Episode Report Card Pamie: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Yale. Harvard. Jess. Dean. Get it? Got it? Good.
By Pamie | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.18.2002
Jess enters awkwardly, wearing the ugliest shirt ever seen on Gilmore Girls, the WB, or Earth. There's some staring. "Hi," he says to Rory, who beams and says hello back. "Hi," he says to Lorelai, who gives a quick hello back. "Hi," he says to Luke, who gives a weird look as he says hello back. Rory says she has to get to school. Jess says he does, too. The dialogue repeats, with the find and replace of "Bye" for "Hi." Luke asks Lorelai what the hell is going on. "That was Episode One of Rory and Jess: the Early Years," Lorelai says. Oh, I thought that was last season. Surely we're on Episode Ten: Rory and Jess: We Get It. Lorelai tells Luke that Rory and Jess "are together." She touches two fingers together to show how they're not like fingers crossed, but more like fingers poking at each other. Luke asks how he didn't know that Rory and CuteDean broke up at the dance, since he was there. "Because you're you," Lorelai tells him. Luke asks what happened. "Jess happened," Lorelai answers. Luke seems pretty damn pleased about it all, Lorelai less so. "This is great!" Luke says. "I'll tell Dean you said that," Lorelai smiles. Luke just thinks it's all so great. He asks Lorelai if she thinks it's great, too. "I think Rory's seventeen and it's probably about time for a Jess," she answers. Luke hopes that some of Rory will rub off on Jess. I can't believe they don't make a joke out of that, but instead Lorelai says she spent a long time fighting the idea of Rory and Jess, but she wants Rory to be happy, so she's just hoping for the best at this point. "Very romantic," Luke says. "Says the man who yelled, 'Finally!' at the end of Love Story," finishes Lorelai. Luke leaves to fetch her coffee. Lorelai thanks him.
And now it's Friday, I guess. Emily is making her cook make a salad over again, because she doesn't want any walnuts in it. The rest of the family is gathered around the table. Rory and Lorelai are hunched over in hunger. Richard is reading the paper. Lorelai can't believe Emily's making her cook remake the salad a fifth time. Emily says she likes things done correctly. "Preferably the first time," Richard adds. Lorelai tells Emily that in Europe, they eat the salad last and dessert first. She asks if they can pretend they're in Europe. Emily asks if the situation is so dire that Lorelai can't wait another ten minutes for her salad. Lorelai says that four salads ago it wasn't dire, but now it's "Your money for nothin' and your chicks for free." Very funny. Emily looks to Rory for an explanation. "She didn't have lunch." Emily leaves the table to fetch their European dinner. Richard thinks it's wonderful: "I was getting so tired of being an American, day after day after day." Rory tells Lorelai to think of something else, something disgusting that would take her mind off of food. "Ari Fleischer?" Lorelai asks. He's the most attractive person in Washington! Richard says that Ari Fleischer is America's mouthpiece. "Officially not hungry now," Lorelai brats.