Gilmore Girls

Lane freaks out when her parents buy her a one-way ticket to Korea for the summer; Luke gives Lorelai a lot to think about when she tells him about Max's proposal; Lorelai finally says "yes" to Max and tells everyone except her parents; when Rory brings Dean to a special dinner at her grandparents' house to celebrate making it into the top 3% at Chilton and Richard attacks Dean for not meeting Gilmore standards of excellence, Rory springs to Dean's defense and creates a rift between Richard and his granddaughter; Emily is heartbroken when she finds out about the wedding from Sookie instead of Lorelai.

Lorelai avoids telling her parents about her engagement to Max, while Rory urges her to spill. But due to a call from Sookie asking them to come to a surprise wedding shower for the happy couple, they already know, and are appalled that Lorelai didn't tell them and so they give her the cold shoulder. Meanwhile, Rory and Dean are having trouble in paradise due to the fact that Rory suddenly becomes obsessed with finding enough extracurricular activities that will set her apart from the hundreds of other Harvard applicants.

Lorelai, Sookie, Emily, Michel, and Rory go to a drag club for Lorelai's bachelorette party; Emily regales the group with stories about the week before her wedding, some of which give Lorelai pause about her own feelings about marriage; when everyone else leaves to call their sweeties, Lorelai calls Christopher instead of Max; later that evening at home, Lorelai announces to Rory that she's calling the wedding off because she's realized that Max isn't the one for her; mother and daughter decide to take a road trip to avoid the sympathies of all of Stars Hollow.

To escape everyone's reaction to the news of the broken engagement, Lorelai and Rory hit the road, and stumble upon the bed and breakfast from hell before eventually arriving at Harvard, where Rory gets a taste of college life and Lorelai muses over what might have been; Lane comes home loaded with bootlegs from Seoul; Lorelai breaks into tears when she sees the chuppah that Luke made for her; Luke commiserates with Lorelai even though he's secretly overjoyed to hear that the wedding's off; Lorelai decides to get serious about making her dream of opening an inn a reality.

Luke's sister Liz, afraid that her 17 year old son Jess is headed for trouble, puts him on a bus to Stars Hollow to live with Luke. Lorelai finds out and offers Luke some guidance on the care and feeding of a teenager, but is rebuffed. Undaunted, she hosts a dinner party for Jess, who is sullen and angry with everyone except Rory. At the first opportunity, he takes a beer from the fridge and sneaks out to the back porch. Lorelai finds him and gives him a lecture on how good he has it with Luke. Jess tells her what she can do with her little speech and then leaves. When Luke finds out about Lorelai's meddling, they quarrel and he goes to find Jess. Taylor calls Luke the next day to accuse Jess of stealing money from the bridge fund container at the market. Luke confronts Jess about this accusation, and becomes so frustrated at his response that he shoves him into the lake. Realizing that he needs Lorelai's help, he goes to her house to patch things up, only to find that one of Babette's gnomes is missing. He goes back to the diner, lays down the law to Jess and retrieves Babette's gnome. Paris is intent on making Rory's life miserable, so she sabotages her participation on "The Franklin" by giving Rory the wrong time for the staff meeting, and then assigning her to a story on the paving of the new faculty parking lot. Her plan is frustrated when the faculty advisor singles out Rory's article for praise. Undeterred, Paris assigns Rory the job of interviewing Max after she sees Rory and Max painfully avoid each other in the hall. Rory accepts the challenge, and after a few painful moments, Max and Rory express their regrets to each other about not being able to be stepfather and stepdaughter.

At the urging of her friends, Emily decides that Rory's making her debut at a society ball will be just the thing to get Richard back into the social swing. To Lorelai's amazement, Rory willingly agrees and Emily goes into high gear shopping in preparation. Christopher agrees to escort Rory and Lorelai becomes entranced by his new responsible side, but gets a shock when she learns about his new relationship.

