T.J. is milking his injuries for all he's worth, but Luke decides that it's time to go home after seven weeks on the Ren Faire circuit; Rory calls to apologize and to ask her mother to deliver a letter to Dean; Sookie accurately diagnoses Lorelai with a bad case of management burnout, and the two friends decide to decompress with a girls-day-out; Emily and Rory come home exhausted from fending off the attentions of randy European men; Michel is wildly unenthusiastic when he's pressed into babysitting for guests whose children take an inexplicable shine to him; after Lindsay finds Rory's letter, she throws Dean and all his possessions out of the house, and her mother has an angry confrontation with Lorelai in the town square; Lane realizes that she's falling for Zack; Rory is saddened when Dean expresses regret for the shift in their relationship and the harm it caused to his wife and their families.

Jackson is the soul of patience as Sookie suffers from mood swings and pregnancy food cravings; Paris's decision to fast for Ramadan to bring authenticity to her writing takes its toll on Rory and Marty; against Lorelai's advice, Michel persists with his plan to foil the bathrobe bandits and nearly gets arrested; Emily decides to start dating again, and calls on a reluctant Lorelai for advice; Jackson is so overwhelmed by his duties as selectman that Miss Patty is forced to resort to a ruse to get him to preside over the town meeting; Lorelai invites Christopher to lunch at the Inn and decides to surprise Rory by inviting her as well, but it's Lorelai who's surprised by the tension between father and daughter, which erupts into a heated argument out of Lorelai's earshot; Lorelai feels guilty for lying to Rory when her daughter asks about Luke's reaction to the lunch date with Christopher; Luke helps T.J. with some plumbing problems at the new house; Emily appears to have a wonderful t

Lorelai refuses to listen to Richard's plan to bribe Rory into resuming school, saying that Rory has to want to go back on her own. Both Rory and Lorelai are saddened by the fact that their estrangement is keeping them apart on Rory's 21st birthday. Emily takes it upon herself to plan a party for her granddaughter when Rory shows no interest in the event. Richard and Emily find out that Rory and Logan have been sleeping together. Lorelai tries to convince Luke to participate in her mad scientist Halloween skit.

As Valentine's Day approaches, Rory and Logan invite Lorelai and Luke to spend a weekend with them at Logan's family's house on Martha's Vineyard. Lorelai is upset by Luke's unfriendly attitude toward Logan. Luke's attitude changes when he realizes he forgot to buy Lorelai a Valentine gift, and Logan saves the day. When Lorelai finally confesses to Luke that she is worried the wedding will never take place, he reassures her that they will get married soon. The weekend ends in an ugly scene when Logan's father, Mitchum Huntzberger arrives.

Richard is feeling better and preparing to leave the hospital. Michel's dog Chin Chin dies and Michel guilts Lorelai into holding his memorial at The Dragonfly. Rory has a crush on the teacher's assistant that is filling in for Richard and confesses her "self-destructive" feelings to Logan. Lorelai and Christopher end their marriage after he calls her out on still having feelings for Luke.