Episode Report Card Pamie: B+ | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT Ye Olde Plote
By Pamie | Season 2 | Episode 10 | Aired on 2001.12.11
There's a knock at the door. It's Emily. She asks to sleep in a new room because she's still not speaking to Richard. Lorelai says there are no other rooms. Emily says she'll go home. Lorelai tells her to stay in their room. Emily is upset and thinks what he did is inexcusable. She says she's a burden. Lorelai says she isn't. Emily excuses herself to the bathroom. Lorelai sits at the bedroom mirror. Rory watches as Emily and Lorelai simultaneously prepare for bed using exactly the same motions and moisturizer. Rory jokes that she just got a glimpse of her future. Emily gets in the bed, still complaining about Richard. Lorelai gets into bed with Rory and tells Emily to try to calm down. Emily complains about the free slippers. She says that Richard was very irresponsible. Lorelai says that Richard might not have had a choice. "Of course he had a choice," Emily says. She tells Lorelai to go to bed. "That job was killing him, Mom," Lorelai says. "It was killing him." She turns out the light, but Emily can't sleep. She gets out of bed and says she's going for a walk. She says she's not tired. She leaves the bedroom. Lorelai complains, "Like sands through the hourglass..." I'm not finishing the joke because it's lame and forced and really Lorelai's the one getting all dramatic with the "It was killing him, Mom," like she knows anything about anything.
Emily finds Richard in the lobby. He asks her to stay and talk to him. She sits and stares out. Richard says that his work frustration built to a point where he had to retire. He says he originally met with the CEO to discuss his problems and his unhappiness. He says he detailed all of his years, all the travelling he did and weekends he worked. The sacrifices he made to his home and family. Then he heard himself resign. He says the CEO was stunned. He enjoyed stunning the CEO. He says he left and couldn't believe what he had done. He was thrilled. Elated. The weight was off his chest and people were staring because he was smiling for the first time in a very long time. He was happy. "And you chose not to tell me. Your own wife," Emily says. Richard says he's been making her very unhappy lately with all of the engagements he's made her miss, and how he's been so sour all of the time, and he didn't want to disappoint her again. He knows that she likes order and lists, and that this wasn't something that goes well in a list. He jeopardized their future in one day. He didn't want to face disappointing her again by spoiling the plan around Christmas. He didn't want to fight or worry. He just wanted to keep being happy. He apologizes. He starts to make out a list of their finances. Emily watches him thinking through their money and falls in love with him all over again. She stops him and asks if they can go to bed. Richard sighs, smiles, and leads her to their bedroom.