Back In The Saddle Again
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Back In The Saddle Again” | |
|---|---|
| Gilmore Girls episode | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 18 |
| Guest stars | Dakin Matthews Shelly Cole Teal Redmann Adam Wylie Janet Hubert |
| Written by | Linda Loiselle Guzik |
| Directed by | Kevin Dowling |
| Production no. | 227468 |
| Original airdate | April 23, 2002 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Dead Uncles and Vegetables" | "Teach Me Tonight" |
Back In The Saddle Again is Episode 18 of Season 2 of the television series Gilmore Girls. It originally aired on April 23, 2002.
[edit] Plot
The scene: Friday night dinner at the home of Richard and Emily Gilmore. The table is beautifully set ... but no one is eating. Emily, Lorelai and Rory are waiting for Richard to join them -- and Emily will let no one else begin eating without him, even though the girls are starving. It seems Richard's preoccupation with hobbies is keeping him from the table: He bought an antique car several weeks ago when his attempt at oil painting fell through. He does arrive, finally, dressed in greasy coveralls. He urges the girls to go ahead with dinner, but Emily will hear nothing of it. She orders the maid to keep the food warm until Richard returns.
At Luke's Diner, at least, you can eat when you want to. Lorelai and Rory go there for breakfast one morning when Lorelai notices something different about the place. She can't put her finger on it until she sees the blackboard over the counter: Luke is offering a new breakfast special. Lorelai orders it, and then proceeds to customize her order so much that it barely resembles the original. After Luke stomps off, Lorelai remarks how focused Luke was about his special, right down to the handwriting on the board. Rory says the handwriting is Jess's, however. She recognizes it from the margin notes he made in one of her books. Lorelai is giving Rory a bit of a hassle about this when Dean walks up. Rory is surprised to see him, and seems less than enthusiastic when Lorelai invites him to join them.
Later, at Chilton, Rory, Paris, Madeline, Louise and Chip, a classmate, are going over an assignment for their economics class. Rory has been put in charge of the team, making Paris even surlier than usual. As they read the instructions, another student walks up to join them: It's Brad, the boy who left Chilton rather than work with Paris in a Shakespeare assignment, and then lost to her and Rory in a debate on doctor-assisted suicide. He said his psychiatrist and his rabbi said that he should face his fears, so he came back to Chilton. Rory describes the assignment for Brad. Their team has to come up with an idea for a teen-oriented consumer product, make a prototype, and present it at the school's Business Fair in three weeks time. They will pitch ideas at their next meeting. They also need an adult to serve as an advisor, but none of the parents in their group are available -- except for Lorelai. Rory agrees to ask her mother if she can help.
In the kitchen of the Independence Inn, Sookie is carefully counting meringue whips when Lorelai enters with a package: It's Sookie and Jackson's wedding invitations. They are both very excited, until Sookie reads the fine print. The invitations announce the wedding of "Suzie St. James." Sookie is incensed but Lorelai acts quickly to get the printing company on the phone. While they are on hold, Michel enters -- in an uncharacteristically good mood. He is taking the afternoon off because his mother is coming to visit. Unlike Lorelai and Emily, it seems Michel and his mother have a very close relationship. Lorelai finally gets someone on the phone. She cautions Sookie that a calm attitude will get her better results. Sookie nods, takes the phone, and immediately begins yelling at the person on the other end.
Lorelai goes back out to the front desk to find Rory waiting for her. She has come to work at the inn after school. As they chat about Rory's day, Rory reluctantly asks her mother if she could serve as parent advisor on the economic project. Lorelai, just as reluctantly, agrees -- but then offers an alternative: Rory should ask her grandfather to help. Rory says she isn't sure about that idea. Richard apparently has been sensitive about business talk since he retired. Lorelai says her father will be glad that Rory asked, and Rory will be doing her a favor as well. Rory says she'll give it a try.
At the Gilmore home in Hartford, Richard is in the driveway, working on his antique car. Rory comes up and asks him the favor about the school project. Richard makes some feeble excuses and ultimately declines. Rory is about to leave when Emily joins them. She urges Rory to stay for a snack, but Rory says she has to get back to the inn. She tells Richard not to worry about turning her down. He thanks her, and Rory leaves. Emily immediately grills Richard about what Rory wanted. When she finds out that Richard decided not to help his granddaughter, she chastises him and says she is very disappointed in him. Richard tunes her out, literally, and she leaves.
Back in Stars Hollow, Rory and Lane are walking through town square, discussing the results of an aptitude test Lane took at school. It suggests she should consider a career in sales, an idea Lane does not warm up to, to say the least. As they talk, Dean comes up behind them to say hello. He asks Rory what her plans are, and asks her to drop by his softball game to watch him play. Rory says that, since they already planned to go out later, she should really do her homework first. She promises that she will come to one of his games next week. Dean accepts this and they go their separate ways.
At the inn, Michel and Lorelai are going over some paperwork at the desk when a strikingly handsome woman comes in, surrounded by an entourage of shopping bags and designer luggage. It is Michel's mother, Giselle. She is, not surprisingly, very much like her son: flattery, charm and a ready wit, all spoken in an outrageous French accent. Giselle seems to take to Lorelai, and Michel takes his mother to show her off around the inn.
