Category: S3Ep14: Swan Song

Big White Stetson

JESS: What if Dean had sucker-punched me and I had to defend myself? You’re not even considering the possibility that that’s what happened?
RORY: Dean wouldn’t do that.
JESS: Oh, no, he might get his big white Stetson dirty.

Stetson, a brand of hat symbolic of the pioneering West, made by the John B. Stetson Company, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1865. They quickly became associated with legends of the old West who wore Stetsons, such as Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Will Rogers, and Annie Oakley.

Later, cowboys in Western movies were invariably shown wearing Stetson hats – in film symbology, the “good guys” are often thought of as wearing white Stetsons, and the “bad guys” black ones. In actual fact, it isn’t as clear cut as people seem to remember this trope, but film and TV cowboys such as Tom Mix and the Lone Ranger must have helped cement the idea of the good guy wearing a white hat.

Wal-Mart

EMILY: So, Rory tells me you’re part of the Wal-Mart corporation .. They sound like wonderful stores … We’ve never actually been inside one, but we own the stock.
JESS: Thanks for the paycheck.

Wal-Mart, previously discussed.

A very Emily thing to say here – she’s never been in a Wal-Mart, but she owns stock in the business, she tells Jess, who works for Wal-Mart. Quite a way to put him in his place. We Gilmores own you, Mariano!

Big Rig, Bennies and Goofballs

EMILY: There was something with a big rig. Oh, those things, they scare the life out of me. And apparently, all the men who drive them are hopped up on bennies and goofballs.

Big rig, informal English for a large truck, an 18-wheeler – otherwise known as a semi-trailer truck, a semi-trailer, a semi-truck, or just a semi.

Bennies, slang for the drug Benzedrine, an amphetamine used recreationally since the 1920s.

Goofballs, slang for tranquilisers or sleeping pills, used as a recreational drug. Note that you can’t really get “hopped up” on sleeping pills, and taking them alongside amphetamines seems counterproductive, suggesting that Emily’s knowledge of the drug scene is limited. I think this is her attempt to seem cool and hip in front of Jess.

Jess Has a Black Eye

When Jess finally gets there (he really did get stuck in traffic) he has a black eye, and refuses to say how it happened. Emily only expresses polite concern, and is otherwise perfectly charming to him.

Rory however, absolutely flips. She is convinced that Jess has got into a fight with Dean, because the two of them talked together at Miss Patty’s. This is very unfair of Rory to make such an assumption, when Jess already told her he wasn’t upset about her talking to Dean – only bothered that he had to find it out from town gossip. But she is so angry with Jess for turning up to Emily’s dinner, late and with a black eye, that she is is no mood to be fair.

Jess is Late

Rory arrives at her grandmother’s house after school – she seems to have brought a change of clothes with her, as she is not in her uniform. Jess is late to get there, but Emily, ever the gracious hostess, says that Jess probably got into bad traffic on Interstate 84, and professes to find it refreshing that Jess doesn’t have a cell phone, and thus can’t be contacted or call them.

It is Rory who is upset and embarrassed over Jess’ tardiness. You can tell she was hoping Jess would make a good impression on her rather snooty grandmother, which seems extremely unlikely.

On Ramp

RORY: And what are you worried about happening?
LORELAI: Well, what you guys were on the on-ramp for up at Luke’s the other day. Your basic boy/girl stuff. Especially with this new boy, you girl stuff.
RORY: Well, the boy is different, but I’m still me. That hasn’t changed.

On ramp, the short section of road which allows a driver to enter the highway. Lorelai has taken one look at Jess and Rory making out, and seen that as a short step to the highway of sexual intercourse.

She tries to give Rory the “cool mom” version of the sex talk, but Rory says she is too busy to be even thinking about sex, and says that if she were thinking about it, she would talk about it with Lorelai first.

Lorelai has to be content with that, even though she’s clearly not happy at the idea of leaving Rory alone in the house overnight. She never worried about it when Rory was with Dean, even though Dean made some overtures, and did come over even after being explicitly told not to by Rory.

Rory claims she tells her mother “everything”, but in fact she keeps an awful lot of her personal life close to her chest. As a result, Lorelai never realises that Dean was not the knight in shining armour she seems to think he is.

Orcs

LORELAI: But if you can’t get a hold of him, it might be safer to plan on staying at Mom’s. I mean, if you run out of gas, you’re stuck. And at the mercy of the Orcs.

A race of humanoid monsters which feature in the Lord of the Rings films, previously discussed as favourite movies of Lorelai and Rory. Brutish, ugly, and malevolent, Lorelai seems to be using them as a symbol of all the bad things that could happen to Rory.

Paulie, Bada Bing

RORY: What’s he wearing, a jogging suit?
LORELAI: Yeah, and then after, he and Paulie are hitting The Bada Bing.

A reference to the TV show The Sopranos, previously discussed as one of Lorelai’s favourites. Peter Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri is one of Tony Soprano’s henchman, and The Bada Bing is a strip club and key location in the show. Paulie was very fond of wearing jogging suits, in particular, a black velvet one.