Town Meeting: Introducing Taylor Doose (Season 1 E7 “Kiss and Tell”)

I Am all in again.

Oh that's you.

I Am all in Town meeting with Suzanne French and Tara suit An iHeartRadio podcast. All right, hey guys, welcome back to another episode of I'm All in Town Meeting with myself, Tara and Susanne. Hello. Hello, Today we're talking about season one, episode seven, Kiss and Tell, which aired November sixteenth, two thousand. I always think of this as the corn starch episode. Yeah, just like like I literally think. Our producer Emma the other day was like, oh I

Yes, it's a classic iconic moment, and I love that they called back to it in the revival, like, yes, he's like pay for it this time. That was I love that. Oh I know, I know. Who knew that a box of corn starch could be so iconic?

Well, speaking of cornstarch, I have to start with saying, why was there so much cornstarch on display?

It's it's so funny every time we go in the market because everything's different, like aisles and aisles of cat food, and then other times there's like aisles and aisles of you know, deodorant or whatever. It's like it's so random. They just grab whatever they can find it at the grocery store, I guess, and bring it over to this.

Also the corn here's the other thing that I was confused about. The corn starch was in the same aisle as What did Lane say? Was it?

Oh the ant spray?

Was it ant spray?

Yeah?

Why are we putting corn starch with ant spray? Like, oh, aisle three, it's good aisle antspray? Also, how is ant spray a good aisle?

Well, because any aisle that you get kissed is a good aisle. That's but I had to laugh when they said Aisle three, Like that market is so small you really need to number the aisles.

No, there's like three aisles to begin with it.

It's also like such.

A weird if you actually look at the layout of the market, it's I think, like two aisles and then like two sideway aisles, Like it's kind of weird.

Yeah, Like there's like registers, and then there's like two different wings.

Kind of yeah, two different wings, and then it's I think it's when Luke and Laura leer in the market. I'm pretty sure the wall behind them was not actually like fruit. I think it was like wallpaper. Oh really, I think it's wallpaper of like fruit and stuff. Yeah, Oh my gosh, I'll have to pull the screenshot. But I like was kind of watching it. I was like kind of tired last night watching and I'm like, is that actually like they set that all up? And then I think or maybe half of it is wallpaper.

Oh, I'm gonna have to look. I watched this episode like three times because I usually I watch it just once quick to remind myself of what happened in the episode, and then I will watch detailed, like with my notes in front of me.

Yeah.

And I actually watched it a third time last night because I did the recap with Scott and Michael Winters and so I want to be like fresh in my mind. So I watched it a third time. But I totally did not catch that. So I'm gonna have to go back and look.

At and if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, But I it kind of looked like it.

It wouldn't surprise me, like that would make sense.

No, because imagine how much you have to set up. Oh yeah, but when they walked outside, because I remember thinking of it because they walked outside, Luke and Lorelei and there are like fruits or whatever outside, like right, and those are actually there. I mean, it's probably not real, it's probably fake, but you know what I mean, Like those are actually like physically theirs. That That's what made me think, like in store, was it fake?

Well that's awesome. Okay, We're gonna have to like grab a screenshot of that. That's pretty cool.

Is it the first time we saw dosies on the apron? Oh?

I don't know. That's a good question. I don't know. I was gonna say, it's the first time we see Taylor.

Yes, I knew first time we see Taylor, and it was kind of funny the way he like. My first thought was, I don't know what it's like to first be introduced to Taylor, like as a new watcher. I guess. Well, our producers Jackie and Emma had never seen Taylor before, so I'm curious if one of you want to come on and what was your first impression of him.

He seemed like the same Taylor that we saw that when we when us producers started coming onto the pod, we started with the later seasons and didn't go back to the first season, so I kind of already knew but like it seemed like the same.

I think I already.

Knew who he was, so it was a very good like I'm coming in, I'm coming in, want to do what's best for the town.

This is what we want to do. Come on, come on.

And you see the friction between Luke and Taylor, which we've seen in later later seasons too, so it's like it's a complicated.

You didn't question his authority, he just kind of knew.

Yeah.

Yeah, he comes in hot and he goes hard for the town and the rules, and he establishes that right away with the Fall decre and the little.

Thanksgiving things that he tries to put on the counter, which is why.

Yeah, which, by the way, the decor in this episode was amazing.

Oh my gosh, so Fall just piles of pumpkins everywhere.

