Episode Report Card Pamie: B- | 207 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT Thanks, But No Thanks
By Pamie | Season 3 | Episode 9 | Aired on 2002.11.26
MamaLane opens the door: "Ah. The Gilmores. Happy Thanksgiving." Lorelai and Rory can't believe what a great mood MamaLane is in. Lorelai hands MamaLane her gifts: flowers, cranberry sauce, and a chocolate turkey. MamaLane asks if she should just write a blank check to the kids' dentist. Lorelai says the kids could just play with it, if they don't want to eat it. MamaLane doesn't know how the kids could play with a chocolate turkey, and then complains that hers is missing its head. Lorelai replaces the turkey -- she had accidentally given MamaLane the wrong one. Oh, man. This episode didn't seem this boring the first time around when I just sat back with some tea and zoned out, but now that I'm having to write all of this down, nothing's happening. It's all small talk, without the normal wittiness. MamaLane, takes off, and Lorelai tells Rory that her arms are too short to box with MamaLane. Rory notices that Dave's inside the house, playing guitar. She says, "Oh, my God!" loudly in the house, as if that would be tolerated even once. Rory and Lorelai comment that Dave looks neat and tidy. Rory: "He's gone corporate." Lorelai: "He's gone Korean."
Lane walks up and says hello. Before Rory can ask what Dave's doing there, Lane pushes the girls one foot north, into the sound-proof barrier of one foot north. She says that he's not the Dave Rygalski she's in a band with, but rather the Dave Rygalski who wrote an ad at her church looking for guitar gigs, playing Christian music. Lane admits that she made the ad and then pretended to find it later. Lorelai asks if they're dating. Lane says they're laying the groundwork. She says that if MamaLane gets to know Dave before they date and she approves, she could date him without all of the secrets and lies, except for who he is, where they met, and how she knows him. MamaLane is cursing out a cousin, who's leaning back in his antique chair. MamaLane tells the kid that if he breaks it, he buys it, and there's only a 10\% discount for relatives like him.
Lorelai goes through the room, saying hello to every relative, remembering all of their names, acting like they're all old friends, even though not one of them stands to hug Lorelai or acknowledge her presence. Everyone just sits facing forward, food in lap or Bible in hand, looking up at Lorelai in a way that it seems she's just walking around making up names. "Foo Kim, hi. Song Li, hello." She compliments MamaLane on her buffet table. MamaLane tells Lorelai to try the Tofurkey. There's no option but the Tofurkey, so they grab a few...chunks. MamaLane introduces Dave as a big fan of the Tofurkey. Dave, Lorelai, and Rory pretend to introduce themselves. MamaLane requests Hymn 17. After he walks away with a "Yes, Ma'am," Lorelai notes to MamaLane that he seems like a nice boy. MamaLane says he's not a bad sight-reader, either. Rory can't believe that Lorelai's taking some of the Tofurkey. Lorelai says she's also grabbing a handful of napkins to dispose of the Tofurkey later. Rory compliments Lorelai's cunning ways.