Jackson and Sookie

Jackson tells Sookie he isn’t ready for marriage yet, but is willing to move in with Sookie. She doesn’t take him seriously – or does she cleverly pretend not to take him seriously?

We know that Sookie is basically a Relationship Jedi Master, so possibly she doesn’t want to turn down Jackson’s offer of moving in, but neither does she want to say yes, because she really does want to be Jackson’s wife, not his live-in girlfriend. Nor does she want Jackson to move in with her out of a sense of obligation, or to keep her happy.

By jokingly refusing to listen to Jackson’s offer, Sookie leaves the question of marriage up in the air, so that it can be revisited later. Her strategy pays off when she and Jackson get married in the next season.

It seems very reasonable that Jackson isn’t ready for marriage – he and Sookie have only been dating for about five months. Lorelai and Max have been dating for about two months since they got back together, and we know how that’s going to turn out, so it really does look as if they are rushing their marriage plans.

It’s interesting that just as Lorelai hits the dreaded “two month mark” in her relationship with Max, he conveniently has to go to Toronto for six weeks. If he hadn’t gone to teach summer school, would their relationship have survived much longer? Lorelai’s past behaviour suggests it wouldn’t.

“No more sugar for you”

JACKSON: I understand. I’m hip, okay? We’ve hit that point in our relationship where the little hints are starting. Which means that’ll be followed by the “where are we going” talk, and that’ll only end in a big ultimatum. Suddenly all hell breaks loose.
SOOKIE: Okay, no more sugar for you.

In the Pilot episode, Sookie said that wearing her new Chilton uniform made Rory “look smart”, to which Rory replied, “Okay, no more wine for you”.

Sookie must have decided this cheeky comeback was worth remembering, because she uses it against Jackson when he starts freaking out, convinced that Sookie wants them to get married. She calms him down by saying, “Okay, no more sugar for you”.

Until the Real Thing Comes Along

This 1936 pop song plays at the start of the scene between Sookie and Jackson, and was written by Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin, and L.E. Freeman. The version used on the show is by Dean Martin, and is from his 1960 album This Time I’m Swingin’!

The lyrics to the song say, “If that isn’t love, it will have to do/Until the real thing comes along”. It seems to be a comment on Lorelai’s relationship with Max.

Worcestershire sauce

LORELAI: But in spite of all that, I was kind of thinking, and you don’t have to, that maybe you could pull yourself away for a second.
LUKE: Ah, well I …
LORELAI: I mean, you know, finish the ketchup tonight, but maybe leave the Worcestershire sauce for tomorrow.

Worcestershire sauce, often just called Worcester sauce, is a fermented liquid condiment first created in the 1830s by English chemists John Lea and William Perrins, who went on to form the company Lea & Perrins, with the sauce first being sold to the public in 1838. Similar fermented anchovy sauces had been made since the 18th century in England, and fermented fish sauces go back to the Roman Empire. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce is now owned by Heinz, and other companies make it as well.

Non-Americans may be bemused by Lorelai’s pronunciation of the sauce’s name, as she says each syllable phonetically: war-SESS-ter-shy-er sauce, rather than the more usual WOOS-tuh-sheer sauce, or just WOOS-tuh sauce.

Heinz

LUKE: Ah, well, I just got kinda busy here.
LORELAI: Oh, yes, I can see that. Boy, they keep making that ketchup slower and slower, huh?
LUKE: It’s the Heinz family’s little joke.

The H.J. Heinz company, usually just known as Heinz, is an American food processing company founded by Henry John Heinz in 1869. They merged with Kraft Foods in 2015. The company makes thousands of products and sells them in over 200 countries around the world. Heinz makes the most popular ketchup (tomato sauce) in the US, with more than half the market share.

One Fine Day

This 1963 pop song plays just before Rory and Dean kiss and make up, and follows Lorelai as she goes to see Luke in the diner. One Fine Day was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and recorded by the girl group The Chiffons. It was a hit around the world, going to #5 in the US.

The song seems to be a comment on Lorelai’s feelings for Luke – that “one fine day” he will want her for his girl.

“Now I’m an expert at it”

RORY: And I could help you organize all of your extracurricular activities because I’m now an expert at it.
DEAN: I don’t …
RORY: How are your wilderness skills?

How did Rory become “an expert” at extracurricular activities in what is posited as a 24-hour period? All she can have done is read a few brochures and made a couple of phone calls, or sent a few emails – on a weekend.

Furthermore, what does being “an expert” mean? Has she got herself some volunteer work for the summer? Because she never mentions it again, and that part of the year isn’t depicted on the show.

“You could go to a fancy school if you wanted to”

DEAN: I mean, I’m not going to a fancy school. I don’t have that kind of pressure. I can’t even imagine what that must feel like.
RORY: You could go to a fancy school if you wanted to.
DEAN: I don’t think so.
RORY: Why not? You’re smart.

Rory continues trying to make Dean into something he’s not – he’s an average student who likes playing sport and home mechanics, but she persists in making him read classic literature, and telling him he could get into a private school if he wanted to. On some level, she cannot be satisfied with Dean as a boyfriend if she won’t accept him not being a bookworm and not going to private school.

Dean is too polite to make the obvious comeback: that he doesn’t have rich grandparents who can bankroll his academic dreams. Even Rory, a very good student, couldn’t get into Chilton on a scholarship, so what hope does Dean have of attending a similar school with average grades and no money for school fees?

Kit Kat Bar

RORY: But I don’t want you to feel unimportant, because believe me, you’re not.
DEAN: I’m glad.
RORY: I mean it. The only way you could be more important to me is if you had a Kit Kat bar growing out of your head.

Kit Kat is a chocolate covered wafer bar that comes in several “fingers” of wafer that you break off. It was created by Rowntree’s, a UK comapny, who had several chocolate products called Kit Cat or Kit Kat, until a worker suggested making a snack that a man could take to work in his lunch box.

The Kit Kat as we know it was first made in 1935, and it has been produced by Nestlé since 1988. In the US, Kit Kat is made by the H.B. Reese Candy Company, a division of The Hershey Company.

Rory and Dean Make Up

DEAN: I’m so sorry, Rory.
RORY: I’m sorry too.
DEAN: I don’t even know what happened.
RORY: We had a fight, that’s all.
DEAN: I mean, I’ve just missed you and …
RORY: I’ve missed you too.

You can see that Rory is now far more assured and secure in her relationship after her third fight with Dean. Compare her calm attitude after this one, where she actually did behave rather badly, to the huge effort she made to “win Dean back” after a minor disagreement about an old television show. She knows now that Dean loves her and won’t leave her, and just a simple apology will get things back on track so they can kiss and make up.