On her way back from going to the toilet, Lorelai has a poignant moment looking at a display of past valedictorians, and makes a point of gazing longingly at Erika Hilson Palmer, the valedictorian for 1990. This is the year that Lorelai would have graduated from university if she’d gone straight from high school instead of having Rory, and it’s a reminder that Harvard was her dream first, and that she seems to have had high ambitions for herself.
In real life, Harvard University does not have class valedictorians.
Reader Sazz has noted that the surname Palmer seems like a nod to Twin Peaks, the television show directed by Amy Sherman Palladino’s idol, David Lynch (mentioned a short time earlier in this very episode). Twin Peaks centres around solving the mystery of teenage Laura Palmer’s death.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 
They needed a picture for the Valedictorian wall. This looks a lot like the actress who played Sherri, Christopher’s wife.
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I love that idea, because Madchen Amick was in “Twin Peaks”, so it would really fit. But I can’t find any confirmation on that, and to me the picture looks a bit different to Amick, who doesn’t join the show until later.
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Total nod to Twin Peaks. They mention David Lynch earlier on in episode then zoom in on this picture whose name is Palmer. No coincidence.
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Good catch!!!!
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It’s taken a very long time, but finally edited to include your comment! Merry Christmas! 🙂
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