Free Bird

EMILY: I thought a little background music would add a nice touch. He knows every song ever written.

LORELAI: “Free Bird”! Hi Brad.

“Free Bird” or “Freebird” is a song by rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zan. The song featured on the band’s 1973 debut album. Released as a single in 1974, “Free Bird” got to #19 in the US. A live version of the song got to #38 in 1977. It is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature song, the finale during live performances, and their longest song, often going well over 14 minutes when played live.

The lyrics sound like something Lorelai would relate to in regard to her parents:

But if I stay here with you …
Things just couldn’t be the same
‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now
And this bird you cannot change
Oh, oh, oh, oh …
And this bird, you cannot change
Lord knows, I can’t change

“The whole town is watching”

RORY: I know, but now I just feel like everybody’s watching me … The whole town is watching.

Rory still does not feel comfortable kissing Jess in front of others, even at a private gathering where Dean cannot possibly see them. She feels as if everyone in town is scrutinising and judging her behaviour, and the fact that Jess was so unpopular in town that there was a secret meeting set up to get rid of him cannot have escaped her attention. She’s always been the town’s sweetheart, and now she’s made a choice that she fears will make her unpopular.

Sookie’s Turkey Plans

SOOKIE: A couple of days ago, Jackson asked me if he could cook the turkey. I thought he was gonna roast it, stick a couple of onions around it, something simple. So I said yes, figuring that the minute he put it in the oven and leaves the kitchen, I can sneak in and give it a nice herb butter rub and stuff it with a pancetta-chestnut stuffing.

Sookie allows Jackson to cook the Thanksgiving turkey when his family come for dinner, but with this couple’s typical rotten communication, what Sookie actually means is that as soon as she gets a chance she will secretly rub the turkey over with herb butter to keep it moist, and stuff it with chestnuts and pancetta (an Italian salt-cured pork belly meat product).

Although this sounds lovely, Jackson’s plan is actually to deep fry the turkey in peanut oil, much to Sookie’s dismay. Of course, he doesn’t share his plans with Sookie, and she doesn’t tell him how unhappy she is about it.

Dave Rygalski at Thanksgiving

LANE: That is not Dave Rygalski … I mean, not the one that I’m in a band with. That is Dave Rygalski, local Christian guitar player that my mom and I met very briefly and innocently at the dance marathon, and that I coincidentally ran across again when I found his ad seeking Christian guitar accompaniment gigs up on our church bulletin board.

Lorelai and Rory notice that Dave is playing guitar at the Kim’s Thanksgiving dinner. Lane quickly explains that she has set up another zany scheme, whereby Dave came all the way to Stars Hollow at five in the morning in order to have a five minute conversation with Mrs Kim and eat faux egg sandwiches. Lane then put a fake ad up for Dave on their church bulletin board, and pretended to find it in front of her mother.

This is the kind of thing Henry couldn’t put up with (and who could blame him?), but Dave willingly goes along with it, in the faint hope that Mrs Kim might let them date some day. He obviously really likes Lane.

“Just because you and Rory broke up doesn’t mean we did”

LORELAI: I hate hiding from people, especially when I don’t wanna hide from them. You were a pal. You were so good to Rory. You were the best first boyfriend a mother could’ve hoped for … It’s okay to keep avoiding me if you want. I just wanted you to know that you don’t need to, okay? Just because you and Rory broke up doesn’t mean we did.

More inappropriate comments from Lorelai to Dean. If Lorelai and Dean “don’t need to break up”, what is it exactly they are not breaking up from? Because if their relationship was Mother of Rory and Rory’s Boyfriend, then yeah, it is going to break up when Rory and Dean do. Otherwise, Lorelai is suggesting that their relationship was something more than this.

It really feels as if Lorelai is trying to keep Dean hanging around for Rory, in hopes that they will get back together. A pretty terrible thing to do to Rory, and certainly unkind to Dean.

Frank at the Sands

RORY: This will get better over time, I promise. But until then, let’s just play it cool.

JESS: Hey, I’m Frank at the Sands.

Frank Sinatra was a regular performer at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with his first performance there in 1953 – he later bought a share in the hotel. There is a 1966 live album of one of his performances called Sinatra at the Sands, which includes many of the biggest hits and a comedy monologue. The album was reissued in 1998, and Jess may have bought it.

Lane is also a fan of Frank Sinatra, and this seems like another thing she and have in common that could bring them together, but somehow the two never become friends.

Rory Won’t Allow Public Kissing

RORY: We shouldn’t flaunt it.

JESS: But I want to flaunt it.

RORY: It doesn’t feel right.

Jess had to put up with Rory and Dean “flaunting” their relationship by kissing in public, sometimes right in front of him. But any chance of getting a bit of revenge is taken away when Rory says they can’t show any PDA in case it upsets her ex-boyfriend. Even though they’ve broken up, Rory is still very concerned about not upsetting Dean. It can’t be doing Jess’ confidence much good to know Rory is already prioritising her ex’s feelings over his.

“It is for us”

JESS: It’s not the first time a couple’s broken up.

RORY: It is for us.

In fact, Rory and Dean broke up before, in “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers”. However, as they got back together again, Rory might think it doesn’t count, and was only “being on a break”. It’s interesting that she doesn’t share this detail with Jess, as if not wanting to expose the cracks and weaknesses in her prior relationship with Dean.

Wednesday Usual

LUKE: Don’t bother, saw you coming, already ordered your Wednesday usual – the French dip, extra fries, the every-Wednesday cherry pie.

We know the Gilmore girls like their food routines, with every Wednesday being the day they have a Danish pastry and coffee for breakfast. Wednesday for dinner, which is always at the diner, they order extra fries with their dinner and French [onion] dip to have with them, and cherry pie for dessert.

Hm, cherry Danish for breakfast and cherry pie for dinner? What is it about Wednesdays and cherries with these girls??? And having a set menu on Wednesdays in general? Perhaps it’s meant to be a sort of midweek lift.

Kirk Buys a Cat

LORELAI: Nothing. You buy a cat?

KIRK: Yup. I’m very excited.

In the recent episode “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?”, Rory tried to persuade her mother to let Kirk win the dance marathon because he had so little in his life … not even a pet. Two episodes later, he buys a cat. Did Kirk overhear what Rory said, or was it relayed to him? We shall never know, but now he has a cat, with predictably unfortunate results.

Kirk has bought an enormous carry case for the cat, more suitable for a large dog! I’m not sure if that’s trying to tell us the size of the cat (did he accidentally buy a panther?) or Kirk’s incompetence buying cat equipment.