Season One, Episode Nine: “Rory’s Dance”

Season 1, episode 9: “Rory’s Dance”
Original air date: 20 December 2000
Directed by: Lesli Linka Glatter
Written by: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Summary: Rory and Dean fall asleep after attending her first dance together, reopening old Gilmore-family wounds and landing Lorelai in hot water with Emily.

On this page: All References in Chronological Order | References Sorted by Category | Frequent References | Image Credits | Indigenous Land Acknowledgment

All References in Chronological Order

00:00 – 🗺️ mention
EMILY: Your grandfather called last night and told me to let you know he’s bringing you back something very special from Prague.
RORY: Wow, Prague. How amazing is it that he’s going to Prague?
EMILY: It’s supposed to be lovely. Very dramatic. Castles everywhere.

Prague (Czech: Praha) “is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. … [It] is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures” (Wikipedia). Prague is one of the cities Rory mentions wanting to visit, in episode three.

00:15 – ⭐ reference + 🗺️ mention + 🎥 reference
RORY: Did you know that the cell that Václav Havel was held in is now a hostel? You can stay there for, like, $50 a night. Hey, maybe on our big trip to Europe we could go to Prague and stay in a cell.
LORELAI: Absolutely, and then we should go to Turkey and stay in that place from Midnight Express.

Václav Havel (1936-2011) was a Czech statesman, writer, and political dissident who served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until its dissolution in 1992, and then as the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. “As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays and memoirs” (Wikipedia). His activities as a political dissident in the late 1960s through ’80s resulted in multiple periods of imprisonment, with the longest being from 1979 to 1983.
Turkey (officially the Republic of Türkiye) is a country located in Anatolia, or Asia Minor, in West Asia, “with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe” (Wikipedia). Istanbul, a major Turkish city, was mentioned in episode three.
Midnight Express is a 1978 neo-noir drama film directed by Alan Parker and based on Billy Hayes’ 1977 book of the same name. Though the film deviates from the book in some aspects, both tell of Hayes’ experience when, as a young US student in Turkey, he was caught trying to smuggle hashish out of the country and was sent to a Turkish prison.

01:45 – 🏷️ feature
RORY: I’m gonna go get another Coke.
27:10
A can of generic “Diet Cola,” with branding matching Diet Coke, sits on the coffee table next to Lorelai.

“Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils, and other flavorings” (Wikipedia). Coca-Cola, or Coke, is the brand-name cola manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. It was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton as a temperance drink, an alternative to alcoholic beverages. Its name comes from two of its original ingredients: coca leaves (from which cocaine is derived) and kola nuts (the drink’s original source of caffeine). Coca-Cola was featured previously in episode seven.
Like McDonald’s (mentioned in episodes four and six), Coca-Cola is thought to symbolize the globalization of US culture. The term “cocacolonization” emerged in post-World War II Europe to critique such globalization.

02:00 – 🎥 reference
LORELAI: All I ever said to her about dances is that you go, you dance, you have punch, you eat, you take a picture, and then you get auctioned off to a biker gang from Sausalito.

Lorelai may be referring to the 1967 US film The Born Losers (dir. T. C. Frank), in which a motorcycle gang terrorizes an unnamed California beach town, raping four teenage girls and abducting a young woman. The story is based on a real-life incident from 1964, in which members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club were arrested for raping two teenage girls in Monterey, California. The film is noteworthy for introducing the character of Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin), a fictional half-Diné (Navajo) Vietnam War veteran. The character would appear in four more films, including the eponymous Billy Jack (1971).
Sausalito is a city located four miles north of San Francisco on the coast of Richardson Bay. It had 7,330 residents as of the 2000 census. The name refers, in Spanish, to a “small willow grove,” and the area was once known as Liwanelowa to the Coast Miwok people. The Born Losers has no direct tie to Sauselito that I can determine other than being a small, coastal California community. Sausalito is located in Northern California, and the film was shot in Southern California.

02:45 – 🎥 reference
LORELAI: Since you’ve never actually been to one, you’re basing all your dance opinions on one midnight viewing of Sixteen Candles.

Sixteen Candles (1984) is a US teen comedy film directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut. At one point in the film, high school sophomore Sam (Molly Ringwald) attends a dance. She has a miserable experience standing on the sidelines, pining after an unattainable popular boy as he slow dances with his girlfriend. Geeky freshman Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) then embarrasses Sam publicly and lies to his friends that they are dating.

