BRAD: I’m Brad. From the third period Shakespeare. LOUISE: He’s the answer to our lack of boys problem. Isn’t that swell?
This is the first time we meet Rory’s schoolmate Brad Langford, played by Adam Wylie. Although uncredited for this episode, Wylie was already an experienced actor with a lengthy CV. Brad was a gentle soul who lived in terror of Paris, and seemed to get along fairly well with Rory.
Brad is roped in to provide a male character for their group project, even though he tends to throw up from nerves when speaking in public. This leaves the role of Romeo open for Tristan.
After talking to Luke, Lorelai goes to see Sookie and apologises for her behaviour, promising that she will never lose hope in their project again. They hug and joyfully decide that if they fail in the first two years, as nearly all businesses are said to do, then it will be the most exciting two years of their lives.
Lorelai finally gets the courage to tell Mia that she and Sookie have a dream of opening their own inn. Mia is very supportive, but also reveals that she receives many lucrative offers to buy the Independence, and the sooner they can strike out on their own, the better, as far as she is concerned.
Lorelai is dismayed to hear this, as buying the Dragonfly seems out of reach while Fran refuses to sell.
In this episode, Lorelai’s plans are upset by two independent-minded old ladies who own inns – one won’t sell her inn to Lorelai, while the other seems likely to sell her inn from under Lorelai.
Stole money from the bridge fundraising jar (money was returned)
Stole a gnome from Babette (gnome was returned)
Hooted one of Miss Patty’s dance classes (it’s not really clear if he hooted a horn or hooted in derision, either way, they’re just little girls, so kind of yuck)
Stole a hose from Fran’s front yard (was this payback for refusing to sell her inn to Rory’s mother?)
Set off all the fire alarms at the high school
Drew a chalk outline outside Doose’s Market so that Taylor lost business
The viewer might be getting the impression that Jess, although clearly a pest and a nuisance around town, is hardly committing any major acts of villainy. For some reason, the police don’t seem to be getting involved, even for petty theft, misuse of a fire alarm, or vandalism, and perhaps this lack of police action is one of the things fuelling the town’s frustration. It may also be spurring Jess on to further mischief, if he’s mostly doing this for attention or to prove he’s a “bad boy” so he’ll be sent back to his mother.
EMILY: Lorelai, your daughter’s being impossible. She won’t pose in an appropriate manner. RORY: I’m trying to, Grandma. It’s just awkward.
Rory goes to her grandmother’s house after school to pose for her portrait, but it turns out this means sitting on a “throne” (a needlework armchair) in a red velvet dress with a hungry honking swan, and her arm raised in an odd pose. The living room portrait is quite normal, so it’s strange that Emily suddenly wants this bizarre “swan princess” picture of Rory. It might explain why Lorelai’s own portrait was never completed. Rory is already looking quite grumpy, just as Lorelai got fed up with being painted.
Lorelai is able to quickly convince Emily that a picture of Rory sitting and reading would be natural and appropriate, saving the day.
RORY: Mia, why don’t you move back here? We miss you. LORELAI: Or at least visit more? You used to check in. You never come at all. MIA: I don’t have to. You’ve made me redundant. LORELAI: I have not. MIA: Don’t be humble. The inn is beyond covered. It’s never run this well or been this successful. That inn is like your place now. Without you I wouldn’t know what to do, I’d be lost.
An explanation for why we’ve never seen Mia before – she lives a long way away, and Lorelai is doing such a good job of running the Independence that Mia doesn’t need to check in with them any more. This unexpected visit from Mia seems to be almost purely nostalgic, and perhaps timed to coincide with the Autumn Festival.
Of course, it leaves Lorelai feeling very guilty. If the Independence can’t function without Lorelai, how can she and Sookie ever quit to start an inn of their own?
