Post by Meg on Sept 10, 2008 13:50:56 GMT
Episode Recap: "Summer, Kind of Wonderful"
The only good thing about the unofficial end of summer is that it brings the official start of Season 2 of Gossip Girl. In their world, it still is summertime, and I’m more than happy to vicariously lounge in the Hamptons with them.
There were many themes of the night, the first being karma. This began when Chuck, standing with his roses, waiting for Blair, saw her get off the jitney and give him that knowing look (Blair and Chuck communicate so much without words), then kissed her new beau. I almost felt bad for him, until I remembered what he did to her. As Gossip Girl said, "Ain’t karma a *friendly*? We know Blair Waldorf is."
She’s so good at being a *friendly*, but so bad at charades (another theme of the night). The guy Blair was kissing was James, the new love of her life (read: her fake boyfriend). She made a good point when she asked Serena, "Do you know how hard it is to find a good fake boyfriend on short notice?" The trouble was, James was rather boring, as Blair even told him to his face. And Chuck, her sole catalyst for this charade, was a little jealous ("Blair loves the limo"), but soon he saw right through it. Which pissed Blair off ("darn that mother Chucker"– love what this show slyly gets away with!).
Chuck almost bought Blair’s little performance when he saw her heart pin on James’ sleeve. The scene that followed between Chuck and Blair, ending with her in tears after he walked away, was quite good. Chuck asked her if she felt the same way about James as she did about Nate, and she replied, "Yes." But that wasn’t the right question. He should have asked her if she felt the same way about James as she did about him. However, it looks like these two complicated souls are destined for a difficult relationship – and really, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Still, it hurts seeing them go through all the twists and turns, such as their fabulous final scene together, in which Chuck showed more raw emotion than he ever has before. Without smugness, sarcasm or jokes, Chuck admitted his true feelings – he told Blair the real reason he stood her up in Europe was because he was scared. He put his heart out there, asked her not to go and then, when she asked to say one thing – the "three words...eight letters" that she wanted to hear more than anything else...he tried (please Chuck, don’t screw this up)...but he just couldn’t say it. Oh, Chuck...how you keep letting us down.
Is it because he doesn’t really love her? No. I think clearly, the boy has some issues he needs to work on. Perhaps he didn’t feel loved as a child, or maybe his parents had a very nasty relationship and this skewed his outlook on love. Who knows. Maybe therapy would help. The drink he was making, alone at the bar at the end of the show, probably won’t help too much. At least not more than temporarily.
But it turns out that Blair wasn’t the only one playing charades – Mr. Boring was too. James is really Marcus – a British Lord, pretending to be a common American so girls will treat him like a real person and not a royal subject. All I can say is, the British accent helps. In a matter of seconds, it made him a lot less boring, and Blair seemed to think so too.
Meanwhile, Nate and Serena are pretending to date each other. Not to make anybody jealous, but to cover up Nate’s secret relationship, which Serena eventually learned was with an older, married woman named Catherine (Madchen Amick of Twin Peaks). She’s a bit older than Nate, and her husband’s a bit older than her. This looks like it could get interesting down the road, especially if her husband finds out. At a certain point, Nate did want to make Catherine jealous, so Serena got the idea to plant a big one on him...and who shows up at that exact moment but Dan?
Dan was once again on his high horse, right where we left him at the wedding last spring. He started to go off on Serena with a tirade about how "it’s never a simple answer with you" and it’s the "same drama, different city." Next thing you know, some of his girls of summer were in his face confronting him about the multiple lies and hookups that have been a part of his summer. And here we have yet another case of the pot calling the kettle black at the White Party.
Seems that Dan’s been dating a lot of girls over the summer – because he can’t get over Serena. He also can’t write the story required for his internship because of her (can’t he write about a subject other than Serena? Doesn’t he have old stories saved up?). He was kind of pissing me off the way he was throwing away a great internship with is "idol" author (played by author Jay McInerney). Jenny’s begging to have her designs looked at over at her internship, while Dan has a famous author bugging him to hand in a story and he just won’t do it. I was glad when the author finally told him he was tired of his crap and his excuses. He deserved that.
In the end, at least Dan seemed to finally be back on track on the relationship front. And this time, even Serena’s grandmother approves! Dan and Serena aren’t my favorite couple on the show, but I don’t mind them together and they often bring out the best in each other. And realistically, I was wondering how they were going to keep Dan tied to story lines without him dating Serena. It’s not like he and Nate are that good of friends.
Speaking of friends, Eric and Jenny have repaired their fractured friendship. A back-to-his-roots brunette Eric accepted Jenny’s apology very easily, admitting he doesn’t have tons of friends (though he did caution her that she’s on probation with him). Without Blair around, Jenny has found a new person to upstage: her boss at Eleanor Waldorf Designs, Laurel. And while I have yet to like one of Jenny’s designs, I couldn’t help but root for her at that White Party as she mingled with socialite Tinsley Mortimer and ultimately impressed Laurel. Jenny’s easier to root for when she’s the underdog, before she lets power go to her head.
