Footnotes to the TV series
PARIS: It is not enough to sign a petition to get a Little Debbie machine installed in the senior corridor. Snack cakes will not change the world. Cream filling will not decide our legacy.
Little Debbie snack cakes, previously discussed. They are quite often included as a snack in vending machines.
Mandatory recycling program
Better drinking fountains
Updated lockers
Clearly marked boy’s and girl’s restrooms
Non-dairy and wheat-free alternatives in the cafeteria
More say in how charitable funds donated to Chilton are spent
The student elections are being held on Friday – another example of us being kept on track for the timeline of this episode.
LUKE: Read your note … It was very well-written … I also enjoyed the Garfield stationery. That’s one funny cat.
Garfield, a comic strip created by Jim Davis featuring a lazy, fat, cynical orange tabby cat named Garfield, noted for his love of lasagne, coffee, and sleeping. Originally published as Jon (the name of Garfield’s owner) in 1976, it was syndicated nationally from 1978. It holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most syndicated comic strip, being published in more than 2000 newspapers and journals.
Garfield has been turned into comic books, TV shows, films, and video games, and been used for merchandise (such as the stationery) which earns up to $1 billion per year.
LORELAI: You’re pulling a Mr. Freeze on me.
Mr Freeze (Dr Victor Fries) is a supervillain from the Batman comics, created by Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff in 1959, and originally called Mr Zero. Mr Freeze was a rogue scientist whose design for an ice gun backfired, spilling cryogenic chemicals on himself, so he needed sub-zero temperatures to survive. The Batman television series gave him a more sympathetic back story, making him a complex, tragic character. He was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1997 Batman film.
Another example of Lorelai using comic books as a reference point.
After half an hour of psyching herself up, Lorelai goes into the diner and tries to make up her fight with Luke. She has already written him a note to apologise, but Luke refuses to engage with her. He accepts her apology, he offers to get her a coffee and a doughnut, but there is no emotion there, and he barely looks at her (would his resolve crumble if he did?). Lorelai has really hurt Luke, and he cannot go back to how things were before.
LORELAI: But I’m here now and hey, I’m like cheese ….
RORY: She gets better with time … Sorry Gouda, we’ve got school.
Gouda is a sweet, creamy cheese originating from the city of Gouda in the Netherlands. The first mention of it dates to 1184, making it one of the oldest recorded cheeses still made today.
DEAN: Why don’t we just bring [Lorelai] something out?
RORY: No. She and Luke have been in this fight for too long, she’s gotta do this.
DEAN: You’re cruel.
RORY: Tough love, baby.
Tough love is the act of treating a person harshly or sternly with the intent to help them in the long run. It is thought that the phrase originated with the 1968 book Tough Love by Christian community activist Bill Milliken, who worked with at-risk youth to keep them engaged with the education system.
Dean describing Rory as “cruel” seems quite apt, considering the dishonest basis of their relationship at this point.
Rory and Dean are eating breakfast at Luke’s before school, Lorelai unable to join them because she’s still in a fight with Luke. It’s a reminder that with Jess gone, Rory has just gone back to Dean as if everything is fine between them.
Just a few days before, Rory skipped school and caught a bus to New York to see Jess, the boy that Dean is jealous of, doesn’t trust one inch, and is sure that Rory likes more than him. Rory hasn’t told any of this to Dean – if Rory had been honest, she might not be having breakfast with Dean now! For someone who recently snuck off to see another guy, Rory is a pretty cool customer, grifting Dean out of his pancakes. She clearly feels extremely secure in her relationship.
LORELAI: Dad, glad you’re here. We’re just talking about how pretty Rory is. Big eyes, baby. Give him the Bambi face.
Bambi, previously discussed.
This is the second time that Rory is compared to or linked with Bambi in some way.
LORELAI: Oh, hey Mom, uh, Sookie wanted to know if you and Dad would like to come to her wedding … Yeah, it’s gonna be great. Small, low key, but fun. She’s catering it herself so the food’ll be fantastic, and you’d get to see me and Rory walk down the aisle in two of the least obnoxious bridesmaid dresses ever created.
EMILY: Well, that sounds very nice. When is it?
LORELAI: A week from Sunday.
Unlike so many episodes of Gilmore Girls, which exist in a sort of timeless vaccuum or even have a self-contradictory timeline, “I Can’t Get Started” has a very clear timeline, with Sookie and Jackson’s wedding on a Sunday, one week and two days from the first scene. There are several reminders of how time is passing, to keep us on track with the wedding schedule.
We were told in a previous episode that that the wedding is planned for the 14th of May, although in real life, the 14th May in 2002 was a Wednesday, not a Sunday.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 