May 22, 2006. A long time to be away from your favorite eatery, that’s for sure. Yet, according to Kirk – that’s the last day Lorelai set foot in Luke’s Diner. Hard to believe, if you think about the hours and hours Lorelai has spent there. Not hanging out at Luke’s in Stars Hollow is the equivalent to not hanging out at The Peach Pit in Beverly Hills, or The Brick in Cicely, Alaska.
Just as hard to believe: the terribly awkward small talk shared by the almost-married couple upon her return. This is going to be harder than Lorelai thought…
It’s Just Like Riding a Bike mainly deals with Lorelai slowly working her way back to Luke, babe. She shares the failed reunion news with Sookie, who seems to be having her own issues with Jackson. Yet Sookie’s always been pro-Luke & Lorelai, and when Lorelai’s trusty Wrangler breaks down – Sookie’s convinced this is the in with Luke.
Well, at first – not so much. The car dealership conversation is still painfully awkward. Bad-first date awkward. Then, maybe without even knowing it – Lorelai starts to break Luke down. Her crazy, haphazard, no-sense-at-all method of car shopping slowly drives Luke mad. He starts ranting that no one shops for cars looking for “a feeling”, and this is like shopping for tiles all over again. Suddenly, Lorelai’s smile returns. This is the old, ranting Luke she’s missed…
Meanwhile, Paris’ stress over acceptance letters and law school vs. medical school is taking its toll on Rory and Doyle. Paris even briefly breaks up with Doyle, feeling she can’t let him dictate her future in any way at this point in her life. Rory and Paris have a very illuminating conversation regarding the future and their boyfriends place in them. In the end, Doyle doesn’t accept Paris’ terms – and it looks like they just might have a future together. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Rory and The New York Times fellowship.
Getting back to Sookie and Jackson, her stressing over Jackson as Lorelai’s house guest isn’t just the nagging wife variety: she’s still a little overwhelmed about the third kid on the way, and still holds him responsible. Her fears are further realized when Jackson destroys Lorelai’s childhood dollhouse. It was hard to truly read her reaction when Sookie & Jackson broke the news, but before she could dwell on it too much – Luke arrives at the door with a good deal on a ’99 Wrangler he hunted down. Seems the bottom line in all these stories is the same: things can be fixed…
