"P.S. I Lo..."
Lorelai and Rory are at Luke�s, where Lorelai is telling a story about being in a store with a magician who tried to do a trick with her $20 bill. He ripped it up and couldn�t put it back together, and he had to pay her back in quarters. Lorelai notes that Rory looks tired, so they decide to play a game where they look out the window and try to find Lorelai a husband. She rejects an older guy because she�s not Anna Nicole Smith and a teenager because she�s not Mary Kay LeTourneau. Luke approaches and Rory wonders if he counts as the third potential husband. Without even knowing what they�re talking about, Luke says no. Rory explains that since Lorelai passed on the first two guys, so she�s automatically stuck with the third. They look out the window again and discover that number three is Kirk. �Daddy!� Rory exclaims. �Maybe he�ll buy me a pony.� Lorelai decides that she wants to go back to the old guy. Kirk enters and Luke congratulates him while Rory and Lorelai start giggling. He leaves and Lorelai calls after him that she loves him. She says that it�s Rory�s turn to play, but Rory points out that Lorelai already has Kirk and she can�t top that. They play anyway, but stop when Dean passes by. Max calls the inn and has to endure talking to Michel before he can speak with Lorelai. He tries to get her to be serious, telling her that they�ve been talking on the phone a lot and it might be time for them to have a real date. She agrees to go to dinner with him on Saturday.
Lane does Rory�s shopping at Doose�s Market so that she won�t have to run into Dean (who wasn�t there anyway). Rory decides to write down the fact that Dean doesn�t work on Wednesdays. Lorelai runs into Luke downtown and discovers that he�s bought potholders with cats on them. He explains that Rachel�s birthday is coming up, but she doesn�t want anyone to know, since she hates birthdays. Lorelai criticizes his gift choice and he tells her that he doesn�t like or know how to shop. He refuses to go to the mall, since he hates that, too. Lorelai offers to shop for him - she�ll get a bunch of stuff and he can pick what he wants to give Rachel. He agrees and tries to give suggestions, but his taste isn�t too great. Dean goes to Lane�s house, where Mrs. Kim, thinking she�s a potential suitor, interrogates him. Lane and Dean explain that they�re partners in their science class, so Mrs. Kim sets them up in the kitchen so that they won�t try anything funny. The two try to start studying and agree that the situation is awkward. Dean asks how Rory is and Lane tells him that she and Dean have an unspoken agreement not to talk about her. Lane asks if he thinks they�ll ever get back together. He decides that the unspoken agreement was a good idea. Rory arrives and Lane apologizes for not telling her that she was working with Dean. Rory lies that she�s fine and leaves.
In the morning, Lorelai wakes Rory up and asks her if she�s more beautiful than she was the day before. Rory isn�t in a great mood, so Lorelai tries to cheer her up with the promise of a trip to the mall. Rory doesn�t want to go. Lorelai heads to Luke�s after her shopping trip and shows him her purchases. Not only has she gotten possible presents for Rachel, but she�s also bought a bunch of clothes for Luke. He doesn�t want the clothes, but she chases him with them. Rory spaces out in Max�s English class; he asks her if she has any questions and Paris tries to help her come back to reality. After class, Paris says that Rory didn�t take any notes and wonders if she�s learning by osmosis now. Max keeps Rory after class and says that he�s noticed that she�s distracted. She says that she didn�t sleep well, but he knows that she�s not concentrating because of her breakup. Rory is shocked that Lorelai told him and asks if they�re dating again. He realizes too late that she didn�t know anything about their reconciliation. At the diner, Lorelai makes Luke put on some of the new clothes, happy with her taste. He doesn�t agree, however, and wants to return everything. He doesn�t think that she likes guys who wear casual clothes, like he does, but she says that she just wants to add some variety to his wardrobe. Rachel enters and Luke and Lorelai try to convince her that the situation isn�t what it looks like. �It looks like you�re dressing him,� Rachel correctly observes.
Lane meets Rory at her bus stop and Rory tells her that she can handle her studying with Dean. Lane says that she didn�t tell her because she doesn�t like the way Rory looks when she talks about Dean. Rory thinks that she could get over the breakup more quickly if people didn�t act like they were protecting her. Lane decides to be honest and tells Rory that she�s studying with Dean again that night. After Lane leaves, Rory runs into Lorelai and continues to express the bad mood she�s been in all day. She confronts Lorelai about Max and Lorelai tells her that they haven�t been dating, just talking. Lorelai explains that she was in a situation in high school in which she broke up with a guy and a friend of hers got back together with her ex-boyfriend not long after; Lorelai felt horrible because the friend kept talking about how nice it was to be back with her ex. Lorelai didn�t want to make Rory feel even more horrible about her breakup with Dean. She promises that she was going to tell Rory, but Rory says it doesn�t matter, since they�re just going to break up anyway, since that�s what Lorelai does best. Lorelai demands an apology, which Rory gives her flippantly before saying that she wants to go home. They wind up stopping in front of the market, since Lorelai needs to get light bulbs, but Rory refuses to go inside and heads home alone. When Lorelai arrives later, she discovers that Rory isn�t there.
