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Emily and Richard weirdly organize a set-up for Christopher with a psychologist, Lynnie (played by The Office's Melora Hardin, wearing a bad dress and a worse hairdo). Lorelai helps Chris avoid the hookup, but actually benefits from the meeting, herself, when she opens up to Lynnie about Luke. Lynnie tells her that the only thing holding her back from what she wants is herself; that she needs to tell Luke how she feels, and how all this waiting is hurting her. Meanwhile, Rory figures out that, though he is an ass, Mitchum is right about one thing: Logan needs to make his way. She throws him a swinging bash to send him off to London, and their tearful farewell is moving. Barely holding herself together, Lorelai has her big showdown with Luke. She begs him to elope with her. With unprecedented emotion, she tells him how much she loves him and how much she wants to marry him. Lorelai tells him she's tired of waiting. He...acts like a douche. Luke repeats over and over how he "needs time" and has to think, or whatever -- it's a bunch of bullshit, and Lorelai finally loses it. Her ultimatum failed, she turns to her old standby, Christopher. The morning, she wakes up in his bed, looking like her heart is broken into a million pieces. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Well, here we are, gentle readers, at the end of this crazy season. I'd like to say how sad I am about this being my last Gilmore Girls recap for a while, but I ain't. With the news that the show's creators are leaving, and contemplating the absolute lurch in which they are leaving the fans of this program, I kind of feel weird and sour about coming to this very bitter end. Allegedly, there will be at least one more season lead by a new showrunner, but the pit is deep, and I wonder how he will dig these characters out.
Lorelai wakes up on the couch at Sookie's, while the family runs around behind her, trying and failing to be quiet and not disturb their guest. It's a great scene -- Melissa McCarthy really makes me laugh sometimes -- with a tight close-up of Lauren Graham, whose face goes through several phases of realization, while Sookie and Jackson stage whisper to Davey in the background to be quiet. Sookie tells Jackson that she's worried about Lorelai, and though Lorelai didn't exactly talk about what was bothering her, Sookie knows that it's about Luke.
Meanwhile, in town, Taylor is confronted with something of an invasion. He comes out of the pastry shop and, to his surprise, sees a strange troubadour -- the awesome Joe Pernice of the Pernice Brothers -- strike up a song on the sidewalk. ("Amazing Glow" is a great song and inspired me to buy the album.) Well done, evil WB corporate overlords. Couldn't have thrown your favorite recapper a bone and put just one more band in the episode, huh? Taylor is unmoved by the gorgeous lyrics and stomps hysterically away.
In their apartment, Rory and Logan are preparing to head out to his graduation ceremony and are being -- DARE I SAY IT? -- impossibly cute. Truly, when I fall in love with these two, we should abandon all hope. I have never been one to totally hate Rory; she's just too darn pretty for me to really snub (though she sure very much needed to shut up this season), but...Logan? Charming me? Cats and dogs are living together in peace. Lions are laying down with lambs. Camels are going through eyes of needles, etc. Pretend it's opposite day and hold your breath, because I am about to call them cute again.
Rory takes what is apparently one of dozens of photographs of Logan, as he puts on his tie. "Yo, Alfred Stieglitz," he says, cutely, "stop with the pictures." Rory pouts, saying that she prefers to be compared to Cartier-Bresson, and snaps away, saying that he only graduates from college once, and that she will document it to her heart's content. "At least I'm clothed in these," he says, launching into a diatribe of how he doesn't even know why he's doing this; his family sucks, and there will be all manner of Huntzbergers at the graduation. They'll come see him graduate with thousands of others, but won't visit him in the hospital when he almost dies? Rory says that she will have no problem at the ceremony, since she is a master at avoiding people. "I didn't say 'people'," Logan says. "I said Huntzbergers." She brushes this off, returning again to the subject of her excellent photography skills. "Every one of these is a keeper," she says, showing him the digital pictures. "Okay," he says, sighing, "that's a close up of my naked butt. That's not a keeper." Rory nods: "You're right. That's a screensaver."
