Teach Me Tonight (Gilmore Girls)
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| “Teach Me Tonight” | |
|---|---|
| Gilmore Girls episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 19 |
| Guest stars | Liz Torres Michael Winters Sally Struthers Sean Gunn Mary Lynn Rajskub Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs Rich Topol Jon Polito David Sutcliffe |
| Written by | Amy Sherman-Palladino |
| Directed by | Steven Robman |
| Production no. | 227469 |
| Original airdate | April 30, 2002 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Back In The Saddle Again" | "Help Wanted" |
Teach Me Tonight is Episode 19 of Season 2 of the television series Gilmore Girls. It originally aired on April 30, 2002.
[edit] Plot
Lorelai and Rory are on line at Doose's Market. They notice Marty, a new bagboy. Rory says he is subbing for Dean while Dean is visiting his grandmother in Chicago. At first, Lorelai is impressed by Marty's skills. But, then, she sees a sinister motive behind them: He's out for Dean's job permanently. Rory says that can't happen because someone stole Taylor's ladder last week, and Dean is the only one who can reach the top shelves. Lorelai makes this out to be devious planning on Dean's part, while Rory just sees it as another one of her mother's flights of fancy.
They move along the line to find Taylor at the register. As he rings them up, Rory notices a flyer for Movie in the Square Night, a Stars Hollow tradition. Lorelai and Rory say they will go but Taylor refuses to say what the movie will be. Lorelai guesses, rightly, that Taylor has chosen "The Yearling" -- again. This would be the fourth year in a row, she complains. Lorelai and Taylor go back and forth on the issue until he explodes in frustration. Fine, he says, you do it! He relinquishes the job completely to Lorelai.
At home, on Wednesday morning, Rory is getting ready for school while Lorelai is running through lists of movie ideas. Between them, they name half-a-dozen films, but that doesn't really help Lorelai to decide. The phone rings; it's Christopher, making his weekly call to Rory. She tells him about movie night and how Lorelai got the job. Christopher says he has to cut the talk short, but he sent her an e-mail and promised to talk longer on their next call. Rory asks if he wants to talk to her mother but he says no, and hangs up. Rory senses that her mom and dad are fighting about something, but Lorelai won't say what's wrong. Rory grabs her bag and heads for school, arranging to meet Lorelai later at Luke's.
At Stars Hollow High School, Lane is taking an exam. Just after the teacher announces that there are 15 minutes left, Jess sneaks into the room and sits down behind Lane. He bothers her for a pen -- which he uses to make margin notes in a paperback book. The teacher notices him but says nothing. She shakes her head sadly.
Later, in the high school principal's office, Luke has been called in to talk about Jess. When Luke asks what his nephew has done this time, the principal answers: Nothing. No homework, no class participation, no school activities, nothing. Jess is on the verge of failing the 11th grade, and the principal wants to know what Luke is going to do about it. For example, he suggest Luke hire Jess a tutor. Luke promises that he will take care of things.
After school, Lorelai and Rory are at Luke's Diner going over the movie list again -- which Lorelai has "narrowed" down to 75 titles. Taylor walks in and gives Lorelai a little surprise: It's a catalog of films to choose from. It seems that they can get the movie for free if they choose from a certain distributor's list. Unfortunately, the movies on this list don't exactly match the ones Lorelai had in mind. She and Rory are looking over the new list when Luke returns. He asks them if they have seen Jess, and Rory says she saw him go upstairs.
Luke goes up to the apartment to find Jess sorting his CDs. It takes him a few moments, but Luke eventually gets around to telling Jess about his conversation with the principal. Jess seems completely unconcerned about the prospect of being put back a year. Luke tries to get him to think about the future, but Jess actually walks out on him.
Back at home, in the kitchen, Lorelai is looking at the movie list Taylor gave her. She tells Rory that she has made her decision. This year's movie will be ... "The Yearling." She then gets up to answer a knock at the door: It's Luke. He has come bearing brownies because he has a favor to ask. Not Lorelai, though -- Rory. She invites him into her room and Luke asks the big question: Will she be Jess's tutor for awhile, just long enough to pull up his grades and keep him from failing? Rory know Jess doesn't need the help, but she agrees anyway, apparently for Luke's sake. Rory says she will start that night.
