2.18 - Back in the Saddle Again

[Dani257]

Willful blindness.  He didn't want to see it. 

[Imy]

i no wat you mean but it was there and blindingly obvious he had to accept at some time!!!
i'm not as completely anti-dean as i come across ok!!!

[Dani257]

I don't mind if you are or aren't.  I just like responding to interesting posts.  And, on that note, sometimes it takes awhile to accept something you don't want to accept.  You keep hoping if you pretend that it isn't happening, it'll go away.  He kept hoping if he did the right thing, Rory would get over what he hoped was just a phase. 

[Imy]

i agree with you!
because actually dean had seen it earlier i for example at the bracebridge dinner when everyone was leaving and lorelai was talking to luke and jess was next to luke and jess kept on smiling at rory and rory was smiling at him back and then dean looked at rory and looked at jess and you could see the worry and panic on his face.

[longlostgilmore]

Ohhhh this happened such a long time ago, but since it's GG hiatus time I've gone running to my DVDs to fill that missing hole in my life.   Season 2 is on the agenda for now, and I actually just finished this episode...and felt the need to come here and see what others had to say about it.

I'm gonna be the outcast and say I didn't feel sorry for Dean.  Season one I liked Dean somewhat and I suppose he wasn't too bad at the beginning of this season but as time went on he just had too much of a temper and was way too controlling.  It's like hello, what are you all 16, just turning 17?  He acts as though they're married and it's just a simple high school romance.  Jealousy doesn't get you anywhere, if he would have just been sweet and understanding it would have helped his case a lot.  It's not attractive to see someone worrysome and upset all the time.  And why would Rory want to spend time with him whenever he flips his lid everytime things don't go exactly as planned?

As far as the basket went, that was Jess doing the bidding, it wasn't Rory's fault.  And if he would have just respected her wishes to be alone whenever Lor & Emily went out of town he wouldn't have had to see Jess there and even though he did he should have believed her.  He dug his own hole by being a possessive jerk...you can't smother people. 

I mean you have Dean, slightly cute but tries too hard and not quite on the same level as her, and then add a bad temper and a stalkerish tendency.

Then you look at Jess, much more attractive (IMO) that shares a love of books and movies and intelligence, then throw in the fact that he's obviously attracted to her but he isn't trying to give ultimatums or step on her toes all the time.  He's not trying to put the moves on her, and he's not putting any pressure on her to pursue him.

Dean drove her to Jess...he put her on auto pilot right to him. 

[Imy]

wow lostgilmoregirl that was so incredibly true!
apart from when you said you didn't feel sorry for dean cos a tiny ounce of me did feel sorry for him but only a tiny ounce of me!! cos he had to admit it at some point at some point he had to let go of rory and let her be with a guy who suits her better-by that i mean jess not logan!

[Kayleigh]

I think Rory has been really harsh to Dean in the episodes about this time, always lying to him and stuff about Jess she should just be honest about him.

Also I don't know if this was done on purpose but did anyone else notice this....

In the business meeting at school when Paris presents her idea to Richard one of the girls has her legs crossed, everytime it cuts back to her she has them crossed the opposite way. I had to rewind it watch it again and laugh. I couldnt find it on any blooper websites so not sure if it was a deliberate mistake but check it out...

[bingbong]

A classic Paris episode, one of her best. When Brad sits next to her and shrivels under her glare, it's Charlie Brown and Lucy. I would feel sorry for the guy if it wasn't so funny. It's always fun seeing her interact with characters outside of Chilton and no surprise that she and Richard hit it off so well. I love her reaction when Richard questions her first-aid idea: she answers in her usual brash manner, but when Richard gives his approval she momentarily wilts with "really?", as if she can't believe that a bonafide business honcho actually likes her idea. It's a quick glimpse of Paris appearing humble, but his approval serves to bolster her confidence even further. At the end of the episode when Richard credits Rory for getting his working "buzz" going again, the credit should properly go to Paris; she was the catalyst. It's understandable of course; Richard wants to dote on his beloved Rory, and she did initiate his involvement (with a push from Emily). But Paris was his kindred spirit in this episode. If Richard had not been at the contest, i think Paris would have had a similar sore-loser outburst.