03:00 – 🎧 reference
RORY: Since none of the kids at school like me, I’ll be standing in the back listening to 98 Degrees, watching Tristan and Paris argue over which one of them gets to make me miserable first.

98 Degrees (stylized 98°) is a US pop and R&B vocal group. They were among the wave of vocal groups, led by the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, to become popular in the boy band era of the late ’90s and early 2000s. However, “unlike most boy bands, they [formed independently and] were later picked up by a record label, rather than being assembled by a label or a producer” (Wikipedia). Boy bands were also mentioned in episode three.
Nick Lachey, the band’s lead singer, would later be known for his marriage to pop singer Jessica Simpson, and for their MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica (2003-2005).

03:10 – 🎧 reference
LORELAI: Or it’ll be all sparkly and exciting, and you’ll be standing on the dance floor listening to Tom Waits with some great-looking guy staring at you so hard that you don’t even realize that Paris and Tristan have just been eaten by bears.

Tom Waits (born Thomas Waits, 1949) is a US musician and actor. “His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the folk scene during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected the influence” (Wikipedia) of blues, rock, vaudeville, and experimental genres.

05:30 – 🗺️ reference
Lane and Rory pass a placard marking the “Stars Hollow Liberty Bell.”

In real life, the Liberty Bell is a symbol of US independence located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally housed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now called Independence Hall), it was formerly known as the State House Bell. It was commissioned in 1752 and bears the inscription, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof” (National Parks Service). The famous crack in the bell’s side probably formed in the 1840s, after almost 90 years of use. The bell has appeared on coins and stamps, and in corporate logos.

05:40 – 📖/🎥 reference
RORY: He’s my…gentleman caller.
LANE: Okay, Blanche.

Lane’s retort may be an allusion to the work of US playwright Tennessee Williams. In his 1944 play The Glass Menagerie, a middle-aged Southern belle obsesses over finding a suitor (or “gentleman caller,” as she puts it) for her daughter. The play draws on some of Williams’ earlier work, including a screenplay called The Gentleman Caller. However, the name Blanche does not appear in The Glass Menagerie, but rather in Williams’ 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire.
While most sources assume Lane is confusing the two plays, I imagine the name Blanche simply conveys her meaning more effectively. “Gentleman caller” is the prim, demure phrasing a Southern belle might use, and the name “Blanche” is synonymous with Southern belles, thanks not only to Blanche DuBois of A Streetcar Named Desire, but to Blanche Devereaux of The Golden Girls (1985-1992). The name of the mother from The Glass Menagerie, Amanda, has no such associations.

06:00 – 📖 reference
LANE: Look, have you had the talk yet?
RORY: Yes, Lane. Babies come from the stork.

The story about storks delivering babies is a folk explanation of sex and childbirth, often used to evade children’s questions about where they come from. Though it has roots in mythology from around the world, it is said to have been popularized in European culture by a 19th-century short story, “The Storks” (Danish: “Storkene”) by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. In that story, there is a “pond where all the little human babies lie until the storks come to take them to their parents” (The Hans Christian Andersen Center).

06:25 – 🎥 reference
LANE: I have to go home soon, and my mom threw out our TV when she caught me watching V.I.P.

V.I.P. is a US action and comedy-drama series that ran from 1998 to 2002. Pamela Anderson “stars as Vallery Irons, a woman who accidentally saves a celebrity and then is hired by a real bodyguard agency (V.I.P. aka Vallery Irons Protection) as a famous figurehead while the rest of the agency’s professionals work to solve cases. Her lack of investigation skills ends up defeating the antagonists in every episode” (Wikipedia).

09:35 – 🏷️ mention
SOOKIE: I got an ACE bandage in my bag. I’m not sure how we can wrap it, but maybe we can do something kind of creative, and–
LORELAI: Sookie.
…
SOOKIE: Okay. I got Percodan, Vicodin, Darvocet, and uh– Well, take this one.

