Gilmore Girls 4.08 “Die, Jerk”
Gilmore Girls 4.08 "Die, Jerk"
Original Air Date: November 11, 2003 (Recap date: February 22, 2008)
Photos, Recap & Discussion
Discussion Questions:
- Are you surprised it’s Rory’s writing, not Paris’, that is a yawn?
- Is Bruce a crutch for Sookie to get her into parenting mode?
- Is Rory trying too hard?
- Should Rory temper her opinions of the bad ballet?
- Why is Lorelai flustered to see Nicole?
- Was Nicole smug to have flustered Lorelai?
- Why doesn’t Luke clue in that maybe Lorelai is jealous? Isn’t that what he wants?
- Did Rory realize she’d been that harsh?
- Wouldn’t Miss Manners have required Emily to invite Jason to dinner anyway?
- Is Rory now enjoying writing harsh reviews?
- Does Rory realize that Lorelai has feelings for Luke? If so, why doesn’t she say something?
Gilmore Girls Episode Recap & Photos:
Richard says Atlantic City was a success - Emily says it was a garish city. Apparently Digger caroused well. Richard has mini roulette wheels for the girls - the gifts they gave out with their business info on them. Rory has been writing try-out articles for the Yale Daily News to qualify for staff. Emily is laminating all the articles.
Paris and Rory are at the Yale Daily News office. Rory’s latest article did not make it into the paper. Doyle, the editor, comes in so Rory goes to talk with him. Doyle says Rory’s article is a yawn. Not the content - the writing. Paris’ article got in.
Lane has a call with Dave in five minutes. He’s a little sad they found a new guitarist. Lorelai goes to visit Sookie & the new baby. Michel is sitting outside - not welcome. He sneezed 5 days ago, so is banned from the baby. But it’s supposed to be a business meeting.
The Dragonfly is done the demo stage, now it’s time to rebuild. Bruce is back - she’s also a lactation specialist. Lorelai tells Bruce she was impressed with the home birth. Bruce asks if Lorelai talked baby talk to Davie - which she says is bad for language development. Lorelai makes fun of Bruce by talking politics to Davie.
Rory brings in a new version of her review for Doyle to see. He says it’s not good. Rory is upset because she researched so much, did so many versions and tried so hard. Doyle says he can’t see what Rory really thought. Her opinions don’t come through. Doyle tells Rory that she’ll either get the hang of things… or she won’t. But asks her to make the next one good.
Lorelai comes with Rory to see a ballet for the review. Rory is worried she has no talent for journalism. The ballerina is falling a lot - and there is a new meaning for the word ‘nutcracker.’ The ballet was horrible, and the ballerina very out of shape. If Rory writes what she thinks, it will be quite a scathing review.
Doyle tells Rory she did a great job on her review.
Mrs. Kim has a gift to send to Dave. It’s some sort of bottle - Lane looks confused.
Michel looked up the bit about baby talk and found it to be right. So "wittle Michel" becomes the "outwet" for Lorelai’s baby talk. Lorelai is startled to see Nicole at Luke’s. Gets quite flustered. Says she’s not hungry, leaves the diner. That makes Nicole smile.
Lane calls Rory to say that she and Dave had a fight - originating with the gift of the jug from Mrs. Kim. This is a jug Mrs. Kim told Lane as a child that had long-standing Kim traditions and would be presented to the boy she would wed. The marriage jug. So, Mrs. Kim is assuming Lane will marry Dave? Lane didn’t send Dave the jug, but did tell him about it. He was very against the jug. Lane decides to talk to Mrs. Kim.
Someone has written "Die Jerk" on the door of Rory’s suite. Nobody knows who did it - the roommates are assembling to figure out their strategy. Paris wants to retaliate - not to let it go or to let it be a joke. Paris has listed 26 enemies of hers from that building! Paris excludes Rory - who could hate Rory?
Lorelai asks Luke what is ‘new’ - haggles him, really. Luke admits to seeing Nicole again. Lorelai finds it weird - presses the issue of if they are living together, how he will file his taxes. Lorelai then says she’s not getting them a wedding present yet. Luke wants to know what’s up - does Lorelai not like Nicole? Luke missed Nicole, and admits it’s nice not to have the hassle of the divorce. Lorelai asks if he’s with Nicole again because it’s less of a hassle? Lorelai makes herself so mad about what is and is not a hassle for Luke that she loses her appetite again.
Someone in the cafeteria tells Rory someone is looking for her - and it’s best if they don’t find her. Someone else calls Rory brave and mentions tulle. A girl comes up to confront Rory - the girl with the "grace of a drunken dock worker" - the ballerina. Calls Rory mean and despicable. Apparently Rory also compared her to a hippo. She claims to train a lot and be on the Julliard wait list. Hearing that the door was about Rory, Paris stands down her own strike.
Digger is there setting up the Gilmore’s with WiFi. Left alone, Jason asks if Lorelai has received any flowers lately. He’s her not-so-secret admirer. Lorelai thanks Digger for taking some pressure off her - Emily has someone new to hate. But, Digger says that the more Emily hates him, the more likely it is that Lorelai will date him.
Rory comes and mistakes Scooper for Digger. But agrees to call him Jason. Rory has her article there for Lorelai’s opinion - since Doyle loved it, she’s not sure why the ballerina is mad. Lorelai says the review is harsh. Lorelai says people don’t usually write as mean as they talk.
