Category: S2Ep14: It Should’ve Been Lorelai

Divine Providence

RORY: We must have something.
LORELAI: Not unless Divine Providence has placed a miracle brie and cracker plate in the fridge.

In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God’s intervention in the world. There is both the “general Providence” of God maintaining the existence and order of the Universe, and “special Providence” of making some extraordinary intervention in people’s lives, such as a miracle. It would definitely be a minor miracle to find a Brie cheese and cracker plate has appeared in your fridge!

“I’ll body block the fool”

RORY: What about the upstairs?
LORELAI: I’ll body block the fool who tries to go upstairs.

A possible reference to the action adventure television series, The A-Team, broadcast from 1983 to 1987. It featured a team of four men from a commando unit, who were sent to a military prison for crimes they did not commit, but escaped to LA in order to work as soldiers of fortune while trying to clear their names.

The A-Team rated well when it was was first shown, and has achieved cult status through syndication. It helped sell a range of merchandise, and was made into a film in 2010.

The team’s strong man and mechanic is Sergeant Bosco “B.A.” Baracus, played by Mr T. The B.A. nickname stood for “Bad Attitude”, a euphemism for “Bad Ass”, which couldn’t be said on TV back then. (Mr T, a devout Christian, thought of it as “Born Again”).

Baracus tended to call people “fool”, or refer to them as “the fool”, and body blocking someone trying to get upstairs would be an easy feat for him.

Prix Fixe Menu

RORY: Where else can we invite them?
LORELAI: Al’s Pancake World.
RORY: No, it’s Friday. He does his prix fixe menu on Fridays.

Prix fixe is French for “fixed price” – a chef’s menu where there are only a few items, charged at a fixed total price to make an entire meal. It is also known as table d’hôte, literally “the host’s table”.

Apparently the prix fixe menu at Al’s isn’t good, or isn’t worth it.

Alain Ducasse

CHRISTOPHER: I hear you’re the greatest chef after Alain Ducasse.
SOOKIE: After Alain Ducasse? Who – who said after?

Alain Ducasse (born 1956), French-born chef from Monaco. He operates a number of restaurants, including Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, in London. In 2000 he opened the Alain Ducasse restaurant at the Essex Hotel in New York City. He was the first chef to have three restaurants that had been awarded three Michelin stars in three cities (London, Paris, New York). In 2012, he held 21 Michelin stars, making him the second-highest ranked chef in the world. In 2013 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from Restaurant magazine.

Puppy on the Christmas Card

LORELAI: I recognized you from your Christmas card.
CHRISTOPHER: Which I’m sure you mocked mercilessly.
LORELAI: Did not. Others, yes, but not yours. You guys were cute, and the puppy was cute.

Lorelai didn’t mock their card nearly as much as others, although she did say that Sherry looked like Tammy Faye Bakker. She so clearly doesn’t resemble Tammy Faye that I wonder if they had even cast an actress for the role at that point? Perhaps Sherry had a make-over for the photo shoot with a touch of Tammy Faye glamour to it.

The puppy is never seen or referred to again. Did they even have a puppy? Maybe they rented one for the photo shoot. Hopefully they didn’t get a puppy for Christmas and give it away in the New Year.

“Sherry, this is Rory”

CHRISTOPHER: This is Sherry. Sherry, this is Rory.
SHERRY: Oh, finally, finally, finally. I am so beyond thrilled, I can’t tell you. All he does is talk about you. I couldn’t wait to meet this amazing person.

Confirmation that Rory didn’t visit Christopher and Sherry in Boston during her Christmas break, despite being invited.

Goodness knows what Christopher has to say about Rory. He hardly knows her!

“She must be a witch”

SOOKIE: Plus she’s been sitting for an hour and her dress is perfect. Not a wrinkle? How does she do that?
LORELAI: She must be a witch.

Mädchen Amick went on to play a witch named Wendy Beaumont in the 2013 television series, The Witches of East End.

Sookie mentions to Sherry how smooth her dress looks, and Sherry says it’s the fabric. Sookie responds with scepticism, as if she’s convinced that Lorelai is right, and Sherry actually is a witch.

Willamette University of Law

PARIS: Professor Bomar of Willamette University of Law has prepared a lengthy summary that I’d like to use in my remaining time.

The Willamette University College of Law is a private law school in Salem, Oregon, founded in 1883 and part of Willamette University, which was founded in 1842, and is the oldest university in the Western United States.

It is pronounced wil-AM-it; Paris mispronounces it to sound more like William-ette.

Professor Bomar is fictional.

EDIT: Huge thanks to blog reader Dan Gray, who is from Oregon, for correcting me on the pronunciation of Willamette.