About:
Gilmore Girls S7.E08 “Introducing Lorelai Planetarium”
Drinks Taken: 11
Cups of Coffee: 5
We’re on Week 57 of our little Rewatch Project, and this is a big week. Momentous stuff happens, and yet none of it feels all that lasting. Of course, most of us have seen the end of this show and know where it’s heading, but I don’t remember feeling like some of these plot developments were going to be permanent the first time I watched Season 7. It’s interesting how little urgency is placed on the big changes that occur over the next few episodes.
We’ll talk about it more below, but first! A reminder of our drinking game rules.
The Gilmore Girls Drinking Game Rules
Drink once every time:
Lorelai or Rory drinks coffee.
Emily gets flustered by Lorelai’s bizarre sense of humor.
Sookie is controlling about food.
Paris is controlling about anything.
Michel snubs a customer.
Luke is crotchety.
Taylor has an absurd scheme for Stars Hollow.
The girls acquire massive amounts of food and then fail to take even one bite.
Drink twice every time:
Kirk has a new job.
You see a town troubadour.
Emily gets a new maid.
On to the episodes!
7.7 “French Twist”
Lorelai and Chris’ Paris trip has arrived! It starts very cutely, with Lorelai being sweet and hilarious with Gigi as they prepare to head to the airport, and everyone is in a very jolly mood. After dropping Gigi off with Sherry (who, even Lorelai can admit, is apparently a new woman), Lorelai and Chris head to their fancy hotel. Chris makes reservations at a romantic restaurant for the two of them, but due to jet lag, they both fall asleep until 4am, when they wake to find that everything is closed. They’re starving and can’t go back to sleep, so they wander the streets of Paris looking for food and being generally precious. Lorelai starts reminiscing about High School Chris, and she’s so warm and adoring here, telling a really lovely story:
Lorelai: “Being this hungry makes me think of this time when we were in 10th grade, and, for some reason, I had to make up this chemistry exam during lunch, and it went on and on and on forever, and then finally, when I was done, I came out. And there you were, waiting for me. And you took this slice of pizza from the cafeteria out of your coat pocket, and you gave it to me…Even then, you were so sweet.”
They get quite swoony and head back to the hotel for some hot hot lovin’ – after which, it occurs to Chris that he’s now Hella Rich, so he convinces a fancy restaurant to open just for them. Pretty baller move, Chris – I gotta hand it to you. Lorelai thinks so too, and they share THE sweetest, most romantic meal, all bedroom eyes and “I love you”s. Chris asks Lorelai to marry him, right there in Paris, but Lorelai wisely tells him two things: 1) it’s too fast and 2) Rory should be there when they get married. These are VERY intelligent responses, and yet…
Meanwhile, Rory’s back in Connecticut dealing with some big changes of her own. Due to the Yale Daily News bylaws, she’s reached her last day as editor, and she’s being replaced by Bill. The staff gives some very nice speeches about what a great job she’s done as editor, which Paris takes…Paris-ly.
Later, she anticipates Rory’s upcoming depression and anxiety – at least, that’s what happened to Paris when she was ousted as editor – but Rory pretends to be handling everything with aplomb. Still, when she’s sitting alone in her apartment later, we see how lost she looks – so she calls up Lucy and Olivia for a fun distraction. They decide to all spend the weekend at Lorelai’s house in Stars Hollow while she’s in Paris, and they have a super cute girly slumber party consisting of Rice Krispie treats, yearbook gushing (the girls agree that Dean was hot. True, though that was kind of all he had going for him), and neon highlights. Lucy also spends the entire weekend talking about “Boyfriend,” her, you know, boyfriend. Midway through the fun, Rory finds herself breaking down a little, and admits to Lucy and Olivia that she’s feeling totally flummoxed about the future. Her stint as editor is ending, Logan’s in London, she has no idea what she wants to do when she graduates in a few months, and she’s used to having a plan. Lucy and Olivia are really sweet friends who talk her through it, and I’m glad she’s met them.
LATER, as she drops Lucy and Olivia back off at their dorm room, she meets Boyfriend, and he turns out to be…Marty!!! Before Rory can say anything, this total weirdo pretends he doesn’t know her. When they’re alone in the room, Rory calls him on it, and Marty says he just thought it would be awkward to admit they used to be friends, and adds, “What’s the difference? I mean, it’s not important.” Rory looks super weirded out, which makes sense because this is SUPER WEIRD BEHAVIOR, MARTY.
In other news – LANE AND ZACK ARE HAVING TWINS. What the hell, man? Poor Lane has terrible sex ONCE and she ends up with twins. She’s terrified to tell Mrs. Kim that she’s pregnant, afraid Mrs. K will assume they had sex before marriage, but her mom is nothing but overjoyed for them. She also tells them that they’ll obviously have to move in with her, and Zack replies “Cool” before Lane can stop him. Lane starts to panic until Luke (who is so sweet and concerned about her at the diner, insisting she not carry any “heavy food – your meatloaves, your bowls of stew”) says that she and Zack are going to be great parents, and Lane gets a little confidence. She says to Zack, “We’re gonna be parents! Parents don’t have to be told what to do. Parents do the telling.” So they tell Mrs. Kim that they’re not going to move in with her, and she replies that she respects their decision…and then moves herself into their house. Cool.
