Footnotes to the TV series
MAUREEN: She’s at Boston Memorial.
A fictional hospital, presumably inspired by Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest hospital in the state, and a 5 minute drive from Beacon Hill, the area that Sherry and Christopher seem to live in.
RORY: Well, I’m actually done with school now. I could grab a train and –
Hartford is three and a half hours from Boston by train, requiring a change at New Haven. The trains are two hours apart, meaning that if you miss one, there’s quite a wait for the next. Rory would also need to take a 15 minute bus ride from her school to Hartford Union Station in order to catch the train.
If Rory has finished school for the day, then it’s after 4.05 pm. Even with all the bus and train schedules lining up perfectly, Rory would not reach Boston until at least 8 pm. She would then need another 15 minutes to reach the hospital using the subway, and finishing the last part on foot. 8.30 pm seems to be the earliest she could get there, and 9.30-10 pm is probably more realistic.
It’s a truly terrible thing to ask a teenage high school student to do without any warning in the middle of winter, and with no time to get changed into warm clothing or to take anything other than her school bag with her. It is also a crazy thing for Rory to agree to, and quite impractical.
By the way, the meeting at the hospital for Sherry’s C-section was originally for 6 pm. How was Rory ever meant to get there in time on a Friday, when she has school?
MAUREEN: Listen, I know the invitation said that we were all gathering at the C-section next week, but Sherry just went into labor … She screwed up, she’s in labor, and she wanted me to call all the girls and beg them to get down to the hospital ASAP.
Sherry’s best friend Maureen calls Rory while she’s in the middle of a meeting for the school newspaper. Rory is back to having a cell phone again, and is able to take the call. Maybe she used a pager in between these two calls because her phone was charging.
Maureen tells Rory that “Sherry screwed up” by going into labour a week before her C-section is scheduled, a phrase that gets repeated again and again. It’s meant to underline how hopelessly ignorant Sherry’s friends are about childbirth, that they don’t understand that babies don’t necessarily arrive on schedule. How they can not know this? It’s in movies and on TV shows (like this one!). You can see that Sherry will receive little or no support from her friends after having Georgia.
Because this is the week before February 7th, we know the main events of this episode take place on Friday 31st January 2003.
During the call, Maureen refers to Rory as a “child”, something which Rory never confirms nor denies. In fact, although she is still at school, she is 18 (turning 19 that year) and an adult now.
RORY: My point is in ninety tries, there wasn’t one other picture that was good for the group and didn’t have me looking like I’m in Cirque du Soleil?
Cirque du Soleil, previously discussed. The circus show was covered in a 2002 reality TV series called Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within, and the production Alegría was broadcast on TV in 2002. The chances are very high that Rory and Lorelai watched them, considering their fascination with circuses.
It is clear from this exchange that Paris is still angry at Rory, and they are still in a fight. Rory refused to talk about Jamie with Madeline and Louise, in order not to further aggravate Paris, so she seems to be trying to improve the situation.
PARIS: I got copies for everyone, so let’s leave the Barneys clearance sale reenactment for another day, shall we?
Barneys New York is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923 by Barney Pressman. Originally a men’s discount clothing store, Barneys claimed to be the first Manhattan retailer to advertise on radio and television. During the 1960s, Barney Pressman’s son Fred helped the store to transition to one selling luxury goods, and is credited with introducing Armani to the American market. Women’s clothing was included in 1976.
PARIS: Okay, everyone, gather around. I have in my hand the 2002 Franklin Yearbook photos.
It’s actually 2003. Perhaps this is another sign that Paris is very distracted by having a boyfriend, a big theme of this season.
[Students are gathered in a meeting room]
MADELINE: I called last night and I asked [Paris] to talk me through the Korean War and she said she was busy.
LOUISE: Oh, she’s definitely got a boyfriend.
The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the US and allied countries. The fighting ended with an armistice on 27 July 1953, although the war itself technically has never come to an end.
LORELAI: Now we just have to figure out how we’re gonna pay for it. Hey, how good’s your organ grinding?
An organ grinder is a novelty street performer who plays a street organ or barrel organ, a French-German automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, they were played as a means of begging for money, while circumventing laws against outright asking people for money.
LORELAI: Okay, then, it’s settled. We’re not staying at any place that wasn’t built for Napoleon the Third’s doctor or doesn’t have a Chagall in the bathroom.
Napoleon III, born Charles Napoléon Bonaparte (1808-1873) the first President of France from 1848 to 1852, and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew of Napoleon I, he was a popular monarch who oversaw the modernisation of the French economy and filled Paris with new boulevards and parks. One of his doctors was the surgeon Félix-Hippolyte Larrey; he owned a small castle, but I have been unable to learn if he had a house built for him.
Marc Chagall [pictured], born Moishe Shagal (1887-1985), Russian-French artist. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in a wide range of artistic formats, including painting, drawings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries and fine art prints.
CHRISTOPHER: Come on, Lor. Let’s get out of here, let’s get away from this place. Let’s take Myra and just bolt. Leave a note on the dining room table. ‘Dear Richard and Emily, I don’t belong here, I’m going somewhere else, I’ll call you when I get there. Love, Lorelai.’
This is where this episode’s title comes from, although Christopher says, “Dear Richard and Emily”, while the episode is called “Dear Emily and Richard”.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 