Episode synopsis
S1 EP19 – Emily in Wonderland: Rory takes her grandmother around Stars Hollow for a day. She’s horrified to see where Lorelai and Rory first lived.
Cast
Lauren Graham…Lorelai Gilmore
Alexis Bledel…Rory Gilmore
Melissa McCarthy…Sookie St. James
Keiko Agena… Lane Kim
Yanic Truesdale…Michel Gerard
Scott Patterson…Luke Danes
Kelly Bishop… Emily Gilmore
Emily Kuroda…Mrs. Kim
Jackson Douglas…Jackson Belleville
Lisa Ann Hadley…Rachel
Sean Gunn…Kirk Gleason
Max Perlich…Rune
Best character
Emily has so many cute and funny moments in this episode. Her first reaction to how Lorelai and Rory live is very funny, but she does soon feel really sad about it. You can tell she really cares about them and regrets how things went down with Lorelai when she got pregnant. It’s always so sad to see her like that, but then she was actually really nasty to Lorelai at the end of the episode and it almost made me award this title to someone else.
Best supporting character
Any episode with Michel present instantly awards him this title. I love him so much and I’m so glad he becomes more of a series regular.
Favourite scenes
*I do not own the rights to any videos in this post, no copyright infringement was intended. All rights go to the production studio*
You know the drill by now, I’m the biggest Luke and Lorelai fan so any scene with the two of them in is great. Weirdly, I didn’t absolutely hate Rachel, but the whole ‘a little word of encouragement from you might help a lot’ was a little strange. I adore the second part of this video purely because of Luke straight-up lying to Lorelai about the curtains. It’s so funny.
I’ve mentioned a couple of quotes from this scene in the best quotes sections, but it also has some great Luke and Lorelai chemistry, so I wanted to include it here.
The movie theatre scene and interactions between Lorelai and Kirk are so funny. Sadly, I couldn’t find a video of it, but trust me, it’s great.
Best quotes and one liners
EMILY: I blame Peg Mosley.
LORELAI: Peg Mosley. Evil, evil woman.
RORY: What did Peg Mosley do?
LORELAI: She lured these two German children to her gingerbread house and then she tried to eat them.
LORELAI: So, what time does the judgmental express arrive?
RORY: Grandma gets here at noon.
RACHEL: [to Lorelai] God, you’ve got amazing eyes. [to Luke] Doesn’t she?
LUKE: Oh, yeah, sure, I guess. I mean they’re, you know, placed good. Symmetrical.
LORELAI: Rune is in the lobby.
SOOKIE: Lorelai! Hello! I made some coffee!
LORELAI: Rune is in the lobby.
SOOKIE: I also made those little orange-glazed muffins you like, with warm cinnamon butter.
LORELAI: Sookie! Rune is in the lobby. Why?
SOOKIE: Your muffin’s getting cold.
LORELAI: My muffin’s fine. My muffin wants to know what the fruitcake is doing in the lobby.
EMILY: [opening the fridge at Rory and Lorelai’s house and finding it empty] Oh my god, there’s nothing in here.
RORY: I know. It’s a little sparse.
EMILY: It’s the Grapes of Wrath.
RORY: Don’t worry, we eat fine.
EMILY: No food, no drink. Do you at least have plates?
RORY: Yes, we have plates.
EMILY: [opening the plate cabinet] There are women in bikins on them.
RORY: The original Charlie’s Angels. It took us years to get the complete set.
RORY: I like this song. It makes me gloomy.
LANE: Gloom is good.
RORY: Really gloomy.
LANE: Like Joy Division Gloomy? Nick Cave gloomy? Robert Smith gloomy?
RORY: Johnny Cash gloomy.
LANE: So kind of like a San Quentin-y, it’s a long road home and my horse just got shot but I’ve still got my girl by my side gloomy?
RORY: You read my mind.
LANE: I’m deep in a Charlie Parker gloomy.
LORELAI: So, this is the fascinating storage area where fascinating acts of storage take place.
LUKE: Yup, this is it.
LORELAI: Some good looking pickles.
LUKE: What are you doing?
LORELAI: I’m admiring your pickles.
LUKE: Look, if you’re gonna tell me at least help me unload.
LORELAI: Can I use the fun cutter thingy?
LUKE: Not if you call it the fun cutter thingy.
LORELAI: Please.
LUKE: Cut the box, not your hand.
LORELAI: Good tip, you should teach. (She cuts open one box) Ha! Fun!
LUKE: Talk.
LORELAI: Well, I don’t know exactly what’s going on in Rachel’s head because I’m not a Vulcan, but from the way she talks about you and the way she smiles when your name comes up, I’m pretty sure that she’s serious about staying in Stars Hollow this time.
LUKE: Yeah, let me guess. Rachel told you she wanted to put down roots, that she’s serious this time, that she’s tired of the road, and realizes what’s lacking in her nomadic existence.
LORELAI: She didn’t use the phrase “nomadic existence”, but basically yes, that’s what she said.
LUKE: I’ve heard the speech. I know the speech by heart.
KIRK: Do you mind?
LORELAI: [turns around] Kirk, the movie hasn’t even started yet.
KIRK: I like to have silence in order to cleanse my mental palate and achieve calm before enjoying a motion picture.
LORELAI: Oh, you got that out of a book.
Final thoughts and fun facts
I didn’t like Rahcel for Luke and certain parts of this episode really cemented that for me, but she definitely isn’t his worst ex.
Emily and Michel talk (in French) about Paris and how Emily went there each year in Spring. A few episodes previous, Emily and Richard seemed outraged by the idea of going to Paris (and Europe in general) in Spring, insisting they only go in the Fall.
Emily seems shocked when she sees where Lorelei and Rory used to live but in a previous episode, Lorelei told Sookie that Emily would come to visit Rory as a baby when she lived at the inn meaning she would’ve already seen it.
In this episode, Luke, when talking to Lorelai whilst she’s standing behind the counter, mentions that he “is thinking about buying the flower shop next door, and expanding the freezer.” Coincidentally in later seasons, he does buy the whole building (thus the shop space next door), though not to “expand the freezer” but to expand his apartment, to make more space for when his nephew Jess moves in.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2023