Vermont

AUCTIONEER: Next up, we have an occasional table from a distinguished, family-owned company in Vermont, circa 1912.

Vermont, a New England state of the US, bordering New York, Massachussets, New Hampshire, and Canada. It is the only state in New England that does not border the ocean. It is the second-least populated state after Wyoming, and the sixth-smallest by area. The Green Mountains which give the state its name (Ver Mont, or “green mountain” in French) run up the middle of it, and much of the state is forested by hardwoods and conifers. Most of its open land is used for farming.

Vermont is known for its quality furniture-making, which goes back to the 17^th century, and as a good place to buy antique furniture. This is due to its heavy forestation and lumber industries, which have given several towns in Vermont their identity as woodworking centres.

“Punishment out of Greek mythology”

DWIGHT: I was in a terrible marriage, you know … Oh, yeah, horrible, like a punishment out of Greek mythology. The woman had five heads, suffering, agony.

Greek mythology features an impressive list of some extremely cruel punishments doled out to humans by the gods. The Titan Atlas had to hold up the heavens on his shoulders for all eternity, King Sisyphus had to roll a boulder uphill for all eternity, only for it roll back the second he managed it, Tantalus had to spend eternity surrounded by food and drink without being allowed one mouthful of either, and Prometheus was chained to a rock while an eagle pecked at his liver, which regrew each night so it could start again the next day.

The comment about Dwight’s wife having five heads probably refers to the number of multiple-headed monsters in Greek mythology. The Hydra was a giant nine-headed water serpent, Typhon was a terrible monster with one hundred dragon’s heads, and Cerberus, who guarded the gates of the Underworld, was a monstrous dog with at least three heads, although possibly as many as fifty.

The Oasis

DWIGHT: Welcome to The Oasis! That’s what I named this place, The Oasis, my oasis, a little slice of heaven right here on Earth.

An oasis is a piece of fertile land within a desert or semi-arid environment, often featuring a spring of fresh water surrounded by vegetation. Figuratively, it can refer to a quiet, peaceful place or situation separated from the noise and bustle that surrounds it. Dwight clearly sees his new home as a place of refuge from the stress of life.

Note that Dwight is wearing a shirt with cocktails on it, as if he is already relaxing into vacation mode in Stars Hollow.

Dwight’s house, The Oasis, is the Warner Bros Ranch at the studio lot. It was also the Griswold family home in the 1989 comedy film, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

HBO

LORELAI: Uh, well, I guess, I could water your lawn, Dwight – sure.

DWIGHT: Boy, that is something. If I would have asked somebody back where I used to live to water my lawn, I would’ve gotten a much more HBO kind of answer.

Home Box Office (HBO), a pay television channel, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (Gilmore Girls was on the Warner Bros. TV channel, the WB). First launched in 1972, it was the first pay TV network in the US, and the first in the world to begin transmitting via satellite.

HBO, as a channel available to subscribers, was able to broadcast programs without having to edit them to remove adult or objectionable material, and its sister channel Cinemax even broadcast softcore pornography until 2018. Dwight is saying that he would have received a much more adult-oriented answer in his previous neighbourhood (presumably in a city) if he asked someone to water his lawn for a few days.

Lorelai has always been shown to be pretty good at shutting down anyone who asks her to do anything for them she doesn’t want to, yet somehow, she is unable to resist Dwight’s plea. I guess she doesn’t want to get on the bad side of a new neighbour, or she doesn’t want him to think Stars Hollow isn’t a nice place, when he seems so excited to have moved there. Possibly her fight with Pete, which she later learned she’d been unreasonable about, has taken up all her energy. Or Dwight just has some mystical power over her. Maybe the same mind control that he used to get Beenie Morrison’s house!

Keister

DWIGHT: You know, I just got this beautiful lawn put in, really amazing shade of green, and the guy who put it in for me, he told me that I have to keep each blade of grass very moist for the first few days while the roots take, but I have to go on a business trip for a few days. Huh, last minute, and believe me, I tried to get out of it but my boss said, ‘Dwight, get off your keister and go make us some money’, so I gotta go.

Keister, slang for the anus or the buttocks. Its origin is uncertain. In the 19^th century, it was criminal slang for a burglar’s tool box, then later, criminal slang for a strongbox or safe, while “tripe and keister” meant a conman’s display case on a tripod. It probably comes from kiste, a German and Yiddish word for a box or case.

