Season 1, Episode 12, “Double Date”: Pop Culture Rewatch

Welcome to the Friday Night Readers podcast! In this Gilmore Girls podcast episode #12, we break down our pop culture rewatch of Season 1, Episode 12, “Double Date.” Listen below and get the full transcript.

Recap of Season 1, Episode 12: “Double Date”

The opening sequence gives us the Gilmores starting their morning set to music. It’s filled with double the coffee and double the Poptarts, as all “good” mornings are.

Lane and Rory talk and listen to music, and Lane sums up the courage to ask Rory to have Dean set her up with his friend, Todd, on a double date on Sunday– after church, of course. Rory is skeptical that Lane doesn’t know him well enough, but agrees.

Meanwhile, Lorelai studies about Wal-Mart, which feels very “of the time.” Around then, it seems this big-box store was the poster child for business lessons.

At the Independence Inn, Sookie makes a variation on a baked Alaska— a dessert I’ve always wanted to try. It’s a cake, covered with ice cream, encased in meringue. The dish has an interesting origin; here’s what Wikipedia says:

“The name ‘baked Alaska’ was supposedly coined in 1876 at Delmonico’s, a restaurant in New York City, to honor the acquisition by the United States of Alaska from the Russian Empire in March 1867. However, the restaurant’s original recipe was called “Alaska Florida” (suggesting extremes of cold and heat), not “baked Alaska”.

Sookie and Jackson get all awkward around each other, and she tells Lorelai she had asked him out, and the invitation is now hanging out there. I applaud Sookie for taking the lead, but also, come on, Jackson! Sookie is a gem; get it together!

Rory reads at the bus stop in probably the most iconic scene of her reading on the entire show. She is absolutely engrossed– that is, until Dean starts smooching her. She comes up for air and convinces him to go on the double date.

Meanwhile, another double date is on the horizon. Sookie convinces Lorelai to tag along on her first date with Jackson–and his cousin.

At the Gilmores’ house, all four ladies primp. While Lorelai is pleased with the job she did on Sookie’s hair, I think it’s a bit much. It’s giving prom 1999. I know, because I was there, and my hair looked like that.

Next, we meet the whiny, fire-breathing wonder that is Rune. He brashly calls Lorelai “that,” and refers to her as: (a) a basketball player, and (b) an East German maid.

All I’ve got to say is, Rune, get over yourself. As Jackson said, he’s nothing but a mooch, and he gets a chance to spend a few hours next to a dime and does nothing but shoot off hurtful insults, while she politely watches on.

For the record, according to his IMDB profile, Rune is 5’4 and 1/2.” The internet pegs Lauren Graham as both 5’8″ and 5’9.” I attended an event where she spoke about one of her books, and I’d peg her at 5’9.” She does often wear heels, which would make her a bit closer to 6’0.” She gives a very long and lean appearance in person, but she is by no means abnormally tall.

At the fancy restaurant, Rune continues to treat Lorelai like a freak of nature by asking her shoe size. Someone slap this man, please! She tries to make small talk with him by asking him about his name, but it ain’t working, so she resorts to a tactic that gets her through Friday night dinners– martinis, and “keep ’em coming.”

Speaking of Friday night dinners, Richard and Emily are absent from this episode, so we’re stuck with Rune’s savage burns, which don’t exactly hit the same way.

Meanwhile, in line outside the movie theater, Lane and Todd fail to connect. He’s just not that into music. He’s more interested in majoring in gym. And, that’s not physical education–just gym. It reminds me of the Barbie movie, in which Ken’s job was “beach.” Todd is the kind of guy who picks “recess” as his favorite subject and snort-laughs as he says it.

Back at the restaurant, Sookie soothes her nerves by talking only to Lorelai, who whisks her away to “powder their noses”–but not before Rune can sneak in a snide remark about her “needing a lot of powder.”

Can we be honest and admit that this phrase is really just a polite way of saying, “I have to go to the bathroom”? Well, anyway, I guess I should be grateful she has more grace than Todd, who’s far more likely to offer a “Where’s the can?” Or, “I’ve gotta take a leak.”

