“No more room”

EMILY: So I went inside and looked around and it occurred to me that there’s a very limited space there … Now of course there’s a slot open for me and Richard and you and Rory, but after the two of you – that’s it. No more room for anyone else.

Apparently the Gilmore family mausoleum is now almost full, and only has four spaces left. Emily is very concerned about Lorelai getting married, because there would be nowhere for her husband, but she never seems to consider that Rory could very well marry one day, and married or not, both of them are capable of having children (or further children, in Lorelai’s case). Where they are meant to go is never even discussed, and it really sounds as if the Gilmores’ mausoleum has pretty much seen its quota filled by now.

Lorelai suggests that she and Rory could be buried in the same space – a callback to them sharing a bed in the potting shed, and a sign that she really sees Rory as an extension of herself. Rory pleads for more boundaries by saying she’d prefer her own space. Even in death, Lorelai wants to keep Rory enmeshed with her, rather gruesomely.

Emily says the cemetery offered them the opportunity to buy an “annex” for extra family members. I don’t think this is an option in real life, although they have two public mausoleums at Cedar Hill where future generations of dead Gilmores could be stashed. Richard’s mother Trix dies during the series run, and surely other elderly Gilmores as well – how long are those extra four spaces going to last, and how long can they keep kicking existing Gilmores into the annex, which is also of finite space?

In A Year in the Life, Richard Gilmore dies and is buried in a plot with a headstone, not in a mausoleum. Maybe they really did run out of space?

Lorelai Apologises to Emily

Emily goes to to the kitchen to get more bread (wherever is the cook or the maid during these dramatic kitchen scenes? Do they just happen to be on a break in the middle of a meal, or in the toilet? Is there another food preparation or storage room somewhere? Even weirder, are they just out of shot and actually present the whole time?).

Lorelai apologises to Emily for not trusting her motives in helping, saying that she isn’t used to people doing things without strings attached. Emily immediately realises that Lorelai is talking about her and Richard, but Lorelai continues thanking her, saying she didn’t have anywhere to turn and was all out of ideas, and that she doesn’t know what she would have done without Emily. Hm, maybe she needs to thank and apologise to Rory as well now?

Emily thanks Lorelai, and then gives her parting shot – with a wicked smile, she tells her the DAR will be holding all their meetings at the Independence Inn from now on. She leaves, seemingly without the bread she supposedly came in for. Emily wasn’t joking either. A year later, there is mention of the DAR meetings still being held at the inn.

Of course, the DAR would have been free to book the Independence if they wanted to anyway, and Emily has organised things so that the inn Lorelai manages gets more business. It’s up to the viewer whether she has really taken revenge on Lorelai, or is trying to give her even more help. Or both!

Note how beautifully this scene is composed and shot, and that here is the colour red again to indicate strong emotion. Lorelai in red with a red light on her hair, vase of red flowers, red strawberries on the cake, little red desserts, red grapes, a red pepper in the fruit bowl (slightly oddly). Only Emily remains in cool blue and silver, her emotions under control.

Be True to Your School

This is the song that the Town Troubadour is singing at the end of the scene, just as Rory and Lane walk off together, and most people are leaving.

It was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the Beach Boys, released as a single from their 1963 album Little Deuce Coupe. It is an early example of a concept album, as all of the tracks are about cars in some way.

The song talk about being proud of your school, and not letting people look down on it, and specifically refers to cheerleading as part of showing school spirit. Each line of the song’s coda begins with “Rah rah”, like a cheerleading chant. The show focuses so much on Chilton, Rory’s school, and this is rare chance for Stars Hollow High School to be showcased.

The Troubadour seems to singing the song for all the school, but especially the cheerleaders, and perhaps Lane in particular. She hasn’t had much to be proud of, with golden girl Rory getting all the plaudits, so being able to feel proud of her cheerleading and her school seems pretty important. It’s the first time Lane has made a deliberate choice to break away from Rory and start leading a life of her own – and it’s something involving music, which she loves. It might be only “one step step beyond”, but it’s a significant one.

Rory and Lane Make Up

Rory and Lane make up their fight very quickly, with Rory saying that cheerleading seems fun, and that she can see that Lane is stamping her own personality on the team, rather than giving up her personality in order to fit in (which is possibly what Rory feared). Lane assures Rory she is the same person she always was, and they go for coffee.

