Sookie’s wedding draws near, while Lorelai finally relents and goes into the diner, where she apologizes profusely to Luke. Christopher comes to town for the removal of Rory’s cast and decides to stay for Sookie’s wedding. While Lorelai and Chris seem to be getting along, Sherry drops a bomb. Meanwhile, Paris is running for student body president, and employs Rory as vice-president. Also, Jess returns to Stars Hollow and asks Luke if he can stay. But when worse come to worst, Rory must choose between Jess and Dean.
Lorelai and Rory have breakfast at Sookie’s in an effort to avoid Luke’s, but Lorelai can’t avoid an awkward encounter with him at Doose’s Market, where he fails to pick up on her hints to patch things up; in an effort to help Lorelai through final exam stress, Rory gets her excited about attending her college graduation ceremony and secretly invites Richard and Emily, despite Lorelai’s assertion that they’d never agree to attend; after a late night phone call from Jess, Rory impulsively cuts school the next day and visits him in Manhattan; Christopher sends Lorelai a graduation gift basket filled with fun goodies and an expensive necklace; Lorelai is shocked to see Emily, Richard and a film crew accompanying them to her graduation, and must contend with an obnoxious classmate with an attitude about the rich; Rory is furious with herself when her bus home is delayed and she misses her mother’s graduation; when Rory finally arrives home, Lorelai forgives her when she realizes that the trip to New York may indicate that her daughter has fallen in love with Jess, despite her protests to the contrary.
Richard opens a new office and hires a secretary with Lorelai’s help; Dean comes home; Lane falls in love with a drum set at Stars Hollow’s new music shop and discovers that becoming a rock drummer is her new dream in life; Rory is dismayed to discover that everyone blames Jess for the accident despite her protestations; to the consternation of all in Stars Hollow, Luke closes the diner and goes fishing.
Lorelai’s complaint about Taylor’s choice for “Movie in the Square Night” lands her the responsibility for picking the evening’s entertainment, but her enthusiasm for the task is quickly dampened when Taylor informs her that she must make a choice from a list of free movies which doesn’t include any masterpieces; against her better judgment, Lorelai agrees to Luke’s request that Rory tutor an about-to-flunk-out Jess; Rory and Jess decide to take a break from studying to get some ice cream, and with Jess behind the wheel, get into a car accident which leaves Rory with a broken wrist and a totaled car; a distraught Lorelai blames Luke for the accident, creating a serious rift in their relationship; Christopher arrives in the middle of the night ready to go after Jess, but he’s already left Stars Hollow to return home; Kirk’s short film premieres at Movie Night.
Rory asks Richard for help in creating and marketing a first-aid kit for Chilton’s annual Business Fair, which leads him to realize that he is unhappy in retirement and wants to start a second career; fresh from having underbid on Rory’s lunch basket and the loss of the bracelet he made for her, Dean goes overboard in trying to be close to Rory, afraid that she is losing interest in him, and finally becomes resigned to her affection for Jess; at first, Michel is ecstatic when his flamboyant mother Giselle visits, but after Lorelai causes problems for him when she reveals to Giselle that Michel has been holding back from his mother, Michel quickly is driven crazy by his mother’s incessant questioning.
Lorelai and Rory pitch in at the diner while Luke plans his Uncle Louie’s funeral; Taylor is unhinged when a farmer’s market opens in the town square and puts a damper on his business; Emily goes completely overboard in helping Sookie plan her wedding; Rory prods Jess into being more of a help; Luke is upset when family and friends cite Louie’s unpleasant personality as a reason for not attending his funeral, but is comforted when Stars Hollow comes through for both him and his uncle in the end.
When Emily and Lorelai go to a spa for a weekend of relaxation, Emily lets her hair down, kicks up her heels and ends up bonding with Lorelai in a way that only her daughter could inspire. Thrilled that she has the house all to herself, Rory hopes to spend a quiet night at home doing laundry and eating Indian food. Her plans are foiled — first by Paris, then by Jess, and finally by Dean. In the process, she discovers that she has a surprising savior, a secret suitor, and a skeptical sweetheart.
