Last week’s rapid-fire revelations (an outing! a sham relationship! amurder confession!) left us with high hopes for Monday night’s episode ofGossip Girl, but the results were definitely a mixed bag. The showstarts with an unexpected mystery: on the night after her bigrevelation, Serena has fallen off the grid. She’s not answering herphone, and no one knows where she is: Not Georgina, whose CruelIntentions shtick is getting a little old; not Dan, who makes a quickstop at home to tease Rufus about his upcoming "Top 10 Forgotten Bandsof the ’90s" concert; and certainly not Serena’s mom, who’s too busyplanning her wedding (which now has its own reality-blurring website at lilyandbart.weddingwindow.com) to even care. But then Blair summons Nate andChuck to her home, where the three of them nurse a well-sauced Serenaback to consciousness and finally extract her secret. At this point, theplot’s already moving a little too fast for its own good, but there’s abrilliant moment in which Nate, Chuck, and Blair stage an impromptu badbehavior contest to convince Serena that whatever she’s done can’tpossibly be worse than things they’ve done in the past. Blair: "I hadsex with [Chuck] in the back of a limo." Nate: "I had sex with [Serena]at a wedding while I was [Blair's] date." Chuck: "I’m Chuck Bass."Game, set, and match, sir.
And now, finally, the scoop on Serena’s huge, monster, mind-blowing,life-changing secret. On the night when Serena hooked up with Nate, sheheaded back to a hotel room with Georgina, where some guy tried toforce himself on her before fatally ODing on drugs. Aaaaand that’s it.Serena called 911 before leaving the scene with Georgina (who wasafraid of getting caught with blow), and then felt so guilty about thewhole thing that she told her mom to send her to boarding school.Excuse me? THIS is what Serena meant when she said she "killedsomeone"? After all that build up, I was expecting to see somethingmore along the lines of Serena strangling the guy with her lustrousmane. And sadly, things only go downhill from there as Serena developsa severe case of Lazy Writer Syndrome (symptoms include unmotivateddecisions, rash behavior, and out-of-character antics) and lies to Danabout the whole thing for no good reason. Was I the only one havingflashbacks of late-period O.C. here?
Thankfully, the show takes a break from the main plot for a goofy jauntto Oldsville, where Rufus is hanging out with none other than Lisa (pictured)at their concert. Yes, the "Stay" songstress makes an actualappearance. Pointless? Absolutely. But I’ll take a Loeb cameo any day Ican get it. (I think "#1 Single" may still be buried somewhere inthe Series Record list on my DVR…) It’s a short-but-sweet bit ofrelief before the the rest of the episode rushes by in a blur. Lily(who found the snuff tape after rifling through her daughter’s clothes)makes Serena apologize to the parents of the guy who died, but we don’teven get to see the moment when Serena must have confessed to her.Georgina is forced by Vanessa to reveal her true identity to Dan, whototally buys it when she says she changed her name to escape a crazyex. Lily kisses Rufus. And then Georgina seduces Dan, just to spite Serena. None of theseevents has any real weight, and it feels a bit like the last 15 minuteswere edited down from what could have been a whole show right there.Packing a lot of action into each episode has always been one of GossipGirl’s strength, but it doesn’t work when you feel like the charactersare just along for the ride.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Was theepisode overstuffed? Was Serena’s secret a letdown? Is Georgina alreadyoverstaying her welcome? And isn’t it time for a bit more of Chuck andNate?
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and just as quickly as I got hooked on the show, “Last week i may add” I was unhooked off of it. What great set up and what a lazy follow through. Rich people are stupid, but i do think i’ll check in on Blair and chuck from time to time, there’s something to be said for a show that turns it’s evil characters into the Heroes… because it’s good characters are so gullable and boring.
i was very disappointed..i expected a better secret, but eh..and i hope georgina leaves soon. we need more nate, chuck, blair interaction!
Overstuffed episode! I was so confused when Lily somehow changed her mind, figured out what happened in the video and decided her daughter was not messed up. And I kept wondering why Dan wasn’t sad about breaking up with Serena – I expected him to be in mourning, not out with his new friend, Sarah. The whole episode moved way too fast.
ah! i miss #1 single! that show was fantastic!
A bit off-topic, but thanks for the “#1 Single” shout out. My favorite part was how Illeana Douglas was randomly friends with Lisa Loeb. I was convinced my girlfriend and I were the only ones watching that show. Well, judging by how it was pulled unexpectedly, the list now reads me, my girlfriend and Adam.
Ok, nevermind. It’s me, my girlfriend, Adam, and NineDaves!
Was this episode a casualty of the writer’s strike or something? This definitely should have been stretched into two or three hours. Plus, the big secret was lame and was resolved so easily. And yeah, I was really confused when Lily (who had only seen half the tape) suddenly had time (at the rehearsal dinner, no less) to figure out the whole story, get Chuck to find the address of the guy’s parents, and whisk Serena away.
In regards to Lily changing her mind, I’m pretty sure Blair explained what was going on to her at the rehearsal dinner. It definitely seemed like a scene or two was cut, but I think that’s how Lily went from sending her to reform school to taking her to the ODer’s parents.
Yeah, the episode was a letdown, especially because everything was resolved in like, 3 minutes. I agree with everyone who says that we need more Chuck, Nate and Blair interaction. That was the most exciting part about last night’s show!
Hopefully they will give us a really good season finale.
And Georgina has officially overstayed her welcome. I might actually stop watching the show if they add Michelle Trachtenberg to the show…. after Buffy, I can’t STAND to watch her in anything.
Can anyone answer this question – what did Georgina knock off the stairs while she was talking to Dan at the end of the show?
