Footnotes to the TV series
DEAN: Rory, get your stuff and let’s go.
JESS: Ooh, that was good. Now say ‘then get in there and make me my supper.’
Jess is doing his absolute best to needle Rory and Dean at the dance marathon, and with this comment, he gets in a very sharp criticism about the behaviour he’s seen from Dean in his treatment of Rory. This harks back to Dean’s praise for 1950s housewives, which brought about the first fight Rory and Dean ever had.
SHANE: Where did you go? I’ve been sitting out there for twenty minutes.
JESS: The break’s only for ten.
SHANE: It’s just a saying.
I think we’re meant to look down on Shane for thinking that “I’ve been waiting twenty minutes” is a “saying” (rather than a hyperbole or an exaggeration). But Rory and Lorelai seemed to think fifteen minutes was “just a saying” for six hours, so I’m not sure they are any better.
RORY: I’m not staring at you.
JESS: Then how do you know I’m staring at you?
RORY: I am dancing. I cannot control where my glance goes. And the few moments that I can control it, my glance goes to Dean, not to you.
JESS: So you can’t control when you look at me, but you have to force yourself to look at him? Sorry, man. That’s cold.
This rates as one of Jess Mariano’s best comebacks. And it’s all true!
MRS. KIM: Who are you?
JESS: Jess . . . ma’am.
Jess is the town bad boy with a smart mouth for everyone. Only Mrs Kim can bring him instantly into line and force him to speak respectfully, and she does it with three words and a stern look. You can’t help thinking that if Jess had had a grandmother or aunt like Mrs Kim, he would be a very different kid.
It seems as if the fake egg sandwiches are the only food provided at the 24 hour dance marathon, which is pretty terrible. And there’s no refrigeration, so this seems like another salmonella outbreak waiting to happen on the show.
LANE: Go away, Jess. No one asked for a Tony Manero wannabe to drop by.
Tony Manero, the lead character in the film Saturday Night Fever, previously discussed.
Lane really doesn’t like Jess at all, which may be another reason why it’s been hard for Rory to admit her feelings for him. It’s a shame, because Lane and Jess both love music and punk rock in particular, so you’d think they’d have at least one thing in common as a basis for friendship.
Apart from not being impressed by Jess’ behaviour in school, I think Lane has always romanticised Rory’s relationship with Dean, and she can’t imagine Rory with anyone else.
JACKSON: Oh, I’m not mad. I just didn’t realize that when I married Sookie, I also married you. I didn’t realize I was a Mormon, my mistake.
Mormonism, the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s.
Polygamy (plural marriage) was practised by the church during the 19th century, and although the practice was officially ended in the early 20th century, some sects continue the tradition today.
Predictably, Jackson is not happy to learn Sookie has discussed their private marital problems with Lorelai. Although he has a valid point, he immediately throws an immature tantrum instead of discussing it with Sookie, so his communication is as poor as hers (or worse).
RORY: Kirk has very little in his life … He has no career, no girlfriend, no pet, no car. He lives with his mother, she won’t even let him have his own key. The only thing he does have in his whole lonely pathetic existence is this marathon. If we win, if we take him down, if we take away that last little piece of dignity, then we leave him with nothing.
Kirk has dozens of jobs, and lots of personal projects, such as photography and film-making. He seems to actually lead a pretty full life.
SOOKIE: All of a sudden, completely out of the blue, Jackson announces he wants four in four … Four kids in four years.
Sookie and Jackson, an adorable couple while they were dating, became immediately annoying once they were married. Now Jackson, formerly rather sweet and snuggly, gets some pretty creepy ideas. This icky one is that Sookie should give birth to four of his children within four years, and he takes Sookie’s dubious, “Oohh .. kaay” as consent.
As tends to be the case, mostly for script reasons, Sookie tells Lorelai about her problems with Jackson rather than discussing them with him. Lorelai rightly tells Sookie that she won’t have a good marriage unless she learns to communicate with Jackson, however, Sookie and Jackson continue having major communication problems throughout their marriage.
PARIS: Well, we went for coffee, and he talked about how he had a great time on our date, and how he finds me fascinating, and how he thought about me all the time.
In this episode, Paris gets her first boyfriend, Jamie. She is typically in disbelief as to why Jamie would choose her over “idiot” college girls who are prettier and more (sexually) experienced, but Jamie is never shown to be anything other than adoring of Paris.
Having a boyfriend seems to make Paris instantly more relaxed about her academic life. She turns up late to class the next morning after seeing Jamie, even though they supposedly only had coffee after school (must have been some coffee!), and is happy to postpone the work they were supposed to do on the weekend for the school newspaper. Because of this, Rory is able to be her mother’s partner for the dance marathon in this episode.
DEAN: I know this is a stupid question, but why can’t you just talk to him?
LANE: Because yesterday he called to say that they were still looking for a rehearsal space and, uh, that he’d call when he had more news. So now I have to wait until he calls about the band – and in between, I call and hang up on him. Pathetic.
Lane has been calling Dave and hanging up when he answers, just so she can hear his voice. She and Dave are in regular contact even though the band has apparently gone on a break while they look for a suitable rehearsal space (he phoned her just the day before). However, lovesick Lane is still calling him multiple times a day.
Dean finds this behaviour ridiculous, and then he discovers Rory used to hang up on him before they were dating. I’m not sure how she got his number when they’d only spoken a few times, maybe Dean gave her his number straight away (which would surely be a clue he liked her?). Also, why doesn’t Dean remember someone ringing him all the time and then hanging up two years ago?
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 