Headmaster Charleston decrees that both Gilmore girls need to improve their socialization skills at Chilton if they want him to write a glowing recommendation for Rory's Harvard application. Rory's first attempt to socialize leads her to ask a group of girls at lunch if she could join them. They agree and hit it off famously. After lunch, an insanely jealous Paris accosts Rory and tells her the group that she innocently stumbled into is "The Puffs", Chilton's famed secret sorority. Paris would do anything to join, and she begs Rory not to bad-mouth her to the group. At the next opportunity, Rory talks Paris up to the group and they are both accepted as pledges. The Puffs "kidnap" Rory, Paris and the other pledges very early one morning under the guise of taking them to breakfast, but instead take them to Headmaster Charleston's office to be initiated into the group. In the middle of the ceremony, they are discovered by Charleston and the security guards. He calls their parents and threatens their college careers, until Rory stands up to him and says that if he hadn't forced her to socialize, she wouldn't be there at all. He agrees and reconsiders, saying that she is a good student who deserves to go to Harvard. After being chided by Emily for her lack of participation, Lorelai joins the Booster Club and offers to host a fundraising fashion show at the Inn. To her dismay, she discovers that the Booster Club mothers are the models; not wanting to be mortified by herself, and to exact a little payback for being chided, she signs Emily up to model as well. On the day of the show, Lorelai calls Luke to fix the runway, and he catches the eye of Eva, the Booster Club president, who's quite taken with him. Lorelai becomes uncomfortable when she sees them huddled together talking. The day goes even further downhill when Lorelai discovers that she and Emily will be modeling matching mother-daughter outfits. They end up looking terrific and having a ball struting their stuff on the runway, and the show is a tremendous success. Back in Stars Hollow, Lorelai visits Luke at the diner and asks him not to go out with Eva. She offers the pathetic reason that she wants to keep her Stars Hollow life and her Chilton life separate, and that Luke's dating Eva will combine the two. Luke sees right through her, and after letting her know that he'll date whoever he pleases, tells her that he's not interested in Eva and was only giving her directions back to Hartford. Lorelai, secretly happy but realizing she's made a fool of herself, hurries out of the diner, to Luke's amusement.

Lorelai and Sookie gear up their plans to open an inn, but encounter a roadblock when the owner of their dream location refuses to sell the property. The unexpected arrival of Mia, the absentee owner of the Independence Inn, complicates matters even further when Lorelai begins to experience pangs of guilt at leaving Mia with the responsibility of running the Inn again. When Lorelai finally summons up the courage to tell her about their plans, Mia is supportive and enthusiastic, and announces that this was just the opportunity she was waiting for to sell the Inn. Lorelai is saddened at this news and tells Emily how much the Inn means to her as the place where she and Rory grew up together, oblivious to the pain she is causing her mother. Lorelai's emotional turmoil culminates with having her first ever argument with Sookie. After a pep talk from Luke, Lorelai apologizes to Sookie and recommits to their friendship and partnership. Stung by the loss of years and memories while Lorelai and Rory lived at the Inn, Emily decides to meet Mia, the woman who was such an important part of their lives then. Mia explains that she took them in to give them a place to feel safe, while Emily explains that she wanted Mia to send them home. Emily asks Mia if she has any pictures of the girls from those days, and Mia eagerly agrees to send them to her right away. Someone has planted a fake murder scene at the front of Doose's market, complete with police tape and the chalk outline of a body. Naturally, this gets Taylor in a dither; after scouring Stars Hollow looking for the culprit, he confronts Luke at the diner and accuses Jess. Luke jumps to Jess's defense and throws Taylor out. Later that evening, Luke, Lorelai, Rory and Mia stumble upon a secret town meeting where Jess is accused once more and Luke is vilified for bringing him into town. Luke stands behind his nephew again, supported by Lorelai. The next day, Rory tells Jess that she knows he's really the culprit, and that he's being a jerk for letting Luke take all the heat from everyone in Stars Hollow. After Jess gets her to admit that it was a pretty funny prank after all, he agrees to lighten up and be more considerate of Luke's feelings.

