Lorelai approaches Doose's to find Jackson skulking around outside. Sookie is having major cravings and he has to do some shopping but he is afraid to go inside the market because he is certain he will be stopped and have to deal with town selectman duties. Lorelai agrees to go inside to get the things he needs and asks for his list. After taking note of the very strange list of items, Lorelai looks at Jackson with a smile on her face. Jackson begs her not to ask but of course she tells him about a pothole outside the Inn. He promises to put it on the list. Lorelai insists quite loudly that it should be first on the list. Jackson hushes her but agrees and Lorelai heads into the market to do his shopping.
Jackson and Lorelai find Sookie in tears as she reads about some celebrity break-ups in an old "People" magazine. Jackson is still paranoid about being followed so he hides from the window while Lorelai tries to comfort Sookie. To distract her from the break-ups, Lorelai shows her the groceries they purchased for her but she finds them nauseating. She apologizes for being so fickle and Jackson tells her that if she does the giving birth part he will put up with her mood swings. Jackson goes back into hiding and Sookie and Lorelai head to the kitchen. Sookie observes that even though she is certifiable, she seems to be handling it all better than Chris' Sherry. With the mention of Chris, Lorelai realizes she hasn't heard from him since his last crisis and wonders what he is up to and how he is coping.
At Yale, Paris is fasting for Ramadan and is counting the seconds until sunset. She is annoyed with Rory for chewing gum and when Marty comes in with some hors d'oeuvres he took from a party he bartended, she doesn't event attempt to contain her irritation. Her hunger has her taking her lunacy to a new level. Rory's phone rings. It is Lorelai calling from Luke's, excitedly reporting that she is talking on the diner phone. She is thrilled to find a loophole to Luke's no cell phone rule in the diner. Rory soon hears Luke hollering in the background for Lorelai to get out from behind the counter. Rory teases that she didn't really have permission to be on the phone. She is delighted that Luke and her mom are doing so well. To avoid Marty and Paris's arguing, Rory goes into her room to finish her call. She tells Lorelai that she has an idea to help Emily and Richard reconnect. She believes that they both miss each other but are too proud to be the first to act. Rory suggests that they split up at Friday night dinner. It is decided that Rory will go to the pool house with Richard and Lorelai will go to the main house and have dinner with Emily. Rory is taking a separate and conquer approach in order to get them back together. They say good-bye and Luke brings Lorelai her food. They chat awhile and Lorelai leaves to go to the Inn. As Lorelai exits, T.J. comes in to borrow Luke's shower. He has done some repair work in his new house and has damaged the pipes in his bathroom. Before he goes up to take his shower, he manages to get a free cup of coffee, a donut and arranges to borrow Luke's pipe cutter.
At the Dragonfly, Michel is upset because he believes the 'bathrobe bandits', who once stole robes from the Independence Inn, have come to the Dragonfly. He asks Lorelai if he can take the robes out of their room in order to prevent a theft. Lorelai tells him they will just charge their credit cards if they take the robes and refuses to let him remove the robes. After Michel stomps off, Lorelai phones Chris to see how he has been doing since Sherry left. Chris is reticent to talk to Lorelai since Rory asked him to leave her alone and she is a little confused by the frosty response to her inquiries. She finally gets him to warm up and invites him to the Inn for lunch on Saturday.
At Friday night dinner, Rory is in the pool house with her grandfather. Richard is searching his kitchen for something to serve for dinner. He is not quite prepared to cope with the new arrangement Rory has devised. Rory makes an oblique reference to the separation being temporary but misinterprets his response as indicating that he does want to go back to his marriage.
Rory: I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good to shake things up every now and then. You know, put a little paint on the house, move the furniture around the den, go blonde. But after you've done all that, it can also be nice to go back to something that's comfortable. Something you've depended on for, let's say, forty years. I mean, if something's been around that long, it must have been for a reason, right?
Richard: You're a lovely girl.
Lorelai, on the other hand, is more forthright when talking to Emily. She asks her directly if she and Richard will ever get back together. Emily's response is equally as direct. She tells Lorelai they will absolutely not reunite. To Lorelai's absolute horror, Emily reveals that she wants to begin dating and asks Lorelai's advise on how to let a man know she is available. Lorelai chokes out a suggestion that she should just say hello.
Lorelai and Rory leave their respective Friday night dinners and compare notes. Rory feels good about her dinner with Richard. She feels confident that he understood the point she was making. Rory asks her mom how she did and is horrified by her answer.
Rory: What do you mean she wants to date? You weren't supposed to make her want to date! You were supposed to make her want to get back together with Grandpa!
Lorelai: Hey, I told you not to make me have dinner alone with her.
Rory: What did you say to her?
Lorelai: I said "Are you getting back together with Dad?" and she said he wouldn't butter her roll.
Rory: I can't believe you.
Lorelai: I'm sorry. I tried.
Rory: You did not try.
Lorelai: I did try, I just sucked at it. Look, she probably didn't mean it, okay? She's just mad at Dad, and she was just talking. Next week we'll switch. You can have dinner with my mother, and I'll marry my dad off to a nice baroness.
Rory: Don't joke.
Lorelai: Don't hate me.
Rory: I don't hate you, I can't hate the pathetic.
Lorelai expresses frustration that because of Rory's matchmaking plan she didn't get to spend any time with her and invites her to lunch at the Inn the next day. Rory agrees to meet around one and they say good-bye.
