Parallel Mothers and Daughters

As the episode comes to an end, Emily is stricken to realise that Lorelai is right – she doesn’t really know her daughter very well at all. She leaves the party so devastated that we begin to realise just how much Emily and Richard have missed out on because Lorelai left home.

In turn, Lorelai is seen looking through the window while Dean gives his birthday gift to Rory – a leather bracelet that he made himself – as Rory smiles adoringly at him. Rory has never talked to Lorelai about her blossoming romance with Dean, and Lorelai looks sad because she is being left out of her daughter’s life, as a parallel to Emily’s unhappiness and loss. Like Emily, she has to admit that she doesn’t know everything about her daughter’s life, although like Emily, she can recognise when a guy is attracted to her little girl.