Season 3, episode 12
Lorelai Out Of Water
The Lorelais resolve to clear out the garage so Lane's band can rehearse there. The Kims arrange a wedding at their house, as they have over forty times before. Lane tries to get her mother to let Dave take her to the prom, but fails. Lorelai wants to learn to fish to go out with a guy.
Paris tries to impeach Rory for telling Francie about Jamie. This leads to a No, You argument in front of everyone. Nicole Leahy shows up for the first time as Taylor's attorney to talk to Luke. Paris and Rory get called to the principal's office to get chewed out. They have another No, You argument there.
Luke tries to teach Lorelai to fish in a small pool. She is thrilled to have a new outfit for fishing. Alex shows up 5:30 the next morning.
Kirk's job: Cashier at the beauty shop, formerly held by Shane.
Tropes
- Acoustic License: Dave tells Lane off in front of the guys for the purpose of having them hear him, followed by Lane explaining to Rory that it's a ruse in the same spot, at the same distance from the other band members, at a slightly lower volume. They don't hear it.
- Animal Motif: Invoked for the couples who get married at the Kim house. Rory says loons, since both mate for life.
- Arranged Marriage: Discussed. Lane and Rory talk about how none of the marriages entered into at the Kim house ever seem to end in divorce. Even the guy who got peeled by his wife with a potato peeler stayed married to her.
- Backhanded Compliment: Kirk set up the display of hair dye and polish to resemble a horror museum, with chopped-off heads and a hand. Rory compliments him on it.
- Blatant Lies:
- Lorelai claims to have a condition that makes her ears explode if she listens to rock 'n roll.
- Lorelai's fish date Alex understands that Lorelai has never gone fishing before, but Rory insists that her mother is a well-seasoned fish-killer.
- Lane claims to be happy for Rory and Jess. Rory replies that it's okay for her not to like Jess. Lane tries to deny it, then berates herself for not liking Jess.
- Call-Back: Rory recalls that Paris "forced" her to run for her student body vice president position.
- Calling Me a Logarithm: Subverted by Lorelai, who does not take offense to being called an angler by a book on fishing.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Madeline remarks that she and Louise are out of boys to date and that it's time to go to college.
- Lorelai reads that she needs the appropriate lure when she goes fishing. She suggests her sequined top.
- Diagnosed by the Audience: Invoked by Rory, who accuses Paris of not having been properly diagnosed yet.
- Genius Bookclub: Lane can recite the entire Encyclopedia of Rock according to Rory.
- Handwriting as Characterization: A variation, when Rory scolds Lorelai for not following through on getting rid of all the junk in their garage the last time they cleaned it out. Lorelai insists she left a note for the garbage collector, but got bored and went to get coffee. When Rory points out that the guy might not have known the note was authentic, and Lorelai retorts: "I wrote it on Powerpuff Girls stationery. Who'd he think was setting him up, Hello Kitty?"
- Hypocrite: Paris gets pissed when principal Charleston suggests that she and Rory are fighting about a boy. It's not a boy they both want, but it is about Jamie, who Paris feels everyone should just unsee her taking off with a few episodes ago.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction:
- Rory and Lorelai clean out their garage, and Rory is aghast at all the junk they own. Lorelai is offended she would call it junk, insisting they're "souvenirs of life's journey" before admitting that the headless doll she's holding is junk, and also some stuff over there, and that other stuff, and finally admitting...yeah, it's all junk.
- Lorelai swears she is not the kind of woman who lies to her boyfriend about what she likes to get him to like her. Sookie admits that she kind of is, since she lets Jackson believe that she loves frogs even though she does. Lorelai caves and admits that she is too, since she has no intention of telling Alex she hates fishing.
- Insistent Terminology: Kirk's products aren't water-proof, they're water-resistant.
- No, You: Disappointed that she can't impeach Rory as student vice president, Paris demands that she resign. Rory retorts that since Paris is the one who has a problem, she should resign. They keep at it for a bit.
- Preemptive "Shut Up": Luke gives one to Jess after he comes in from talking with Nicole, noting that Jess saw the entire interaction through the diner window. Jess insists he wasn't going to say anything.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: They do this at the wedding, with the officiator asking the celebrants if they promise to obey the seventh commandment, rather than the traditional "love and honor" line.
- Pun:
- Rory compares the people who get married at the Kims' "loons." She doesn't necessarily mean lunatics, as the birds of the same name also mate for life.
- Jess claims that spending time with Rory before taking her home is what's called the end of a date. Luke retorts that keeping the diner open making Jess work later is also called "the end of a date."
- Rule of Three: Embodied by Taylor, who loves things in triplicate, as stated by Nicole.
- Shout-Out:
- Lorelai accuses Rory of being Dr. Dolittle about bats.
- Lorelai refers to her garage as "the Batcave".
- Lorelai wrote a garbage man a note on The Powerpuff Girls paper, and he apparently thought he was being set up by Hello Kitty.
- Jayne Mansfield gets a fish named for her.
- Lorelai compares fishing and camping to the witches from Macbeth.
- Jess refers to Nicole as Gloria Allred.
- Luke refers to Lorelai and Rory, finding them trying to learn fishing by reading, as Thelma & Louise.
- Lane keeps her make-up right next to her Peggy Lee records.
- The only reason Rory doesn't like Smashing Pumpkins is that she's close-minded and blind, according to Lane.
- Screaming at Squick: Rory finds an old stuffed toy in the garage while cleaning, holding it close and waxing nostalgic about it before asking Lorelai if they can keep it. Lorelai agrees, and they toss it outside to deal with it later. It then begins rolling away under its own power. The girls start freaking out.Lorelai: Hug-a-World would like to see the world.Rory: [shocked] It's moving!Lorelai: There's something living there besides Canadians!Rory: [panicking] I hugged it. I hugged it really tight.Lorelai: [equally panicked] Yes, you did.Rory: [disgusted] I have to shower!
- Stealth Insult: Mrs. Kim tells Min Jae he looks good now that he's not so fat.
- Take That!: Lorelai names her trout Jayne Mansfield, since she is not bright enough to not get caught on a corked, un-baited hook, but she's awfully pretty.
- Too Dumb to Live: Discussed for Jayne Mansfield the trout (see above), but averted for Wan Nam, who verbally abused his wife Min Cha for seven years, survived a peeling and then took precautions to not have it happened again.
