#shoulda burned that quarter on a string

[sarabethsilver]

Anybody catch this before? In Let The Games Begin, Rory lies to Lorelai about when and why she removed Dean's bracelet (aka the dreaded Quarter On A String).

Here's Rory, still very much wearing the bracelet, in the opening scene of the episode. (This is immediately prior to her amazing "hi hi hi hi" scene with Jess 🥰)

I like to think that as soon as Rory had this delightful exchange with Jess, the bracelet disintegrated off her wrist from the sheer force of her wanting him so badly. ANYWAY.

The very next scene is a Friday Night Dinner several nights later, where she is plainly NOT wearing the bracelet:

(Cutie pie is hungry and waiting for her fifth salad.)

She is also NOT wearing the bracelet during her adorably awkward near-kiss with Jess in the diner apartment. I tried to take a screenshot but my brain kept short-circuiting from all the cuteness.

Then, on the morning of her Yale visit - which is about a week later, according to dialogue - Rory says this:

(Please note Lorelai's mournful face as she realizes that Dean will no longer stalk their house on the daily.)

Very interesting, Miss Gilmore! Because according to my calculations, that bracelet has been off your wrist for at LEAST a week, probably closer to two.

It might be a coincidence, but I don't think so... those first two scenes make a pretty big point to show us her left wrist. I wonder if this is supposed to signify a change between how Rory handled her relationships? She told Lorelai every little thing about Dean, certainly including updates about that damn bracelet. But with Jess... the moment they start dating, she's keeping their relationship mostly between them and doesn't include Lorelai.

It's a healthy boundary for Rory to set between her and Lorelai, but it also involved Rory lying about a trivial event. What a perfect demonstration of the ways that her relationship with Jess was more grown up AND more dysfunctional from the start.