2.13 - A-Tisket, A-Tasket

[laurla205]

I saw Dean going to Lorelai as him going to Rory’s best friend not her “mother”.   That’s why he went to her, she is Rory’s best friend.  It’s what 17 year old boys do.  The fact that she is also Rory’s mom is a side note in this situation and I don’t think his statements would have been much different had he gone to Lane instead of Lorelai (but it sure would have been perceived differently).  Not to mention the different relationship the three of them (Rory, Lorelai & Dean) have, they hang out all of the time, is it really that surprising that he would go to her with a problem?  She’s the cool mom, all of the kids go to her (referring to Lane, Paris, Logan, every one of Rory’s close friends except for Jess has turned to Lorelai for advice on one occasion or another).  Of course it’s wimpy of Dean to have done so in the manner he did.  I’m not sure if he thought the two of them were going to gang up on Rory together (which Lorelai pretty much did) or what.  There was a right way to have that conversation without attempting to influence Lorelai to play the mom card.  I thought Rory was being extremely bratty when she commented that he’d run to her mom and this is an episode in which I don’t care for Rory much at all.  Actually, this is not my favorite episode all around aside from Sookie/Jackson.  Not really sure why, I’m not a R/D shipper although it bothers me that Dean came out looking so darn bad because he obviously had every reason to be nervous.

I don’t buy Jess’ excuse for bidding on the basket for one minute.  He of all people never would have shown up at a town event unless he intended to cause trouble.  I certainly don’t believe he went just to bid once on Rory’s basket and then got carried away.  If he wasn’t planning on winning he wouldn’t have had that much money on him, it's a lot for the average teenager.  I’m glad Rory called him out on it but at the same time this is when she should have set some ground rules if she was truly not romantically interested in him.  She’s so busy vehemently defending Jess to everyone else that she forgets to defend herself (and Dean) to Jess.  Instead she rewards his crappy behavior by spending the entire afternoon with him.  That doesn’t exactly make it clear that she doesn’t appreciate the way he acts around Dean or his lame attempts to spend time with her.  The only reason she gets a partial pass as far as I’m concerned is because she is so inexperienced that I don’t really think she realized what she was doing at first, until Jess said that annoying Dean was just a way to getting to be around her.  Once he and Lorelai spelled it out to her (whether Lorelai took it back or not) she has no excuse to turn a blind eye to Jess’ intentions. 


I like that Mrs. Kim gets a flash of regret, however momentary, for her strictness.  To think, Lane almost dated the perfect guy in her eyes and at her own choosing no less.

[lessa]

It was weird how that window to Mrs. Kim's regret was dropped right into the middle of Lorelai and Emily's unexpected pax. Mrs. Kim lives the advice Emily was giving to Lorelai, and because of it, her daughter screwed up a really good thing. Mrs. Kim thinks all boys are bad, and Lorelai just mistrusts bad boys, but the way Emily put it was just insulting to every sixteen year old girl anywhere.

Or maybe it was to emphasize the point that if Lorelai insisted on locking Rory up, she would become the same kind of sneak Lane and Lorelai are. It matters not that Lorelai was completely right about him, from his violent internal conflict to his cavalier crush on Rory. When you're best friend is flatly determined to make a big mistake and a huge idiot out of herself, you don't slap the cuffs on, you fly wing. She can't stop Rory getting mixed up in Jess's angst, so she's preserving their full disclosure policy and hoping for the best.

Don't get me wrong, any other mom and I'd agree with Emily (erm, to a lesser degree, obviously.) But Lorelai trades heavily on the fact that on matters of men, she lacks the moral authority to know what's best for a sixteen-year-old girl. I guess that's the thing about sixteen or thereabouts, when kids start facing problems that they're better equipped to handle personally than their parents are to do it for them.

This is one of my favorite episodes, mainly because I thought the acting was superb. Everyone was wearing those cute wool-lined matte jackets and not a single person fainted from heat exhaustion. Watching masters at work makes me smile.

