Shippy Moment of the Day: "Because I Love You, You Idiot!" (Gilmore Girls)

Rory Finally Tells Dean How She Feels
"Love, Daisies, and Troubadours" from Gilmore Girls Season 1

Recap: Dean broke up with Rory because he's convinced she doesn't love him as much as he loves her. Rory has been spending the past few episodes either stalking Dean, breaking down emotionally before the whole town, or trying to ignore the flirtations of Tristan. During this episode in particular, she embraces her Dean box, gives a subtext-laden speech about how song-writing can give you the ability to say what you feel but don't know how to say and mildly traumatizes Dean's sister by creepily stopping by. As she walks out of Chilton, Tristan steals her books in order to convince her to go out with him.

The Moment:

Oh, Chad Michael Murray. So cute. Seriously, the Proto-Jess,
only one that I didn't hate with a passion.

Rory: You're pathetic, Tristan. Keep the books. I'm leaving.

OMG! Jared looks SOOO young here!

I love that Dean drove to Chilton to see her. He could have visited her at home
or called her, but he willingly goes onto the unfamiliar turf of Chilton where
he's previous dealt with a certain amount of animosity (from Tristan in particular)
because he needs to know if Rory actually loves him.

Rory: Dean? Dean. What are you doing here?
Dean: I'm leaving.

If we know one thing about Dean, he's one for a quick escape. He'd rather cut out
his heart and sacrifice himself than be with a girl who doesn't love him.

Rory: Don't go.
Dean: I shouldn't have come.
Rory: No, wait.
Dean: I feel like an idiot.
Rory: Why?
Dean: 'Cause I come all the way out here to see you with him. That's just great.
Rory: No, Tristan was just--
Dean: I don't care.
Rory: No, listen!
Dean: He's got your books, Rory.

TRIANGLE!

Rory: But he took them and wouldn't give them back. Please just tell me why you're here.
Dean: I just don't even know.
Rory: Yes, you do.
Dean: 'Cause I thought you--Forget it.
Rory: No, say it.

I love how Alexis switches between playing coy and being completely desperate.
She knows why Dean is here. She knows that this could be the moment where they
can get back together. But, in true Gilmore Girl fashion, she talks around it instead of at it.

Dean: I thought you were trying to talk to me.
Rory: Oh.
Dean: I mean, you came to my house.
Rory: That wasn't me.
Dean: It was you.
Rory: It must've been someone that looked like me.
Dean: My sister recognized you from the pictures in my box.
Rory: In what box?
Dean: The box of stuff I have of us. Pictures and letters and everything from you.
Rory: You have a Rory box?

Dean is so open. That's one of the reasons I liked him so much. He didn't have much
crap to drag around. Maybe he wasn't literary or rich or snarky, but he openly loved
Rory. He's the Aiden to Rory's Carrie. The best guy, but, perhaps, not the best guy for
her (although I would argue against that, but I think that's the general consensus).

Dean: And what was going on at the town meeting, all that stuff about writing a song?
Rory: I don't know what I was talking about.
Dean: That had nothing to do with me? Well, I must have imagined it all then. Your boyfriend's waiting.
Rory: He's not my boyfriend. I hate him.
Dean: Whatever.

Angsty!Back.

Rory: Dean.
Dean: What?
Rory: Stop.
Dean: Why?
Rory: Because I love you, you idiot!

Best. Line. Ever.

I watched the first season of Gilmore Girls live, and I cannot tell you how
gratifying this moment was after weeks of moping and angsting.

And Tristan is a gentleman. Dean has won, so he drops Rory's books
off to the side and removes himself.

They're so happy!

Thoughts: This entire episode is just PERFECT. Rory and Dean finally get back together with the appropriate amount of craziness. Max proposes with a thousand yellow daisies. Like, seriously. SO MUCH CUTENESS.

Dean got horribly shafted in the Gilmore Girls world, which annoys me to no end. They traded him and Tristan (what wonderful foils of hotness!) for Jess, who just ended up being a total loser because they counted their spin-off chickens before they were hatched and wrote him out and blah blah blah. One thing that does truly upset me about Gilmore Girls/The WB is that they are so desperate to build up their established actors so that they can put them in new shows so that those new shows don't fail that they end up ripping up relationships without much regard to plot or motivation. Dean, Tristan, and Jess all suffered from this, resulting in hasty exits that their characters did not deserve and leaving Logan as a last resort (although, apparently he got better).

More on topic, though, the ending of this episode is just one of the best SQUEE! moments that I can pick from all of my fandoms. Both protagonists are happy and I'm estatic. Just a wonderful, wonderful episode that never fails to make me laugh/put me in a good mood.