Gilmore Girls Recap - Season 1 Episode 2 - "The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton"

I'm including the second episode of Season 1 on the list of necessary episodes to watch because it is essentially an extension of the pilot episode.  It gives us more insight into already existing characters, introduces us to new characters, and sets the tone for a couple of themes for the future.

  

Season 1 Episode 2: 

The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton 

Have you ever had one of those mornings when you hit the snooze button and sleep right through the alarm, only to frantically wake up late for a major appointment?  If the answer is yes, you will relate to Lorelai in the first part of this episode.

It's the morning of Rory's first day at Chilton, a private school in Hartford, Connecticut, and Rory walks into Lorelai's bedroom to discover that Lorelai is still asleep. This scene cracks me up because it shows Rory being the more level-headed and responsible of the two, as opposed to Lorelai who has overslept, uses a fuzzy alarm clock and didn't appropriately plan her laundry schedule.

Rory: I can't be late on my first day of school. Do you know what happens to people when they're late on their first day?
Lorelai: It's shorter?
Rory: For the rest of the year, they're labeled "The Late Girl."
Lorelai: How dramatic.

Lorelai's rough start to the day gets much worse when she goes to meet Headmaster Charleston and finds her mother, Emily already in his office. Poor Lorelai. I love this scene because Emily has such funny remarks about Lorelai's cowboy wardrobe.  "Do you need a ride or is your horse parked outside?" and "Dinner, Friday night. No spurs please."  She's one funny broad.     

  

To recover from this horrible morning, Lorelai stops in at Luke's where she orders a "jumbo coffee". We are once again reminded of Lorelai's coffee addiction and Luke's resistance to serving it to her.  I love that we're starting to see some banter and chemistry between Luke and Lorelai.     

More than one person in Stars Hollow commented on Lorelai's outfit choice for Rory's first day at Chilton, and because of this we're starting to sense that Lorelai and Rory don't just "live" in a town ... but they're part of a unique community where everyone knows what's going with everyone. A little invasive, but charming. 

Similar to her mom, Rory is also having a rough day.  At Chilton we are introduce to some new characters - we meet Paris, Madeline and Louise (AKA the "mean girls" of Chilton).  Paris Geller is very academically competitive and is currently at the top of the class, so she sees Rory as a threat which causes conflict between the two. To make matters worse, Rory accidentally wrecks Paris' school project while trying to open her locker ... oops! 

Tristan is another student at Chilton and he keeps calling Rory "Mary".  At the end of the episode we learn that it's a reference to the Virgin Mary because they think she's "goody-goody". I find Tristan very annoying and creepy ... I really can't stand him.

 

Themes:

1)  Rory wants to go to Harvard and become a journalist...and be like Christiane Amanpour. In the Pilot episode we learned that it's Rory's dream to go to Harvard and this premise is strong throughout the first couple seasons of the series.  Also, her idol Christiane Amanpour is mentioned again in the future.  

Headmaster Charleston: What are your aspirations?

Rory: I want to go to Harvard and study journalism and political science.

Headmaster: On your way to being…?

Rory: Christiane Amanpour.

Headmaster: Really?

Rory: Yes.

Headmaster: Not Cokie Roberts.

Rory: No.

Headmaster: Not Oprah, Rosie, or one of the women from The View?

Rory: No.

2)  Luke and Lorelai are "just friends". This might be my favorite scene of the episode ... the look on Luke's face when Lorelai mentions that a Chilton dad asked her out is priceless. Major foreshadowing ...   

3)  Contention between Lorelai and Emily.  Emily's involvement is coming across rather pushy in this episode.  It's nice she wants to be involved in Rory's school (because she is in fact paying for it) but it's starting to be a little too much for Lorelai.   In one scene Emily wants to buy more skirts and socks for Rory, which Lorelai explains she's already purchased.  In another scene Emily informs Lorelai that she's purchased a parking space for Rory, when Rory doesn't even have a car.  The realization that Lorelai left home when she was 16 years old is becoming apparent in some of these scenes.  Emily comes across as mothering Rory because these were some of the things she wasn't able to experience with Lorelai, after Lorelai got pregnant and moved away.  This tension will obviously be an underlying theme throughout the series.

A couple honorable mentions: 

I needed to include this short clip somehow.  This show is known for it's fast talking and I just find this scene so funny with Lorelai's rambling and how Rory needs to nudge her to get her to stop. Classic Gilmore girls. 

In this episode we meet Jackson, Sookie's produce supplier.  The peach scene was a quirky moment for Sookie and Jackson, and while this interaction didn't advance the plot forward, he will eventually have a larger presence in Stars Hollow and the series.