Lorelai receives a late wedding present without a card attached, and insists that it be returned. Sookie sees to what great lengths Lorelai is going to find out who sent it, and tells Lorelai to move forward in life to get some closure on her relationship with Max. Lorelai takes her advice and accepts a dinner date with Paul, one of the other students in her business class. The date goes well, but they decide to remain friends because they don't have very much in common. When Paul appears at Luke's the following Saturday with his parents in tow, Lorelai gets ribbed by everyone in town because he's so young. Luke is uncharacteristically quiet, which Lorelai can't figure out until Sookie explains that he's had a crush on Lorelai forever. Lorelai goes to him to let him know that he'll always be a very important part of her life, and Luke brightens up again. Rory, Paris, Madeline and Louise are assigned to present the death scene from "Romeo and Juliet" as part of ther class participation in the Chilton Shakespearean Festival. Since this production will account for half of their grade, Paris takes over as director and assigns Rory the role of Juliet. Tristan returns to school with Duncan and Bowman after their suspension, and is cast as Romeo against Rory's wishes. When a scheduling mixup occurs with the rehearsal hall, Rory is horrified to learn that Paris has rented Miss Patty's studio and that the group will convene in Stars Hollow to practice. Tristan wastes no time in going to the market and taunting Dean, and they nearly come to blows before Rory pulls them apart. The next day at school, Rory pleads with Tristan not to mention anything to Dean about their kiss at the party, because it meant nothing to her. She also cautions him about hanging out with Duncan and Bowman. Stung by her words, but hiding it well, Tristan storms off. The next day Dean shows up to watch rehearsal and Tristan taunts both Dean and Rory before he finally bails to go off with Duncan and Bowman. On the evening of the performance, Paris freaks out because Tristan is nowhere to be found. He finally shows up to tell Rory that his father has pulled him out of Chilton to send him to boarding school, because he was caught with Duncan and Bowman breaking into Bowman's father's safe on a lark. Paris storms off, puts on his costume, and takes over as Romeo, thereby saving the day, the performance, and their grades.

A blizzard prevents a group from attending the historical dinner that Sookie has painstakingly prepared at their request, so she and Lorelai decide to invite all their friends in Stars Hollow to enjoy the feast at the Inn. At Rory's urging, Lorelai also invites Richard and Emily, in an attempt to boost Richard's spirits. During dinner, Emily is hurt and angered when Richard reveals that he has quit his job without consulting her. Jess tries to get between Rory and Dean when Dean is distracted by his little sister.

Lorelai and Rory have a major falling out after Rory goes against her mother's wishes and asks her grandparents to lend Lorelai the money she needs to repair termite damage to their house; Lane's desire to become a cheerleader causes a strain in her relationship with Rory; after an exhaustive and unproductive attempt to raise the funds she needs based on her own credit rating, Lorelai is forced to ask Emily to cosign a loan; Rory drives Paris crazy when she refuses to reveal her PSAT scores.

Richard visits Stars Hollow, and drives Lorelai and Rory crazy by passing judgment on every aspect of their lives. Paris visits Stars Hallow searching for a "seedy underbelly" for the front story of the Franklin. Rory gains unexpected praise when she accidentally encourages censorship in the Stars Hollow Video store, which Paris uses as their basis for their assignment.

The annual Stars Hollow charity picnic basket lunch auction sparks controversies among couples throughout town; Jess outbids Dean for Rory's basket, causing Dean and Rory to quarrel when Rory abides by tradition and shares the lunch with Jess; Jackson refuses to bid on Sookie's basket after she leads him to believe that she doesn't want to move in together; Luke comes to Lorelai's rescue, bids on her basket, and feeds them both at the diner after Miss Patty sets Lorelai up with a trio of unsuitable bidders; Henry tires of the end runs around Mrs. Kim, and calls it quits with Lane; Rory and Jess hit it off at lunch and Jess leaves with a secret souvenir -- the bracelet that Dean gave Rory, which he picks it up and holds on to after Rory drops it; Sookie and Jackson work things out so well that he proposes and she accepts; Lorelai and Rory quarrel when Rory finds out that her mother lent a sympathetic ear to Dean's concerns about Jess; after Emily agrees with her daughter's distrust of Jess, Lorelai realizes that they're both wrong, and apologizes to her daughter.

Christopher comes to town on a business trip with his girlfriend Sherry in tow. Since Sherry and Christopher's relationship is getting serious, Sherry wants to begin bonding with Rory -- on Friday night. Without consulting Emily, Lorelai excuses Rory from the Gilmore Friday night dinner, and takes Christopher with her instead. When Emily finds out about Sherry over cocktails, she has a meltdown and rushes off to the kitchen. Lorelai follows her there and finds out that Emily has always envisioned that Lorelai and Christopher would end up together. Now that she sees that this isn't going to happen, Emily blames Lorelai for always keeping him, and everyone else, at arms length. After mulling over her mother's words, the next morning Lorelai tells Christopher that she's always thought that they would get back together, too, and that's why she's never had a relationship that lasted, including the one with Max. Christopher gets very angry, refusing to accept the responsibility for the way Lorelai's romantic life has turned out.