Luke starts to leave but Lorelai asks what's going on. Luke explains what he asked Rory to do, and Lorelai seems to accept this -- right up to the moment she follows Luke out the door. She has misgivings, and worries that Rory said yes just to be nice. She thinks Jess should have an adult tutor. Luke says that Jess wouldn't listen to an adult; in fact, Rory seems to be just about the only person he would listen to. He thinks Rory will be a good influence on Jess. Lorelai finally, reluctantly, gives in.
Later, while Rory and Lorelai are eating dinner at Luke's, Kirk walks up to their table. He has heard that Lorelai's in charge of the Movie Night this year and wants to ask her a favor. It seems that Kirk is, among other things, an amateur filmmaker. He has made a short film and wants Lorelai to run it before the movie. She agrees to think about it and he leaves her a copy of the film.
Rory and Jess are supposed to begin the tutoring after dinner, but Lorelai tries to delay the inevitable. Rory reminds her mother that it's just studying, and that they will be right there in the diner. When Lorelai gets up to leave, though, Rory asks her -- in case Dean calls -- to say that she is with Lane. Lorelai objects to lying for Rory. Rory asks her to just say she is studying; that way, it won't be a lie. Just then, Jess comes out from the back. He makes some obviously sarcastic remarks about how eager he is to begin. Lorelai kisses Rory good-bye and walks out.
Rory asks Jess if he is ready to start. Jess says yes, but he has none of his schoolbooks. Rory says he should get them or she goes home. After a while, Jess seems more interested in doing card tricks than studying. The more Rory tries to get him to focus on schoolwork, the more Jess tries to pry into her personal life, especially about Dean. Rory gives him an ultimatum: Either he buckles down, or she leaves. Jess opens his history book and they get to work.
Or, at least, that's what he pretends to do. After a while, Jess still isn't doing anything Rory has asked him to do. Jess notices Rory's car -- the car Dean built for her -- parked outside. He makes her a deal: They will take a break to get some ice cream and when they get back, he promises to start paying attention. Rory says she doesn't believe him but she agrees anyway. She tells Jess to drive so she can read Shakespeare to him on the way.
Jess and Rory are eating their ice cream and heading back to Luke's. His cone is dripping, so he tells her to take the wheel for a moment. She does but she doesn't enjoy it at all. In a quiet moment, she asks Jess a serious question: With all his reading and comprehension skills, why doesn't Jess ace all of his classes easily? "I'm never going to college; why waste the time in high school?" he says. Jess seems to imply that authority figures already have made up their minds about him, so he should just play by his own rules. He says he has no plans whatsoever, but Rory says he could do so much more with his life than that. Jess turns the tables, and asks Rory what her plans are. She shares her dream of becoming an international broadcast journalist. Jess is a little surprised, but encourages her. A few moments more, and there's Luke's Diner straight ahead. Of course, Jess says, if they turned right, they would just be driving around awhile.
"Turn right," Rory says.
Later, Lorelai is at home when the telephone rings. It's Rory. Lorelai begins to describe how she is reorganizing their takeout menu drawer when Rory tells her that she needs Lorelai to be calm. When her mother asks why, the whole story comes out in a rush: Rory has been in an accident. Jess swerved to avoid hitting an animal and crashed the car. Rory is fine and Jess is fine and ... "Where are you?" Lorelai interrupts. Rory tells her she is at the hospital.
Lorelai rushes into the ER at Stars Hollow Hospital and demands to see her daughter. The nurse tries to get her to wait, but Lorelai convinces her of the wisdom of letting her see Rory immediately. Rory is sitting on an exam table, waiting for the doctor to finish looking her over when Lorelai comes in. Rory says she is fine, but the doctor does say that she fractured her wrist when she bumped into the dashboard. She will have to wear a cast for two weeks but she should be fine, he says. Lorelai insists that they be completely sure, so the doctor agrees to more X-rays. He leaves to arrange them.
