Tag: Relationship Insight

Luke Asks Nicole on a Date

LUKE: No, no, no, uh, what I meant was – ah, what the hell? Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?
NICOLE: Yeah.

It’s pretty obvious that, besides being flattered by Nicole’s attention, Luke asks her on a date primarily because he knows Lorelai is dating Alex. Jess has already criticised Luke for waiting around for Lorelai like a faithful dog, and has nagged him to ask Nicole out. Finding out that Lorelai is out on a date with a coffee shop owner who’s outdoorsy and likes fishing (sounding suspiciously similar to Luke) is the final straw that pushes him towards Nicole.

In this scene we learn that a cup of coffee at Luke’s cost seventy-five cents. That sounds like a bargain for what every character seems to believe is the best coffee in the world.

Notice that in the background to this scene, someone walks behind Luke and Nicole wearing what appears to be a maroon and gold Gryffindor scarf from Harry Potter.

“It’s okay not to like Jess”

RORY: It’s okay not to like Jess.
LANE: I said I was happy for you.

Rory has that awkward conversation with her best friend where she gently lets Lane know that she knows she doesn’t approve of Jess, and that’s okay. She doesn’t need to pretend. Lane immediately feels bad about not liking Jess, but says that she’s protective of Rory, and doesn’t want her to be hurt.

Rory asks her to give Jess a second chance (even though she just said it was okay for Lane not to like him), and Lane gamely says that maybe they can double date with she and Dave some time. Double dating seems to be the default position on Gilmore Girls!

We never see if the two couples ever did go out together, but I imagine Jess would have refused – even though he would have a lot in common with Lane and Dave. It seems like a missed opportunity.

“Arguing about a boy”

HEADMASTER: Now, I’d like to know what is actually driving this recent rash of infighting. Oh, goody, I get to guess. Well, let’s see, perhaps you’re arguing over the same boy?
PARIS: Sure, we’re girls, so we could only be arguing about a boy, right? Sexist, white-haired –

Paris rightly complains at the headmaster’s sexist stereotyping that two girls can only be fighting over a boy, but in teen dramas of the 2000s, that’s exactly what happened. Most of the time if two girls fought or didn’t get along, it was because of a boy

In fact, Paris initially disliked Rory because her crush Tristan flirted with Rory, and it was only after Tristan moved schools that their friendship really blossomed. And in this case, they sort of are arguing about a boy – Paris said the thing she couldn’t forgive was that Rory discussed Paris’ boyfriend Jamie with Francie (which didn’t actually happen).

Judas

PARIS: Daughter of Judas.

Judas Iscariot, disciple of Jesus Christ and originally one of the Twelve Apostles. According to the gospels, Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, by kissing him on the cheek and calling him “master”. This led to Jesus being easily identified in a crows, leading to his arrest and being handed over to the authorities. His name is often used synonymously with betrayal or treason.

Paris obviously sees herself as the “master” and Rory the “disciple” in their relationship as president and vice-president. Paris (wrongly) thinks that Rory has contacted the headmaster, and getting her into trouble with the “authorities”, as Judas did to Jesus Christ.

Frog Girl

Sookie tells Lorelai that she complimented Jackson on a frog tee-shirt he wore while they were dating, so he bought her a frog figurine to celebrate six months of going out. There was another one for Christmas, and he told his family to buy her frog figurines for every occasion. Now she has a frog collection.

She tells this depressing story as if it is a cute anecdote. Sookie was so smart about relationships when she was single, and usually gave Lorelai good advice. Then she became incapable of even telling her boyfriend, later husband, that she didn’t love frogs all that much. They are a symbol of her inability to communicate with Jackson.

Kim Family Weddings

The Kim family are planning a wedding for Lane’s cousin James, said to be “quiet and skulky”, so the family arranged a marriage for him with a girl from Korea who “doesn’t speak a word of English”.

This sounds absolutely awful for the young woman, coming to a country where she doesn’t speak or understand the language, to marry someone she’s never met. Amazingly, Rory and Lane express zero sympathy or concern for her, Rory even quipping that she hopes they make air holes in the box she’s shipped out in, as if she’s an animal.

Dave will be playing at the wedding, and during the conversation, it turns out that Rory has attended many weddings at the Kim household – so many that Lane says she is accepted as an honorary member of the family. We don’t see Rory and Lane together that much, so this is a nice way to tell us that in fact they are very close and have shared many important times that aren’t shown onscreen. It doesn’t really gel with the way Mrs Kim treats Rory in the show – certainly not like a family member (mind you, she’s not very warm to her actual family members).

Notice that the book Rory is carrying in this scene is Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman. Rory is shown reading this book all the way back in “Red Light on the Wedding Night”, so eighteen months later she is either still reading it, or is re-reading it. Although re-reading books is common, is re-reading biographies all that common, I wonder? I feel as if they are getting a bit lazy in finding new books for Rory to read (or be shown reading).

Toms and Moon

DAVE: I mean, you’ve got the potential, but you’re sloppy. I need a clean roll on the toms but powerful, like Moon.

The toms refer to tom drums a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language of Sri Lanka, derived from thammattama, from the Tamil word thappu, a type of drum.

Referring to Keith Moon, previously discussed, drummer for The Who, and one of Lane’s drum heroes.

Dave and Lane have come up with a plan to keep their relationship a secret from their bandmates – Dave will put Lane down in public, patronise her, and insult her. Lane is totally into it, as she loves zany schemes and keeping secrets.

“You cheated on me!”

JACKSON: You cheated on me!
SOOKIE: No.
JACKSON: Oh my God.
SOOKIE: I just flirted accidentally!

Sookie makes Jackson’s favourite meal and puts his favourite album on, so of course he reaches the obvious conclusion – she’s been unfaithful to him. Sookie doesn’t help matters by acting as guilty as if she had been, and says that she “flirted accidentally”, even though Lorelai told her she didn’t. The episode ends miserably for the temporarily feuding couple.