Episode synopsis
S2 EP6 – Presenting Lorelai Gilmore: Rory makes her debut at a Debutante Ball at her grandmother’s request. Lorelai asks Rory’s dad Christopher to present his daughter to society.
Cast
Lauren Graham…Lorelai Gilmore
Alexis Bledel…Rory Gilmore
Keiko Agena…Lane Kim
Scott Patterson…Luke Danes
Jared Padalecki…Dean Forester
Milo Ventimiglia…Jess Mariano
Kelly Bishop…Emily Gilmore
Edward Herrmann…Richard Gilmore
Liz Torres…Miss Patty
Best character
The town troubadour has finally made a return and I actually don’t like this episode very much so he can be crowned as the best character.
Although Jess dressing like Luke to work in the diner did almost win it for him. However, he isn’t in this episode much (sad) and I don’t like this episode so the troubadour wins it.
Favourite scene
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Not a full scene, but Rory doing the ‘just painted my toenails’ walk is hilarious. You can just about see her doing it behind Lorelai and Christopher and honestly, how relatable.
Best quotes and one liners
[Lorelai and Rory are sitting at the counter. Lorelai is reading Rory’s homework.]
RORY: It sucks. I know it sucks, just tell me it sucks.
LORELAI: It’s great.
RORY: No it’s not.
LORELAI: It’s an A.
RORY: Don’t lie.
LORELAI: A-plus.
RORY: You’re my mom.
LORELAI: Is anything higher than an A-plus?
RORY: You have to say that.
LORELAI: It’s an A-plus with a crown and a wand.
LUKE: Thank you. [Jess walks into the diner from the stairway] Jess, you were supposed to be down here. . . .what the hell is that?
JESS: What?
LUKE: That. [points at Metallica shirt]
JESS: That is a shirt.
LUKE: Change.
JESS: What?
LUKE: Go upstairs and change your shirt.
JESS: I like this shirt.
LUKE: How can you like that shirt?
JESS: It brings out my eyes.
LUKE: Hey, part of the deal of you staying here is that you work here, and when you work here you will wear proper work attire, and that is not proper work attire. Now go upstairs and change into something that won’t scare the hell out of my customers.
JESS: Whatever you say, Uncle Luke. [goes upstairs]
LORELAI: Gross T-shirt.
RORY: Yeah.
LORELAI: Good band.
RORY: I went to Grandma’s house after school.
LORELAI: Okay, right away, bad.
RORY: And, um, her DAR friends are all there and they’re talking about this debutante ball that’s being thrown.
LORELAI: Oh no.
RORY: And when I got back from Grandpa’s office, they all invited me out onto the patio.
LORELAI: No no no, please tell me you did not go out onto the patio.
RORY: I went out onto the patio.
LORELAI: Ugh, Rory, that’s like accepting the position as the drummer in Spinal Tap.
RORY: Now if it’s that important to her, and it’s not that important to me, then why shouldn’t I do it?
LORELAI: Rory, do you now what a coming out party says?
RORY: It says I’m a woman now.
LORELAI: No. It says, ‘Hi, I’m Rory. I’m of good breeding and marriageable age, and I will now parade around in front of young men of similarly good breeding and marriageable age so they can all take a good long look at me.’
RORY: You’re exaggerating.
LORELAI: No, it’s like animals being up for bid at the county fair, except sheep don’t wear hoop skirts.
RORY: Look, I promised, but you don’t have to be apart of it if you don’t want to.
LORELAI: No, no, if you wanna do it, I’ll help. It’s just weird. This is all the stuff I ran away from. I just assumed you’d be running with me.
RORY: Well, I would, but I heard debutantes don’t run. Something about the heels.
LORELAI: All right then. If you’re sure, where do we start? Uh, let’s see. Well, you have a dress. You need a dowry, I guess. There you go. And uh, you’ll need shoes, hose, gloves, some mice, a dog, a pumpkin.
RORY: At one point Miss Patty thought Dean was gonna get hurt, she made me sit in the corner and watch.
LORELAI: Hey! Nobody puts Baby in the corner.
RORY: Anyone want the last eggroll?
LORELAI: Heh. Where are you going?
RORY: To get the eggroll.
LORELAI: You’re getting the eggroll yourself?
RORY: Yes.
LORELAI: No! Ladies never get their own eggrolls. Ladies never get their own anything. They don’t even get their own ideas.
RORY: Oh boy.
LORELAI: They just sit helplessly and wait for some young strong man to come by and assist them. They don’t step in puddles, they don’t step over puddles. They can’t even look at puddles. They actually need to be blindfolded and thrown in a sack and carried over puddles.
RORY: Isn’t there a moratorium on how long ladies are supposed to talk?
LORELAI: Uhh, no. Now repeat after me, I am completely helpless.
LUKE: So, back from the ball huh?
LORELAI: Yes, I left behind a glass slipper and a business card in case the prince is really dumb.
LUKE: Good and desperate thinking.
Final thoughts and fun facts
This episode is actually a bit boring and I find Richard’s behaviour very embarrassing. Although they are archaic, I usually like debutante balls in shows/films, but only if they’re done well (The Summer I Turned Pretty).
When Miss Patty is teaching Rory and Dean how to ballroom dance, Loralei makes the comment that, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” This is a reference to a line said by Patrick Swayze in the movie, Dirty Dancing (1987). Kelly Bishop, who plays Emily Gilmore, played the mother, Marjorie Houseman, in that movie as well.
Rory is supposedly wearing the dress that Lorelai would have worn to her own debutante ball. However, the dress she wears looks nothing like either the one we see Lorelai wearing in a picture in season 1 episode 8 or the one Lorelai wears in a flashback in season 3 episode 13.
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