Tag: Did You Notice?

“You’re officially a part of this town now”

RORY: You facilitated it, you made it happen, so I guess that means that you’re officially a part of our town now.

JESS: Hey, wait a minute.

Having pestered, nagged, and occasionally dragged Jess into helping Luke by working at the diner, just as she gave him a scolding and inspired him to fix Luke’s toaster, Rory now tells him that he is a part of the town. As well as helping Luke, it feels as if Rory was also trying to rehabilitate Jess, or improve his reputation. Jess seems slightly alarmed by this, and rejects the idea that he’s part of Stars Hollow – he’s always seen himself as “on the road”, a freewheeling drifter who’s just on his way through.

Luke worries that he and his uncle Louie were parallel to each other, but in fact it is Jess who is most like his great-uncle, Louie Danes. Both are unpopular in town, and considered to be rude, antisocial pains in the backside, given the cold shoulder by the good folk of Stars Hollow. Maybe like Louie, the town would soon turn forgiving should Jess actually die – a plot line Milo Ventimiglia urged upon the writers of Gilmore Girls, to no avail.

Of course, by roping Jess into helping out, Rory has ensured that she and Jess have spent most of the week (was it a week?) together, and working together respectably in public as well, so that everyone can see they are friends. Notice has exaggeratedly Rory addresses Jess as “friend” and “buddy” while she teases him, letting everyone know that she and Jess are just good friends.

What Dean thought about this volunteer work, we don’t know – he isn’t seen or mentioned in this episode. Since the Bid-on-a-Basket Festival, Dean only shows up in order to play the jealous boyfriend, never to just spend time with Rory or to help her out.

Louie’s Wake

LUKE: What’s going on?

RORY: It’s kind of like a wake.

When Luke and Lorelei get back from the funeral, they find a wake for Louie in full swing at the diner. No matter how they felt about Louie while he was alive, we see how Stars Hollow comes together to honour the death of one of their own. He may have retired to Florida (and the town threw a party in celebration), but now the town reclaims him as a citizen.

In life Louie was a disgusting rude old man, in death he becomes a “colourful character” that his former victims can now view with humour and affection. More than anything, you can’t help think that people in Stars Hollow just can’t permit an opportunity for a party to slide by. These are the people who threw a wake for a cat, after all!

Notice how many fresh vegetables and salads there are at the wake – the temporary market stall in the park has been a major contributor to the celebration of Louie’s life.

David and Lisa

TAYLOR: Let go of me!

TROUBADOUR #2: Don’t like to be touched, that’s cool. Got a little David and Lisa thing happening?

David and Lisa, 1962 drama film directed by Frank Perry. It is based on the second story in the 1961 novella Lisa and David by a psychiatrist named Theodore Isaac Rubin; the screenplay is written by Rubin’s wife, Eleanor Katz. The story is about a bright young man named David (played by Keir Dullea) who cannot bear to be touched; while in a mental health treatment facility, he befriends a girl named Lisa (played by Janet Margolin) who has a split personality.

David and Lisa received positive reviews from critics. It was made into a stage play in 1967, and into a television film in 1998, produced by Oprah Winfrey.

David and Lisa is one of the DVDs we can see at Stars Hollow Video in “Richard in Stars Hollow”.

Note the implication from the Second Town Troubadour/Second Market Guy that Taylor must have serious mental health problems if he doesn’t want to be hugged. It’s just the start of the trolling that Taylor is about to be subjected to!

Jeannie and Major Healey

JESS: I’m in the middle of something.

RORY: Just assume that Jeannie’s gonna get Major Healey out of whatever scrape he’s in.

As the theme music playing tells us, Jess is watching I Dream of Jeannie, a fantasy sitcom created by Sidney Sheldon, starring Barbara Eden as a 2000-year-old genie named Jeannie, and Larry Hagman as Major Tony Nelson, the astronaut she falls in love with. Bill Daily played Tony’s best friend, Major Roger Healey, who was girl-crazy and often entered into get-rich-quick schemes, requiring Jeannie’s assistance to sort everything out. The show was originally broadcast from 1965 to 1970, but but often shown in reruns.

