Episode 16

Gossip Girl S1E16 - All About My Brother

Discussion on #LGBT themes surrounding coming out and being outed.

Hey Upper Eastsiders and all you scandal-loving listeners out there! Welcome back to the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, where the coffee is strong, the waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than ever. Join Leif, your seasoned Gossip Girl veteran, and Steve, the newbie diving into the Upper East Side for the first time.

This week, we dive into Gossip Girl season 1, episode 16, titled “All About My Brother”. Original air date: May 5, 2008.

Join us as we dissect the drama, romance, and sometimes questionable fashion choices from this iconic 2007 series. We break down the battle between Queen B and Little J, the unexpected twists with Eric, and the ever-looming presence of Georgina Sparks. Plus, we discuss the deeper emotional moments, like Lily's heartfelt conversation with Eric, and the shocking confession from Serena that leaves us all on the edge of our seats.

The TWoP Bayliss recap reads: G threatens to spill S's deep dark shit, B and Little J use Gossip Girl to spread scandalous rumors about each other, and Lonelyboy catches Asher in the act.

Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion. 

Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.

The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion.

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#GossipGirl

Transcript
Steve:

Jenny just comes across so arrogant.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

So.

Leif:

Oh, my God.

Steve:

So cute. And at the same time, it's, like,

Steve:

think for a second, Jenny. Let's say Eric does have a

Steve:

crush on you. He's probably going to treat you a

Steve:

hell of a lot better than Asher and provide

Steve:

all the same accent.

Steve:

Hm.

Leif:

Hey up, recyers. And all you scandal loving listeners out

Leif:

there, you just tuned into the non judging breakfast

Leif:

pod, where the coffee is strong, the

Leif:

waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than

Leif:

ever. My name is Leif, and I'm your seasoned gossip

Leif:

girl veteran.

Steve:

And I'm Steve. I'm the newbie, the

Steve:

greenhorn, the, I don't know, what do you call the new kid on the block

Steve:

in Gossip girl terms? Leaf.

Leif:

I think they would label you as a project. You

Leif:

know, type of girl has the potential to be up there,

Leif:

right?

Steve:

Yeah. Well, find me a man to host my first upper

Steve:

east side party, and let's get started.

Leif:

Sounds good.

Steve:

So here's the deal, folks. Leap has been a fan of

Steve:

Gossip girl since it first aired, and I'm diving in for the

Steve:

first time. And together, we're your dynamic duo,

Steve:

bringing you all the drama, romance, and

Steve:

sometimes questionable fashion choices from this

Steve:

iconic 2007 series.

Leif:

That's right. Each week, we're going to take a deep

Leif:

dive, looking at all the obscure,

Leif:

references, parallels, and of course, the couture

Leif:

catastrophes one episode at a time.

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here at the non

Steve:

judging breakfast pod, there is always room for you at the

Steve:

non judging breakfast table. So grab

Steve:

your coffee or a mimosa,

Steve:

maybe celebrate yesterday's holiday with

Steve:

some of Nate and Chuck's special medicine. And

Steve:

let's get started on this show.

Leif:

We are going to be talking about season one,

Leif:

episode 16, titled

Leif:

all about my brother. Original air

Leif:

date was May 5, 2008. Did you get

Leif:

the reference?

Steve:

I did not, get the

Steve:

reference.

Leif:

So I have not seen this movie. But now,

Leif:

having looked it up, I am probably going to go watch it later today

Leif:

because it sounds absolutely insane. It, is a

Leif:

spanish movie. It won several, awards at

Leif:

Con, including best film and best director.

Leif:

But it stars a single woman. The

Leif:

only known actress that I, at least for

Leif:

me, that I recognize was Penelope Cruz. But she's, like, the fifth

Leif:

star, so she's fifth listed on

Leif:

it. But, yeah, it's a single woman,

Leif:

who is a supervisor at

Leif:

a organ donation type of thing.

Steve:

I'm in.

Leif:

And her son is

Leif:

in love with some actress, and she's, like, trying to chase her down

Leif:

and get an autograph, gets hit by a car, and he dies.

Leif:

And then, so the mom

Leif:

decides she's gonna go track down the

Leif:

father who she never told her son about because

Leif:

apparently the father is a she transgender,

Leif:

woman named Lola. And so

Leif:

she. And then along the way, she makes friends with another

Leif:

transgender woman who's a sex worker

Leif:

and then also a nun at a batter

Leif:

woman shelter who apparently is

Leif:

hiv positive and pregnant with

Leif:

Lola's child as well,

Leif:

and. Yeah, so, I could go check this movie

Leif:

I'm in sounds

Leif:

interesting. It is a, Spanish, but, yeah, it is called

Leif:

all about my mother and came out in 1999.

Leif:

but now we're going to talk all about my

Leif:

brother. The television without pity.

Leif:

Bayless recap reads, g threatens

Leif:

to spill S's deep, dark shit. Bea and little J

Leif:

use gossip Girl to spread scandalous rumors about each other,

Leif:

and lonely boy catches asher in the

Leif:

actual.

Steve:

It's funny because it's not really accurate. Little

Steve:

J. Doesn't use Gossip Girl to spread

Steve:

scandalous rumors about Blair. She uses

Steve:

gossip Girl to spread scandalous rumors about

Steve:

Jenny. Jenny uses

Steve:

gossip Girl to spread rumors about herself?

Leif:

Well, no. So at the beginning, like, before the

Leif:

episode, and, like, right at the beginning, the gossip girl

Leif:

monologue talks about, like.

Steve:

Oh, the war between the two of them.

Leif:

Yes, exactly.

Steve:

Yeah. And Jenny's sewing labels into things at

Steve:

the gap, and.

Leif:

Yeah, and then players, like, hooking up.

Steve:

With some bartender, saying, eric is gossip Girl.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah, I forgot that. We do get that. Especially

Steve:

the. That rundown with Eric and

Steve:

Serena. Yeah.

Leif:

this episode was written by Paul

Leif:

Scariato, first time Gossip Girl writer, and

Leif:

this is his only episode of Gossip Girl, but he is a pro

Leif:

CW writer. Beyond Jane the Virgin

Leif:

921 reboot and other stuff

Leif:

on the CW, it was directed by

Leif:

Janice Cook. this is the first of her five

Leif:

Gossip Girl episodes, but also a ton of

Leif:

other tv. One tree Hill charm,

Leif:

Dawson's Creek, etcetera.

Steve:

Yeah. And right before

Steve:

we started, I said, how much of a

Steve:

turnover was there in. In the.

Steve:

During the writers strike? And I don't think there's a way to

Steve:

really know that. There, might be a way of

Steve:

diving deep enough to really find that out, but

Steve:

it just. These

Steve:

episodes, since the

Steve:

writers strike, just.

Leif:

Which is the second one,

Leif:

isn't it?

Steve:

The third, because there's the one without Georgina

Steve:

and then the two with Georgina. Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah, you're right.

Steve:

Yeah. And. And, you know,

Steve:

the. The one without. The first one

Steve:

without her was. Was a. Was a good

Steve:

episode, but, the writing in general, there's so much of

Steve:

it just feels forced or.

Steve:

And it doesn't have the same

Steve:

intelligence behind the characters a lot of the time.

Leif:

You know, let's go ahead and get into the

Leif:

episode. The gossip Girl opening

Leif:

monologue spotted Jenny Humphrey

Leif:

wading in the Met fountain fishing for change.

Leif:

Blair Waldorf seen dallying with an

Leif:

off duty doorman at the Blarney stone on a Monday

Leif:

night. It looks like a battle between Queen

Leif:

Bee and little J. Has moved from the streets to the

Leif:

blogs. Who's sending this to debasing

Leif:

a dish? I have a feeling

Leif:

as we, as we mentioned there, they're going back and forth with

Leif:

Gossip Girl.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Obviously just telling lies. And Gossip

Leif:

Girl through the episode kind of.