His phone battery so Serena can’t reach him
the whole thing was so rushed i actually had to rewind my dvr when lily took serena to the dead boy’s house to see if i missed blair telling her or something… the cut scenes were obvious, and shame on GG for not giving us 2 eps instead of 1, especially since we waited so long for the show to return after the strike…
Yeah, I really enjoyed this show in the beginning, but sigh, I’m already wanting to break up with it. It’s getting really ridiculous. At least the OC gave you the warm fuzzies every once in a while. This show is just a bunch of Marissas running around.
I didn’t know where else to put this comment, so here ya go, EW editors: I read the story in this week’s issue about how kid entertainment is big and going to be bigger this summer. You included Gossip Girl, entertainment that I would rate at least PG-13 if not R, in that story along side Hannah Montana, etc., i.e. stuff that is decidedly rated G or PG. Look, I have no problem with older teens watching Gossip Girl and other shows like this. But with it’s wildly inappropriate “OMFG” advertisements, let’s just be clear that this show is NOT for tweens or kids, OK? Please? I don’t think I should have to explain what “OMFG” means to my 11 year old. Oh, and I didn’t like the “OMFG” picture of the FRONT page of EW.com, either. Please use some discernment, EW.com editors!
Otherwise, good show.
This is exactly why so many teen-centric shows (The O.C. specifically) start great then run out of steam after 2 seasons: this “I killed someone” arc should’ve lasted well into next season but instead they insist on burning through a million story lines in one season. Cut to season 3 where they’ll have to stage a lesbian tryst between Blair and Serena during May sweeps to find something for these kids to do that they haven’t already done!
…Oh and I also forgot to mention, how ridic was it that they were supposedly shooting this live VH1 special yet all the principle cast members were allowed to just enter and leave the studio whenever they wanted and mill about around the stage during filming?!
LisaMama– why are you letting your 11 year old daught read EW.com to begin with? I know, I know– why should we ever expect you to actually screen what your children visit online or see in your home. The media should do that for you, lest you actually be forced to be a parent.
Wait, you JUST caught the OC Shark Jumping vibe from this show? You’re a little more than fashionably late to that party.
That being said, while this was by far the worst (borderline nonsensical) episode of the season, I am happy that they blew through the murder subplot and are hopefully are pushing Georgina towards the exit. While they could have stretched the murder story longer, I still think they’d have been better off without it altogether so good riddance. I’ll gladly suffer through a couple of bad episodes if it means getting back to more realistic drama/characters.
It’s a shame they made the Georgina character so comically villainous; the show could use a demon on Serena’s shoulder to counter Dan’s angel (or perhaps someone to lure Dan out of his pristine character).
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The Gossip Girl formula @ http://www.soulhonky.com
i have to note that i didn’t notice georgina grab the video camera (i don’t have DVR) from the hotel. did she? because if she didn’t i’m not sure i understand why serena is so worried about all of this. obviously police would have watched the video and been able to figure out who the girls were. and also if she didn’t get the camera, how would she have gotten the video in the first place?
To Absentee Parent Much?: I don’t let my kids read EW. But EW.com is a free, public access web site. All I’m asking is that the EW.com editors think about that when they decide what images and words they use on the front page of the site.
BTW, you don’t know me, so don’t accuse me of being an absentee parent. I do believe it’s my job to decide what my kids watch/read, and I do not let them see anything that I think is inappropriate. All I’m asking for is a little help when it comes to ads/images/words that are in public. I wouldn’t want to see that “OMFG” image as a giant ad on a public billboard, either.
She didn’t grab the camera but it looked like she did grab a tape. It is very fast so that is probably why you didn’t see it.
Adding Michelle Trachtenberg is the best thing to happen to this show — when she’s on screen I turn up the sound. When she’s not on screen I hit the mute button. And if she wasn’t on the show, I wouldn’t watch it at all.
I would love to see more of Chuck and Nate!!
am i the only one who finds the whole Nate-Vanessa thing kinda weird? they don’t match…..but they could be great friends
I have to agree with Kevin. So many shows keep storylines for too long, and once the “secret” or “twist” is out, usually the audience is disappointed (i.e. Heroes). I am happy Gossip Girl cut to the chase and put it all out there. I do agree that they clearly cut out scenes..but would those scenes necessary? We are all smart people…we can figure it out. All in all, good episode…I can’t wait until next week. Who would love to see a show down between Blair and Georgina???
They never showed Serena explaining what happened to her mom because Blair did. When she went up to Lily at the rehearsal dinner, she said she was out of her league and needed her help. Also said told Lily that the tape didn’t tell the whole story. It was obvious, at least to me, that that’s when she filled Lily in on what happened.
It is ALWAYS time for a little more Chuck and Nate.
Very disappointed with the big secret. They shouldn’t have gone there at all, if it was going to end up being so lame. And I was really annoyed that Dan bought Georgina/Sarah’s story. I also blame Vanessa. If she had listened to Nate and waited before saying anything, Chuck & Blair would’ve been able to bust Georgina in front of Dan.
I think this just the calm before the storm, though I did thought the episode did well and I really wasn’t thinking that there was going to to extreme al la Dexter. Maybe the drug laws in New York are harsh. I think the final well make everyone much happy
I’m chalking this episode up to the strike and hoping that all will resume next week. It was clearly meant to be so much more. However Chuck pretty much saved the episode for me. The “I’m Chuck Bass” line, ogling Serena while B was helping her clean up, the madras pants and the way his raised eyebrow can say so much. It’s a young show it’s going to have growing pains. It just needs to get back to being what it is.