Gilmore Girls 6.18 "The Real Paul Anka"

Gilmore Girls 6.18 "The Real Paul Anka"
Original Air Date: April 11, 2006 (Recap date: May 9, 2008)
Recap & Discussion

Discussion Questions:

• Is there any significance to Lorelai’s dream of the Paul Anka’s?
• Did Lorelai feel Luke needed other clothes, or did she just feel the need to give him another suitcase?
• Luke wants April to meet her cousin, Jess, but not to meet her future step-mother… why?
• Did Rory reset Logan’s clock on purpose?
• Why does Luke sit with the kids on the bus?
• Is Rory being unusually vindictive towards Logan? With the story, for example? Isn’t that childish?
• When Rory does the article she had no faith Logan would do, was that really a judgment on his "past performance" as her boyfriend? And to prove how miscommunication is not an excuse?
• Is April embarrassed by Luke, or does she honestly like Freddy?
• Does Logan dismiss Rory’s safety concerns because he thinks she’s trying to embarrass him?
• Has Logan given up on Rory forgiving him?
• Do you think Luke and April are bonding well?
• Does Rory go to see Jess as a friend, or as something more?
• Has Luke not told April about Lorelai? Why?
• Why does Luke call Lorelai "complicated"?
• Did Luke want to leave as soon as he saw Rory there?
• Is Emily right? How do Luke & Lorelai expect to marry if Lorelai is not allowed to have a relationship with April?
• Was Rory leading Jess on? Why did she kiss him?
• Did kissing Jess make Rory realize Logan’s position? What he was doing, in his pain of their separation? Or, was she just not the kind of girl to be that mean?
• Was Jess still hoping to get back together with Rory? When he says "it is what it is", has he now given up on that?
• Is Rory weak in character for loving Logan? For not leaving him, despite her pain?
• Why does Lorelai destroy the dress, in the end?

Gilmore Girls Episode Recap:

Lorelai calls Rory with details of her weird dream. In her dream, she takes Paul Anka for a walk. Not the dog Paul Anka, the real Paul Anka. Dog Paul Anka runs away to Doose’s, where the real Paul Anka has a job, and the dog Paul Anka was giving a concert in Luke’s apartment. Real Paul Anka was on Babette’s lap but notices dog Paul Anka staring at him from outside.

"Real Paul Anka walking toward Dog Paul Anka, Dog Paul Anka toward Real Paul Anka. You can sense that something very bad is about to happen, when, suddenly, they meet in the street and bam! An other-worldly white light engulfs the whole town and there’s a loud explosion, two barks, and everything goes dark!"

And then she woke up. Weirdness.

Caesar is worried about manning the diner on his own for so long. Kirk offers to help, but is not wanted. Lorelai brings over Luke another suitcase filled with nicer clothes, just in case. Luke doesn’t expect to need it over the 10 days, but relents to bring it. Lorelai picks up the bag from Anna to test if it’s sturdy enough, then takes it outside carrying it like its garbage, when Luke is leaving. Caesar comes running out to confirm Luke’s itinerary one last time.

Luke tells Lorelai they’re planning to drop in on Jess while in Philadelphia. Jess’ work is holding an open house, and Luke wants April to meet her cousin. Lorelai looks down when she says that "sounds great." Lorelai throws the bag violently into the back of Luke’s truck. Luke pulls in Lorelai to "say goodbye to his girl" and is unusually romantic in asking if she’ll miss him. While Ceasar has been outside, Kirk has taken over inside. Ceasar runs back in.

Luke and April show up at the bus, and he asks for her help with remembering names. She offers up some pneumonic devices and shows him to the other "grups" – grown ups. Who think he’s the driver. Luke quickly says he has nicer clothes than those. They pass him a detailed itinerary for the whole trip. Luke gets his bags and practices the pneumonics.

Rory is hurrying to get ready in the morning. Logan asks if she got in late the previous night – she was out studying. Logan missed his class in the morning because the clock didn’t go off. Rory casually said she reset it, to get more sleep. Honest mistake, perhaps. Logan asks if Rory is available for food later, but she’s not sure. Logan pulls Rory in for a kiss, though she’s reluctant.

Luke is sitting with the kids, not the adults, on the school bus. The kids are singing the "Elements" song. Frank is reciting the first 300 digits of Pi. April asks another girl, Marcia, if she brought her sweater. The girls gossip. Luke finds a common bond with Freddy over baseball, but it seems to embarass April (who doesn’t like Freddy). 

Mrs. Kim comes to the Dragonfly – after being annoyed that Lorelai lets women ride horses, she comes to her point. Mrs. Kim has brought her own wedding dress for Lorelai to alter for Lane. To be smaller. Once Mrs. Kim is gone, Lorelai unzips the dress and makes a disgusted face.