I just where do you find all that stuff? Like, I mean, obviously I know set decorators, but like how long does it take to set that up and the details?

And yeah, because the pumpkins, like if they shot this in summer, well.

It's definitely fake, right, it has to be fake pumpkins.

Maybe I don't know, pumpkins lost a long time. It could have been real.

You really see when Rory's like running through the town.

That was a great shot.

Oh it's so good. And at first I was like, they actually film her running all the way to live in South and I'm like, oh, there she is pulling up to him.

Yeah, we talked about that on the on the recap episode. How you know, both both Alexis and the cameramen were probably pretty tired after they did that, so hopefully, hopefully they didn't need too many takes to get it done. But that was such a great shot where she literally runs in a single movement all the way from the market to across the square to Lane's house.

With that did she had the yellow backpack on? Again? She had the yellow backpack? Oh? Did she?

I didn't even notice she She.

Was kind of like like she was kind of like, well, I could be wrong, but the way she like runs is just so funny to me. I know, that's it's just And I also love that the kiss happened so early in the episode because it wasn't build up like it just happened. Also, I would be taking aback if someone kissed me like that too, I know.

Yeah, it was shocking, Like I don't talking about soda and then all of a sudden he's in your face, kissing you. Yeah.

Oh, yes, she did have a yellow backpack, okay, because I just remember the way she was like waddle running and I'm like that damn yellow backpack with fifty books in it. I will never get over the yellow backpack.

At least she cut down from that one episode where she had like three bad yeah, exactly. At least she wasn't trying to carry all that. Did you notice in Luke's Diner? Okay, so I had two comments on the Lukes Diner scene. There was a random soda machine by the window, like a soda dispenser, you know, like you have restaurants. Don't know where that came from. We never saw it again.

Like behind the counter. No, it was like.

Where there's tables in future episodes. It's like it's like app off the end of the counter, but not behind the counter, like it's next to the window like a self serve.

Yeah. Interesting, I didn't see That's interesting.

And it was kind of a weird looking like little Dinky one. It was very weird. It was like somebody just found this. Was like, oh, this looks like it might go to a restaurant. Let's put it on the set of Lukes Diner.

That's funny. I did not see that, and then did you.

So we saw Patty, miss Patty. She's eating with some woman in a yellow sweater. We don't know who it was. My theory, I think that was east Side Tilly because remember we future episodes east Side Tilly. She's like the town gossip, but we never.

See Sorry, I thought you meant that was someone's real name. I'm like, who oh, oh, my gosh, oh interesting.

That's my fan theory is that that's east Side Tilly.

I'm so curious if anyone else thinks that, because you're right, we don't see her. It's just always she's always talked about.

They don't say her name. We don't really see that. Well, maybe we see that woman again, probably in like the background of a scene, but they don't identify who she is. So that's my theory. But Patty seems to be friends with her because Patty always says, oh I heard it from east Side Tilly and Babette.

It's usually Bebett and Patty talking about what she Yeah, so so interesting. It's like gossip girl.

I know exactly exactly she's the og, So tell us, tell us what you think if you agree with that or not. I mean I could. I'm completely just making that up. Obviously, I don't know who she was, but that's my theory. I'm gonna roll with it.

I like, at least, like now I have a visual if I need to refer back to, refer back to.

We saw the clown pillow in this episode. Oh where was it? It was when Laurel I was going to look out the window to see where she was looking for before Rory came home. Oh, and so she goes to the living room window and looks out the front window, and the clown pillow was on that chair. That's right, it is normal spot under that under that window.

The one thing I loved about this episode is Laurel's jacket that the collar pops red with the red purse.

Yeah, I didn't even notice the jacket. I was. I was looking at the purse. I didn't even notice the jacket.

It was like I was looking at it. I'm like, I need to find a jacket like that because it's black. But then the collar pops open, so the inside of it is red, and then it's with the red bag, and I was like, I need this. It's like, yeah, there was so much black, I like a pop A Colt.

Yeah, that red bag was super cute and so I was looking at that. I didn't even notice the jacket. I might have to.

And it's I mean specifically, the scene that I really really noticed is when she's walking into the grocery store to see Dean and the way Dean worked a really long shift that day. Dean was there from before school until that's true.

Because he was there that night too.

Like in my head, I was like, he is still there if they're overworking this kid.

Well that's funny. Well maybe he went to school in the middle well.

Because maybe, but it was wait but what time does the grocery store open that?

