Dean’s Phone Call

RORY (on Babette’s phone): Hello?
DEAN: Um, I wasn’t sure if you still wanted me to come over.
RORY: Oh, I do. I do, I absolutely do.

It isn’t clear how Dean knows Babette’s phone number, as Rory didn’t leave it when she rang Dean’s house. It suggests that once he knew that Rory was house-sitting for Babette, he immediately looked her number up in the phone book, and programmed it into his cell phone. Which is a little creepy.

The show tries to make it look as if Rory is sitting in the nude waiting for Dean, even though that doesn’t make any sense. Why would you get naked (while wearing a hair band) while waiting for your boyfriend to come over, especially if you’re not sure he’s even coming? Wouldn’t you look pretty silly if (for example) your mother who lives next door popped over to see how you were getting on in the meantime? And isn’t it kind of gross to sit on your neighbours’ furniture in the nude while they’re away?

However, what Rory is actually wearing and planning doesn’t make much sense either: what would she have done if Dean hadn’t arrived at that point? And Dean’s stalkerish phoning from just outside the house will backfire on him in a future season.

Pretty Boy Rock

Lane classifies some music as “pretty boy rock” in her CD filing system, including Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, The Wallflowers, and Bush.

Bon Jovi [pictured] is an American rock formed in 1983, with its lead singer and songwriter being John Bon Jovi. Their 1986 album Slippery When Wet gained them international recognition. They will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Duran Duran are an English rock band, earlier discussed as one of Lorelai’s favourite bands as a teenager. Maybe she contributed to Lane’s music collection, or introduced Lane to their music.

The Wallflowers are an American rock band formed in 1989 by Jakob Dylan and Tobi Miller. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1992, and their most successful album was the 1996 Bringing Down the Horse.

Bush are a British rock band formed in 1992, founded by Gavin Rossdale and Nigel Pulsford. They found immediate success in 1994 with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone, and went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s. They were always far more popular in the US than in their home country.

The glimpse into Lane’s music collection in this episode is fascinating, and demonstrates the eclectic nature of her musical tastes and interests.

Dean and Rory’s Argument

Dean might have kept his mouth shut in front of Lorelai, but now he and Rory are alone they end up arguing about The Donna Reed Show. He basically can’t see anything wrong with a woman cooking dinner for her husband and family, and points out that’s exactly what his mother did for years, and now that she works, she still does it on the weekends.

Their different family backgrounds have helped shape their differing values, and Rory cannot really find a way to respect Dean’s experiences and views without feeling that she is betraying Lorelai, and the way she was raised. In fact, she sounds as if she’s beginning to have doubts about whether Lorelai is completely in the right.

Her argument that it’s okay for Dean’s mother to cook if she wants to because women have choices now doesn’t really make sense. If women (like Mrs. Forester) are free to do as they wish now, then why is Rory getting upset about how things were in a previous era? Why is it even an issue? And how exactly does it affect her?

Rory’s read books on feminism, but isn’t able to explain her feminist ideals to Dean. Perhaps she’s afraid that if she did so, the difference in their opinions and values would become too starkly obvious. Or maybe she wonders if Simone de Beauvoir can really help in this situation.

When Dean says that Rory only thinks the way she does because of her mother, it raises the question, yet again, as to whether Rory even has an identity of her own apart from Lorelai. Perhaps because of this comment, she doesn’t confide in Lorelai as to what’s bothering her, or what she plans to do.

Sunday Best

Troubadour Bus

This is the song that the town troubadour is singing when Rory gets off the bus and is met by Dean. It is the first appearance of the troubadour in the show, played by indie rock singer Grant Lee Phillips, and named Grant in the credits.

It is ambiguous whether the troubadour is actually meant to be the real Grant Lee Phillips who (like many other other celebrities) also exists in the Gilmore Girls universe, or whether Phillips is playing a fictional character who just happens to have the same first name. Perhaps he is a sort of parallel universe version of himself.

Sunday Best was a bonus track on the Australian release of Phillips’ 2001 album Mobilize, however that was months after this episode aired.

“Not in the budget”

RICHARD: It costs a fortune to travel first class in Europe. We only do it every two years
EMILY: In the fall.
RICHARD: It’s just not in the budget this year.

Richard and Emily didn’t go to Europe the previous fall, so they would normally have gone this fall, except that it’s not in the budget. Most likely that’s because they are paying for Rory’s schooling – a year’s tuition at Chilton would be enough money for two first-class vacations in Europe. (Of course the idea they could have a cheaper holiday is one they can’t get their heads around, and they wouldn’t enjoy it anyway).