[bingbong]

If Jess had little or no interest in Rory, i doubt he would have bothered buying the basket. Remove Rory from the picture, and Dean is just another loser yokel in Jess' eyes. He wanted to hang with Rory first and foremost and it was a bonus to him that he was able to tick off Dean.

I can't get with the idea that Dean went to Lorelai as Rory's best friend. That's just too weird for me and i've never looked at the scene that way. Dean is chummy with Lorelai but i've always felt he understood it's within the framework of her approval as Rory's mom. Even in Dean's highly emotional state i can't believe Lorelai's role was that blurred. The way he was harping on about Rory getting hurt and Jess being bad news, he was trying to appeal to Lorelai's protective instincts as a mom. 

Dean made a tactical error in running to Lorelai, but aside from that he had good reason to feel angry and jealous. Jess is already under his skin and has now made a move on his girlfriend in a very public manner. I love that no one between Rory, Jess and Dean would openly admit that's precisely what happened (Dean came close but took the line that Rory's well-being was in jeopardy). Where i come from, what Jess did is a cardinal sin, even if you don't like the other guy. I'm not sure if he would do such a thing if he was still in New York or elsewhere, but in S.H. anything goes for him.

As for Rory's motives in going with Jess, citing the tradition and a fear of Taylor sounded like convenient excuses, taking her rep as a rules-follower and twisting it as needed. I crack up when Lorelai and Dean talk about Rory having to be so nice and friendly towards everyone. She is that way of course, but that's hardly her motivation here. Jess has aroused her curiosity since his first appearance, here was a perfect opportunity to investigate further and it was not a predicament she created. Hey, rules are rules, right? I don't think she was deliberately trying to betray Dean but she wasn't very concerned about his feelings either (a thin line of difference). She didn't bother telling Jess at the picnic that he did anything inappropriate; she merely told him she didn't want to be in a fight with Dean. I find it refreshing when Rory acts like someone less than Miss Perfect and goes with her emotions the way teenagers and people of all ages will do (although it goes stale for me long before "They Shoot Gilmores..."). Rory is an extremely rational and gifted teenager, but all that goes out the window when it comes to guys; she breaks loose from her calm intelligence and does as she pleases, for better or worse.

Rory's attitude in her argument with Lorelai had echoes of "Kiss & Tell," with Rory resenting Lorelai's intrusion on a relationship with a guy and trying to keep it to herself. The key difference being that Rory now has a boyfriend and this new guy is the "bad boy". Lorelai is usually effective with her parental speeches, but the "i've been there" speech was destined to be met with defiance. It doesn't matter that Lorelai's concern was well-founded and that she was understandably looking out for her daughter. Going the "i've been there" route wouldn't work on a rebel and it won't even work on a non-rebel like Rory. It's borderline condescending and usually has an effect that is opposite of its intentions. It only increased Rory's defiance, giving her a cause for her to rally to, "you don't know him."

The speech Lorelai gave at the end, about trusting Rory's judgment, was on the mark based on Rory's track record. Too bad Rory won't live up to it! Knowing what's going to happen later, it's amusing to hear Emily say "her judgment cannot be trusted here" and to hear Lorelai tell Dean "she’s not gonna do anything to mess things up with you guys."  Rory's experience with guys is so limited that there is no reason for Lorelai to think otherwise based on the Rory she has raised.

But prior to that, when chatting with Emily, Lorelai's thoughts do get a scare at the notion of Rory turning "bad" as Emily suggests. The insinuation being, for example, getting pregnant and not going to Harvard; like mother, like daughter. Lorelai can't bear that thought, nor the idea that she can't really control it. I think that's one reason why in that moment with Emily she saw the light and went to Rory in conciliatory fashion: to keep the lines of communication open and to reassure herself as much as Rory that it will be alright. The other reason is that she truly cringes at the notion of turning into Emily. Maybe a little too much; i thought that line about having to take a shower was in poor taste. In reality, Lorelai was nowhere near Emily's image of locking the door and throwing away the key, or taking any substantial action to prevent Rory from hanging with Jess.

