Tagged with Gossip Girl …

May 16 2011
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Community, Gossip Girl, the vampire diaries

And so it ends!

It’s season finale times on my TV — and my last post for this double-bells brilliant season of The Vampire Diaries is up over at Vampire-Diaries.net. Read it and maybe weep? If you’re as big a sucker as I am for some of the emotional twists that went down in “As I Lay Dying” you just might shed a tear as you reminisce.

And tonight’s the finale of Gossip Girl! I’ve been INCREDIBLY lax in my Gossip Girl bloggery this season — the excuse I was using was that the less frequently I blogged on the show, the more I seemed to enjoy it. But I haven’t been crazy about some of the latest episodes . . . we’ll see how this whole Thorpe schmozzle wraps up tonight. What I am wholeheartedly excited about is joining Angela and company at Talking Gossip After Dark to talk about the finale.

The one other season finale I’ve already seen — thanks to my roommate’s insistence that I take a break from writing Love You to Death 2 for some paintball genius — is Community‘s. OMG. This show just blows my mind. If you’re not watching it, maybe you should pick up the two season’s of DVDs as your summer tv viewing. I rate it: COMEDY GOLD. (pop pop!)

Time to get ready for work!

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Jan 26 2011
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Gossip Girl: The Kids Are Not All Right (ep 412)

And we’re back. With an episode that wasn’t, to my mind, as kickass and classic as the one before the break but I like where things seem to be going, and our new characters.

The Serena-and-Chuck-sabotage-Lily plot: when will these kids learn that despite all their previous efforts they suck at pulling these things off? Maybe it was the lack of Blair Waldorf Expertise in the plot, or maybe it was because there was no good reason why Lily wouldn’t just tell her children what she was up to — since they already believed she was up to something worse. But I loved seeing Serena in the Lily guise and loved all of Chuck’s totally creepy mother jokes.

As Serena picked something else (anything else?) over a heart-to-heart with Dan, I yelled at Dan to leave, don’t miss your interview! Surprisingly he ignored me. And Blair, who sees right to the heart of him in her usual perceptive way — except she’s not using her insight cruelly. Their not-friendship friendship bookended the episode — the ticket stubs, the second movie outing — and from the looks of the next ep, we’re going to get more D & B time. Something I am ALL for. Dan is most entertaining when in awkward situations, and Blair flabbergasted is also something to behold. The quality of these two’s banter is unrivaled. And besides Dan remembered the pants are not tights rule. He’s proven himself worthy to hang out with B.

I also love me a Waldorf Women Special Talk (and I adored their statement necklace + gown look for the party), and I think this new career path (“You know ‘powerful woman’ isn’t a career?” thank you, GG writers) for Blair is a genius idea. She is an evil dictator of taste (and when she chose to say “editrix” instead of “editor” I nearly fell off the couch with joy).

What I didn’t like: the Gossip Girl narration, which has been weak all season. This wasn’t the worst, but I hate when we break for commercial and I’m groaning because of a super lame pun/simile/metaphor/nonsensical sassy sounding turn of phrase. GG, the narrator, used to have real bite and add something to the show. Not it detracts. Also: the silver dress they put poor Kelly Rutherford in — hideous.

As for the Thorpes, I welcome them from Chicago. Maybe Russell Thorpe can finally break up Rufus and Lily. Maybe Chuck has met his business and sex obsessed counterpart in Raina Thorpe. I don’t mind these hostile takeover storylines as long as the main point is the characters, not convoluted plots that unravel if you think too hard on them.

Next week: “Damien Darko.” And check out the preview clip…Eric VDW has a storyline?? (Or at the very least, a scene!) What the what.

