RORY: I know, but now I just feel like everybody’s watching me … The whole town is watching.
Rory still does not feel comfortable kissing Jess in front of others, even at a private gathering where Dean cannot possibly see them. She feels as if everyone in town is scrutinising and judging her behaviour, and the fact that Jess was so unpopular in town that there was a secret meeting set up to get rid of him cannot have escaped her attention. She’s always been the town’s sweetheart, and now she’s made a choice that she fears will make her unpopular.
SOOKIE: A couple of days ago, Jackson asked me if he could cook the turkey. I thought he was gonna roast it, stick a couple of onions around it, something simple. So I said yes, figuring that the minute he put it in the oven and leaves the kitchen, I can sneak in and give it a nice herb butter rub and stuff it with a pancetta-chestnut stuffing.
Sookie allows Jackson to cook the Thanksgiving turkey when his family come for dinner, but with this couple’s typical rotten communication, what Sookie actually means is that as soon as she gets a chance she will secretly rub the turkey over with herb butter to keep it moist, and stuff it with chestnuts and pancetta (an Italian salt-cured pork belly meat product).
Although this sounds lovely, Jackson’s plan is actually to deep fry the turkey in peanut oil, much to Sookie’s dismay. Of course, he doesn’t share his plans with Sookie, and she doesn’t tell him how unhappy she is about it.
Mrs Kim asks Dave to play “Hymn 17” while they eat dinner. Lane was hoping to persuade her mother to let Dave eat Thanksgiving dinner with them, but alas, she has apparently hired Dave to play while they eat.
I’m not really sure about this one, but in the Seventh Day Adventist hymnal, No. 17 is “Lord of All Being, Throned Afar”, written and composed by Oliver Wendell Holmes . The lyrics are quite interesting if you read them as pertaining to Lane and Dave’s situation:
Lord of all being, throned afar, Thy glory flames from sun and star; Centre and soul of every sphere, Yet to each loving heart how near! Yet to each loving heart how near!
Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray Shed on our path the glow of day; Star of our hope, Thy softened light Cheers the long watches of the night, Cheers the long watches of the night.
Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn; Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn; Our rainbow arch, Thy mercy’s sign; All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine, All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.
Lord of all life, below, above, Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love, Before Thy ever-blazing throne We ask no lustre of our own, We ask no lustre of our own.
Grant us Thy truth to make us free, And kindling hearts that burn for Thee; Till all Thy living altars claim One holy light, one heavenly flame! One holy light, one heavenly flame!
Yes, their loving hearts are near (nearer than Mrs Kim realises!), and they hope for the day that truth will make them free. It feels like an ardent prayer for mercy upon them so that their “kindling hearts” will eventually be “one flame”.
Dave plays the opening riff to this David Bowie song just before he begins the hymn. It is a little nod to Lane, who is a Bowie fan, and possibly a reference to his own name.
“The Man Who Sold the World” is the title track to Bowie’s third studio album, which was released in 1970 in the US and 1971 in the UK. Its lyrics are cryptic and evocative, based on several poems, and the vocals are haunting. It wasn’t released as a single, and only gained attention when it was covered by other artists, such as Lulu, Midge Ure, and Nirvana, whose version brought it to a new audience. It is now considered one of Bowie’s best songs.
LANE: That is not Dave Rygalski … I mean, not the one that I’m in a band with. That is Dave Rygalski, local Christian guitar player that my mom and I met very briefly and innocently at the dance marathon, and that I coincidentally ran across again when I found his ad seeking Christian guitar accompaniment gigs up on our church bulletin board.
Lorelai and Rory notice that Dave is playing guitar at the Kim’s Thanksgiving dinner. Lane quickly explains that she has set up another zany scheme, whereby Dave came all the way to Stars Hollow at five in the morning in order to have a five minute conversation with Mrs Kim and eat faux egg sandwiches. Lane then put a fake ad up for Dave on their church bulletin board, and pretended to find it in front of her mother.
This is the kind of thing Henry couldn’t put up with (and who could blame him?), but Dave willingly goes along with it, in the faint hope that Mrs Kim might let them date some day. He obviously really likes Lane.
LORELAI: I hate hiding from people, especially when I don’t wanna hide from them. You were a pal. You were so good to Rory. You were the best first boyfriend a mother could’ve hoped for … It’s okay to keep avoiding me if you want. I just wanted you to know that you don’t need to, okay? Just because you and Rory broke up doesn’t mean we did.
More inappropriate comments from Lorelai to Dean. If Lorelai and Dean “don’t need to break up”, what is it exactly they are not breaking up from? Because if their relationship was Mother of Rory and Rory’s Boyfriend, then yeah, it is going to break up when Rory and Dean do. Otherwise, Lorelai is suggesting that their relationship was something more than this.
It really feels as if Lorelai is trying to keep Dean hanging around for Rory, in hopes that they will get back together. A pretty terrible thing to do to Rory, and certainly unkind to Dean.
RORY: This will get better over time, I promise. But until then, let’s just play it cool.
JESS: Hey, I’m Frank at the Sands.
Frank Sinatra was a regular performer at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with his first performance there in 1953 – he later bought a share in the hotel. There is a 1966 live album of one of his performances called Sinatra at the Sands, which includes many of the biggest hits and a comedy monologue. The album was reissued in 1998, and Jess may have bought it.
Lane is also a fan of Frank Sinatra, and this seems like another thing she and have in common that could bring them together, but somehow the two never become friends.
Jess had to put up with Rory and Dean “flaunting” their relationship by kissing in public, sometimes right in front of him. But any chance of getting a bit of revenge is taken away when Rory says they can’t show any PDA in case it upsets her ex-boyfriend. Even though they’ve broken up, Rory is still very concerned about not upsetting Dean. It can’t be doing Jess’ confidence much good to know Rory is already prioritising her ex’s feelings over his.
JESS: It’s not the first time a couple’s broken up.
RORY: It is for us.
In fact, Rory and Dean broke up before, in “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers”. However, as they got back together again, Rory might think it doesn’t count, and was only “being on a break”. It’s interesting that she doesn’t share this detail with Jess, as if not wanting to expose the cracks and weaknesses in her prior relationship with Dean.
EMILY: Yes, it is Thanksgiving. And before you sift through the dozen or so excuses you always have on hand, let me have my say. You’ve missed two dinners and avoided my calls because you’re mad at us about what happened at Yale. But I want you and Rory at Thanksgiving this year.
We learn that this episode takes place more than two weeks after “Let the Games Begin”, and that Lorelai has been so angry with Richard over the Yale interview that she has refused to attend two Friday Night Dinners in a row.
Because Emily says, “I want you and Rory at Thanksgiving this year”, it implies that they don’t usually go to Thanksgiving dinner with Lorelai’s parents. The episode strongly implies that they usually spend Thanksgiving in Stars Hollow, dividing their time between Lane’s, Sookie’s, and Luke’s.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 