Christopher Returns

Season 1, Episode 15, Aired
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Episode Summary

Wanting to play a greater role in Rory's life, Christopher settles in for his visit and lets Rory give him the grand tour of Stars Hollow. When his parents arrive in Hartford for a visit, Emily invites everyone to Friday night dinner, which turns out to be an unqualified disaster after Richard nearly comes to blows with Christopher's father over critical comments about Lorelai. In the aftermath of the ruined dinner party, Richard retreats to his study to calm down, Emily makes a plate for Rory in the kitchen and reassures her how much she is loved and regarded, and Christopher finds Lorelai on the balcony of her old bedroom and comforts her by repeating a little romantic history. The next morning, Lorelai awakens with a start, horrified that she forgot to help Luke paint the diner after dinner on Friday night. Grabbing a jacket, she races to the diner still clad in her pajamas, and begs Luke's forgiveness. He shrugs it off at first, but appears somewhat wounded when he realizes that Lorelai was with Christopher the night before. When Lorelai returns to the house, Christopher asks her to marry him and she regretfully turns him down, claiming he's not ready for the responsibility of a family quite yet. Christopher returns to California with the promise of doing a better job of staying in touch. The next morning, Lorelai surprises Luke by having the diner completely repainted when he arrives to open up for the day.moreless
9.0
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Fan Episode Reviews (14)

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  • "What can I say – I'm addicted to comedy"

    9.1
    "Superb"
    By nova9801, Jun 22, 2008 Report Abuse
    The first episode marking the return of Christopher into the Gilmore girls' livesand you know when a guy races into Stars Hollow on a 2000 Indian, it's not going to be a quiet visit. True enough, things were anything but quiet - especially during the 'meet the grandparents' scene you could really feel the tension and the awkwardness between everyone, and it was great when Richard finally took a stand against Chris' parents. I'm not sure what to make of Lorelai and Chris re-enacting their teenage years on her parents' balcony a mixture of pent up emotions and one too many margaritas? I liked Chris as a character though, if only to make Luke a little jealous!

    In other news:

    "Hey Luke, does your husband play softball too?" LOVE Kirk.moreless

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    0 0

  • Interesting to see the family together ... I'm not sure about Christopher. No doubt well be seeing him again. Good episode.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By stewie1423, May 19, 2008 Report Abuse
    So this was an interesting episode. It was strange to see how Christopher's presence affected Lorelai, she did seem different. I mean any mother would when the father of her child comes back and her child is a bit too excited for her liking. I did feel suspicious of him at times, especially in the book shop, when his card was rejected, then he asked Rory to lie to Lorelai, that just spelt trouble.

    The family reunion' was really entertaining and engrossing. Richard defending Lorelai was good to see, liked everyone's reaction. Was annoyed at Richard then having a go at Lorelai, get over it Richard, I say! Good on Emily for then telling Rory that none of this should affect her. Fair enough that Christopher was making an effort but he was acting like he'd been around for years.

    Poor Luke, Lorelai stood him up, she is distracted by the fight and ends up sleeping with Christopher, not sure what I think of that. Was glad that Lorelai went out of her way to apologise to Luke, shows that she really cares.

    Then Christopher asks Lorelai basically to marry him, I agree with Lorelai, he is insane. Enjoyed this scene a lot, the whole 'offspring' and metallica' was funny. Glad to see Christopher leave, though he wasn't that bad of a character, he seemed to change things a lot. Look forward to more!moreless

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  • Rory's dad

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By VGFreak8, Dec 08, 2007 Report Abuse
    Christopher is in town and he's staying with the Gilmore girls. Rory is excited, but Lorelai is reluctant. While at dinner with Richard and Emily, Christopher's parents and Lorelai's parents get into an argument. Lorelai and Christopher have sex later and Christopher wants to be in their lives. Lorelai learns that Christopher's business isn't going so well after all. He asks Lorelai to marry him, but she declines. Luke is upset that Lorelai missed their date.

    This episode was good. I liked the introduction to Rory's dad. I don't think that he and Lorelai are getting back together though. This episode gets a 9.0 out of 10 from me!moreless

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  • He is back...

    9.4
    "Superb"
    By karatiz, Aug 28, 2007 Report Abuse
    Chris is back and wants to be around more for Rory.
    He goes to a softball game with Rory and meets Dean.
    Luke makes a date with Lorelai to paint the dinner Friday.

