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Gilmore Girls, Season 2, Episode 4 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-02-24 23:27:40
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

The Road Trip to Harvard

Files

Previews only

GG2 4

Comments

Riley Swain

Very excited to hear your thoughts on a new character introduced this season and how their character arc plays out! I think you'll really enjoy the new plot points, character exploration, and tension it brings. Love these reactions :)

Youtalkingtome
>>165835213

Thank you! I feel like, now that the dust will start settling after the breakup, we will get into new storylines for the season.

James Roberts

I'm assuming 1990 was the year Loralei would have graduated college. Hence, why she was looking forlornly at the picture of the 1990 Harvard valedictorian in the hallway. At this point, I assumed Loralei broke up with Max on the phone before bursting into Rory's room telling her to pack for their road trip at the end of the previous episode. At least that's how I saw it.

Jonathan

My first time watching this I had the same feeling as you about the Max talk but on my few rewatches (this isn’t an episode I enjoy) I can see it’s more about Lorelei coming to terms with it and I don’t know if a Max scene would have fit.

Allison O

Yeah I think we have to assume it happened offscreen. By this I don’t mean any implication about whether he’s still around, but - in this limited sense it sort of feels like he got Mandied. Like the show was done with this and just decided to drop it and not spend time on it, at least not right here when they were focusing on everybody’s forward-looking stuff.

Oceanflower

I always thought it was implied that she broke it off with Max before she went into Rory's room. It was implied imo by the absolute lack of tension or question about Max. Max was a blatant throwaway relationship from the start but also importantly it was an early 2000s show, so to me it followed as a neutral conclusion that when they broke up he would disappear into the ether :D Btw she was staring at the photo of that woman in the Harvard hallway because thats when she would have graduated. That's who she could have been. I thought it was a very good choice to use Rory's trip to Harvard as an emotional catalyst to get Lorelai to start on the Inn. They'd been talking about it for years but understandably hesitated and this was the kick in the butt Lorelai needed to take the jump.

Skinny_Obelix

I never assumed she didn't tell Max, but I can see how you got there. Probably because I was 18 or so when I watched this, without too much analyzing and critical thinking.

Oceanflower
>>165843084

eh but also it was a show in the 2000s. when characters broke up in those shows they just sorta disappeared. like they'd be going to the same school in a small town, break up and then one would just cease to exist 😂

Anna

This episode is a bit of a long "waiting for the penny to drop". Sorry it was such a distraction.

Jeff

I always enjoyed this episode, particularly Rory feeling overwhelming pressure to read every book ever written ("not 'Tuesdays With Morrie'... you can skip that"), but it was always strange that we never saw the Lorelai and Max interaction. I'm wondering if they filmed something and decided to cut it, or maybe the actor playing Max was pissed so he refused to do a breakup scene. I guess we'll never know. But I do like where the show is now headed.

Peter

She told Sookie first because Sookie will tell everyone in town.

Jeffrey Wilczynski

So I don’t think it was handled great; but upon rewatch I believe they intended to imply Lorelei had broken up with Max shortly before she spoke with Rory at the end of the previous episode. I was confused upon my initial watch too. But the show will continue on 😁

fire12wife
>>165842473

Exactly! That's that's how I understood it as well! She broke it off with Max before she went into Rory's room and told her to pack! Then Lorelai had Sookie tell Miss Patty, so the whole town would know and she wouldn't have to have a million-and-one conversations about why she ended it. I agree about the picture on the wall at Harvard, too! The frame had 'Class of 1990' on it, and that's when Lorelai would have graduated with her master's degree... in whatever career she decided she wanted!

Peter

They were very rude to that cat. Which really lowers my opinion of Lorelai and Rory.

Roland Cooke

So I immediately understood that Lorelai had told Max off-screen (but then your ranting about it throughout this episode had me second-guessing myself! 🤣). I think it was an excellent narrative choice. Even though I'm sure the sheer talent of Team Palladino could have made the break-up scene work, I think they wouldn't want to risk people ending up hating Max or Lorelai (or even both of them i.e. the show itself). One of your other commenters said this was always intended to be a throw-away relationship. If so, I'd be disappointed, especially as I just praised Team Palladino upthread! Because the relationship as a whole isn't over - Max is still Rory's teacher for the next two years. I don't care how professional you are, having to face a living reminder of one of the worst moments in your life every day is going to take its toll. Not to mention the toll it would inevitably take on Rory as well. This is exactly why teachers are recommended (or outright banned) to not date their students' parents. So I understand if we never hear of Max again, but I'll be disappointed if the Palladinos just let that all that slide.

