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This season of Gossip Girl has been getting stronger and stronger, especially now that all awkward attempts at integrating Vitamin Water into the proceedings have been relegated to a mere refrigerator in Vanessa’s stupid gallery café (attendance: zero). Last night’s episode, with its crackling dialogue and deft plotting, proved to be the best so far as it showcased Blair in über bitch mode (despite occasionally wearing clothes that one might find at a Shaker museum), and Serena finally standing up to Dan and reminding him why he should feel so lucky to have her in the first place. Yes, it seems as though the days of flighty, sweet Serena might be behind us (at least for a few episodes) as she seems poised to recapture the Alpha Dog status she once held long before her storied trip to boarding school. I couldn’t be more delighted with this creative decision. For too long, her character put up with the lame, whiny ramblings of Dan Humphrey, who reached new levels of self-righteousness in this latest installment. He’s really become insufferable — perhaps more so than his spiritual cousin Ryan Atwood — and I can’t help wondering if the writers are aware that their male lead is so unlikable.
Chuck Bass, meanwhile, has always supposed to be the loathsome snake of the series, and yet every time he appears on camera, he’s a pure joy. Granted, he has a tendency to pop up and linger for no real reason, but that’s okay. He always has something smarmy yet awesome to say, and discovering that all of last night’s drama was his masterwork was nothing short of genius.


Then there’s Vanessa. Awful, awful Vanessa. Just like her Brooklyn brethren, Dan, she seems to ruin every scene, every plot line, and every good thing about the show. I’m shocked she’s stuck around for as long as she has, but I guess she’s a character from the original books; so she’ll be around for a while. I just want to know what the deal is with her education. She’s clearly not in school since she’s able to galavant all around the city while everyone else is in class. But she also doesn’t appear to be home-schooled as her family has yet to surface on camera. I’m confused. Plus, her relationship with Nate still lacks any chemistry, but at this point I’ve grown accustomed to it and have accepted their love for what it is (awful). And yes, of course she would screw up Blair-Bear’s little anti-Duchess scheme. My disdain knows no bounds. (As you can imagine, I greatly enjoyed Nate dissing her at the end of the episode by reminding her that they were “never friends.” Snap!)
And how about that Duchess? Banging her own stepson, LORD Beaton himself — a bold move. I’m a little sad to see that that whole saga has come to an end, but I suppose with Mädchen Amick landing a role on My Own Worst Enemy, she was bound to make an exit sooner or later. Besides, the producers probably had to wrap up all that Lord-on-Blair action as her lacy school duds kind of reminded us that there may be a few statutory rape laws being violated in this storyline (not that legal issues ever seemed to affect these kids). Oh well. It was fun having some royals around, even if it was for just four episodes. And sidenote: I’m perturbed by the fact that the Duchess had the same phone as I. Shouldn’t she have something a bit more glamorous than an old LG? I always imagined the Duchess phone to be an oversized gem that would just open up to reveal a keypad inside. But what do I know?
The good news is that Lily has returned, and she’s more desperate than ever, rambling on about Harry Dean Stanton in seemingly every episode. That’s okay though. She’s the best, and if Rufufth knew what was good for him, he’d dump his personality-free girlfriend (whatever happened to BEX?) and bang the Lillster already — D.U.M.B.O style. I mean, what sort of a rock star is he?
What did you think of the episode? Did anyone else enjoy the campy glee that Blair’s minions — especially Penelope — served up? And who else wonders where exactly the girls are able to play field hockey?

19 replies on “Serena van der Woodsen FTW!”

  1. My friend Rob put it best: Dan’s treatment of Serena in the last few episodes has bordered on abusive. He used to be one of my favorite characters, now I just want to punch him.
    Amen on Chuck–his biting witticisms are hilarious, his fashion sense eminently watchable, and his scenes with Blair are pure gold. Without a doubt, Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester are the strongest actors on the show.
    Vanessa was indeed a character in the books–except she was a classmate of the girls with a shaved head who lived with her sister, made movies and wore all black and combat boots. Needless to say, I liked her better in the books, and her presence made more sense. Vanessa’s one of the few things that the books did better than the TV series.

  2. This was an amazing episode. I loved that they were setting up all of the storylines that could last the whole season. I’m somewhat concerned that all of the new storylines will be resolved next episode but I remain hopeful.
    The lack of suitable field hockey locations on the upper east side also bothers me. I’m glad i’m no longer the only one.
    I have 1 question for you B-Side. I’m under the impression that you’re a New Yorker and if that’s true can you tell me about the drinking laws for the rich and underaged.
    When you were going to nightclubs at 16 were you at least forced to show some sort of fake ID, or were they more than happy to assume you were 21 and make you a martini?

  3. My friend Rob put it best: Dan’s treatment of Serena in the last few episodes has bordered on abusive. He used to be one of my favorite characters, now I just want to punch him.
    Amen on Chuck–his biting witticisms are hilarious, his fashion sense eminently watchable, and his scenes with Blair are pure gold. Without a doubt, Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester are the strongest actors on the show.
    Vanessa was indeed a character in the books–except she was a classmate of the girls with a shaved head who lived with her sister, made movies and wore all black and combat boots. Needless to say, I liked her better in the books, and her presence made more sense. Vanessa’s one of the few things that the books did better than the TV series.

