Gilmore Girls 1.05 “Cinnamon’s Wake”
Gilmore Girls 1.05 "Cinnamon’s Wake"
Original Air Date: November 2, 2000 (Recap date: November 13, 2007)
Photos & Discussion
Gilmore Girls Episode Recap:
Gilmore dinner. Richard is away in Germany. Emily says Lorelai’s cousin Claudia died - Lorelai has no idea who that is. Then Emily does remember a "nice old" Nazi they knew in Munich with great stories - Lorelai is outraged. But it’s just Emily making a joke!
It’s the Chilton bake sale later that day - Lorelai says she has it ‘taken care of.’ Lane had stopped by to listen to music. Maury and Babette are out walking Cinnamon in a carriage - she hasn’t been walking well lately.
Dean spots Rory waiting for her bus. He gets on behind her and startles her. Rory is so nervous! It’s adorable. She panics thinking he needs to get off, but he reminds her that buses make stops and gives her a flirtatious ‘Goodbye Lorelai Gilmore’ before leaving.
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Some businessmen from France come in to the Inn and want Michel to speak French. He claims to be from Texas. Michel says most French people are insufferable. Lorelai gives him her ‘do it or something unspeakable will befall you’ look.
Sookie is Lorelai’s solution to the bake sale. She has created treats from around the world. Sookie accidentally sets the table on fire trying to glaze a dish. Lorelai takes care of it - with a neighboring table’s lemonade!
"Tasty and flame retardant"
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Max comes to see Lorelai, though she refuses to call him anything but Mr. Medina. She’s still angry about Rory’s test. Max asks Lorelai out on a date. Lorelai stalls - is it against the rules? Is it an unwritten rule? What would Rory think? She wants to say yes, but it’s weird. He tries for coffee; does she like coffee?
"Only with my oxegyn"
She relents to his ‘pre-date’ idea. She tells him the specific time she goes for coffee before her business class saying she would not ‘avoid’ him if he were there. And she calls him Max.
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Lane would like to live in Philadelphia with M. Night Shyamalan. They run across Babette with a very unhappy Cinnamon. The clams at Al’s Pancake World made her dispeptic.
Rory sees Dean in Doose’s and makes an excuse to Lane to ‘pick up some stuff.’ Rory ducks into an aisle when Dean waves at her. Miss Patty then spots her and talks about the sensuality of fruit. But Miss Patty is clued into Rory’s crush.
"He’s just a person. A… boy-type person."
Kirk appears as the new assistant manager at Doose’s. He calls out Miss Patty for eating while she shops. Rory pays for her random lettuce and mouse trap - Dean comes up to be her bag boy. She gets flustered at his jokes and leaves.
Lorelai ‘runs into’ Max at the coffee shop. Max says:
"I think we should date. Cause I think we both want to."
"Well, I want to be in the Bangles, but that doesn’t mean I quit my job and get a guitar and ruin my life to be a Bangle, does it?"
Max makes the dating logical. How they are attracted. (Lorelai would not date the pie she’s attracted to). They are of similar heights. He assures her that he will be discreet in their relationship. She accuses him of telling her what she wants to hear, not getting to know each other. He retorts that he must know her well to tell her what she wants to hear. She’s running out of arguments!
Max tells Lorelai the story of his Uncle and the girl he loves. And how he never saw her again because he waited too long. Lorelai smiles at how Max is touching her arm. He tells her that his Uncle told him to go after what his heart tells him to. Lorelai is swayed - hands him her number. And leaves with a "Goodbye, Lorelai Gilmore."
Lorelai and Sookie talk over lunch at Luke’s. Lorelai is confused over the perfect guy and the not-perfect situation. She’s worried about what happens if it doesn’t work out. What kind of position would that put Rory in? Sookie, meanwhile, went behind the counter for onions and ended up serving a bunch of customers. Luke ushers her out of his sacred space.
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Poor Cinnamon has passed away. Lorelai and Rory come to console Babette and Maury. Cinnamon had left with a bang - Babette nudged her, to wake her, and she slid onto the floor, across the floor, and into a lamp. The vet assures Maury it was age, not the clams, that did Cinnamon in.
Cinnamon’s Wake, with the whole town coming to pay respects. Michel scoffs at mourning a cat. Luke and Sookie both bring food - how competitive they are! And we have Sookie’s organization vs. Luke’s ‘dig in’. Dean comes to drop off pop - Rory sees him in. Dean says to Rory:
"Hey, do you have a second?"
"No. I have gum"
She excuses herself - too nervous to talk to him.
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Rory spots Mr. Medina at their door and assumes she’s in trouble. Lorelai recovers from her "Oh, no!" and admits she has a date with him. Rory is uncomfortable. Lorelai goes to speak with Max. He thinks the cat is an excuse. She chases after him to reschedule. She curses the cat as he leaves - she is head over heels for Max!
Kirk apologizes to Miss Patty. Babette mourns the loss of her "kid", her Cinnamon. And fears that Maury too will leave her. Lorelai agrees to call Babette after landing Max in bed. So cute.
Rory is sitting among the gnomes, avoiding Lorelai. Dean confronts her. He apologizes for bugging her. He though she maybe liked him, but says it’s obvious she does not. Rory hesitates, but runs after Dean and tells him she is interested. Then runs off.
Lorelai tells Rory about Max. Rory is worried what other kids would think. Rory is as mad about Lorelai’s untruths as about the dating. Lorelai tells Rory it’s been a really long time since she’s liked a guy that much. Lorelai tells Rory about losing her head when meeting a guy, and you can tell Rory is thinking about Dean.