Richard and Emily are extremely tactful about this shortfall of money, even after Lorelai and Rory keep cluelessly pushing them on the issue. Think how easy it would have been for them to snap (or even state calmly), “We’re not going to Paris because we need the money for Rory’s education!”. It’s to their credit they never make Rory feel like a financial burden, and are quick to reassure her if someone else tries to imply that she is.

Pinging in the brain

Rory complains that her brain “pinged” or “dinked” while she was studying. It sounds like tinnitus, a fairly common condition where you hear phantom noises such as clicking, hissing, or roaring – these often seem to emanate from inside your head.

It can be brought on by stress, which fits with Rory studying hard to the point her head hurts. She never complains of it again, suggesting that the condition spontaneously resolved, which isn’t uncommon with tinnitus.

Monty

RORY: So did you guys find it okay?
PARIS: There’s no sign on this street.
RORY: I know, that’s why I told you to turn right at the big rooster statue.
PARIS: I thought you were kidding.
LORELAI: Oh no, we never kid about Monty.

There are numerous examples of big statues across the United Statues, often of ordinary things like animals and fruit. They are generally used as roadside attractions or as markers for a particular business. Stars Hollow seems to have one of a big rooster, affectionately known as “Monty” (by the Gilmore girls at least, who love to give names to inanimate objects), which marks the turn off to the Gilmores’ street, as the sign has quirkily fallen down or disappeared, and never been replaced. I feel as if the officious Taylor would not allow that to happen, but perhaps his powers were not yet so all-encompassing.

Rather disappointingly, this giant rooster is never shown, or discussed again, and it is not known why it was erected, or even if it was taken down at some point. We learn in the next episode that the Gilmores’ friend and neighbour Miss Patty raises chickens, and it is possible that Monty is there as a marker for her (hypothetical) side-business of selling eggs and/or poultry. It could be a marker for another type of rural business, or possibly Stars Hollow or its county is particularly famous for its poultry.

There is a big rooster statue in Salem, Connecticut [pictured], about an hour’s drive away from the area where Stars Hollow seems to be, so it’s perfectly plausible for Stars Hollow – this one is unusual for being painted black instead of the more usual white, and is a marker for a grain and feed store. Big rooster statues are common in California, where Gilmore Girls was written.

Affair

Louise says they can’t meet at her house to study as her mother is having an affair.

Nobody comments on this or asks why it affects them meeting – does Louise’s mother need the house to herself all weekend for her affair? Couldn’t she meet her lover elsewhere, or simply skip seeing him for a single afternoon? What does Louise’s father do on the weekends while the house is off limits to other family members’ activities in order to accommodate his wife’s affair? Has the house somehow been tainted by “affair-ness” so that nobody is ever allowed to visit?

These questions shall never answered. As Louise’s story doesn’t make sense, she may be making up an excuse that nobody will question out of embarrassment.

Grinch

Lorelai calls Rory “Grinch” after she nags her mother into donating some of her own old clothes to the charity rummage sale that Lorelai is organising.

This is a reference to the 2000 Christmas film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (often just known as The Grinch), directed by Ron Howard and with Jim Carrey in the title role. The film was based on the children’s book of the same name by Dr. Seuss.

In the movie, the grumpy Grinch steals all the gifts from the inhabitants of Whoville in an attempt to ruin their Christmas (it doesn’t work). Lorelai is saying that Rory is “stealing” her outdated clothes for the rummage sale in order to ruin her life.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas came out in November 2000, so Lorelai and Rory could have seen it earlier in the winter. We already know that Jim Carrey is one of Sookie’s favourite actors, so perhaps she recommended it.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

This is the movie that Rory, Dean, Lane, and Todd go to see on their double date at the Black-White-Read Bookstore.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a 1958 science fiction film directed by Nathan H. Juran (credited as Nathan Hertz), and with Allison Hayes in the title role. It is about a beautiful but rather unstable socialite who increases to a gigantic size after contact with a mysterious alien figure. She uses her new stature to take revenge on her cheating husband.

Made on a very low budget, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a technically “bad” sci-fi movie that is fun to watch, and has become a camp classic.

The joke is that they are watching a film about a giant woman while Lorelai is on a double date with Jackson’s cousin Rune, who thinks she is too tall, and acts as if she is freakishly huge.

(A movie date is not really suitable for Lane’s purposes, since she wants to talk to Todd and get to know him better. I’m guessing Lane and Rory chose the cinema as a way to hide from Mrs. Kim – if they went for coffee at the diner or just strolled around town together, there was a higher chance of being spotted. Luckily, Lane only needed a couple of very brief chats with Todd to learn all that she needed to know about him).