Oh that's a good question. Yeah, I don't know.

It is all one day, right, yeah I think I think so. Yeah, because it starts with Luke at Luke's diner with no.

But her outfit changes because this is the episode where she's wearing. It starts out she's in that really cute skirt and she's not wearing underwear. Oh you're right, you're right, So her outfits changed, so it must be a different day.

You're right, You're right, it's just oh, I have a speaking of timelines, the timeline of well, I guess also Dean's really work If Rory's going to school with her backpack on, it's still weird that Dean's working that early. But anyway, I thought it was interesting what time was it when Lourai invited Dean? When she invited him at seven pm? But it was dark out sunsets.

Well, but in the fall, I mean it's dark here at five o'clock.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, five o'clock. So like, did he just get off thirty minutes? I think, guess a small town, it's not that hard to move around. But I was just she's like seven o'clock, but then all the food they order and stuff within one hour, and also there there is no way in two thousand, her total for five snacks was forty one dollars.

Yeah, I know.

I was like, I'm pretty sure I can get that at Target right now for maybe thirty dollars.

Yeah.

It was interesting because they even made a comment, but she made a comment about her total. That's what caught me.

Yeah, it costs a lot of money to rot your insides or something.

It was like in the year two thousand. I don't think, but maybe.

You know, because Dosees is a little market, their prices are higher.

So maybe yeah, got it, import it.

Yeah.

Anyway, that was my random little.

Yeah. And again we're still tracking that piano. The piano was still there, so I don't know they're going to open that wall up. It's gotta be soon. I didn't realize actually that it made it this this many episodes, so I'm anticipating anytime now that's going to be open to the front door.

The one thing I saw and I texted our group text last night, it's at twenty six fifty seven on Rory's wall. There is the most terrifying mask or it's like a mask with a party hat. I have no idea, but I could not pay attention to the scene.

It was scary. Yeah, and I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out. I'm like, oh my gosh, that thing is horrible. I think I woke up in the middle of the night. That would scare the crap out of me.

Well, and then I was trying to think, is it a character that like they tried to paint like I was trying to figure out what it's from, and truly I have no idea.

Yeah, it didn't look familiar to me at all. It kind of reminded me so for those of you that are my age that remember mister Rogers.

Oh I remember mister Rogers.

And there was like the little the train would go into that other little make believe town and there was Lady Elaine, remember her. She had Oh my gosh, the giant chin. It reminded me of that. I don't think that's what it was supposed to be, like, it wasn't. It didn't look at no, I get to be that, but it was kind of kind of scary looking like that, Like she was a scary looking character. And yeah, this thing on the wall was like.

It was just so random, which maybe it was like artwork that Rory did as a kid, you know, like I don't know, but it was.

It was an interesting choice for sure. On the part of the set.

Between this episode and the last one, there was just a lot of crap in the house, a lot of stuff and I think I've noted, like I really want to know the set decorated. They just throw anything they can find into these early Yeah, because I think and maybe this is just me paying attention now, but I think compared to later seasons, there's a lot of stuff in the background of these.

I noticed that on the last episode when they were in the kitchen for Rory's birthday party in Suki, like making the food, and you could see on the on the wall next to bedroom door, there's like a cabinet that's just like got random. It's like piles of paper and stuff, like just random.

But even like even like the way when she's sitting on the floor of the fridge and all the stuff is out, like why were half the cans down the hallway, you know what I mean, Like how did it get like perfectly standing up? It was just kind of like they threw anything and everything, which I don't mind. It's kind of funny, but.

Yeah, a lot of stuff. Yeah, we when we did the recap, we were talking about some of the unique camera angles, and that was one of them, that refrigerator scene where they they're showing the food is all spread all over the floor like the refrigerator contents, and the camera's like looking down on them and kind of panning around what Laurela has in her.

Fridge, which is also confusing because she doesn't like all. I would have thought it would be a bunch of leftover like Chinese takeout, Like she doesn't look yea, so all those cans and whatnot. I'm like, why does she have stuff? Shouldn't use it?

She's not gonna have a ton of like fresh now in there. But it was it was still it was a funny scene.

The other thing, I mean, should we jump over to Dean getting invited to or did you have anything else before we jump into.

Let's yeah, let's move on to the real meat of the episode, the whole awkwardness.

