Kiss and Tell is the 7th episode of Season 1 of Gilmore Girls.
Synopsis[]
Dean (guest star Jared Padalecki) kisses Rory (Alexis Bledel) for the first time and she is hesitant about telling her mother (Lauren Graham), only to have Lane's mom (Emily Kuroda) spill the beans when Lorelai stops by the furniture shop to pick up a rocking chair. Elsewhere, the townsfolk pester Luke (Scott Patterson) when he refuses to decorate the coffee shop for Thanksgiving.
Plot[]
The Autumn Festival has hit Stars Hollow, the leaves are changing, the town is decorating, and Rory is about to experience her first kiss. It happens in public, at the grocery store where Dean works. After school, Rory goes to see her boyfriend and while they stand in an aisle, he holds a soda behind his back and goes in for the kiss. After he kisses her, all Rory can say is "thank you" before bolting from the store and heading straight to her best friend Lane so she can spill every single juicy detail. When she gets home that day, a super crabby Lorelai is dealing with a broken refrigerator, and Rory decides it is not the best time to talk about "the kiss". Not to mention the fact that the last time Dean was discussed, Rory almost ditched Chilton for him.
When Lorelai goes to pick up a rocking chair from the antique store run by Lane's mom, she finds out about the whole sordid kiss. Lane's mom overheard the girls talking and believes Rory is a bad influence on her daughter. She lectures Lorelai, who is more concerned with the fact that Rory did not tell her about any of it. Meanwhile; Lane is obsessed with the kiss and demands to hear the story over and over again. She is living vicariously through Rory, and thanks to Dean's best bud, Todd, Lane does have some dirt on Dean. Namely that he had a girlfriend named Beth back in the Windy City, where Dean is from. But they split up before he left after dating for a year. Besides, now she is dating his cousin, which Dean does not feel weird about because he never really loved her. The best part of it all is that Dean has not been able to talk about anything but Rory for weeks.
Lorelai is totally bummed about being shut out by Rory. Luke tries to stay close in order to comfort her, but she just blows him off. When she does talk to Rory, she cannot even bring herself to talk straight, instead going for a random and vague General Hospital analogy. Needless to say, Rory does not pick up on the hint, leaving Lorelai to resort to spying. Luke busts her big time and tells her that Rory's growing up and that there are some things she is not going to share with her mom. What is really disturbing to Lorelai is that Dean kind of looks like Christopher, Rory's dad. And if Rory does not talk about the guy with her mom, then it is too much like the relationship Lorelai has with her own mother. The only thing left to do is to confront Rory and be really cool about it. So Lorelai ambushes Rory and makes like it is no big deal, but Rory does not believe her.
Later, Rory and Lorelai go shopping for their "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" night, which you cannot watch without massive amounts of junk food. Rory's stressed out because they are shopping at the store where Dean works. When Lorelai first sees Dean, her impression? "Boy he's tall, that must have been a back bender, that kiss. Make sure you warm up next time". They go to check out and with an awkward introduction; Dean bags their junk food. All goes well until Rory and Lorelai leave the store. Rory runs to rent the videos while Lorelai is about to grab a cup of java. But Dean comes out to give them something they forgot, and Lorelai invites him over to watch the movie. The problem is that Rory does not know he is getting the invite. And when she does find out, she freaks.
They have not even had a real date and now their first date will include Lorelai. Rory is humiliated and Lorelai does not get it. What is the big deal? Rory reminds her mom that she is still her mother, not her best friend. Lorelai gets upset and offers to uninvite him. No, that will not work either! How about Lorelai just leaves them alone? No, then it will seem like Rory had her mom arrange the date. It is a lose-lose situation and they are stuck with it. At home, Rory is upset because she does not know what to wear. The night was supposed to be casual and now she has to be pretty. She looks to Lorelai for advice and of course Lorelai knows exactly what to do.