Lorelai’s jaw drops - Digger has managed to wrangle a dinner invitation by pretending to be going home to another cheeseburger dinner. Emily doesn’t want to let him stay, but Richard practically demands it.
Emily spars with Jason during dinner. Email - fast but cold. When Lorelai and Rory go on about how great online shopping in, Emily reminds them how great it is to be in a store and see things, be greeted and helped. Part of the fun. They talk about Emily & Jason at camp - and how Chris hated Jason. That makes Emily smile. Lorelai brings up a repressed memory for Jason of Chris trying to dunk him in a toilet.
Richard & Emily congratulate Rory on her review - she eviscerated the ballerina. Rory says she was just trying to be honest. She didn’t mean to use her "pen as her knife" to "rip out the guts" of the girl. They tell her not to feel bad. Jason then sucks up to Emily as a "woman of taste" to recommend some restaurants. But he’s really talking to Lorelai - trying to pick the restaurant for a date. One he’s presuming to get.
Rory asks Doyle to re-review the ballet. The ballet closed early because of the review, though. Failing that, she tries to get the ballerina a feature. Doyle knows about the reaction to the review and tells Rory it’s a part of the job to hurt people.
Lane confronts Mrs. Kim. Saying Dave is her first boyfriend, and his being away is hard. But that they are not ready for more. She is not ready to give him the jug. So Mrs. Kim says ok and puts the jug on the clearance table - Lane freaks. But Mrs. Kim says it’s "just a jug," and the marriage jug concept was a lie probably to make Lane stop crying when she was little.
Lorelai can’t go to Luke’s because of the argument. Rory is outraged too that Luke had not told Lorelai about Nicole. Lorelai says Luke needs to know that whoever is in his life is in her life. Rory asks if that’s not a little stalker-y. And asks if Lorelai will tell Luke about Jason. She felt the vibe.
Rory is sitting in the theater for another review. They start singing "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" for the Salute to Folk Night. Another scathing review on the way.
Tags: gilmore girls, die jerk, gilmore girls ballet, gilmore girls season 4, 4.08, 4×08, gilmore girls photos, gilmore girls episodes, gilmore girls recaps, digger, digger stiles, jason, lorelai, yale daily news
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POSTED IN: Discussions, Emily Gilmore, Gilmore Girls Recaps, Gilmore Girls Screencaps, Lane Kim, Lorelai Gilmore, Lorelai's love life, Luke Danes, Richard Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, Sookie St. James
4 opinions for Gilmore Girls 4.08 “Die, Jerk”
Alia
Feb 25, 2008 at 12:51 am
ahhh! I’m first! so I’m gonna answer a discussion question! YAY!!! Why is Lorelai flustered to see Nicole? I think that Lorelai may be starting to realise her feelings for Luke and is possibly jealous of Nicole?? What does anyone else think?
that was fun!
I’m surprised that it was Rory’s writing that was a yawn. Paris was a bit insensitive when she looked for her article, but Paris is…insensitive.
Should Rory temper her opinions of the bad ballet?
Rory should definitely have tempered her opinions about the bad ballet. this isn’t like Rory because she would never do anything like this. rory is mostly a mature woman but in this episode she was pretty immature at having not realised that the ballerina would read it and get upset. What does anyone else think??
Wonder Y
Feb 25, 2008 at 1:25 pm
The interesting thing about this episode is the foreshadowing. Rory doesn’t realize it yet, but she will get her comeuppance. I suppose we the audience should believe that she is so naive that she would walk into almost the exact same situation a year and a half later and handle it even more petulantly.
I also liked the way Jason finagled his way into dinner and then to get Emily to recommend a place for him to take Lorelai to dinner. That was one of the more entertaining dinner scenes.
Jessica King
Feb 25, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Number 5.Lorelai look shock and upset.She dont know that Nicole there and here at diner.Cuz Lorelai still feeling for Luke and jealous of Nicole.
Number 6.Luke not sure if he know Lorelai just jealous of Nicole,but he dont know that Lorelai still feeling for him until 1 season.
Number 7.Rory feel bad for not nice review from bad ballet.Rory kinda lit emabassed when the girl yelling her at diner room about harsh review.
Number 11.Rory dont know if she notice Lorelai feeling for Luke,cuz Lorelai keep talk Luke and keep obessed with him on the cell phone.
Jillian
Feb 27, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I think Lorelai was both shocked and upset. Lorelai and Luke had been extremely close lately maybe she got so comfortable with that she failed to realize she wasn’t just thinking of Luke as a friend. When Nicole came by it reminded her of that and even so Lorelai wanted to make sure she didn’t get in the way so she backed out of the situation. I hated Nicole’s smirk at winning Luke… it just made me hate her for acting like it was a competition. This is also the same episode Lorelai and Jason get into starting dating and I can’t stand Jason either.
One thing I noticed when Lorelai and Luke were bickering about Nicole is that Lorelai kept on following Luke around the diner and when he left the lid to the pie dish thing off, Lorlelai put it back on and placed the pie serving instrument off the counter. I don’t know why but I picked a metephor vibe from that.
I loved the ballet watching scene because Lorelai and Rory were so funny. I loved the idea of the ballerina hunting Rory down after the review.
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