Back in Stars Hollow, The Sparks are warming up their own troubadour act on another corner. They are fabulous, as always, and inspire a ten-minute lecture from my husband about their brilliant collaboration with his beloved (pre-reality show embarrassments) Jane Weidlin. Their great song about women and perfume leads Taylor to once again burst forth and throw up his hands at them and another troubadour, played by the recurring Dave "Gruber" Allen, who is singing a very funny song about crying clowns -- one of my favorite subjects. Taylor can't figure out where all of these people are coming from, and rages into Luke's diner, asking Luke whether he's "eyeballed the chicanery" that is going on in town. Luke gives him the brush, but Kirk steps in to offer an explanation, telling Taylor about the original Troubadour getting his gig with Neil Young. Inexplicably, Taylor asks who this Neil Young is. "One of The Monkees," Kirk erroneously explains. I have a little laugh at the expense of Neil Young, who, yes, I do consider to be a musical genius -- but...listen, I am from Alabama, and we simply never forgive. Anyway, Kirk says that he thinks word got out among the east coast network of troubadours and they've all rushed to Stars Hollow for their shot at taking over the vacant position. Kirk says that these wandering musical storytellers have a long and interesting history, remembering one early pilgrim who delighted his companions with his popular tune "A Beaver Ate My Thumb." Taylor gets more and more upset, and turns to see yet another singer strap on her guitar in front of the diner.
It's Mary Lynn Rajskub, who I understand plays Chloe on 24. Of all the troubadours, she is definitely my favorite. Her song, which she plays and sings live, is about losing her '89 Volvo and having to retrace her steps to the bar where she left it. It's fantastic and sadly interrupted by Taylor, who rushes outside to give a town-wide lecture. He tells all the would-be troubadours that they'll have to beat it. He says that he is a music lover, like anyone else, but they have got to go and will be forcibly removed "with water hoses and canine units if necessary." I wish the troubadors would attack him with their musical instruments, but they don't.
We cut away to Lorelai, who is arriving back at home. She notices that her phone has a missed call from Rory, and she calls her back. "You're grounded," Rory says. "Sorry, mom!" Lorelai jokes. "Kimmie saw this cute guy at the mall who was a total Chachi, and he bought us a Slurpie, and we totally lost track of time." Lorelai apologizes to Rory, saying that she just had fallen asleep at Sookie's during a girl's night. "I won't be ignored, Dan," Rory jokes, and Lorelai assures her -- while shaking her head vehemently to the contrary -- that everything is fine. Rory tells her about the graduation and how it went well, and that she may have to leave the FND after drinks tonight because she has plans with her man:"I made reservations at this really crappy Italian restaurant with chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling. The husband and wife who own the place always wind up screaming at each other after eight o'clock. We love it." Though she is disappointed she won't have any Rory time that night, Lorelai smiles, and says it sounds like fun.
Inside, Lorelai finds Patty, who has come over to take care of Paul Anka. Lorelai thanks her for taking the morning shift, and again tells the girls' night story about staying over at Sookie's. Patty is about to go back to her studio to teach -- and this gave me the shivers -- a cardio striptease class, when they both hear Luke come in the front door, calling for Lorelai. Lorelai begs Patty to lie for her and say that she's not there. Patty resists, but goes out to give it her best shot with the frazzled Luke. Patty tries to distract him, talking about Baryshnikov and how he was "pure sex, walking." Heeee. Pointedly, Patty asks Luke whether he's ever taken any dance classes: "Nothing sexier than a man in tights." Luke cringes, and asks whether she'll just tell Lorelai he came by. "Stop imagining me in tights," he tells her, as a parting shot. Patty: "It's a free country, honey."