ACE is a brand of injury care products most associated with the elastic bandage, a stretchable covering designed to reduce swelling and inflammation at the site of injury by applying localized pressure. The company selected the name ACE in 1918 as an acronym for All Cotton Elastic. ACE Brand is a trademark of the 3M Company, the same company that produces Post-it notes and Scotch Tape.
Percodan is a brand-name pain medication containing aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride (an opioid).
Vicodin is a brand-name pain medication containing acetaminophen and hydrocodone bitartrate (also an opioid). Outside the US and Canada, acetaminophen may also be known as paracetamol. It is also sometimes sold under the brand name Tylenol.
Darvocet is a brand-name pain medication containing acetaminophen and propoxyphone (once again, an opioid). It was banned by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010, citing negative effects on the heart.
Percodan, Vicodin, and Darvocet all contain powerful narcotic ingredients with high potential for addiction. Presumably, Sookie carries these medications because she is so accident prone, and uses them as directed by a physician. In real life, however, carrying a pharmacy in one’s handbag could indicate a chemical dependency problem. Also, it is illegal to share prescription medications.

10:45 – ⭐ reference
EMILY: You want Rory to be bitter?
LORELAI: Well, sort of.
EMILY: Lorelai!
LORELAI: What, Mom? She can make some cash off of it. Become a crazy Oscar Levant kind of celebrity, go on talk shows, heckle Regis.

Oscar Levant (1906-1972) was a US concert pianist, composer, conductor, actor, and radio and television personality. John Kieran, a fellow panelist on the radio quiz show Information Please, credited Levant with a “positive genius for making offhand cutting remarks that couldn’t have been sharper if he’d honed them a week in his mind. Oscar was always good for a bright response edged with acid” (Wikipedia).
Regis Philbin (1931-2020) was a US television presenter and host. He and Kathie Lee Gifford co-hosted the morning talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee from 1988 to 2001, after which Kelly Ripa joined the show, making it Live! with Regis and Kelly. Philbin also hosted the popular US version of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire from 1999 to 2002. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most hours on US television.

11:15 – 🎥 reference
EMILY: You’re making her dress? … You’re not using the curtains, are you?

In the 1939 epic historical romance film Gone with the Wind (dir. Victor Fleming), protagonist Scarlett O’Hara finds herself impoverished following the US Civil War. Desperate for money to pay the taxes on her family’s plantation, she pays a visit to an old social connection to appeal for funds. Wishing to conceal her poverty, and lacking suitable clothing or money for materials, she makes a dress from the heavy velvet drapes in her home. These events also occur in Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel upon which the film is based. The film’s costumes, including the “curtain dress,” were designed by Walter Plunkett.
The scene was famously parodied in a sketch called “Went with the Wind!” from a 1976 episode of The Carol Burnett Show.

12:45 – ⭐ reference
TRISTAN: You know, the guy’s supposed to buy the tickets.
RORY: Really? Does Susan Faludi know about this?

Susan Faludi (born 1959) is a US feminist, author, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. She is probably best known for her 1991 book Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. At the time of this episode, she had also written about men’s issues in Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man (1999).

13:20 – ⚖️ reference
TRISTAN: Okay, I’ll confess something to you. I don’t have a date.
RORY: Well, I hear Squeaky Fromme’s up for parole soon. You should keep a good thought.

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (born 1948) was a member of the Manson Family, the violent criminal cult led by Charles Manson. Though she was not involved in the group’s most infamous killings (the Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969), she was sentenced to life in prison after attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975. She first became eligible for parole in 2005, five years after this episode aired, and was ultimately released in 2009.

13:35 – 🎥 reference
RORY: You’d have to be stupid to think that, given our history, I would ever, barring a piano or a safe falling on my head, want to go anywhere with you ever.

Rory is alluding to a trope from cartoons, and some live-action comedies, in which a piano or safe falls from the sky onto a character’s head. While this may be painful for the victim, it generally does not have fatal or other long-term consequences.

Rory wears her blue uniform and yellow backpack and holds a book, face out. An inset image shows the cover of The Group. — *The Group* by Mary McCarthy. See image credits [1].

13:55 – 📖 feature
Rory reads The Group by Mary McCarthy as she waits in line to buy tickets to the dance. The cover of the book is visible when she reaches the front of the line and buys tickets from Paris.

The Group is a 1963 novel by US author Mary McCarthy. The book follows the lives of eight female friends, known to their classmates as “the group,” following their graduation from Vassar College. A film adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet was released in 1966.

14:00 – 🏷️ reference
PARIS: I don’t have enough change.
RORY: Hit me later.
PARIS: What am I, your Versateller?

Versateller was Bank of America’s name for their automated teller machines (ATMs) in the 1980s, as showcased in this vintage television advertisement. Bank of America was mentioned by name in the last episode.

