Footnotes to the TV series
RORY: Apparently, maturity is extremely overrated in your universe.
LORELAI: That’s right. The Empress Bobo Belle forbids it.
The Empress Bobo Belle is the fictional ruler of the universe, a character that Lorelai has invented and portrays as evidence of her immaturity.
Bobo is a common name for clowns, while Belle is the French word for “beauty”, possibly to suggest “clownish beauty” for the imaginary empress, and how Lorelai may see herself.
LUKE: It’s the third day in a row you’ve ordered soup for breakfast.
Because she has a cold, Lorelai has ordered chicken noodle soup and mashed potato for breakfast at the diner. Mashed potato is soft and easy to eat, even with a sore throat, while chicken noodle soup is well known as a home remedy for colds, clearing nasal congestion and providing nutrition and hydration at the same time. I have never heard of anyone eating them for breakfast though, even when ill, and I would have thought it wasn’t a good idea to go out to breakfast when you have a cold, spreading your germs in a place where people eat.
LORELAI: I mean, I’d like to have a good illness, something different, impressive. Just once I’d like to be able to say, “Yeah, I’m not feeling so good, my leg is haunted.”
RORY: See, there’s a reason why you only take one packet of TheraFlu at a time.
TheraFlu is a cold and flu treatment consisting of flavoured packets of powder that you make into a hot drink – it’s basically pain relief, decongestants, antihistamines and so on all at once. There are several different types, and the ones for night time make you sleepy. Rory is suggesting that Lorelai put more than one packet into her cup at once, giving her extra doses of everything. It’s believable based on Lorelai’s past behaviour taking over the counter medications.
Lorelai’s wish for a more exotic illness, such as a “haunted leg” is where the episode’s title comes from.
LORELAI: Well, apparently this lovely girl came home to find her husband giving the nanny a nice little bonus package … The man was shot thirty-five times. He looks like a sprinkler system.
EMILY: I can’t believe this. Shauna was always such a nice girl. She was bright, cultured, well-spoken.
LORELAI: And apparently, a big Annie Oakley fan.
Annie Oakley, sharpshooter, previously discussed.
Emily manages to get in a nice little dig at Lorelai by remarking of Shauna, “At least she had a husband to kill”.
RORY: Something smells good …. Oh, braised lamb shank! I love a lamb shank when it is braised.
Lamb shanks are the leg bone of the animal, between the knee and the shoulder, eaten whole. Braising means to brown the meat at a high temperature, then simmer it in a covered pot in liquid, such as tomatoes, stock, vinegar or wine, until the meat is tender and infused with flavour. Crock pots are a popular way to cook braised lamb shanks.
Apparently braised lamb shank is one of Rory’s favourite meals that she has at her grandparents’ place. Lamb seems to be one of their most commonly served dishes.
EMILY: Your father and I were shocked and upset … You didn’t give us five minutes to digest the news … You simply dumped it on us and walked out. I hardly think that’s fair.
In fact, Lorelai attempted to give them the news about Christopher briefly and undramatically. Emily insisted on dragging all the details out of Lorelai so that she and Richard could attack her, then Richard went off in a sulk. You can’t really blame Lorelai for not sticking around for any more.
It is Emily who is not being fair at this point.
RORY: So, Grandma, Grandpa is traveling again, huh? … Business must be good … That’s great. Isn’t that great, Mom?
LORELAI: A jig is forthcoming.
A lively folk dance associated with Irish and Scottish music and dance, first popular in 16th century Ireland and Britain, quickly adopted in Continental Europe.
“To do a jig”, means that the person is very happy – joyful enough to perform this bouncy dance.
Richard still needs to travel since starting his own insurance company, which is seeming less and less plausible. I’m starting to wonder if the travel thing was a complete scam right from the beginning.
This 1996 book by Happeth A. Jones is on the coffee table when Lorelai and Rory are talking. It is part of a series, and as its title suggests, is all about raising a happy, healthy Pomeranian dog.
The question is, why is Lorelai apparently reading it? Is she preparing to do some dog sitting for someone with a Pomeranian, or is she thinking of buying one, as she has been shown to be keen on getting a dog?
Rory is holding this book when Lorelai comes home and they discuss Rory’s relationship with Dean.
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays is by Mary McCarthy, who Rory seems to be a fan of. It is a selection of her essays spanning her career from the late 1930s to the late 1970s, and includes her theatre reviews and political writings, so it is another of Rory’s books on journalism. It was edited by A.O. Scott, and published in 2002. Mary McCarthy, like Dorothy Parker – another of Rory’s favourites – was known for her bitingly witty and malicious reviews. Later, Rory will emulate these literary heroines with her own cruel review.
RORY: All I did was think about what you said, that’s all. Then I analyzed the situation.
LORELAI: And then you made a pro and con list.
RORY: You’re mocking me, but yes, I did. And after all of this, I came to the conclusion that I want to make things good with Dean, and he deserves my undivided attention.
After spending the evening with her boyfriend, Rory does some hard thinking alone, and decides that she wants to stick with Dean, and give their relationship the best shot possible. The fact that she had to make a pro and con list doesn’t sound as if she’s exactly carried away with passion by this point.
The question is, would she have reached this decision without Lorelai’s input, knowing she would have earned her mother’s disapproval if she’d chosen to break up with Dean? More importantly, would she have reached this decision if Jess had still been available? My guess is, no, and hell no.
This leaves Rory’s relationship with Dean on a pretty precarious footing.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 