The episode ends with Lorelai and Chris walking back into her house in Stars Hollow, home from their whirlwind romance in Paris. He gives her a kiss as he heads out to grab the rest of the bags, saying, “Welcome home, Mrs. Hayden.” Lorelai looks at the simple gold band on her wedding finger, and an expression that I can only describe as…complicated…crosses her face. GAHHH.
How many times do I have to drink?
6.
How many cups of coffee do the Gilmore girls drink?
2.
Flirtation quota
There is not a single moment that Chris isn’t adorable here. He and Lorelai are SO SWEET the entire episode; it’s almost enough to convince you it’s a good idea for them to get married. Almost. (And also not even really almost.)
Best/most dated pop culture reference
When Rory asks Olivia what she and Lucy are up to, Olivia: “Watching Real World: Denver. Lucy’s eating it up with a fork and spoon ’cause Boyfriend’s working, and you know how much he hates reality TV.” Rory maintains that she doesn’t know – but it turns out SHE DOES! (dun dun duuuun!)
Sookie’s best dish of the episode/Michel madness
Nope.
Lorelai’s craziest outfit
I’m giving this to Lucy, because this is some old school crazy Lorelai realness she’s giving here.
Outfit MVP
Europe looks good on Lorelai.
Kirk insanity
He does the WORST thing and touches Lane’s belly. Ugh, Kirk. He also offers some unsolicited advice: “So, I don’t know if you’ve decided where you’re gonna drop this little load, but I highly recommend Woodbury Memorial, where I was born. The maternity suites there are primo, and they let the mother hold the baby post-delivery as long as she wants. Explains a lot about the relationship between me and my mother.”
Best Gilmore Gal witticism
Paris: “When I was finished as editor, I went into a major tailspin. Couldn’t you tell?”
Rory: “Well, you masked it so well with your generally gloomy disposition.”
Random observation
The episode ending with that look on Lorelai’s face – the writers are DEFINITELY not trying to get us to root for this marriage, right? No matter how sweet they were in Paris together.
7.8 “Introducing Lorelai Planetarium”
Lorelai and Chris are getting ready to move him into the house, and Lorelai is predictably uncool about the changes Chris wants to make – basic stuff like a flat-screen TV and moving a trundle for Gigi into Rory’s room. Lorelai is fretting so hard about telling Rory that they’re married – she knows she’s in trouble – and she leaves Rory about a hundred messages until Rory calls her back. Lorelai insists on dinner that night, and Rory agrees, and all the while Lorelai is fretting, fretting, fretting. And it turns out she’s right to fret – once Rory arrives for dinner and Lorelai and Chris give her the news (we also hear for the first time the details of the wedding, in a chapel in the rain in Giverny, where Monet painted the water lilies), she pretends to be happy for them until Chris leaves the room and her face falls. She tells Lorelai she can’t believe they did this, and refuses to say anything else. Later, Chris is trying to make more changes to Rory’s room, and Lorelai doesn’t handle it well, telling him about Rory’s reaction and saying that she doesn’t want to pull the rug out from Rory even further.
Meanwhile, Logan has arrived in town and he’s surprised Rory again! She gives him a hard time for never giving her notice before he arrives, but she’s still delighted to see him. And even better news – in light of his big deal, he’s moving to NYC, which is much closer to Yale than London! He tells her she can stay in the apartment with all his stuff, which is quite generous, and then invites her to a launch party for their new company that night. Rory attends, looking great, and she’s mostly mature about Fabulous Bobby (Bobbi?), but there are a bunch of rich douchebags there and Rory gets a bit judgey. Later, she hits it off with the editor of an online mag who invites her to write up the party (after they talk about whether Barack Obama is going to run in ’08!), and the next morning she gives her draft to Logan to read. He reads it and starts fuming – her piece insults his party and all of his guests, whom she describes as “overprivileged sons and daughters of somebodies who fail to grasp how out of touch they seem to those of us who don’t have an errant domestic employee or a construction problem on Beef Island.” Logan is understandably furious, and to her credit, Rory immediately apologizes and says she meant for the piece to be funny instead of mean, but Logan is totally in the right when he points out that Rory is hardly some lower middle class nobody herself. Her grandparents are millionaires and they’re naming an entire planetarium after her at Yale, and she never had to pay for Chilton or college. He’s totally right on until he says this next part, and then he loses the higher ground: “You’re not exactly paying rent, either.” Rory says “Screw you, Logan” and storms off. Yikes!
