7.14 “Farewell, My Pet”

In which Rory has a crush, Michel loses a pet and Lorelai loses a husband.

Here’s What Happened:

45-minute Mile

Richard recovers from his heart attack, taking laps around the hospital floor with all the Gilmore girls in tow.

They swap gossip about other patients and Richard wants a full report from Rory on the T.A. who will be his temporary replacement at Yale. Chris still hasn’t come home, choosing to instead hole himself and GG up at his mother’s. Rory offers to talk to him, but Lorelai assures her that is’ between herself and Chris to work it out.

The Late Chin Chin

Lorelai returns to the Dragonfly after a few days of being with her dad. Michel arrives with Paw-Paw, letting Lorelai and Sookie know that Chin-Chin passed away. They express their sympathies, but Michel isn’t buying it from Sookie.

Michel is pretty upset, missing Chin-Chin so much, so Lorelai suggests he have a memorial service to give himself and Paw-Paw a chance to say goodbye.

MICHEL: That might be nice. Could you do it by tomorrow?
LORELAI: Me? What?

Rory returns to Yale where Paris is still in Operation Finish Line mode. Rory has apparently missed their résumé trading deadline, excuse me, résumés. Paris herself has 21 versions.

Continuing his campaign to win Most Supportive Boyfriend Ever award, Logan sent Rory a second semester senior survival kit, complete with marble inspirational keepsake and beer funnel. Paris comments on Rory’s “goony look” after she hangs up the phone, congratulating her on taming Logan the wild stallion.

Michel pulls Lorelai and Sookie away from a busy day, ready to hear their ideas for the dog funeral.

Christopher drops by the inn, ready to talk, but it immediately turns into an argument. It boils down to he thought he needed time and space and she thought he wasn’t there when she really needed him.

Sorry, Chris. Totally fair.

Tucker Culbertson

Rory calls Lorelai to get a econ pep talk before going into a class sans Grandpa. She also wants to know if Lorelai has spoken to Chris. Not a kid anymore, Rory is not Switzerland and she gets to pick a side, and she’s got Lorelai’s back…always.But she’s got to bolt because class is starting and HELLO MR. T.A.

Rory’s a bit verklempt, but who can blame her? Dude’s smokin’ hot.

Lorelai returns home to find Chris waiting to continue their talk. He finally tells her about the fight he and Luke had. He also owns up to rushing her into this marriage because of their history with timing problems. And despite Lorelai’s insistence that she chose him and married him, he’s not wrong when he says she’s not done with Luke yet.

CHRISTOPHER: You were engaged to him, Lor. You needed time to — to disengage.
LORELAI: Stop. That’s not what this is. We’re together now. Maybe we did rush into it, but we can, we can work this out.
CHRISTOPHER: I don’t think we can.
LORELAI: What does that mean? You’re giving up?
CHRISTOPHER: I don’t know what else to do.
LORELAI: There’s lots else to do. We can work on this.
CHRISTOPHER: Work on what, work on you thinking that I’m the man you want to spend the rest of your life with? I’ve been asking you to marry me for 20 years. We’re finally married. I still feel like I’m asking you.
LORELAI: That’s terrible. I’m sorry if you feel that way, if I made you feel that way. That’s not how I feel. I’m in this.
CHRISTOPHER: I want to believe that.

He leaves with an agreement they’ll talk more later.

Yale Bookstore

Michel is livid that Sookie and Lorelai have put no effort into his dog funeral. Lorelai tolerates his rant first, promising things will be done, but eventually snaps. She tells him to back off, that other stuff is happening besides his dog funeral. Then the room drops about 200 degrees.

Rory and Paris are at the Yale bookstore to find the books Paris hid for Rory so she “wouldn’t get stuck buying used ones with some idiot’s comments in the margins.” Rory runs into dreamboat T.A. again, and he thanks her for giving her grandfather a good report. Apparently, this crush is making her all red and blotchy.

Preparations are finally fully underway for Chin-Chin’s service. Staff attendance is mandatory, and Sookie’s whipped up a hell of a menu. Lorelai updates Sookie on the Christopher situation and shares her current plan to make things work—cut Luke out of her life entirely. Sookie has a point though. If there was no Luke in Lorelai’s life, would Christopher be “the one”?

My Heart Will Go On

Lorelai tries to patch things up with Michel, taking him to the music store to decide on the music for the funeral. She has Zach lined up to play. His thoughts on selections? Bowie’s Diamond Dogs. They were actually thinking something more dignified—Bach, Mozart, Celine Dion.