Leif:

She's not too happy about this.

Steve:

Right. They even mentioned that she's lost

Steve:

credibility. that gossip Girl

Steve:

is losing credibility and. Yeah, gossip

Steve:

Girl is not happy about it.

Steve:

this is the most. We see

Steve:

Gossip Girl as a character.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

I feel that until now there was a lot

Steve:

of background, but this is the first time that Gossip

Steve:

Girl was really like

Steve:

a character on the show.

Leif:

Gossip Girl monologues as Jenny and Blair

Leif:

face off at the top of the Met steps. Jenny

Leif:

is hosting a party with Asher and Blair

Leif:

isn't invited. Lines have been drawn,

Leif:

sides have been chosen.

Steve:

Yeah. and now Blair's nemesis from last

Steve:

week is a part of the group. there,

Steve:

she's sort of in the background, and you have these sort

Steve:

of very unclear lines

Steve:

drawn, these battle lines between the

Steve:

Blairites and the little Jays. Yeah.

Steve:

And. Yeah.

Leif:

Two sides.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

You see two factions within. Within the. The

Leif:

bigger faction.

Steve:

Yeah. But none. But zero loyalty.

Leif:

Yeah, there is. They're ready to jump size

Leif:

at any.

Steve:

Time, at any given moment.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And, like, they'll. They'll switch sides, like in the moment.

Steve:

Right. You know, it's. Yeah.

Leif:

And Rufus calls Jenny while looking at the

Leif:

Evipe to her party. Jenny lies about

Leif:

her plans for the night.

Steve:

Yeah. Little Jay caught in a lie.

Steve:

Not a good look. Not a good look.

Leif:

Rufus is holding it in for now.

Steve:

Yeah. You know what? I am.

Steve:

I am going to give Rufus some credit on some.

Steve:

Some of the parenting, because I've been shitting on his parenting a lot

Steve:

lately, and I think there are some good moves in

Steve:

this episode and hanging on to that

Steve:

lie. That's a good one. That's a good

Steve:

one.

Leif:

Where is jealous of Jenny's new

Leif:

status? So, yeah,

Leif:

after, Jenny walks away, we see Blair kind of like

Leif:

mocking Jenny but like, clearly jealous.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Jenny

Steve:

has way more power than Blair is comfortable

Steve:

with. Blair's inching her way back in,

Steve:

but she still has competition, and

Steve:

she doesn't like it.

Leif:

Then we got Eric and Serena

Leif:

walking down the street and get another blast from

Leif:

Jenny. Gossip girl monologue told no

Leif:

lies. Serena gets a call from

Leif:

Chuck.

Steve:

I love any scene with Serena and Eric together.

Steve:

Yeah. Like, they just.

Leif:

Yeah, there's great, great sibling relationship.

Steve:

They really do. They just feel so honest

Steve:

together.

Leif:

And Eric definitely brings Serena down earth.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, very.

Leif:

Just kind of, like, likes to float up in the clouds, but.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. And. And Eric really does

Steve:

kind of ground her a lot of the time.

Steve:

yeah. And she says to chuck that she's free of

Steve:

Georgina. Of course she is.

Leif:

Yeah. Not so

Leif:

fast. Back in Brooklyn, it

Leif:

appears Sarah has weaseled her

Leif:

way in with Dan and Vanessa. They are

Leif:

discussing Jenny and Asher as well as Dan and

Leif:

Serena. It looks like Sarah is finally going to meet

Leif:

Serena.

Steve:

So we discussed again, prior to

Steve:

this, Michelle Trachtenberg and how

Steve:

I gave her a pass on Buffy because I

Steve:

thought it was just really bad writing.

Steve:

Her second season on Buffy, season six,

Steve:

I thought the writing was terrible

Steve:

for her, and I gave her a

Steve:

very big pass. And like you said, she played an

Steve:

annoying little sister, and she. She nailed it.

Steve:

I just. She

Steve:

doesn't, She doesn't carry anything,

Steve:

and when she's on, I find her to be so bad

Steve:

that Vanessa is a welcome

Steve:

distraction.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Like, oh, good, Vanessa's

Steve:

here. Oh.

Leif:

can't believe you just said that.

Steve:

But that's how it felt. It's like, yeah.

Leif:

Yeah, she does definitely has

Leif:

zero charisma at this point. Hopefully the show

Leif:

can lean into her character a little better. I think they're

Leif:

trying to bring the character from the books, but

Leif:

let's see if they can, because we know she's. She's going

Leif:

to be a long time recurring character, so hopefully

Leif:

they can steer interacting with

Leif:

the character a little better.

Steve:

Yeah. Because it just falls

Steve:

so short and just every little,

Steve:

like, every little, like, eye

Steve:

twitch and. And neck

Steve:

movement. It's like you're

Steve:

so obvious in every. It's like not even

Steve:

acting anymore. It's like. Like middle

Steve:

school.

Leif:

Like I said, I've only read the first book, but from what I

Leif:

understand, the Georgina character is kind of like a

Leif:

mix of Serena and Blair. So she's got the

Leif:

charisma Serena, but the scheming of

Leif:

Blair. and, yeah, Michelle

Leif:

tragedy just isn't that.

Steve:

No, no.

Leif:

Eric confronts Jenny about not calling him and

Leif:

then questions her relationship with Asher,

Leif:

jenny, a total stuck up bitch, blows

Leif:

Eric off.

Steve:

This. This scene is so great on so many

Steve:

levels. especially the second watch

Steve:

through. Yeah. The first watch through,

Steve:

it's you. The first watch through,

Steve:

maybe.

Leif:

Yeah, maybe Eric is jealous.

Steve:

I assumed Jericho was jealous.

Steve:

Eric was jealous. But it also seemed

Steve:

like. Yeah, this guy Asher, Eric

Steve:

might know something that he doesn't, you know?

Leif:

and I definitely does seem like a douche.

Steve:

Yeah, the guy seems like a douche. And

Steve:

I. You know, I. Yeah, yeah.

Steve:

And he.

Leif:

And he looks.

Steve:

And he looks like he should be, you know,

Steve:

graduated from college, worked on.

Leif:

His NBA at least,

Leif:

but, yeah. Good scene. Well acted by both of

Leif:

them.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. And Jenny just comes across so

Steve:

arrogant.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

So.

Leif:

Oh, my God.

Steve:

So cute. And at the same time, like,

Steve:

think for a second, Jenny, let's say Eric does have a

Steve:

crush on you. He's probably going to treat you a

Steve:

hell of a lot better than Asher and provide

Steve:

all the same access.

Leif:

Yeah, but

Leif:

not the same status.

Steve:

But not the same status, right.

Leif:

Well, nah, definitely not, because he's not.

Leif:

He's.

Steve:

No, no, I mean, like, easy.

Leif:

He's a Eric. I mean, I love Eric, but he's a

Leif:

loner.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

he's not a big, popular lacrosse player.

Steve:

I. My. Well, was more in reference to.

Steve:

By the end of the episode, they both

Steve:

can provide probably about as much status.

Leif:

Yeah. yeah, this story would

Leif:

never work today.

Steve:

No, no.

Leif:

Our weekly dose of Dorina Pda.

Leif:

Dan and serena making out. They see

Leif:

jenny making out with asher, but serena

Leif:

can't m meet serena, sarah tonight. She has to go

Leif:

to dinner.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, they.

Steve:

She can't meet sarah yet.

Leif:

Sarah, I did like

Leif:

serena's advice to dan.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, yeah. Just like. Yeah,

Steve:

chill leg. Yeah. Jenny is. Jenny is

Steve:

going to have boyfriends.