With Luke gone, Patty goes to get the scoop from Lorelai. "We had a little fight," Lorelai says. "Nothing big," Patty nods, saying that she knows how it is and tells Lorelai not to freeze him out too long. "Luke is a much better man than my first husband," Patty says. "Or second husband. But he's neck and neck with my third husband, though." Cute. Allow me an off-topic moment now to wonder aloud about if perhaps Lauren Graham is pregnant, in real life. TWoP's own Jessica was ruminating on this the other day and it caused me to look a little more closely at La Graham and her wardrobe. I'm not saying she really looks pregnant, but...there's something about her that makes me wonder. They have her rocking so many v-neck dresses and cardigans lately. Maybe they're doing it less to establish a style for Lorelai than to shield us all from the truth? This is TOTAL conjecture on my part, please understand. I have no reason at all to believe she is or not.
Back at her apartment, Rory waits for Logan. She looks frustrated, and when she finally hears him in the hall, she goes to open the door to see him talking to his father. They say goodbye, and Logan comes in, saying that his family thing took longer than he thought and that after that, some of dad's stupid colleagues came by to talk shop. He pours a drink as he remembers their discussion of "synergy" and "new media." Rory says that she's got to go to her grandparents' right now to be on time, and I can't figure out why the contrivance is even in place -- surely they would give her a night off to be with Logan? Anyway, she's pissed because she thinks that Mitchum is trying to ruin their last night together, but Logan tells her not to worry about it. She steps out of the apartment and sees that Mitchum is just now getting onto the elevator. With a burst of chutzpah, she gets on to ride with him and -- after a few awkward moments -- lays right into the guy, asking whether he hadn't been aware that she and Logan had plans. He says no, so she turns up the sarcasmometer: "Yeah, 'cause why would your son want to go out with his girlfriend the last day before he leaves, right?" Mitchum is unimpressed with her selfishness and tries to interrupt, but she goes on, complaining that Logan had to be bothered with his business cronies. "Why are you taking him away from me?" she finally asks. "Do you hate me that much?" You can see in the man's eyes that he wishes he had worn his "Shut Up, Rory" t-shirt that day. Mitchum tells her that Logan's love life is his own business and that she flatters herself if she thinks he'd send Logan away just to get him away from her. Furthermore, Mitchum says, he's sending Logan away for a very important reason: it is time for Logan to grow up and stop acting like an idiot: "It's time for him to stop being a child, and start being a man. And the only way to do that is to get him out of his environment, and away from those dopes Colin and Finn and the Life and Death Brigade and get him on a path." Mitchum says that Logan is talented and needs a push to grow up. "Anything here," he closes, "you're not agreeing with?" Rory's chagrined expression says it all. She gets it and for once SHUTS UP at the RIGHT time.
In Stars Hollow, Yo La Tengo sings a song about a couple who stared at the sun and tried so hard, while Taylor walks with the mailman, declaring himself victorious over the troubadour influx. However, when he rounds the corner and gets a look at the town square, he is disturbed to see that he is quite wrong. The town is covered with strummy.
Emily hears the doorbell ring and goes to answer it, yelling at the maid: "Gertie, you're half my age. Why do I always beat you to the door?" It's Lorelai. Emily lowers her voice conspiratorially and asks how things are with Luke. Lorelai lies, saying things are fine, though it should be obvious that things are decidedly not fine, and says she could use a drink. They overhear Rory in the drawing room, talking to Finn on her cell phone: "Get him out of there about 9:30. I trust you, Finn." She pauses, and then tells him that no, she's not surprised he hasn't heard many people say they trust him. "Just get Colin and get [Logan] out of there," she says, and hangs up as her mom and grandmother come in (it doesn't get past me that Lorelai and Rory are both wearing gorgeous black and blue dresses). Lorelai sees a covered display on the coffee table and asks what it is. "They slapped my hand earlier," Rory says, and The G-Unit tell them it's a secret. "Oh, my God," Lorelai jokes. "It's the weapons of mass destruction! Get the President on the phone!" Richard rolls his eyes, trying to get her to be serious, but she continues. "If he's not in the Oval Office," she says, "try the Ice Cream Room!" Heeeeee. Sadly, it's not WMD. It's something far more stupid -- an architectural model of the building the elder Gilmores want to have dedicated to Rory. Richard makes a sweeping gesture and proudly unveils the building -- much to Lorelai's glee and Rory's horror. The placard that reads "The Rory Gilmore Astronomy Building" takes up almost half the face of the building. "Is this actual lettering?" Rory asks. "I mean, is this to scale? Because the lettering would be thirty feet high." Lorelai laughs: "Well, honey, it's the astronomy building. You have to be able to see it from space."