It seems Dwight not only moved in without Lorelai and Rory noticing anything, he also got a new lawn laid down without them noticing!

I am not sure what business Dwight works for that he could commute to it from Stars Hollow. He could work in Hartford and drive in every day, but he’s really presented as more of a big city person, with a New York vibe. By the way, people really take a lot of business trips in the Gilmore Girls universe!

Beenie Morrison

DWIGHT: I just moved in across the way.

LORELAI: Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Beenie Morrison’s old place.

Although Beenie Morrison was never seen or mentioned before, he used to live in the house directly opposite Lorelai and Rory. Oddly enough, they never noticed Beenie talking about selling, putting the house up for sale, erecting a FOR SALE sign, saying goodbye, or moving out. This has led many fans to the theory that Dwight simply murdered Beenie and moved into his house! Although this doesn’t explain why they didn’t also notice Dwight moving in, and why they never heard anything, when Stars Hollow is so gossipy. It’s strange how very, very oblivious the Gilmore girls have been to the house across from them until their attention is drawn to it.

Even Lorelai seems to suspect something isn’t right with this scenario. When Dwight says it’s “great” to be in his new house, Lorelai says, “Only if Beenie Morrison didn’t want to live in it any more”, as if she wonders whether Beenie was forced out in some way. Dwight says he paid Beenie a good price – even overpaid. That might suggest that rather than Beenie putting his house up for sale, Dwight picked it out on a visit to Stars Hollow, and made Beenie Morrison an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Dwight

The Gilmore girls get a new neighbour in this episode, named Dwight, who moves into the house opposite them, previously occupied by a man named Beenie Morrison. Dwight is played by Jason Kravits, who had been involved with the Washington DC theatre scene, and then in a writer’s collective in New York City. From 1999 to 2001, he played the role of A.D.A. Richard Bray on medical drama The Practice.

As with so many of these characters, don’t expect to ever see or hear of Dwight again – he will disappear as mysteriously as Beenie Morrison after this episode.

Schnauzer

RORY: Dogs started barking.

LORELAI: Because they heard about the garlic incident, and no one likes getting screwed, Rory, not even a Schnauzer.

A Schnauzer is a breed of dog which originated in medieval Germany – its name means “snouter” in German, as the dog has a distinctive bearded snout. Originally bred as a ratter and guard dog, schnauzers are intelligent, independent, protective, and energetic. They need a lot of training and exercise. Schnauzers come in different sizes, and have a shaggy coat, usually black, grey, or salt and pepper. As happens in this episode, schnauzers tend to bark a lot, especially if they feel threatened – Lorelai must have sounded very loud and angry.

Pete

RORY: I can’t believe you got into a fight with Pete.

LORELAI: Hey, you do not suddenly decide that garlic is an extra topping, not after five years, not after all we’ve been through.

The first mention of Pete as the owner/manager of the pizza store which Lorelai and Rory frequent, they have apparently been customers there since 1997, ever since Lorelai bought her own house. We met Joe delivering their pizza in “Kiss and Tell”, and Lorelai ordered a pizza from Joe in “The Break Up Part 2” – perhaps Joe is Pete’s son, and it’s a family business?

The bag Rory is carrying seems to have Bell Pizza written on it, but later the pizza store is called Antonioli’s Restaurant and Pizzeria. There is a Bell Pizza in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell, however.

Davenport

EMILY: We have a couple of wonderful writing desks, and some French end tables, rocking chairs, picture frames, lamps, davenports.

Originally, davenport was the name given to sofas made by the furniture makers A.H. Davenport and Company, from Cambridge, Massachusetts. It sold luxury furniture through its showrooms in Boston and New York City in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, and made furniture for the White House. They ceased business in 1974.

The word is now used for a rather confusing number of sofa types in the US. It may mean a boxy formal upholstered sofa, like the ones originally made by Davenport, or a sofa which converts into a bed, or a futon-style sofa with storage underneath it, or just a generic word for a large high-end sofa. I’m not actually sure in which sense Emily is using it, but I think either the first or the last is the most likely.

As an extra layer of confusion, a davenport is also a 19^th century English word for a small writing desk, but as Emily already mentions writing desks as separate possibilities, I think this one can safely be ruled out.