Tag: Character Insight

“I’m a saint”

DEAN: I’m a saint, but I’m not mad.

RORY: Thank you.

While locking lips with Rory against a tree, Dean suggests that since Lorelai is away, he should come over. It’s possibly code for “let’s get sexy” (and Rory and Dean are more than a year over the age of consent in Connecticut), but to his surprise, Rory explains that she has plans to spend some time alone. She is afraid that Dean will be angry with her – she’s very scared of his temper.

Although disappointed and confused (the idea of a girl deciding to spend time alone for one night is beyond his ken), Dean kindly allows Rory the chance to do laundry in peace, as long as she “makes up for it” by spending all the next day with him. And then declares himself a saint for this outstanding act of munificence. Saint Dean, the patron saint of understanding boyfriends.

Note the touch of red Dean is wearing under his jacket, as if there is actually an underlying anger there.

Luke’s Apartment Renovations

We open with the diner in disarray, because Luke’s apartment that he bought in the previous episode is still under construction. In real life, it usually takes months for the sale of a property to go through so you can begin work on it, but this is television, and Luke is already in the middle of renovations.

Jess, wearing a construction helmet, chivalrously brings Rory an umbrella to shield her from the mess. Although Luke gets cranky about Jess making fun of the situation, the umbrella saves Rory from being hit by debris just a minute or so later.

This is the first official sighting of Tom the Contractor, although it is the same actor (Biff Yeager) who played Tom who was the foreman at Rebuilding Together in Hartford where Rory did volunteer work. They have the same name and personality, and obviously look the same, so it seems perfectly possible that they are actually the same character. This is never confirmed, however.

It’s not clear how much time has passed since the previous episode, but Luke complains to Tom about the renovation taking another week, and in 2002 Easter was at the end of March, so perhaps three weeks have gone by and it’s now early April (Thursday 4th April). I won’t be able to keep blog entries in step with events in the show, or I will run out of time. Time gets very stretchy in the last few episodes of the season!

Notes of a Dirty Old Man

This is the book that Jess is reading on his bed when Luke comes in.

Notes of a Dirty Old Man is a 1969 book by Charles Bukowski, a collection of his newspaper columns for the underground Los Angeles newspaper, Open City. His articles showcased his trademark crude humour and attempts to provide a truthful viewpoint of events in his life. He writes openly about his alcoholism and hook-ups with prostitutes and married women.

Some of the quotes from the book sound like things that Jess could probably relate to:

  • The people walk with such an indifference I begin to hate them, but then again I’ve never really been fond of anything.
  • Is it possible to love a human being? Of course, especially if you don’t know them too well.
  • The people will always betray you. Never trust the people.

This kind of nihilistic self-hatred and detachment from others is heady stuff for a teenage boy who’s been kicked around, and I can imagine Jess reading this as a kind of wisdom needed to survive in the world.

Like Rory, Jess has a strong interest in journalism – but a very different type of journalism. Did he recommend this book to Rory? It seems likely. And likely that she would read it, too.

“Two weeks”

JESS: If it’s the most precious thing she owns, why did it take her two weeks to figure out it was gone, huh? You might wanna re-evaluate how madly in love she is. I wouldn’t start calling him ‘son’ yet.

Jess makes a devastatingly accurate comeback to Lorelai. The fact that Rory didn’t notice the bracelet was missing for some time, even needing Dean to point it out for her, is a very clear indication that her interest in Dean has waned. Something that Jess can take cold comfort in.

It is actually three weeks since the Bid-on-a-Basket Fundraiser, not two, even though it was two episodes ago.

Santa Claus

JESS: Actually, I came down the chimney and pulled a Santa Claus.

Jess refers to Santa Claus delivering gifts by coming down the chimney, a common tradition in many European countries. It probably pre-dates Christianity, as in Germanic legend, the Norse god Odin was said to bring gifts down the chimney at Yuletide, and in folklore elves and fairies brought gifts down the chimney to leave on the hearth. The fireside and hearth has been held sacred since ancient times, probably since humans began using fire.