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Dec 19 2010
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Gossip Girl Helps with Your Homework

A few weeks ago, I got a lovely email from Amanda, 15, from Ottawa, who told me about how she turned her mad love for Gossip Girl into an essay for school. The assignment was to write about something she considered a masterpiece — so naturally she chose Gossip Girl! She sent me her awesome paper (A+ from me!) and said it was cool for me to post some of it. I loved her argument, and not just because I was super excited to see Spotted: Your One and Only Unofficial Guide to Gossip Girl in a list of works cited. So read on for Amanda’s argument as to why Gossip Girl is worthy of the attention we give it. Thanks for sharing this, Amanda!

“Along with the fabulous usage of the New York City backdrop, Gossip Girl is, as New York magazine called it in April 2008, the “most awesomely awesome show ever,” due to its engaging ensemble of talented young actors. The cast is beyond incredible. They all began acting for the show at around twenty years old, and had never worked together prior to the show’s debut. In addition, none of the six main characters are native New Yorkers. Ed Westwick, who plays the known-to-be villainous character of Chuck Bass, is in fact British! (I watched the entire first season not knowing this minute detail, and was dazzled by how well he masked his accent.) The majority of the cast had never acted on television before, and the youngest of the group was just fourteen years of age! This group of rookies may have instilled doubt in some critics’ minds, yet when the Pilot episode was launched, none of these possible setbacks were even remotely apparent. As a viewer, I earnestly felt that these persons were in fact raised and culturally shaped by the city and the lifestyle that they were born into. The on-screen chemistry generated between these astonishingly youthful individuals was overwhelmingly impressive. I can still recall the spine-tingling sensation that I felt when the end credits filled the screen. It struck me then that this show was more than just a drama forcefully inflated with beautiful people of unfortunate, mediocre acting. Gossip Girl truly “transcends the limitations of its genre” (Calhoun). And it is the sensational acting abilities of the cast that makes this show attain such a predominant level of teen television.

At this point, you’re probably questioning yourselves as to who these actor individuals play on the silver screen. What is it about the characters on Gossip Girl that makes the show so incomparably distinctive? The answer: their well-defined, expansively developed personalities. Each character brings this underlying sense of relatable normalcy to the screen, despite the lavish life they live, which illustrates how far from superficial Gossip Girl actually is. In every episode, the viewer can feel the raw emotions of the characters traverse the television screen, infiltrating the room with air thick enough to be cut with a blade. The relationships and interactions are so intricately intertwined, that numerous websites have designed interactive, colour coordinated flow charts to clarify any misconceptions that people may have. This shows how electrifying and quick paced the character development is. This progression in character can be analysed to the bare bones.

Take Dan Humphrey, the show’s entrance to Brooklyn, for instance. Dan is quite the judgemental outsider. He attends the same private school as the elitist in Manhattan, as his parents value strong education. He is introduced as dealing with the divorce of his parents, by channelling his feelings into a fiery passion for writing and literature. Dan is smart, sarcastic and rather witty, but is blind to the difficulties that exist in the seemingly perfect world of his classmates. His narrow opinion of his upper class peers changes as he becomes involved with society girl Serena Van der Woodsen, and realizes how complex her world really is. Dan matures enormously over the course of the show’s three seasons, and he and the Humphrey name provide as the show’s moral backbone.

Continue reading →

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Dec 16 2010
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Talking Gossip: “The Townie”

I had the pleasure of joining Talking Gossip After Dark for their latest podcast — their 99th! — and we chatted about the mid-season finale of Gossip Girl, “The Townie,” and talked about our hopes and dreams for the second half of the season. Thanks for having me on, Angela!

Listen online or subscribe in iTunes!

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Dec 14 2010
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Gossip Girl: “The Townie” (ep 411)

I love your shoes, Little S

Mid-season finale! I loved this episode a LOT a lot. The only thing it didn’t give me was a tearful moment, but otherwise it ran the gamut of Gossip Girl awesomeness. I’m really excited for the show’s return on January 24 — high fives, season 4! You are killing it.

