Episode Report Card Pamie: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT There's a New Boy in Town
By Pamie | Season 2 | Episode 5 | Aired on 10.29.2001
Lorelai and Rory leave Luke's as Lorelai tells Rory they're having Luke and Jess over for dinner tomorrow night. Rory asks what Jess is like, and Lorelai explains that Jess won't be subbing on Regis anytime soon.
Luke goes up to his room and finds Jess smoking, idly shuffling some cards. Idly shuffling cards is the most clichéd way to show a teenager is "trouble," by the way. And smoking is number two. Luke asks whether Jess is hungry and Jess announces that Luke has just asked his eighteenth question. The phone rings and it's Liz, Jess's mom. Luke tells her that Jess got there fine. Jess says he got there at ten this morning. Luke tries to hand the phone to Jess, but Jess doesn't want to talk to her. Luke says that Jess will have to call her back because he's helping him do a "shelf thing." Luke hangs up and tells Jess that his stuff should be there by Friday. He says that Liz is trying to do a good thing, here. Jess asks whether Luke wants to play some poker for $5 a hand. Luke protests until Jess gets up to $15 a hand. Luke says he doesn't want to play poker. Jess gives an "okey dokey." Luke tells Jess about dinner at Lorelai's tomorrow, and says that Jess can meet Rory. Jess keeps playing with his deck of cards. He puts out his cigarette and walks out of the room. Luke pouts into commercial.
Chilton. Rory is early for the Franklin meeting this week. Paris walks in and says hello. Rory says she felt so bad about the mix-up last time she wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Louisa and Fraulein walk in dripping with gossip. They're discussing who Philllipppe is seeing these days. I can't believe they didn't just say he transferred schools. That might mean he'll guest every once in a while. Cool. Their captain of the lacrosse team is named Madison Maylands, by the way. What's up with that? Louisa compliments Fraulein's gossip skills and suggests that Fraulein run a gossip column in the Franklin. They ask Paris. She responds that this paper's been around for a hundred years. Former editors now work for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker. One even won a Pulitzer. "But never mind that," she says. She can now revolutionize the paper by creating a column dedicated to "who Biffy's boffing these days." She says it's a quandary and she'll have to get back to Fraulein about it. "Okay," Fraulein says.
The advisor walks in at this point and makes a snide little comment about Rory being on time. She says that the articles are extremely well done and that Paris should be proud of her team. She says, "I mean, when you've got a reporter who can take an incredibly mundane and seemingly unimportant subject like the re-paving of the faculty parking lot and turn it into a bittersweet piece on how everybody and everything eventually becomes obsolete, then you've really got something." The advisor compliments Rory. Rory beams and says she owes it all to Paris. The advisor recommends that Paris give Rory a juicier story next time. Paris says she will. The advisor tells everyone to get to work. ["Actually, she said, 'we have a layout to put together' or something to that effect, and Glark the nerdy former newspaper editor yelled, 'No, you've "got a paper to lay out!"'" -- Wing Chun]