I wonder if Lane really is unchanged, though? She went through a pretty rough time after Rory went to a new school and got a boyfriend, and she actually seems happier and more confident since starting cheerleading.

Lorelai and Rory Make Up

When they see each other at the school, Lorelai says that they got a loan, without disclosing that Emily helped her by co-signing for it. (Shades of the Pilot, when Lorelai asked Emily not to tell Rory that they were paying for Chilton).

Rory apologises for telling Emily about the termite situation, even though if she hadn’t, nothing would be different. And Lorelai does her usual song and dance about what a great provider she is and doesn’t need or want any help, even though Emily is the person who actually sorted everything out.

Lorelai kept saying that she would fix the problem herself, and even now insists that she never needed any help, but what exactly was her plan? She couldn’t get a loan from a bank, or even a loan shark. She refused loans from both friends and family. So what was she going to do?

It’s hard to see how this problem would ever be resolved unless she got help from Emily – which, thanks to Rory, she didn’t even have to ask for. But Rory receives no thanks, and actually apologises for helping!

And yet Emily is supposed to be controlling mother. Hmm …

Rah, Rah, Rah

[Rory walks up the porch steps]
LORELAI: Hey, uh, Dean called twice.
RORY: Rah, rah, rah. [goes into the house]

Rah, rah, rah is a typical cheerleader chant meant to create greater enthusiasm and excitement. Rory says it very snarkily.

Also note that Rory has only just had coffee with Dean, and had a short interaction with Lane on her way home. By the time she’s walked back to her house, Dean has already phoned twice before she even gets in the front door. That seems worryingly insecure, and even rather controlling. Rory’s ironic cheer may be a sign that she doesn’t welcome Dean’s constant calls.

Luke Tries to Loan Lorelai Money

LORELAI: Luke, that’s a loan.
LUKE: No, it’s just a temporary exchange of money for services that will be paid back when you finally have the . . . it’s a loan.

Luke makes an attempt to help Lorelai by advancing her the money to pay for the home repairs, as well as getting in a “good contractor” who did some work at the diner for him. I wonder if this is Tom the Contractor, who appears later in the show, and may be the same Tom who assisted Rory in her volunteer work for Rebuilding Together?

Lorelai thanks Luke but turns his offer down. She is refusing help from both family and friends, apparently determined to go it alone.

Energizer Bunny

LORELAI: Again, yes, just like the pink bunny with the drum. Uh, anyway, I was wondering if, um, you have had a chance to reconsider my loan? . . . Uh, no, I think it’s Energizer . . .

The Energizer Bunny is the marketing mascot of Energizer batteries. It’s a fluffy pink mechanical rabbit that beats a drum. It began as a parody of the Duracell Bunny (the mascot for Duracell batteries), which first appeared in commercials in 1973. The trademark had lapsed by 1988, so that Energizer were free to use a similar concept.

The Energizer Bunny is promoted as a toy which is able to last much longer than others, because he’s powered by Energizer batteries. In the same way, Mr Rygalski sees Lorelai as indefatigable in her attempts to get a loan. When she corrects him by saying it’s called the Energizer Bunny, Mr Rygalski, being older than Lorelai, was probably thinking of the earlier Duracell Bunny.

“Stubborn like my mother”

RORY: You were saying that I’m stubborn just like my mother.
DEAN: I was saying that in addition to all of the wonderful amazing qualities that the two of you share there is possibly, on occasion, a similar tendency to dig your heels in.

Rory isn’t that stubborn, being keen to please others as much as possible. If Lorelai and Rory were both equally stubborn, they would fight much more than they do. It’s worrying that Dean considers a meek girl like Rory to be “stubborn” – just how much of a doormat does he actually want?

Lorelai and Rory Fight

Against Lorelai’s wishes, Rory tells Emily that their house is infested with termites, and they have no way to pay for the necessary repairs. Emily immediately gets out her cheque book, only asking to know how much money is needed. Lorelai turns her offer down, and afterwards freezes Rory out, refusing to speak to her or even look at her – this is a foreshadowing of how other, more serious arguments between them will play out.

This again shows how dishonest Lorelai was with Rory when she said they were a “team” and a “democracy” – but with Lorelai able to play the “mom card” whenever she likes, and Rory forced to obey her. Their fight ends with Rory being sent to bed like a naughty child, even though they have Friday Night Dinner at 7 pm. Considering that Lorelai was in no mood to hang around after dinner, it can’t be more than about 9.30 pm.