The Gilmores are interrupted from this alarming discussion by Christopher, who has arrived for dinner at The Grandparents' invitation. Lorelai and Rory are very surprised to see him, but Emily says that they had promised Chris a home-cooked meal before they left for Europe and had to make good on their promise. "You can call a Gilmore many things," Richard says, "but you can't call him a welsher." Lorelai: "What other things can you call him? Just for future reference?" Christopher asks what's up with the building model and kids Rory about it. "Dad," she says, "you can take my seat, because I have to go...legally change my name and transfer to Brown." Lorelai laughs, saying that they've teased Rory way worse than this before. "Remember when you were ten," Lorelai asks, "and you thought you discovered U2?" Aww. That's cute. Rory says that she really does have to go because of Logan, and Emily walks her out.
Emily returns with yet another guest, who just happened to be at the door. Lynnie (played by Melora Hardin, is introduced to everyone, and Emily begins an absolute campaign about her, as Lorelai and Christopher look on, confused. I like Melora Hardin, but her dress and hair are wretched. Emily makes Lorelai move and sit by her, so Lynnie -- a professional psychiologist -- can sit by Chris. Lorelai pouts and says stupid, teenagery stuff, as Emily and Richard sing Lynnie's praises, to the high heavens. It is now painfully aware that this is a setup for Christopher's sake, and Lorelai could not be more amused. They all laugh overly loudly at everything Lynnie says, and I am about to sit in judgment of it all, until I am painfully reminded that I, yours truly Al Lowe, will be orchestrating a similar hookup over Memorial Day weekend between a friend of mine and a friend of my husband. What was I thinking? My friend Jules is searingly hot -- but a notoriously hard nut to crack -- and here I am putting another innocent man in her path? I hope my husband and I can handle it better than Emily and Richard, who cannot shut up to save their lives. "Christopher, you should meet Lynnie's mother. She's a stitch," Emily says. "Isn't she a stitch, Richard?" Richard: "She's an entire seam, Emily!" Love, love, love the geezer Gilmores tonight. Lorelai gets more and more smirky, as her mother continues to list Lynnie's virtues.
In the town square, mofo-ing, badass, cool as shit rockers Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth do a little subdued thrashing. They have a teenage girl with them who is pretending to pay the bass, and my rocksnob husband swears it's their kid. I look it up and see that my husband is right. BADASS! We brush our hair into our eyes and form a two-person, one-dog mosh pit to salute them. Less pleased is Grant Lee Phillps, the true Stars Hollow troubadour, who returns in a snit, saying that he's mad that Taylor has let this happen while he was away getting ripped off by his new gig. "I never even met Neil Young," he says. "'Heart of Gold,'" my ass." We cut away to a little trio singing the supposed-to-be-hilarious "A Beaver Ate My Thumb," but apparently one of these guys is Daniel Palladino, and I am too mad to care or laugh.
