Jess Leaves Town

BABETTE: Last night, not long after the accident happened, Luke walked him straight to the bus station, stuck the kid on a bus, sent him home to his mom.

MISS PATTY: I can’t believe Luke would send him off like that.

BABETTE: Well, I heard the kid wanted to go. I don’t know. All I know is that Jess is gone.

While watching the film with Lane and her parents, Rory overhears Babette and Miss Patty gossiping, and in this way learns that Jess left town the previous night, after the accident he had driving Rory’s car. Luke walked him straight to the bus station and sent him home to Liz.

We never got to see the conversation between Luke and Jess, so we have no idea why Luke did that, or in what mood he did it. Babette heard that Jess actually asked to leave, rather than Luke throwing him out. Did Luke take Lorelai’s advice and get rid of Jess, or did he regretfully give way to Jess’ request that he go home? We don’t know for sure, but town gossip hints the latter is more likely than the former.

In real life, the last bus to New York City leaves Hartford at 10.30 pm, so Jess would have left Stars Hollow around 11.10 pm, and got to Manhattan some time after 1 am. That might suggest the accident took place somewhere between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm.

After all the town’s complaints about Jess, Babette and Miss Patty seem rather regretful that Jess has gone, saying that they don’t know what they will do for entertainment now (and Jess stole from Babette and pestered Miss Patty’s dance students, so they have personal reasons to wish him gone). It suggests that the town’s exaggerated hatred of Jess was mostly motivated by a desire to cause drama so they’d have something to focus on. Like old Louie Danes, Jess was a convenient sinkhole where they could throw all their negativity.

Lorelai keeps her face rigidly glued to the screen, trying not to betray anything by her expression, but she knows this can’t be good news for her friendship with Luke. Rory looks hurt and unhappy, and turns away from her mother, as if needing privacy for her grief (or possibly as if she is beginning to blame Lorelai for Jess’ departure). It feels as if Jess being gone will cause just as many issues for the Gilmore girls as Jess being there …

A Film By Kirk

Kirk’s short film is reminiscent of a section of the 1977 surrealist horror film Eraserhead, written, directed and produced by David Lynch, previously discussed as Amy Sherman-Palladino’s favourite director. Shot in black and white, it was Lynch’s first feature-length film. Starring Jack Nance in the lead role, it tells the story of a man left to care for his grossly deformed child in a desolate industrial landscape.

Upon release, Eraserhead received negative reviews, being described as “pretentious”, in “sickening bad taste” and “unwatchable”, and opened to small audiences, with little interest shown in it. It gradually gained a cult following as a midnight movie, and today is critically lauded as a film that is both beautiful and nightmarish. It was the favourite film of Stanley Kubrick, and an influence on The Shining.

Note that the poster advertises the film as “A film by David Lynch” – Kirk seems to have used the tagline as the inspiration for his film’s end title.

The other actors in Kirk’s film are Mary Lynn Rajskub and Jon Polito as the girlfriend and the father respectively. Rajskub had been in the sitcom Veronica’s Closet and has since gone on to numerous other shows, such as 24 and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Polito was a veteran actor who worked with the Coen Brothers several times, and appeared in the TV shows Crime and Homicide: Life on the Streets. Neither actor includes Gilmore Girls on their filmography!

If they are supposed to be other people from Stars Hollow helping Kirk out, we never see them again. Perhaps Kirk actually hired professional actors for his film. It doesn’t seem out of character.

The Movies from Taylor’s Catalogue

All the films that Lorelai mentions in Taylor’s catalogue are made by Monogram Pictures, a film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, after which they were known as Allied Artists Picture Corporation. Lacking the resources to deliver high production values and big stars, they instead offered plenty of action and adventure. They launched the careers of many actors who went on to become stars, and provided a haven for good actors whose careers had stalled.

Monogram/Allied Artists continued until 1979; their library is now owned by Warner Bros, MGM, and Paramount, while a few are in the public domain – although none of the films listed here.

Arctic Flight [pictured]
A 1952 drama film directed by Lew Landers, about a bush pilot, played by Mike Wein, flying in the Arctic. There is a Soviet spy adventure involving a polar bear hunter, and romance with a schoolteacher, played by Lola Albright. It’s a B movie, considered unpretentious and well-made.