Leif:

Of course, what dan sees in the next scene

Leif:

makes it kind of retroactively

Leif:

justified.

Steve:

Very much so.

Leif:

and then as dan is walking out of school,

Leif:

he spots asher kissing someone, and

Leif:

that someone is wearing a st. Jude's

Leif:

uniform.

Steve:

I gotta say for one, now I know that they were

Steve:

trying to hide the person that he was kissing,

Steve:

and I did, for a quick second, have the

Steve:

thought of, is that eric? Because you see, like,

Steve:

tiny, tiny bit of blonde

Steve:

hair, but for definitely a.

Leif:

Short, shorter guy, too.

Steve:

yeah, yeah, with a shorter guy.

Leif:

But of course, eric is our short king.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, but you don't

Steve:

really see

Steve:

the kiss. You know, I m feel like they could

Steve:

have done more. It was almost

Steve:

like he had his back to someone. It could have been

Steve:

a lot of other things. Yeah. You know, I

Steve:

think if they showed.

Leif:

More of it, though, it would have been too obvious.

Steve:

Well, and I think. And that's what it is, is that when you

Steve:

first see it and your first time watching this,

Steve:

it's like, was that okay if you say

Steve:

that's what you saw?

Leif:

Yeah. So that was, like, before

Leif:

commercial that goes into the commercial break. Cause it's like a big reveal. He's

Leif:

kissing a boy.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Oh, my God.

Steve:

Boom, boom, boom. And to be fair,

Steve:

there are even today, there are places

Steve:

where you. Where people have to stay closeted. Yes.

Steve:

And that people are, you know,

Steve:

indeed.

Leif:

Unfortunately.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

But I think, like, the gossip

Leif:

girl reboot version of which is the

Leif:

same school, I think there's several

Leif:

openly gay characters right from the start.

Leif:

Outside the palace hotel, Lily is

Leif:

doing wedding planning on the move. When Rufus

Leif:

shows up to interrupt, he claims to need advice on

Leif:

her parenting. On, parenting Jenny?

Steve:

Yeah. You know who I go to if I need

Steve:

parenting advice? The person who has

Steve:

been admittedly, like, the most absent

Steve:

parent.

Leif:

Well, he actually does mention that Allison's, like, at

Leif:

some retreat, right?

Steve:

No, no.

Leif:

Ik fucking the neighbor.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We. Yeah, we all

Steve:

know. We all know who Allison's doing, what Allison's

Steve:

doing.

Leif:

He, to be fair, the writers do mention that she

Leif:

is unreachable.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

So that they give an excuse. But

Leif:

is that, like, the only other parent, you know?

Steve:

The only one.

Leif:

The one that's your only adult friend.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

It's like, it's Lily, and then your son and your daughter is

Leif:

only. We know.

Steve:

Yeah. At which, which, like, if you're going to

Steve:

Lily for parenting advice, like, like.

Leif:

You'Re a call first.

Steve:

Yeah. And, and im gonna be honest,

Steve:

Rufus, it feels like youre just trying to get back in touch with

Steve:

Lily again. Yeah.

Leif:

Dan confronts Asher about kissing a

Leif:

guy. Asher denies it and tells Dan he is going to

Leif:

pop jennys cherry. Dan takes

Leif:

offense, but Jenny steps in before punches are

Leif:

thrown. Dan is clearly just trying to protect his

Leif:

sister from a two timer douchebro. But,

Leif:

Jenny lashes out at Daniel.

Steve:

Yeah. And, like, yeah. What if

Steve:

this 25 year old is saying he's going to sleep with my sister?

Steve:

I'd be upset, too.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

But, of course, Jenny won't, especially.

Leif:

And the way he said it.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. There's also the matter

Steve:

of, like, when. When he's,

Steve:

like, I didn't want to tell, like, when

Steve:

Asher steps in to make an excuse for

Steve:

Dan knowing something that,

Steve:

that Dan didn't just continue to be like, no, I

Steve:

saw him kissing a dude like I.

Steve:

No, no, that's not it. Although I I

Steve:

do like, as far

Steve:

as story wise, I like

Steve:

why that shut him down because of how. What it

Steve:

leads into, and especially the. The four

Steve:

G's quote with Blair and everything. So we'll

Steve:

get to that. Yeah.

Leif:

I mean, I think it was. It was. I mean, it's a

Leif:

very douchey move, but it was.

Leif:

It was very calculated by Asher to, you know,

Leif:

get dad to get angry at him so he.

Leif:

To deflect, to keep himself in the closet.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

It was not a cool move, but it was very

Leif:

calculated. I'll give him credit for that.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And then we get. Blair and

Leif:

serena are, ah, discussing jenny's popularity.

Leif:

Serena can't hang out with blair tonight either. Family

Leif:

dinner must be important. Kind of the same scene here.

Leif:

Then dan shows up and bemoans the situation with

Leif:

jenny and asher. Blair lets dan know

Leif:

that girls only care about the four

Leif:

g's, guys, girlfriends, and gossip girl.

Steve:

Yeah. And this was the important thing is that, like,

Steve:

again, we're where Gossip girl is being

Steve:

made more of a character in this

Steve:

episode. This was a huge launching

Steve:

point where. Where Dan is like, okay, she's not going to

Steve:

listen to her brother or dad. She's only going to listen to

Steve:

her boyfriend, her girlfriends, or gossip girl.

Steve:

Which one does Dan have access to? Gossip

Steve:

girl.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And. And it was just well played by dan.

Leif:

back in the b storyline, Rufus and lily

Leif:

are talking and shopping.

Leif:

Lily's parenting advice boils down to, with teenage girls,

Leif:

you have to deal with 100 bad days for one good day.

Steve:

aside from that, the other parenting advice

Steve:

that she gives about, like, let your daughter come to you. Yeah.

Leif:

And, like, because it was good

Leif:

advice.

Steve:

Yeah. It's so funny because Lily. Lily

Steve:

really, like, lily on

Steve:

paper, is a good mom. It's like when she actually

Steve:

puts moming into practice that she's,

Steve:

like, absent and doesn't actually listen to her.

Leif:

Lily is a very intelligent woman.

Steve:

Yeah. She's super smart, and

Steve:

she has a lot.

Leif:

She's just also very selfish and narcissistic.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly. And that. And it's so

Steve:

true. And it's a great,

Steve:

I really love the advice that she ends up giving,

Steve:

and I love, like, the way that she

Steve:

parents other people's kids. It's as

Steve:

long as they're not hers. She's a great mom.

Leif:

And of course, Kelly Rutherford does a great job of

Leif:

making the character three

Leif:

dimensional.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

With her acting.

Steve:

absolutely. She. Yeah. I mean, she

Steve:

carries everything that she's in.

Leif:

I mean, she had several great scenes this episode.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

That is the end of act one. We move into act two.

Leif:

It looks like dan took Blair's advice to heart

Leif:

because gossip girl sends a blast about Asher kissing

Leif:

a boy. But due to all the false rumors, she

Leif:

doubts the veracity. Jenny assumes Blair,

Leif:

who denies sending the tip.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, that was great.

Leif:

Like, wish it was me.

Steve:

Yeah, I wish it was me, but it wasn't. And

Steve:

so. Which then throws Jenny, you know,

Steve:

because now who's gunning?

Leif:

Who else is coming for me? Yeah. She. She thought

Leif:

she only had to worry about Blair, but, who else is after?

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Serena gets a phone call notifying her of

Leif:

a package delivery from Georgina Sparks. The

Leif:

bitch is back. Dan walks up

Leif:

confused.

Steve:

Yeah. And so then instantly, Serena starts

Steve:

being weird again.