16:25 – 🏷️ mention + 🎥 reference
EMILY: “We’re in here”? That’s how you open the door?
LORELAI: Well, I was all out of Saran wrap.

Saran wrap is a trade name for a polyethylene food wrap, or clingfilm: a thin, transparent plastic wrap that clings to surfaces and to itself, used to store and preserve food. The product was discovered in 1933 by a lab worker, Ralph Wiley, employed by Dow Chemical Company. The trade name “Saran” is currently owned by S.C. Johnson & Son.
The Total Woman, a 1973 self-help book aimed at married women, is known for supposedly instructing women to greet their husbands at the front door wearing only Saran wrap. However, this is a long-standing myth. While author Marabel Morgan, an evangelical Christian and anti-feminist, does tell women to greet their husbands wearing sexy costumes, her suggestions are more along the lines of “a pixie or a pirate – a cowgirl or a showgirl.” Though the book and its advice were referenced several times on 1970s television, Lorelai is probably alluding to a scene from 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes (dir. Jon Avnet) in which a dissatisfied housewife attempts to revive marital passion by greeting her husband wearing only plastic wrap.

16:45 – 🏷️ reference
LORELAI: Wow, Mom, look at you. You’d think Ann Taylor was having a sale or something.

Ann Taylor (officially Ann Inc.) is a US women’s retail chain emphasizing classic, conservative styles and office apparel. Founder Richard Liebeskind “decided to go with the name Ann Taylor because Ann was considered a very New England name, and Taylor evoked the image of tailored clothing. The name supposedly created the ideal identity of classic women’s apparel” (Wikipedia). The first Ann Taylor store opened in New Haven, Connecticut in 1954.

19:30 – ⭐ reference
LORELAI: Hey, Dean. Meet my mother, Emily Post.

Emily Post (born Emily Price, 1872-1960) was a US author and socialite, famous for her writing about etiquette. Her best-selling 1922 book Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home established her as an authority on the subject, and she founded The Emily Post Institute in 1946. Her name remains synonymous with formal manners and modes of behavior.

21:05 – 🏷️ reference
EMILY: I’ll go start some tea. Please tell me you have something besides Lipton.

Lipton is a British brand of tea named for its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton. Lipton was once a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, but the grocery side of the business was rebranded in 1982 after the company was acquired by Agyll Foods, and the Lipton name was dedicated to tea. Today, the brand is owned by Unilever and PepsiCo.

21:25 – 🎥 reference
RORY: And these kids at school? Awful. Have you seen The Outsiders?
DEAN: Yeah, I have.
RORY: Just call me Ponyboy.
26:55
DEAN: So, Ponyboy. You happy?

The Outsiders (dir. Francis Ford Coppola) is a 1983 US coming-of-age film about the rivalry between two teenage gangs: the working class “greasers” and the wealthier Socs, or Socials. The main protagonist is a sensitive 14-year-old greaser named Ponyboy Curtis, who, like Rory, has a love of reading. The film is noted for its ensemble cast of then-up-and-coming stars, including Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, and Patrick Swayze. The film is based on S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name. Hinton wrote the book when she was 15 and 16 years old, and it was published when she was 18.

22:25 – 🏷️ mention + 🕊️ mention
EMILY: I’m trying to find the candlesticks I bought you.
LORELAI: What candlesticks?
EMILY: The Baccarat candlesticks I bought you last year for Christmas.

Baccarat Crystal is a producer of fine crystal glassware located in Baccarat, France. The company’s history can be traced back to 1764, during the reign of King Louis XV of France. Today, the company owns two crystal glass museums, both named Musée Baccarat, located in Baccarat and Paris, respectively.
“Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on [25 December] as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world” (Wikipedia). The holiday was mentioned previously in episode six.

23:10 – 🎥 feature
If you’re eagle-eyed, you can see that Lorelai has water in a Powerpuff Girls glass on the coffee table.

The Powerpuff Girls is an animated US television series about three crime-fighting, super-powered little girls. It aired on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2005.

23:35 – 🎧 feature
“We’re All Light” by XTC plays as Dean and Rory arrive at the dance and continues as Madeline and Louise approach to gather information about Dean.

This song comes from the 2000 album Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) by English rock band XTC. The album is mentioned by name and another of its tracks is featured in episode two.

24:25 – 📖 reference
LOUISE: He’s not from the manor born, that’s for sure.