Emily calls. Lorelai says she was at a wake. Of course, being the same day as the cousin’s funeral, the cat’s wake does not seem like a good comparison. Lorelai tries to confirm it’s ok to date Max, with Rory’s blessing. Rory blows her off a bit, which only enhances Lorelai’s attachment to Max. But Rory comes out and agrees - she was just stringing Lorelai along.
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Discussion Questions:
- Do you find Max charming? Do you think him a good match for Lorelai?
- Compare and contrast Rory/Dean’s budding love with that of Lorelai/Max. In each, the Gilmore Girls react to their attractions differently. Why?
- Why does Lorelai give Max her number, if he already has it (as shown in the previous episode)?
- If Luke had been as forward as Max, would she have fallen for him this early?
- Michel laughs at mourning a cat - yet later he has his own dog wake. What do you make of that?
Tags: gilmore girls, gilmore girls season 1, cinnamon’s wake, gilmore girls recaps, gilmore girls screencaps, pictures, photos
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POSTED IN: Discussions, Gilmore Girls Recaps, Gilmore Girls Screencaps, Lorelai's love life, Rory's love life
8 opinions for Gilmore Girls 1.05 “Cinnamon’s Wake”
8 o clock
Nov 13, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I did like Max as a boyfriend for Lorelai, but at this point in the series, she acted too goofy and immature for the likes of him. Remember how she acted when she ran into “Julia’s Dad” at Chilton. Lorelai’s character and personality did evolve thru the years except for that stuff with Digger. El Yucko.
This just might be the only time I have ever seen Morty without his sunglasses.
em
Nov 13, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I think this is one of my favorite Michel episodes, saying he is only a little country boy from Texas. I love Michel.
Joey
Nov 13, 2007 at 5:10 pm
I really miss these good old times. Episodes like this make me very depressed. I don’t consider myself a Dean/Rory shipper but back when they were just starting out and Rory had no clue what to say and what to do, I can’t help myself but smile. They were adorable.
I never really loved the Max/Lorelai concept, but that may be just because anyone else with either Luke or Lorelai just seems wrong. Looking back on this episode, it showed just how much Lorelai had grown up from being a woman just lacking companionship and wanting it for the hell of it to the frantic one who was screaming in the streets(Not that I approve of that scene one bit).
I think the way the show started out with both Rory and Lorelai beginning to date around the same time was a good idea. Both of the guys were more forward, while they girls held back a little; Rory because she was just beginning to get into the idea of a relationship and Lorelai because her daughter was growing up and it was time.
If Luke had been as forward as Max had been, I don’t think their relationship would have been as successful as it is today (despite the marriage and long-lost daughter). They both needed to experience other people before they were able to settle down. The eight years of friendship strengthened their relationship and is, in my opinion, what brought them back together. They grew to depend on each other, something we never saw either of the doing with their respective partners.
As for Michel, Cinnamon and his chow- well, Michel loved his chow(whom I seem unable to remember as either Paw-Paw or Chin-Chin at the moment.) To him, Cinnamon was just a cat but, as crazy as it is, he experienced the bond of human and animal. He love (insert name of chow here). Either that or it was just bad writing.
Jessica King
Nov 13, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Number 1. Well,I not sure if Max might be right person for Lorelai or not.But Max is okay person.
Number 2.I think Lorelai and Rory want start date same time in beginning.I never really liked Rory and Dean together,cuz he is so annoying.
Number 3.Cuz Max really like Lorelai and he want date with her.
Number 3.If Luke find out that Lorelai and Max are dating and he dont think so if they are good relationship.But Luke and Lorelai are friendships long times ago.
Number 4.Good question,cuz Michael love his 2 dog is really better than Cinnamon this episode.
Arieanna
Nov 13, 2007 at 8:01 pm
It’s hard to think of Lorelai loving anyone but Luke. But we only have a hint at this point that she and Luke have chemistry. And yet she has SO much chemistry with Max that it’s hard to be unhappy about it all. Max is very sweet in this episode.
I love Rory in the first season. She is so sweet and innocent and growing so much emotionally. Some of Alexis Bledel’s best acting.
Janet
Nov 14, 2007 at 7:20 am
I always liked Max because he is Lorelai’s equal in witty, faced paced, banter. (Plus, he has great hair.) The scene of them in the coffee shop where each is able to stump the other is fun and romantic. I think the story Max tells Lorelai about his uncle to convince her to take a chance is made up. Lorelai knows it too. I love the parallel between Lorelai and Rory both having romantic encounters, and how each finds out about the other by accident. On some level, each has a fear of letting the other down, yet, by keeping these secrets, they let each other down. Very human, very real.
As a sidenote, I love Emily’s joke, at the very beginning, about knowing a Nazi. It is so funny because it is so believable. Lorelai’s reaction to Emily making a joke is priceless.
A fun episode to watch.
Mary
Nov 14, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I think Max Medina was a good match for Lorelai at the time. Dean and Max were two good guys to bring out the first attractions in Rory and Loreali. They both picked men who were safe and dependable. Finding how far they could go in a relationship before their hearts became involved. Because their whole worlds were mother and daughter and each others views and expectations. So, they needed quys who were safe to give them permission to feel outside thier worlds. Safe, but you knew they were not quite for them. But, they had to experience it so they could love others. It gave them permission.
If that makes any sense…..
Tucker
Nov 14, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Good episode. I agree with what joey said as well. Lorelai had to go through all that other stuff to get around to Luke. She really “grew up” emotionally and their friendship only got stronger over the years which enabled them to take that next step pretty easily (on the first date!)
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