  4. I am so happy with the way things are going, although I do wish the Duchess could have stayed longer. I blame Vanessa, she fucked it up.
    Dan is so JUDGEMENTAL….ugh. I can’t stand it anymore. It was so undeserved. I love that Serena is owning it now, after all…regardless of what she does, Dan will blame her anyway.
    I also love Chuck, even from the first episode when he tried to rape 2 girls (I just didn’t buy that as truly being him, he actually is better than that….and I’m sure they maybe regret that storyline a little bit).

  5. great ep!
    1. Dan sucks….are he and Vanessa related? THEY need to hook up..they’re depressingly good for each other.
    2. Speaking of Vanessa, can someone please do something about her caveman hair? And yes, she’s pretty much ruined Nate’s life by intervening on Blair’s plan (sheesh), talk about the definition of “jumping the gun”. whoops.
    3. Chuck’s great…I especially like the way he sidled up to the bar in his awesome purple suit. And especially love the way he carries Nair around in it.
    4. Serena’s becoming quite the bad ass. I can’t wait to see where this is going to lead.

  6. great ep!
    1. Dan sucks….are he and Vanessa related? THEY need to hook up..they’re depressingly good for each other.
    2. Speaking of Vanessa, can someone please do something about her caveman hair? And yes, she’s pretty much ruined Nate’s life by intervening on Blair’s plan (sheesh), talk about the definition of “jumping the gun”. whoops.
    3. Chuck’s great…I especially like the way he sidled up to the bar in his awesome purple suit. And especially love the way he carries Nair around in it.
    4. Serena’s becoming quite the bad ass. I can’t wait to see where this is going to lead.

  7. great ep!
    1. Dan sucks….are he and Vanessa related? THEY need to hook up..they’re depressingly good for each other.
    2. Speaking of Vanessa, can someone please do something about her caveman hair? And yes, she’s pretty much ruined Nate’s life by intervening on Blair’s plan (sheesh), talk about the definition of “jumping the gun”. whoops.
    3. Chuck’s great…I especially like the way he sidled up to the bar in his awesome purple suit. And especially love the way he carries Nair around in it.
    4. Serena’s becoming quite the bad ass. I can’t wait to see where this is going to lead.

  8. whoops. sorry about the triple post, My wireless has been effin’g up lately…wasn’t sure it went through…as I never got the GLORIOUS CONFIRMATION 🙂
    one more thing. Blair and I have the same phone….LG env2. VERIZON whuuuuut?

  9. I, too, apologize for the double post…I never got the confirmation either.
    Firecat–Chuck trying to rape two girls was in the first Gossip Girl book, which the pilot pretty much followed to the letter. The Chuck character ended up going in a VERY different direction in the books–one of the many things the TV series has improved upon. I have no doubt the writers regret putting this awful behavior in the pilot.
    I kind of wonder if Serena will be more of a benevolent dictator than Blair was.
    Vanessa either needs a better storyline or she needs to go away. End of story.

  10. I am excited to finally get to SEE Serena’s bad side first hand (umm does watching on television count as first hand?)

  12. I’m right there with you, jennifer30309FTW! I thought B was typing EdHillian style and he meant WTF? I saw your comment and googled it, too. I am now depressed beyond belief.

  14. Don’t worry, YoungSpecialK, it’s not all bad. With age comes wisdom. Let’s see who Ben turns to for advice when his next batch of muffins sticks to the pan.

  15. FUNNY you should mention that. I made tartlets about three weeks ago, and they all stuck to the pan, despite my futile attempts to pre-coat it with Pam. I had to sort of wedge a spoon (i tried a knife at first but found the spoon to be better) around the edges, and for about half of them, the bottom of the crust stuck to the pan. I did, however, find success with the other half of the batch. Still, I couldn’t help thinking that there had to be a better way. Foil liners?

  16. For some reason, the phrase ‘sound the trumpets, strumpets’ sends me into a conniption fit of giggles every time I hear it. I have to download GG if I want to watch it, so I’ve the luxury of replaying that line – which I’ve now done, repeatedly. It was an excellent use of my time.
    Vanessa’s storylines bother me, but so do Jenny’s. And I’m not sure which is worse. I found her somewhat endearing when she was lecturing Dan (but that could be because I like hearing anyone lecture Dan?), and wondered if she might improve this school year – but her sudden reappearance at Blair’s mother’s design studio made me think otherwise.

  17. “FUNNY you should mention that. I made tartlets about three weeks ago, and they all stuck to the pan.”
    See! I knew that spycam I installed in B-Side’s 1970’s harvest gold stove would provide a wealth of information.

  18. LOL…I akways took FTW as F-ck The World.
    So I googled it to be sure…looks like FTW works either way in these recent situations.

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