“Narcolepsy!”

The episode opens with Lorelai and Rory playing a word game to determine which of them has to clean out the refrigerator. Each having to pick in turn a disease to match a letter of the alphabet, Lorelai picks “narcolepsy” for the letter N – a callback to the previous episode, when Dean was re-named “Narcolepsy Boy” after falling asleep with Rory at Miss Patty’s. Even though she made peace with Dean and Rory, Lorelai is still not letting this one go.

Later in the episode we see Lorelai cleaning out the refrigerator, so presumably she lost the contest. She may have had to forfeit as a result of rushing over to the pet fair and saying, “Puppies!” on the letter P, instead of a disease.

Paris is Burning

The episode title may be a reference to the 1990 documentary film Paris is Burning, directed by Jennie Livingston. The documentary is about the drag ball culture in New York City, and the drag competitions which take place at the balls. The documentary film received rave reviews and several awards at film festivals; it remains relevant in discussions on LGBT, youth, class, and racial issues.

The film’s title comes from drag performer Paris Dupree (1950-2011), who gave a drag ball with the name. It may have been partially inspired by Adolf Hitler’s reported question during World War II, “Is Paris burning?”, when he wished the city to be completely destroyed rather than re-taken by the Allies.

This episode centres on Paris Geller, who we learn more about in this episode, and who does indeed “burn down” or destroy the relationship between Lorelai and Max. She does so to deflect public attention from her own problems, thus playing a role like the drag performers in the film.

Angina

JOSHUA: Well Richard, it looks like we’re gonna be stuck with you for a while longer. It was just a touch of angina.
EMILY: But you have to watch your diet.
JOSHUA: Yes, that’s going to be very important. No more red meat, heavy desserts and you’re going to have to exercise regularly.

Angina is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by not enough blood flow to the heart muscle. Typically brought on by exertion or stress (such as the trouble Richard was having at work), the pain or discomfort is often accompanied by sweating (which is why he kept turning the heat down). It can be made worse by having a full stomach and by cold temperatures, so a big Christmas dinner helped create the perfect storm for Richard’s angina.

Dr Reynolds’ diet suggestions probably indicate that Richard’s tests showed he has high cholesterol, which is common with angina patients. Gentle exercise is recommended – despite Emily saying “golf doesn’t count”, it would probably be good for him. Almost certainly Dr Reynolds is also going to give him some form of medication.

Due to improvements in modern medicine, the prognosis for angina is quite good, with 92% of patients surviving for five years after diagnosis.

Brooks Brothers

LUKE: It’s a nice tie.
EMILY: It’s Brooks Brothers.

Brooks Brothers are the oldest men’s clothing company in the US. Founded in Manhattan in 1818, Brooks Brothers have outfitted 40 of the 45 American presidents. Their neckties are made in either Britain or Italy. In 2000, Brooks Brothers was owned by British firm Marks & Spencer.

There are a number of Brooks Brothers store near Hartford where Emily might have bought Richard’s tie – their store at the mall in Farmington is only about 20 minutes drive away. However, it is just as likely that she bought it from a department store in Hartford.

“You are your mother’s daughter”

RORY: Nothing like that [she and Dean being out all night] will ever happen again. I swear.
LORELAI: Don’t swear.
RORY: Why not?
LORELAI: Because you are your mother’s daughter.
RORY: What does that mean.
LORELAI: It means things can happen, even when you don’t really mean for them to happen.

Even though Lorelai believes Rory when she says nothing happened between her and Dean, she still doesn’t trust her daughter. That’s because she sees Rory as Lorelai Mark II, and as she doesn’t trust herself, she doesn’t trust Rory. Unfortunately she is setting Rory up to fail at relationships and birth control with her “no matter how hard you try, you will still screw things up” message.

Charo

LORELAI: Rory, there are only two things that I totally trust in this entire world. The fact that I will never be able to understand what Charo is saying no matter how long she lives in this country – and you.

Charo (born Maria Martinez Molina Baeza in perhaps 1941) is a Spanish-American actress, comedian, and flamenco guitarist. In the late 1960s and 1970s Charo frequently appeared on American television as a guest star, and she has had a successful musical career in Latin America for five decades.

Her stage persona has an exuberant manner, wears flamboyant costumes, speaks broken English with a heavy Spanish accent, and uses the meaningless catchphrase “cuchi-cuchi” a lot – hence Lorelai’s difficulty in understanding her.

Happy Xmas (War is Over)

This 1971 Christmas song plays while Lorelai and Rory make up their fight at the vending machine.

With lyrics by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, set to the tune of the traditional English English ballad Skewball, Happy Xmas (War is Over) was released as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir. Also a protest song against the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard which has charted several times in the UK, and been re-recorded many times.

The song signals that the conflict between Lorelai and Rory has come to an end, and that a happy Christmas is coming now that their war is over.

“You may go first”

EMILY: No! I did not sign on to your dying. And it is not going to happen. Not tonight, not for a very long time. In fact, I demand to go first. Do I make myself clear?
RICHARD: Yes Emily. You may go first.

In A Year in the Life we find that Emily did not get her way for once, as Richard died before she did. Richard never promised he would only die after Emily’s demise – just that he was giving Emily permission to go first if she wanted to.