Leif:

Yeah. And Dan recognizes her right away. And,

Leif:

like, what's going on? She just

Leif:

moralized.

Steve:

And, now I watched this episode

Steve:

twice, and the first time through, once

Steve:

again, I'm sitting there saying, someone

Steve:

better be dead.

Leif:

Honestly, like, when I first watched this,

Leif:

I. That, like, never crossed my mind. It was

Leif:

a total shock because I didn't think the show

Leif:

would go there.

Steve:

I didn't either,

Steve:

because like I said, I said last week

Steve:

that if they went there, it would kill

Steve:

some of the levity that's already in the show.

Steve:

And every one of these scenes with

Steve:

Serena so held

Steve:

hostage when her entire

Steve:

life is out there, the only

Steve:

thing left is that she either did

Steve:

something terrible to Blair or she

Steve:

killed somebody.

Leif:

Yeah, the killing system never crossed my. I just thought

Leif:

she was being an idiot.

Steve:

I sarcastically thought that she killed somebody

Steve:

because I thought it. I didn't think it would actually

Steve:

be that, but I thought that's the only thing that could be this

Steve:

dramatic.

Leif:

Blair corners Dan, who instantly

Leif:

knows Dan is the one who sent the tip about Asher.

Leif:

Dan confirms that the tip was true. Blair

Leif:

tries to recruit Dan, but Dan doesn't have the stomach

Leif:

to go through with it.

Steve:

Is that Katie Holmes joke?

Leif:

Is that not Katie Holmes?

Steve:

Not Katie Holmes.

Leif:

Tinsley, Mortimer.

Steve:

No, she says. She says, you don't

Steve:

want her to end up like another Katie Holmes situation.

Leif:

Oh, yeah. Okay.

Steve:

Is that. Or is that insinuating that Tom Cruise is

Steve:

gay?

Leif:

I think so.

Steve:

Yeah. That was. That was. That was kind of what I was getting

Steve:

when the vibe I got from it. I thought that was

Steve:

a weird jab.

Leif:

More chemistry, though, between Dan and Blair, though. The little

Leif:

hand on the chest there, like, pushes him into the corner.

Steve:

Yeah. Blair is starting to see

Steve:

what Serena.

Leif:

Has yeah, but, I also want to make the.

Leif:

So she also makes a joke about Tinsley

Leif:

Mortimer, like, compares,

Leif:

gossip girl's credibility to Tinsley Mortimer

Leif:

after several martinis. Now, Tisley

Leif:

Mortimer is a celebrity in the fashion world,

Leif:

and funny enough, she, does make a

Leif:

cameo as herself in the second season premiere.

Leif:

So she didn't mind that joke about her.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Ah. Hey, you

Steve:

know, I feel like you can't

Steve:

on a grand scale of things.

Leif:

You know, m act from the commercial break,

Leif:

Rufus sees lily in her wedding dress, and

Leif:

hubba hubba, sparks are flying between

Leif:

these two despite Lily being engaged to

Leif:

Bart.

Steve:

Yeah. Why. Why did you take Rufus

Steve:

with you to try on your

Steve:

wedding?

Leif:

I didn't think.

Steve:

Are you fucking kidding me now?

Steve:

Ah. Again, her acting in this scene

Steve:

is amazing. that look that she has when she.

Steve:

When she turns her back and you see them both in the

Steve:

mirror, it's shot

Steve:

beautifully. I meant to say this in the

Steve:

beginning when I was shitting on the writing, but the

Steve:

directing in this, she did. The director

Steve:

got amazing performances out of.

Leif:

The actor, and as I mentioned,

Leif:

the writer. This is their only episode. The director did come

Leif:

back for four more.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This.

Steve:

Yeah. But this was a

Steve:

yes. Great. It

Steve:

was. And it's funny, it was great

Steve:

directing on bad writing because why would he

Steve:

be there? On what planet

Steve:

would your ex be

Steve:

shopping for your wedding dress that, you

Steve:

know is still hung up on you at least a month ago?

Leif:

Yeah, it's definitely bad writing, but it's

Leif:

so typical of the CW and that

Leif:

this genre, it just. It just, you know,

Leif:

fair drama because, you know, this

Leif:

couple's supposed to be together, so. Of course. Of course he's

Leif:

gonna see her in the wedding dress.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And we. And see how beautiful she is.

Leif:

Is. Of course, Kelly Rutherford is a very beautiful

Leif:

woman.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, she. Yes.

Leif:

Back at school, gossip girl has gone

Leif:

silent. Jenny tells her friends Asher

Leif:

went to the third base.

Steve:

oh, jenny. Now we're telling.

Leif:

Now we're telling sex lies to your friends.

Leif:

Yeah, friends.

Steve:

You're now telling them what? Yeah,

Steve:

I like the,

Leif:

I think it was hazel. Good for you, little j. Make

Leif:

them work for it.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

First they thought, like. Like, she gave him a headshot.

Steve:

At. Ah.

Leif:

Blair, as we discover, is and Nellie have stolen

Leif:

Asher's phone. it appears Blair's scheme is

Leif:

in motion.

Steve:

So, like, again. Again with the writing.

Steve:

Because Blair's schemes prior to the

Steve:

writers strike were never,

Steve:

like, felony. They were

Steve:

never really illegal. I

Steve:

don't. Aside from the drinking or,

Steve:

like, locking Jenny in the. In the

Steve:

store that she was going to get out of, but, like,

Steve:

now we're, like, stealing phones

Steve:

and downloading people's data

Steve:

and reading their emails

Steve:

and. And, yeah,

Steve:

there's.

Leif:

Fortunately, I think Blair is starting to get flanderized.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. And because last

Steve:

week, it was, like, stealing the batteries and, like,

Steve:

you know, her big, flow ride a

Steve:

Flo rida gate that she ran.

Leif:

Yes. Jenny is eager

Leif:

to shut down the rumors, tries to get aggressive

Leif:

with Asher. Asher finally admits to being gay, but

Leif:

wanting to keep their arrangement going. Jenny's moral

Leif:

high ground continues to crumble beneath her as she

Leif:

agrees to keep up the ruse.

Steve:

Little J's world is just

Steve:

caving in around

Steve:

her. Everything. Like, everything.

Steve:

She.

Leif:

It's.

Steve:

It was on such wobbly ground

Steve:

last week, and now it is

Steve:

just caving

Steve:

in, and she sees it and doesn't know what to

Steve:

do.

Leif:

Serena arrives home to get her delivery and

Leif:

finds a flash drive. It appears that

Leif:

Georgina secretly filmed a sex tape

Leif:

with her, Serena and some

Leif:

guy.

Steve:

And again, first time watching this,

Steve:

I'm like, is this about her sleeping with

Steve:

someone? We know that she slept with her

Steve:

best friend's boyfriend, so how could this be

Steve:

worse? That guy better end up dead.

Leif:

And that is the end of act two. Moving into

Leif:

act three, gossip girl sends a blast about

Leif:

Asher and Jenny doing the deed.

Leif:

Dan confronts Jenny about it. She tells Dan that the

Leif:

blast isn't true but that she wants people to believe it's true.

Leif:

Dan admits to suddening the first tip about

Leif:

Asher, and.

Steve:

And when he. I gotta say, dan.

Steve:

Dan always is the big brother, but

Steve:

Dan also sometimes thinks that the big brother

Steve:

has more of an entitlement than it actually

Steve:

does. Yeah.

Leif:

like, have old fashioned views.

Steve:

Yeah, when. When she. When he says, like, these

Steve:

are things. I'm your big brother. This is my business. No,

Steve:

it still isn't. Like.