Rory tries to tell her mother what happened, but Lorelai asks her to save the details for later. Lorelai says that she is not mad, and playfully diverts Rory's attention by asking about the ambulance ride and if they used the siren. The doctor returns. Lorelai asks to go with Rory but he asks her to wait; it should take about an hour. She says she will and kisses Rory good-bye. As Lorelai leaves the exam room, she pauses. A cold fury rises in her eyes, and she stalks out of the hospital.
Lorelai is on the warpath back to Luke's Diner. She bangs on the locked door, and Luke lets her in. She demands to see Jess. Luke asks her what happened but she just storms upstairs, looking for Jess. Finally, she tells Luke about the accident. He asks her if anyone was hurt, and she angrily tells him of Rory's injury. Jess almost killed my kid tonight, Lorelai says. Luke tries to tell her that accidents happen, but Lorelai won't hear of it. Why did you do this? she demands. It's all Luke's fault, she says. Luke kept him in Stars Hollow, against almost everyone's wishes and advice, and now Rory is in the hospital because of it. Luke walks out of the diner, and Lorelai chases after him.
She warned him about her misgivings, Lorelai says. She accuses him of not thinking of Rory, or her, or anyone else. Now, Luke is angry, too. He says he stood by Jess because he is family. At least Lorelai knows where her daughter is, Luke says. That's why he has to go find Jess, right now, instead of listening to her blame him. They curse each other and Luke walks off. Lorelai turns to go when she sees a tow truck across the square, carrying the remains of Rory's car. Lorelai is overwhelmed. She pulls her cell phone from her purse and dials a number. "Chris?" she says.
Luke is walking down by the lake when he sees Jess, sitting on the footbridge, smoking a cigarette. They exchange a few quiet words, then Luke sits down next to him.
Later, Rory is back at home, in bed. Lorelai is ready to attend to her every possible need, but all she wants to do is sleep. They say good night, but Lorelai doesn't leave the room. She starts setting up a makeshift bed for herself, in a chair in the corner. Rory objects, to no avail. They both fall asleep. Eventually, Lorelai wakes up to shift position and finds Christopher asleep in the chair behind her. She wakes him, and they tiptoe out of the room together.
Christopher explains that he drove here as soon as Lorelai called him but they missed each other at the hospital. The house was dark when he arrived, so he got the key out of the turtle and let himself in -- but they were both asleep so... Lorelai hugs him, her gratitude shining through. They talk about what happened, and Christopher makes several offers to help out, including killing Jess once they find him. Lorelai is impressed but Chris says he feels that it's about time. He has decided to stay there a while to spend time with his daughter. About that fight they had last time, Lorelai begins... They both apologize, realizing that there are more important things to worry about.
Movie in the Square Night has arrived, and Rory, Lorelai, Christopher and Sookie have arrived to see the show when Lane rushes up to them. The adults go off to find seats, and the two teens talk about Rory's accident. Rory tells Lane what happened but the key question is still up in the air: When will she tell Dean, and what will his reaction be? Rory says she doesn't know. She also says that everyone seems to be really angry right now, including Luke and her mother. She thinks something happened between them because of the accident.
Lorelai, Chris and Sookie take their seats, and the projector starts up. It's not the main event, though. It is "a film by kirk": a monochromatic, monosyllabic, mess of a movie that has to be seen to be described. By the time Kirk starts break-dancing, Christopher is convinced he should come to Stars Hollow more often, if only to protect Lorelai and Rory from the madness. Lorelai says again that she is glad he came to stay, even if it's only for a short time. Rory comes back from talking to Lane and Chris gets up to get them all popcorn.
The short film ends, to scattered and confused applause. Miss Patty comes up to the Gilmores and proudly proclaims that she was choreographer on the film. Babette waves her over to an empty seat. Rory and Lorelai are talking to each other when they overhear Babette giving Miss Patty the big news: Jess is gone. Babette said Luke put him on a bus and sent him back home to his mother in New York. Miss Patty is surprised; what will they do for excitement now? Lorelai and Rory seem to be wondering just that as the feature movie begins.