UnKay

It does seem like they missed something by not showing a scene with Max, but remember they were having problems, so he is probably clued into what taking off and not communicating would mean for them. I don't think he's in total dark. I think the Runaway Bride movie was out about now and they were trying to play off that schtick and really shift gears for upcoming stuff this season. This is one of the episodes fans criticize the most, so I think your confusion and agitations are valid, Lorelai handled this poorly, but I also think writing decisions had the most to do with the way this storyline was executed. Next episode (and this season in general) might lampshade on those bts creative decisions a bit. I'm really hoping y'all can enjoy the next couple seasons, because like most week to week shows of the time, it can be pretty non linear in its pattern as well. Beautifully layered with a deeper storytelling, but like Donald's B&B, prioritizing it's whacky satirist "off-beatness" as a main takeaway.

UnKay

"I ate the fuzzy certs, they tasted like keys." has been my social media quote for years. It may be my favorite tv line of all time, idk how to explain why. Probably the quirkiness of it and how much I relate to being a quirk. 😂

Jill Kinchen

Lots of different takes on why a Lorelei and Max scene didn’t occur in this episode or at the end of the last. Was it cut for time? Was it because Amy didn’t think L&M’s relationship was important enough to warrant it? Who knows the exact reason in this particular instance. If Amy ever explained herself I don’t remember. But, I will say, it’s something she does sometimes on GG. Skips to the aftermath of an event. I actually love that about this show. I love how it doesn’t always follow the typical structure, especially for the time it aired. It was an often discussed topic on the tv forums back then.

cruzinbosco

While I too would have liked to see that conversation, I am okay without it. I am not sure of the reason behind why they didn't show it, but as a Scott Cohen fan, I know he was quite busy around this time period. He had just had his breakthrough role the year before with the mini-series The 10th Kingdom (he became famous very quickly from that). Because of it, he was getting a lot of good roles. In addition to Gilmore Girls, he had a consecutive recurring role on NYPD Blue at the same time and was also the co-lead in his own series that was filming in Canada. So he may not have been available as much as they would have liked for that.

fire12wife
>>165881997

Yes, Runaway Bride (1999) came out a couple of years before this episode aired in the fall of 2001! I think that having Lorelai break off the engagement/wedding to Max onscreen would have made a huge mess the writers didn't want to waste time cleaning up!

UnKay
>>165881997

Well did they really need to have a scene with an exchange we could guess by now? They did 3 episodes of them being dysfunctional with these guys saying "I wonder how long until this blows up" each time. They spelled it out pretty well for everyone, including Max imo. "Not telling him" seems like not really a thing, she left and didn't marry him. That's a pretty clear message. If you wanted her to do it proper, well, it's Lorelai. As far as the writers, I don't think they couldn't do a proper break up scene, I think they just spelled it out pretty well already and wrapped in a big way for the upcoming shifts. It was already weird to have an engagement at the end of a season if a break up was going to happen 4 eps into the next and not be in that finale, so my thoughts are that it was scheduling for finale or new characters, created a delay where they filled in with the break up instead. Idk if that made sense, I don't have time to edit rn lol but I think they just needed more of a clean slate to set up for some other plotlines and this inevitability couldn't drag on anymore.

dys

I hadn't seen this episode before so I'll just chime in with my New Englander geography knowledge... from the title I was like "how could you possibly get lost driving from Stars Hollow to Harvard", obviously they know how to get to Hartford and from there it's a straight shot up 84 to the Mass Pike Of course Lorelei was just driving aimlessly and they ended up in Portsmouth NH which is like an hour from Boston but on the far side from where they came (or as certain Harvard alums from 30 Rock would have you know, a college that isn't IN Boston)

Youtalkingtome
>>165880004

I would like to see him again, although I get how teaching Rory for the next two years could really break him down. I'm good either way. It was a good story line and I can't wait to see what happens next

Youtalkingtome
>>165881997

Like I said, I could have used a scene between the two of them. I also really enjoyed this episode too. I'm willing to just sit back and let the show unfold! The Palladino's are great and I'm really excited to see what happens next

Youtalkingtome
>>165969208

Love it when shows and movies make you suspend disbelief, especially when it comes to geography. It makes me laugh

capricornmom

been watching with you guys from the very beginning and i'm so excited because the next episode you watch is the introduction to my favorite character :)