Aired: October 9th, 2001
Written by: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Directed by: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Special Appearance: Edward Herrmann – Richard Gilmore
Guest Starring:
Liz Torres – Miss Patty
Emily Kuroda – Mrs. Kim
Jackson Douglas – Jackson Belleville
Sean Gunn – Kirk Gleason
Brian Tarantina – Bootsy
Scott Cohen – Max Medina
Jared Padalecki – Dean
Places in this Episode:
Stars Hollow Square
Kim’s Antiques
Luke’s Diner
Richard and Emily’s House
Independence Inn
Summary: Rory finished the school year in the top 3% of her class, and Richard and Emily celebrate with a special dinner. Rory invites Dean to come along, but is surprised by Richard’s harsh exterior throughout the dinner. Lorelai says yes to Max’s proposal, but does not tell Emily and Richard during their dinner. In the hopes of throwing a surprise party, Sookie calls at the end of the night to invite Emily and Richard to Stars Hollow, but unexpectedly hurts Emily.
Smile in a Cup for this Episode — We must always take the time to think of how our actions could affect those we love. If they respond in anger or use hurtful words, we must try to understand the root of the hurt, before we demand our ideal treatment. Their actions could have nothing to do with us at all.
Keeping Count–
Cups of Coffee in this episode: 0 … I cannot believe I did not see any coffee drinking in this episode.
References to Literature, Movies, or Pop Culture : Frank Sinatra, All In the Family, Sally Field, Ivana Trump, Edgar Hoover, Sadie, Funny Girl, Barbara Streisand, Bobby Flay, Stepahnie Seymour, Guns N’ Roses, Cujo, Cher, Greg Allman, Zelda Fitzgerald, The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story, Mencken’s Chrestomathy, Stephen Hawking
Noteworthy Lorelai-Luke Moments:
- Luke’s face when Lorelai says that Max asked her to marry him… Nooooo. His heart is breaking. Lorelai is very hesitant to tell him, though!
Noteworthy quotes:
“All I can say is, Dean, tonight you officially became a Gilmore Girl.” – Lorelai
Observations & Questions:
- Is this the first time Lane’s dad is mentioned? Mrs. Kim really is ecstatic about sending Lane to Korea.
- There are yellow flowers everywhere! Definitely more than 1,000 yellow daisies.
- All of the Stars Hollow people follow the girls to Luke’s! Patty is hysterical. Kirk is wearing his post office uniform. He is officially on to his next job.
- “Now what’s going on?” “Kirk passed out.” — Of course he did!
- Poor Emily and Richard! She was so excited that Rory finished in the top 3% of her class. I love that they want to celebrate this accomplishment.
- Luke ‘s questioning of Lorelai really caused her doubts and questions to flow. Max is so calm and steady, though.
- It is precious that Rory and Sookie are so excited for Lorelai.
- Jackson’s wall shot up really quick. He is so terrified Sookie will want to get married now.
- The scene with Rory and Max describing the engagement ring is so golden. “Put Cujo on the phone, please.”
- Emily looks ravishing in that purple!
- “Never beer. Beer’s bad.” Dean. Poor fella is initiated to Emily and Richard’s quickly with Lorelai’s teasing.
- Richard looks so disappointed to see Rory with Dean. Even though he is low-key rude to Dean, I can’t help but feel bad for him. He must be so fearful that Rory will make the same mistakes as Lorelai. His fear comes out in aggression. I appreciate that Emily tries to remind him of the celebration by retrieving Rory’s gift from Richard.
- I’m proud of Lorelai for empathizing with Richard and helping Rory to see his side of the story.
- Lane’s suitcase! Haha! Where did they even get that?
- I cry for Emily EVERY TIME I see this episode. It breaks my heart that she and Lorelai have such a distant relationship. Although she can be harsh, all of her motivation is to restore their relationship.
- La la la music plays as Max gives Lorelai her engagement ring on the front porch. Her last words of this episode are “I’m getting married.”
Smile in a Cup 