Leif:

Yeah, and also, you know, despite, you know,

Leif:

Asher is a fucking asshole douchebag,

Leif:

but even he doesn't deserve to be added like

Leif:

that.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Cool.

Steve:

Yeah, it is really shitty.

Steve:

and, you know, and it's not just Dan, like,

Steve:

Eric, actually, also, like,

Steve:

I understand why Eric did it, but,

Steve:

you know, Asher did not get to have a choice

Steve:

on his. Yeah. On his coming

Steve:

out. Also, when Dan,

Steve:

you have been the subject of gossip girls

Steve:

posts, too, so don't start, you

Steve:

know, shitting on your sister for being in them

Steve:

because you've been in gossip girls post because

Steve:

you're dating Serena fucking Vander Woodson.

Steve:

So, yeah. So get off your high

Steve:

horse. Let your sister make

Steve:

mistakes. Yeah.

Leif:

Larry calls serena. Serena is clearly flustered

Leif:

by georgina, the Georgina situation. And

Leif:

blows off Blair. Yeah. I,

Leif:

like Serena. Continues to spiral.

Steve:

Yeah. I'm just. I was over all

Steve:

of this an episode ago, and I just,

Steve:

like, it just

Steve:

doesn't feel like Serena, you know?

Steve:

And I guess, you know, the.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah. Back at the family dinner,

Leif:

Lily is catching up with Georgina. Georgina

Leif:

is finally showing some charisma, but then

Leif:

accidentally outs Eric. Lily,

Leif:

a very unfortunate reaction. Eric

Leif:

storms off, and Serena chases after him,

Leif:

and, accidentally is in, air quotes there.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Steve:

Michelle Trachtenberg is, again,

Steve:

terrible.

Leif:

I thought she was better in the scene.

Leif:

Like, the first half. I generally bought the

Leif:

charisma.

Steve:

I.

Leif:

She was carrying the conversation.

Steve:

I guess I was put off from the beginning with the whole,

Steve:

you forgot to tell your mom that I'm coming for

Steve:

dinner. She always uses this,

Steve:

like, it's sort of like someone

Steve:

said, be charismatic, and she's just

Steve:

going with that note, and.

Steve:

And it's not something you can

Steve:

just do. And, of course, Lily's.

Steve:

Lily's reaction, it's another

Steve:

piece of her acting chops that, like,

Steve:

that is such an honest reaction, and,

Steve:

like, no, no one

Steve:

wants their mom to react the way that Lily

Steve:

reacts. Yeah, but many moms are

Steve:

going to react the way that Lily

Steve:

reacted, and it was so

Steve:

honest, and it was so. Especially

Steve:

for 2007, especially

Steve:

for the upper, upper

Steve:

class 2007 people, that

Steve:

that was. That clearly was not in

Steve:

fashion, because Asher had to go through great lengths

Steve:

to hide it.

Leif:

And honestly, we find out from our explanation,

Leif:

it's not even about

Leif:

hating gay people. It's afraid for him.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

He's already, you know, committed, trying to commit suicide once.

Steve:

Yeah. And we'll. And I. And we'll talk about.

Steve:

I want to, like, talk. Yeah, because

Steve:

that.

Leif:

We'll get to that scene.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. And because I think it's

Steve:

important that we left this scene with Lily looking

Steve:

like an asshole. Yeah. and. And it's.

Steve:

And. And a lot of people, especially

Steve:

watching it today, would. Would look at her

Steve:

and, you know, be upset by

Steve:

that, but I still feel like this was

Steve:

one of the best written. Written scene. Written

Steve:

moments. Yeah. yeah.

Leif:

Jenny tries to slip out of the loft, require

Leif:

practice, but Rufus finally confronts her on the

Leif:

lies. Very hardcore scene.

Leif:

Rufus and Jenny appear to be at an

Leif:

impasse.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

you were giving Rufus credit earlier, but I

Leif:

don't think that was good parenting, because he's basically

Leif:

trying to scheme against his daughter, and, it doesn't

Leif:

work because obviously, what is he.

Steve:

Really going to do what I meant.

Leif:

By shading her to the bed?

Steve:

What I meant by that earlier was more of

Steve:

what Lily was saying. Waiting for her

Steve:

to come. Waiting for her to come to him.

Steve:

There is a big piece of it that, like, really

Steve:

what this result that ended up happening, that's

Steve:

where was going to have to go. That's, you know,

Steve:

this, I think is in line with waiting for her to come. And

Steve:

when she says, I'm going, and he says, no, you're not.

Steve:

And she says, what are you going to do? It's like,

Steve:

okay, she. And, I

Steve:

do really like his. What he says when he's like, you

Steve:

already lost my trust. You want to lose my respect

Steve:

to, that 15 year old. When she hears it,

Steve:

she's going to be mad and storm

Steve:

off. But it's going to resonate with

Steve:

her later on and it does, you

Steve:

know, so I actually still kind of side

Steve:

with his decisions of. I

Steve:

get what you're saying about him scheming. I

Steve:

don't feel like my kids lie to me because I don't feel like we have a

Steve:

relationship where they ever have to. We

Steve:

don't have, you know, they don't get

Steve:

grounded, they don't, you know, and I'm. And I'm also

Steve:

a lot of times the parent away from the parent, you know,

Steve:

because I do believe in

Steve:

letting your kids make mistakes. Your kids have

Steve:

to make their own mistakes and being there for

Steve:

them when. When they make them and pick them up.

Steve:

And I kind of saw it in that vein that he was watching

Steve:

her make these mistakes so that he

Steve:

could be the person that loves her when

Steve:

she fucks up. But she had to fuck up.

Leif:

I mean, that's what it came to at the end. But, But

Leif:

he tried to, like, confront her

Leif:

and, you know, he

Leif:

basically lied to, respond to her lie by

Leif:

scheming against her. That's fair.

Leif:

And. Yeah, and then just like try to confront

Leif:

her on it and then. Yeah, it

Leif:

just. I don't think it worked out for him.

Steve:

That's fair.

Leif:

Serena tries to confront comfort Eric. But

Leif:

he was already been getting advice from Chuck.

Leif:

Eric reveals that he is the one. He was the one who

Leif:

is kissing Asher. Serena is a great sister.

Steve:

I love Chuck looking out for

Steve:

Eric. I love that, you know, this thing

Steve:

happens and

Steve:

Eric turns to Chuck and.

Steve:

And, you know, despite the

Steve:

issues with Chuck, I do like that Chuck has

Steve:

been a good big brother to Eric.

Leif:

And again, we see Chuck and Nate not

Leif:

in the episode, but they are making sure

Leif:

Chuck is still felt in the episode. But nothing for Nate.

Steve:

Nothing for Nate. No, but Chuck has felt the, you know,

Steve:

there's the conversation, the phone call earlier, and then

Steve:

this phone call here. But, yeah,

Steve:

like, once again, Chuck's presence.

Leif:

Finally at the party. Wealth really does

Leif:

buy a life of excess. Drinks are

Leif:

flowing as paralyzer by finger eleven

Leif:

provides ambiance.

Leif:

pretty, extra travagant high school party.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Jenny's first upper east side

Steve:

party is. Seems to be quite. Quite a

Steve:

hit. Yeah, until

Steve:

it is not a party.

Leif:

Until someone crashes it.

Leif:

And this party is being crashed by none other than

Leif:

Blair Waldorf herself.

Steve:

I love the line. The most important

Steve:

parties to attend are the ones you're not invited

Steve:

to. Blair just walks

Steve:

in looking fucking

Steve:

fabulous and just walks

Steve:

in, owns the party, and everyone

Steve:

gasps. She lays down that

Steve:

line and then goes to find the host.

Steve:

Amazing.

Leif:

we get. We got a commercial break, and then we come back.