Sookie finally realizes there’s been too much pressure on this night, and they’re better off at Luke’s, who wonders, “What’s a Rune?” Luckily, Luke sees Lorelai’s natural beauty. After all, she can reach the top shelf!

I decided to leave the question of “What’s a Rune?” to Redditors, and they didn’t disappoint. One simply said diarrhea. Another said the book Dumbledore leaves to Hermione, which I thought was clever. And another said it’s a game that deer play, which is what happened when the deer hit Rory in “The Deer Hunters.”

Rune continues to whine until Jackson finally stands up to him and sends him home. While he and Sookie chatter and chuckle, Lorelai hangs with Luke, and this is the double date we all needed. Just as he’s about to ask her out, Mrs. Kim runs in, absolutely frantic that Lane is actually on a double date with Rory.

The moms find their daughters, and Mrs. Kim angrily demands that Lane return home. Lorelai offers us this cute quip: “I have to know where you are at all times, especially when you have my shoes on.” It so subtly defines the realities of their relationship through humor.

Now, Lorelai says she can’t lie to another mom, but I think the writers really flubbed this scene. Lorelai is always covering for Lane! Make it make sense.

Lane is officially grounded, indefinitely.

In Kim’s Antiques, Mrs. Kim repeats her classic, “You break, you buy.” But, hey, she’s polite. She follows it up with, “We appreciate your business.”

Lorelai apologizes to her and sticks up for Lane. To calm Mrs. Kim down, she vulnerably shares that maybe if she herself had a little space, things might have turned out differently for her. In return, though, Mrs. Kim treats Lorelai just about as badly as Rune, “I don’t want Lane to turn out like you, either.”

Ouch! First of all, Lorelai’s life is pretty great. She has a job she loves, an amazing daughter, a supportive found family, and a track to earning a business degree. Second, this scene reduces Mrs. Kim to a one-dimensional stereotype, and she deserves so much more than that.

The episode is just about over, but I don’t want to leave it with Lorelai so emotionally beaten down. So, here are ten things I love about you, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, Jr.!

1. You’re a very good mom.
2. You choose coffee over tea.
3. And allow dessert before, or even, in place of, dinner.
4. You’re quick-witted.
5. You participate in your community.
6. You are a smart businesswoman.
7. You’re true to yourself.
8. You appreciate the snow.
9. You make the world feel more colorful, both with your style and personality.
10. You finally made it work with your soulmate.

Books and Authors Referenced

Let’s break down the Gilmores’ world of books– this episode’s most iconic literary references for those taking the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge with us on Fridaynightreaders.substack.com, where we read from the list of books mentioned on Gilmore Girls.

• Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
• The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 
• Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
• Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

At the Inn, Lorelai tells Sookie that she can “run with the wolves,” which actually refers to the longtime bestselling book, Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It sold millions of copies and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for three years.

It uses myths, fairy tales, and folklore to explore what the author calls the “Wild Woman” archetype: the instinctive, creative, and powerful female self. It encourages women to reclaim their intuition and inner strength.

This feels very “Oprah” to me, and please tell me you know who Oprah is! Regardless, I think it would be interesting to see how it holds up today as a self-help text, being that it was published in 1992.

At the bus stop, Rory famously reads The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. As I mentioned, it’s probably the most iconic shot of her reading, and maybe in general, too. I think it’s the mix of how cute she looks in a headband and how invested she is in this book. Dean tries to chime in, and he’s nothing if not earnest:

Dean: “Is there anything in there about me?”
Rory: “I don’t know. Your name wouldn’t be Lithium would it?”

So, what’s with the reference to Lithium? It has been used to treat mental health issues, like bipolar disorder, and Sylvia Plath famously received psychiatric treatment in the 1950s–60s for severe depression, including psychotherapy, hospitalization, and electroconvulsive therapy.

While I do own this book, it’s very large, and the font is very small, so I haven’t read it yet, and thus, I am unaware of any bigger connections here. My guess is that Dean isn’t, either.

