Help Wanted (Gilmore Girls)
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| “Help Wanted” | |
|---|---|
| Gilmore Girls episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 20 |
| Guest stars | Michael Winters Sally Struthers Sean Gunn Emily Kuroda Patrika Darbo |
| Written by | Allan Heinberg |
| Directed by | Chris Long |
| Production no. | 227470 |
| Original airdate | May 7, 2002 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Teach Me Tonight" | "Lorelai's Graduation Day" |
Help Wanted is Episode 20 of Season 2 of the television series Gilmore Girls. It originally aired on May 7, 2002.
[edit] Plot
It's another fine Friday in Stars Hollow, and Lorelai and Rory are walking through the Town Square on their way to Luke's Diner for breakfast. Lorelai is jolly but Rory wants to know the truth about what happened between Luke and her mother after the car accident with Jess. Lorelai insists that it was just another little fight, nothing at all to be worried about. She is still trying to convince Rory of this when reality deals her flimsy story a serious blow: Luke's Diner is closed. A large cardboard sign on the front door proclaims "GONE FISHING!" Lorelai tries to downplay this unprecedented development, but Rory is sure that it has to do with what happened the other night. They leave to find somewhere else to eat.
Rory and Lorelai are waiting to be seated at "The Hungry Diner." Lorelai, naturally, is most impatient, and is on the verge of doing something unpleasant when the waitress finally arrives to show them to a table. Nothing goes right from the start. The waitress brings coffee and standard-sized coffee cups -- something the Gilmore Girls haven't seen for years. The coffee itself isn't that great, either. Then, Lorelai sees someone that cheers her up: It's Michel. She gets right up to bother him. He bears it well, for a while, but when she tries to help herself to a taste of his egg-white omelet, it is too much. He stalks out of the restaurant.
Back at their table, Rory asks her mother for a favor. Dean is coming home from Chicago tonight and she wants to be there to explain about what happened with Jess and the car accident, before he can hear about it from anyone else. This means, however, that she will have to skip the weekly dinner at her grandparents' house. Lorelai says she understands and agrees to cover for Rory at dinner.
Later, at Emily and Richard's, Lorelai and her mother are having drinks. Lorelai has said that Rory wasn't feeling well, and Emily assumes that it is a flu bug that has been going around lately. Richard is in his den, working. It seems that he has put together the insurance consulting company that he had been talking about before. He is now president and CEO of The Gilmore Group. All is not well, however. As Richard joins them, he reports how he was unable to secure the hiring of Marge, his former longtime secretary at the firm. Without her, Richard is unsure how to proceed, and even wonders if he was right to start the new business in the first place. Lorelai puts on the brakes. She argues that there is another "Marge" out there, and offers to come out to her father's office tomorrow and help him get organized until he can find a new secretary. Richard reluctantly agrees.
Back in Stars Hollow, Rory is sitting on the steps in front of Dean's house, waiting for him to come home. He does and he is glad to see her -- until he notices the cast on her wrist. Dean is full of questions, but Rory just hands him a letter, and asks him to read it. As he does, a whole range of emotions plays across his face. At the end of the letter, Dean has just one last question for Rory: Is he really gone? Rory says yes. Dean takes this all in ... and accepts it. He invites a slightly surprised Rory inside for dinner.
At home that night, Rory is telling her mother how well Dean seemed to react to the news. Rory is worried that perhaps it simply hasn't all sunk in for him yet, but Lorelai thinks that Dean is even more terrific than they imagined. She tells Rory she should consider herself very lucky.
On Saturday, Lorelai visits the new offices of The Gilmore Group. The place is, in Richard's words, "a bit disheveled." Boxes are everywhere, pictures are still swaddled in bubble wrap, the thermostat is stuck on freezing, and the office phone sends every call to voice mail after one ring. Lorelai manages to fix a few of those problems, but when she is forced to take a phone message on her hand, she decides it is time to teach her father about one of the basics of owning one's own business: the office-supply store.
Richard and Lorelai are cruising the aisles at the local Office Barn. Richard is stunned by the store's hugeness, but Lorelai seems to be right at home. She talks him through the requirements of a successful office, encouraging him to think big: Not just two pens, but two boxes of pens, for example. Richard is a bit overwhelmed, at first, but eventually begins to warm up to the idea of shopping for himself. As they set out to search for a three-hole punch, Richard takes the cart confidently while Lorelai looks on, amused.
Rory and Lane are walking through Stars Hollow in the afternoon when they notice a storefront not far from Doose's Market. They peek through the windows and can make out musical instruments inside. It seems that their little town may soon be opening its first music store, a prospect about which Lane is very excited. As they press against the windows, Rory notices Taylor across the street and goes over to speak to him. She wants to apologize to him for the car accident: The bench that her car hit had one of Taylor's signs on it. Taylor is upset about that, but doesn't blame Rory in the slightest. He assures her that everyone in town knows that the crash wouldn't have happened without "that Jess!"
