Célèste's Review of S2E20 “Help Wanted"

“Help Wanted"

Season 2, Episode 20

Original airing: May 07, 2002

My Rating: 63

The Good:

• I really love that the show takes the time here to show Rory's feelings about the accident. It was nice to see her stand up to Lorelai and announce that she's a person with agency, not just a pretty object. 
• Lorelai helping Richard set up his business is an interesting dynamic. We've seen her help Emily think outside the box before, and this is similar, but I think they could have pushed it more to get to that level.
• Postponing Lorelai and Luke's reunion just makes me ache for it even more, and I loved seeing Rory and Luke bond in the last scene.
• Lane finally has something going on that she's excited about. I absolutely can't wait to see more from this plot line. 
• Although Sophie wasn't funny at all, Babette had me absolutely rolling with laughter. I love the way she interrupts with the crazy non-sequiters: "I was in a cult once!" 
• Minimal Dean scenes!

The Bad:

• As usual, there's some distracting timeline and logic stuff. 
• The first scene feels like it takes place just after the car accident, since Luke has taken off and there's a strong implication that Rory and Lorelai haven't Luke's at all since Lorelai and Luke fought (Rory asks if they'll get service). But, it's then revealed to be a Friday and we know that the accident took place over a weekend, so it's been a whole week.
• Lorelai manages to run into the lunch delivery man in the span of literally half a second as she's walking the job candidate out. 
• Lorelai calls the office and asks to speak to Richard, but then after inviting Lorelai to the party, the phone call ends as if Emily had been calling to speak with Lorelai in the first place.
• Dean reads a two-page, double-sided letter in what amounts to about 5 seconds.
• Rory's accepting responsibility doesn't work as well as it could have because she's so inconsistent: blaming herself for things that aren't her fault (Lorelai fighting with Luke) as well as things that are her fault. 
• I loved seeing Lane have her own plot, but I didn't like that there was no connection between her plot and Rory's. 
• Sophie, the music shop owner, isn't very funny, which makes her inconsistency (over-the-top about the non-touching rule and then over-the-top about encouraging Lane to sit down at the drums) more obvious. Also Lane just staring at the drums later and asking for "5 more minutes" is cartoonish. Why not have Lane pretend practicing again when she asks for "5 more minutes"?
• Lorelai's opinion of Dean continues to me almost comical. "Maybe Dean is even more terrific than we though he was." Umm... last time I checked not breaking up with someone because they were in a car wreck doesn't found as "terrific." 
• Overall, this episode is less funny and reference heavy than average.

Favorite Moment:

Lane smiles to herself while singing hymns next to Mrs. Kim. The beauty of this dream is that just thinking about it makes her happy even when she goes back to her double life. 

The Bottom Line:

This episode isn't fantastic, but several great moments make it worth watching: seeing Lane excited about being a drummer, seeing Rory stand up for herself as a person with real agency, seeing Rory and Luke bond over their concern about Jess, and seeing Babette go on and on about "bad men."