Emily and Richard rejoice when Rory announces her decision to attend Yale; Kirk sustains baking-related injuries when Rory secretly enlists the help of her fellow Stars Hollows citizens to bake the world's largest pizza for her mother's birthday party; Michel and Tobin compete over giving Lorelai the best present, but Richard wins the contest hands-down with a check for $75,000 that's actually the proceeds from an investment he made in Lorelai's name at her birth; Luke confronts Jess about skipping school to work at Wal-Mart, but is blown off as usual; when Lorelai decides to use the money to pay back her parents for Rory's Chilton tuition, Emily becomes furious with Richard for giving Lorelai the money, fearing that the repayment of their loan is a sign that she'll never see either Lorelai or Rory again; Luke makes a bad impression on Nicole's parents, scaring them off with a rant on the horrors of parenting Jess.

Luke becomes overwhelmed by Lane's work ethic when he hires her to work at the diner; Michel exhibits a profound jealousy of Tobin; Emily and Richard find the treats they brought home from Switzerland are widely panned; Rory is less than thrilled with the new man in Paris's life, especially when she learns that he's teaching her contemporary political fiction class; as Lorelai and Jason grow closer, she begs him to keep their relationship a secret from her parents; Rory's talent for millinery combines with her talent for writing to win her a position on the ""Daily Yale""; inexplicably, Sookie and Jackson allow Michel to babysit for Davey, forcing Lorelai to come to the rescue when Michel, not being one to fail to disappoint, needs to get himself and Davey out from under a problem; Richard becomes intensely irritated when the Chez Gilmore walking tour benefitting the Historical Society overstays its welcome.