“Have a really good summer”

PARIS: Too bad I already filled the spot for music coverage. You know, record reviewing and such. You’d have been perfect for it. I gave the job to Louise.
RORY: Louise owns two CDs.
PARIS: Yeah. Well, gotta go. Have a really good summer.

Paris makes it sound as if it is now the last day of the school year, which I guess it could be if the episode covered more than a month, but that doesn’t explain how Rory is back at school again later in the episode (and doesn’t fit with how this episode is dated in a future season). More likely she means the summer vacation is very soon, or perhaps that regular classes are about to end to make way for the final exams schedule.

As Rory looks back at Paris, Madeline, Louise, who began the school year as her enemies, became her friends, and are now suddenly enemies again at the end of the school year, they stand on the steps in a manner reminiscent of an iconic scene in the film Heathers, previously discussed. It’s a clear sign that they are back to being a gang of “mean girls” again.

Kinko’s in Groton

TAYLOR: Oh, this is absolutely ridiculous. Do you subscribe to this troubadour mystique?
RIVAL TROUBADOUR: I run a Kinko’s in Groton.

Kinko’s was an earlier trademarked name for FedEx Office Print & Ship Services, a retail chain providing an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground Shipping, as well as printing, copying, and binding services. It is the main competitor to UPS Stores. Founded in 1970, the name was changed in 2004, although the older name is still advertised.

The town of Groton in Connecticut was discussed earlier, as the former home of Lorelai’s deceased relative, Claudia. It is about an hour’s drive from the area where Stars Hollow appears to be located. In real life, it doesn’t have a FedEx Office today, and may not have had a Kinko’s in 2001. Does this cast doubt on the rival troubadour’s story? Perhaps he has mystique too, but just has a different way of going about it.

The Troubadour at the Town Meeting

TROUBADOUR: I’ve been the town troubadour for six months now, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job and then, he shows up (points to other troubadour).
RIVAL TROUBADOUR: Hey.
TROUBADOUR: And there’s no room for a second troubadour in Stars Hollow.

Even though we’ve only seen the Town Troubadour since That Damn Donna Reed, which took place in February, he’s actually been in town since early November at least. We learn that the Troubadour is a real man of mystery, as we don’t know how he supports himself. He doesn’t play music in the streets for money, even refusing it when offered.

Nor do we know where he lives: he is never shown shopping or eating at the diner, and nobody seems to know anything about him, so he isn’t a regular part of the town. On the other hand, we never see him driving, cycling, catching a bus, or even walking home, so we don’t know where he goes when he finishes playing music in Stars Hollow. This is all part of the “mystique” that he believes troubadours are meant to have.

Is he even human? Is he an angel, or a spirit from the stars, sent to bring music to Stars Hollow? Is he from another dimension, or the real Grant Lee Phillips able to project himself somehow into the Gilmore Girls universe? These questions will never be answered.

His role seems to be to guide people’s lives through song, and to help them learn to express emotions – all part of Stars Hollow being a place where love can be nurtured and developed. Later in the scene, Rory stands up and says that the Troubadour is able to express how the townspeople feel through his songs, and to say what they are thinking. This certainly seems to be case in this episode.

(Interestingly, the Troubadour only seems to have come to Stars Hollow when Rory had begun dating Dean, and Lorelai had begun dating Max. Did their love affairs attract him to the town, as if they now needed his emotional guidance?)

Kentucky Fried Chicken

LORELAI: I had the weirdest dream last night. We were in our house, but it wasn’t our house, it was a Kentucky Fried Chicken.
RORY: I’m hooked.
LORELAI: I had to get dressed, but my clothes were in the back. And the guy manning the giant oil vat would not let me though.
RORY: Oh my God! That’s so weird. When you said oil vat, that just reminded me, I had this dream last night we were swimming in a pool, only it wasn’t water, it was like oil or honey or something.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (since 1991 branded as KFC) is a fast food restaurant chain specialising in fried chicken with a secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices. It is the world’s second-largest restaurant chain after McDonald’s. It was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1930, who sold his chicken from a roadside restaurant in the Great Depression, with the first franchise opening in 1952.

