2x02 Hammers and Veils

[9.5/10] It’s a crying shame that neither Lauren Graham nor Kelly Bishop ever received Emmy recognition for their stellar work in episodes like these. In just three scenes between the two of them, they manage to run the gamut of striking emotions conveyed so strongly and so well to the audience.

The first is the scene where Lorelai and Emily are alone at the dinner table, and Lorelai tells her mom that she’s getting married. You can see how Emily is still smarting from the revelation that Lorelai didn’t tell her sooner, but doesn’t want to show it and is trying to keep those emotions bundled up in how curt she is about everything. This is a woman who is deeply stung, but taught not to express emotions as freely or emphatically as her daughter does. When Lorelai does tell her, there’s a light in her expression, a joy that persists even in this awkward moment. And it’s the coldest thing in the world when Emily responds “That’s very nice” and tells her daughter that hopefully they’ll be in town, otherwise, they’ll send a nice gift. It’s an immediate view of the way Emily is still upset about what happened and lashing out in the only way she knows how.

The second is the one where Lorelai confronts her mother. Lorelai has her own way of deflecting, bringing up how the elder Gilmore can’t keep a maid before launching into what’s actually bothering her. And once again, Lauren Graham just puts on a show, the distress and anger in her voice, the devastation at the idea that her mother doesn’t want her to be happy, that she’ll never have the kind of relationship that Max has with his parents, that one of the happiest events in her life is inevitably going to be tainted by Emily Gilmore raining on her parade. It’s all there, all in the desperate pleas and recriminations from a daughter to a mother.

And then the dam bursts. Emily can deflect no longer. She is always firm, but almost never angry, and yet here she shouts, and reveals that the muted reaction comes from her own place of feeling excluded and uncared for. It is a blockbuster moment of high emotions, one that is bundled up with so much of the two women’s history together and lingering issues that come to a head in such a startling display. Amy Sherman-Palladino, writes the hell out of the scene, and Graham and Bishop knock it out of the park.

Finally, there’s the denouement. After consulting with Rory over newspaper veils in the cold open, the episode closes with Lorelai consulting her mom over real veils with an apology in tow. Emily maintains her coldness, but breaks a minute (in a nice callback) to say that the veil won’t work with Lorelai’s big head. It seems like another rejection, but Emily has a recommendation instead -- a tiara, because “that’s what I wore.” She is offering something to Lorelai in the same way Lorelai envied Max’s mom offering her the same sort of gesture. It is unbelievably heartwarming, and just, so goddamn earned. Three different scenes. Three different emotional states. And three different powerhouse performances from these incredible actresses.

And what’s amazing is that’s these are not the only great scenes in the episode. Almost everyone has something to do and comes out the better for it. It’s small, but Rory and Richard reconciling in person after the Dean fiasco is all kinds of sweet. The pair always have such a rapport, and having them find their way through a first fight between grandparent and grandchild and end with a hug feels right.

Really, the only weak part of the episode is the plotline involving Rory feeling like she has to do every extracurricular under the sun to get into an Ivy League school and Dean feeling neglected. It’s a sitcom-level plot, and the couple’s confrontation is overexaggerated and feels like manufactured conflict rather than something real or organic. The fact that the whole thing is started by Paris, who is back to being a one-dimensional antagonist caricature doesn’t help. There’s fruitful territory to explore about Rory having tension between her academic life and her personal life, but this was broad, easy material that’s both raised and settled far too easily.

But hey, we get a great Luke moment out of the episode, which more than makes up for it. When Lorelai went over to Luke’s Diner, I feared the worst in the overwrought love triangle department. Instead, the show was nicely understated about it. For one thing, Luke’s grumpy rant about the inherent family-destabilizing qualities of a wedding was just hilarious. More than that, though, I love the simplicity of him making it out to Lorelai’s bridal shower. The shared glance and smile between him and Lorelai says more than any dialogue could possibly match, and his wistful downward glance while sitting on the bench is just as striking of an image. It’s a great instance of letting the actors tell the story and convey the emotional state of play without needing to hit it hard with dialogue.

Plus, so help me god, I actually liked Max in this one. For one thing, his relaying all the details about his parents’ excitement was pretty damn adorable. He’s also sympathetic with Lorelai, trying to support her, not knowing what’s wrong, and attempting to steer her away when things seem clearly headed for trouble. He even sews the great comedic button onto the explosive Lorelai-Emily scene when he relays his parents’ desire to have lunch with the Gilmores, nicely relieving the tension of an emotionally fraught moment.

That moment is the apotheosis of the character work that Gilmore Girls has performed with Lorelai and Emily over the course of the series. So many hurts and longstanding insecurities spill out between them in that scene, in a way that is harrowing and creates empathy for both sides. But through that, the show also earns its heartwarming finish, the hurt feelings and well-worn resentments set aside in favor of true caring and maybe even understanding. Weddings can, as Luke pointed out, create fissures, but they can also bring people together, and this one gives Lorelai and her mother a chance to mend fences and appreciate how much this event, and one another, mean to each of them.