Footnotes to the TV series
Earlier in the episode, Rory told her mother that despite all the hot and heavy make out sessions with her boyfriend, she is far too busy to be thinking about sex. It didn’t seem very believable at the time, and now she admits the truth – she is thinking about sex with Jess, or at least she is considering it as something that is likely to happen if they stay together. She promises to talk to Lorelai before anything happens.
RORY: Mom?
LORELAI: Hm? Is that you, Rhett?
Rhett Butler, the love interest of heroine Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, previously discussed as an important book for Lorelai. In the film version, he was played by Clark Gable. [pictured]
A faint from hunger Lorelai puts herself in the role of Scarlett, perhaps because Scarlett herself endures a period of grim starvation during the Civil War.
ZACH: But no way are we playing Creed, man … Or Amy Grant. That’s where we draw the line.
Creed, rock band from Tallahassee, Florida with several songs addressing themes in Christian theology and spirituality. Prominent in the post-grunge movement of the mid-1990s, the band released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, with their album Human Clay being certified diamond. Creed has sold over 28 million records but has been panned by some critics; Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band the worst artist of the 1990s.
Amy Grant (born 1960), [pictured] pop singer-songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as “The Queen of Christian Pop”. She had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, won six Grammy Awards, 22 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, and had the first Christian album to go platinum. She was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and in 2022, she was announced as a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors.
LANE: Yeah, yeah, Dave. Christians can still rock, don’t hide it.
ZACH: Marshall stacks don’t know Christians from atheists.
DAVE: Gosh, I just wasn’t sure if you guys would be accepting of my devoutness.
Marshall, British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, speakers, headphones and earphones, drums and bongos. The company also owns a record label called Marshall Records. It was founded in London in 1962 by drum shop owner and drummer, Jim Marshall, and is now based in Milton Keynes, England.
Their amplifiers are known as Marshall stacks, due to their size. Iconic in rock and roll, famous customers of Marshall include The Who, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and John Mayall.
When Zach and Brian realise that Dave has been moonlighting as a Christian guitarist for Lane’s mother, they comically miss the point, and decide that Dave has been hiding a secret from them – that he’s a devout Christian. They immediately assure Dave that his religion makes no difference to how they feel about him, and he had no reason to hide it from them.
JESS: Hey. Your mom home?
RORY: I’m bringing supplies [carrying take out bags].
JESS: Should’ve brought a mule.
RORY: What?
JESS: A pack mule, to carry it.
Mule, a domesticated hybrid between a donkey and horse, the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). Mules vary widely in size, and may be of any color. They are more patient, hardier and longer-lived than horses, and are perceived as less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys.
There is a comic misunderstanding here where Jess suggests that Rory get a mule if her mother is hungry, which Rory takes to be a rude comment that Lorelai is so greedy she would eat an entire mule! Jess quickly explains that he meant she should get a pack mule, to carry all the food (which is still a little rude, implying that Rory has bought a huge amount of food). Mules make good good pack animals, as they can bear heavy weights.
LUKE: Dean had that girl for two years. You have a little fight after two months, you walk out, and it’s over?
Jess and Rory have actually been going over for a little over three months, since mid-November.
It annoys me that Luke says, “Dean had that girl for two years”. He had Rory? He owned her? And why does Luke call her “that girl” like he hardly knows her? It’s very strange and a bit creepy.
LUKE: Being jealous of Dean is pointless. You’re just gonna drive Rory away. You wanna have a relationship with someone, you’re gonna have to learn to open up your mouth and say something.
JESS: Give it a rest, Dr. Phil.
Dr Phil, previously discussed.
Having a girlfriend for a few weeks has certainly given Luke a lot of authority on relationship matters. This scene between Luke and Jess reads like Luke urgently giving Jess the sort of relationship advice he himself has badly needed during the show.
LUKE: When you date a girl like Rory, you’re involved with her whole family. Just like that last girl you dated, you were involved with her whole Petri dish.
Petri dish, a shallow, transparent lidded dish that biologists use to grow cell cultures, such as bacteria, fungi, and moss. The container is named after its inventor, German bacteriologist Julius Petri.
Everyone is so horrible about Shane on this show. Even Luke, who (rightly) urged Jess to be nicer to Shane when they were going out, now he speaks of her family as nothing more than bacteria!
JESS: Just lay low, it’ll come.
LUKE: Does it act all peaceful and Bambi-like and then suddenly attack like the rabbit in Monty Python?
Bambi, previously discussed.
Luke refers to the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, a character in the film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, previously discussed. In the film, the Knights of the Round Table are told a particular cave is guarded by a fearsome monster – to their initial relief, this beast turns out to be what appears to be an ordinary white rabbit. No longer taking the warnings seriously, they approach the rabbit confidently – only for one of the knights to be instantly decapitated by a flying bunny. The rabbit kills two more knights and seriously injures several more before it is defeated.
JESS: I was attacked by a swan. Okay, you happy? A stupid swan.
LUKE: Now, how ’bout the real story?
Luke professes disbelief that Jess’ black eye came from a swan attack. Swans are notoriously aggressive during breeding season, and can do some damage when provoked – generally of the bruising variety, rather than breaking bones or anything. Breeding season is April to June, and this is February, but if you’re unlucky, swans can attack at any time.
I’m not sure why Luke doesn’t believe Jess at first, nor why Jess is too embarrassed to tell Rory the truth. For that matter, why is everyone so sure that Dean gave Jess the black eye? Had it happened before? Does Dean seem that dangerous? And if she believes Dean did hurt Jess, why is Rory angry at Jess, rather than Dean?
An interesting point to ponder: most swan-related injuries actually occur when the person is running away from the swan – falling over and cutting their knee, or getting a branch in their eye running through trees. (In one unfortunate case, drowning while trying to escape). Is it possible that this is really how Jess got a black eye, and is this why he is so embarrassed?
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 