[lessa]

Egads, I can't help wondering whether he loves Rory or hates Jess more.

I love the way the symbolic parents and children are brought together here. I mean, for all his complete absence, Jess and Luke are obviously bonding over writing signs and making new egg combos. (Rory instantly recognized his handwriting, guess he's not off her mind, even though she's "been good.") Lane gets the same aptitude test result year after year; Sales, just like her mother. (She's good, now I want the Devo Whip-o-matic.) even Sookie, for lack of a better mother, gets completely hysterical with the printing company that's "ruining her wedding." It's a reach, but it seems like she copes like a Gilmore girl.

Obviously I noticed Michel's mom, she's a friggin beacon. who was that glittery French woman, does anybody know? But since I've always seen Michel as a sort of visual aid to Lorelai's inner spoiled brat, his mom-son bonding told me a lot about Lorelai and Rory. See, Michel and Zigli have fun together the same way Rory and Lorelai do, on a self-gratifying and superficial level, whilst watching loads of TV, pampering themselves and consuming mass quantities of carbs. But to keep that innocent fun intact, they have to be largely unaware of each other's real struggles and efforts.

Lorelai does not have Richard's and Emily's drive to show up at Chilton and actively help Rory do her thing. She doesn't personally oversee every decision Rory makes navigating her day. She doesn't want to do anything for Rory that Rory wants to do on her own, is what I'm saying. Knowing the truth about Rory's feelings and the way she treats Dean hits her mom-nerve, though, and she has to weigh in, both with manipulating Dean and nagging Rory, however gently and sensitively she handled it.

The truth is, like Giselle, she's spent so much time looking at her child through a lens of household democracy, personal independence, and girlfriendy good times and doesn't really know enough about what's inside Rory to do the right thing behind her back. I mean, her advice to Dean was something every stalker soon-to-be ex needs to hear, but she might not have wasted her time if she'd known Rory wasn't entirely honest about wanting to recapture the flame with Dean. She suspected after Rory read the handwriting at Luke's and Dean quasi-semi confirmed it, but she needs to hear it from Rory or she's stuck charging it all to the Mom card.

which is not an entirely bad thing, as Emily is one scene over manipulating Richard into bonding with his granddaughter. I liked the way Richard and Paris carried out the parent-child metaphor, it gives a lot of insight as to why Richard finds retirement difficult. I tried to imagine Paris retiring or taking a leave of absence from being a cutthroat competitor, and I couldn't do it.

Richard took a lot of heat in this season for treating his family like obstacles and doing whatever he thought it would take to push his point of view. Here we see him channeling all that into a student project and producing a real business with Paris as a partner, right up to the point of defending it against critics that might affect investors' decisions in the media. The fact that it led to him having an embarrassing fit with the Headmaster, I assumed, was just Gilmore tradition. But it reminds me of all those times in Fast Forwardy town when Paris had a fit and had to rearrange her life around the consequences. People like that need to be hard at work or they're a menace! XD

[lessa]

Too boring? Well, I also thought it was hilarious that Paris makes such a great second-in-command. And that she can bully her distant father into teleconferencing in the middle of the night. (He owes me for crunching his divorce numbers!)

I had a little confused moment when Madeleine says "working moms are so 90's," like she can't imagine a mom working because she had to instead of wanting to change her image. Well, that wasn't the confusing part, I just forgot when this episode aired originally. Ironically, working moms have stayed a trend through the naughties, thanks to a little unsound Republican fiscal policy.

I also liked how Michel was actually doing stuff around the inn. I mean, sometimes it seems like the character works to seem useless but becomes completely snippy if anyone actually buys it. Here, it makes a little more sense where Lorelai is the sign-it-and-go manager and he is explaining how the forms relate to the inn. Heh, she hasn't (quite) graduated from business school yet!