The phrase “to the manner born” indicates that one is “destined to be suited to something, by virtue of birth or custom and practise” (Phrase Finder). It was likely used first by William Shakespeare in his 1602 play Hamlet: “HORATIO: Is it a custom? / HAMLET: Ay, marry, is’t: / But to my mind, though I am native here / And to the manner born, it is a custom / More honour’d in the breach than the observance.”
The variation “to the manor born” does not appear in print until much later, and it is uncertain whether the change in spelling is a deliberate play on words or a malapropism. It is the form Louise likely intends, however, as it “stresses manorial birth, that is, it refers to someone born into the nobility.” This version was likely popularized by the British sitcom To the Manor Born (1979-1981), in which a formerly wealthy woman finds herself bankrupt following the death of her husband and is forced to vacate her manor house, which is then purchased by a nouveau riche supermarket owner.

25:40 – 🎧 feature
“Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star begins to play at the dance. Rory and Dean note that it is a slow song and move toward the dance floor. They are intercepted by Paris and her date, and exchange tense greetings. Tristan sulks on the sidelines as Rory and Dean kiss.

This song comes from the 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See. It is the best-known song by US alternative rock group Mazzy Star.

27:40 – 🏷️ feature
Emily brings Lorelai mashed-banana toast on a Pfaltzgraff plate.

Pfaltzgraff is a US kitchenware brand founded in 1811 by the Pfaltzgraff family, who immigrated from Germany. The Folk Art pattern was introduced in 1980 and is still produced today. Lorelai probably owns a complete set, as a Pfaltzgraff bowl was also visible in episode seven.

28:15 – 🎧 feature
“Mixed Bizness” by Beck plays in the background when Jacob asks for Rory’s phone number and reveals to her that he is Paris’s cousin.

This song was released as the second single from the 1999 album Midnite Vultures.

29:20 – 🎥 feature
EMILY: Oh, look. Barbara Stanwyck. I just love Barbara Stanwyck. … She had that wonderful voice. That husky, deep voice. Oh, I just love that voice.
LORELAI: You know, Mom, you have kind of a Barbara Stanwyck-y voice.
EMILY: Oh, I do not.
LORELAI: I mean it. You could have gotten Fred MacMurray to off Dad if you’d really wanted to.

Emily and Lorelai are watching Double Indemnity, a 1944 film noir directed by Billy Wilder. Barbara Stanwyck plays a housewife and femme fatale who schemes with an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) to kill her husband and activate a “double indemnity” clause; such clauses double the life insurance payout in rare cases of accidental death. The film is based on James M. Cain’s novella (originally published as a serial in Liberty magazine in 1936) of the same name. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1992. The audio in this scene from the film can be heard in the background of Lorelai and Emily’s conversation.

30:50 – 🎧 feature
“Sometimes Always” by The Jesus and Mary Chain feat. Hope Sandoval plays while Paris yells at Rory. Tristan confronts Dean, and things get heated. The song ends just before Tristan shoves Dean.

This song was released as the first single from the 1994 album Stoned & Dethroned by Scottish alternative rock group The Jesus and Mary Chain. It features guest vocals by Mazzy Star lead singer Hope Sandoval. Mazzy Star was featured previously at 25:40.

32:30 – 🏷️ reference
DEAN: Get out of my way, Dristan.

Dristan is a US brand of nasal spray medication used to relieve congestion.
Coincidentally, Tristan is the middle name of Jared Padalecki, the actor who plays Dean, according to his IMDb page.

34:35 – 🎧 feature
“Thirteen” by Big Star plays as Rory and Dean walk through the Stars Hollow town square holding cups of coffee. They debate whether Tristan “has a thing for” Rory and discuss their relationship status.

This song comes from the 1972 album #1 Record by US rock band Big Star. Rolling Stone describes the song as “one of rock’s most beautiful celebrations of adolescence” and ranked it #406 on their list of the 500 greatest rock songs.

A book lies on a wood floor. An inset image shows the book cover, blue, with a black-and-white photo of Dorothy Parker. — *The Portable Dorothy Parker*. See image credits [2].

36:40 – 📖 feature
DEAN: So, uh, what are you reading?
RORY: The Portable Dorothy Parker.
DEAN: “There’s little in taking or giving, / There’s little in water or wine; / This living, this living, this living / Was never a project of mine.”

