Ballrooms and Biscotti (S04E01)

Immediately upon returning from a whirlwind summer backpacking trip to Europe, Lorelai (series star Lauren Graham and Rory (series star Alexis Bledel) Gilmore embark on a heavily scheduled week of mother/daughter activities, in bittersweet anticipation of Rory going away to Yale University as a freshman. But a number of situations conspire to make things harder than expected for them. After an exhausting day of handing out gifts to everyone--except, to Lorelai's dismay, coffee shop owner Luke Danes (series star Scott Patterson), for whom they couldn't find anything good enough--Rory is horrified to discover that she wrote down the wrong day for her departure. Instead of having a week and a half, they must do everything they had planned within three days. Meanwhile, Taylor Doose (recurring guest star Michael Winters opens a soda shop near Luke's diner and, unbeknownst to Rory, hires eccentric resident Kirk (series star Sean Gunn) to advertise her as the "Ice Cream Queen." When Rory refuses to wear the silly crown and appear at the grand opening ceremony, she is reviled by the town's disappointed youngsters. Lorelai experiences mixed emotions when she learns that Luke and his new wife have already ended their relationship. Rory's best friend, Lane Kim (series star Keiko Agena), laments having to go to a local college while Rory is away at Yale. And Lorelai learns that her pregnant best friend, Sookie St. James (series star Melissa McCarthy), is going to have a boy. Lorelai is disappointed when Rory insists on keeping her promise to Lorelai's parents, wealthy, overbearing Emily (series star Kelly Bishop) and old-fashioned Richard (recurring special appearance by Edward Herrmann), and eats dinner at their house on her and Lorelai's last night together before school. When Emily and Richard keep Rory hostage for the entire evening, Lorelai overcomes her distaste for visiting her parents in order to be with Rory. (Warner Bros. UK)