With the ending in this episode, it has the feel of the true starting point in the Rory-Dean-Jess triangle; up until now it's been a prelude. Rory & Jess spent quality time together and hit it off. We already know Jess has the hotties for her, and i don't think the hottie feeling is mutual yet; i believe Rory's heart is still with Dean. But now there is someone else making inroads, someone fresh and new and exciting to her.

This line goes a long way in explaining Kirk (and i feel bad for the guy):
KIRK: Twelve brothers and sisters, the only one without a basket – me.

This line goes a long way in describing Lorelai's relationships with men (and i feel bad for the guys):
LORELAI: As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I’m totally flexible.

[lessa]

OMG, I never noticed that before. Kirk did exactly the same dance as Jess did at the picnic auction. Well, Kirk tried to snipe lots of baskets, and Jess only wanted Rory's, but go with it. Kirk didn't have a girlfriend there, neither did Jess. Kirk doesn't mind publicly begging for affection, neither does Jess. In fact, Jess is angsty, depressed, imprisoned by walls of air, far from home and dealing with his cranky uncle. I'd say he was as desperate for Rory's company as Kirk was for a decent picnic basket.

I was thinking about the way Dean approached Lorelai in contrast to the way Harry Cho dealt with his secretive girlfriend. Harry broke up with Lane because he couldn't drive up to her door and meet her mom, but Dean's experience suggests it wouldn't have done him much good to be a real part of Lane's life.

I don't think Rory was indignant over Dean and her mother being in cahoots so much as her mother and Dean being on the same side against her privacy. She respects Jess's mind and his pathetic bad-boyish charm is really turning her on. It would take a lot more than dean and Lorelai to prevent her exploring that feeling, but having them stand together against something she wants seems like a betrayal. The problem wasn't Dean tattling on Jess to Lorelai, it was that tattling to Rory about Jess met with complete indifference. It's funny that Emily mentioned a lack of judgment, since Rory has "nonjudgmental" printed on her business cards.

[bingbong]

^ ^  Ha, i have also thought about the Jess/Kirk parallel but couldn't bring myself to go down that wacky road! But now you've done it. Both these guys have mother issues but i find Kirk's story a bit sadder. He must be in his mid-late twenties but his emotional growth has apparently been stunted since he hit puberty. Not until Lulu comes along does he make any kind of progress as a grown-up, although much of it is sideways rather than forward. But unlike Kirk, i don't think Jess "doesn't mind publicy begging for affection", unless that's how you interpret his play for Rory. I see it more as a public challenge to Dean, a teenage mano a mano dare against the guy Lorelai calls "Andy Hardy." It's a concealed call for affection, i'll say that. Jess has a soft side (waaaay down in there) and Rory is the only person who has touched that part of him. But he will pursue her affection on his own obnoxious, pushy terms to insure that no one interprets it as a call for affection.

This episode developed into a conflict between L & R, which i greatly enjoyed, but i wish we had been given a follow-up scene between Rory and Dean. They presumably worked it out (for the moment), but i would like to see Rory handle it, whether she would try to placate him or use the "you went to my mom" card against him. Assuming she was relatively calmed down from her fight with Lorelai, i'm guessing she would opt for diplomacy and go easy on Dean, unless he pushed the issue too hard.

The thing about Henry (not Harry) , once Mrs. Kim learned that he met the basic requirements, he could have picked up Lane at her door, right out in the open. Mrs. Kim even said she might call his mother, although nothing further happened. It's sad to think that it probably would not have worked out anyway. Mrs. Kim would still be Mrs. Kim and he would have to go by her rules, which requires a fortitude that precious few guys have within them. Plus, Dave and Zach had the head-start of spending more time with Lane in the band and coming to appreciate her before taking on the Mrs. Kim challenge. Kirk is pathetic but Lane is the one who really has it bad in this episode. That moment when Lane runs up the stairs screaming and crying is classic teenage angst. What a contrast to Rory in their romantic pursuits. One does whatever she wants and the other can't figure out the first step.

