Gilmore Girls The first time this...

Gilmore GirlsThe first time this episode aired, I was all over Rory's Richie-Rich 21st-birthday party. Especially how every single moneyed detail from the mirrored platters of rare sushi to "The Rory" (the cocktail so pink, Luke said it "tasted like a My Little Pony") perfectly illustrated the ginormous divide between Rory and Lorelai. And I was totally prepared to watch again and feel just as upset and disgusted by what Rory's life had become. But right before it aired, my fellow researcher (and Gilmore fan) Andrea reminded me about the best scene in this episode. Richard. In the study. With the whiskey. (It's almost as good as a game of Clue.) Drowning his sorrows because he had failed. Enter Emily and Lorelai. And the tirade. He had cleared the path for her failure. He had given Rory everything she needed to throw her life away. (Oh, and she was having The Sex.) But really, the unbridled viciousness was the most shocking part. Emily demanding that they haven't failed until Rory comes home pregnant. In front of mom-as-a-teen Lorelai? Richard insisting that Rory's wasting her life planning fund-raisers and tea parties. To socialite Emily? Once the words come out, once you say how you really feel, there is no taking it back. When Em and Dick finally made their way back to each other after their brief separation, we thought all was right. Apparently not.