TAYLOR: Three people have reported seeing Jess in that area late last night, skulking, lurking. LUKE: There were a lot of people out late last night. I know because I fed some of them. I’ll give you their names so you can add them to your suspect list. TAYLOR: Another person witnessed Jess walking out of an arts and crafts store two days ago with what appeared to be chalk.
Since the police have refused to show any interest in the prankster who stole their police tape, Taylor has done his own investigating. I’m not sure why lurking around the site late the previous night is so suspicious, the prank was done in the late afternoon, unless we’re meant to think Jess was gloating over it hours later or something. But carrying chalk from the arts and crafts store looks like a clear piece of evidence. And one piece of circumstantial evidence is enough to convict Jess in the Taylor-led court of public opinion.
Still nobody has anything to say about the police tape being stolen, which actually would constitute a slightly more serious crime. Did Jess steal it, or did the police simply allow him to take it, so they would have something to do? It must get pretty boring being a cop in Stars Hollow, after all.
The Puffs break into the Headmaster’s Office as part of their initiation ceremony into the Puffs, and also seems to serve as a hazing ritual at the same time, as it’s the sort of harmless prank that inductees to a secret society might have to go through to prove their sincerity. It’s very mild compared some of the things real sororities get up to, but has the same cult-like feel.
The Puffs seem to have been doing this ritual for at least fifty years without ever being caught or reprimanded, so it makes you wonder how Rory got so unlucky that Headmaster Charleston will very soon come in and bust them. Presumably it was common practice to turn a blind eye to the Puffs and their activities. The only thing that could explain it is if Headmaster Charleston is relatively new to the job, and has decided to crack down on sororities at school.
RORY: This is the headmaster’s office. How did she get the keys? I’m sure he didn’t give them to her. PARIS: Stop it. We are making very important social contacts here. RORY: Hey, I’m not looking for social contacts. I have friends. I’m fine. PARIS: Well, how nice it must be to be you. Maybe someday I’ll stumble into a Disney movie and suddenly be transported into your body, and after living there awhile, I’ll finally realise the beauty of myself. But until that moment, I’m going to go in there and I’m going to become a Puff. Now get out of my way.
During the show, Paris several times refers to Rory being like a Disney princess – something which has surely helped fuel all that Rory/Paris fanfiction! Rory is also referred to as another Disney character a few times – Bambi.
It is at this point that Rory, who seems to be joining the Puffs almost by default, good-naturedly but without being particularly interested (like playing golf or making her debut), has her first serious doubts about what she’s let herself in for. She knows the Puffs are doing something wrong, but is unable to stand up for herself against Paris and the other girls.
Rory doesn’t have many options to escape at this point. She’s half an hour from home, in the middle of the night, in her pyjamas, with no transport, and no money for a payphone. There was no Plan B in case things went wrong. Rory seems to be hoping Paris, who at least lives in Hartford, will be equally horrified and take charge of the situation. Unfortunately, Paris is determined to be Puffed.
Lorelai attends a meeting of the Booster Club, held in the dining hall at Chilton on Saturday (?) evening. The other members are Ava, Mena, Aubrey, Ginger, and a nameless, voiceless fifth woman with long dark hair.
You can see the Booster Cub serves as a grown-up parallel to the Puffs, with Mena in charge, like Francie, but Ava doing most of the talking, like Ivy. Lorelai and Rory even meet with their respective groups in the same dining hall.
The Booster Club are planning their annual fall fundraiser – this year they are raising funds to have the school’s auditorium refurbished. Their last fall fundraiser was a terrible failure: they had a luncheon with a silent auction and a salsa band, but everyone was struck down with food poisoning before the auction even had a chance to start, so they lost money.
I can’t imagine which catering company they found that gave them all food poisoning, or why it didn’t immediately refund their money! However, it means Lorelai is able to step in to save the day, as she manages an inn where the fundraiser can be held, and has a chef who won’t give them food poisoning. As a result, Lorelai ends up being quite popular with the Booster Club.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 