Rory says, “What’s mine is yours,” which is actually Shakespearean! It comes from Measure for Measure, which is about a strict deputy who enforces harsh morality laws, then proves himself a hypocrite when he tries to coerce a young nun into sex to save her brother’s life. Shakespeare never ceases to raise the stakes!

And, don’t you just love how so many of his lines remain part of our language?! Since we’re also talking about Romeo and Juliet later in this episode, consider, for example:

• “Star-crossed lovers”
• “What’s in a name?”
• “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

We’ll actually talk about a few more in the next episode!

At Lane’s bedroom window, Rory calls her the fairy tale protagonist Rapunzel, a young woman with magically long hair who is locked in a tower by a witch and used as a way for the witch to climb up. It’s super short, and I quite liked it better than most fairy tales I’ve read. You can also watch the Disney adaptation, Tangled.

Finally, at the end of the episode, Lorelai tells Rory that, if Sookie “tells [her] the story of how Jackson cultivates his own mealworms to help fertilize his plants one more time, [she’s] going to Romeo and Juliet them both.”

In short, she means kill them. In this Shakespearean play, the two titular characters are young lovers from feuding families who both die at the end after a very tragic series of events. I’ll leave it at that for those who haven’t yet read it.

I do think this is an easier Shakespeare classic to start with, since so many readers are already familiar with the basic plot. I always recommend pairing it with the excellent 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. It’s a modern classic in its own right!

I had the good fortune of reading the play in school and seeing the movie in the theatre at the same time, and it was so pivotal to my youth that I can still recall being in the theatre. I’ve had many movie experiences like that, and I think it’s a lost art in the age of streaming. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I went to a movie theater. But they were a staple of our pre-streaming days.

Pop Culture References

Oy with the pop culture already! Now, because I want you to understand even more of the Gilmore Girls’ fast talk, here’s what some of this episode’s best pop culture references mean.

Fashion

I want to briefly touch upon outerwear in this episode, because it is spot on to what was “in” at the time for the average American:

• Lorelai’s red leather jacket
• Rory’s sherpa jacket
• Lane’s denim jacket
• Dean’s fleece vest (Elder millennials like me will wonder if it was Old Navy’s famous “performance fleece” from its holiday commercials.)

Outerwear gets an early aughts ten out of ten from me. And yes, of course, we sold all of these at the Gap, where I worked.

Famous People

• Claudine Longet
• Elijah
• Richard Simmons

Rory plays Claudine Longet, and Lorelai asks if she’s the chick who shot her boyfriend. Yes, indeed, she was! She’s a French-born singer and actress best known in the 1960s for her soft, whispery pop style, which, of course, you can hear in this episode.

Her career was derailed in 1976 when she shot and killed her boyfriend, Olympic skier Spider Sabich, in Aspen. She claimed it was accidental, but was convicted of negligent homicide, quite a lesser charge than murder. Then, she married her lawyer!

I’ve never heard of this story, but, boy, is it something I’d love to deep-dive into. I always have these notions of someday writing a really in-depth narrative nonfiction piece, and this story speaks to me on many levels: a female “assassin,” social class, evidence before technology, etc.

Lorelai tells Luke that, “after [cooking] three cheeseburgers you’re done, unless you’re expecting Elijah to stop by.” This seems to be a Biblical reference, which Mrs. Kim would be proud of! He was one of the major prophets in the Old Testament, known for multiplying food during a famine.

Then, Lorelai also tells Luke that putting nutmeg in her coffee is “very Richard Simmons.” I’m not 100% sure, but this feels homophobic, which was, sadly, not frowned upon at the time.

Richard Simmons was an American fitness icon in the 1980s and 1990s. In his Sweatin’ to the Oldies, he encouraged women to dance in a very warm, encouraging, and welcoming environment with him– kind of like a dancing therapist in a tank top, short shorts, and tall socks.

He totally took the intimidation factor out of working out, which was really intimidating to women at the time. Going to the gym wasn’t really a thing for us; we relied on videos. And, we were afraid they would be too hard, so he really eased our minds.