    All town find out about him and everyone talks about it.
    Guess who is coming to dinner on Friday?
    Emily, Richard, Lorelai, Rory, Christopher and Christopher's parents.
    What a great evening, they not even make it to dinner.
    All hell breaks loose, Richard almost hits Straub, Lorelai and Chris have sex on her room's balcony. Busy night. And on top of all, Lorelai forgets about Luke. Next morning, she goes to the diner in her pajamas but no luck. Chris asks her to marry him, she says no. And he leaves.
    To end well, Lorelai breaks into Luke's diner and paints the place, he likes it. It's everything OK.
    She sorted things out, that's good.moreless

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  • Rory meets her father

    8.0
    "Great"
    By tvrev, Nov 12, 2006 Report Abuse
    We are more than half way through the season 1 and writer decide it's time to introduce us to Rory father-i was expecting this to be the season 1 clif-hanger but i'm glad they did this because at least you can't predict season 1 ending unless you read the episode guide.

    I will start Rory grandmother-god she can be so annoying you kind of guessed it couldn't go well with Gilmore and Christopher parent blaming Lorelia for ruining their son lives-i was so glad when Rory grandad stuck up for his daugher-it was some brillant acting and i think i felt how difficult it was for him espically when how difficult it was accept Lorela getting pregant.

    Still i thought this episode deserved a review mainly due to fact Rory dad seem to big factor in any child life and unlike other show where parent fight about it-this has to be first show i seen where the mother actually wants the father to visit his child whenever he wants-not many woman would allow that. It was nice that Chistopher wanted marry Lorelia but she knew he wasn't ready to take on responsablity and i got more respect for her character than when this show started.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • At the end of this episode Luke walks down the street to the diner to find Lorelai finishing painting the diner. How would he have gotten out of the diner without seeing her in the first place when his apartment is above the diner?

      Edit
    • Emily tells Straub she wishes he could talk Richard into retiring, but in "The Bracebridge Dinner", Emily becomes angry when she learns that Richard retired, and Richard says he did not tell her sooner because he knew she would be disappointed and he did not want to tell her he had spoiled their plans for their life. This implies retiring at that point was not what Emily hoped Richard would do. Why then did she want Straub to talk him into retiring the prior year? Edit
    • Lorelai uses a key to get into her parents house. This is the only time that she ever uses a key. Any other time she rings the doorbell. Edit

  • Notes

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    • German episode title: "Sex mit dem Ex", meaning "Sex With The Ex". Edit
    • Keiko Agena (Lane) does not appear in this episode. Edit
    • Rory's Book List: Compact Oxford Dictionary Edit

  • Quotes

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    • Luke: So, uh, where's the guy? Lorelai: Oh he's gone. Luke: Oh, too bad. Lorelai: We'll be fine. Luke? Luke: Yeah? Lorelai: Um, can I make one more suggestion? Luke: No. Lorelai: Curtains? Luke: No. Lorelai: Manly curtains. Luke: Oxymoron. Lorelai: What did you call me?
      Luke: No curtains. Lorelai: Aw come on. You gotta give a little. How about a tablecloth? Luke:No. We don't do table cloths here. Edit
    • Emily: Straub is actually a good man. Very smart. He was one of the top lawyers in his field, a very arcane aspect of International law. And he's always been so active in his community. His charity work has never diminished over the years. (she pauses) Oh let's face it - he's a big ass. [Rory laughs] Rory, I know you heard a lot of talk about various disappointments this evening and I know you've heard a lot of talk about it in the past. But I want to make this very clear - you, young lady, your person and your existence have never ever been - not even for a second -included in that list. Do you understand me? Rory: Yeah, I do. Edit
    • Emily: You usually knock. Lorelai: Not since you gave us a key. Emily: That is for emergencies. Lorelai: Well mom, I'm starving to death. Is that enough of an emergency for you? Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Lorelai: My father has probably only hit another man in college, wearing boxing gloves and one of those Fred Mertz golden gloves pullover sweaters. Fred Mertz was a character on the popular 50's show I Love Lucy, and played by William Frawley. Edit
    • Lorelai: My father hit his head surfing Rincon a couple of years ago. Rincon, Puerto Rico, is a popular surfing destination. Edit
    • Kirk: I'm dumbing it down for you, Alfalfa. Alfalfa was one of the characters in The Little Rascals. Edit

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