Episode Report Card Kim: B | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT Happy Birthday, Baby!
By Kim | Season 3 | Episode 18 | Aired on April 21, 2003
Richard announces that they have "good food" and "good company," so it's time to move on to "good conversation." Rory decides to make her big college announcement. Lorelai can't let Rory have her moment, and has to keep interrupting. Rory gets to say, "And after giving it a lot of thought, I have decided...I'm going to Yale." Rory pauses and waits for Richard and Emily to have seizures of joy. It doesn't happen, so Lorelai says "Yale" again. Richard and Emily keep eating. Rory and Lorelai keep saying "Yale." Emily and Richard fail to react, and then claim that they didn't want Rory to go to Yale. Lorelai says that their differences over where Rory should go to school are behind them because she's going to Yale, and everyone should be happy. Rory gives her grandparents permission to express their joy. Richard slowly breaks into a grin and says he's going to get the champagne. Emily plans to call "the Talbots," and Richard reminds her to gloat because of that "dim-witted son of theirs that couldn't even get into Brown." Emily and Richard giggle and run off, but then dash back to kiss Rory on the head. Richard promises to teach her the fight song. Whew! I thought they were setting up another weird college conflict that I didn't understand.
Lorelai walks around the under-repair Inn with a clipboard. She asks the contractor how long the repairs will take. He starts to answer, but she makes him say that it will be ten days. He humors her, but admits that he's totally lying. Lorelai tells him to "go fast," and the contractor says dryly, "'Go fast,' huh? Never heard that one before." At least someone can stand up to Lorelai. Sookie walks up and says that the kitchen looks good, and that they just need to get the gas line hooked back up. Lorelai asks how long it will take, and Sookie says the plumber is looking at it right now. Michel wanders over and says that they forgot to inform some guests that the Inn was closed, and they showed up; luckily, the guests weren't too bright, and he convinced them that they had their days mixed up, so they went home. Lorelai is shocked, because that's so out of character for Michel. Except it's totally not. Lorelai orders some lackey named Laura to track down the guests and get them into "the Bunny Hop Inn."
Lorelai wants to start her meeting, but just then Bruce McCulloch shows up and announces that he bought bagels. Who? Where? What? Anyway, Bruce's character's name is Tobin, and Lorelai greets him warmly. He works in a compliment for Sookie's cooking, and she is charmed as well. Sookie looks thinner. Isn't she supposed to be going the other way? I'm just going to tell myself that she has terrible morning sickness and has thus actually lost weight since getting pregnant. That happened to my best friend. She threw up every day into her fourth month of pregnancy. I know. Sookie and Tobin walk off, and Michel pulls Lorelai aside and asks why Tobin is there, since he's the night manager and it's daytime. Lorelai says that it's an emergency staff meeting. Michel complains that he can't be in the same room with Tobin. Lorelai tells him to deal and walks off.