Back at the Gilmore palace, the subject has apparently turned to Gigi, who Emily is raving about as "a living doll." Lynnie says something about Christopher enjoying his daughter while she's young, or something, and no one mentions that he also has a daughter who is not so young, by that other lady in the room, Lorelai. Even she doesn't seem to care about this, and looks as if she's had enough of Emily's uncomfortable banter. Lorelai excuses herself to the restroom. Arriving there, she is surprised to find that Christopher has followed her. "What are you doing?" she asks. "What do you mean?" he says. "I thought 'restroom' was code for 'follow me and we'll talk about how to get you out of this'?" Lorelai frowns: "What the hell kind of spy school did you go to?" They laugh about the setup -- Chris says that he thought he was having dinner with her and Rory, not that he was going on a date. "Well," Lorelai says, "luckily you didn't get ugly over night." They banter back and forth. Lauren Graham is such a brilliant actress, really. She talks to this guy like they really have known each other for their whole lives. Loralei tells Christopher now that she knows that he wants to get out of Emily's setup, she'll be glad to help.
At dinner, Lorelai gets right to torturing Emily and Richard by asking Lynnie stupid questions about psychology. Lynnie gets the message quickly and is pretty game while Lorelai and her parents duke it out for attention. "Voice in your head," Lorelai says. "Totally normal, right? There's only two...that speak English." Emily finally has had enough: "Lorelai, are you having some kind of breakdown?" Christopher tries to stifle his giggles, as Lorelai continues to play the fool until, finally, Emily commands that she not talk again until dessert.
Colin and Finn are escorting Logan back to his apartment, begging them the whole way to come out and have more drinks with them. "I appreciate the drinks and the diversion," he says. "Your friendship over the years will be worth at least a couple of pages in my memoir, but as of now, it's goodbye. I'm spending the rest of the night alone, with my girl." With that, he opens the door to find a crazy party going on in his honor. Rory has decorated the place, and herself, to look like swinging '60s London. "I'm sorry mate," Rory says, "no girlfriends here. Just us birds and blokes taking the piss out of each other." Oh, Alexis Bledel. Good try on the accent; even Logan can't let it go without having to comment on how terrible it is. "Just go with it, ya geezer," she says, and leads him into the party talking about pubs and old Blighty and chips and all things British. It's silly, but -- again, plug your ears -- very cute, and Logan's smile is as wide as the Thames. "Kiss me, Mary Poppins," he says, and lays one on her, as the rest of the party toast the Queen.
Lorelai is leaving her parents' house, listening to Emily lament that she thought Christopher and Lynnie would have hit it off better than they did, or at least go out and have coffee together. "You served them coffee," Lorelai says. "You can't be shocked when you serve people three cups of coffee and they don't feel like going out for coffee. Not everyone is me." True. Emily shrugs, deciding the Christopher was probably too immature for Lynnie, anyway, and closes the door after Lorelai. It occurs to Emily that she has not fired her maid, yet. "Everything's off tonight," she says, confused.
In the driveway, Lorelai finds Lynnie, still there, talking on her cell phone in her car. "So you do sessions over the phone?" Lorelai asks, and Lynnie says yes; she does them whenever people need them. Lorelai says that it's a big commitment, and Lynnie says that she's always been a good listener: "Good note taker. I have excellent penmanship. Good headnodding abilities." Lorelai tells Lynnie again that it was nice meeting her, and Lynnie returns the sentiment, saying that the dinner was really nice of Emily. "Well," Lorelai says. "You keep thinking that." Lynnie laughs, saying it's been a long time since she had been invited to such a blatant setup. Lynnie gets another call and lets it go to voicemail. "When you're going through something," she says of her clients, "you never know when you're going to need to talk. Sometimes, it sneaks up on you." Lorelai's face makes it clear that her need to talk is sneaking up on her right now, and finally, after many protests, Lynnie asks Lorelai directly whether she has something on her mind. Lorelai again says no, but we cut to moments later when she's in the back of Lynnie's car, having her first and LONG OVERDUE therapy session. "My parents have been married," she says, as Lynnie takes notes, "for forty years. And that is like, mind blowing for me, because there is no one worse at communication than my mother, except my father!"
