Footnotes to the TV series
EMILY: [sees Lorelai taking a pill] What are you taking?
LORELAI: Roofies.
“Roofies” is slang for Rohypnol, a drug used to treat severe insomnia and assist with anaesthesia. It is widely known for its use as a date rape drug. It is an illegal drug in the US, banned from medical use and not allowed for import.
RORY: Maybe I didn’t study hard enough. Maybe I got cocky.
LORELAI: Maybe you need a major mud bath/salt glow/chill pill combo.
Take a chill pill is American slang meaning that the person addressed needs to relax. To chill means to act cool, and the concept of chill pills probably comes from drugs like Xanax, Valium, or even Ritalin, as if the person needs to start acting as relaxed as someone under medication. It dates to the late 1980s, with use peaking in the 1990s.
Lorelai humorously suggests that Rory should combine her “chill pill” with relaxing spa treatments such as a mud bath or a salt glow because she’s acting so stressed that a simple pill won’t be enough.
BABETTE: Morey hates being the first anywhere. He thinks it hurts his street credibility.
MOREY: Charlie Parker was late to everything.
BABETTE: Charlie Parker had more drugs in him than a Rite-Aid.
Charlie Parker, previously discussed [pictured].
Rite-Aid is a chain of pharmacies or drugstores, founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1962 as the Thrift D Discount Center, changing its name in 1968. They have numerous stores in Connecticut, and other US states.
RORY: Hey, how’s Sookie doing in there?
LORELAI: Ah, well, she’s paper bagging it.
RORY: What?
LORELAI: You know… [Lorelai breathes into a pretend paper bag]
Breathing into a paper bag is a well known treatment for panic attacks, as (when done correctly) it helps to regulate breathing and prevent hyperventilation. Please note, it can only help with breathing problems brought on by panic. Never use it if you have asthma or lung problems.
LORELAI (to Richard): You and Mom, you always go out of town this time of year.
RORY: Last year it was the Bahamas.
Last year we discovered it was Richard and Emily’s annual tradition to hold a Christmas party in mid-December. This year we discover another tradition: they go out of town around Christmas time (presumably after the party, but possibly before).
I’m not sure whether they actually go away for Christmas, or if they travel in the week or so before Christmas, and get back in time for the 25th. Richard and Emily spoke about only seeing Lorelai and Rory at Christmas and Easter, so did that just mean attending the Christmas party each year? As that was attended by their friends, it doesn’t seem as if they spent much time together as a family at all, even in the holidays. Perhaps they meant the entire Christmas season – the party, and then Christmas itself.
Richard and Emily went to the Bahamas in December 2000, after Richard had been hospitalised for an angina attack. As Christopher’s parents, Straub and Francine Hayden, live in the Bahamas, it seems very likely the Gilmores either stayed with them, or visited them, during their vacation. It was only a couple of months later that Christopher’s parents come to Hartford just as Christopher arrives for a visit to Stars Hollow, suggesting it was a plan that the elder Gilmores cooked up to bring Lorelai and Christopher together – with devastating results.
PARIS (to Rory): Why don’t they just sew our sides together and rename us Chang and Eng?
Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1879), Siamese-American conjoined twins of Chinese ancestry, previously mentioned. Born in modern-day Thailand (then called Siam), they were brought to the US in 1829, and became wealthy by exhibiting themselves in “freak shows”. After ten years, they retired from touring, became American citizens, bought slaves, married two sisters, and fathered twenty-one children between them. For many years, conjoined twins were called “Siamese twins” because of Chang and Eng’s birthplace.
SOOKIE: That woman [Fran] is gonna live forever.
LORELAI: Not necessarily. Hey, did you look up angina? I forgot to.
SOOKIE: Yeah, it’s nothing major.
Why would Lorelai need to look up angina? Her own father has it! Is she so selfish she’s just forgotten about that, or never bothered to find out what angina is? Or did the writer (Daniel Palladino) simply ignore the events of Forgiveness and Stuff (written by John Stephens)?
Sookie isn’t really correct that angina is “nothing major”. It doubles the risk of a cardiovascular event, and that risk rises with increasing age. For an elderly person, it can be of serious concern, and in fact Fran does die from a heart attack in a future season. Richard Gilmore also has a heart attack later on, and eventually dies too.
RORY: How was the fashion show?
LORELAI: Oh, you know, I walked up and down the ramp, looked pouty and sexy, now I’m ready for rehab.
Lorelai is probably referring once again to Kate Moss, who went into rehab at London’s Priory clinic in 1998, supposedly for “exhaustion” (i.e. alcohol and drug addiction). Although quite a few other models have gone into rehab too …
FRANCIE: Mariah Carey’s crackup.
LEM: Have you heard her fan message recently? She’s fine and is currently staring at a really beautiful rainbow.
IVY: Survivor, hello.
Mariah Carey (born 1969), American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1990 with her self-titled debut album, and was the first artist to have her first five singles reach #1. She initially signed with Columbia, and married one of their executives in 1993 (they separated in 1997 and divorced in 1998).
In July 2001, after parting with Columbia and breaking up with her boyfriend of three years, Carey suffered a physical and mental breakdown. She began posting a series of disturbing messages on her official website, and displayed erratic behaviour on several promotional appearances, such as doing an unscripted striptease on MTV. The messages on her website spoke of being drained and burnt out by the music industry, and needing a break.
Carey was admitted to a hospital in Connecticut for treatment for two weeks, then remained absent from the public for some time. In late August (perhaps 4-6 weeks before the events of this episode), Carey posted an audio message on her website thanking fans for their support during her recovery.
In the message she told her fans, I just want to say thank you so much for all the letters and everything … as I speak to you, I’m looking at the most beautiful rainbow that is going across the entire sky, and I love you much! Thanks. Bye. She took the rainbow as a positive omen, especially as her 1999 album was called Rainbow.
Recently, Mariah Carey has revealed that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the time of hospitalisation, but it took her some time to accept it. It must be said that Gilmore Girls was never particularly sensitive on the subject of mental health issues.
EMILY: Focus the picture Lorelai … It’s hurting my eyes … It’s like I have glaucoma.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases in which the vision becomes clouded due to damage to the optic nerve. Vision loss and blindness can ensue if not treated.
We discover that Lorelai has had her camera for six years, so since 1995, and still can’t focus it.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 