Paris has a jar of fruit flies to the Yale Daily News – she’s monitoring how often they have sex for a paper. Rory wants them out of the news room, in case they escape. Logan comes in to complain to Rory about a piece she had assigned him, on textbook prices. He was nearly done it when he noticed that a piece on the same topic had already been written. No wires crossed, Rory wrote the story. She claims, because it was an important story she wanted to be sure got done. Logan hadn’t missed the deadline, but Rory had no faith he’d meet it. Based on past performance.

Logan says past performance is no indication of future performance, but Rory says that’s a "sucker’s maxim". Logan says he did a lot of research – interviews galore. Rory knows, she used his research. Rory says Logan will get his byline and sarcastically apologizes for doing Logan a favor.

"Everyone knew I was assigned that piece and now they know it’s been taken away from me."

Rory apologizes that their "wires got crossed", saying they should move on. When Logan criticizes Paris for her fruit flies, Rory comes to her defense very strongly. Because the "fruit lies are not hurting anybody." Lots of subtext there.

Luke is doing his diner thing, getting all the kids their food. After which, he sits with April and her friends. She looks uncomfortable. After Luke tries to come to their defense for the last math competition being rigged, April pulls Luke aside. April tells Luke that she likes Freddy. And him always sitting with them is getting in the way. April avoids Freddy because she likes him, which makes no sense to Luke. Luke reluctantly agrees to sit with the other adults.

Logan has the boys over, and Rory doesn’t seem pleased to see them when she comes home. They are there to plan the ultimate Life and Death Brigade stunt: flying to a remote area of Costa Rica to base-jump a cliff of 3,624 feet. To hopefully not land in the river or in Nicaragua or Panama. Then they’ll white-water raft to a party on a raft one of them will jump with. Logan will jump with the raft, as the other boys already have the cigars, or the champagne, or some other necessary item.

Rory wants to be sure they’re planning it very carefully. Rory thinks Robert, who is calculating the cliff height, is too drunk. Rory wants to know who is flying the plane and who is supplying the parachutes, and if they know the jump weight limit. Logan is shaking his head, ashamed of Rory speaking, and accuses Rory of pissing on their fun. Rory crosses her amrs and looks away. The guys excuse themselves, after seeing the tension.

Logan asks Rory if it’s her mission to embarrass him at all opportunities? Logan says it’s not her business, the Life & Death Brigade. Logan asks why she’s home from the paper so early, and that leads to a discussion of Rory embarrassing him by writing his article. Rory calls that "old news". Logan says it not, and accuses her of knowingly embarrassing him.

"Even when we’re together, you’re someplace else. You leave and you don’t kiss me goodbye. We’re at dinner and you’re on your cell phone the whole time! You never leave notes anymore about where you’re going to be so I have no idea where you are! You haven’t forgiven me."

Rory feigns not understanding, ever body signal a sarcastic or "whatever" sign. Logan says for the girls he was with when they were separated, and Rory insists she forgave him. Logan says that Rory said she forgave him, but that she hasn’t. Rory looks him in the eye, finally, but Logan walks out.

Lane comes running after Lorelai, wanting her to destroy the wedding dress. Saying it’s horrible, and even has pants!

"Oh, it’s every girl’s dream to hear the woman altering her wedding dress say ‘I’ll remove the pants’."

Lorelai is hoping she can alter it to be better, but Lane wants Loreali to have an "accident" with the dress. Lorelai says she’ll try altering it and see what happens. But sadly, Lorelai sees a shock in the window – Emily & Richard, right behind her! Lorelai tries to catch them before they go around the corner, but Lane runs after her trying to bribe her to ruin the dress. Lane tells Lorelai that her parents have been with Kirk, in the maroon jacket.

Logan is morosely packing his bag for his ultimate Life & Death Brigade trip. He is sad when he tells Rory he’s going, and will be out of cell phone range. He doesn’t look at her, and she doesn’t seem phased that he’s going. Logan sighs heavily and says "I’ll see you" before leaving.

Lorelai stumbles into a decrepit old house, where Kirk has his office. It’s his first house to sell – with rats, toxic mold methane gas, a crumbling foundation and much more lovely features. Lorelai demands to know where her parents are. With reluctance, Kirk tells her they’re looking at properties on Maple Drive.

Rory gets an invitation from Jess Mariano to attend the book open house. She opens it with a smile.

Lorelai "casually" bumps into her parents on the street, like it’s a big surprise to see them. She asks what they’re doing there, and Emily says they’re antiquing. Lorelai offers to take them to some of the best places. They say they have an appointment with a store, so Lorelai tries to invite herself along. They run out of arguments, so have to follow Lorelai to a store before their "appointment." Lorelai uses the opportunity to say lots of bad things about Stars Hollow.

Philadelphia. Jess and his friends at Truncheon Books are discussing opening a literary-type bar. Jess notices that Luke is there, looking at an abstract painting. Jess didn’t think he’d show up. Luke gets a brief tour of the place, which it now sounds like Jess is a partner in. Luke has been holding Jess’ book, which he’s been wanting to buy. Luke proudly points over to April, as Jess’ cousin. Then he proudly introduces them.