The next day at the Dragonfly, Lorelai is giving Chris a tour of the Inn and needless to say, he is properly impressed with all she has done. When they go to the dining room, Lorelai outlines some of the delicious menu items Sookie makes available and recommends her briny pork chops. As they sit and chat, Rory comes in and stops short when she sees her dad. Lorelai seems oblivious to the tension between Rory and Chris. Rory greets her dad coolly, kisses Gigi and sits stiffly, refusing to meet Chris' eyes, while Lorelai prattles on to Gigi. The 'bathrobe bandit' problem flares up once again and one of the staff comes into the dining room to retrieve Lorelai to mediate the conflict. Rory is fuming. She complains that she has only asked him for one thing in her whole life and he couldn't deliver. Chris tries to defend himself by telling her that it was her mom who called him but his protestations were falling on deaf ears. He tries to explain that he didn't want to tell Lorelai that she had asked him to stay away. The argument continues and Chris is sorry that Rory is angry but he is unapologetic for his decision to come…
Chris: Look, I'm sorry you're upset, but you know what? Your mother and I have had a relationship long before you ever existed. We grew up together. We had a child together, and no matter what is going on, that does not change.
Rory: Great. You knew her first, so that gives you the right to just waltz in and screw everything up?
Chris: (Angrily) I did not waltz in, I did not call her. You cannot make me the bad guy here.
Rory: Hey, if the black hat fits.
Chris: I'm your father, kid, okay? I think that demands a tiny bit of respect here.
Rory: (Petulantly) Fine.
Lorelai returns and babbles on about the chaos at the front desk. When she finally takes a breath, she notices the tension between Chris and Rory and asks them what she is missing. Chris gets up abruptly and packs up Gigi. He tells Lorelai Gigi needs her nap and says good-bye. Lorelai is totally confused and looks to Rory for clarification. Rory explains the request she made of her dad. Lorelai is shocked and she tries to convince Rory that she is totally committed to Luke but as always Rory asks the hard questions…
Rory: What did he say when you told him?
Lorelai: Told who what?
Rory: Luke. What did he say when you told him you were having lunch with Dad?
Lorelai: Nothing.
Rory: He didn't care?
Lorelai: No. He didn't care. He didn't have to care, 'cause there's nothing to care about.
Later while talking to Sookie, Lorelai feels terrible that she lied to Rory about telling Luke and terrible that she didn't tell Luke about Chris. She didn't think there was anything to tell but is now concerned that her silence will be perceived as evasiveness.
At the diner, Lorelai seems distracted as she drinks her coffee while Luke works around her. She begins to tell the story of the 'bathrobe bandits'. When she finishes the story, she admits it is a terrible story and casually mentions that she told the story to Christopher and Rory when they had lunch at the Inn and they didn't find it funny either. Luke's disapproval is unspoken and he goes into the back of the diner.
As Lorelai leaves the diner, she gets a call from Emily who is frantically trying to get ready for her date with Simon MacLane. She asks Lorelai to come over to help her. When Lorelai arrives at her parents' house, Emily is in a panic. Lorelai helps her pick out an outfit and calms her.
At T.J.'s house, Luke and T.J. are working outside cutting the pipes required to fix his bathroom. Lorelai's earlier revelation seems to be bothering him and he attempts to gain perspective from T.J….
Luke: Do you consider yourself a jealous man?
T.J.: Why, you planning on cutting some pipe with another guy tomorrow?
Luke: Never mind.
T.J.: I'm sorry. You were asking me if I ever consider myself a jealous man. I don't, and let me tell you why. Jealousy is bad. Jealousy is what landed me in jail. Twice. I learned quickly that without an immediate influx of cash I could no longer afford to be a jealous man. Supply and demand, my friend.
Luke: So you're saying that if Liz had lunch with an ex, it's no big deal, right?
T.J.: Right.
Luke: Right. I mean, it's an old ex. Long time ago, ancient history. But she had lunch and she didn't tell you about it at the time, but eventually she
did tell you, I mean, you should just let it go, right? I mean, you don't
want to be reading anything into anything. You'd just make yourself crazy, and then she's crazy, then everybody's crazy, right?
Luke seems to have convinced himself that there is nothing to worry about but T.J. flies into a jealous rage thinking Luke is talking about Liz.
Rory comes out of her room and Paris is in the living room, surrounded by gads of take out containers of food, her fast officially broken. The doorbell rings and she is so excited to get the door, she literally knocks Rory out of the way and into a chair. The pizza man hands Paris three pizzas and she offers some to Rory, but Rory is off to study with Marty.
While studying with Rory in his apartment, Marty is trying to remember a fact concerning Rome but is too fatigued to remember. Rory, also weary, begins talking about the difficult week she has just had and how glad she is that it's over. Marty's interest is piqued when she offhandedly mentions that she broke up with her boyfriend. She laments she always wished her dad would have shown up more when she was little. Marty tells her when he found out he and his father weren't really related, it made them closer because the pressure to get along was off. He tries to brings up her break-up again to no avail as Rory has fallen asleep. He seems saddened that once again the chance to ask her out is gone.
A little later Luke is dropping Lorelai off after their date. Lorelai tries to get him to come in for a while but he has early deliveries in the morning and kisses her goodnight. As he walks back to his truck, he turns and tells Lorelai that he is okay with her having lunch with Christopher. Lorelai watches him leave, a little stunned by this concession.
Emily appears to be having a pleasant time with Simon McLane. She is even a little flirtatious when offered another glass of wine. After the date, Simon walks Emily to the door. Simon hopes that they can do go out again some time. Emily tells him that it would be lovely and he tells her he will call her sometime this week. Emily goes into the house and closes the door. She stands in the entrance for a moment until she breaks into tears.