There are several KFC outlets in Hartford, and two in Wallingford, near where Stars Hollow seems to be located.

Dreams often link food and sex, so I wonder if Lorelai’s dream of a fast food outlet is trying to tell her that she is moving too fast with Max, and perhaps that the relationship is cheap and unsatisfying because it’s mostly based on sexual attraction?

The fact that Lorelai doesn’t seem to have any clothes on in the dream seems telling, and also that a man is stopping her from putting her clothes on (in the back of the store!) could signify that on some level she feels that the passion she has with Max is stopping her from finding a relationship that is deeper and more meaningful (with Luke).

The name of the man who is stopping Lorelai from getting her clothes turns out to be someone she once knew named Jim Dunning, which sounds rather like, “I’m done in”. In a way, her relationship with Max has already come as far as it can.

Both Lorelai and Rory dreamed of oil on the same night (Lorelai’s featured a man in charge of a vat of cooking oil, while Rory went swimming in what seemed to be oil, or perhaps honey). Both of them seem to want things to go smoothly in their lives: Lorelai dreaming of cooking oil may mean she wants a transformation in her life, while Rory is obviously exploring her emotions.

“Dear God Almighty”

The episode begins with Lorelai asleep in bed, only to be suddenly awoken by a loud banging noise. She cries out something that sounds like, “Dear God Almighty, Mister Mirkel!”. Closed captioning suggests that Lorelai says, “Dear God Almighty Mr. Mirkle”, which is of little help.

It is possible that Lorelai actually says, “Dear God Almighty, Mr. Miracle“, and the last word comes out in a hurried screech because she has been startled awake.

If so, this could be a reference to the comic book superhero Mr. Miracle, who appears in DC Comics. First appearing in 1971, he was created by Jack Kirby. It doesn’t seem unbelievable, as Lorelai has made several references to comic book characters – particularly DC ones, such as Superman and Wonder Woman. DC is owned by Warner Bros., who made Gilmore Girls.

Interestingly, Mr. Miracle is a member of a fictional race called The New Gods, and is the son of the Highfather, the chief of the gods. It’s possible that Lorelai is using his name as a euphemism for Jesus Christ, and giving it her own geeky spin.

Strudel

EMILY: So do you get your lunch at school or do you bring it with you? Because Rosa made a fabulous leg of lamb yesterday. I bet it’d make a wonderful sandwich.
RICHARD: Take her up on that. It is good. And demand a slice of strudel.

Strudel is a dish made from layers of thin pastry with a filling, usually (but not always) sweet. It became popular in the 18^th century throughout the Hapsburg Empire, so is a dish originating in Austria, but also common throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

Strudel pastry was heavily influenced by the filo pastry used in Turkish cuisine, such as baklava. It is very fine and elastic, and is supposed to be rolled so thin that you can read a newspaper through it.

The best known strudel is apple strudel, and the second best known is a strudel filled with a sweet soft cheese filling. However, almost any kind of fruit can be used, and so can jam, nuts, vegetables such as spinach, and meat fillings.

That Rosa makes both blintzes and strudel suggests she may be from somewhere in Eastern Europe, perhaps Hungary or the former Czechoslovakia. There is a chance that Rosa is meant to be an East European Jew, perhaps (for example) a Czech who was rescued as a child and sent to Allied countries during World War II. If so, she would be quite mature-aged, and probably older than Richard and Emily.

The Art of Fiction

MAX: If we read his works in order we can see his progression from a narrative of clear simplicity to one of one of rich complexity. Now this is not homework, but I strongly urge you, if you have not already read The Art of Fiction, read it. It’s a remarkable manifesto that contains basic truths that still apply to fiction in any form. All right, so Henry James, the man of the moment. Pick your book. Read it carefully. A full report on my desk one week from today.

The Art of Fiction is an essay by American-born British author Henry James, first published in his 1888 Partial Portraits, a book of literary criticism. In the essay, James argues for the greatest freedom possible in subject and style for the author.

