Footnotes to the TV series
When Rory is in the apartment, the door has to remain open
Rory and Jess are only allowed in the middle part of the apartment (the living area), not the end parts (the sleeping areas)
They must sit on separate seats, they cannot share the sofa
On weekdays, Rory must be home by 9 pm. On weekends, home by 11 pm.
Any evidence of cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs, and they will only be allowed to see each other with an adult present
LUKE: What was going on up here?
JESS: Nothing.
LUKE: Nothing? I walk in here and the two of you are like shrapnel.
Shrapnel, the common term for fragments of an artillery explosion (technically not quite correct, but good enough for our purposes). Luke means that Rory and Jess sprung apart when he came in like a bomb exploding in several directions at once.
Luke was so keen to see Jess and Rory together, but the minute he actually finds them just about to kiss, he freaks out. What did he think two eighteen-year-olds were going to do alone together?
RICHARD: You know, you might wanna come with me next week … To Yale … Oh, I don’t mean to the dinner, that would be boring for you, but you might enjoy seeing the school … Your mother could come too. It would be a fun little adventure … We could drive down, have a little roadside snack, get there about noon. Have a little tour, and then the two of you girls could go off and have fun, and the old folks can have a somber little dinner. I think you’d love to see it. I certainly would love to show it to you.
While in the kitchen together, Richard takes the opportunity to privately invite Rory to Yale University, to take a tour of the university. He couches this is in terms of them having a fun day out together, and him wanting to share his alma mater memories with Rory, but of course he’s hoping she might be persuaded to apply to Yale.
LORELAI: Mom, you know, if you’re not a little nicer to your help, you might find yourself in a Frank Lloyd Wright situation … Mrs. Wright apparently had this major problem with her help. She was very rough on them and they totally hated her. So this guy who had worked for her forever, he had finally had enough … Anyhow, Mrs. Wright invites this whole posse of people over for dinner and they’re all sitting around eating, and Mr. Disgruntled Servant Guy goes outside and locks all the doors and windows and douses the whole house in gasoline and sets the place on fire … So the house is on fire, and people are freaking out, so they run to the doors but the doors are locked, so a few of them try to get out through the windows, but Mr. Angry-Puss is standing outside with an ax hacking them to death and so they all died.
Lorelai refers to the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). It’s often been speculated that he was one of the inspirations for the character of Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead.
Although Lorelai typically gets her facts a little mangled, the seemingly outrageous story she relates about him is essentially true. The woman involved wasn’t Wright’s wife, but the woman he had left his wife for and was living with in a domestic partnership that was considered scandalous at the time.
Her name was Mary “Mamah” Borthwick, a translator who had left her husband and children to be with Wright in 1909, living together since 1911 (after her divorce came through), in a house Wright built for Mamah in Spring Green, Wisconsin, called Taliesin (“shining brow” in Welsh).
In 1914, their recently-hired servant Julian Carlton, a man from Barbados who was mentally unstable, set fire to their house and murdered seven people with an axe as they fled the burning structure. The dead included Mamah Borthwick, her two visiting children, aged 8 and 12, a gardener, a draftsman, a workman, and the son of Wright’s carpenter. Carlton attempted suicide straight after the attack, and starved himself to death in jail despite receiving medical attention.
Julian Carlton never did give a motive for his actions, but there’s some evidence that he had disputes with the workmen, and that he knew he was about to lose his job. There’s no evidence that it had anything to do with Mamah Borthwick herself, and the victims, apart from Borthwick and her children, were not dinner guests, but workmen employed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The devastated Frank Lloyd Wright rebuilt the house in Mamah’s honour, but it burned down again in 1925 after being hit with a lightning storm. It was rebuilt again, and this third version of Taliesin is now open for tours and events.
[Photo shows Taliesin as it was in 1911]
RORY: She [Lorelai] didn’t have lunch.
There seems to be a bit of a pattern of Lorelai skipping lunch on Fridays, perhaps because she knows she’ll be getting a good dinner at her parents’ that evening. As a result, she turns up to dinner hungry and cranky, and ready for a dramatic fight every week! Of course, it’s possible Lorelai often skips lunch on weekdays, due to her busy schedule at the inn.
LORELAI: You know what, I’ve spent a lot of time and energy fighting the whole Jess thing. Rory’s made her choice, I want her to be happy. I’m just hoping for the best at this point.
LUKE: Very romantic.
LORELAI: Says the man who yelled “Finally!” at the end of Love Story.
The film Love Story, previously discussed.
The ending of Love Story is that the female lead, a very young woman, dies of a terminal illness. So Luke was shouting out in relief that she was finally dead. A bit of sly black comedy.
LUKE: But why, what happened?
LORELAI: Jess happened.
Lorelai completely blames Jess for Rory’s break-up with Dean. Although in a sense she’s correct, in that Jess’ appearance precipitated the break-up, Lorelai ignores the fact that her daughter hadn’t been happy with Dean for a long time. Rory and Dean didn’t share many interests or similar values, and it seemed as if when Rory wasn’t frightened of Dean’s temper, she was bored with him. Lorelai was happy for Rory to continue in an unsatisfying relationship rather than go out with Jess.
Unlike Lorelai, Luke is thrilled by this news. He has been shipping Rory and Jess since the beginning, and this is another instance where Luke and Lorelai are not on the same page.
LUKE: What the hell was that?
LORELAI: That was episode one of Rory and Jess: The Early Years.
Compare to Lorelai saying a potential situation with her father was like Who’s The Boss, the later years.
This is Rory and Jess’ first encounter since Dean dumped Rory at the dance marathon. They are both too shy to say more than a few words to each other in front of Lorelai and Luke, which feels true to life.
[Lorelai sees Rory across the gym, and she walks over to her]
LORELAI: Rory, what happened? Where did you go? [sees that Rory is crying] Oh, Rory, honey! Oh.
[Lorelai and Rory hug while Kirk runs around the gym with the trophy]
Despite ruining Lorelai’s chances of winning, Lorelai only thinks of comforting her daughter when she sees how upset Rory is. Nothing stops Kirk’s victory lap – he has no problems celebrating as a teenage girl sobs in her mother’s arms!
Kirk’s dance partner is Donna Delain, who he has danced with for the past five years. She is presumably a good friend, or possibly a relative, but we never hear of her again. Kirk does not include Donna in the celebrations, and he keeps the trophy, even though her dancing has helped him to win! Also note that Kirk is wearing a Doose’s Market logo on his back – perhaps Taylor is sponsoring him?
JESS: You’re definitely broken up with Dean?
RORY: Yeah, I’m definitely broken up with Dean.
JESS: Okay. I have to go take care of something then.
Before anything happens between Rory and Jess, he leaves to break up with Shane. It’s six in the morning and she’s been stuck watching a dance marathon for eighteen hours – let the poor girl get some sleep, Jess! However, it does show that Jess has a responsible side, and is not going to cheat on Shane, no matter how badly he treated her otherwise.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 