Vanessa was only in a handful of scenes on tonight’s Gossip Girl, but she still managed to ruin EVERYTHING by planting a seed of distrust in Dan that he later passed along to Blair, who then botched up her big “I love you” moment with Chuck. Anti-LOL on that, yo. It seems like every episode, her character screws up everyone else’s best laid plans, and while I know she’s not a real person, dammit if I don’t tense up when I see her boho-lovin’ face on screen.
The only one worse than Vanessa is, well, Dan, but thankfully, he’s been in slight remission the past episode or two. Any attempts he’s made to get on a high horse have been skillfully undercut by other’s sarcasm (most notably Blair), and as a result, his preaching has been kept to a minimum. Nate, on the other hand, seems to have had some Humphrey wear off on him now that he’s traded in his empty townhouse for the invisible guest bedroom at Casa Rufus (who knew that loft had a bathroom? We learn something new each episode!). When Nate saved Jenny from a potentially embarrassing situation with a sketchy photographer named Max, he did so with Ryan Atwood bravado, which is not a good thing. Look, I’m all for Nate being the knight in shining armor, but let’s not forget that he’s one of the cool kids. Albeit, he’s a brooding cool kid, but this is a guy who shtooped his girlfriend’s best friend at a wedding. He knows a little about partying. His suddenly squeaky clean and protective impulse felt just a tad off. This is Gossip Girl. We like when our teens do mischievous things. Just as it was great to see Serena be a wild child for a few episodes there, I think we need to see Nate loosen up a little. Resist the urge to Atwood-ize him, Josh Schwartz!
Along those lines, I think it’s about time the writers put some attention into the Nate character. Nothing ever properly develops with him anymore. His stories always feel sprung on us  sort of like the writers are just trying to get from point A to point B plot-wise. His sudden romantic interest in Vanessa last season came out of left field â€â€Ã‚ same for his new bromance with Dan (granted, the latter example doesn’t feel as contrived, but still, it just happened without any real motivation). Now comes Little J, and while I’m not viscerally opposed to their union, their courtship seemed beyond rushed. Nate’s interest in her was nonexistent last week, and then tonight, he stepped out of the shower and was all gaga to see Jenny for no explainable reason. Meanwhile, I’m still wondering whatever happened to his aching heart for Serena. Wasn’t he head over heels about her for all of last season (at least until he arbitrarily started liking Vanessa)?
At least Serena’s budding romance with her camp buddy/artist-crush Aaron is developing at a proper speed: a few flirtatious conversations here and there, nothing too much, and then next week, I imagine we’ll get a bit more. I’m not saying I particularly care about these two, but at least we have time to digest the concept of them. Luckily, we still have Blair and Chuck, who continue to steal every single frame they’re in. Ed Westwick deserves serious award consideration for his portrayal of Chuck Bass. Emmy (and Golden Globe) voters may turn their noses up at a teen soap on The CW, but Westwick is just so amazingly good, he can’t be ignored. He can do more in one harrowing stare than most other actors can in a long, bombastic monologue. He’s that good, and I’m really not exaggerating.
What did you think of tonight’s episode? Did you enjoy the Nate & Jenny coupling? What about Little J’s rebellious fight with Eleanor Waldorf? And seriously, what is the deal with the gallery café? Does anyone even go there?