Lorelai says that everything in her house growing up was on "don't talk about it; shove it aside" status. "And of course, I talked about it," Lorelai says, "and shoved it right in your face, but still, I never saw myself getting married." Lynnie is surprised, but Lorelai says that until Max asked her, and that she guesses she imagined herself marrying Christopher when she was pregnant and everyone was freaking out, "but I never thought about in a longingly-good way." Lynnie says that maybe that's why -- she's always seen marriage as a solution to her problems, and not something having to do with love. She asks whether Lorelai really loved Max. "No, I didn't," she says in a small, regretful voice. "I wanted to, but I didn't. I don't think I ever really loved anyone until Luke." She explains to Lynnie how and why she proposed to Luke: "He was solid and he was strong. At that moment, when I realized how much he cared for Rory...that was it. Suddenly I knew I was ready." Lynnie asks if Luke accepted the proposal right away. "Pretty much," Lorelai says. She asks Lynnie about the weirdest place she's every done a session, and Lynnie says it was Skull Mountain at Six Flags. "Oh," Lorelai says, disappointed. "Not here, then." Lynnie laughs, and says no. Lorelai says that she feels so stupid -- she bought the dress and everything and now it's just hanging there, mocking her. "The crazy thing is," Lorelai says, "I am ready to get married. I'm ready to start the phase of my life; I want another kid; and I don't want to wait anymore. I don't want to be patient." Lorelai adds that she's been patient long enough, and is not happy and feels crappy all the time: "I just think, I've had it." Lynnie looks her straight in the face and tells her it's up to her to say what she wants, or keep on waiting. "I could lose him if I push too hard," Lorelai says, but Lynnie wisely shakes her head, Sars-style: "You don't really seem to have him, now." So true, and so hard. She tells Lorelai that she won't get anything if she doesn't ask for it, and that if she asks for it and doesn't get it, maybe it wasn't meant to be. Lorelai sighs. "I can only imagine," she jokes, weakly, "what you could do if you had a couch."
Back at the swinging English bash, Rory and Logan are winding down on the couch. "Tell me not to go," Logan says, all boozy. "Tell me not to get on that plane. Tell me to blow off my father, the paper, the whole Huntzberger destiny." Rory -- who is wearing a wig only two shades lighter than her own hair, for reasons I cannot ascertain -- looks like she'd like nothing more than to tell him just that. For once, though, she makes the unselfish move. "I can't do that," she says, and Logan must know that she's right, because instead of continuing to protest, he kisses her.
Luke is arguing with one of the troubadours when Lorelai comes in bleary-eyed. He asks her where she's been, clearly worried. "Let's elope," she blurts out. "C'mon, Luke. Grab your keys; let's go." Here's where I start crying. I mean, yes, I KNOW. I know Lorelai has made so many mistakes out of this whole engagement thing -- I'll concede that she's at least 30% to blame in how the whole Rory Delay/Home Repair/Secret Kid scenario played out, but...please. Please come on. It's his fault. He's ripped her off repeatedly and she's had enough, and I will forever be on her side, unto death. I don't care how hysterical she gets...which she does, right now. "Elope?" Luke says, as if she has just suggested they swim through piranha-infested waters, and his eyes widen as her frustration mounts. "We don't have to figure out all this now, do we?" he asks. Lorelai can't really hold it together, but she tells him straight out that they've been waiting and waiting and she doesn't want to put it off any longer. "Now is the right time," she says. "It's the best time, because it's NOW."
Luke drags Lorelai outside into the street "to talk," where she really gets going. She doesn't want to talk, she says, for the first time ever. "I want to DO," she cries. "I want to GO." Man, Lauren Graham. You break my heart. I would marry you! Any time! And I have no secret children! "Don't you love me?" she asks, begging him to understand how she feels. "I love you, Luke. I love you, and I have waited and I have stayed away and I have let you run this thing. No more! I asked you to marry me, and you said YES." He tries to calm her down, but has no luck. She's really going now, listing the sacrifices she has made, including agreeing not to use the purple wallpaper she wanted in the house: "If it's between you and the purple wallpaper, I pick you. I pick you!" Honestly, if you're not crying, you are made of hell's own brimstone.