She heads over to Lucy and Olivia’s, who read her piece and tell her what a great writer she is, but also that it is very, very mean. “Sort of Lynn Hirschberg meets… I don’t know, someone really mean.” Rory feels terrible and rushes home to apologize to Logan and tell him how truly proud she is of what he’s doing with his company. He also apologizes for the rent comment and tells her how much he loves having her there, and she knows, but she says she has to move out (and for what it’s worth, I agree). “I always thought that you would come back and live here. But now that you’re getting your own place nearby, it’s just different. It’s just something I have to do for me.” They make up in the best and sweetest way, and I always admire what an honest and mature relationship these two have.
Meanwhile, Luke’s still taking care of April and having a great time with it, though he gets a little baffled when he finds out she’s attending her first girl-boy party. He tries to talk to her about kissing, and she totally dies of embarrassment then promises she won’t kiss anyone. But she’s got a bad stomachache (every time I see this episode, at first I think she’s getting her period for the first time) and a fever, and Luke tells her she has to stay home. April throws her first temper tantrum, telling him that he sucks as a dad, but her temperature continues to rise and Luke starts to panic… and then he calls Lorelai!! Without even thinking, he calls her! This is their first interaction since the heartbreaking grocery store exchange, and it’s so natural – he just needs advice and comfort as he worries about his daughter, and Lorelai’s the person he calls in an instant. (Not, for instance, April’s mother.) He tells Lorelai that April’s been holding her right side, and Lorelai tells him that sounds like appendicitis and that he should take April to the hospital.
Lorelai meets him there, because she’s wonderful, and he seems so appreciative that she came. They have a really warm, sweet exchange – April’s going to be fine, and Luke is so relieved to see Lorelai. They discuss how hard it is to see your kid sick, and it’s just a nice moment. Then the doctor calls Lorelai Luke’s wife, and they both fall all over themselves to correct him, and then Luke sees the ring on Lorelai’s hand. He looks at it for a second, as Lorelai stands there awkwardly, and there’s no anger there, just…regret, I think. God, what a scene. These two still have an incredible amount of emotional tension between them, and I’m getting all goose-bumpy just thinking of this exchange.
AND THEN – Luke sits next to April’s hospital bed as The Philadelphia Story is playing on the TV, and Luke watches Katharine Hepburn thoughtfully, and my heart does a little flip. If you want to know more about the significance of this scene, well, read this.
Lorelai then heads to Rory’s apartment to talk about the marriage, and Rory explains that she’s not upset that Lorelai and Chris are married – she’s happy that Lorelai’s happy, and of course she wants her parents together – but she was mad that Lorelai didn’t call her so she could be there. Lorelai says that after her forever-extended engagement to Luke, she was just afraid she’d talk herself out of getting married, or that she’d let Rory talk her out of it, and while I totally understand that, I feel two ways about it. One, if you’re afraid you’re going to talk yourself out of getting married, maybe that means you aren’t ready to be married. And two, it feels like so many of the decisions Lorelai makes with Chris are still blowback from her Luke heartbreak. She thinks she’s only entirely about Christopher these days, but it feels like her heart is still hung up on Luke. Anyway, she and Rory make up, of course, and she goes home to help her husband rearrange Rory’s room to make room for Gigi. And we learn something else – Chris asks her how April’s doing, meaning that Lorelai told him that Luke called her and that she was going to the hospital before it happened, and Christopher was fine with it. I applaud both of them for being honest adults about this.
How many times do I have to drink?
5.
How many cups of coffee do the Gilmore girls drink?
3.
Flirtation quota
I like Chris and Lorelai best when they’re like this: teasing and playful, offering a reminder of the enormous history they share together.
But it’s nothing, NOTHING, to the chemistry between Luke and Lorelai in that hospital lobby. Good god almighty, those two. THOSE TWO.
And Rory and Logan are totally sweet when they’re not fighting.
Best/most dated pop culture reference
Lorelai tells Chris that she doesn’t want a flat-screen TV.
Lorelai: “It’s so ‘meet George Jetson, his boy, Elroy’ — Leroy?”
Chris: “Elroy.”
Sookie’s best dish of the episode/Lorelai’s craziest outfit/Kirk insanity/Michel madness
Nope.
Outfit MVP
ha cha cha, Rory.
Best Gilmore Gal witticism
Lorelai tries to feed snails to Rory for dinner, and Rory replies: “Well, see, and I had a lunch of bugs and lizards, so I’m good.”
Random observation
The scene between Luke and Lorelai is especially poignant because he’s talking to her about April. The one thing they could never discuss before – the one thing that drove them apart. And he does it without thinking: when he needs someone, Lorelai is still it for him.
That’s it for this week! Meet us back here next Wednesday morning as we cover “Knit, People, Knit!” and “Merry Fisticuffs.”
And I leave you with a question, dear FYA readers: did you feel like Chris and Lorelai’s marriage was going to be permanent the first time you watched this? And let’s just talk about that Luke and Lorelai scene some more in the comments. Tell me your thoughts!
