Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | 83 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT Ooh, That Smell
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 5 | Aired on 2006.10.24
At the meeting, Taylor is presiding over an unruly citizenry. He begins by assuring everyone that the source of the odor is non-toxic: "It's pickles." Kerfluffle ensues. "Like, one giant pickle?" Kirk asks amid the commotion. Taylor explains that, three days ago, a train derailed outside of town and scattered seven thousand pounds of pickles and pickle brine along the tracks. The mess has been "baking in the hot sun" ever since (this line spoken while we can clearly see the paper jack-o-lanterns hanging from the ceiling directly behind him), and now that the wind's shifted, they're all suddenly living in Stench Hollow. People start turning on Taylor, and Babette screeches some weak crack about "Picklegate" that I've already wasted way too many words on. Sookie asks how hard it can be to clean up some pickles, and Taylor says that's not his concern. Over the increasingly noisy crowd, he explains that the mess isn't Stars Hollow's responsibility. The pickles themselves are from Ohio, the railroad company is incorporated in Delaware, and the pickle spill is on the Woodbridge side of the tracks. Do you care about this? Because nobody else in Stars Hollow does. Luke stands up and roars, "Just pick up the damn pickles, Taylor!" Taylor protests that the tab for the cleanup will run an "astronomical" $2500. "Sold!" Luke yells, to general agreement. Taylor calls a vote, and it's unanimous in favor, even Kirk. Taylor taps his gavel in defeat. "Pickle smell gone in forty-eight hours, along with everything good in Stars Hollow," he drama-queens, adjourning the meeting. And in case you're interested, I just transcribed every word Luke gets to speak in this episode.
Turns out that after Lorelai went back to the inn, she continued all the way to Christopher's neighborhood, where the two of them are watching Gigi play at the park. Lorelai rhapsodizes about fresh, pickle-less air, so clearly she got the skinny from Sookie and Michel before skipping town. Chris acts mock-hurt about Lorelai not actually being there because she's desperate to see him. "10% desperate to see you, 90% pickles," she assures him. She's even looking forward to Friday-night dinner at her parent's completely odorless house. And we learn that Christopher is invited, too. "You, me, Rory. Numbers, babe," Lorelai says. Chris laugh/yells at Gigi to keep her skirt down, prompting Lorelai to suggest skorts. Chris says that there's more news on the Sherry front: she called today and talked to Gigi for a half-hour. "That's as long as you can do anything when you're four," Lorelai says. And also when you're Lorelai, I'm thinking. Chris says that Sherry not only stands by everything she said in her letter; she also wants Gigi to come and stay with her in Paris for a couple of months. Lorelai goes wide-eyed at this, but Chris thinks it sounds like a great idea: "She's got to get to know her mother sometime, right?" He's too distracted by calling to Gigi not to climb so high to notice that Lorelai is quietly freaking out, so when she asks if Chris will go with Gigi, he says he'll just send the nanny with the kid: "I mean, she's dying to go. She's twenty-five years old, it's the chance of a lifetime." "Yeah, sure," Lorelai says noncommittally, as Chris gets up off the bench to keep Gigi from picking something up that she shouldn't. That could have so easily turned into one of those old Will Ferrell yelling-dad sketches. "I will CHAIN YOU to a PIPE in the BASEMENT if you don't keep your skirt down!"