Category: S1Ep15: Christopher Returns

Emily’s Phone Call to Christopher

While they are all in the diner for lunch, Christopher receives a call on his cell phone from Emily Gilmore. It seems awfully suspicious that Emily just happens to call Christopher when he is in Stars Hollow, and even more of a coincidence when it turns out that Emily knows his parents are in Connecticut at the same time.

Knowing Emily’s passion for meddling in Lorelai’s affairs, it seems likely that Christopher’s trip back east was engineered by Emily in the hopes that he would get closer to Rory, and maybe to Lorelai, and would bring Christopher’s parents, the Haydens, back into the fold as well.

It is Emily’s desire that Lorelai and Christopher form a family together with Rory, with the blessing of Straub and Francine Hayden, who haven’t bothered to see their granddaughter since she was a baby. This definitely looks like one of Emily’s master plans, and Richard’s comment about Christopher’s new business back in the Pilot show that the elder Gilmores had been in regular contact with Christopher for some time (and perhaps had always been).

“The monolith from 2001”

ANDREW: [bringing a very large and heavy book] Here you go.
CHRISTOPHER: Holy mother. This is the monolith from 2001.

Christopher is referring to the 1968 science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick, and partially inspired by a short story called “The Sentinel” by British sci-fi author Arthur C. Clark, who co-wrote the screenplay.

The film features a mysterious flat black monolith which seems to have affected human evolution from prehistoric times by somehow artificially speeding up intellectual development. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary is nowhere near as as large as the monolith in the film, but has similar intellect-stimulating properties. The writer may have referenced the film as it was now 2001.

On release, 2001: A Space Odyssey received mixed, or even polarised, reviews from critics, but gained a cult following. It went on to become the #1 film of 1968, and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time.

Compact Oxford English Dictionary

CHRISTOPHER: Come on, what’s the book of your dreams right now?
RORY: Well, that would definitely be the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, but Dad –

Rory is referring to the Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, which reduces the print size of the Oxford English Dictionary so that the entire dictionary can fit into a single volume instead of multiple volumes. The print size is so small that a magnifying glass comes with it so you can read it, and it is necessarily a very large and heavy book, with its own slipcase.

It costs about $400 today, which is why it is just a dream to Rory (and why Christopher can’t afford it). As Christopher’s credit card is rejected, Rory must realise that his boasts of financial success are all empty.

Christopher’s Alleged Doppelgangers

JACKSON: Boy I gotta tell you, did they get your description wrong.
CHRISTOPHER: Really?
JACKSON: Oh yeah, much more George Clooney than Brad Pitt. Hey Andrew.
ANDREW: Yup.
JACKSON: Don’t you think he’s much more George Clooney than Brad Pitt?
ANDREW: I’m going with the Billy Crudup comparison myself.

George Clooney (born 1961) is an American award-winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter, activist, businessman, and philanthropist. He made his television debut in 1978, and found fame on the medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999. During this time he took major roles in films such as Batman and Robin (1997) and Out of Sight (1998). In 1999 he had the lead role in Three Kings, a satire about the Gulf War. Clooney is generally seen as one of the handsomest men in Hollywood.

Brad Pitt (born William Bradley Pitt in 1963) is a multi award-winning actor and producer. He first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in Thelma & Louise (1991), and had leading roles in A River Runs Through It (1992), Legends of the Fall (1994), and Interview with the Vampire (1994). He received critical acclaim for Seven (1995), and Twelve Monkeys (1995), and starred in the cult film Fight Club (1999). At the peak of his career, he was seen as one of the sexiest men in Hollywood.

William “Billy” Crudup (born 1968) [pictured] is an American actor with extensive experience on the stage, mostly on Broadway. He has had supporting roles in films such as Sleepers (1996), and Almost Famous (2000). He gained financial success narrating the “Priceless” campaign for MasterCard from 1998 to 2005. Unless it’s cut very short or slicked back, Crudup has wavy hair, which may have reminded Andrew of Christopher’s locks; he’s also from a similar upper-middle class background to Christopher, who is identified as looking as if he comes from “money”.

Which of these actors Christopher most looks like is a matter of opinion. To me he doesn’t strongly resemble any of them, but presume that the Stars Hollow townsfolk are referring to different types of masculine good looks – handsome sophisticate, sexy charmer, or preppy hipster. Christopher apparently has elements of all these in his appearance.

Paraguay

CHRISTOPHER: What kind of international cuisine [is served at Al’s Pancake World]?
RORY: He kind of hops around. Last month it was his salute to Paraguay.

Paraguay is a land-locked country in central South America, bordered by Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia. Its traditional cuisine tends to be simple, hearty, and based on meat and cornmeal.

Some of the traditional dishes Al might have served during his salute to Paraguay: milanesa, (fried crumbed meat cutlets), chipa guazu (a savoury cake made from cornmeal, eggs, onions, and cheese), parillada (a meat dish cooked over banana leaves and hot coals), or vori vori (a thick yellow soup filled with little dumplings made from cornmeal) [pictured].

Al’s Pancake World

Rory explains to her dad that the never-seen but often-referenced local restaurant Al’s Pancake World doesn’t actually serve pancakes any more, although it once did. A few years previously Al  switched to international cuisine, but as he had just had new napkins printed out he had to keep the name. Presumably when the napkins run out he will change the name, but he must have a lot of napkins as that never happened. The name of the business suggests it was always international cuisine, just with a pancake theme that was abandoned for some no doubt quirky reason.

Al keeping the name of the restaurant is not dissimilar to the situation with Arnold’s Restaurant in the sitcom Happy Days. Mitsumo Takahashi (Pat Morita), the restaurant’s owner, explains that he goes by the name “Arnold” because he bought the business as Arnold’s Restaurant, and it was too expensive to buy enough sign letters to rename it “Takahashi’s”. Patrons assumed the restaurant was named after him instead of the other way around.

Bonne Bell Lip Smackers

LORELAI: [sighs] This man knows all my secrets. All of my bad girl moments happened with him – my worst fashion choices, my big hair days, the wearing of the Bonne Bell Lip Smackers around my neck – it was all with Christopher.

Bonne Belle Lip Smackers are flavoured lip balms. They were first introduced in 1973 by the Bonne Bell cosmetics company, and aimed squarely at the tweens and young teens market. During the 1970s and ’80s (when Lorelai was a child and teenager) it was fashionable for girls to wear large-sized Bonne Belle Lip Smackers on strings around their necks.

Biscotti

When Sookie offers Lorelai a treat and instructs her to dunk it in her coffee, she gives her a biscotto, without identifying it.

Biscotti are Italian almond biscuits (cookies) that are twice-baked, and very crisp and crunchy. Although biscotti’s origins go back to ancient Rome, they were revived in the Tuscan city of Prato in the 19th century, now seen as the home of modern biscotti. In Italy they are usually dunked in a dessert wine at the end of a meal, but outside Italy dunking them in coffee or tea is more usual.