I think. I think what's interesting is Lorala I jumps back and forth between mom and girlfriend because I was like, you're sad that your daughter didn't tell you about the kiss, but now you're inviting him over without Rory's permission to hang out, and you're gonna be I was like, yeah, how did we get here? Which I mean is just Laura being Laura.

I but it was weird and if that if my mom had done that, I would have reacted the same way that I thought. She was completely justified in her horror that her mother had done this. And then and then poor Rory like she felt stuck because now it's like she likes him, also looks weird, so we can't uninvite him, so we have to have him over. But it looks weird that my mom is the one that invited him over, and you know, yeah, it just was weird.

Clearly within the one hour, she called Suki the gossip because she didn't ask Suki for dessert. Suki route dessert to Spy. Yeah, so in the process of setting up ordering food, setting everything up, she called Suki be like guess what.

Right, and Suki just created a dessert out of thin air. Maybe it was something she just brought from the inn or some.

Probably Yeah, yeah, but it was kind of funny that scene with the pizza guy and then suddenly like Suki's slittering the pizza. Yeah, uh, the bone I have to pick with this is the way they are watching the movie, because in no way if someone invited me to a movie night, am I sitting on the floor with no nothing to support my back, just sitting like a bunch of first graders this cross Apple Sauce watching Willie Walka on a date on.

A date, Yeah, it was. It was weird because she tells him to put the pizza on the coffee table, and so you think, Okay, they're gonna sit on the couch and watch it.

He sat there for two minutes.

They're all on the floor. Yeah it's yeah.

It literally looked like a bunch of first graders sitting chriss cross Apple Sauce in line. I was like what and then when he and then when he says like, oh, do you need something to support your back? But what are you leaning the pillow against? Like there's nothing to lean against? Like she like the way he supported her.

I was like, right, I was watching that because I watched him put the pillow behind her. But it's just like the air ball behind her and she starts to like, lean back, and then they cut to the next scene. Okay, they're not even gonna show that she can't lean back because there's nothing.

I thought maybe she would lean on the end of the couch. Oh he was, he was more on that. I was literally like this, I don't know, just that same I'm like, could you put them on the couch? Why the floor?

Yeah, I don't know why they started on the couch and just didn't stay on the couch. There had to have been some reason, but it was it was.

Was there not enough room? Pulled a chair that Emily was sitting on for two episodes exactly through the chair across the room, which, by the way, so now we know there's a TV. There was there a TV there in previous episodes.

There might have been. There was the there was the kitchen TV that we saw for a split second in the other episodeisode. Yeah, but I can't remember.

I remember seeing a TV se a TV or not. Yeah, unless they moved it for like the party.

Yeah, there's also I did notice during the last episode, the birthday party episode, that there was a TV in Lorelei's bedroom. It had like clothes and stuff piled on it.

But I don't another episode that just had a bunch of crap. That that room anxiety.

Yeah, her with the clothes everywhere. I know he wasn't made.

Yeah, yeah, I mean I really like the scene with Dean there. He's just a little cocky. I thought so too. I'm talking to Laurel.

I yeah, I mean, he definitely kind of had an edge to him. You definitely could tell he had had a girlfriend or two before, like this was not new territory for him. But yeah, the conversation I thought was interesting. The whole the whole night was just just kind of awkward and weird. And yeah, it's in the room and she's out of the room, and yeah, it was weird.

And then when she tells her to suddenly switch gears again to mom, Rory goes back into the kitchen to be like where are you and she's like, I need to switch gears or whatever. Yeah, I was like, you got I think that's why. And maybe this establishes like how Laura I we don't know if she's a mom or a friend. And Rory feels the same way because if I were in that situation, like my mom switching from girlfriend to mom in the same night, would just

Yeah.

Yeah, it's just it's very confusing. But I guess that's also a stable shame that, like Laurel I is still a kid, kind of raising a kid.

Yeah yeah, And it's it's a transitional period in Rory's life too, right, Like she's moving, she's starting to be interested in dating and you know, all that kind of stuff. So it's it's definitely a transition. And so Laurel I is trying to figure out you know, Rory is one of those kids that you know, they're born and they just raised themselves, Like she didn't need a lot of parenting when she was little, and now that she's starting to move into these more adult situations, you know, she

So it's yeah, until the end, even at the very end about in the revival about the book, I feel like we even see it there where it's like suddenly she's like, you can't talk about my life like this is you know, it's it's an ongoing theme and it's just interesting to now, yeah, because I mean when I watched Gilmore Girls originally before this podcast, I didn't really talk to anyone about the details about it, you know, like I don't say it with my friends and break

Yeah, I know, I think about that too, because they didn't write every single episode like they did bring other writers, and I think actually this episode was not written by them, but especially as it goes through into the later seasons, Like somebody comes in to write an episode, how do you. I mean, I know that shows have bibles where they

Amy and Dan being as involved as they were. Specifically Amy, I'm sure there was like she would consult a lot of even if she was writing, and I'm sure she would consult a lot of the scripts like yeah, remember when this happens, and we should bring that back or you know, maybe not write it word for word, but I'm sure involved.