"I don't care about wallpaper!" Luke says. "Well," Lorelai asks, still hysterical, "do you care about ME?" He tries to interrupt her to say yes, but it's all pouring out of Lorelai now: "I'm going CRAZY here. I made a commitment to you and I need to make it happen." Luke half-heartedly says that it will, but he has April to consider. Lorelai and I call bullshit, together. Lorelai says that once they're married the April thing will be fine. "Anna said so," she says. Luke gets the super-concerned look, and says that Lorelai wasn't supposed to talk to Anna. She starts to apologize, and then (mentally) says fuck it. "God, no," she says, throwing up her hands. "I'm not going to defend myself." She says that she's been skulking around for months not saying anything and not having an opinion on anything, "like I'm Clarence Thomas, or something!" She sputters that she's done with all of that and does not want to wait anymore. If only I could find words to describe her pitch-perfect portrayal of this kind of hysteria. Why can't he just fucking understand her? I feel my blood pressure rising every time he tries to say something, which he does now, again blabbing that he has April to consider. "You're going to have to figure out," she says, "how April fits into our lives and not the other way around!" Luke says that he's trying. "Well," she answers, "try married." He gets snappy now, saying that she needs to just wait. "No!" she yells, "I'm not waiting! It's now, or never!" Luke makes the grievous error of not grabbing her, throwing her into the car, and driving her wherever she wants to go -- instead, he says that he doesn't like ultimatums. "I don't like Mondays," Lorelai retorts, "but unfortunately they come around eventually." Scott Patterson, who is holding onto this scene for dear LIFE while Lauren Graham absolutely tears it apart, says that he can't just jump like this. "Well," she says, "I'm sorry to hear that. And, I have to go." She walks away, as yet another troubadour -- this time, the very moving Sam Phillips -- sings that "the places I go are never there."
Moments later, Christopher opens his door to a crying Lorelai. "Are you okay?" he asks. "I'm having a really bad night," she says, "and I just don't want to be alone." Christopher invites her in, and we cut away with growing dread.
Just when I get control of myself watching this sad tableau of adult relationships play out, we see Rory waking up as Logan prepares to leave. He won't let her come with him to the airport. "I have to go," she says, growing increasingly upset. "I have to wave to you at the gate!" He reminds her that they won't let her go to the gate. Rory starts to cry: "Well, I'll wave to you at the metal detectors." Logan refuses, telling her that they'll see each other on all the holidays, like they planned. "That's so far away," she protests, crying more, and killing me. (Except, even in my emotional state it occurs to me...London ain't that difficult of a trip from NYC, and doesn't Logan have enough money to fly her there whenever he wants? Hell, Rory could sell that purse he gave her and fly first class every month for the whole year.) "Rory," Logan finally says. "If you go with me, I won't get on the plane." As she cries, he tells her that the apartment is paid for through the year, so she won't have to worry about it. She sobs, saying that she's trying to think of fabulous things to say, but lamely says that all she can think of is "say hi to William and Harry for me." Logan smiles at this (dumb) Gilmorism, and tells her that he loves her. Rory says that's so much better than what she thought of, and they kiss again. "I have to go," he says, and she cries as he walks out the door.
Another close up of a waking Lorelai. We're in a very different place now, though. Lorelai is in Christopher's bed and wakes to hear him helping the nanny find Gigi's coat. The little girl runs in the bedroom. "Who's that?" she asks, pointing at Lorelai's naked back. "That's your Aunt Lorelai," he says. "I'll explain later." Christopher sends the child off to school, now, and taking off his robe, climbs into bed and puts his arm around Lorelai, who looks like she could cry an ocean full of tears.