Footnotes to the TV series
EMILY: How did this [Rory’s fractured wrist] happen?
LORELAI: Bees.
An amusing callback to the previous episode, when Lorelai was trying to think of excuses she could use on her parents to explain why Rory was wearing a cast. All she had come up with was, “Really big bees”. Notice that Rory has a cute bee sticker decoration on her cast, the possible inspiration for this ridiculous lie (or the lie inspired the sticker?).
LORELAI: She [Karen] seems to be working out well.
RICHARD: Well, she’s no . . . Margie, but we’ll see.
Richard comes this close to saying his efficient new secretary, Karen, is “no Lorelai”. Because although Lorelai was just meant to assist Richard get started in his new business, the “help wanted” of the title was, of course, Lorelai herself.
Richard has come to have a new respect for Lorelai as a working woman, after many years of seeing her as a failure. At last he can see that running an inn does actually require business skills! He’s always had a tendency to see the executive manager of an inn as little more than a maid with higher salary.
LORELAI: Russia!
RICHARD: Da!
Richard just says “Yes!”, in Russian.
Notice that in the background there is a painting of ships in full sail, as a metaphor for how Richard feels.
LORELAI: Lundquist from Aero International?
In real life, Aero International Inc is an American company, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, which provides logistical support for aircraft and aerospace components. Aero International is also a German magazine, founded in 1993, devoted to civil aviation.
In this episode, it seems to be a fictional Swedish company which does something aeronautical. Its influence spreads over all Scandinavia and into Russia. It sounds vaguely sinister.
LORELAI: So, um, what just went down there? … Just now, the handshake with the man in the gray flannel suit – did you score a deal?
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, 1956 drama film directed by Nunnally Johnson, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by Sloan Wilson. The film focuses on a young World War II veteran, played by Gregory Peck, trying to support his family in Connecticut in a high-pressure job while dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome from the war.
The film received mixed reviews at the time, but was very popular with the public for its critique of the increasing demands of corporate organisations upon white-collar workers, striking a chord with 1950s audiences.
EMILY: I scaled back a lot. I cut two appetizers, I canceled the champagne fountain, and I reduced the catering staff to six servers, not counting the pointman.
Technically a pointman is the head of a military patrol, or in the US, the word is used to mean the person who is at the forefront of a particular endeavour. I think Emily just means the pointman is the person who is coordinating the party and giving the servers instructions, solving any little problem that might come up.
EMILY: Lorelai, there you are. You’re late.
LORELAI: Well, you scheduled this beer bash during rush hour.
A beer bash is slang for an informal party, often organised in the context of a university or office social event. It seems to be used particularly in Commonwealth countries like Canada, and doesn’t appear to be common in the US. Emily doesn’t rise to the bait of having her corporate event described as a “bash”.
Rush hour, the name given to the time of day when traffic is heaviest, the times of day when most people are going to or from work. Unlike its name, it usually lasts more than an hour, and far from rushing, traffic is generally slow.
LORELAI: [walks toward the drinks] Oh boy, I should’ve brought bread crumbs.
A reference to the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, previously discussed. In the story, Hansel leaves a trail of breadcrumbs in the hopes that he and his sister will be able to find their way home by following them. Unfortunately, the birds eat the breadcrumbs so the children become lost in the forest.
[Lorelai and Rory walk into the crowded office]
LORELAI: Oh geez. This is worse than the clowns in the Volkswagen.
Clowns in the Volkswagen, previously discussed.
Before leaving for Hartford, Lorelai grabs a burger from a take-out place that is just a window in a wall, called KC’s Annex. It’s next to an art gallery that I don’t think we ever hear about. The burger is disgusting, according to Lorelai, and she is going to starve to death if Luke doesn’t get back soon (even though Stars Hollow has more food options than is economically plausible!).
This looks like the same take-out window where Lorelai bought fiesta burgers for herself and Max when they were on a date in Stars Hollow. (The menu is identical, and they both have a green window frame in a red brick wall). It might be where Lorelai and Rory buy their hotdogs, fries, and thickshakes that they bring to town meetings, as they aren’t from Luke’s.
It seems the food from KC’s is fine, as long as you know Luke’s is available as a regular option. The idea of being stuck eating nothing but KC’s is a horrible one. Lorelai drives past Luke’s, which is still closed, just as a reminder of what she is missing.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 