A belated wedding present arrives for Lorelai and Max and Lorelai desperately wants to send it back, but there’s no card or return address. Rory and Sookie try to convince her to keep it, but Lorelai is determined to get rid of it.

Rory gets teamed up with Paris, Madeline and Louise for a school project. They’re supposed to perform an act from Romeo and Juliet in a style of their choosing. Paris insists on doing it in the traditional way. Since there are no boys in their group, Brad from third period gets put on their team. Brad is nerdy and totally terrified of Paris. Madeline and Louise think he’ll make a crappy Romeo, so they’re super happy when Tristin comes back from a suspension and joins their group. Paris reluctantly lets him be Romeo and then makes Rory be Juliet because she’s the only one who can play the part (too many lines for Madeline, not slutty enough for Louise).

Paris decides the group should practice at Miss Patty’s, which makes Rory freak out because she doesn’t want Dean and Tristin to be anywhere near each other. She wants to tell Dean about her kiss with Tristin, but Lorelai convinces her it would be a bad idea. The first thing Tristin does when he gets to Stars Hollow is go to the market to terrorize Dean a little. After that, Dean insists on watching the practices. He stands at the back and glowers while Tristin acts like a jackass. Rory finally tells Dean he has to leave or they’ll never get any work done.

Twenty minutes before the performance at Chilton, Paris is freaking out because Tristin hasn’t arrived yet. He finally gets there and tells Rory his dad has pulled him out of school and is putting him in military school. He’s broken the rules one time too many. Paris puts on the Romeo costume and plays the part herself.

At her business class, Lorelai gets asked out by a guy named Paul. The date is a dud, but she’s glad she’s putting herself out there again. It’s been a whole month since she broke off her engagement to Max, you know. Paul shows up at Luke’s with his parents the next day. In his South Park t-shirt and baseball cap, he looks like he’s about twelve. Luke acts like a jerk and makes fun of Lorelai about it. Sookie says it’s because he likes her, and Lorelai does her usual “we’re just friends” denial thing. Luke and Lorelai make up later.

Lorelai, to Rory: You’re gonna kill yourself in a couple hours. You need your strength.

• Original Air Date: November 27, 2001

Categories: Season 2
Tags: Dean, Paris, Tristin

Posted on January 7, 2010