I Solemnly Swear…originally aired January 21, 2003.  This episode was written by John Stephens and was directed by Carla McCloskey.

This episode opens with a Friday night dinner, where we learn that Emily is being sued by a former maid for wrongful termination. Lorelei isn’t surprised until she learns that it’s the first time that Emily is being sued by a former maid, which leads to Lorelei finally being surprised.  Lorelei is trying to figure out if the maid was a good maid, other than being someone who clomps around the house, but Emily is very focused on the clomping.

From there…all sorts of things happen!

Sookie and Lorelei attend a course at the Learning Center about how to open an inn, and not surprisingly, the course has no new information for them.  However, Sookie runs into a guy she used to work with one summer, and they catch up while Lorelei talks to his business partner.  Sookie and Joe make plans to go to a restaraunt owned by someone they also used to work with.  It turns out that Joe was always into Sookie, and this was his second chance.  However, Sookie isn’t sure what to tell him at first, because she didn’t realize it was a date at first.  And can’t believe she accidentally flirted with someone.  Jackson doesn’t take it well when Sookie makes all of his favorite things.  Lorelei also gets asked out on a date, and she is going coffee-tasting with Alex.  Which is right up her alley, as she loves coffee.

At Chilton, Francie pretends that she wants to be friends with Rory, only to tell Paris that she has a lot of respect for her, and that Rory thinks Paris is too wrapped up in her boyfriend and is totally acting like the supplemental student council meeting was Rory’s idea.  Which Paris doesn’t take very well, since she’s feeling pretty betrayed by Rory.  To the point that she can’t believe she considered Rory her best friend.  Rory tries explaining, but Paris doesn’t believe her.

And Emily being sued by a former maid comes up later in the episode, when Lorelei has to go to a deposition…and also doesn’t want to lie for Emily, who wants Lorelei to tell the lawyers that she treats her maids well.

The episode ends with Lorelei talking on the phone to Alex.

Thoughts:

I’m not surprised that Emily is being sued by a former maid, considering her high standards.  It is a running joke that she can’t keep a maid for long, and it’s always amusing when it comes up.  It is very much like Emily to fire someone for making noise when they walk, but I have to say that I am surprised that this is the first time wrongful termination has come up. Then again, the show isn’t about Emily.  Still, I think Emily does have a point when she says she pays her staff to do things a certain way.  I mean, with Emily, it can go a little too far, but at the same time, she is paying them…

Still, Emily reading pieces of the deposition at a Friday night dinner…Lorelei’s responses were her, but I think she could have taken it a little more seriously.  Because I can see Lorelei not taking it seriously. Then again, maybe that was something that wasn’t shown on-screen.

And I’m not surprised that Sookie and Lorelei didn’t find the course helpful.  They do have a pretty good handle on things at the Inn. As for Sookie and her old friend, I didn’t get the vibe that it was a date, but it’s still very Sookie to not know what to do.  And to make things up to Jackson, who reacted like I would expect him to.  And it’s nice to see Lorelei agree to go on a date with someone!

As for the Chilton drama, Francie is one evil girl.  Rory did accidentally mention that Paris had a boyfriend to Francie in the last episode, which turned out to be a dumb move, because Francie totally saw a chance to use that piece of information.  It’s not surprising she’d lie about Rory’s motives to Paris, and that Paris would believe it.  Still, I’m surprised that Paris considered Rory her best friend, because while they are friend-ish, they don’t seem like they’re best friends.  At least, not on Rory’s end.

Favorite Lines:

I don’t have any for this episode.

Pop Culture:

Ben Hur, Brutus betraying Julius Cesar, The Great Gatsby

Episode Rating:

This episode was okay, and it’s not one of the more memorable moments.  It does keep the evil Francie arc going for a bit, but this episode is just there.  This episode gets 2 mugs of coffee.