[laurla205]

My thoughts on this episode are all over the place.  For one Dean was MIA last episode and all of the sudden he’s calling fourteen times in two hours?  That was quick.  This is where he crosses the line into unreasonable-world for me.  Well the first 40 minutes of the episode anyway.  It’s hard not to sympathize with him seeing how hard he’s trying to make things work while Rory is so lackadaisical about it but he’s very distasteful here.  Did he really get angry at Rory because she wanted to do her homework at home?  Ah the concerns of a 17-year-old. 

The truth is, like Giselle, she's spent so much time looking at her child through a lens of household democracy, personal independence, and girlfriendy good times and doesn't really know enough about what's inside Rory to do the right thing behind her back. I mean, her advice to Dean was something every stalker soon-to-be ex needs to hear, but she might not have wasted her time if she'd known Rory wasn't entirely honest about wanting to recapture the flame with Dean. She suspected after Rory read the handwriting at Luke's and Dean quasi-semi confirmed it, but she needs to hear it from Rory or she's stuck charging it all to the Mom card.
 

I think Lorelai knew that Rory had all but moved on already (yes she needed to hear it for it to be official but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t already know, similar to fast forwardy town “knowing” about Emily and Richard’s separation before she officially knew).  I think, like Dean, she’s reading the signs but unlike Dean she’s interpreting them correctly and without hesitation that he is the soon-to-be ex.  I’m not sure Lorelai didn’t overstep her mom (or best friend) boundaries here however, initially I was wishing Dean had a Lorelai-figure to give him the “if you love it let it go” speech he so badly needed to hear.  Lorelai was very diplomatic about the conversation she had with him, sure not to give away any information she had (or didn’t have) and dealing only with how Dean felt.  It can’t have been easy and she certainly couldn’t have him hanging around cleaning Rory’s belongings waiting for her to never show up.  But I think her suggestions to him were merely out of respect (and maybe a little pity) for how he felt about Rory and what he and Rory once shared rather than purely trying to keep the two of them together.

Dean’s realization at the end of the episode is long overdue and it's a relief that now that he recognizes the problem he can finally start to see the situation clearly. 


Janet Hubert plays Gisele Gerard.  She seems to be a queen of the one-episode appearance although she was on several Fresh Prince epi’s (I can’t place her despite the description provided at the link).

Gisele lends such important development to Michel’s character.  When in the presence of Gisele it’s easy to see how he came to be so superficially lovable.  Doesn’t he have it right though?  Compared to Lane-Mrs. Kim, Lorelai-Rory and even Emily-Lorelai there are things you gloss over with your parents to keep everything on an even keel.  He may have taken it to the extreme but it worked nonetheless.  For awhile anyway, leave it to Lorelai to ruin any mother-child relationship!

Richard, where do I begin, what a mess literally and figuratively.  It all seems to culminate in this episode.  I was a bit surprised that he initially turned Rory down.  I suppose it goes to show just how backwards he is at the moment, I wholeheartedly agree with Emily whether she was manipulating him or not.  The way he transitions from complete disinterest to immersing himself in this project gives a little bit of a clue as to what he was like when he was actively working.  We never got a clear picture of what exactly he did on a day to day basis because it wasn’t detrimental to the story and this is a nice window to that side of his personality.  It leaves no doubts that he was of the fiercest type of businessman all the while not above a little immature sulking.  He and Paris do make a great team. 


Best line of the episode for me goes to Sookie during her own its-not-fair tantrum.  That last exclamation gets me every time.

Sookie: You know what, forget it! If that’s how you run your business, then I deserve this for picking you in the first place. I hate you!


ETA: Ha, only three tries to get that link right, I am the link master!

[lessa]

I didn't mean the Gerard Girls were dysfunctional by comparison, just that they're no exception to the mom code. Ignorance is bliss, because no matter how cool a mom you are, you have to draw the line and interfere somewhere. Lorelai lets Rory handle her own problems, but the way Rory treats Dean (specifically, among all her boyfriends, no less) is her breaking point, whether Rory wants her help or not.

