Gilmore Girls Recap - Season 1 Episode 15 "Christopher Returns"

Season 1 Episode 15:  "Christopher Returns"  

Synopsis:  As a way to make up for lost time with his daughter, Christopher unexpectedly comes to Stars Hollow to see Rory and Lorelai. When Emily becomes aware of his arrival, she arranges a dinner for both the Hayden's (Christopher's parents) and the Gilmore's to reunite.  Despite the fight that arises between the two families, Christopher and Lorelai rekindle their teenage romance...kind of.  The next morning emotions are high when Lorelai realizes she's letdown Luke  and broke her promise to re-paint the diner with him. 

Who is Christopher?  Up until now we know 1)  Christopher and Rory talk once a week and 2) Dean (Rory's boyfriend) reminds Lorelai of Christopher - below is a clip from Episode 7 "Kiss and Tell".  

 

Right off the bat we get the impression that Christopher hasn't visited Stars Hollow and that he is very unreliable.  The fact that Lorelai reminds Rory that he's "going to come and go as he pleases" doesn't set the tone for a typical father-daughter relationship, especially compared to the connection Rory has with her mom.  Christopher tells Lorelia he's been "tying up the loose ends" of his life which Lorelai wants to believe, but she knows Christopher better than anyone and doesn't feel so confident about his life changes. 

Emily coordinates a family reunion with the Hayden's and Gilmore's.  It's interesting to see both Lorelai and Christopher dreading the evening.  Emily and Richard dote on Christopher and Richard is very proud of Christopher's business sense. It's kind of hard to watch because in other episodes Emily and Richard react so negatively to Lorelai's choices and how she progressed to where she is.   

  

When Christopher's parents show up words are exchanged, insults are swapped and Presidents' heads are mocked.  I love that Richard takes defense of Lorelai and states how successful she's become.  The moment between Lorelai and Richard is so real and the most honest we've seen between Richard and Lorelai.  We heard in the episode "Forgiveness and Stuff" that Lorelai feels like a disappointment to her parents, especially her dad.  Watching Lorelai thank Richard for defending her and then hearing him go on about how he felt embarrassed and upset that she didn't follow "proper procedure" is tough to watch.  

I admire Lorelai in this episode, vocalizing her rights and her wants for her life and Rory's.  Like I've said in previous posts, I identify with each "Gilmore girl" separately ... and in this episode I'm on Lorelai's side.  

  

Christopher and Lorelai meet up on the balcony of her old bedroom to commiserate together, reminisce about their childhood and get a little too intimate with one another. Christopher confesses that even if Lorelai hadn't gotten pregnant he still wouldn't have made it through Princeton, which Lorelai doesn't believe to be true.  

The next morning Lorelai wakes up panicked because she wasn't there to help Luke repaint the diner as she promised.  She immediately heads to the diner to apologize, but Luke knows it's because of Christopher.  Later, Christopher tells Lorelai that he wants to marry her, which exposes how immature both Christopher and Lorelai can be.

RORY: Do you love him?
LORELAI: Honey come on.
RORY: Answer me.
LORELAI: Honestly?
RORY: Yes.
LORELAI: I will probably always love him.
RORY: Ok so?
LORELAI: But that doesn’t change the fact that he still has a long way to go before he is ready to take us on full time. I mean you are a handful, Missy. And while I am pure joy and sunshine every waking hour, I still have my own set of needs that - that must be met. It just wasn’t right babe. You have to trust me on that. Mm? Talk please

   

Gilmore Girls Recap - Season 1 Episode 10 "Forgiveness and Stuff"

Season 1 Episode 10:  "Forgiveness and Stuff"  

In the grand scheme of all Gilmore girls episodes this one doesn't necessarily stick out for most people, but for me this is one of my favorites in the first season and in the series. It has all my favorite things which makes this show my favorite ... 1) the uniqueness of Stars Hollow with the opening scene where Miss Patty is leading the Christmas Pageant dress rehearsal. 2) Major Lorelai and Luke moments where we see how much Luke cares for Lorelai (as a "friend") and for Rory too.  3) Lorelai and Rory's relationship which we know is very close, but I love the insight we get of Lorelai worrying about Rory and her concern of Roy being like her. 

   

MISS PATTY: Taylor come quickly. Our ‘before’ Mary is about to become an ‘after’. Who else in town is knocked up?

It's the aftermath of the fight from Rory's Dance between Lorelai and Rory and also with Emily and Lorelai.  Emily un-invites Lorelai to the Christmas party.  

Dean comes over (albeit very creepily to the window) to apologize to Lorelai for keeping Rory out too late on the night of the dance.  This is a nice scene between Lorelai and Dean where we once again hear about her worry for Rory and how she doesn't want Rory to end up like her, since she was 16 when she got pregnant.

DEAN: We sat down and we were reading this book and then we fell asleep.

LORELAI: Pick a more interesting book next time.

