【brat princess brainwashed to eroticeize death】

This recap contains spoilers for episode 3 of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,brat princess brainwashed to eroticeize death titled "Summer." For your reading pleasure, here's our recap of episode 2.

The seeds of discord that were planted in "Winter" are starting to bear bitter fruit in "Summer," as we finally see Lorelai and Luke confront everything that's been left unsaid between them for the past few months.

Lorelai challenges Luke about going to see real estate with her mother and not telling her, and Luke questions Lorelai on her decision to keep her therapy a secret. They're both insignificant gripes in the grand scheme of things -- the tip of an iceberg of insecurities that neither of them want to voice because their status quo has been comfortable, if not ideal, for the past nine years.

Luke echoes Emily's earlier criticism that Lorelai never stops to consider anyone else's desires or feelings (albeit much less cruelly), pointing out, "Our lives were set up by you; I just went along with it."

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In fairness, though, Luke's a grown man who is perfectly capable of expressing his displeasure with just about everything else in his life, so if he's spent the better part of a decade "going along with it" when he wanted their lives to be less separate, that's as much on him as it is on Lorelai.

Michel has been with Lorelai even longer than Luke has, and yet he seems to respect her enough to be honest, even when it hurts: he's planning on leaving the Dragonfly for a higher paying job at the W Hotel in New York. "I can't stay in the same place forever," he says -- and those words seem to resonate for Lorelai too.

All of the Gilmores have an unhealthy penchant for blaming those around them for their issues, but everyone is responsible for their own happiness -- which is why it's good that after her fight with Luke, Lorelai decides she needs to go and do Wildalone so that she can get some perspective. At a certain point you have to accept your loved ones for who they are, not who you'd find it more convenient for them to be.

That's true for Rory too. She's still feeling untethered (but doesn't seem particularly motivated to do anything about it), and it's no surprise than an unpaid job as the editor of the Stars Hollow Gazetteisn't scratching her creative itch.

SEE ALSO: Rory Gilmore is not a good journalist

Stars Hollow holds up an uncomfortable mirror for Rory's malaise in "Summer" -- the townsfolk keep congratulating her on being "back," which Rory obviously sees as an admission of defeat compared to the glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle she was enjoying before.

She comes to discover that she's not the only disaffected millennial in town when she's introduced to "The Thirtysomething Gang," a diverse group of wide-eyed, fresh-faced youngsters who, according to Babette, have "been to college then out in the real world and it spit ‘em out like a stale piece of gum and now they’re all back in their old rooms like you!"

To Rory, this comparison is horrifying, but despite a few low-hanging jokes about how sensitive The Thirtysomething Gang (and by extension, all millennials) are, A Year in the Life does seem sympathetic to the plight of Rory and her peers, who are finding that their college degrees and youthful optimism are pretty worthless in today's economic landscape, even though they're expected to somehow have themselves all figured out by the time they graduate.

Even Luke's daughter April, who's only 22, has an anxiety attack over her prospects after seeing that the high-flying Rory still ended up back in her childhood home after a Yale education. "It's hard to have a sense of humor at college these days," she admits, poignantly. "I'm still kind of searching."

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Of course, that ennui doesn't lessen Rory's entitlement much -- after deciding to write a book about her relationship with Lorelai, the youngest Gilmore throws another tantrum when her mother doesn't seem overjoyed about the prospect of Rory airing her dirty laundry in public.

Sure, it's exciting to discover your passion in life, especially after a period of dissatisfaction, but Rory's petulant reaction and refusal to acknowledge Lorelai's feelings calls to mind her Yale drop-out.

"This is what I’m supposed to do. I’m sorry, I have to; without this, it’s grad school or groveling for jobs that I don’t want," she declares -- because god forbid she should ever have to take a job she doesn't want!

Being inspired doesn't give Rory license to decide that her opinion is more important than anyone else's, especially when her new pet project involves the private lives of other people. As Lorelai points out, she's been the queen of understanding for 32 years when it comes to her daughter's desires, so she's entitled to call veto on at least one of Rory's harebrained schemes. Sorry, kid.

Headlines:

Thirsty Jess fans were probably relieved to see him make an appearance in "Summer," since Team Logan was clearly ahead on points in the first two episodes.

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As was the case the last time we saw them together, Jess knows Rory well enough to pull her out of her pity spiral and offer her some perspective about her career -- even giving her the idea for her new book (a fact that only makes Lorelai resent it more). There's a fondness in the exchange, but not a lot of heat -- right now Jess seems more like a hunky Yoda than a serious relationship contender, but that could change.

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He's in a solid place professionally, with no permanent attachments (unlike Logan), and although Rory currently seems pretty hung up on Mr. Huntzberger (to the point where she keeps hanging up on him), she's always tended to want what she can't have, so the fact that Logan's engaged to another girl is perhaps part of his illicit appeal, even if deep down Rory knows it's impractical.

The real highlight of "Summer," though, is the elaborate Stars Hollow musical that Taylor stages with the help of a brooding hipster composer from Brooklyn and Tony winners Sutton Foster and Christian Borle.

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It's a bonkers jaunt through history from the founding of the town up to today, replete with Hamiltonreferences, a kickline and an ill-advised ABBA encore -- not to mention a song that manages to critique everything from tiny airplane seats and overpriced restaurant wine to manbuns and Vladimir Putin.

What's there not to love about the town of Stars Hollow, indeed?

Kirk's new gig:

Nonexistent -- Kirk is conspicuously absent in this installment (damn you, Guardians of the Galaxy 2!), but at least Petal gets some screen time.

Notable quotable:

For all the Team Jess fans out there: "This isn’t about you lending me money to buy underwear."

Closely followed by Michel's kid-friendly query: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much did I sound like a child molester?"

Takeaway (courtesy of Al's Pancake World)

As if musical numbers from Foster and Borle weren't enough (and seriously, has there ever been a better song than "Unbreakable"? Chills!) "Summer" also brought back Carole King, whose iconic theme song has been sorely missed over the past three episodes.

She's reprising her role as Sophie the music store owner, who kindly volunteers a song she's written for the end of Stars Hollow: The Musical. Sophie's song sounds suspiciously like Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move," but somehow, music maestro Taylor isn't impressed.

You'll make it someday, Sophie!

Need more Gilmore? check out our recap of episode 4 -- the end is nigh!