Michel wants to stop into Luke’s to have a burger to honor Chin-Chin. Lorelai thinks it’s probably best if she just heads to the printers to finalize the programs, but not before seeing Luke through the window.

I Jumped

Logan shows up unexpectedly again. He just couldn’t wait until Sunday. Rory’s delighted, but she has to have a “let’s sit down” kind of conversation with him. She’s convinced she’s got a self destructive streak because she’s hardcore crushing on Tucker the hottie T.A. Logan is totally fine with that, admitting that he too on occasion has found other girls attractive.

He’s OK with belonging to her and her belonging to him. He also apologizes for being a jerk about Marty, which obviously freaked Rory out. It’s OK, she can recommend a book to a guy.

The funeral service is dignified and lovely, and we knew Lorelai and Sookie would come through in the end.

Lorelai returns home to find Christopher again waiting for her.She tearfully admits that when she and Luke ended, she just jumped.

LORELAI: I jumped. But if that’s all there was — if that’s all it was, we could fix it, you know… with time.
CHRISTOPHER: But it’s not.
LORELAI: You’ve always been this…possibility for me… …this wonderful possibility. But it’s just not right. And I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.
CHRISTOPHER: Yeah. I guess I should have known, huh? It took me 20 years to get you to say yes.
LORELAI: [Voice breaking] I need you to know… that you’re the man… I want to want.
CHRISTOPHER: I know.
LORELAI: [Sniffles and starting to cry] You have no idea… how badly I wish…
CHRISTOPHER: I do. I do know.
[Chris squeezes Lorelai’s hand]
CHRISTOPHER: I do.

Thus ends the Lorelai/Christopher era.

What a catchy tune:
Zach’s acoustic rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”

That Gilmore Girls show sure is a pop culture playground:

PARIS: I’m just being honest. I mean Logan Huntzberger? Between the women and the drinking, that kid was on the Colin Farrell Freeway about to pull over into the Robert Downey, Jr. Rest Stop.

Hey, this is the first time I’ve noticed:
It makes sense since her husband is playing for the service, but this is the first time I’ve noticed Lane attending Chin-Chin’s funeral.

I want Sookie for my personal chef:
Her premier dog funeral menu: Walnut arugula gorgonzola crostini, Caraway cornbread with apricots, bacon, and a little jalapeño jam, Beef tenderloin chiffonade in little focaccia rounds, and sweet potato biscuits with pork tenderloin and a little apple chutney. And fat-free brownies for a “petty little man.”  You softy!

Rory’s Book Club Selection:
Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna

Kirk’s current job:
Volunteering at Grayson’s Florist

The witticisms of Lorelai Gilmore, ladies and gentlemen:

RORY: Look, I’m not a kid anymore, okay? I get to have an opinion, and I get to pick a side. And I’m on your side, like it or not.
LORELAI: Okay.
RORY: And it’s not just because you’re right and he’s wrong. I’m on your side, no matter what.
LORELAI: No matter what? I mean, even if I cut off all your hair while you were sleeping, would you still be on my side then?
RORY: Yep.
LORELAI: What if I signed you up for a camping trip and made you go?
RORY: Even then.
LORELAI: What if I put a secret clause on your birth certificate that says when you turn 23, your name changes to Hildegarde?
RORY: There’s no such thing as a birth-certificate clause.
LORELAI: I had a really good lawyer.
RORY: Even then.
LORELAI: Oh, good to know.

Snark 101 with Michel Gerard:

MICHEL: I don’t even know why we are bothering to select music. Why not just turn on the radio and hope for the best? Maybe we’ll get lucky and a hip-hop station will be playing Snoop Doggy Dogg.

A reason Season 7 is not so bad:

It would be so easy to paint Christopher as the hissy fit-throwing villain in this piece, but he’s not entirely wrong. He didn’t give Lorelai time to get over Luke, and he owns up to it. Lorelai’s and Chris’s parting is tearful and sad but it’s not painted as a “good riddance to bad rubbish” scenario (except for hardcore, unforgiving Luke/Lorelai shippers). They’ll still be in one another’s lives, just not in this way. We too will see him again.

A reason Season 7 is SO BAD:

After all of the trouble Sookie and Lorelai went through to make sure that Babette and Morey’s cat Cinnamon had a proper send-off, it seems uncharacteristically cruel of them to belittle Michel’s loss. Sure, he’s a pain, but these dogs really mattered to him. That’s not like them.