While I think Juliet deserved more punishment than NONE at all, what I really liked about this episode was that all season long we’ve been puzzling over Juliet and why she’s so conniving and evil and in the end, it turns out that the real bad guy was right under our noses the whole time — Lily van der Woodsen.

I do believe Lily when she said that she earnestly thought Serena and Ben had had a relationship — but still forging your daughter’s signature on a legal document and sending a man to prison for what amounts to a schoolyard rumor is insane. And all so Serena could get into a good school. No wonder Lily was so freaked out about S. going to college. If I had committed such a crime to get my kid into school, damn straight she’d be going to college.

Lily and Serena have always one seriously effed up relationship — and while this latest secret Lily’s been keeping is a major one, I’m left more worried about the Lily-Chuck fallout. Their scenes together and their bond have been an ongoing fave relationship of mine — they get each other, they have a Bart Bass Bond, they are family. Why, Lily, why, did you have to secretly set Bass Industries up for sale and lie right to Chuck’s face about it? The preview for the next episode shows that Serena and Chuck won’t let Lily off the hook as easily as they did Juliet — and I’m excited to see them take on a target of Lily’s magnitude. She’s the best liar and schemer on the show!

Without a doubt, my favorite scenes in the episode belong to Blair and Dan. Together they KILL me. Blair brings out the funniest parts of Dan, and Dan brings out the biting, brutal, hilarious best in Blair. It’s like the writers just come alive when these two are forced together. Assuming it is done carefully and with great skill, a developing friendship between these two is something I’d be happy to see in the latter half of season 2. Not sure I can quite compute the idea of Blair and Dan kissing — Ew — but an uncomfortable realization that they get along in a twisted way? I’m down with that.

Also looking forward to more Damien Dalgaard (or however you spell his name). He was great in the flashback scenes — that Zac Efron imitation hair! — and he’s creepy and clever and awesomely bad in his drug-dealing present. I like he’s still harboring feelings for Ms. vdW so maybe he’ll be back to break up whatever’s brewing between her and her new prison BFF.

This episode was not, of course, perfect — Blair didn’t remember that S’s boarding school was in Cornwall, CT? Serena made a big bratty speech and ruined a party again? Juliet’s terrible teenage-makeover for the flashback? The fact that Ben’s teenage sister was even brought into that meeting?? — but “The Townie” made me happy and kept me super entertained and for that I say, Hurrah!

What were your favorite moments, lines, et cetera? Mine came right near the end, from Mr. Charles Bartholomew Bass: “Goodbye, friends. Dan.”

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Nov 29 2010
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Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl: “The Witches of Bushwick” (ep 409)

Let us celebrate another excellent episode of Gossip Girl with a lobster pot pie! While there were some questionable plot points and uncharacteristic behavior by some of our Upper East Siders, “The Witches of Bushwick” contains, for me, all the things I want in an episode of this show: clever snappy dialogue, a party that everyone goes to where someone causes a scene, relationships in turmoil, enemies and frenemies, fabulous costumes, beautiful NYC settings, music I want to download (or already own — when that happens I feel as though I have good taste), and the promise of future intrigue and secrets-to-be-finally-revealed.

On to why I loved it:

