Footnotes to the TV series
LORELAI: My clothes were at the cleaners, and I had the fuzzy clock and it didn’t purr on time.
LUKE: It didn’t purr?
LORELAI: It’s fuzzy. It purrs.
We learn during the show that Lorelai has a penchant for novelty clocks, more than one of which make animal sounds or resemble animals. They not infrequently seem to be of poor quality and let her down, as the fuzzy purring clock did this time.
LORELAI: This is a jumbo coffee morning. I need coffee in an IV.
LUKE: I can give you tea and a Balance bar.
Balance bar is the brand name of a nutritional energy bar, first released in 1992, and adhering to the principles of the Zone Diet expounded by Dr Barry Sears, promoting a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. In 2000, the company was bought by Kraft Foods.
PARIS: Why are they letting all these extra people in? They just take up space and screw up the curve.
Some schools grade on a curve, meaning that the performance of the group overall is taken into accont when assigning grades. In its most extreme form, grades are assigned based on a student’s rank in class, placing students in direct competition with each other.
Chilton obviously grades on a curve, fostering a highly competitive environment. Paris is concerned that Rory joining the class, with her excellent academic results, may affect her own grades.
LOUISE: You can tutor her. Be like a big sister.
A possible allusion to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, an organisation where children are matched with an older mentor to encourage them both educationally and socially.
PARIS: She’ll never catch up. She’s a month behind already.
If Paris means that four weeks have passed since they started school, then the date is Monday 2 October 2000. If she is exaggerating somewhat and it is the end of the month they started school, then it is Monday 25 September 2000. The second one seems more likely.
Madeline says this line while hiding in the shrubs as they read Rory’s academic file. In the film The Goonies, the character of Chunk (Jeff Cohen) says as he runs alone to find help at night: “I like the dark. I love the dark. But I hate nature. I hate nature!”.
The Goonies is a 1985 adventure comedy film directed by Richard Donner. In the film, a group of children try to save their homes from demolition as they search for pirate treasure. The Goonies was the #9 film of 1985 and has become a cult classic.
Paris learns from Rory’s file that she has chosen to be a Journalism major. In some American high schools, students choose a major subject stream in the same way they will at college or university. This will affect which electives they can take.
On finding out that Rory is from a small town, Louise calls her a “Dixie Chick”. The Dixie Chicks are a country music band from Texas consisting of Martie Maguire, Emily Robison, and Natalie Maines. Their first album was released in 1990, and they achieved commercial success with Wide Open Spaces in 1998, when they sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined.
Paris (Liza Weil), Louise (Teal Redmann), and Madeline (Shelly Cole) gain access to Rory’s academic file before she even meets them. It is unclear whether something about Rory has Paris spooked, or whether she stalks every new student this way. The smooth running of their plan argues long practice, suggesting the latter, and it’s the first indication of Paris’ intense insecurity and competitiveness.
Liza Weil was originally considered for the role of Rory, and when Alexis Bledel was chosen for the part instead, the character of Paris was created for Liza.
Headmaster Charleston expresses real doubt that Rory will be able to make it at Chilton, and lets her know that she won’t be offered any special help in the dog-eat-dog, sink-or-swim academic culture at Chilton.
Throughout the show Rory is depicted as not coping very well when anyone doubts her abilities. This time she remains calm, but by deflecting the situation in a passive-aggressive way, she also refuses to engage with the headmaster, or to argue her case with him and present herself as fully competent and up to the task (which is the response he is hoping to provoke). It’s the beginning of a worrying trend in Rory’s career.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 