Leif:

Serena unexpectedly shows up to see Dan

Leif:

at the cafe and finally gets to meet

Leif:

Sarah, who of course, we all know is actually

Leif:

Georgina.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And, yeah,

Steve:

it's so. It is.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

very soapy.

Steve:

So obvious. And so being

Steve:

weird. Like, if I was Dan and

Steve:

Vanessa watching this person be like,

Steve:

hi,

Steve:

Serena, I'm

Steve:

Sarah, and I have this

Steve:

thing that I want to watch.

Leif:

Yeah, it's really bad.

Steve:

You want to watch it?

Steve:

you're being weird. Like, how does no one

Steve:

like, this person's

Steve:

weird? Yeah, I think that.

Leif:

I think that's why they've limited the scenes.

Leif:

They. The Vanessa Sarah

Leif:

dan French was developed off screen for a reason.

Steve:

Yeah. Ah,

Steve:

because they didn't want everyone to get too attached to

Steve:

Vanessa because

Steve:

she's more likeable. When Georgina.

Leif:

When Dan and Vanessa step away, Georgina

Leif:

threatens to show Dan the sex tape. It

Leif:

appears that Serena is able to buy Georgina's silence for

Leif:

a bit longer by, you

Leif:

know, continuing to hang out with her.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. She's holding her hostage to

Steve:

hang out because something's on that tape.

Steve:

Whatever happens after that sex scene,

Steve:

she just got.

Leif:

Okay, I, What. What do we think

Leif:

Georgie's motivations are?

Steve:

that's the thing. Is it, like, is she in love with

Steve:

her or blackmailing her to blackmail.

Leif:

Her, or does she just want to hang out? Like, she just wants to be her

Leif:

friend?

Steve:

Yeah, that she's. That's what she seems to want. Like,

Steve:

I want to hang out. And the only way you'll hang out with me is if

Steve:

I blackmail you.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And. Yeah.

Leif:

Weird writing.

Steve:

Yeah, really weird.

Leif:

Back at the party. The ting tings are playing

Leif:

as Jenny is awkwardly lying to her friends

Leif:

about losing her virginity with Asher. But the

Leif:

conversation is interrupted when one of Jenny's

Leif:

minions informs her that Blair is

Leif:

crashing.

Steve:

She gets that bitch. She gets

Steve:

so whiny, Jay.

Steve:

Jenny just gets so whiny.

Leif:

And how dare she?

Steve:

How dare she? And she's just like her.

Leif:

Like, she didn't, like, crash, like, five parties already.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Like. Like, she hasn't

Steve:

crashed. Yes. And, but again,

Steve:

I think Taylor just nails the

Steve:

15 year old little brother.

Leif:

Oh, yeah. She killed the acting.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Blair confronts Asher. She

Leif:

tries to push Asher into adding himself because he doesn't want

Leif:

to out. Because she doesn't want to out Eric. However,

Leif:

Eric steps in and tells all the

Leif:

tea. Asher uses a not so nice

Leif:

slur, and Eric gives Blair the go ahead

Leif:

to send an email to gossip girl.

Steve:

yeah. And now we're once, once again,

Steve:

like, in the

Steve:

realm of television and plot and

Steve:

storytelling. I get what Eric

Steve:

did. It's grimy to out someone like

Steve:

that. And, yes, this guy was being a total

Steve:

douchebag. And, yes, Blair had the proof right there and

Steve:

didn't want to out Eric. you

Steve:

know, this guy was an asshole. And,

Steve:

you know, if Jenny wants to pretend to be his boyfriend,

Steve:

then that really should. Or be his girlfriend, then

Steve:

that's really up to her.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And, like, I get. I get.

Leif:

Nah, I mean, Eric didn't actually Adam. He just

Leif:

could go. No, he just gave the go ahead to

Leif:

Adam. Like, don't. Don't. Don't protect

Leif:

him on my sake.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, right. And.

Steve:

And, I mean, like, you're also now dealing. Like, you

Steve:

don't know what this guy's family situation is. You don't know that this

Steve:

guy may not now be completely cut off.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Like, sent to a conversion camp.

Leif:

Yeah, definitely more bad on

Leif:

Blair than on Eric, I think. I mean, Eric

Leif:

definitely, like, in the moment, I probably would. I

Leif:

reacted exactly the same, you know?

Steve:

And there is that. Like. Like, Eric is also.

Leif:

Yeah, go fucking said that.

Steve:

Yeah. Eric is also hurt by this. By this guy

Steve:

being. Being an asshole and calling him,

Steve:

a derogatory slur. Yeah. Like, I. Eric

Steve:

had motive, and I'm not mad at Eric for

Steve:

it. It's. I'm more just saying and on a general

Steve:

purpose.

Leif:

Yeah, you shouldn't out people.

Steve:

Don't out people.

Leif:

Agreed. But then we go

Leif:

to commercial break again, and then we come back.

Leif:

Lily is. Has a phone conversation with Eric. She

Leif:

regrets her reaction. Sexuality coming

Leif:

out, and, yeah, this is a great scene.

Steve:

Yeah. from.

Leif:

From Kelly Rutherford and really opens up

Leif:

Derek vows. She's just. She's just afraid for him.

Steve:

And as the

Steve:

parent to a queer kid,

Steve:

I felt this scene.

Steve:

I mean, I got emotional watching this scene

Steve:

because it is

Steve:

years before Bailey

Steve:

ever came out to me. A friend of mine said, what

Steve:

would you do if your kid was gay? And I said, love

Steve:

him. And I

Steve:

said, what else can I do but

Steve:

love them? And they said, so you wouldn't care if they're gay? And

Steve:

my response was, I do care. I don't want them

Steve:

to. I hear the stories. This was a gay

Steve:

friend that was having this conversation. I said, I've heard

Steve:

your stories and the things that you've gone through, and

Steve:

I'm afraid for my kid to have to go

Steve:

through those things, but

Steve:

with my. Whoever my kid is, I'm going to love my

Steve:

kid, and that doesn't matter.

Steve:

So when Lily opens up about her

Steve:

reaction just being that fear and

Steve:

that, and especially this kid that already

Steve:

attempted suicide once, that,

Steve:

you know, it just really. It will really.

Leif:

It definitely pulls our strings so much.

Steve:

I sat there, and I had to pause it and

Steve:

collect myself watching that scene because it really

Steve:

resonated with me.

Leif:

Jenny finally admits that she didn't sleep with Asher.

Leif:

It was one lie too many for the mean girls. It

Leif:

looks like Blair wins this round.

Steve:

yeah, Blair won, but. But might

Steve:

not. She doesn't seem to feel too great about it.

Steve:

You know? She. She feel that it

Steve:

seemed like a bittersweet victory.

Leif:

I don't know. Well, I mean, we get.

Leif:

We get to one more scene coming up, but I think at the

Leif:

moment, she was definitely happy.

Steve:

Oh, I, Okay. Oh,

Steve:

yeah, that is the scene I was thinking of. The reason I said

Steve:

that, I think that she really

Steve:

likes Jenny as a rival,

Steve:

and I think that Jenny bowing out had

Steve:

sort of that.

Leif:

That's coming up.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

Yeah. Oh, that's. That's happened to happen yet.

Leif:

Yeah. So that. That would be the end of act three. So we

Leif:

move into the epilogue. At the palace

Leif:

hotel, Lily apologizes to Eric

Leif:

for her reaction, possibly Lily's

Leif:

best parenting of the series. And Kelly Rutherford absolutely

Leif:

knocks it out of the park.

Steve:

Yeah. And it's funny. This is the scene that I

Steve:

got me emotional. That's why I jumped ahead

Steve:

there, because I was going in

Steve:

that, Yeah, that's the one

Steve:

that where when she's talking to Eric and

Steve:

really when she says, since we're being

Steve:

honest, can I be honest, too? And it's

Steve:

just so heartfelt and

Steve:

so real.

