RORY: I thought we could see a movie or something.
DEAN: You’re not free.
RORY: How do you know?
DEAN: ‘Cause you’ll be working on your application all weekend.
Dean is now experienced enough to know that when Rory says she’s free to spend time with him, that means, unless she has unexpected homework to do. Or a test to study for. Or Paris wants her to do extra work for the newspaper. Or she suddenly discovers she’s got to do volunteer work all summer. He can even anticipate it coming before she can. Instead of fighting with her over it, he’s learned to just accept it.
RORY: I call them the stuff you avoid until the Environmental Protection Agency steps in.
The EPA, previously discussed. Apparently the Gilmore method of housework means you only do it when the house is so filthy it’s a health hazard – even though we’ve never seen their house look dirty or even very messy.
Rory seems to think the word “chores” sounds very rural and folksy. Unlike Dean, Rory doesn’t have regular chores – as it’s just she and Lorelai (and they both have work/school), she takes an almost equal share of the household tasks. It’s never made clear how Lorelai and Rory divide up jobs around the house, but they’re rarely shown arguing about it or even discussing it, and they have a relaxed approach in any case.
LUKE: Do they let kids drink coffee before school?
RORY: Why, do you think it might lead to harder stuff? Lattes, cappuccinos . . .
Latte [pictured]: Caffè latte, shortened to latte in English. Coffee style from Italy made with espresso and steamed milk; the Italian word literally means “coffee and milk”. Part of European cuisine since the 17th century, the word caffè e latte was first used in English by American writer William Dean Howells in 1867, after a visit to Italy. The “latte” as an American-style coffee drink is said to have been “invented” in Berkeley in the 1950s and popularised in Seattle in the 1980s.
Cappuccino: Previously mentioned as a favourite of Rory and Lorelai. Espresso-based coffee drink prepared with steamed milk foam; typically smaller than a latte with a thicker layer of foam. The name comes from the Capuchin friars of the Catholic church – their habits are the colour of cappuccinos. The drink appears to be Viennese in origin, dating to the 18th century, and spreading through Europe from the port city of Trieste. It doesn’t seem to have been taken up in Italy until the 1930s, but it was through Italian-American neighbourhoods that it was spread in the US. It only seems to have become popularised there in the 1990s.
This is the song Lane puts on to help her make “deep cuts” to her rock band advertisement.
“I Wanna Be Sedated” is a song by punk rock band the Ramones, from their 1978 album Road to Ruin. It was released in the UK as the B-side to “She’s the One” the same year, then released as a single in the Netherlands in 1979, before being released as a single in the US in 1980. Written by Joey Ramone, previously mentioned, the song is about the rigours of being a touring band on the road. It is considered one of the best rock songs of all time.
LORELAI: Oh, they want a picture. How about the one of us sticking our heads through the carved out holes of Johnny Bravo and SpongeBob Squarepants?
Johnny Bravo, animated romantic comedy TV series created by Van Partible for Hanna Barbera which aired on the Cartoon Network from 1997 to 2004. The series focuses on Johnny Bravo (voiced by Jeff Bennett), a dim-witted Elvis-esque womaniser who lives with his mother. Episodes revolve around Johnny asking women on dates, although his advances are usually comically rejected, sometimes violently. The comedy derives mostly from celebrity guest star appearances and pop culture references, as well as adult humour – you can see why Rory and Lorelai would be fans of the show! Johnny Bravo helped launch the career of Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy – you can see why writer Daniel Palladino mentions it, as he worked with MacFarlane.
SpongeBob SquarePants, animated surreal comedy TV series created by marine science educator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon, based on an unpublished educational comic book Hillenburg created in 1989 to teach his students about undersea life. The show revolves around a cheerful yellow sea sponge called SpongeBob SquarePants who lives in the fictional city of Bikini Bottom, beneath the real-life Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Here he works as a cook at a fast food restaurant called the Krusty Krab, and interacts with other undersea characters. The show first began in 1999 and is still running, having won numerous awards and inspired an acclaimed Broadway musical, which opened in 2017.
Rory and Lorelai presumably had this photo taken during one of Stars Hollows many festivals. Note that Lorelai immediately suggests sending Harvard a photo of both she and Rory together, as if they are one person, or as if Lorelai will be attending Harvard by proxy.
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a stick with a net on it and a ball; the stick is used to carry, pass, catch, and shoot the ball into goal. It is the oldest organised sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America, going back as early as the twelfth century. The game was extensively modified by European colonisers to create the current game. It is commonly played in schools and colleges in the US, and there are professional leagues as well.
