Emily’s Wedding Plans for Lorelai

Imperial Russian Winter theme

Snow white roses

Trees with white lights and candles

Snow everywhere

Lorelai arrives in a silver sleigh pulled by white horses

This actually doesn’t seem like a totally crazy idea for Lorelai’s wedding. Lorelai loves the snow, and she adores horses. She organised a horse-drawn sleigh ride for the Bracebridge Dinner, sharing a ride with Luke. It does sound very beautiful and romantic, and I think Emily has picked up on a least a couple of things her daughter would like.

Emily’s Russian-themed winter wedding may have been influenced by the 1965 historical romance film, Dr Zhivago, directed by David Lean, set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War, and based on Boris Pasternak’s autobiographical novel of the same name. The film is beautifully shot and features a sleigh ride through the snow, as well as an “ice palace”.

Dr Zhivago was highly popular, especially with female audiences, the #2 film of the year, and a big influence on mid-1960s fashion. It may have even been Emily’s dream for her own wedding, which she hoped to one day create for her daughter.

In this episode, Emily becomes the first person to predict that Lorelai and Luke will be married one day, showing that she knows her daughter better than Lorelai believes.

Louie’s Items He Wants Buried With Him

Fishing Reel

Bowling Trophy

Flask

Antique Duelling Pistols

Personal Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, recognised for his military strategy and criticised for his harsh scorched earth policies against the Confederate States. His memoirs were published in 1875, becoming one of the best-known first-hand accounts of the Civil War.

Football signed by Johnny Unitas

John “Johnny Unitas (1933-2002) football quarterback from 1956 to 1973, primarily playing with the Baltimore Colts. He is consistently listed as one of the greatest NFL players of all time, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

Gas mask (from World War I or II?)

Pith helmet (safari helmet worn by European travellers and explorers, routinely issued to European armed forces in hot climates in both world wars)

Baseball card collection

Lou Gehrig (Henry Louis Gehrig, born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, 1903-1941), played with the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1939. Known as “The Iron Horse” for his durability, he still has the highest ratio of runs scored plus runs batted among Hall of Fame players, being inducted in 1939. His career was brought to a tragic end by motorneurone disease, still often called Lou Gehrig’s disease in the US.

Joe DiMaggio (born Joseph DiMaggio, 1914-1999), played for the New York Yankees from 1936-1951. Widely considered the greatest baseball player of all time, his 56-game hitting streak is a record which still stands. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He is well known for his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, and lifelong devotion to her.

Willie Mays (born 1931), played for the New York/San Francisco Giants (1951-1972), before finishing his career with the New York Mets (1972-1973). Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Louie’s interests seem to be fishing, bowling, drinking, watching baseball and football, and collecting war memorabilia and sporting memorabilia. Some of the items he’s being buried with are quite valuable.

Toto

KIRK: He kicked my dog when I was a kid … Toto was always different after that.

Yet another reference to The Wizard of Oz. Toto is the name of Dorothy’s little dog in both the book and the film. In the film, Toto was a female dog played by a brown Cairn Terrier named Terry. In the original book, Toto is only described as a small, black, scruffy male dog, but the illustrations depict what looks like a Yorkshire Terrier. It’s possible Kirk’s pet dog Toto, a female, was likewise some sort of small fluffy terrier.

Uncle Louie is made even more unpleasant by not only kicking a dog, but probably a very small dog.

“We all hated Louie”

The Stars Hollow Revolutionary Battle Re-Enactors tell Luke that they don’t want to attend Louie’s funeral the next day because they hated him.

Louie always had a scowl on his face, and never said anything nice. He blew smoke from his cigar into people’s faces, and then spit after each puff. He repeatedly hit on Cy’s (crank in the hat) wife, until she lost interest in her favourite soap operas. He kicked Kirk’s pet dog Toto, and after that her mind was affected, so that she couldn’t fetch any more, but just lay down and went to sleep. He never participated in town functions, and when the battle re-enactors gathered (including his own brother, William), he’d throw rock and small tools at them. Unmarried and without children, he was a loner, and only got meaner with age.

When he retired to Florida, the town threw a big party to celebrate (somehow Luke never heard about this big party). Cy made love to his wife that night as never before, and Kirk’s dog gave a happy bark and died, as she was quite elderly by that stage.

Taylor Left Me Twistin’

TROUBADOUR: ‘Cause you left me twistin’ for a long time before you did, Taylor, and it didn’t feel good. I even wrote a song about the experience.

