“He seems a little less jolly than usual”

LORELAI: Hey Mom, I might be reading too much into this, but um, is something going on between you and Dad?
EMILY: What are you talking about?
LORELAI: I don’t know, he just seems a little less jolly than usual.

Even the self-centred Lorelai has picked up that her parents are not getting along, and that her father isn’t happy. While Emily is seemingly obsessed with Rory’s debutante ball, Richard appears quite uninterested, even refusing to pick up his own tuxedo from the dry cleaners as he has too much work to do. Yet he is home early, not in work clothes, and drinking alcohol … hmm.

Emily declares that everything is fine, and Lorelai uncharacteristically backs down, saying that she must have been mistaken.