Lorelai thought Dean was hurting himself with the stalker routine (contextually, waiting out her busy schedule,) but Rory needed to tell him to back off, or let her breathe, or take a hike, you're pathetic or whatever. Hearing it from Lorelai just gives him enough hope to stay in a lose-lose situation. She never would have given him that hope if she knew it made her Rory's wingman for cheating. Or, contextually, moving on without telling her boyfriend.

Here's a thought, since laurla mentioned Dean's MIA the last few epis - why was Richard so into a classic car? When he had his go-around with Dean, he swore by the virtues of his postmodern do-not-fix-it-yourself luxury Jaguar. Mechanics were what Dean was doing in his recent absence from the plot, and I can't help thinking there's a tangled metaphor in there somewhere.

I mean, Dean works on his relationship with Rory constantly, but he can't get her engine started anymore. Richard is depressed, and he doesn't care if the engine responds, he just needs something to do to avoid facing his life. You see what I mean about the metaphor, it's there I'm just missing it somehow...

BTW thanks for the link to Janet Hubert. Apparently she was Aunt Vivian from 90 to 93, after which the character was played by Daphne Reed. That's amazing, I mean, I watched the early episodes, then missed a bunch ('cause there was a war on,) then saw the later ones right before it was canceled, but I completely missed the casting change. For what it's worth, I liked the earlier episodes better...

[honkifuluvGG]

I mean, Dean works on his relationship with Rory constantly, but he can't get her engine started anymore. Richard is depressed, and he doesn't care if the engine responds, he just needs something to do to avoid facing his life. You see what I mean about the metaphor, it's there I'm just missing it somehow...

LMAO keep working on it lessa.  You've just about found it.

[lessa]

Yeah, too bad Richard and Dean don't fish, that would have been much easier. XD

[bingbong]

I enjoyed reading these posts and i'll say that Dean now appears on the border of emotional instability. As Lauren pointed out, quite a leap from his last appearance. What was he doing during last episode's dead uncle adventure, sitting in his dark lonely room? Wasn't he the one with a bit of relationship experience, who left behind a girlfriend in Chicago (going way back in season 1)? I wonder if he had such issues with that gal. Ah, but he's never been hooked on a Gilmore Girl before.

So which is worse, when Rory makes moves behind Dean's back and tries to conceal them, or when she treats him with a mix of indifference and annoyance? She is still fixated on Jess but this week it's more a matter of Dean devolving from boyfriend to pest. Once upon a time the issue was making time for Lane, when she felt neglected by all of Rory's attention towards Dean. Now, Rory turns to Lane as a sanctuary. As for Lorelai, how desperate is she with the final "sure you don't want to call Dean?" Lorelai is working as hard as Dean to save the relationship, but i think it's as much to keep Rory safe from Jess as much as anything else. Or perhaps she still doesn't want to believe that Rory is negligent (or worse) towards her boyfriend.

Back in "Hammers & Veils" we saw early signs of their long-term differences, when Rory was obsessed over school and extra-curricular activites, in contrast to Dean with little thought for the future beyond his next date with Rory. They had a bonafide argument but they were easily able to make up, each of them doing the "i was wrong" thing and moving happily along. They were still very much a couple, rather than the shadow we see here. 

This episode also makes me think of an old episode from the "Roseanne" show. It's been a while, but i recall that one of the teenage daughter's boyfriends was constantly showing up at the house, not giving the girl any space. Roseanne took it upon herself to talk to the boy, advised him to back off a little and see what happens. In stark contrast to Rory & Dean,  the daughter came to appreciate him more, they had a cozy kissing scene at the end and all was well. Granted, there was no triangle relationship on "Roseanne", but Rory's attitude is such that it might not matter anymore. She looks like she wants to move on, Jess or no Jess. Her growing fascination with Jess brought on these problems but in this episode her emotional distance from Dean has taken on a life of its own. If GG was a musical, Rory might be singing "I want to wash that man right out of my hair."