  • Any reference to The Witches of Eastwick is A-OK by me. I have seen the movie 1,000 times and I never tire of it. The balloons! The cherries! The important lesson of never telling someone what you fear the most….
  • Venn diagrams. Pencil crayons. Eric and Elliot = Es-Harmony.
  • Blair: “I see your brain trying to translate the implications from Polish…”
  • Lily Rhodes van der Woodsen Bass Humphrey, Bad Ass. Serena and I were wearing the same expression of utter awe at Lily taking aim at the Dean.
  • Mrs. Nate Humphrey. Thank you for this. And for how cute Nate was when he won the little basketball game. Dan and Nate do besties second best.
  • Jenny’s black and sparkle striped sweater. Love it.
  • Blair: “What are you — a foot fetishist? They’re done!”
  • Dan (re: Serena’s no show): “I thought maybe my loft was the only place she knew in Brooklyn.”
  • Juliet to Vanessa: “Jenny’s carrying you on this thing.” Hells yes, she is.
  • Blair to ‘Serena’: “You have bad ideas all the time.” Bah-ha-ha. True.
  • The Pretty Reckless’s “Make Me Wanna Die” playing as Chuck and Blair have their Moment? And Jenny exposes them? Yes x 1,000,000. I love that song, especially the “I would die for you” part in the bridge, and loved the meta layers upon layers it heaped on that scene. (OK, so maybe only like two layers but…)
  • Chuck: “I meant it, Blair. With all my heart.” Swooooon.
  • Serena to Eric: “You’re not enough.” And you wonder why this boy tried to kill himself. Not cool, S. Not cool at all.

Though no one deserves to be drugged and kidnapped, watching the Witches of Bushwick take down Serena, methodically separating her from suitor, friend, family, and purpose, even destroying her own sense of self, was rather cathartic. What the two Js and V say about Serena is kinda totally true: she gets away with everything, she rarely takes responsibility and when she does, there are few or no consequences to her actions. Don’t get me wrong: I actually like Serena a lot, but seeing her in this position was remarkably refreshing. And Juliet took it just far enough that my sympathy, going into “Gaslit,” has swung back over to Serena.

I was also surprisingly on-side with the Chuck and Blair breakup — particularly the rationale Blair has for doing it. I love these two together and seeing them romp around the past two episodes has been genius. But Blair wants to establish herself, find her own empire, and needs to do that before becoming “Chuck’s girlfriend.” Be Blair Waldorf first. Despite some mixing up of the ideas of power and empowerment, I thought this episode had a strong point to make to us ladies at home watching. Plus that near-kiss as Chuck and Blair said goodnight was such a perfect moment. Oh the willpower.

On my watch-list is this developing plot with Serena and her boarding school teacher. Did it strike anyone else as odd when Lily said Serena was never a child? What the frak does that mean? Just because she draws the attention of older men doesn’t mean she was (or is) mature enough for an adult relationship. I’m just hoping that this unfolds so (a) Lily isn’t a terrible parent, (b) Serena isn’t put in any sort of position of supposedly playing the temptress, and (c) Juliet earnestly believes that nothing untoward happened between her brother (who I assume to have been Serena’s teacher) and a teenage girl.

My tardy posts are not a reflection of how much I am enjoying Gossip Girl this season; it’s making me uber happy in a way that it hasn’t since season 2. We’ll see how things go but if the awesome keeps up, I think my favorite seasons will rank 1, 4, 2, 3.

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Nov 08 2010
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Gossip Girl: “Juliet Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (ep 408)

Chuck Bass in Blair’s robe? The most beautifully hilarious thing I’ve seen in a long long long time. All the good things from season 1 are back: the robe, Chuck and Blair sneaking around, the Nate and Dan competition for Serena’s affections, the massive takedown with the gang circling their victim, and the Upper East Side taking over otherwise usually good intentioned characters.

While Vanessa’s switch to the Dark Side was a bit over-acted for my liking, the fact that Vanessa had finally had enough and wanted to take down Serena kinda makes sense in Gossip Girl land. It has been three years of being pushed aside for the VDW, who may be one of our heroines but certainly does as she pleases when she pleases and suffers very few consequences. While it’s totally ridiculous, I kind of relish the idea of Juliet, Vanessa, and Little J teaming up with some insane hope of actually destroying the UES Breakfast Clubbers.

Loved, loved, loved all the Chuck and Blair hookups and the comedy and the “mutual loathing and disdain” powered awesomeness. I just hope that there new friendship…with benefits provides as much entertainment as their brief period of lust-filled hatred has. We’ll see if Blair and Chuck as a Couple works the second time around.