I Dream of Jeannie was created as a deliberate rival to Bewitched, both having pretty blonde magical beings as the focus of the show. It is amusing that Jess apparently prefers I Dream of Jeannie, while Lorelai seems to be a fan of Bewitched.

The classic theme music which you hear Jess listening to was composed by Hugo Montenegro with lyrics by Buddy Kaye. It replaced the original Season 1 theme music, a jazz waltz composed by Richard Weiss. Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote a theme for the show, but it was never used.

(The show is set in Florida, the same place Louie retired to).

“Crazy mad”

LORELAI: Wow, he must’ve been crazy mad last night.

RORY: I’d say that was a fair assessment.

Apparently knowing that her daughter’s boyfriend was in an insane rage the night before isn’t something Lorelai feels she needs to worry about! And now Dean has taken Rory hostage for the entire day, and she has to have dinner with his family as well. Doesn’t she look thrilled about it?

The Care Package Jess Brings Rory

Macaroni Cheese

Hamburgers

French fries

Salad

Chocolate brownies

Layer cake???

The care package is a more elaborate version of what Luke brought Lorelai for the Bid-on-a-Basket Fundraiser when they ate a picnic in the gazebo, as if Jess is trying to give Rory even more. It might be another sign that he is paying too much for her or offering Rory too much. He’s all for the big gestures – similar to Dean and his gift of a car.

The food is brought in a box which once contained bleach. I’m not sure if there’s any significance to that, but it’s provocative (sperm is often said to smell of bleach, for example) and slightly off-putting.

What a Wonderful World

This is the song which plays at the end of the show, when Luke interrupts Jess to knock a hole in his apartment wall. The song has been used before in the show, but the original version by Louis Armstrong, previously discussed.

This version is sung by Joey Ramone, former lead singer of punk band The Ramones, from his debut album as a solo artist, Don’t Worry About Me. It was released in February 2002, not long before this episode aired. (The music video for “What a Wonderful World” was directed by Debbie Harry from Blondie).

It was released posthumously, Joey Ramone having died in April 2001. The album peaked at #21 in the US, and was warmly reviewed.

Notice that this episode ends with an allusion to Mayberry, an idyllic fictional town, “It’s a Small World”, and “What a Wonderful World”, to impress on us the perfection of this little world they have created for us.

“Does Jess ever talk to you about Rory?”

After losing her temper with Jess and letting him know she doesn’t trust him one bit around her daughter, Lorelai tries to find out from Luke if there is anything going on between Jess and Rory. Luke says that Jess doesn’t confide in him, but he thinks it would be great if they got together, because Rory would be good for Jess.

Lorelai is much more concerned about whether Jess would be good for Rory, and she now knows that Luke may be her friend, but he is not her ally when it comes to keeping Jess and Rory apart. This is no doubt painful to learn, and it also means that her distrust and resentment towards Jess begins to spread to Luke. Again, this will lead to a major break between Lorelai and Luke later down the track.

Jess was brought in by the writers to drive a wedge between Lorelai and Luke and keep them apart, and their plan is working.

(Note that the canisters behind Luke read SUGAR CAFE!).

Fruit on Head, Conga Line

MICHEL: I mean, it’s just as possible I say I’ll cover the desk, and the moment you’ve stepped away I’ll put some fruit on my head and join a conga line somewhere.

A reference to the showgirls at the Copacabana nightclub in New York, in the style of Carmen Miranda, previously mentioned.

A conga line [pictured] is a novelty carnival dance from Cuba which became popular in the US in the 1930s. The dancers form a long procession in a line, with three shuffle steps, then a kick. It was mistakenly thought to be an African dance from the Congo, hence the name.

There was a conga line at the wedding reception for the twins Jessica and Jackie, which was held at the Independence Inn in “Kill Me Now”.