Gilmore Girls: Application Anxiety
February 5, 2025 2:37 PM - Season 3, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Rory and Lorelai learn that Harvard is actually pretty competitive. Taylor approaches Luke about opening up a new Soda Shoppe in town. Lane gets in contact with a band.
Rory's Harvard application arrives while she and Lorelai are on the couch watching The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. As they go over the application, Lane works out the "drummer seeks band" ad she's composing. Everything is very light and jokey, for the moment, but then Rory attends a panel that she and Paris have been putting together where college admissions officers offer their advice.
Putting down too many interests, as was Rory's instinct? Nope, don't do that! Writing an essay about Hillary Clinton, as Rory planned to do? Oh, you better believe that's a paddlin'. And they take a moment to mock kids with college paraphernalia on their walls, just to make Rory's heart sink that much lower. (Though they thankfully also give Paris a mini-heart attack when talking about being too intense at the interview, which Paris feels was directed at her specifically.)
At Friday Night Dinner, Emily has been doing her own research and is freaked out that Rory doesn't stand enough apart from the pack, that admissions officers just select randomly from a pile, and that Kate Hudson (whom Emily really detests for some reason) is going to steal Rory's spot. She works Lorelai into a lather, and then Rory arrives, already there due to the panel at school. They all freak out together.
At the diner, Luke fields a number of strange (to him, at least) requests in a row, for an Egg Cream, a Black Cow, and a Phosphate, and runs to find whatever Taylor is up to. Taylor, it turns out, wants to open an old-fashioned soda shoppe, and sees the space next to the diner (a space which Luke owns) as the only viable location for it. Luke refuses, Taylor makes a reference to Dogtown & Z-Boys, and they're at an impasse.
Lorelai sets up a lunch with a Harvard alum so as to calm her and Rory's nerves. In theory, at least. The Springsteen family is creepily perfect, a group of rich vivacious WASPs who quiz each other over meals, have Folger-esque sexual chemistry between siblings, and don't talk about the other daughter who's not at the table. She's, uh, following her own path.
The whole scene is deeply cringe-inducing in every direction, as Lorelai isn't going to be able to answer their questions, and the family is super patronizing to Rory, and Lorelai's jokes go whooshing by all of them, and so Rory has to take a moment to excuse herself, and she runs into Carol. The other daughter, who is changing from her waitress uniform to her children's-birthday-entertainer bunny costume. Rory hits it off better with Carol than any of the other Springsteens, and comes away happy with the knowledge that the College Track thing wasn't foisted on her so much as her own choice.
The gals arrive late to the town meeting, where Taylor is trying to use eminent domain to force Luke to rent him the space for the soda shoppe. After Lorelai and Rory get interested, however, he relents. Outside the meeting, Dean wants to talk about whether her going to college means that they're gonna break up, and Jackson wants to talk to Lorelai about using Rory's bedroom as storage space once she's gone. At home, they decide to ditch their plans to get stuff done and to just hang out together instead while they have time.
But most importantly: Lane meets Dave Rygalski! A guitarist in need of a drummer who has instant chemistry with Lane! The effect is very similar to when Oz finally shows up on Buffy.
A.V. Club Review - David Sims
00
Soundtrack:
"Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" - Modest Mouse
"I Wanna Be Sedated" - Ramones
"Big in Japan" - Tom Waits
Random Guest Star Watch: This doesn't really count, because he'll recur through the rest of the season, but Adam Brody as Dave is worthy of celebration here.
Rory's Harvard application arrives while she and Lorelai are on the couch watching The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. As they go over the application, Lane works out the "drummer seeks band" ad she's composing. Everything is very light and jokey, for the moment, but then Rory attends a panel that she and Paris have been putting together where college admissions officers offer their advice.