Lorelai jokingly refers to Rory as “the lacrosse kid” in acknowledgement of her quote from The Karate Kid – an example of something being referenced twice in one episode of Gilmore Girls, without the title of the work ever being used.
Rory quotes from the 1984 martial arts drama film The Karate Kid, directed by John G. Avildsen, and written by Robert Mark Kamen, who had earlier success with his screenplay for the 1976 boxing film, Rocky. It stars Ralph Macchio as karate student Daniel LaRusso, and Pat Morita as his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. The film was a commercial success, becoming a sleeper hit, and the #5 film of 1984. It received positive reviews, and launched Macchio’s career, while revitalising Morita’s, who had mostly been known for his comedic role as Arnold onHappy Days. It has also been credited with popularising karate in the US.
Mr Miyagi is the handyman in Daniel’s apartment, and when he defends Daniel from bullies with his unexpected karate skills, Daniel asks him to teach him karate. However, to his dismay, at first all Mr Miyagi does is give him chores to do, such as waxing his car – instructing Daniel how to do so with the words, “Wax on, wax off”.
Only later does Daniel realise that all the chores (waxing, sanding, painting) are teaching him the hand movements for karate and giving him muscle memory. Thus he learns to trust his mentor, knowing that even the seemingly mundane tasks he is given are a valuable part of his training.
Rory says this line teasingly to Lane, to remind her that every line she puts in her band advertisement has to be paid for out of her wages, and that if she’s going to make the ad really long, she’d better start waxing more tables. Rory is being realistic – Lane’s advertisement is ridiculously long and expensive!
It’s possible that on a deeper level, this quote from The Karate Kid is also saying that Mrs Kim is the Mr Miyagi to Lane’s Daniel. Although Lane’s mother seems harsh and stern, she is actually teaching her daughter some valuable lessons. Lane is certainly not afraid of hard work, and has a strong work ethic, which can only be of help in learning and practising music. And the Kim’s house is filled with music – religious music, but at least Lane has been brought up to listen to it. This could be a tiny hint that Mrs Kim is not a complete monster, and has had at least some positive effects on Lane’s musical aspirations.
LORELAI: And what’s with Jackson Browne making the list?
LANE: Ah, see, cool people know that he’s more than a mellow hippie-dippy folkie, that he actually wrote some of Nico’s best songs and was in fact her lover before he bored us with “Doctor, My Eyes.” That will separate the poseurs from the non-poseurs.
Clyde Jackson Browne (born 1948), musician, songwriter, and political activist. A precocious teenaged songwriter from Los Angeles in the 1960s, he had his first success writing songs for others. As a sixteen-year-old, he wrote “These Days” for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, which became a minor hit for German singer Nico, previously mentioned as one of Lane’s music idols, in 1967. After moving to Greenwich Village, he backed Nico, and they were romantically involved. He was a significant contributor to her debut album, Chelsea Girl, writing and playing guitar on several of the songs.
Jackson Browne’s self-titled debut album came out in 1972, and this includes the track “Doctor, My Eyes”, an upbeat-sounding track about being world-weary. It was a surprise hit, reaching #8 on the US charts, and most popular in Canada at #4. It’s become one of his concert mainstays, but Lane seems to regard his debut album as the start of Browne being “boring”!
Jackson Browne continued to have successful albums, with his signature work being 1977’s Running On Empty, peaking at #3, and with the title track reaching #11 in the US (#4 in Canada). His success continued through the 1980s, and his most recent album is Downhill from Everywhere (2021). He is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Note that Lane has no problems telling Lorelai that she has been lumped in with the uncool “poseurs” for not knowing about Jackson Browne and Nico – even though Lorelai has helped form many of Lane’s musical tastes (this seems very believable from a teenager). Viewers may find it amusing that Lane sees herself as having the ability to separate the poseurs from the non-poseurs, considering she’s quite the musical poseur herself.
RORY: But do you have to list every album he ever recorded, plus your personal rating between one to ten?
David Bowie, born David Jones (1947-2016), English singer-songwriter and actor. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, and acclaimed by critics, particularly for his innovative work in the 1970s. He is known for his constant reinvention of his image, and his music and stagecraft had a significant impact on popular music. During his lifetime, he was one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in in 1996. Rolling Stone named him “the greatest rock star ever”, and he is the best-selling vinyl artist of the twenty-first century.
David Bowie has released 27 studio albums, including one posthumously, as well as multiple live recordings and compilations. Nine of his studio albums have gone to #1 in the UK, but only one in the US – his 2016 Blackstar. His 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, is widely considered his best album, and one of the greatest of all time.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 