Recap of Season 1, Episode 4: “The Deer Hunters”
In “The Deer Hunters,” Rory struggles in her English class with Mr. Medina at Chilton, which is complicated when she’s “hit by a deer” on the way to school, and he won’t let her take her test. Meanwhile, Sookie is upset that a critic didn’t like her “magic risotto.”
Let’s get the bad news out of the way. This episode is the first not to feature my personal favorite characters, Emily and Richard Gilmore. This is especially sad to me because I recently decided to add a mini segment called “Emily’s Savage Burns” to this podcast. So, you’ll have to tune in next time for that.
Rory and Lorelai go school supply shopping, and really, is there anything better than new school supplies? They reek of possibilities. My personal favorites are notebooks, gel pens, and of course, new planners. New planner day is one of my favorite days of the year.
Rory heads to Chilton on the bus with a massive amount of backpacks, which I think is something to which all high school students relate: from gym day to after-school activities, I hated schlepping around multiple bags. These days, my high school doesn’t even allow it! You need to go to your locker between classes. Kids these days will never know what it was like to walk up and down four flights of stairs with these massive weights.
Mr. Medina hands back graded papers, and Rory’s earnest smile quickly turns upside down when she learns she got a D! A “D!” I’ve never gotten one, have you? I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty sure my goodie-two-shoes self would have reacted the same as Rory, probably even worse. And how did Rory crawl her way back to the top of the class after this, anyway? Is this a plot hole? I kind of think it is.
Next is the dreaded Shakespeare test, and if it wasn’t scary to begin with, our dear Rory is now shaking in her saddle shoes–er boots. Paris mocks her, and Tristin continues his “Mary” bit.
At the Independence Inn, Lorelai discovers food critic Lucien Mills’ glowing review of Sookie’s culinary creations. The catch? His phrase “the much-lauded risotto was perfectly fine.” Perfectly fine, you say?! To Sookie, that is basically as bad as Rory’s D. She spirals, and this begs the question:
Did Sookie overreact about the food critic’s review? I asked my Instagram followers, and 65% said this was a good review.
Rory studiously studies, while Lorelai attempts to distract her.
Then, Rory meets up with Lane at Kim’s Antiques, and Lane shares that the “new guy,” a/k/a Dean, has been asking for her at Stars Hollow High.
Back at the Inn, Lorelai and Jackson try to cheer Sookie up about the critic’s review of her “magic risotto.”
Next, at the parent-teacher meeting, Mr. Medina informs the parents that they will focus on Elizabethan authors for the upcoming AP (Advanced Placement) exam. Now, I’ve taken the AP English exam, and it’s always at the end of the year, so you can prepare all year long leading up to it. Another slight plot hole! And, yes, I did pass the exam.
Lorelai wants to attend the exam to see the excitement for herself, and this reminds me of a core memory from the time I took the entrance exam into my own prep school, when my aunt brought me balloons. It’s the little things, right?!
Yet again, Lorelai shows up late, dressed only a few steps above her last Chilton fashion disaster, when she dressed like a cowgirl in S1 E2 “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton.” This time, she covers her graphic B-52s tee with a buttoned-up blazer and grabs a coffee. Now, as odd as it was at the time of the show, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dressed business on top and casual on the bottom since the Zoom days began. Don’t pretend you haven’t done it, too!
Lorelai connects with Mr. Medina and learns that Rory got a D. She consoles a humiliated Rory, but Paris continues to taunt her.
Sookie continues to test risotto, and by now, my mouth is watering. This is one of two Gilmore foods I most want to try. It’s described as magic! (The other is in an episode shortly to come, and hint: it’s served at Christmas.) There’s actually a blogger that recreates Gilmore Girls foods, Eating Gilmore, and I found her iteration of the magic risotto recipe for you. You can also find it in the Official Gilmore Girls Cookbook.
Lorelai helps Rory study, and this reminds me of all the countless nights my own mother made the same sacrifice for my education. My mom was really big on acronyms and giving things weird names, like in The Office, when Michael remembers people by nicknames like “beardy” and “pepperoni Tony.” Whatever works!
Our Gilmore Girls sleep through their alarms, and Rory absolutely “crashes out,” as the kids these days would say. Now, this is more akin to the way I would have reacted to getting a D.
Lorelai gives Rory the keys to the Jeep to rush to school, and this may be one of Lorelai’s first most questionable parenting moments. Just trying to help her daughter succeed, or a lawsuit waiting to happen? You be the judge. I asked my Instagram followers, and a whopping 84% said she was just helping.
Now, Rory pulls up to the stop sign. Yes, the stop sign, where one of the most memorable show moments occurs. And, take note, because the stop sign is facing the wrong way as she pulls up. Plot hole #3! So, maybe this isn’t Rory’s fault after all.
Next, as you all know, a deer hits Rory. And we Gilmore Girls fans will say it no other way. Here’s the exchange, as Rory talks on the phone with Lane in her secret music closet:
Rory: Oh my God, I just got hit by a deer!
Lane: You hit a deer?
Rory: No, I got hit by a deer!
Lane: How do you get hit by a deer?
Rory: I was at a stop sign and it hit me.
I actually think Rory’s phrasing speaks to her knack for journalism. While I was never a traditional journalist, I learned very quickly in my early lawyering days to state the facts as they are, not as we interpret them: Rory was stopped. The deer hit her. So take that, Mitchum Huntzberger!
Rory arrives for her test late, and Mr. Medina won’t let her take it. Cue: Rory’s “crash out” #2 of the morning. He also questions, “You hit a deer?” Oh, Mr. Medina! Off to Headmaster Charleston’s office she goes. Lorelai arrives and is the first not to react with, “You hit a deer?” She gets it.