Emily and Richard are getting ready to go out when Rory shows up. She explains that she and Lorelai had a fight and she just needed to get out of their house. She realizes that she�s interrupted their plans and apologizes, saying that she should have called before she drove over. Emily tells her that she�s welcome and asks her if she wants to talk about what happened. Rory asks if she can spend the night; her grandparents tell her that she�s always welcome. After Rory goes upstairs, Emily notes the significance of her coming there after a fight with her mother. Lorelai calls Mrs. Kim to see if Rory is over there; she finds it hard to believe that Mrs. Kim doesn�t even know where Lane is. Sookie arrives, having gone out searching with Miss Patty, but she has no news. Lorelai starts panicking. Max shows up, also having found no sign of Rory, and suggests that someone check with Dean. Sookie leaves to do so just before Lorelai gets a call from Emily, telling her that Rory is at her house. Lorelai wants to talk to her but Emily wants to give her some time to calm down first. She convinces Lorelai to wait until after school the next day to come get Rory. Max points out that at least Rory is safe, but Lorelai isn�t happy that Rory is with Emily. She reveals that she and Rory fought about Max and notes that she should have known that Rory wouldn�t be thrilled. Max asks why she didn�t tell Rory, since she told other people. Lorelai admits that she hasn�t told anyone, even Sookie. He thinks this is strange and wonders if there�s a reason why she hasn�t told anyone they�ve been talking again. Lorelai tries to convince him that there isn�t.
At breakfast the next morning, Emily tells Rory that she spoke with Lorelai the night before and she�ll call that afternoon. Rory thanks her grandparents for letting her spend the night and Emily says that Rory got Richard to put down his newspaper during breakfast for the first time. Lorelai goes to Luke�s and fills him in on the previous night�s events. She says that she hates that Rory has to go through her problems with Dean, since she doesn�t deserve it. She�s also upset that Rory won�t talk to her about what she�s dealing with. Luke says that Dean is a jerk and Lorelai says she wants to pinch his head off. They brainstorm some things Lorelai could do to get revenge on Dean, and then Lorelai decides to head home in case Rory calls. She notes that Luke is wearing the belt she bought him; he tells her that his old one broke. After some consideration, Lorelai goes to the market and blasts Dean for breaking Rory�s heart. He�s upset that everyone is blaming him for the breakup, since he said he loved Rory and she didn�t respond. Lorelai is shocked, since she never actually heard that story before. She then heads to her parents� house, where Rory immediately apologizes and Lorelai assures her that she knows what it�s like to want to get away from her life. She asks what really happened between Rory and Dean and reveals that he told her why they really broke up. Lorelai says that she knows how Rory must have felt, since she has her own issues with commitment. She tries to use the Hanson brothers in an example, but she�s really trying to say that Rory shouldn�t be afraid to express her feelings so that she can experience everything about love. The girls head back to Stars Hollow and Rory makes a detour at Lane�s. At home, Lorelai tells Max that she�s going to tell everyone she knows that she and Max are back together.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: Dean: �So that�s your mom?�
Rory: �Why would my tie be in the living room?�
Lorelai: �Just once, be too sexy for your shirt and do a little dance on the catwalk.�
Luke: �I�m not wearing a black shirt with a black suit.�
�Mrs. Kim? It�s Lorelai. Is Lane there? Well, do you know where she is? Huh. That�s unbelievable, you always know where she is. Um, the one time I need you to be crazy prison guard lady, you�re all, �Hey, man, whatever.� Um, you know what, I will never be able to explain that to your satisfaction, so, um, could you just ask Lane to call me, please, when she gets back. I�m looking for Rory. No, I don�t know where she is. I, uh�don�t �ha� me, you don�t know where Lane is either.� - Lorelai
Lorelai: �Maybe I could key his car.�
Written by Elaine Arata and Joan Binder Weiss; directed by Lev L. Spiro
Lane: �That�s my mom.�
Dean: �Has she seen Patton?�
Lorelai: �Because it�s been seeing the doily on the coffee table. I�m sorry, I did not want you to find out this way.�
Luke: �Get away from me, you mental patient!�
Lorelai: �Regis does.�
Luke: �Okay, you�ve won me over now.�
Luke: �Or better yet, you can key Taylor�s car and tell him Dean did it.�
Lorelai: �Yeah. That�d be good.�
Luke: �You can key Taylor�s car, tell him Dean did it, and also tell him that Dean littered and walks his dog without a leash.�
Lorelai: �He�ll run him out of town.