lorelai. Just as I’m about to question what the heck the rest of the bags are for, Luke does it for me.

Lorelai bought him clothes, copious amounts of new clothes that she says she got at crazy discounts, upping the percent of the discounts gotten, the more things she shows. Luke tells her to take everything back but Lorelai begs him to try them on first because it would be nice if he dressed up nicely to take Rachel out. Their banter is just too cute even if Luke pretends to not like it.

Chilton. Max is giving out a homework assignment, and Rory very clearly isn’t hearing a word of it. She’s just staring forlornly out the window. Paris also notices and nudges the other Paris-ytes (I’m co-opting Zelda’s term because it’s perfect) about it. I never understood why Paris cared so much that Rory wasn’t paying attention, I’m wondering if her being bratty about this was actually her way of trying to help Rory to focus? She is weird like that but they did have a few moments of friendship blooming already so, this is my best guess. It’s a weird thing to bully someone about.

Max also noticed that Rory wasn’t paying attention and calls Rory over to talk about how concerned he is. It starts off ok but then he starts going on about how he knows she broke up with Dean but that she shouldn’t let it consume her life and I start cringing. Even if Rory knew her mom and Max were talking again, this is still a huge overstep of boundaries. It’s not his place to have this talk with her, he doesn’t have that relationship yet and it was really presumptuous of him, and a little inappropriate, to think he could have a talk like this with one of his students. Well intentioned, as it may be. (G: +1 and cosign.)

Rory has no clue what he’s talking about and is even more pissed now. Max apologizes for intruding and assures her that Lorelai was definitely going to tell Rory about the date with Max. Rory agrees that she probably would and then rushes to catch her bus because holy awkward, Batman.

Luke’s Diner. Lorelai has convinced Luke to try on the clothes because as surly as Luke is, he’s also a softy. He asks her if she likes her men “all GQ’d up” and Lorelai says that this is just less casual. Luke seems a bit dejected that she doesn’t like him how he is but Lorelai assures him that isn’t the case.

Lorelai starts to adjust his belt and so, of course, that’s Rachel’s cue to walk in. Lorelai awkwards that it isn’t what it looks like, but Rachel says that it looks like she’s dressing him which Lorelai agrees is exactly what it looks like and is what she’s doing. Luke rushes off to change, Lorelai leaves to get Rory from the bus and Rachel looks confused.

Lane is the best friend ever and is waiting, with coffee in hand, for Rory to get off the bus. Rory is having none of it and they have a fight which, makes me sad. Don’t fight, you’re best friends! Rory says she doesn’t need protecting so Lane tells her that she has to meet Dean again because their project is due soon. Rory claims she doesn’t care and Lane storms off while Rory throws out the coffee. That’s just rude, you’re wasting your awesome friend’s money, Rory.

Grace: Obviously Rory was upset that Lane didn’t tell her, but at this point it’s just ridiculous. Lane can’t ask for a new partner just because her best friend broke up with this one.

Blinvy: Right!? Rory is really kind of self-centred.

Lorelai walks up at that moment, but Rory is in a foul mood and has no time for funny banter. She calls Lorelai out on talking to Max about her breakup with Dean. Lorelai comes clean about talking to him on the phone but only recently deciding to try a real date. She didn’t want to tell Rory about it because she didn’t want to be like Todd and Nevina Cutler. Basically she was dating Todd and her friend Nevina Cutler was dating some other dude and both dudes broke up with them but Nevina got back together with her boyfriend and was all gloaty which made Lorelai feel terrible and she didn’t want to do that to Rory when she feels terrible about Dean.

Rory makes a snotty comment about how Lorelai will just dump Max anyway and ooof, this whole scene hurts. I hate it when they fight because normally they work so well together and this rift just hurts to watch. (G: Plus Rory doesn’t do bitchy teenager often but when she does she really goes all out.) Lorelai needs lightbulbs from the market and Lorelai refuses to go in because it’s not Wednesday which is confusing to Lorelai but the audience understands because we were there for the Rory/Lane exchange. Rory storms off home.

When Lorelai gets home, the house is completely empty, and I feel so awful for her. Especially when she gets to the “please answer” part because that is completely me when my child thinks he’s being funny and hides in silence on me while I panic and run through the entire house looking for him. Unfortunately for Lorelai, Rory is nowhere to be found which is probably every parent’s worst nightmare.

Grace: See prior comment about going all out with the mean teenager behavior.

Blinvy: Rory turns up at Emily and Richard’s house and both of them are stunned but pleased. Especially Richard because he knows this means that they can stay and care for Rory instead of attending the function that he was not wanting to go to. Richard is all of us. Staying home > going out. (G: I knew I liked him.)

Emily is fully supportive of Rory staying at their place and it’s incredibly sweet. She’s trying to be calm and supportive but you can tell she’s just bursting with happiness that her granddaughter chose to come to stay with them. She lets Rory go to bed and says that everything will be fine before prompting Richard to also say something encouraging.

Meanwhile, Lorelai is in full panic mode. She’s calling Mrs. Kim but she has no idea where Lane or Rory are. Sookie comes in, bless her, and she’s checked all of Rory’s usual haunts to no avail. Even Max has been helping, and he suggests checking with Dean. Instead of calling, Sookie volunteers to go there and check. I suppose it’s believable that she didn’t have his number but it was still weird to me.

Just after Sookie leaves, the phone rings and it’s Emily letting Lorelai know that Rory is with them and safe. Lorelai wants to talk to Rory but Emily says that she was really upset and that Lorelai should give her some space. I’m half on Emily’s side, half on Lorelai’s here. Emily is right that they should let Rory sleep off her anger and get the space she asked for but the way she’s delivering this news to her very distraught daughter is kind of cold and harsh. It feels like Emily is maybe punishing Lorelai for running out on them and leaving them to worry. It sucks. 