Killer Shark
A 1950 B movie directed by Budd Boetticher, and starring actor Roddy McDowell, who had been a successful child actor in England before moving to America with his family. He went on to star in some major films during the 1960s and 1970s, and had a lengthy career.

Where Are Your Children?
A 1943 teenage crime film directed by William Nigh and starring former child star Jackie Cooper. It was more successful than the studio had expected, and they made a sequel the following year called Are These Our Parents?

Sudden Danger
A 1955 film noir crime drama directed by Hubert Cornfield and starring Bill Elliot as the police detective investigating a possible murder, and Tom Drake as the man who hopes to clear himself by looking for clues on his own. The movie was part of a five-film series, and is considered a solid effort with a good cast.

Suspense
A 1946 film noir ice skating film directed by Frank Tuttle, and starring Barry Sullivan and British former Olympic skater Belita. It was the most expensive film Monogram ever made, costing $1.1 million. It was panned by critics, but a box office success.

Lorelai and Rory love watching “bad” movies, but suddenly they get awfully snobbish about putting a B movie on in the town square. Apparently it’s fun to watch a B movie, but embarrassing to publicly screen one.

None of these films were terrible failures, or considered unwatchable. I’m not sure why they don’t seem like a viable alternative to watching The Yearling for the third year running.

“You’re officially a part of this town now”

RORY: You facilitated it, you made it happen, so I guess that means that you’re officially a part of our town now.

JESS: Hey, wait a minute.

Having pestered, nagged, and occasionally dragged Jess into helping Luke by working at the diner, just as she gave him a scolding and inspired him to fix Luke’s toaster, Rory now tells him that he is a part of the town. As well as helping Luke, it feels as if Rory was also trying to rehabilitate Jess, or improve his reputation. Jess seems slightly alarmed by this, and rejects the idea that he’s part of Stars Hollow – he’s always seen himself as “on the road”, a freewheeling drifter who’s just on his way through.

Luke worries that he and his uncle Louie were parallel to each other, but in fact it is Jess who is most like his great-uncle, Louie Danes. Both are unpopular in town, and considered to be rude, antisocial pains in the backside, given the cold shoulder by the good folk of Stars Hollow. Maybe like Louie, the town would soon turn forgiving should Jess actually die – a plot line Milo Ventimiglia urged upon the writers of Gilmore Girls, to no avail.

Of course, by roping Jess into helping out, Rory has ensured that she and Jess have spent most of the week (was it a week?) together, and working together respectably in public as well, so that everyone can see they are friends. Notice has exaggeratedly Rory addresses Jess as “friend” and “buddy” while she teases him, letting everyone know that she and Jess are just good friends.

What Dean thought about this volunteer work, we don’t know – he isn’t seen or mentioned in this episode. Since the Bid-on-a-Basket Festival, Dean only shows up in order to play the jealous boyfriend, never to just spend time with Rory or to help her out.

“Why did you put me through all that?”

TAYLOR: Why did you put me through all that hoohah at the town meeting if your vegetable business was just temporary?

TROUBADOUR #2: Actually, you put yourself through it, Taylor. You put yourself through it.

The vegetable stall sub-plot comes breezily to a close with Second Troubadour telling Taylor that he was only doing it on a very temporary basis, selling off all the excess produce from his garden in a few days to make a bit of extra money. How he managed to grow such a large amount of vegetables and fruit all at once is something of a headscratcher, although its superior quality is plausible, since home grown produce is nearly always better than that sold in supermarkets.

It seems that apart from making money, his motivation was to get revenge on Taylor for not allowing him to become a Town Troubadour in Stars Hollow. By setting up a rival fruit and vegetable business across the street from Doose’s Market, he took business away from Taylor and made him panic. And as he says, Taylor “put himself through it”, he knew enough of Taylor to understand how to push his buttons. Why he originally wanted to be a Troubadour in Stars Hollow remains a mystery.

The sub-plot of the bountiful spring harvest is to underscore the death of Louie Danes, who is “harvested” by the Reaper, and buried in the soil, part of the natural cycles of time and the earth.

Louie’s Funeral

Luke brought Louie home to be buried in Stars Hollow, next to his brother William, and this scene is set in Stars Hollow cemetery (it may be behind the church, and only seems to be a short walk from the centre of town, which is unusual for a cemetery, although not unheard of).