Putting down too many interests, as was Rory's instinct? Nope, don't do that! Writing an essay about Hillary Clinton, as Rory planned to do? Oh, you better believe that's a paddlin'. And they take a moment to mock kids with college paraphernalia on their walls, just to make Rory's heart sink that much lower. (Though they thankfully also give Paris a mini-heart attack when talking about being too intense at the interview, which Paris feels was directed at her specifically.)
At Friday Night Dinner, Emily has been doing her own research and is freaked out that Rory doesn't stand enough apart from the pack, that admissions officers just select randomly from a pile, and that Kate Hudson (whom Emily really detests for some reason) is going to steal Rory's spot. She works Lorelai into a lather, and then Rory arrives, already there due to the panel at school. They all freak out together.
At the diner, Luke fields a number of strange (to him, at least) requests in a row, for an Egg Cream, a Black Cow, and a Phosphate, and runs to find whatever Taylor is up to. Taylor, it turns out, wants to open an old-fashioned soda shoppe, and sees the space next to the diner (a space which Luke owns) as the only viable location for it. Luke refuses, Taylor makes a reference to Dogtown & Z-Boys, and they're at an impasse.
Lorelai sets up a lunch with a Harvard alum so as to calm her and Rory's nerves. In theory, at least. The Springsteen family is creepily perfect, a group of rich vivacious WASPs who quiz each other over meals, have Folger-esque sexual chemistry between siblings, and don't talk about the other daughter who's not at the table. She's, uh, following her own path.
The whole scene is deeply cringe-inducing in every direction, as Lorelai isn't going to be able to answer their questions, and the family is super patronizing to Rory, and Lorelai's jokes go whooshing by all of them, and so Rory has to take a moment to excuse herself, and she runs into Carol. The other daughter, who is changing from her waitress uniform to her children's-birthday-entertainer bunny costume. Rory hits it off better with Carol than any of the other Springsteens, and comes away happy with the knowledge that the College Track thing wasn't foisted on her so much as her own choice.
The gals arrive late to the town meeting, where Taylor is trying to use eminent domain to force Luke to rent him the space for the soda shoppe. After Lorelai and Rory get interested, however, he relents. Outside the meeting, Dean wants to talk about whether her going to college means that they're gonna break up, and Jackson wants to talk to Lorelai about using Rory's bedroom as storage space once she's gone. At home, they decide to ditch their plans to get stuff done and to just hang out together instead while they have time.
But most importantly: Lane meets Dave Rygalski! A guitarist in need of a drummer who has instant chemistry with Lane! The effect is very similar to when Oz finally shows up on Buffy.
A.V. Club Review - David Sims
00
Soundtrack:
"Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" - Modest Mouse
"I Wanna Be Sedated" - Ramones
"Big in Japan" - Tom Waits
Random Guest Star Watch: This doesn't really count, because he'll recur through the rest of the season, but Adam Brody as Dave is worthy of celebration here.
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I feel so much second-hand embarrassment during the entire lunch sequence. The dad is fine, even if the whole quizzing of the family is weird, but the siblings are creepy and the way they talk about Carol, who still lives in the house, is disturbing. (This was, indeed, a Daniel Palladino-penned episode, who often struggles with people actually behaving like believable humans.) But I guess Lorelai and Rory feel reassured that Rory can still get into Harvard (although I'm not sure what one lunch with an alumnus will really do there, even with his recommendation).
Dean immediately jumping to "Well, I guess we'll have to break up" is pretty weird, but it's Dean. He's always resentful of anything Rory does that doesn't involve him (plus, it's still fall! They have nearly a year to figure this out).
Lane listing every band she's ever liked (including separate Bowie albums) is pretty funny, although like always, the music fan stuff never quite lands for me (or at least it's not my experience with people who are really into music and play in bands, even teenagers). Adam Brody's Dave does bring a different, quieter off-kilter energy to the show, which needs it. He fits right into this world but his quirks feel unique to him.
posted by edencosmic at 3:08 PM on February 5 [1 favorite]