Grace: She’s definitely being smug about it, like since Rory chose to come there Emily gets to tell Lorelai how to parent her in this situation.

Blinvy: and yet… I still really like Emily. Oops.

Lorelai agrees to wait until after school tomorrow to see her own daughter but is rightly upset. Max reassures her that she’s safe and Lorelai complains that no one is safe with her mother. I take issue with this side of Lorelai, her mother might be overbearing but she’s been shown as nothing but kind to Rory. It’s kind of insulting that Lorelai thinks that Rory is in a bad situation at her parents’ house. I don’t know why this irks me so much, but it does. Lorelai is constantly complaining about how awful her parents are and I just never really see evidence of them being as awful as she believes them to be. Do they have faults? Abso-fucking-lutely, but I just never got why Lorelai hates them as much as she does. Most of her issues seem to come from the fact that they’re rich and, I mean, boo hoo? I can’t really feel sorry for her here when most people can only dream of living in the comfort that she did.

Grace: Considering Emily’s attitude with the phone call and the room in the previous episode, though, she seems to be using Rory’s affection as a power play. Whoever Rory likes better gets the “best parent” medal. Growing up, Lorelai wanted her parents to let her be herself, and her parents wanted her to fit in the society-girl box, and both sides got hurt when they realized the other didn’t value the same things. But now that they both value Rory, they play tug-o-war with her. 

Blinvy: Definitely agree  it’s sad because they all care about each other but they can’t stop playing games with each other’s heads.

Max asks her what she and Rory fought about and she admits it was him. I kind of side-eye Max for not apologizing to her about overstepping but instead asks why she didn’t tell Rory. This is not about you, jerkface. But she explains it was because she felt bad about Rory’s breakup with Dean and didn’t want to upset her further. He asks if she told any friends and Lorelai says it just hasn’t come up. I mean, Sookie probably knows now since she just saw them together and she didn’t seem fazed by their hugging so… But that doesn’t fit into the narrative that Lorelai is guarded so pretend we didn’t see that, ok?

Breakfast at the Gilmore Mansion: Rory comes down in her uniform but with pyjama pants because Emily gave her skirt to the housekeeper to press. Emily is clearly enjoying doting on her granddaughter and is offering up whatever she desires for breakfast. Rory says she usually just grabs a PopTart and Emily tells her that sounds delicious and she can tell Rosa to whip some up for them. Not wanting to explain that PopTarts aren’t exactly the type of thing you can just whip up, Rory says that eggs would be fine.

They banter some more about her lunch and things and it is just really sweet. You can tell that both Richard and Emily are thrilled to have Rory staying with them.

Luke’s Diner. Luke comments on how bad Lorelai looks and she tells him that she and Rory had a fight and she ran away. Luke gets immediately upset and it is incredibly sweet. Lorelai assures him that Rory is safe and that she’s picking her up when she’s done school. They bond over hating Dean for making Rory so upset and Luke gives her coffee on the house because he’s the best.

Lorelai spots Dean working in the market and goes to chew him out for upsetting Rory and breaking her heart. I get that as a parent, you hate to see your kid get hurt but this was so uncomfortable to watch. He’s a kid too, Lorelai, please don’t accost him when he’s working to chew him out for something that really isn’t any of your business. (G: Seriously. This was awkward proxy yelling just because she was upset at Rory and Rory was gone.) Dean snaps that he’s sick of being the bad guy when he’s the one who said “I love you” to Rory, who said nothing, and that he’s the one who’s hurting. Lorelai feels like a jackass and leaves.

Gilmore Mansion. Lorelai shows up and demands to talk to her daughter. Emily follows her and gives her a rundown of everything she noticed about Rory. Clearly, she wants to feel involved in this but is going way over the top. Lorelai asks if she can just talk to her daughter.

Rory is immediately apologetic and so is Lorelai. It’s nice to see them completely forgive each other. Lorelai then asks her about Dean and admits that she yelled at him while he was working. Rory is mortified but admits to what really happened between them. Lorelai then explains that she wants Rory to be able to be open to the idea of loving someone and being able to say I love you is a good thing, even if it isn’t Dean, she just wants Rory to be able to love because it is a great feeling. I love this advice.

Everything all patched up, Lorelai and Rory leave. She thanks Emily and Richard for letting her stay with them and giving her delicious food. Then they leave and Emily and Richard are once again in their giant house, alone. It’s kind of sad because you could see them come alive a bit when Rory was with them and that light kind of left them the minute Rory went home.

As they drive home, Rory sees Lane’s house and asks if she can meet Lorelai at home. Lorelai is rightly skeptical but jokingly so and Rory assures her she will be home this time. She then goes and makes up with Lane, who is the greatest friend ever and immediately brings her in for a hug.

Lorelai is home and looking thoughtful before she picks up an enormous address book and calls up Max to tell him that she’s going to make a bunch of calls and spread the news that they’re dating. He is touched by her effort and asks to see her after her dinner with her parents the next day. Lorelai jokes that she has too many calls to make and they hang up. I thought it was a sweet little moment but then she actually dials her cousin Richie and I think she is actually going to follow through with her crazy plan of just phoning people up to tell them that her and Max are back together? Sometimes Lorelai is beyond weird, you guys.

 

Next time on Gilmore Girls: A town meeting, revenge and a proposal in S01 E21 – Love, Daisies and Troubadours.