A big Stars Hollow annual event is coming up: Movie in the Square Night. Taylor is in charge of picking the movie and he tells Lorelai it’s going to be The Yearling, which he’s apparently chosen every year for as long as anyone can remember. Lorelai complains, so Taylor gives her the big book of free movies to choose from. After scouring through the list, she decides there is absolutely nothing better than The Yearling.

Luke gets called to Stars Hollow High because Jess has been skipping school and not doing his homework. The principal says he’s failing and that he may have stolen all the school’s baseballs. He suggests Luke hire a tutor for Jess, and the only person Luke can think of is Rory. She agrees to do it, but Lorelai hates the idea. Of course. And she really doesn’t like it when Rory asks her not to tell Dean where she is if he calls. He’s out of town visiting his grandmother, so Rory figures he never has to know.

Rory tries unsuccessfully to get Jess to study, but Jess is stubborn. He finally says he’ll get serious, but only if Rory agrees to go out for ice cream with him first. They get their ice cream and then drive around for a while, talking about, you know, stuff. Then Jess crashes the car because something ran into the road. Rory’s car is totaled. Rory calls Lorelai from the hospital and tells her she broke her wrist. Lorelai totally freaks out, and when she finds out Jess was driving, she hates him more than ever. She goes to Luke, apparently for no other reason than to yell at him for bringing Jess into her life. She’s gone completely round the bend. Luke gets pissed and walks off to find Jess to make sure he’s okay. He finds him sitting on the bridge. Jess says he made sure Rory was okay before taking off. Luke says he knows.

When Lorelai gets Rory home from the hospital, she calls Christopher and then goes to sleep in Rory’s room. She wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Christopher in the chair next to her. Christopher decides to stick around, at least long enough to go to Movie in the Square Night and see the creepy independent film Kirk made and asked Lorelai to play before The Yearling. While at the movie, Lorelai and Rory overhear Babette tell Miss Patty that Luke put Jess on a bus the night before and sent him home.

Luke: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Jess: About twenty miles south of wherever you are.

Christopher: Jess, Dead Meat, whatever his name is.

• Original Air Date: April 30, 2002
• Where Kirk Works: Kirk is an independent film maker in this episode.

Categories: Season 2
Tags: Christopher, Dean, Jess, Lorelai-Luke fight

Posted on January 21, 2010