Season 3, episode 5
Eight O'Clock at the Oasis
Lorelai is going to an auction and Michel wants to come. She meets a guy there she wants to date, but she changes her mind after their first date.
Provides examples of:
- AB Positive: Lorelai claims to have bloodtype O neg to convince the auction people to give her Peyton's name, claiming he has the same bloodtype. She never gets so far as to say what her fake rare condition is.
- Artistic License – Biology: In-universe. Natalie says they nicknamed Emily "the cobra," because she squeezes you until she gets her way. Cobras don't, though; they kill you with venom.
- Blatant Lies:
- Trying to find out Payton's contact information, Lorelai makes up stories about winning lotteries and having rare medical conditions. The people at the auction don't buy it.
- Rory momentarily freaks Lorelai out by telling her she forgot to put on pants.
- Captain Obvious: Emily acts confused about how the auctioneers could mix her and Lorelai up until Lorelai points out that they do share a last name.
- Child Hater: Luke is not a huge fan of people taking their babies to his diner and breastfeeding there.
- Comically Missing the Point: Inverted. Emily misses Lorelai's joke about sending Rory to military school, and offers to look for a steamer trunk for her.
- Continuity Nod: Rory likes reading Ayn Rand.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Lorelai does not understand how not going on a second date with Payton can result in so much drama in her parents' lives that Richard has to golf with Payton's dad for Emily to still get the first cup of tea at D.A.R. meetings.
- Embarrassing Nickname:
- Lorelai thinks tourists should call Michel "Buttercup" and that he should let them.
- Payton's imaginary nickname in high school was "Shamu," at least that's what Lorelai makes up on the fly.
- False Reassurance: When Luke complains that it's inappropriate to breastfeed in a diner because, as he says, "people are eating here!" Lorelai replies that they sure do.
- Genius Bookclub: Rory reads an epistolary by Ayn Rand in her free time.
- Hollywood Board Games: Lorelai and Rory's new neighbor, Dwight, is a man who engages in a lot of introverted pastimes and his house and lawn show it. According to Lorelai, he "took the lounge craze very seriously." When they open a closet, they find a vast collection of board games, which prompts Rory to comment that he owns Monopoly boards from "every country in the world." Dwight's ex-wife claims that the board-game collection belongs, in fact, to her, especially the Trivial Pursuit sets. It's ambiguous how true this statement is. She's not portrayed in a positive light; Dwight compares their marriage to something out of Greek mythology.
- Hypocrite:
- Emily accuses Lorelai of being extremely judgmental.
- Richard admits that he knows as well as Lorelai how insane the unspoken rules of the D.A.R are, but he also doesn't care
- Hidden Heart of Gold: After the sprinklers at the neighbor's won't shut off, Rory goes to find help, almost literally running into Jess. She explains what's wrong, and he jumps in to help. He manages to turn them off manually and they share some awkward small talk. They're interrupted by Rory's beeper—it's Dean, returning Rory's page asking for his assistance. Knowing that Dean would be upset if he found out Jess had fixed it, he silently turns the sprinklers back so Dean can come and "rescue" Rory.
- Like Father, Like Son: Luke complains at length about how much he doesn't want people breastfeeding in his diner. Then Jess walks in, sees it, and immediately walks out again with a disgusted expression.
- New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: Dwight, justified in that he's just moved in. But he is never seen again after this episode, despite him being eager to integrate into Stars Hollow.
- Orphaned Punchline: Lorelai tells Rory the end of a joke in the opening segment, but Rory thinks "how 'bout that schnitzel" is a bad punchline.
- Outdated Outfit: Lorelai claims the dress that worked for her earlier in the day won't work for her on her date, because morning butt and evening butt are two very different things.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: Every line of this exchange:Lorelai: You're my favorite daughter!
Rory: I bet you say that to all your daughters!
Lorelai: Yeah, but I only mean it with you! - Passive-Aggressive Kombat: As foreshadowed by the story about how tea serving order works in Emily's world, Emily ignores Lorelai's drink requests at Friday night dinner.
- Shout-Out:
- Lorelai jokes that The Cobra would be Emily's superhero codename. It goes over Natalie's head.
- Lorelai tries to invoke the plot of It Could Happen to You when she tries to convince the auction people to tell her who she met at the auction.
- Lorelai's new neighbor Dwight apparently used to live in Oz, and not as in The Wizard of Oz.
- She also expects his dead mother to sit in a rocking chair.
- Lorelai goes to a David Bowie concert with Payton Sanders, a man she runs into at the auction.
- Lorelai makes up that Payton's high school nickname was "Shamu."
- Lorelai pretends to find the sign of the devil on Rory's forehead.
- Rory cites her inability to pretend her mother is Antonio Banderas as a reason why she won't do cardio salsa.
- Dwight's ex-wife leaves a message threatening to call Erin Brockovich on his parents.
- Jess reads Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac while walking down the street.
- Rory reads a book by Ayn Rand.
- Jess accuses Rory of looking very "Blue Crush" when she is soaked in water.
- Lorelai hums "ground control to major Tom…"
- Squick: In-universe, Lorelai is squicked out by Michel's bleeding bowl.
- Take That!: Natalie thinks auctioneers are all such flakes.
- True Blue Femininity: Emily compliments Rory on her blue sweater and orders Lorelai to buy her more blue clothes. She tells her to borrow Rory's sweater on her second date with Peyton.
- Wine Is Classy: Payton sniffs, swirls and swishes wine. Lorelai finds it annoying.