In case you haven’t figured it out, yes, I did sweat to the oldies with my sister and our mom in our TV room, all the time. The dances were super silly and simple, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t lose any weight at all. But, hey, we tried.

In recent years, he stepped away from public life, which sparked rumors and concern among fans. There was even a podcast called Missing Richard Simmons. Sadly, he did recently die.

Movies

• Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman
• Beethoven
• Mask
• The Great Santini

Dean, Rory, Lane, and Todd go to see Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman, and I’m wondering if this is tied into the whole Rune being intimidated by Lorelai’s height thing.

Anyway, Todd says his favorite movie is Beethoven— the dog, that is. It made him shoot Dr. Pepper out of his nose, and if that’s not a sight for sore eyes… and something he should leave off any current online dating profile. Come on, you and I both know no woman is putting up with this guy today!

1992’s Beethoven was one of the more popular movies of my childhood. It’s about a mischievous St. Bernard who’s adopted by a family and promptly turns their neat suburban life upside down. I haven’t seen it in decades, but I’m guessing it still holds up. I am sure Todd agrees.

Next, Lorelai says Rune is staring at her like he’s Cher and she’s the kid from Mask, a biographical movie starring Cher as a single mother raising her teenage son, who has the rare disease craniofacial dysplasia, which causes severe facial disfigurement. Cher’s award-winning performance was widely praised. I’ve never seen this movie in full, but it was always on TV when I was a child.

Lorelai also compares Mrs. Kim to Robert Duvall in The Great Santini, where he plays a strict U.S. Marine officer whose rigid discipline and explosive temper deeply affect his family, especially his teenage son.

While this comparison may sound harsh, there’s a great deal of emotional truth to it. It’s about the teen son’s struggle to earn his father’s approval while becoming his own person, which sounds a lot like Lane– no offense to Mrs. Kim, who, we know, is doing her best to keep Lane safe.

Music

• “Earn Enough For Us” by XTC
• “God Only Knows” by Claudine Longet
• The Beatles
• Beck
• Foo Fighters
• The Velvet Underground
• Nico
• Fugazi

The opening sequence of this episode is set to “Earn Enough For Us” by XTC, who also played in “Forgiveness and Stuff” (“Thanks For Christmas”). This type of musical sequence seems to open at least one episode on so many shows, particularly of that time.

Here, I think it works. It’s true to who the Gilmores are and what they would be doing on any ordinary morning–just with music. Other times, musical sequences can just feel cheesy and off, like (in my humble opinion), the Life and Death Brigade’s Beatles sequence in the Netflix reboot.

Speaking of The Beatles, Rory and Lane share this conversation:

Rory: “Yoko Ono, really?”

Lane:  “A very misunderstood artist and The Beatles would have broken up anyway.”

Rory: “Have you shared this theory with anyone?”

Lane: “I know it, Yoko knows it, Sean knows it. Julian’s still in denial, but what can you do?”

Yoko Ono was John Lennon’s spouse and was often blamed for The Beatles’ breakup. Sean and Julian were their sons (Julian being Yoko’s stepson).

Here, we also get the privilege of learning who Lane’s favorite musical artists are. There are many, so I’ll keep it brief. We’re mostly about books here, after all.

• She calls Beck a genius. He’s an alternative singer whose grungy song “Loser” was symbolic of the 90s themselves.
• The Foo Fighters are “gods,” particularly acoustic version of “Everlong.” This group sprang from Nirvana and remains quite famous for its rock anthems.
• She’s recently gotten into The Velvet Underground, who can be described as gritty, artsy, dark, and poetic.
• She also thinks Nico is amazing, albeit a depressing, scary, German chick. Indeed, she has a haunting voice and icy persona.

I hate to end with Todd, but alas, I found myself asking not just, “What’s a Rune?” But also, “What’s a Fugazi?” (on his shirt). They were an American post-hardcore band that sound kind of like Jess’s taste in music.

Up Next

Lastly, the time has come for me to be what Jess called Rory—a book tease. Tune in next week, when we dive into episode 1.13, “Concert Interruptus,” and books like Macbeth and Something Wicked This Way Comes, which are uniquely linked!

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