Leif:

Then we get Jenny showing up at Blair's penthouse to

Leif:

wave the white flag. It appears Jenny is running

Leif:

back to Brooklyn, tail between her legs. However,

Leif:

Blair does give Jenny some props. Something

Leif:

tells me this isn't the end of this rivalry.

Steve:

Yeah. This was the scene that I. That I was going

Steve:

for before, and. And you.

Leif:

You get Blair liked the

Leif:

challenge. All these other girls, just. They fall in line.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. And. And she liked the rivalry

Steve:

with Jenny, and as Blair said,

Steve:

the only reason Jenny couldn't keep up is because she didn't have the

Steve:

money to.

Leif:

Yeah, which.

Steve:

That has been the problem all along. She. She stole the

Steve:

dress because of the money. She. Everything came down

Steve:

to her not having the money that

Steve:

Blair did, and Blair liked that.

Leif:

Serena is trying to throw shade on Sarah

Leif:

for apparently no reason. Yes.

Leif:

Yes. Dan. To just trust her. But dan knows Serena has

Leif:

been lying to him. Dan begs Serena to talk to

Leif:

him, but she just can't get the words

Leif:

out.

Steve:

All you have to say is

Steve:

that's.

Leif:

Yeah, this is someone else. She's lying about who she is. She is a

Leif:

crazy person.

Steve:

Yeah, that's not Sarah. She's nuts. I

Steve:

know her. Please don't hang

Steve:

out with her and don't listen to

Steve:

anything she says because she makes stuff up about

Steve:

me, and.

Leif:

I can verify it by just, you know, showing you one

Leif:

of the 50 other people who know who she is. Including my

Leif:

mother.

Steve:

Yeah. Hey, remember all those packages that were

Steve:

randomly being sent to me that we thought were from Chuck, and then I

Steve:

was being weird. It was this person.

Leif:

Yes, but Serena is under Georgina's

Leif:

spell, apparently,

Leif:

as it looks like Serena is getting

Leif:

ditched. Sarah, George and slash

Leif:

Georgina doubles back to get in a few last digs at

Leif:

Serena before catching up with dan and vanessa.

Steve:

That double back was so dumb. Such terrible

Steve:

writing. I'm going to run inside real quick

Steve:

again. Turns and then

Steve:

walks up to Serena to like, hey, I got

Steve:

you.

Leif:

Gotcha.

Steve:

And, like. And they're not that far

Steve:

away. Neither of them turned around

Steve:

to see if Serena got into a cab yet.

Leif:

People only hear over here conversations in teen dramas

Leif:

when you can't see them. If you can see

Leif:

them, talk all you want.

Steve:

Yep, yep, yep. They're in view.

Leif:

Dan and Rufus are playing a therapeutic

Leif:

game of Scrabble. When Jenny comes home broken down,

Leif:

Rufus comforts a crying

Leif:

Jenny.

Steve:

my note on this says, this is dumb,

Steve:

too, but I'm talking specifically about the

Steve:

therapeutic scrabble.

Steve:

The scrabble?

Leif:

But that's such a dad thing to just work out

Leif:

his anger through words.

Steve:

It is, but it's also. It's

Steve:

so done. It's, you know,

Steve:

it's like it was just. I was like, really?

Steve:

Are we doing this now?

Leif:

This is the scene where I do give Rufus some

Leif:

decent parenting.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Because he was just there for.

Steve:

Yep.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yep. And like I, Like I've said throughout, this is

Steve:

you got to let your kids make their mistakes and be there

Steve:

for them to help them with the

Steve:

aftermath. And that's what he does.

Leif:

And, of course, we get the final scene of the episode,

Leif:

Serena showing up at Blair's penthouse.

Leif:

A sobbing Serena confesses to blair

Leif:

that she killed somebody, and the baseline

Leif:

drops the kills.

Leif:

Ura fever plays as we

Leif:

cut to black.

Leif:

Any predictions for next week?

Steve:

I mean, we're gonna. We're gonna find out the.

Steve:

A little more detail about

Steve:

how she killed this person

Steve:

or if she killed them, because it just

Steve:

seems so like everything else for her to think

Steve:

that she killed someone. Are we.

Leif:

Are we assuming it's the guy on the tape or is it someone

Leif:

else completely?

Steve:

My. My assumption was the guy on the tape because

Steve:

Georgina says the

Steve:

whatever. What happens immediately after.

Steve:

So I was assuming the guy on the tape

Steve:

that. Yeah.

Steve:

And that someone either dies or

Steve:

almost dies, that it is left in a

Steve:

scenario where Serena

Steve:

believes she killed someone. I'm not even convinced

Steve:

Serena killed someone. I'm convinced Serena's

Steve:

convinced she killed someone.

Steve:

So, any other predictions?

Steve:

I feel like. I feel like we might

Steve:

see some kind

Steve:

of jenny Blair,

Steve:

something boiling up there,

Steve:

you know, maybe even something on a positive end with

Steve:

them because I feel like their story now needs something

Steve:

new.

Leif:

Well, I mean, it seems like Jenny is gonna step

Leif:

back for a while.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. It seems like she's gonna step back,

Steve:

but I don't think Blair necessarily wants. That is my

Steve:

point.

Leif:

But we are getting towards the end of the

Leif:

season, right. So you gotta think maybe

Leif:

that storyline is wrapped up. Oh, that's fair.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Let's go ahead and get into some segments.

Leif:

This week in Phantom, I jumped into the wayback machine to

Leif:

go back to the television without pity forums from

Leif:

2008, and this is the wayback machine

Leif:

for traveling through time. These were the

Leif:

reactions. Fans don't like Jenny,

Leif:

but they feel sad for. They don't.

Leif:

They don't like what she did, but they. They feel bad, you know?

Steve:

Yeah. She was an asshole throughout the. For the past

Steve:

three episodes, but at a

Steve:

filing.

Leif:

Filing pressure down, he feels so bad for.

Steve:

When she asked, can I play?

Steve:

Would she ask to sit down?

Leif:

Yeah. and I think that's down to Taylor's acting.

Steve:

It is, absolutely.

Leif:

Is Georgina just crazy or crazy in

Leif:

love with serena?

Steve:

Yeah. she has no motive.

Steve:

Like, yes, it's a baffling character.

Steve:

It's just an agent of chaos, and I usually love

Steve:

an agent of chaos, but this just

Steve:

three cheers for queen.

Leif:

Bee back on top.

Steve:

Yep. Queen bee back on top.

Leif:

And, yeah, like. Like, you, people

Leif:

are predicting a lion king type situation

Leif:

where Georgina just tricks Serena into

Leif:

thinking she killed someone.

Steve:

That that's where my head's at. My

Steve:

other. If she actually killed someone, I'm

Steve:

thinking it is some kind of, like, huge.

Leif:

Accident thing that, like,

Leif:

dan is stupid, vanessa is pointless.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah. Like, Dan is definitely very oblivious in this

Leif:

episode. Plus the whole adding asher

Leif:

on, gossip girl.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steve:

Absolutely.

Leif:

And, of course, Vanessa just certain was just kind of there.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

She was there to literally pointless.

Steve:

Yeah. She was there to be. She was there to get a laptop.

Steve:

She was there for the film conversation.

Leif:

Yes. Blair

Leif:

and, Eric are a great team up.

Steve:

I want. I want a Blair and Eric

Steve:

episode.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

I love that. Once again, we.

Leif:

Yeah, we see that there is history there.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Let's see more of it. Let's see. Let's see it. Let's see some present.