Santa Claus coming down the chimney became part of American tradition upon the publication of the 1823 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement Clarke Moore, which begins, “’Twas the night before Christmas …”. Enormously popular, it had a massive effect on Christmas traditions in the US, many of which can be dated to the publication of the poem.

Jess is quick to counter Lorelai’s suggestion that he broke into their house to steal the bracelet by instead aligning himself with a benevolent figure who actually brings gifts, rather than steals them. Jess does the right thing in returning the bracelet as soon as he can, but gets nothing but grief for it.

EDIT: Edited to change a Jeff to a Jess, thank you to Carol Stamm for help in my battle with autocorrect. Otherwise we’d all be reading about Laurel Gilmore and her daughter Dory, in the little town of Tars Hello.

Lorelai Accuses Jess

After catching Jess coming out of Rory’s bedroom, and Rory’s bracelet coincidentally turning up under her bed when she’d already looked there numerous times, Lorelai puts one and one together and draws the obvious conclusion that Jess had Rory’s bracelet and had secretly returned it.

She immediately accuses Jess of stealing Rory’s bracelet and keeping it out of jealousy towards Dean, not caring that he was upsetting Rory in the process. Lorelai doesn’t bother trying to get all the facts, because Jess didn’t deliberately steal Rory’s bracelet, but held onto it after she lost it. He didn’t know it was from Dean, and was not trying to cause trouble between Rory and her boyfriend by keeping the bracelet.

She makes the mistake of attacking Jess as if she is a teenager herself, calling him a “little jerk”, rather than behaving like a concerned parent. This mother-daughter relationship where Lorelai tries to be both a mom and a best friend often goes wrong when she tries to be a friend when she should be a mother, and vice versa.

Lorelai has a temper and tends to go off halfcocked, especially when it comes to safeguarding Rory. Jess has no hesitation in talking back to her, and this episode will leave Lorelai with deep distrust and a simmering resentment against Jess which will explode later in the season.

Bye, Bye, Birdie

JESS: It’s really that big a deal?
RORY: What do you mean?
JESS: I mean, I know it’s got an ‘I’ve been pinned’ Bye Bye Birdie kind of implication to it, but it was just a bracelet.

Bye Bye Birdie, 1963 musical comedy film directed by George Sidney, based on the award winning 1960 Broadway musical of the same name, with music by Charles Crouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and book by Michael Stewart.

Set in 1958, the story was inspired by Elvis Presley’s draft into the US army in 1957. Jesse Pearson plays Conrad Birdie, a teen idol based on Elvis, his name a play on Conway Twitty, Presley’s rival at the time.

Conrad Birdie is giving a farewell performance in Columbus, Ohio, to end with his song, “One Last Kiss”. It is arranged for him to kiss a randomly chosen high school girl at the end of the song before going into the army. The teenager chosen is Kim MacAfee (played by Ann-Margret) from the town of Sweet Apple, but Kim’s boyfriend Hugo Peabody (played by Bobby Rydell) isn’t thrilled, as he and Kim have got “pinned” – he’s given her his fraternity pin to wear, indicating a serious commitment between them. When Birdie kisses Kim in a rehearsal, she swoons.

Elvis Presley himself was the first choice for the role of Birdie, but his manager Colonel Tom Parker wouldn’t allow it. The film helped make Ann-Margret such a star that in 1964 she appeared with Elvis himself in Viva Las Vegas.

Jess is saying that Rory and Dean are the small-town teenage sweethearts, and he is the sexy outsider. It seems slightly egotistical, and a bit demeaning to Rory, as if he has randomly chosen her for a meaningless encounter; it strongly suggests Jess doesn’t intend to stick around.

The film ends with Hugo knocking Birdie out before he can kiss Kim on stage, which might be what Jess is expecting from Dean – that he’ll punch Jess before he gets a chance with Rory. In the stage musical, the story continues with Kim going off to hang out with Birdie, and he is arrested for attempted statutory rape. Kim claims to have been intimidated by Birdie, and gladly returns to Hugo.

Quite a few warnings for Rory in this apparently casual reference! Foreshadowing, on multiple levels.

The reference to Birdie being about to go into the army makes me wonder if this reference was originally meant for Tristan, who went off to military school. Jess is much more of a Birdie than Tristan, however.