Max has given his class their own choice of any Henry James novel to read. We don’t know which of James’ novels Rory might have chosen, but in a later season we learn that Rory has read the 1879 novella Daisy Miller by Henry James, so that might have been her choice for this assignment. As she’s tired and grumpy in this episode, a short book probably suited her.

Out of Africa

LORELAI: Okay, last week we were talking about Meryl Streep and the whole accent thing, and Rachel said that she loved Out of Africa, but she’d never read the book, remember?
LUKE: Nope.
LORELAI: Okay, so I was like, “Are you crazy? Isak Dinesen is amazing, I love her.” Which is kind of crap because I’d never read the book either, but Rory told me it was amazing, so I felt pretty confident in my recommendation of Out of Africa.

Out of Africa is a 1937 memoir by Isak Dinesen, the pen name of Danish author Karen Blixen. It describes the seventeen years that Blixen spent in Kenya, then called British East Africa. It is a meditation on her life on her coffee plantation, and some of the people she encountered there.

The book is non-chronological in structure, and is notable for its melancholic, poetic style that is above all a tribute to the Africa she knew, and a world that had changed irretrievably. That she helped change it did not seem to make a strong impression on her, although her notes on the African people are understanding and accepting, and they admired her as wise and trustworthy.

It seems appropriate that Rory would enjoy Out of Africa. We know that she admires women writers, books on travel, memoir and autobiography, and works with a certain lyrical sadness to them – she likes things that make her feel “gloomy”.

Out of Africa was adapted into film in 1985, directed by Sydney Pollack, and starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the lead roles. The film has several differences from the book, and focuses on Karen Blixen’s love affair with a hunter named Denys Finch Hatton (an Englishman, although Robert Redford plays him with an American accent). Meryl Streep spent a lot of time listening to tapes of Karen Blixen speaking, and chose an old-fashioned, aristocratic accent for her character, which Sydney Pollack thought excessive; Streep is well known for her mastery of different accents.

Out of Africa was the #5 film of 1985 and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Best Director. Despite this, it received mixed reviews from critics.

The fact that Luke can’t remember a word of a conversation with Rachel doesn’t seem very promising for their relationship. As Out of Africa is in part about a doomed love affair, it is possible that Rachel may read something into the gift that Luke has “chosen” for her.

Up With People

LORELAI: Okay, then just meet me in town around four, and we’ll get some Indian food, and spoil our dinner. What do you say to that?
RORY: Whatever.
LORELAI: Hey, love the enthusiasm. Hey, does Up With People know about you?

Up With People is an educational organisation founded in 1965, intended to inspire young people to make a difference. After training, each UWP group is sent on a tour of various communities to participate in service projects, learn about different cultures, and perform peppy musical stage show productions. They have been criticised for their right-wing politics and cult-like behaviour.

In a later season we learn that Lorelai actually can’t stand Indian food, although Rory loves it. It’s not clear if Lorelai offering to get Indian food is a continuity issue, or if Lorelai is making a huge concession for Rory in order to cheer her up. It’s notable that Lorelai plans to eat a second dinner though – possibly because she intends to eat as little Indian food as possible.

Lane and Dean

When she was with Rory, Lane told her that she had to meet her science partner to work on an assignment; now we learn that Dean is her science partner. They are studying spores, moulds, and fungi, which suggests a Biology class.

It is notable that Lane is able to work with Dean, and is reasonably polite and even friendly with him. She doesn’t treat Dean badly because he broke up with Rory, as others have done, or seem to have any problem with him.

From her observations of both, she may have decided it is quite likely that Rory and Dean will eventually get back together and she prudently doesn’t want to be the person who made an enemy of her best friend’s boyfriend. (She even raises the possibility with Dean, suggesting it is something she has thought about).

Another possibility is that Rory has told her, or at least hinted to her, that it isn’t entirely Dean’s fault that they broke up, and that he didn’t dump her on a whim, or do anything horribly cruel to her. Lane does seem to understand that Dean is not a monster, and perhaps knows that Rory has trouble with commitment.

Rory walks in on Lane and Dean studying together, and having a conversation about her behind her back. She didn’t know that it was Dean who was Lane’s science partner, and doesn’t cope well when she finds out this way.