Charles Dickens made his first trip to the US in 1842, and did visit New Haven and Yale University, praising both. In 1868, after another trip, he described Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven as the most beautiful street in America. It’s possible he really did drop a pencil somewhere on campus!
Yale University does have a quill pen once owned by Charles Dickens [pictured], held at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Richard may have taken Rory to see it, inspiring Emily’s comment.
RICHARD: You know, one day, when your mother was ten years old, she ran into my office and she said, “I’m going to go to Yale, just like you.” She actually took my diploma out of my office and put it in her room. She wouldn’t give it back to me for about six months.
Rory learns from Richard that Lorelai’s original dream for college, was not Harvard, but Yale. This was when she was ten years old, and presumably before her teenage years drove a wedge between father and daughter.
Richard’s point could not be clearer – if Rory is hanging onto a dream of going to Harvard to fulfil what Lorelai wanted, then that wasn’t even Lorelai’s original plan. And if Lorelai changed her mind, then Rory can too.
RICHARD: See that? That is my favorite building in the whole school … Because that’s where the Timothy Dwight Dining Hall is.
This is the dining hall of Timothy Dwight College, a residential college at Yale University which opened in 1935. Presumably it was Richard’s old college. The dining room at the college is a replica of a New England town hall with maple tables and captain’s chairs. According to Richard, they serve a delicious pot roast (one of Rory’s favourite meals), although that no longer seems to be on the menu.
EMILY: We were going to meet my girlfriends who were going to drive me back to school.
RICHARD: And you were angry with me.
EMILY: Because you wouldn’t commit to plans for the holidays.
RICHARD: Because I was going to invite you to the house to meet my parents after I proposed.
EMILY: Which I didn’t know because you gave me no indication whatsoever.
RICHARD: Anyway, you had just finished calling me a spineless jellyfish.
EMILY: And you got very annoyed, reached in your pocket, pulled out a box and said, “Here.”
RICHARD: And you opened the box, showed no emotion, slammed it close and said, “Fine.”
Richard and Emily describe the circumstances of their engagement at Yale University, which happens during a fight while sitting next to a trash can, with the engagement ring being offered and accepted in a fit of temper. It’s somehow reminiscent of screwball romantic comedies of the 1930s and ’40s.
They were both in collage at the time – when Emily says she was going back to “school”, she means her own college. They must have got engaged at the end of the year, because they were arguing about their “holiday” (ie Christmas) plans at the time. Yet they were still able to sit outside, so it can’t have been freezing or snowing – surely they would have mentioned that if it had been the case? They may have got engaged in November, before Thanksgiving – around this time of year, in fact, although neither of them mentions that the date is close.
EMILY: Richard Gilmore, you are going to give these girls the wrong impression.
RORY: What impression is that, Grandma?
LORELAI: That you were the Helena Bonham Carter of the society set?
Helena Bonham Carter (born 1966), English actress. She rose to fame in 1985 film A Room With a View, and became a favourite choice for playing a virginal “English rose” in period dramas – something she was uncomfortable with. Bonham Carter gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s, and has had many major roles, including awards for biographical film and TV The King’s Speech, Enid, and The Crown.
Lorelai is referring to the fact that in 1994, Helena Bonham Carter began an affair with fellow actor Kenneth Branagh while they were filming Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, even though Branagh was married to actress Emma Thompson at the time (they married in 1989).
Branagh and Thompson divorced in 1995, and Bonham Carter and Branagh broke up in 1999. They have all made peace with one another now, and the three of them had major roles in the Harry Potter film series. Helena Bonham Carter married director Tim Burton in 2001, the year before this episode aired. They divorced in 2014.
Amy Sherman-Palladino seems to have modelled her image very heavily on Helena Bonham Carter, who is known for her eccentric fashion and dark aesthetic, and for playing quirky female roles. I’d imagine she would be one of Sherman-Palladino’s favourite actresses, as well as her style icon.
LORELAI: Anyhow, I looked through it and it just so happens that one of the best taco places on the East Coast is ten minutes from campus … [reads] “You haven’t had a taco until you’ve spent some time at Hector’s, crisp and meaty … not greasy”.
There isn’t a taco place called Hector’s in New Haven, but there’s a popular Mexican restaurant called El Carpintero run by a guy named Hector in Burbank, Los Angeles – across the street from Warners Bros and much frequented by people who work there. This seems so suspiciously similar that I think it must be the inspiration for the fictional Hector’s in New Haven.
KIRK: I need your help. I don’t know what to do. I’m shaking like a spastic colon.
A spastic colon, or colon spasm, describes the situation when the muscles around the small and large intestines spontaneously and suddenly contract, causing pain, cramping, bloating, and an urgent need to use the toilet.
This common condition is strongly associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is sometimes known as spastic colon, even though not everyone with IBS gets colon spasms, and not everyone with colon spasms has IBS. It is not always clear what causes it, although a change of diet, more exercise, managing stress, and sometimes medications may be offered as part of a treatment plan.
Kirk’s phrasing may suggest that he suffers from IBS himself.
LORELAI: Mm, let me see. . . manipulate, evil plan, no free will, pearls – no, I think you about covered it. Oh, wait – did you call my father the Puppet Master?
Puppet Master, a figurative term for someone who controls other people and events, “pulling the strings” in the background, like a puppeteer.
As a fan of the band Metallica, it seems almost impossible that Lorelai would not be thinking of their 1986 song “Master of Puppets”, from the album of the same name. It is one of their most popular and well-known songs.
EMILY: Liliana will be right out with the sand dabs.
Sand dabs are a variety of flatfish native to the oceans around the Americas. The most common in the US is the Pacific sand dab, which is caught in California and the Pacific North West, and is a rather expensive delicacy of the San Francisco Bay area (it feels like this is the sand dab the writers of the show would be familiar with!).
Sand dabs can be grilled, pan-fried, or roasted. They are said to be an acquired taste, which might explain why Lorelai seems to have been less than impressed with her experience eating one.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 