LORELAI: Oh, I heard it. It’s called “Taylor Left Me Twistin’.”

The Troubadour writes songs based on his own experiences in Stars Hollow, and Lorelai and Rory have listened to this one, even offering the Troubadour encouragement, feedback, and advice as to what to add to the song. Apparently they, and perhaps others, are on friendly speaking terms with the Troubadour, even though in the show people just walk right by him. We never see him perform this song in the street, or anything else so personal, but that might happen off camera.

Corky’s Country Cavalcade

RORY: What are you doing here anyhow? This is a town meeting for people who participate in and care about the town.

JESS: Well, Corky’s Country Cavalcade on public access was pre-empted, so I thought I’d check out the next best thing.

Corky’s Country Cavalcade, a fictional rural television program Jess has sarcastically invented to suggest that the town meeting is the closest real world parallel. Coming to a town meeting might mean that Jess does feel more connected to Stars Hollow since Rory has nagged him into helping out at the diner more at a time of family crisis, or that he wants to lend Luke some support. Or he might just want another chance to see Rory … his expression says he does. (Remember when Dean turned up to a town meeting just to see Rory?).

In North America, pre-empted is used in broadcasting to mean that a regular scheduled program has been interrupted or replaced.

Harry’s House of Twinkle Lights

TAYLOR: Harry’s House of Twinkle Lights has been an integral part of this town for twenty years, so it’s only right that we honor his retirement. So I hereby designate next Tuesday, Harry the Twinkle Light Man from Harry’s House of Twinkle Lights Day.

One of the barely-plausible niche businesses in Stars Hollow, about to close due to the owner’s retirement. Apparently there are so many festivals in Stars Hollow requiring twinkle lights that a store can remain in business for twenty years (since 1982) just providing for the town’s twinkle light needs. It’s not quite believable, but this is a town that has a store just for cat-related gifts, and a dozen that only sells porcelain unicorns!

It seems as if nobody is willing to buy the business or take it over, perhaps suggesting that in these decadent times, more and more townspeople are simply buying their twinkle lights from discount chain stores. The end of an era, with a tiny bit of magic leaving Stars Hollow with Harry’s retirement. But he will be sent off in style, with a festival on the following Tuesday entirely in his honour.

This is the second person named Harry we have heard of in Stars Hollow, the rarely-seen mysterious mayor being the first one.

Luke’s Family

LUKE: Randy and Barbara don’t wanna miss their brat kid’s rugby semifinal … My sister never even called back. My cousins Paul and Jim, who my dad helped put through college, said they were too exhausted from a fishing trip. And slightly disturbed cousin Franny said she can’t leave because her Petey’s sick.

Randy and Barbara, a married couple with at least one child, who plays rugby, not sure whether Randy or Barbara is Luke’s cousin.

Liz, Luke’s sister

Paul and Jim, cousins, presumably brothers

Franny, cousin, possibly a sister to Paul and Jim? (and yet another Fran/Francine/Franny!)

Uncle Louie didn’t have any children, but Luke seems to have several cousins, although he doesn’t mention any other uncles or aunts. Perhaps they are already dead. It’s possible all the cousins mentioned are siblings, and only one uncle/aunt died before Louie.

Luke booked nine rooms at the Independence Inn for his family to attend Louie’s funeral. He only seems to have needed five rooms for the named family members, suggesting that the other four were for the unnamed relatives who said they couldn’t get out of work for the funeral.

Campbell’s

TROUBADOUR #2: A lot of vegetable soup being eaten tonight, yesiree. Hope I don’t put the good people at Campbell’s out of business.

The Campbell Soup Company, trading as Campbell’s, processed food and snack company that is the largest in the US, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup. The classic red and white design of their soup cans have become American icons, and famously the subject of pop artist Andy Warhol’s series of prints [pictured]. The company was started in New Jersey in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell and Abraham Anderson.

Of course the Second Troubadour/Second Market Guy won’t put Campbell’s out of business – they are massive. He is referring to putting Taylor out of business, and this is another jab at him.

Emily Meddles in Sookie’s Wedding

While Lorelai is helping Luke to organise his uncle’s funeral, Emily meanwhile decides to get involved in Sookie’s wedding. She begins by making a couple of suggestions, with Sookie clearly not wanting to offend her best friend’s mother and a major client. What with Emily’s strong personality and Sookie’s tendency to go along with things to be nice, this escalates, until very soon, Lorelai takes enough interest in non-diner related activities to discover that Sookie is getting samples from celebrity wedding planners.