The Portable Dorothy Parker is a collection of stories and verse, originally published in 1944. The author, Dorothy Parker (born Dorothy Rothschild, 1893-1967), was a US poet, writer, critic, and satirist “based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles” (Wikipedia). The poem Dean reads from is known as “Coda” and is easily found in full online, though the original details of its publication are surprisingly difficult to verify.
The photos Rory and Dean look at immediately before this exchange, on the wall of Miss Patty’s dance studio, appear to be genuine photographs of Liz Torres. Patty’s extensive experience in show business may mirror that of Torres, whose acting filmography dates to 1965.

References Sorted by Category

🏷️ Brand Names

01:45, 27:10 – Coca-Cola (soft drink), Coke (also known as)
09:35 – ACE (injury care)
09:35 – Percodan (prescription drug)
09:35 – Vicodin (prescription drug)
09:35 – Darvocet (prescription drug)
14:00 – Versateller (ATM)
16:25 – Saran wrap (clingfilm)
16:45 – Ann Taylor (apparel)
21:05 – Lipton (tea)
22:25 – Baccarat (crystal glassware)
27:40 – Pfaltzgraff (kitchenware)
32:30 – Dristan (nasal decongestant)

⭐ Famous Figures

00:15 – Václav Havel (politician and writer)
10:45 – Oscar Levant (pianist, actor, and comedian)
10:45 – Regis Philbin (television host)
12:45 – Susan Faludi (journalist, author, and feminist)
19:30 – Emily Post (author and socialite)

🎥 Film, Television & Theater

00:15 – Midnight Express (1978 film)
02:00 – The Born Losers (1967 film)
02:45 – Sixteen Candles (1984 film)
05:40 – The Golden Girls (television show), Blanche Devereaux (character)
06:25 – V.I.P. (television show)
11:15 – Gone with the Wind (1939 film)
13:35 – falling piano/safe (trope)
16:25 – Fried Green Tomatoes (1991 film)
21:25, 26:55 – The Outsiders (1983 film), Ponyboy Curtis (character)
23:10 – The Powerpuff Girls (television show)
29:20 – Double Indemnity (1944 film), Barbara Stanwyck (actor), Fred MacMurray (actor)

🗺️ Geography & Politics

00:00 – Prague, Czech Republic (European city)
00:15 – Turkey (Asian country)
02:00 – Sausalito, California (US city)
05:30 – Liberty Bell (symbol and tourist attraction)

📖 Literature

05:40 – A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (stage play), Blanche DuBois (character)
06:00 – “The Storks” by Hans Christian Andersen (short story)
13:55 – The Group by Mary McCarthy (book)
24:25 – Hamlet by William Shakespeare (stage play), “From the manner born.” (quotation)
36:40 – The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker (book), “Coda” (poem)

🎧 Music

03:00 – 98 Degrees (boy band)
03:10 – Tom Waits (artist)
23:35 – “We’re All Light” by XTC (song)
25:40 – “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star (song)
28:15 – “Mixed Bizness” by Beck (song)
30:50 – “Sometimes Always” by The Jesus and Mary Chain feat. Hope Sandoval (song)
34:35 – “Thirteen” by Big Star (song)

🕊️ Religion

22:25 – Christmas (holiday)

⚖️ True Crime

13:20 – Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (Manson Family member)

Frequent References

A few things come up so routinely in the show, I am not going to include an entry for them every time they do. I wrote about the following people, places, and things when they first appeared or were mentioned.

Image Credits

Image [1]: The following edition appears to be the one Rory is reading. Book citation: McCarthy, Mary. The Group. Harvest Books, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1982.

Image [2]: This edition appears to be the one Rory and Dean are reading. Book citation: Parker, Dorothy. The Portable Dorothy Parker. Penguin Books, 1976.

The images behind the book covers in images [1] and [2] are stills from the episode. Episode citation: “Rory’s Dance.” Gilmore Girls, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, cinematography by Teresa Medina, season 1, episode 9, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, Hofflund/Polone, Warner Bros. Television, 2000.

Indigenous Land Acknowledgment

In beginning my work on this guide, I’ve come to realize just how many references (however subtle) the show contains to the Revolutionary War and the colonial history of the United States. It is important and necessary to acknowledge the people whose lands were usurped when these events took place, though this is not a simple matter. Please visit my land acknowledgment page to view the results of my research.

Posted 23 February 2021 (updated 7 May 2024)