The minister conducting the ceremony is identified as Reverend Hackett in the credits (played by Brian McDonald). I’m not sure whether he and Reverend Nichols are both ministers in Stars Hollow, but of different religions, or if Rev. Hackett is a junior minister of some kind. Nor can I tell you if Rev. Hackett is the church minister who plays handball, although he looks young and fit enough for that to be believable. It’s all quite confusing.

Luke’s Family

LUKE: Randy and Barbara don’t wanna miss their brat kid’s rugby semifinal … My sister never even called back. My cousins Paul and Jim, who my dad helped put through college, said they were too exhausted from a fishing trip. And slightly disturbed cousin Franny said she can’t leave because her Petey’s sick.

Randy and Barbara, a married couple with at least one child, who plays rugby, not sure whether Randy or Barbara is Luke’s cousin.

Liz, Luke’s sister

Paul and Jim, cousins, presumably brothers

Franny, cousin, possibly a sister to Paul and Jim? (and yet another Fran/Francine/Franny!)

Uncle Louie didn’t have any children, but Luke seems to have several cousins, although he doesn’t mention any other uncles or aunts. Perhaps they are already dead. It’s possible all the cousins mentioned are siblings, and only one uncle/aunt died before Louie.

Luke booked nine rooms at the Independence Inn for his family to attend Louie’s funeral. He only seems to have needed five rooms for the named family members, suggesting that the other four were for the unnamed relatives who said they couldn’t get out of work for the funeral.

Crinite

TAYLOR: But I’ve got turnips – good ones, too. They’re not as big as that crinite freak’s turnips, but who needs bloated turnips?

Crinite is a technical term meaning “covered in tufts of hair”!

(Rory is out of her school uniform, so it seems to be the weekend now, unless she’s just given up going to school? I guess the previous day was Friday then, unless Lorelai and Rory have now been working multiple days at the diner. Ugh, I have no idea how time works in this episode!).

The Return of the Second Town Troubadour

TAYLOR: Wait a minute, I know you. You’re that long-haired freak that wanted to be town troubadour even though that weird brown-corduroy-jacket-wearing freak was already it.

TROUBADOUR #2: That’s right, good memory! How are ya? [hugs him]

Last season there was an episode where the town had a meeting to decide whether they wanted to keep the mysterious Grant as their only Town Troubadour, or allow another guy to also play music around town. Thanks to an impassioned speech by Rory, the town voted in favour of Grant.

The other Town Troubadour, played by Dave Allen, isn’t from Stars Hollow, but runs a Kinko’s printing business in Groton, an hour or so away. He has now returned to be a Second Market Guy to Taylor, setting up his own fruit and vegetable stand in the park opposite Doose’s Market.

Why this man was originally drawn to Stars Hollow remains a mystery.

Lorelai and Rory Help Out at the Diner

LUKE: You don’t have to do this.

LORELAI: We don’t mind. Go.

How are Lorelai and Rory helping out at the diner on a day when Luke is busy and his assistant Caesar has a day off? Don’t they have a job and school to go to? And Rory went and got Jess to help as well, are we meant to assume that Jess is just skipping school for the rest of the day? (I’m also interested as to who did the cooking on that first day – the Gilmore girls famously refuse to cook, and with Caesar off work and Luke busy, was Jess the chef for the day?).

I can see maybe Lorelai could have the freedom to work at the diner during the rush hours, but Rory needs to catch a bus, and she’ll be in Hartford all day. Plus she has homework to do after school, and didn’t they come to the diner to have breakfast? When are they going to get to eat? Also, what day of the week is this? It seems to be Friday, so do they have a Friday night dinner to get to in the evening, or will Luke be back at the diner by then?

Are we meant to assume that Lorelai and Rory just helped out in the diner before work/school for twenty minutes or so? Because that’s not very much help at all. Time just sort of stops existing for the first half of this episode – a hallmark of those written by Daniel Palladino.

By the end of the episode, it seems as if Lorelai and Rory are virtually running the diner for Luke, with the reluctant help of Jess, and I suppose Caesar, once he returns from his day off. Although they can barely navigate their own kitchen, this does make some sense, because Lorelai manages an inn, and Rory helps out there part-time, so they do understand customer service. Lorelai in particular is apparently so good at it that she becomes something of a drawcard at the diner, her natural talent and people skills shining forth once again.