The only good thing about the unofficial end of summer is that it brings the official start of Season 2 of Gossip Girl. In their world, it still is summertime, and I’m more than happy to vicariously lounge in the Hamptons with them.
There were many themes of the night, the first being karma. This began when Chuck, standing with his roses, waiting for Blair, saw her get off the jitney and give him that knowing look (Blair and Chuck communicate so much without words), then kissed her new beau. I almost felt bad for him, until I remembered what he did to her. As Gossip Girl said, "Ain’t karma a *friendly*? We know Blair Waldorf is."
She’s so good at being a *friendly*, but so bad at charades (another theme of the night). The guy Blair was kissing was James, the new love of her life (read: her fake boyfriend). She made a good point when she asked Serena, "Do you know how hard it is to find a good fake boyfriend on short notice?" The trouble was, James was rather boring, as Blair even told him to his face. And Chuck, her sole catalyst for this charade, was a little jealous ("Blair loves the limo"), but soon he saw right through it. Which pissed Blair off ("darn that mother Chucker"– love what this show slyly gets away with!).
Chuck almost bought Blair’s little performance when he saw her heart pin on James’ sleeve. The scene that followed between Chuck and Blair, ending with her in tears after he walked away, was quite good. Chuck asked her if she felt the same way about James as she did about Nate, and she replied, "Yes." But that wasn’t the right question. He should have asked her if she felt the same way about James as she did about him. However, it looks like these two complicated souls are destined for a difficult relationship – and really, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Still, it hurts seeing them go through all the twists and turns, such as their fabulous final scene together, in which Chuck showed more raw emotion than he ever has before. Without smugness, sarcasm or jokes, Chuck admitted his true feelings – he told Blair the real reason he stood her up in Europe was because he was scared. He put his heart out there, asked her not to go and then, when she asked to say one thing – the "three words...eight letters" that she wanted to hear more than anything else...he tried (please Chuck, don’t screw this up)...but he just couldn’t say it. Oh, Chuck...how you keep letting us down.
Is it because he doesn’t really love her? No. I think clearly, the boy has some issues he needs to work on. Perhaps he didn’t feel loved as a child, or maybe his parents had a very nasty relationship and this skewed his outlook on love. Who knows. Maybe therapy would help. The drink he was making, alone at the bar at the end of the show, probably won’t help too much. At least not more than temporarily.
But it turns out that Blair wasn’t the only one playing charades – Mr. Boring was too. James is really Marcus – a British Lord, pretending to be a common American so girls will treat him like a real person and not a royal subject. All I can say is, the British accent helps. In a matter of seconds, it made him a lot less boring, and Blair seemed to think so too.
Meanwhile, Nate and Serena are pretending to date each other. Not to make anybody jealous, but to cover up Nate’s secret relationship, which Serena eventually learned was with an older, married woman named Catherine (Madchen Amick of Twin Peaks). She’s a bit older than Nate, and her husband’s a bit older than her. This looks like it could get interesting down the road, especially if her husband finds out. At a certain point, Nate did want to make Catherine jealous, so Serena got the idea to plant a big one on him...and who shows up at that exact moment but Dan?
Dan was once again on his high horse, right where we left him at the wedding last spring. He started to go off on Serena with a tirade about how "it’s never a simple answer with you" and it’s the "same drama, different city." Next thing you know, some of his girls of summer were in his face confronting him about the multiple lies and hookups that have been a part of his summer. And here we have yet another case of the pot calling the kettle black at the White Party.
Seems that Dan’s been dating a lot of girls over the summer – because he can’t get over Serena. He also can’t write the story required for his internship because of her (can’t he write about a subject other than Serena? Doesn’t he have old stories saved up?). He was kind of pissing me off the way he was throwing away a great internship with is "idol" author (played by author Jay McInerney). Jenny’s begging to have her designs looked at over at her internship, while Dan has a famous author bugging him to hand in a story and he just won’t do it. I was glad when the author finally told him he was tired of his crap and his excuses. He deserved that.
In the end, at least Dan seemed to finally be back on track on the relationship front. And this time, even Serena’s grandmother approves! Dan and Serena aren’t my favorite couple on the show, but I don’t mind them together and they often bring out the best in each other. And realistically, I was wondering how they were going to keep Dan tied to story lines without him dating Serena. It’s not like he and Nate are that good of friends.
Speaking of friends, Eric and Jenny have repaired their fractured friendship. A back-to-his-roots brunette Eric accepted Jenny’s apology very easily, admitting he doesn’t have tons of friends (though he did caution her that she’s on probation with him). Without Blair around, Jenny has found a new person to upstage: her boss at Eleanor Waldorf Designs, Laurel. And while I have yet to like one of Jenny’s designs, I couldn’t help but root for her at that White Party as she mingled with socialite Tinsley Mortimer and ultimately impressed Laurel. Jenny’s easier to root for when she’s the underdog, before she lets power go to her head.