Steve:

Yeah, I I'm not going to out

Steve:

you because I care about. There

Steve:

is no other character on this show

Steve:

that Blair would show that kind of restraint for.

Leif:

A lot of people watch the show for the first time and

Leif:

were hooked. Apparently, there was some heads up about an

Leif:

lgbt storyline, so a lot of people turned, tuned in

Leif:

for the first time. Oh, and I liked it.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah.

Steve:

So.

Leif:

Let'S go ahead and move into some

Leif:

episode grades.

Leif:

you went first last time, so I will go first this

Leif:

time. I thought it was a little bit better than

Leif:

last episode, but I'm going to give it a b minus.

Leif:

The directing was really good, a lot of good acting, other

Leif:

than Michelle Trachenberg, writing was

Leif:

definitely poor, so that brought it down to b

Leif:

minus.

Steve:

Yeah. Honestly, I'm the

Steve:

same. and for exactly all the

Steve:

same reasons. Bad writing, great

Steve:

directing, mostly great

Steve:

acting, except for r1, except for

Steve:

one key actor being really terrible.

Leif:

So. B minus.

Steve:

Yeah, b minus.

Leif:

Doc watch going up. I

Leif:

had Lily. Even though she had the bad initial reaction,

Leif:

I thought she. She came through in the end and gave good

Leif:

advice to Rufus, as well. So good parenting

Leif:

by lily, great acting by Kelly Rutherford.

Leif:

So stock up. Blair stuck up. She. I

Leif:

mean, even though she added Asher, she clearly

Leif:

won the episode. Eric, I gave

Leif:

him stock up for, you know. You know, he.

Leif:

You know, he was added before. He might have been ready, but

Leif:

he dealt with it, and now it is out there, and,

Leif:

you know, his family is accepting of it,

Leif:

so. Good for Eric.

Leif:

And then I also gave Chuck stock up.

Leif:

He was a good brother.

Steve:

That's a good one. I missed that one.

Leif:

What do you got for going up?

Steve:

I had Eric going up. Eric and

Steve:

Blair, pretty much same reasons you had said. I

Steve:

had Lily going up for the same reasons you had said.

Steve:

I had Georgina going up. Her plan is

Steve:

working. Her plan is working.

Leif:

Yeah. Georgina's up.

Steve:

Yeah. I had Vanessa go up because she was less

Steve:

annoying during the presence of

Steve:

Georgina.

Leif:

Yeah. I just kept her neutral because I

Leif:

agree with the forums. She's just pointless. She's there.

Steve:

Yeah, she's neutral. And then I had

Steve:

Rufus going up as well. I thought,

Steve:

especially in the end, letting Jenny come in.

Steve:

I felt like, especially after Rufus having a

Steve:

rough couple of episodes, I felt like this was a little

Steve:

better.

Leif:

Yeah. Going down. Dan.

Steve:

Dan.

Leif:

Yeah. Outed Asher on Gus

Leif:

Girls, Serena for just lying to everyone and

Leif:

just being run over by Georgina.

Leif:

Jenny, she fucking lost big.

Leif:

She hit rock bottom, finally hit rock Bob.

Leif:

So hopefully we can start redeeming her character.

Leif:

That last scene, that kind of looked like we might get some redemption for Jenny.

Leif:

Hopefully. Asher, just because he's a fucking

Leif:

asshole.

Steve:

Yeah. And he got outed. Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And.

Leif:

And, Rufus. I had him going down.

Steve:

Oh, God.

Leif:

Because you can't scheme against your

Leif:

daughter, especially if your daughter happens to be Jenny.

Leif:

So.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Who do you got going down?

Steve:

aside, from Rufus, my list was exactly the same in

Steve:

the exact same order you listed it. Jenny,

Steve:

Serena, Dan, Asher. Oh, I guess I had different

Steve:

order, but I had all the same, all the same

Steve:

notes for pretty much all the same reasons.

Steve:

Dan outing Asher, Asher being a complete

Steve:

douchebag. Jenny crashing

Steve:

Jenny, you know. Yeah.

Steve:

Jenny's stock is at its absolute lowest

Steve:

that it's been, so. Yeah.

Steve:

But here's the best outfits from m the last

Steve:

episode we seen.

Leif:

Moving on to best outfit. Queen

Leif:

Bee takes it home with the fully

Leif:

incredible black dress and matching

Leif:

headband. And, she's got the diamond dangle

Leif:

earrings and the long strand of pearls with, like, the

Leif:

double loop. What? One loop is like a choker. Like, real

Leif:

tight on the other loop. Like what?

Steve:

That the fucking accessories tied

Steve:

that together. I had the same thing that this

Steve:

is the first. I think this is the first time that we picked the

Steve:

same outfit, and it was the most obvious

Steve:

one. But God damn, did she just

Steve:

look stunning in that.

Leif:

I will give honorable mention both to

Leif:

Nelliuki. I like the yellow dress with the blue,

Leif:

the bright blue glasses. I like the combo.

Leif:

And also Jenny's party dress was very

Leif:

stylish as well.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Plugs. I, did, watch, the

Leif:

full season of fallout. It is awesome.

Steve:

It is so good.

Leif:

So good.

Steve:

And it just feels like fallout.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

and it didn't. Man, I could do

Steve:

a whole thing on.

Leif:

Yeah. And yeah, I'm super excited for the

Leif:

teaser and the final scene.

Steve:

Oh, my God, it's so. Yes, absolutely.

Steve:

and again, like the storytelling of that where

Steve:

they really did like the way that they pulled the

Steve:

plot together. and,

Steve:

and, and there's. I. There's so many things that

Steve:

weren't even explored yet. You know, there are

Steve:

different factions that we. That, you know, are there or

Steve:

different. I don't know if you call them

Steve:

creature types. Like. Yeah, you haven't

Steve:

seen everything yet. So it

Steve:

just was. It felt like

Steve:

fallout soundtrack. The soundtrack is

Steve:

dead on.

Leif:

Oh, yeah. you got anything to

Leif:

plug?

Steve:

I am on July 19, I will

Steve:

be playing a show at Fat lady brewing. so

Steve:

come on out and enjoy some live music.

Steve:

It'll be a part of love fest. check out

Steve:

my TikTok. Steve Marshawn. M a r c

Steve:

h I o n. It doesn't sound how it's

Steve:

spelled. And you can pretty,

Steve:

much find me on any of the other socials.

Leif:

Alright? Uh-huh. And if you want to follow the podcast, you can follow

Leif:

us on TikTok and Instagram, on judging

Leif:

Breakfastpod, and on the social media

Leif:

formerly known as Twitter.

Leif:

We're also on Facebook. We got a Facebook group where you

Leif:

can take your own seat at the non judging breakfast

Leif:

table. Just search for non judging breakfast

Leif:

pod.

Steve:

And if you want to send us an email, we'd love to hear

Steve:

from you. It's

Steve:

nonjudgingbreakfastpodmail.com.

Steve:

and we'd love to hear your thoughts and read what you have

Steve:

to say on air. Also, if you're

Steve:

listening to this episode, please, like

Steve:

follow, subscribe, and, please tell

Steve:

a friend, get other people to know, what you think of the

Steve:

show and share it with your friends so that

Steve:

we can grow this conversation.

Leif:

We will be back in two weeks for our next

Leif:

episode. Season one, episode

Leif:

17 Woman on the

Leif:

Verge the max episode

Leif:

preview reads, serena falls back into

Leif:

old habits. Dan assumes the

Leif:

worst.

Steve:

Well, I mean, he should. Cause

Steve:

apparently it's the worst possible

Steve:

scenario. So.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

keep assuming, Dan.

Leif:

well, until next time. You know you love us.

Leif:

Xoxo. Take care.

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