Rory embarks upon a campaign to improve Lorelai's relationship with Jess, and convinces her to let him clean out their gutters so he can make some extra money. Luke, annoyed by his cramped living quarters, goes apartment hunting. With the help of Lorelai, Luke is able to find a great place, but is shocked when he finds out who owns the building. Meanwhile, Dean notices that Rory isn't wearing the bracelet that he made for her. Rory makes up an excuse, but later flips into panic mode when she can't find the bracelet.

When Emily and Lorelai go to a spa for a weekend of relaxation, Emily lets her hair down, kicks up her heels and ends up bonding with Lorelai in a way that only her daughter could inspire. Thrilled that she has the house all to herself, Rory hopes to spend a quiet night at home doing laundry and eating Indian food. Her plans are foiled -- first by Paris, then by Jess, and finally by Dean. In the process, she discovers that she has a surprising savior, a secret suitor, and a skeptical sweetheart.

Lorelai and Rory pitch in at the diner while Luke plans his Uncle Louie's funeral; Taylor is unhinged when a farmer's market opens in the town square and puts a damper on his business; Emily goes completely overboard in helping Sookie plan her wedding; Rory prods Jess into being more of a help; Luke is upset when family and friends cite Louie's unpleasant personality as a reason for not attending his funeral, but is comforted when Stars Hollow comes through for both him and his uncle in the end.

Rory asks Richard for help in creating and marketing a first-aid kit for Chilton's annual Business Fair, which leads him to realize that he is unhappy in retirement and wants to start a second career; fresh from having underbid on Rory's lunch basket and the loss of the bracelet he made for her, Dean goes overboard in trying to be close to Rory, afraid that she is losing interest in him, and finally becomes resigned to her affection for Jess; at first, Michel is ecstatic when his flamboyant mother Giselle visits, but after Lorelai causes problems for him when she reveals to Giselle that Michel has been holding back from his mother, Michel quickly is driven crazy by his mother's incessant questioning.

Lorelai's complaint about Taylor's choice for "Movie in the Square Night" lands her the responsibility for picking the evening's entertainment, but her enthusiasm for the task is quickly dampened when Taylor informs her that she must make a choice from a list of free movies which doesn't include any masterpieces; against her better judgment, Lorelai agrees to Luke's request that Rory tutor an about-to-flunk-out Jess; Rory and Jess decide to take a break from studying to get some ice cream, and with Jess behind the wheel, get into a car accident which leaves Rory with a broken wrist and a totaled car; a distraught Lorelai blames Luke for the accident, creating a serious rift in their relationship; Christopher arrives in the middle of the night ready to go after Jess, but he's already left Stars Hollow to return home; Kirk's short film premieres at Movie Night.

Richard opens a new office and hires a secretary with Lorelai's help; Dean comes home; Lane falls in love with a drum set at Stars Hollow's new music shop and discovers that becoming a rock drummer is her new dream in life; Rory is dismayed to discover that everyone blames Jess for the accident despite her protestations; to the consternation of all in Stars Hollow, Luke closes the diner and goes fishing.

Lorelai and Rory have breakfast at Sookie's in an effort to avoid Luke's, but Lorelai can't avoid an awkward encounter with him at Doose's Market, where he fails to pick up on her hints to patch things up; in an effort to help Lorelai through final exam stress, Rory gets her excited about attending her college graduation ceremony and secretly invites Richard and Emily, despite Lorelai's assertion that they'd never agree to attend; after a late night phone call from Jess, Rory impulsively cuts school the next day and visits him in Manhattan; Christopher sends Lorelai a graduation gift basket filled with fun goodies and an expensive necklace; Lorelai is shocked to see Emily, Richard and the film crew accompanying them to her graduation, and must contend with an obnoxious classmate with an attitude about the rich; Rory is furious with herself when she takes the wrong bus home and misses her mother's graduation; when Rory finally arrives home, Lorelai forgives her when she realizes that the trip to New York may indicate that her daughter has fallen in love with Jess, despite her protests to the contrary.

Sookie's wedding draws near, while Lorelai finally relents and goes into the diner, where she apologizes profusely to Luke. Christopher comes to town for the removal of Rory's cast and decides to stay for Sookie's wedding. While Lorelai and Chris seem to be getting along, Sherry drops a bomb. Paris is running for student body president, and employs Rory as vice-president. Jess returns to Stars Hollow and asks Luke if he can stay.