“Paris doesn’t have a brother”

FRANCIE: I saw her walking off with . . . who was that, her brother?

LOUISE: Paris doesn’t have a brother.

FRANCIE: Really? Well, she certainly seemed to know him.

Jamie is hanging around Chilton, being a distraction to Paris again and giving Francie an opportunity to take her down a peg. Princeton doesn’t go back after the Christmas break until mid-January, suggesting this episode takes place in the first half of the month.

However, it’s something of a mystery what he is doing in Hartford, which is a fair distance from Philadelphia. Is he staying with Paris, since she spent Christmas with his family? And why is Chilton letting him turn up during the school day? Don’t they have any security? Why are they letting Paris leave with him? What ever happened to Chilton being a really strict school?

New York to London

FRANCIE: I was just so surprised that Paris was canceling the meeting that it flew right out of my head. It was New York to London in three hours or less.

Francie is referring to the Concorde, previously discussed. A flight on the Concorde from New York to London was billed as taking 2 hours and 59 minutes – a shade less than three hours. It now takes seven hours to take the same flight route. That’s progress!

Amaretto

SOOKIE: Twelve courses, each paired with a specific wine, and for dessert, individual chocolate amaretto mousse cakes in the shape of a G.

Amaretto, sweet Italian liqueur that can be made from almonds, bitter almonds, apricot kernels, or peach stones. It can be drunk neat, added to cocktails or coffee, and is commonly used in cooking, especially desserts. Its name means “a little bitter” in Italian.

Victor Hugo

RICHARD: Wonderfully. They’re spoiling me rotten. [takes Emily’s hand] Emily got me the most beautiful humidor. It’s from 1917, and was owned by a lieutenant in World War I.

TRIX: You know, your father had a humidor that was owned by Victor Hugo. I still have it if you’d like it.

RICHARD: Well, I’d love it [drops Emily’s hand]

Victor-Marie Hugo (1802-1885), French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career spanning more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time. His most famous works are The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

Victor Hugo was a keen smoker, even saying that “Tobacco … converts thoughts into dreams”. I presume he smoked cigars, although it seems pertinent to mention that Victor Hugo is a famous brand of cigars. Is it possible that Richard’s father actually owned a humidor that was made by the company, I wonder? It seems much more likely.

Richard always seems to choose his mother over Emily. Even after he tries to show Trix what a thoughtful gift Emily has chosen for him, he drops her hand and says he’d prefer to have his father’s humidor instead. He can be very hurtful to Emily, and shows her no loyalty when it comes to Trix.

The Arboretum

EMILY: So, Mom, if you’re going to be here for awhile, I can plan some things for you to do, some outings you might enjoy.

TRIX: Like what?

EMILY: Like the arboretum.

Emily may possibly refer to the Kim Arboretum in Elizabeth Park in West Hartford. It only received official arboretum status in 2019, but the trees themselves were planted more than a century before, with some trees growing naturally even earlier. Could it have been referred to as the arboretum even before official status was conferred, I wonder?

Korn

TRIX: Well, for the past year, I’ve been renting my home in Hartford to a group of musicians. They’ve recently moved out, so I had to come check on the house and secure a new tenant.

LORELAI: What kind of musicians?

TRIX: A rock and roll group of some sort. I believe they call themselves Korn.

Korn, a nu metal band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1994, receiving positive reviews, and being credited with establishing the new wave of metal. Mainstream success came with Follow the Leader (1998) and Issues (1999), both of which debuted at #1. The band has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and have two Grammy Awards.

In real life they lived in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, not in Hartford.

Minnie Pearl

TRIX: You’re single?

LORELAI: I’m single.

TRIX: By choice, or do you scare the men with your independence?

LORELAI: Actually, I scare them with my Minnie Pearl impression.

TRIX: The lady with the hat.

Sarah Cannon, known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl (1912-1996), was an American comedian who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.

The Return of Trix

Richard’s mother Trix unexpectedly arrives on Richard’s birthday, both to visit her son and take care of some business. Emily is horrified and begins having a meltdown, but Lorelai decides to support her mother through this crisis. Previously she took a slightly malicious pleasure in watching her grandmother torture her mother – on the last visit, which took place in “The Third Lorelai”, Trix also ended up disgusted with Lorelai, so it seems that she now sees her mother’s point of view a little better.

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War

RICHARD: Oh, I must say, I am a very spoiled man. Chuck Berry, and the complete History of the Peloponnesian War.

LORELAI: Well, sure, ’cause a partial history would skip all the dirty stuff.

RICHARD: I especially like the way you wrapped the books in a bow tie. It’s very, very clever.

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). Written by historian and classical scholar Donald Kagan, a professor at Yale University, the book comes in four volumes. Lorelai has bought Richard all four volumes, hence it is the “complete” version. Lorelai has wrapped the books in the bow tie which was her original present for her father – Rory almost certainly suggested the books.

Dean Asks Rory to be Friends

DEAN: I don’t know, Rory. Maybe . . . maybe, um . . . is there a way we could be friends? … If you want to.

RORY: Oh, I want to. I really want to. But –

DEAN: Don’t ask me how I’m gonna deal with him. I have no idea.

Although Rory was initially reluctant to have coffee with Dean, and refused to eat anything, by the end of this scene they are chatting easily, and she is smiling and sharing his custard pie. When Dean asks if they can be friends, she says she really wants to, with Jess being relegated to a “But – “.

Rory was friends with Jess, which gradually damaged her relationship with Dean until they broke up (again). Now she agrees to be friends with Dean while going out with Jess – what could go wrong? Of course, Dean is very much wanting it to go wrong, in order to cause Jess the same sort of problems he believes Jess caused him.

It does feel typically unfair that just as Rory is starting to feel more relaxed and confident with Jess, Dean worms his way back into the picture. Because drama.