Lorelai avoids telling her parents about her engagement to Max, while Rory urges her to spill. But due to a call from Sookie asking them to come to a surprise wedding shower for the happy couple, they already know, and are appalled that Lorelai didn't tell them and so they give her the cold shoulder. Meanwhile, Rory and Dean are having trouble in paradise due to the fact that Rory suddenly becomes obsessed with finding enough extracurricular activities that will set her apart from the hundreds of other Harvard applicants.