[lessa]

Right, Henry. But think about it. Lane had already accepted the possibility that Mrs. Kim would like him, and she still hid it. Because she didn't want a relationship like Dean/Rory/Lorelai. She didn't want a boyfriend who might cooperate with her mother to  control her, which is exactly what he'd have to do to get past Mrs. Kim's pious glare.

Even Rory can't stomach a certain level of maternal involvement in her Norman Rockwell 'ship. By the end, she looks more excited by the prospect of keeping a secret from Lorelai than she is about herding fellow readers to Ayn Rand.

[thevoid99]

JESS IS DA BOMB!!!!!

Dean is nothing but a whiny little b*tch!  Jess just played it cool and with a lot of humor.  He's just smarter.  He reads.  He's got taste    Plus, he's got the bracelet that Dean made for her.  Jess is my boy!  Dean just pouts because Jess outbid him, whines to Lorelai, and gets mad over town tradition.  Well tough kid!  Jess is just a smooth operator. 

Poor Lane, she tried to find a way to go on a date with Henry but her fear of Mrs. Kim's opinions led to Henry getting another girl.  At least Mrs. Kim was sympathetic.

Lorelai was going to eat with losers until Luke came out and saved her.  I loved the conversation they had about the festival and such.  Luke is going to be that idiot who will bid on Lorelai's basket when he's married to her.  And in one fan fiction, they're married and he bids $100 for her basket and he tells Lorelai he'd pay a million to have lunch with her. 

Lorelai is worried about Rory falling for Jess and Emily agrees with Lorelai... scary. 

Poor Kirk.  He finally got a basket only to be outpaid by Jackson.  Don't worry Kirk, you're Lulu will come.  Jackson and Sookie are getting married!  Yay!

Classic episode.  All because JESS IS DA BOMB!!!!!!

[gg crazy]

basket, basket maker, guy how didn't bring enough money. LOL!!!

[drain]

i think the fact that jess refrences lenny bruce and dean refrences john clesse shows the diffrences in their characters

[thevoid99]

i think the fact that jess refrences lenny bruce and dean refrences john clesse shows the diffrences in their characters

A reason into why the show rocks. 

[dianakarenina]

a question to all rory-jess fans:

if lorelai and luke got married, then he would be rory's stepdad.

isn't it... weird that your daughter be dating your husband's nephew? seems a little incestous although it probably isn't because rory isn't luke's daughter.. but she's as good as. i don't really like to think about it because it puts a damper on the emotion of jess. also it's like either it's jess and rory or lorelai and luke.

maybe it's just me

[thevoid99]

a question to all rory-jess fans:

if lorelai and luke got married, then he would be rory's stepdad.

isn't it... weird that your daughter be dating your husband's nephew? seems a little incestous although it probably isn't because rory isn't luke's daughter.. but she's as good as. i don't really like to think about it because it puts a damper on the emotion of jess. also it's like either it's jess and rory or lorelai and luke.

maybe it's just me

Jess mentioned that in Virtual Season 8 on Episode 8.05-It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where Rory stops in Philly and spends her birthday with Jess as they talked about Luke/Lorelai back together.  Jess mentioned that if Luke & Lorelai do get married, he and Rory would be step-cousins or something.  Rory's response was disgust yet comical.  Still, I think Rory and Jess as family is the next best thing rather than have them be a couple.

[dianakarenina]

THERE'S A VIRTUAL SEASON 8?!??!?! Really?!?!?! Where?!?! How?!?!?! Oh my god!!!!!

[billmask92]

I loved this episode, this was when i fell in love with Jess.
How much he worked just to spend the time with Rory.

[Gilmore Gyrlie]

B000000000000000000000000000000000000000000!


Poooooooor Dean, Rory is slippin away.


I agree about him being a bit insecure, just don't see what's so great about Jess.

plus Dean's concerns are justified.


felt so bad for Lane, why didn't just tell mom about Henry?