So we still don’t know what Juliet’s big bad secret is — we already knew she was poor (her apartment is totally nicer than mine) — but we got a few more clues dropped. Ben used to be nice and the best day of his life was when he became a teacher. And he’s 26. So, not that much older than Serena and co. who are 19/20. So did Ben work at S’s boarding school? Did she hook up with him? (There was some reference to S and a teacher last season when her dad was in town.) But surely if he was charged with statutory rape her mother would know about it. Bah! I do not know. Any theories? Am I missing something obvious?

  • Vanessa looked gorgeous in her first scene: loved the dress on her, the pattern was V-bohemian without being fugly, her accessories and hair: perfection.
  • Serena calls Dan out on his “mad face.” Total mad face.
  • “Bassectomy.”
  • “I’m a big believer in second chances.” Aw, Nate. I love that within one day you make this gesture to two of your ex girlfriends.
  • Blair in the bath with chocolates and macarons, talking about chucking Chuck? Classic.
  • Vanessa used FourSquare to figure out where Juliet lives? Beware: Mayorships are dangerous titles to hold. (Tho it doesn’t make a lot of sense that Juliet was checking in at the place yet also required a delivery boy.)
  • The Dean to Vanessa: “I’m sorry: who are you?” Dismissed.
  • The episode’s title was inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974, dir. Martin Scorsese).

My favorite thing about this episode: they’re at the ballet! Peter Martins! Perhaps my favorite cameo on Gossip Girl of all time. I loved that the girls were all in appropriately flowy, pastelly, gorgeous gowns; I loved that the last time I was in New York I stood right in all of those places (sans champagne and drama but still); I love that the show put the New York City Ballet in the spotlight. <3

Next week: “The Witches of Bushwick.” Sounds like the two Js and V are going to put their plan to DESTROY SvdW into action. Hopefully it involves more than smirking at each other over Skype.

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Nov 08 2010
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Gossip Girl: “War at the Roses” (ep 407)

Shall we start with the end!? The “hatred”-fueled romp on the piano, with visible knicker removal and much groping — a classic Chuck and Blair moment, very season 1. The Waldorf-Bass Treaty may be Nate and Serena’s only good idea to date. But being temporarily relationship-less — not enemies, not friends — didn’t last long for Chuck and Blair and I am glad. It wasn’t exactly a surprising twist that they hooked up post almost-birthday party, but their scenes in “War at the Roses” certainly made it a classic Chuck/Blair ep.

I sort of don’t care about the Serena and Colin Must Wait Before They Can Sleep Together plot. Colin feels like a no-personality guy just there to complicate things in the Juliet/Serena mystery. Juliet stalks Serena, Serena stalks Colin, S idiotically turns to Juliet for help. We still don’t know what Serena is responsible for but I can’t wait to find out what crime deserves the punishment of … being expelled? Is that Juliet and Ben’s endgame or is that just a step in a master plan to completely destroy Serena?

Dan and Eric, in matching plaid shirts, plotted against Chuck and Blair — “We have righteousness and our parents’ anniversary on our side.” — and failed. Then Dan persevered despite Eric ditching. While there were certainly some funny moments that came out of this plotline, it annoyed me that immediately after the Jenny episode, we have another Humphrey falling into the evil, evil ways of the UES. Really? We’re in season 4 and we’ve seen the righteous characters get involved in schemes a million times already. It just felt like there was nothing else to do with Dan but use him as a pawn in the greater story (Chuck and Blair’s) that the writers wanted to tell.