Sometime later, Lane has gone back to the new store. It is called "Sophie's Music," and Lane is clearly drawn to it ... but she walks past the front door and keeps going. Seconds later, she is back. She looks around to see if the coast is clear, then finally goes inside. Kirk is there, trying to get yet another part-time job, but Sophie, the owner, is not convinced. Lane is entranced. She walks through the store, gazing at the musical instruments. She is about to touch a guitar when Sophie asks her not to. Lane then walks over to a drum set, and Sophie encourages her to sit down and try it out. She even hands her a pair of drumsticks, but, remember: No touching, please. So Lane sits down and bangs out a few "air" riffs on the drums.
At the Gilmore Group, Lorelai is still helping her father get organized. While he is on the telephone with a potential client, she is right there with him, handing him documents and necessary information just when he needs it. They are a superb team, and Richard seems slightly disappointed when Lorelai hands him the list of secretary candidates for him to review. The phone rings again and Lorelai takes the call: It's Emily. She plans to throw an office-warming party this Friday, and reminds Lorelai to expect the caterers at 3. Lorelai asks if this means the regular Friday night dinner is off, but Emily says she expects them both to attend the party.
Rory is walking home when she is waylaid by their neighbor, Babette. She is sympathetic about Rory's accident, and tells her not to feel bad about what happened: Lots of women have been led astray by men before, she says. Rory is less than thrilled by this attitude, and quickly excuses herself to go inside. She calls out to her mother, but there's no answer. A check of the answering machine yields a message from Lorelai: She is still at her father's office and will be home late. Rory goes into the kitchen for a soda when the phone rings: It's Lane. She said she has found her calling in life -- the drums. She doesn't know how she's going to buy a drum set, or where she is going to put it, or how she will find time to practice. But she is going to be a drummer! Then, she signs off with Rory, hides her drumsticks in a planter, and goes back to her mother's choir group, singing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" in Korean.
In Richard's office, he and Lorelai are interviewing a secretary candidate. The young woman, Karen, seems perfectly pleasant and eminently qualified, but Richard acts as though he couldn't be less interested. He dismisses her with a promise to call when they've made a decision. Lorelai sees the woman out and returns with lunch. Richard praises her for anticipating his needs so well. Lorelai asks him what he thought of Karen, and Richard makes it fairly clear that he didn't. He says that it takes time to find the right person, and besides, what's the rush? He and Lorelai are working out just fine. Lorelai, reluctantly yet firmly, reminds him that she has her own job to attend to. Richard does not take this reminder gracefully. He rushes through lunch, and practically throws his daughter out of his office.
On Friday, on the way to the party, Lorelai and Rory have stopped at a burger stand for something to eat. It seems Luke is still not back and the diner is still closed. Rory apologizes to her mother for that: If she hadn't caused the accident, Luke and her mother wouldn't have fought, and Luke would still be in town. Lorelai rejects this, saying that everyone knows the accident wasn't Rory's fault. Rory is upset by the fact that no one expects her to bear any responsibility for what happened. Lorelai asks that they drop the subject for now.
At the party, Emily chastise Lorelai for being late but her heart's not really into it. Emily is very pleased that so many people came to celebrate Richard's new venture. Lorelai agrees but says that so many bodies makes for a very warm office; does Emily want her to turn the air conditioner on? No, Emily says, let Karen get it. Yes, Richard decided to hire Karen as his new secretary after all, and Emily says she is working out quite well. Lorelai sees Richard speaking to a man across the room and goes over to talk to him. They are a bit tentative with each other at first, but Richard warms up when Lorelai recognizes the name of the man he had been speaking to. It means that Lorelai really did enjoy working with her father after all.
Lorelai is telling her mother how happy Richard seems when Emily spots Rory sitting in a chair across the way. She is happily greeting her granddaughter when she notices the cast on Rory's arm. The whole sordid story comes out and Emily is furious with Lorelai, first for not telling what happened to begin with, then for letting Rory get involved with Jess. At this, Rory erupts. It was her decision to let Jess drive, she says. It was her choice to keep driving when Jess wanted to go back. The accident was just as much her fault as it was Jess's, she says, maybe more. Lorelai excuses herself, and pulls Rory aside.
What was that about? Lorelai asks. Rory is very angry. She is sick of everyone treating her as if she has no mind of her own. Taylor, Babette, Dean ... even her own mother, are all acting like Rory was just an innocent victim instead of a responsible individual. Lorelai says that it is her prerogative to place all the blame on Jess, and that Rory will just have to accept that. By now, they are shouting at each other. They both stop, remembering that they are in a public place. Rory decides to go home. Lorelai offers to drive her but Rory says that she will take the bus, that she needs some alone time.
It's six o'clock at Sophie's Music and Sophie is closing the store for the day. She locks the door, turns around ... to find Lane still standing there. Lane asks her for five more minutes; she says no. Lane tells Sophie of her deep need to play the drums; Sophie says cash or credit? Lane explains that she can't buy the drums, and that, even if she could, she couldn't take them home. Lane makes Sophie an offer: In exchange for practice time twice a week, Lane will help out around the store. Persistence finally wears Sophie down and she agrees.
Rory is walking home through town from the bus stop. She can hear drums in the distance, but notices activity in front of the diner. It's Luke, finally home from his week-long fishing trip. They chat briefly, and then he invites her inside for coffee. He asks after Lorelai; she asks after Jess. They are silent for a moment more, then Rory speaks:
"Luke," she says, "it wasn't his fault."
"I know it wasn't," Luke replies.