In this scene Luke shows a lot of concern about Rory dating Dean, and Lorelai tells him she's bummed she isn't at her parents Christmas party.  He makes her a Santa burger because he knew she was feeling left out from being un-invited to the party.  I love the hints of flirtation we get between these two. 

 

When Lorelai gets the phone call that, Richard, her dad was taken to the hospital Luke decides to drive her so she can be there.  In the car we learn that Lorelai doesn't have any warm childhood memories with her dad, but says he was a good provider.  She confesses to Luke that she feels her dad sees her as a disappointment.  

At the hospital Emily is surprised to see Lorelai since she didn't expect her to show after their fight. Luke remains at the hospital to support Lorelai even though he hates hospitals.  

I really enjoy Emily in this episode because we're starting to her depth as a character.  I love the part in the hospital room when Richard is starting to have a serious talk in case he dies and she demands to "go first" because she didn't "sign on to his dying".  I also like how she's more perceptive about Lorelai and Luke's friendship  moreso than Lorelai is. During the episode with Rory's birthday parties Emily says that Lorelai is pleased that Luke looked at her like a Porterhouse steak. Which is a very funny line.  In this episode, at the end when Emily and Luke are sitting outside the hospital room, she asks Luke about his friendship with her daughter.

EMILY: So what exactly is going on between the two of you?

LUKE: Nothing. Really. We’re friends, that’s it.

EMILY: You’re idiots, the both of you.   

I really like the moment that Lorelai has with Rory when she tells her she knows nothing happened with Dean the night of the dance and that she trusts her. 

LORELAI:  Because you are your  mother's daughter.

Finally, the last scene of this episode is really great with Lorelai stopping by Luke's diner to give him a present.  The blue hat she gives him is the hat he wears throughout the entire series. 

Gilmore Girls Recap - Season 1 Episode 9 "Rory's Dance"

When I originally created my list of "essential episodes" Episode 9 "Rory's Dance" did not make the cut.  However, upon re-watching I realized "Rory's Dance" advances a couple of common themes in the series and solidifies Rory and Dean's relationship. Plus the story from this episode flows into Episode 10 "Forgiveness and Stuff", which I knew was going to be included on my list because it's one of my favorites.    

Season 1 Episode 9:  "Rory's Dance" 

Brief synopsis: There's a formal dance at Chilton and Rory decides to go with Dean. At the dance Tristan (a Chilton student who has a thing for Rory) gets into a fight with Dean, which reveals just how much Tristan likes Rory. Meanwhile, Emily and Lorelai share some sweet bonding moments which are later obsolete after a huge fight between the two, caused by Rory coming home late after the dance.  Or ... like, the next morning.  Oops. 

I love all of the Gilmore girls for different reasons.  Re-watching the series as an adult I've identified with Lorelai more than I did when I watched the show back when it aired in the early to mid-2000s.  However, I still see myself as a Rory ... even if she can be painfully naive at times. 

The scene with Lorelai and Rory in the car coming back from Friday night dinner is a sweet moment between mother and daughter. I like how Lorelai (the social and outgoing Gilmore girl) communicates with her daughter Rory (the more shy and reserved Gilmore girl) about going to the dance.   

Tristan has been pretty insufferable so far and the way he treats Rory is really irritating.  Re-watching this series I'm more "team Dean" than I thought I'd be, which I know won't last very long (foreshadowing).  However, between these two, Dean is shining brightly and I'm seriously worried for Paris, who obviously likes Tristan ... she also is not high on my favorite character list at the moment (also foreshadowing), but she definitely deserves better than Tristan.    

DEAN: Rory's mentioned you.

TRISTAN: Oh yeah?

DEAN: Yeah. I wouldn't get quite so excited about it.

TRISTAN: Oh, why, did she say something mean?

DEAN: She said you're a jackass.

TRISTAN: Really?

DEAN: Actually, no, Rory doesn't use words like that. I embellished a little.

Connection between Lorelai and Emily.  So far in the series we have not seen the softness between Emily and Lorelai.  We've only been aware of the strained relationship they have due to Lorelai's pregnancy and her leaving Emily and Richard when she was 16 years old.  We're also starting to get the underlying thread of Emily parenting Rory - her granddaughter - because of the circumstances with Lorelai.  This is an apparent theme throughout the series.    

In this episode, in the process of making Rory's dress Lorlai hurts her back. On the night of the dance Emily stops by to take some pictures of Rory, and she notices Lorelai in pain and insists on staying and taking care of her. This is the first time we see Emily as "mothering" Lorelai, which is a very sweet moment for the two of them.   

  

Within mere minutes we're back to the contentious relationship between mother and daughter because Rory accidentally stays out late.  Emily starts to have flashbacks of Lorelai at 16 and reprimands Lorelai for Rory's behavior.  The tensions between mother and daughter are so apparent in this episode and not only are the moments of Emily and Lorelai washed away, but we're left with a rift between Lorelai and Rory.