In Oh yeah, I'm sure she gave specific directions like here's what's going to happen in this episode. Yeah, and then the writer would just you know, make that happen.

But yeah, I mean, over overall, I think these episodes are just so special, like you kind of I think it's the reason why we fell in love with Gilmore Girls, and these are the these are the episodes that I like.

Rory, Oh yeah, I know, the first season of Gilmour is great, Like Rory, you're really on her side, like you, you really can. She seems so relatable for me. During the Chiltern years was when she was the most relatable. And then when she graduates and goes to Yale and they're like, Emily really got her claws into her. That's when she stops kind of being relatable for me. But I love the children years, like it's my favorite part of me too.

It's also just like, I don't know, watching someone grow through those years is so fun and innocent and like ya, she messes up, Oh well, you know, yeah, in high school doesn't really matter.

And like the stakes aren't as hot later years.

I did have a conversation with someone though about the Revival and how they were like, oh, well, like Hush just couldn't figure her life out, And I'm like, yeah, but if you think about it, like I'm in my thirties and I have some friends who are doing great in their career and some who unfortunately in the entertainment industry or some industries right now, there's a lot of

Yeah, yeah, it's it's it was pretty realistic, you know, especially at that time period where I think we've talked about this before, where journalism was going digital and getting away from like print media and you know, newspapers are going out of business and things, and it just was in the time for her to be coming in. But yeah, that's just kind of the state of affairs now, is that it's it's hard for you know, I'm looking like

Then I'm the same. I was the same way. I actually had my a job when I was a senior in college, so like it was a little different. And I remember like, as I had that job my senior year, some people were just starting to look at internships and I was like, I did that two years ago. But yeah, I mean, and specifically with I started my career in radio, radio is not the same as it was. So it's it's and the same thing with the newspaper world. For Rory,

Right right, yeah, and it's it can be hard when you have you know, Rory has a plan. She's going to go to Harvard, she's going to be a journalism major journalist whatever, or a writer, and so you you're on this track, in this path, but then the world changes in the background and kind of pulls the rug out from under you, and you're like, okay, what now.

Do you think I guess I'll just leave it on this. Do you think that we would have watched a revival differently if the revival came out post pandemic. I feel like the pandemic really changed a lot in people's lives, and and so I just wonder if we would have looked at it and looked at Rory's life as not a mess post pandemic and more of Yeah, things aren't on her side, Yeah, I.

Mean because we all came out of the pandemic like as a mess. I mean, yeah, it's that's a good question. I hadn't Actually, I'm going to have to give us, you.

Know, because you think of a lot of people who had lost their jobs in the pandemic and and this, and that doesn't matter what career it was, it's there's a lot that changed. And so I wonder if we would have given Rory a little bit more sympathy if it's just an interesting guy thought of it as a risk speaking.

But yeah, that's a good question because the post pandemic is much more like the gig economy, and you know, people just are taking what they can and and yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, that's a good point either way.

I still love the show, and I love every character I know exactly.

I love every season. Even though some seasons are rougher than others, I still love them all, Like, I mean, even the episodes.

Yeah, and even the episodes that like we didn't like recapping with Scott and Daniel and Amy, like they weren't bad episodes. It just wasn't our favorite, right right, They're still really good. It's filly good TV.

I mean, it's still completely watchable. Even if there were some that were like, oh, that storyline was a little boring, like yeah, you know, I didn't really enjoy that, but it's not. It's still watchable. I mean, yeah, still a good week. Yeah, forty five minutes.

Yeah exactly. Well, anyway, the next episode is going to be season one episode eight, Love and War and Snow.

Yes, this is a good one too. I like this one. So it's time to bring our town hall meeting to a close. Thank you all for attending and meeting adjourn.

Dot Hey, everybody, and altoget.

Follow us on Instagram at I Am all In podcast and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com.