But onwards:

  • Dan: “Vanessa just got back from the commune.” Her entire character encapsulated in that sentence.
  • Add to your Gossip Girl Reading List: Blair’s present from Cyrus, a signed copy of This I Remember by Eleanor Roosevelt, and S’s favorite book, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned
  • Chuck to Dan: “You really don’t know how to stage a run-in, do you? Cut to the chase.” yes.
  • B called Little J GOTHIC BARBIE.
  • Blair impresses the Dean with her reference to her article on Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
  • Blair: “Serena, do you have amnesia? Juliet isn’t your friend.”
  • Love any episode with Eleanor Waldorf. A chat in the kitchen between mother and daughter after a party = love.
  • Holy cameo overload. The guest list at the party featured many tons-o-famous-people, some actually there — like Rachel Zoe, Robyn, and Cynthia Rowley — and some just name-dropped, like Patricia Ireland, Jonathan Franzen, Madeleine Albright.
  • More Nelly Yuki references please!
  • So the karaoke video of B singing “Stand By Your Man”? First of all: Leighton is so super cute. But it was a bit of a letdown that that’s her big secret. Made better by hearing Robyn perform “Hang with Me.” Such a beautiful song and perfect for the moment.
  • I love that Lily didn’t care about Dan becoming an evil scheming Upper East Sider: she has shoe cookies. Good thing Rufus saw that Dan has secret paper crafting skills; he can love his son again.

Choice outfit: B’s green tweed suit with a hairband — it’s a classic Blair look, complete with hairband, but a grown-up version. Perfect for negotiating a peace treaty with your ex.
Title inspired by The War of the Roses (1989, dir. Danny DiVito): Adapted from a novel of the same name, this movie stars Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as a couple whose marriage falls apart and we learn of their messy divorce through the narrator, the one and only Danny DiVito. The husband and wife won’t give up the house and so they battle it out with sabotage and ruthlessness and dish-smashing and car-crashing and endangerment to pets. I loved this movie when I first saw it (when I was 10? I don’t know how I saw this movie when I was 10 but nevermind…) and on re-watch, there are still some really great comedic moments.

Next up: “Juliet Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” More Chuck & Blair hookups! It’s season one all over again, my friends!

xoxo

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Oct 31 2010
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Gossip Girl: “Touch of Eva” (ep 404)

What would Gossip Girl be without its glamorous parties? Everyone gathers at Chuck’s charity gala at the Empire and aside for a few too many overheard conversations, it makes for another solid episode, but not my favorite of the season so far.

It starts strong with Serena and Blair’s agreement to leave their exes alone and move on. “No Blair Waldorfing.” I love it. Neither girl is able to resist getting involved with their exes again, and both fail miserably. Though Serena rather wisely resolves that she doesn’t want Nate or Dan but someone who can provide the best of both. Who wouldn’t want that? Blair, on the other hand, is clearly still in love with Chuck Bass and destroying his relationship with Eva because of how painful it is for her to see them together. To hear him say those kind words about Eva, not Blair.

Is it a Gossip Girl first to have a guest character not be evil in some way? Eva, the nurse/hooker with a heart of gold who makes no distinction between “old Chuck, bad Chuck, new Chuck, good Chuck.” As much as I am in the Chuck-and-Blair-forever camp, I like the effect that Eva had on Chuck — to see him become so unlike the Chuck we knew, to try so hard to be good and be proud of himself — if only because it gives him room to fall. And watching Chuck at the bottom is fun (remember the “I’m Chuck Bass” on the rooftop? classic.) Blair’s scheme takes Eva out of the picture rather easily; Eva doesn’t even defend herself, she just says “I’m sorry” and starts packing. Au revoir, Eva, and hello Evil Chuck Bass.

Blair’s expression when Dorota told her Meester Chuck was downstairs was about as hopeful as mine watching that scene. You just knew we were about to get a classic Chuck and Blair moment. And we did: Chuck asking why she would destroy what he had with Eva and B unable to tell him she loves him. Oh, it’s so season 2. And The National was playing — just like in one of my favorite Chuck/Blair moments in “Oh Brother Where Bart Thou.”