At Chilton, Rory is bringing her team's advisor to their pitch meeting: It's Richard. Apparently, he has had a change of heart. Rory introduces him to the group, and then asks everyone to start throwing out ideas for their product. Louise is first with the Lipstick Lo-jac, a locator for cosmetics. Madeline is next with the Locker Robot, but she doesn't seem to realize that idea means they would have to make a robot. Paris, of course, saves the day. She starts passing out project folders to illustrate her idea: Customized first-aid kits for students' school lockers. Richard listens to Paris explain her plan, and then begins to ask some tough questions. Paris stands her ground. Richard then surprises everyone by saying he likes the idea, and thinks it will work. He pulls his chair into the circle and they really start to focus on the project.
Back at home, Lorelai is on the couch reading a book as Rory comes home from school. The telephone is ringing but Lorelai makes no move to answer it. It stops just as Rory picks it up, and she asks her mother why she didn't answer. Lorelai says it was because she knew who it would be. Dean? Rory guesses. Dean the Determined, her mother replies. The telephone rings again but, this time, it's Richard. He asks Rory if she minds that their next group meeting is held at his house. Rory says that will be fine, and Richard says he will contact the group about the change of plans. Lorelai suggests Rory listen to the messages so she can erase them. Each one is from Dean. Rory says she doesn't know why Dean seems so insecure lately. Lorelai urges her to stay the course, and things will get back to normal soon.
The next day at the inn, Lorelai is working at the front desk when Michel and his mother come in, returning from lunch. Michel goes to get his mother some coffee, leaving her to chat with Lorelai. Giselle says she is having a wonderful visit and will miss her son, but at least he will have five pounds to remember her by -- it seems he ate all her pasta at lunch. Lorelai reacts with surprise, and tells Giselle how Michel is famous for controlling his diet: all no-carb, lo-cal, and less food than the lab rats. Michel returns but soon they are off again to go shopping.
In Hartford, Rory and her economics group are walking up the path to her grandfather's home -- minus Paris. Paris had insisted they all leave at a specific time, but she wasn't there when they left so they came without her. Rory rings the doorbell and is saying that they'll call Paris once they get inside when -- guess who? -- Paris answers the door. The surprised group follows her inside where Richard is calling to them from the dining room. He welcomes them all to the first meeting of the "Style Aid" corporation. Apparently, Paris and Richard have been working behind the scenes to advance Paris's product idea into a full-fledged project, complete with prototype. Richard, very obviously, is getting into this, and Rory is pleased to see him smile.
Lorelai pulls into her driveway at home to find Dean, busily washing Rory's car. She cuts off his explanation of why he is washing Rory's car to invite him inside for a talk. She starts by saying how good Dean is to Rory and how glad she is that Rory found him. However, Lorelai senses that something has changed between them and she warns Dean not to try so hard to make things the way they were. Sometimes, she says, the best way to hold on is to let go. Let Rory breathe a little, Lorelai says. Dean reluctantly sees the wisdom in this and leaves.
In the kitchen at the inn, Sookie is shouting into the telephone at her printers. Lorelai barely has time to comfort her when Michel bursts in, angrily. He accuses Lorelai of ruining his relationship with Giselle by telling her that he doesn't eat carbohydrates. Lorelai is, naturally, confused: Michel and Giselle seem to get along perfectly. Michel says that is only because he tells his mother nothing. They talk about inconsequential fluff, such as fashion, food and entertainment. But now, since she knows he has lied about something, all she does is ask him personal questions. "You turned my Giselle into a mother!" Michel screams at Lorelai, and stomps out.
The day of the Business Fair has arrived and Paris is checking out the competition. She feels confident that their product will win, but Rory says the Locker Alarm might have a chance. Richard is there too, of course, and agrees with Paris wholeheartedly. Rory is wondering whether the two of them should take a time-out when Chilton's headmaster, Hanlon Charleston, comes up to say hello to Richard. They chat and exchange pleasantries; the headmaster says they should get together for dinner sometime. Charleston then leaves to announce the results of the judging. The winner of the 2002 Annual Business Fair is -- The Locker Alarm. Richard is incensed. He angrily confronts Charleston and demands a recount. The headmaster says that the Locker Alarm is still the winner, and tells Richard he should be proud that his product was in the running. When Richard says it was not his product but the children's, Charleston wonder why it is Richard, and not the students, causing a public scene. Richard snorts and walks out.
It's Friday night again, and Rory and Lorelai are in Hartford for the weekly dinner. Rory is telling her mother how angry Richard was after the incident at school. When Emily greets them at the door, she seems a bit subdued. She tells them that Richard came home, stomped off to his study, and hasn't been out since. She is worried about him, and Rory tells her what happened. Lorelai suggests that Richard talk about his feelings with someone -- a therapist, for example. Emily rejects this suggestion out of hand, describing it as a practice for deviants. In the middle of Emily's diatribe, Richard comes out, dressed and ready for dinner. Emily demands that he explain himself. It's simple, Richard says, as he sits down at the dinner table: I don't want to be retired anymore. He said his experience with Rory's project made him realize that he needs to work again. He has decided to go into business for himself. He doesn't know the details yet, but he is more excited now than he has been in years.
Later on, on the drive home, Rory's pager goes off: It's Dean. Rory reveals that it is the first time Dean has paged her in two days. She actually had a chance to miss him today, she says -- something they both agree is a good development. Lorelai offers to let Rory use her cell phone to call Dean back, but Rory says it can wait until tomorrow; she has plans to visit Lane tonight. Lorelai is a bit wary about this, but she drops Rory off at Lane's home anyway, and then heads home herself.
As she pulls into the driveway, she sees an all-too-familiar sight: Dean, sitting dejectedly on their porch steps. She walks up to him but he only has one thing to say. "She likes Jess, doesn't she," he says. It's not even a question, really; Dean seems to have made up his mind. Lorelai has no response as Dean stands up and walks away.