Lorelai then calls Headmaster Charleston, “Your Honor,” which I find amusing because, as a prior lawyer, I almost called his office “chambers.” It looks exactly like that.
So, should the “no late testing” rule at Chilton be broken for Rory? I asked my Instagram followers, and 66% would let her take the test late.
But, I’m not so sure. I can personally see both sides of this one. In a real-world prep school, though, I think Lorelai and Rory would win. They would just wear the school down and, after all, they’re paying customers.
Sookie finally discovers the problem with the risotto wasn’t the risotto but the wine. Note to self: Don’t ever pair magic risotto with Riesling. She sneaks another plate and a glass to the critic, and I’m utterly desperate to know her recommended wine pairing. I’m thinking Chardonnay because it’s creamy and buttery like traditional risotto. And, my research suggests the same!
Lorelai and Rory head home and look for the deer on the way. They chat about Rory’s lifelong dream of attending Harvard, and Lorelai offers her “I love you no matter what” form of motherly support.
Upon arriving home, Lorelai hears a voice message from Max Medina, in which he offers Rory extra credit and compliments Lorelai. Once again, all is well that ends well in the land of Stars Hollow.
Books and Authors Referenced
Let’s break down the Gilmores’ world of books– this episode’s most iconic literary references for those taking the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge with us on Fridaynightreaders.substack.com, where we read from the list of books mentioned on Gilmore Girls.
- The Oxford Complete Works of William Shakespeare
- The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
- The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
- Richard III by William Shakespeare
- Who’s Who and What’s What in Shakespeare by Evangeline M. O’Connor
- Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
This episode is all about William Shakespeare, or as Lorelai calls him, “the bard with the beard.” And I love this focus, because Shakespeare is likely all Rory can think about this episode–that is, besides that dang deer.
Since you’re likely aware of who William Shakespeare, arguably the most iconic and influential writer of all time, is, let’s just talk about some fun facts:
- Shakespeare wrote at least 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems.
- His works span tragedies, comedies, and histories, and his play Hamlet was influenced by the death of his own son, Hamnet. You can read Maggie O’Farrell’s exceptional historical account of this in her book, Hamnet. I totally think Rory would read this book and very highly recommend it to readers like her as one of my all-time favorites. It’s so poetic and emotional.
- He invented or popularized over 1,700 English words, like bedazzled, lonely, and swagger. I personally love the phrase, “there’s the rub,” which is the title of a later Gilmore Girls episode.
- No one knows the exact cause of his death, and he left a famously odd will, giving his wife Anne Hathaway his “second-best bed.”
Rory unpacks The Oxford Complete Works of William Shakespeare at Lane’s, and I’ve had my chance at scoring a book like this. I frequently attend library sales and have seen old, leather-bound copies. They are usually somewhat pricy, though, and I question buying it, as I just know I’m not going to sit down and read this way. I personally love the No Fear editions of Shakespeare that explain the text page by page.
Next, Paris quotes Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare in bullying Rory:
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments. Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds, / Or bends with the remover to remove: / O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, / That looks on tempests and is never shaken; / It is the star to every wandering bark, / Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.”
But, for the record, the Sonnet continues:
“Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks / Within his bending sickle’s compass come. / Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, / But bears it out even to the edge of doom: / If this be error and upon me proved, / I never writ, nor no man ever loved.”
And, guess what?! You JUST crossed a Shakespeare Sonnet off your list!
Next, I’ll let Rory and Lorelai do the teaching, based on their study session. The Comedy of Errors was written in 1590 and published in 1623. The Sonnets are 154 poems of 14 lines, except 126, which was 12 lines. They’re written in iambic pentameter, except 145, which is written in tetrameter.
(Iambic pentameter consists of five iambs. This means two syllable pairs that emphasize the second syllable. Tetrameter just means four iams instead of five.)
Rory can’t remember the dates for Richard III, so I’ll tell you myself: It was written between 1592-1594, and it was first published in 1597.
You may have also noticed Who’s Who and What’s What in Shakespeare by Evangeline M. O’Connor on the arm of the Gilmores’ couch. This is a rare, but real book, and guess what?! A member of our book club once sent me a copy! It’s one of my most prized possessions on my “Rory bookshelf.”
Last but not least, Lorelai reads Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. There’s a lot to unpack here. First, this rawly written memoir of a food critic’s life in New York contrasts sharply with Rory’s studies of Shakespeare. I also love how it parallels the food critic plot in this episode.
You should also know that it catapulted Anthony Bourdain to fame, eventually earning him his TV shows, which are known for his edgy commentary and captivating storytelling. I’ve read the book and watched most, if not all, of his shows, and I’m here to tell you, this is one book that works best on audio. He narrates it, and nothing pairs better with his words than his voice. He is so uniquely “him” that you just can’t consume this memoir any other way.
Curious about every single book mentioned in this Gilmore Girls episode—even the obscure references most people miss, like the Elizabethan authors Max Medina teaches the Chilton students and an essay he quotes? Head to this episode’s page at Fridaynightreaders.substack.com. When you upgrade to a paid membership, you’ll get printable episode guides for every Gilmore Girls episode—perfect for tracking your own Rory-inspired reading journey.
Up Next
Lastly, the time has come for me to be what Jess called Rory—a book tease. Tune in next week, when we dive into episode 1.5, “Cinnamon’s Wake,” and books like the title’s reference, Finnegan’s Wake, and a book I discussed here, Hamlet. We’re really starting to get deep into the Max Medina episodes.
