Footnotes to the TV series
Raid the fridge for snacks
Make an avocado and mango face mask
Tell their fortunes with tarot cards
Play the board game Twister
Make milkshakes with Häagen-Dazs chocolate-with-chocolate-chip ice cream
Watch the 1984 rock musical drama film, Purple Rain, starring Prince
Because it’s now midnight, the only one of these they did was have milkshakes.
LORELAI: Well I’m sorry, [the termites] were getting organized. I heard one of them yell “Charge”.
A trope in western films, where someone yells “Charge!”, just before the cavalry makes an attack.
[They ring the doorbell, Sookie answers]
SOOKIE: There they are, my little termite whisperers.
Sookie references the 1998 drama film The Horse Whisperer, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nicholas Evans. The film is directed by Robert Redford, who also stars in the title role, and is about a “horse whisperer” who is able to train horses through kind, gentle methods.
The Horse Whisperer was a commercial success and well received. It led to anyone having a supposedly ability to handle a difficult creature, person, or situation as a “[whatever] whisperer”, just the way Sookie does. Even though Lorelai and Rory haven’t handled them well at all!
Note that the horse whisperer in the film is a horse trainer from Montana. This is so suspiciously like Bootsy’s claim in the previous episode that he spent a summer training horses in Montana that I think he either chose his vacation after watching the film, or simply made the story up, inspired by the film.
RORY: It’s eleven o’clock at night.
LORELAI: Yeah well, here. But somewhere in the world it’s still Miller time.
Lorelai refers to the slogan of the Miller Beer company, which is “it’s Miller time”, become shorthand to mean, “it’s time to relax”.
Even though it’s the middle of the night, there’s snow on the ground, and they’re in pyjamas, Lorelai and Rory put on coats and scarves and walk to Sookie’s house. In other episodes, they say that Sookie’s house is a long walk from theirs (they seem to have to go through the centre of town to get there), but for some reason they always walk, even when complaining about the distance. Apparently it is both too far to walk quickly, and too close to drive (perhaps a mile???).
In real life, the sets for Lorelai’s and Sookie’s houses were right next to each other, and could be accessed through a door between them. Note that there are still snowmen standing from the previous episode’s contest – apparently they are left up until they melt in early spring.
RORY: So, what did you get?
PARIS: Well Rory, since you asked, and by the way I’m not bragging or anything, but I got a 750 math and a 730 verbal.
Paris’ results are predictably excellent – but just a fraction lower than Rory’s.
PARIS: Louise, what did you get?
LOUISE: Highlights, just around my face.
PARIS: You will take them again and do better.
Although Paris is correct that you can retake the PSAT, you can only do it once every twelve months. So Louise would need to wait until October 2002 to retake it – by which time, she would have taken the actual SAT, making it redundant. If you want to take your PSATs more than once, you need to start at least a year in advance. I feel as if Paris would know this.
Note that Louise’s results are apparently lower than Madeline’s, and it is actually she who is worse academically than her best friend. Louise seemed to be the brighter one in Season 1, but Paris berates her by saying, “You don’t study, you don’t apply yourself”, as if she knows Louise is capable of doing better, but is simply lazy.
MADELINE: 500 Verbal, 560 Math.
PARIS: Respectable.
MADELINE: I thought so.
Although the show encourages us to think of Madeline as rather dim, in fact her results put her squarely in the middle, with the average PSAT score being in the 500s for each subject. She’s ditzy rather than dumb.
LOUISE: I just thought we really connected the other day in the supply closet.
MADELINE: Boys. A Nancy Drew mystery.
Nancy Drew, previously discussed, the heroine of an extremely popular and long-running series of mystery novels aimed at a young female readership.
Nancy Drew was a strong, independent super-girl who was rich, attractive, and multi-talented; perfectly groomed, she remained cool in a crisis, and was sweet and wholesome. She understood psychology, spoke French, painted pictures, was a skilled driver and horsewoman, and capable of running a motorboat. She could shoot, swim, row, was brilliant at golf and tennis, a gourmet cook, expert seamstress, good dancer, and naturally knew first aid.
A cultural icon, Nancy Drew has inspired of generations of girls and women, with Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Walters, Laura Bush, and Barbra Streisand among many who quote her as an early influence.
MADELINE: Jeremy didn’t call?
LOUISE: Not in a timely manner, no.
MADELINE: Well, good riddance to bad luggage.
Madeline makes a play on the English idiom, “Good riddance to bad rubbish”, meaning that you are better off without that bothersome person or situation. “Good riddance” has been in use since the 16th century, while the “bad rubbish” part was added around the 18th century.
Note that Rory is still reading alone at lunchtime, although she is at least eating at the same table as Madeline and Louise. No sign of Lisa!
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 