April decides to amuse herself around the store, noticing the men in the family are not so chatty. Jess asks how Luke is adjusting to it all, and Luke says he likes it. Jess takes Luke over a sculture he knows Luke will really hate.

Lorelai is still saying horrible things about Stars Hollow to her parents. From the garbage to the Mayor, "Gropey McGee". They go to Doose’s, and Lorelai pretends they are all out of stock of the things she needs. She comments on how dirty the store is, and that the food is all expired. Taylor comes over, angry at Lorelai disparaging the town (which is against the law). After Richard is startled by Gropey McGee, Emily sneaks out to "go to her car."

A poet is giving a reading at Truncheon Books. Luke asks April if it’s any good, and she signs so-so. Jess comes downstairs and turns to see Rory at the door. They both smile, and Jess comments on the day of surprises. Rory says Truncheon Books makes her feel creative. She notices Luke.

"Yeah, there’s a definite ‘Jess Mariano, this is your life‘ vibe here today."

They go over to Luke, who is looking at another painting. April compliments Jess’ books as being easy to skim. Luke is ready to head out, but excuses himself to get something. April tells Rory she has a great face. Luke uncomfortably introduces April to Rory. Luke calls Rory an "old friend." He blows it off as all complicated.

"She’s actually the daughter of the woman I’m with. My fiancée. Lorelai. You met her that one time – it’s kind of complicated."

Luke insinuates that April probably wants to leave now. Jess comes back with a copy of his book for Luke. Luke wants to pay Jess for it. Jess says it ok and Luke pulls out the slip of paper in the book – it’s a check for everything Jess owes Luke. Luke says he owes nothing, but Jess insists. Luke tells Jess he’s very proud of him, of everything he’s going for. They hug, then Luke and April leave.

Jess asks Rory is she’s there alone, then gestures for her to follow him…

Lorelai takes Richard to Luke’s Diner (lots of bad things to say about that too) where they find Emily playing cards with a young girl. Richard excuses himself for a bit, so Lorelai walks up to Emily, who is playing Go Fish all happy with a young girl named Sissy. Emily thinks Sissy is Luke’s daughter. Emily is a little displeased to find out "it’s" not Luke’s daughter and that she played the "incipid" game with her.

Lorelai tells Emily that she can trust her when she says there will be no contact between Emily & Luke’s daughter any time soon. Lorelai tells Emily about the "arrangement" that Lorelai shouldn’t have any contact with April. Emily says it’s ridiculous, and that she’s going to marry Luke, and therefore she has to hae a relationship with his daughter. Emily says it’s Lorelai’s way to be too cautious and thinks the hesitation is all on Lorelai’s side. Emily goes to meet Richard at their other appointment. Lorelai lets her go.

Jess and his partners are not happy with some of the material the poet premiered at the reading. They’re going to the bar, but Jess says he’ll catch up. Rory is still hanging around, reading Jess’ book again. She’s the only one left there. Jess says he’d change a lot in his book now. Rory likes his book – it doesn’t remind her of any other books. It’s just Jess. Jess says that’s high praise from Miss Yale Editor. Rory says she doesn’t get to write as much as she’d like. But Jess knows she likes the assigning and hand-holding too, ever minute of it.

Jess says that Rory looks happier than when he saw her last. Jess asks if Rory fixed everything. Rory says it’s all fixed. Jess leans in even more to Rory and says he’s glad she’s there. Rory is too. Jess leans in and kisses Rory. She kisses him back, but then pulls away. Rory says she’s sorry and gets up.

"I just got the flyer, and, I don’t know, I just wanted to see your place, but then – this. It’s not fair to you, I’m such a jerk."

Jess is confused. Rory says she couldn’t cheat on "him" they way he did on her. Jess asks who, then answers his own question. Rory looks away and nods her head. Jess just covers his mouth with a sigh. He says "you’re still with him," and Rory says yes. Jess thought everything was fixed, but Rory says "everything but him." Jess says "I hate this!" which Rory says he should, and apologizes.

Jess says she came there, alone, to Philadelphia. Rory just says Logan was out of town. Jess says he doesn’t deserve this. Rory agrees, strongly, and with much pain, says she’s in love with Logan.

"Despite all the bad he’s done, I can’t help it. I’m in love with him."

She looks at Jess with pain, but also like she’s looking for validation. Jess thinks he’ll need a good explanation of love, then. Rory apologizes again for coming. Jess says it is what it is, between them. Jess’ parting words are an offering for Rory to tell "him" they did something, if it would make her feel any better.

Luke passes back some pamphlets on Amish country and hands April her sweater, then returns to the adult section. He smiles when April refers to him as her "dad", saying he’s overprotective.

Lorelai is contemplating Lane’s wedding dress with Angst in My Pants playing loudly. The dress is long-sleeved, high collared, voluminous and has a hoop at the bottom. Lorelai walks around it. Lifts the skirt to look at the pants. With a sigh, Lorelai takes her cup of coffee (in her Yale mug) and throws it all over the dress. She smiles broadly. 

Images: TheWB.com

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