Episode Report Card Pamie: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Stars Hollow Summer Vacation Essay
By Pamie | Season 4 | Episode 1 | Aired on 09.22.2003
Dinner. Richard asks how the Gundersons were. They are friends of Richard and Emily's who live in Zurich. I'm going to save us some time here by shorthanding this scene, wherein Richard and Emily list off all of their friends by city, and Rory says that they were too busy to go and visit any of them. Rory and Lorelai went on their own schedule, obviously, and didn't see anybody. This upsets Richard and Emily, especially since they once let the Gunderson kid squat in their guest room for a month, during which time he ruined the rug. Emily tells Rory to eat another piece of chicken, even though it'll be her third. Richard begins complaining about the Gundersons, and wonders why he and Emily are even friends with them in the first place. Emily says that she's having a soufflé for dessert, and that it's going into the oven right now. She says that one of her favorite things about a European meal is how it can go on for hours and hours, turning into an event, so that's what she wants to do tonight, in honor of Rory's trip. She's even made a cheese plate for before dessert. You'd think Rory would want to spend a few hours talking about her trip with two people who have seen those places, but whatever. Also, Rory doesn't mention that she wanted to spend the evening with her mother, but Emily's already picked up on this, and now wants to show Rory the ballroom dancing videotapes that she's made over the past three decades. I love that something Emily's been taping religiously since 1978 has never been mentioned until just now.
Lorelai and Luke are packing a truck full of things to take to Yale. Luke complains about loading a mattress on the back of the truck. He asks why Lorelai is packing Rory's things in Hefty bags. Lorelai says that Rory's lucky they even have those. Luke says he had luggage that Rory could have used, since he did recently go on a trip. Lorelai asks why Luke doesn't want to talk about his mystery trip. She says she's dying to know, but that he spazzes out every time she brings it up. She says she'd tell him if she had gone on a trip. "Yes, but I wouldn't want to know," Luke says. Ha. Lorelai asks if something happened between him and Nicole. "Yes." Lorelai: "What? Did you propose?" Luke: "Yes." Lorelai: "Oh, my God. You proposed?" Luke: "Yes, I proposed." Lorelai stammers that this is big, huge news. Luke says there's more. Lorelai tries not to cry. "What? Did she say yes?" Luke: "Yes." Lorelai: "She said yes. You proposed and she said yes. Wow." Luke says there's more. Lorelai wonders what more there could be. Luke: "We got married." Lorelai asks how. The captain married them. "And that's legal?" Lorelai demands. "Apparently," Luke replies. Luke says there's still a little more, and Lorelai freaks out that Luke is going to have a baby with Nicole. "We're getting divorced," he says. Lorelai needs to sit down. They go to the steps. See, the cruise was filled with newlyweds and happy canoodling couples, and Luke and Nicole got caught up in the spirit of things and eloped. But by the time the cruise was over, so was their enthusiasm. They were separated by the time they hit the dock, and now they're getting divorced. But did they not get along? Are they still dating? None of these things are really answered, because Lorelai's just relieved to note that the man who loves her is still unattached so that she can flirt with him without consequences. Lauren Graham has really nice arms. Lorelai says she's sorry. Luke says it's okay. Lorelai says that now that he's been married, it'll silence all of those questions about a single man of a certain age living alone. "Hey! I always defended you," she says. "I always said 'Hey! So what if he is?'" Luke thanks her for her support and heads back to the truck, as Lorelai gets a phone call. I like that nobody cares about Jess.