When Dean is late, Rory is about to have a major meltdown. Turns out, he has been held captive by their chatty neighbors. Lorelai quickly rescues him and the date begins. First, he gets a tour of the house and the broken refrigerator. He then takes a look at Rory's very clean room, but she cannot even bring herself to go through the doorway. He senses she is uncomfortable but she claims she is just fine with him looking around her personal, private space. Then, Sookie brings over some dessert, but it is just an excuse to get a little peak at Dean. Lorelai refuses to let Sookie inside, things are bad enough already. But Sookie does indeed make her way into the house, and things just continue on a downward spiral. Rory suggests that Lorelai broadcast the date over the Internet.
Rory, Dean, and Lorelai settle down to watch the movie and talk about other flicks. Then Lorelai goes to get popcorn and decides not to come back, leaving them alone so they can get cozy. Rory cannot handle being alone with Dean. Why? Because he is perfect and smells really good, that is why! She just does not know what to do. It is clear she really likes him, so Lorelai agrees to come back in and help out. But they cannot go back at the same time, that would be too obvious. So Lorelai goes in first and takes the opportunity to have a little one on one with Dean. And she is pretty blunt about it: "That girl in there is beloved around here. You hurt her, there's not a place within a hundred miles you can hide."
Lorelai lays down the law, but Dean has got some backbone of his own and tells Lorelai that he is not going away any time soon. In fact, he really needs Lorelai to like him because if she hates him then he does not have a chance in hell with Rory. Lorelai agrees to try and like him, implying that he has not succeeded in winning her over just yet. At the end of the night, Rory and Dean are on the porch, and he kisses her again. This one is a little longer and a little sweeter than last time and this time he is the one who says thank you. Inside, Rory knows something is up with her mom. Lorelai is still a little hurt over not hearing about the first kiss and even though it is a little late and after the fact, Rory spills every little detail.
Starring[]
- Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore
- Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore
- Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St. James
- Keiko Agena as Lane Kim
- Scott Patterson as Luke Danes
Recurring cast
- Liz Torres as Miss Patty
- Sally Struthers as Babette Dell
- Jared Padalecki as Dean Forester
- Michael Winters as Taylor Doose[1]
- Ted Rooney as Morey Dell
- Emily Kuroda as Mrs. Kim
Co-Starring
- Sonya Eddy as Cashier
- Brian Berke as Joe
- Caitlyn Lindsay Murphy as Susie
Trivia[]
- Lorelai and Dean meet for the first time. Sookie meets Dean.
CONTINUITY
- When talking about Rory being in love with Prince Charming, Dean says "Because he can dance … I've got sisters". He uses the plural form, yet later in the series we find out he only has one, Clara.
ERRORS
- When Dean kisses Rory for the first time, his head is tilted to the right, but in the next shot his head is tilted to the left.
Music[]
- this old house | BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA
Photos[]
Gilmorisms[]
MUSIC
LITERATURE
- The Crucible (Lorelai refers to how Luke Danes would look dressed up "like one of the guys from The Crucible".
- Lothario: a male first name which came to connote an unscrupulous seducer of women in The Impertinent Curiosity, a meta-story within Don Quixote.
FILM
- Kiss and Tell
- Shaft
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- 9½ Weeks
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
- Cinderella
- Sleeping Beauty
- Ice Castles
- The Way We Were
- Boogie Nights
- Magnolia
POP CULTURE
- Lorelai – I was watching General Hospital the other day, and, you know, they have a new Lucky because the old Lucky went to go play something where he could have a real name.
- Note: The real Lucky being Jonathan Jackson whereas the 'New' Lucky was Jacob Young
- Lorelai (to Luke) – Not gonna talk about how good you'd look dressed as one of the guys from The Crucible
- Rory (to Lorelai) – No James Dean jokes. No father-with-a-shotgun stares. No Nancy Walker impressions.
- Rory (to Lorelai) – You're like a crazy Elsa Klensch
- Babette (about Dean) – Oh, is he cute! And that Chuck Heston chin of his!
- Dean (to Rory) – How much does it suck that they used "Pink Moon" in a Volkswagen commercial?
- Dean – So, at what point does the outsider get to suggest a movie for movie night?
- Rory – That depends. What movie are you thinking of?
- Dean – I don't know – Boogie Nights, maybe?
- Rory – You'll never get it past Lorelai.
- Dean – Not a Marky Mark fan?
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Introduction of Taylor, who is the owner of Doose's Market.