I know Vanessa is technically doing the right thing in trying to get Dan to talk about his feelings but if I were Dan, I would’ve high-tailed it to Serena’s too. (Wait, is this why I’m not in an “adult relationship”??). I love Dan when he’s helping with a Waldorf scheme so thank god he did. He truly does have terrific social espionage skills. While I love some quality Dan/Serena flirtation, I feel like the timing isn’t right on them being together — maybe again in season 5 or 6. (Yes, I’ve started thinking about endgame relationships…) I’m not crazy about him with Vanessa but their scene in that sad empty nursery got me. As did Dan’s line, “losing Milo broke my heart.” Now you’re breaking ours, Humphrey.

The Nate/Juliet storyline didn’t set the world on fire but I like its slow burn. Is the guy she visited in jail really her brother? Calling him “troubled” is a nice way to tell the truth but really mislead someone. And the ruse with her using someone else’s apartment is clever — until you think about it just a little bit. Are someone else’s photographs all over it? Someone else’s mail? No personal belongings of hers whatsoever there is a bit fishy. What will she do when Nate wants to hang out there again? Oh right. It is Nate. He will likely not notice anything amiss.

  • Love the opening song — Sleigh Bells‘ “Rill Rill” — and it’s a great Gossip Girl song and great for the “Eva inspires goodness in Chuck Bass” montage.
  • “. . . or you’ll die hitting refresh.” Oh Blair. I love you.
  • And the show acknowledges the world outside the Bassian bubble is awful. Thank you!
  • I’m still not sure about live streaming video on Gossip Girl…
  • After Chuck says he and Eva have no secrets: “Blackmailers must be weeping all over town.” Nice recovery, B.
  • Dan: “OK, but you may lose me to CSI: Williamsburg.” Yessss.
  • “For kids addicted to cell phones, you never seem to use them.” Wise man, that Rufus.
  • Nate wears purple pants. And a matching plaid shirt. And somehow manages to not at all look like Chuck Bass.
  • Never noticed this before: the pool table in Chuck’s suite has monogrammed balls.
  • Did Serena even believe her half-hearted “I feel terrible” about Vanessa overhearing her conversation with Dan?
  • There’s something off about the direction in this episode. Those flashing quick pans between scenes have to go.
  • While the Eva/Chuck romance didn’t move me this exchange did:
    C: “Don’t leave. Everybody leaves.” E: “You’re Chuck Bass and that means something different now.” Aw.
  • B and S on the bed together? Beauty and friendship and sadness and perfection. That door closing by itself after we panned out? Almost completely ruined the moment. Is there a spirit haunting the Waldorf apartment closing doors? Was Dorota hiding in there and realized the girls needed some privacy?

Choice outfit: Serena for the win! I love that she can wear a sequined silver skirt on an average day about the city. It makes up for her weird-weird hair at the charity event. And the weird-weird cut-outs in her gown.

Episode title inspired by Touch of Evil (1958, dir. Orson Welles): A film noir classic, the story follows police from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border investigating a car bombing. A Mexican official (Charlton Heston), his new bride (Janet Leigh), a grizzly American detective (Orson Welles), and a cast of cops and thugs inhabit this world of betrayal and revenge. I won’t give away the plot as it’s a must-watch film that fills you with the best kind of anxiety and it’s beautifully filmed. (I could watch the newspapers blow around the deserted bordertown streets for hours.) Like Blair in “Touch of Eva,” the villain in Touch of Evil is willing to go to great lengths to destroy while pretending to be noble and well intentioned.

I know I’m absurdly late blogging on this episode, but if you can cast your mind back and remember what you thought of “Touch of Eva” — comment below!

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Oct 19 2010
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Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl: “The Undergraduates” (ep 403)

Sisterhood, alive and well on the Upper East Side.

