gilmore girls: 4.2

The Lorelais' First Day at Yale
written by Daniel Palledino, 2003

A sort of reprise to season one's "The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton," except the stakes are higher here. Rory's moving out of Stars Hollow into the scary world of New Haven, Connecticut. Allusions to season one are in place, and the way Daniel Palledino writes the exchanges between Rory and Lorelai as they try to hold back their fears is quite exquisite. As a high school junior, maybe the thread about leaving for college isn't hitting as hard as it will in the near future, but, strangely enough, this episode's subtext is almost too personal for reasons I will not go into right now. Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson are great as usual, but Alexis Bledel's damaged expressions steal the show. In its own way, "The Lorelais' First Day at Yale" approximates the greatness of one of my favorite Gilmore girls episodes, season one's "Rory's Birthday Parties," in which Lorelai deals with the fact that her little girl is growing up. And then there's always Paris, who turns out to be one of season four's greatest attributes.

gilmore girls: 4.1

Ballrooms and Biscotti
written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, 2003

And so begins Gilmore Girls' greatest season. "Ballrooms and Biscotti" does not come close to the power of the later episodes, but it does anticipate the amount of careful crafting that went into every single episode of the show prior to season six. As the episode opens, Rory and Lorelai are making their way back home from Europe. They spend the next day planning how to get ready for the Yale orientation, which turns out to be a few days earlier than they originally thought. Rushing to buy everything they need, Lorelai skips Friday night dinner and ends up having to come pick Rory up after Emily forces her to watch ballroom dancing competitions--now the title makes sense. A ha. Other than that, this episode is very light on story, with the possible exception being Luke's mysterious cruise trip. We find out that he proposed, married, and divorced Nicole, though the real implications of this only surface later in the season. The best part of the episode, by far, is the last scene. It's a brilliantly understated moment between Lorelai and Rory--who are now both watching the ballroom dancing tapes as Emily sleeps. In a very soft voice, both comment on the biscotti, just as they realize how little time they have to spend together.