The Undergraduates felt to me like an old-school episode of Gossip Girl (Blair and Serena hanging out in lingerie!), but without being tired or re-hashy. While the old frenemy jealousy between Blair and Serena reared its head, the girls actually joined forces to take down Juliet. Except, well, she didn’t actually suffer anything other than the loss of some minions and a Hamilton House membership. It’s hilarious to me that Nate is so used to girls pulling absurdly crazy schemes that he takes it as a compliment that Juliet would lie and manipulate and cheat Serena out of a key. Sigh. Oh Nate, you haven’t changed as much as you may think you have.

With three new couples shacking up — Eva and Chuck, Dan and Vanessa, and Blair and Serena — it’ll be interesting to see who lasts and who drives each other crazy. While I wasn’t keen on the idea of Dan spending season 4 taking care of an infant, my heart broke when Georgina took Milo away from him. Poor Dan. And poor cute little Milo, raised by Georgina and (even worse?) the parents that raised Georgina…

How incredibly uncomfortable was that conversation between Chuck and Rufus? While that felt appropriately awful, what I’m not entirely behind is how Eric’s alliance keeps shifting. He and Chuck were really close in past seasons — long after the Jenny incident from the pilot. Remember Eric turning to Chuck after Georgina outed him at the dinner table? It seems like the writers always make Eric the one who’s pissy at someone — Lily, his father, Jenny, Chuck — whenever they need someone to create some conflict. I’d rather Eric get some character consistency  and maybe a plot line that involves more than passing references to his boyfriend.

My heart also broke for Blair, watching Chuck light up at Eva’s return at the end of the episode. He was so right about how she only throws insults she knows will land — and how those insults are thrown out because of her own insecurity. So many of our GGers are seriously insecure: Chuck hiding his past from Eva, Blair about Eva and Chuck, even Serena being rejected by her ex-boyfriends, Hamilton House, and Blair (albeit temporarily on those last two).

Onward to some choice moments, lines, references, and other observations:

  • The new background music for the opening “Gossip Girl here…” sounds like a mellow porn soundtrack to me. (Not that I’m a mellow porn expert or anything…)
  • Dorota continues to have excellent taste in TV: last season it was the Vampire Diaries, this season Law & Order: SVU.
  • LOVED seeing Penelope return. Hope we see more of her this season.
  • Classic —
    Serena: “And I thought college was going to be different than high school.”
    Blair: “Who would want that?”
  • It felt very refreshing to see Serena not get all the attention and everything she wants for once. Humble that girl a bit.
  • Dan Humphrey is SO the modern-day Steve Guttenberg. I think it’s time for a remake of Three Men and a Baby…
  • Very cool that they actually shot footage at Fashion’s Night Out and merged it with the rest of the scenes. (Watch Stephanie Savage and Josh Safran talk about the ep here.)
  • That caviar/catfish line? Just, no. Not working.
  • I adore the bird wall in Serena’s new bedroom and earnestly wish that B was my best friend so I could be her new roomie and live in that gorgeous room.

episode title inspired by The Graduate (dir. Mike Nichols, 1967): Dustin Hoffman plays a directionless, listless college grad, Benjamin, in this classic American film about a younger man and his dalliance with Mrs. Robinson and his romance with her daughter Elaine. If you haven’t seen this film, you should. Even if it’s just so you can catch all the millions of references made to it in other movies and on TV shows.

choice look: OK, last Blair outfit in a row, I promise. As bold as Serena’s Fashion’s Night Out dress was, it was just too much for much for me. Blair’s Valentino sequined tunic dress on the other hand? It was far enough out of her usual color palette and style to feel like a fashion’s finest choice for B. Plus: it shimmers.

What is Juliet’s deal — first the serial killer wall with Serena’s photo as the focus and now a prison visit. Who the heck was that guy? What did he do to land in minimum security prison? Does he have anything to do with Nate’s dad? Or Pete Fairman? I love a plot line that keeps its secret from the audience, and finally finally finally Gossip Girl is holding onto one.

Next up: “Touch of Eva” (BTW, I feel like a total tool every time I have to say “Eva” out loud.)

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