Episode 3
Gossip Girl S2E03 - The Dark Night
Summary
In this episode of the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve discuss Season 2, Episode 3 of Gossip Girl titled 'The Dark Night'. They analyze the various storylines, including Dan and Serena's struggling relationship, Nate's complicated situation with Catherine and Vanessa, and Blair's manipulative actions. They also discuss the cameo appearance of Penn Badgley in a Ariana Grande music video and the behind-the-scenes gossip of the show. In this episode, Blair attempts to seduce Marcus, but Chuck overhears. Vanessa confronts Catherine about her involvement with Nate. Chuck and Blair get steamy in the dark, and Jenny opens up to Eleanor about her insecurities. Dan and Serena finally admit that their issues prevent them from being a couple. Nate finds out about Catherine's blackmail and Vanessa encourages him to be with her. The power comes back on, and Blair admits to Marcus that she knew it was Chuck all along. Marcus's manhood is challenged, and he kisses Blair in front of everyone. Dan and Vanessa commiserate over their failed relationships.
Keywords
Gossip Girl, Season 2, Episode 3, The Dark Knight, relationships, manipulation, cameo appearance, behind-the-scenes gossip, Gossip Girl, seduction, confrontation, steamy, insecurities, admission, blackmail, power outage, manhood, commiseration
Takeaways
- The episode showcases the complicated relationships and manipulative actions of the characters.
- The hosts discuss the cameo appearance of Ariana Grande in a music video and share behind-the-scenes gossip of the show.
- They give a positive review of the episode and highlight the strong chemistry between certain characters.
- The episode sets up future storylines and leaves viewers wanting more. Blair's attempt to seduce Marcus backfires when Chuck overhears
- Vanessa confronts Catherine about her involvement with Nate
- Chuck and Blair's steamy encounter in the dark
- Jenny opens up to Eleanor about her insecurities
- Dan and Serena finally admit that their issues prevent them from being a couple
- Nate learns about Catherine's blackmail and Vanessa encourages him to be with her
- Blair admits to Marcus that she knew it was Chuck all along
- Chuck's manhood is challenged and he kisses Blair in front of everyone
- Dan and Vanessa commiserate over their failed relationships
Sound Bites
- "Dressing him up like a boy toy, like a fucking Ken doll. So gross."
- "Dan and Serena are stuck in an elevator. Dan uses the emergency phone and is pretty much told to just hang tight."
- "Nate confronts Blair, who doesn't deny helping Catherine to set him and Vanessa up."
- "Vanessa was great in this. Vanessa was just understanding and loving and caring and was just a very empathetic person in this episode."
- "Blair is waiting in her room when Chuck enters and imitates Marcus' accent, telling Blair to blow out her candle. Chuck and Blair begin to get steamy in the dark."
- "Jenny returns the favor by opening up to Eleanor. She talks about how one of Eleanor's dresses inspired Jenny to take up fashion in the first place."
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Recap
03:02 Cameo Appearance and Behind-the-Scenes Gossip
06:28 Review of Season 2, Episode 3
11:16 Complicated Relationships and Manipulation
18:34 Positive Review and Strong Chemistry
23:53 Setting Up Future Storylines
35:15 Blair's Seduction Gone Wrong
36:14 Steamy Encounter in the Dark
38:06 Jenny's Insecurities
39:04 Admission of Relationship Issues
40:59 Nate's Blackmail Revelation
42:24 Chuck's Manhood Challenge
42:52 Confronting Catherine
44:19 Goodbye Dan and Serena
45:18 Chuck's Declaration of Love
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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Transcript
Now captain is dressing Nate like he is her son.
Leif:Last week I wondered whether this relationship could get any worse. This
Leif:week's writer, John Stevens says, hold my beer.
Steve:Hold his fucking beer.
Steve:Dressing him up like a, boy
Steve:toy. Like a, fucking head doll.
Leif:So gross.
Steve:Oh my God.
Leif:Hey, Upper East siders 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 waffles
Leif:are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than ever.
Leif:My name is Leif and I'm your seasoned gossip girl
Leif:veteran.
Steve:And I'm Steve, your newbie, your
Steve:greenhorn. You're, I don't know, Leif. What do we call
Steve:the season two gossip girl newbies?
Leif:I'm not really sure, but can you tell the difference between
Leif:an american actor faking a british accent and a british
Leif:actor playing an american faking a british accent?
Steve:As a matter of fact, I can pick up on
Steve:it here and there and I will. And I actually have quite a bit to
Steve:say on that. I have quite a bit
Steve:to say on that.
Leif:Okay, let's go.
Steve:So here's the deal, folks. Leap has been a fan of
Steve:Gossip Girl since the beginning and I'm watching for the very
Steve:first time. And together we're your dynamic duo, bringing
Steve:you all the drama, romance, and
Steve:sometimes questionable fashion choices of this
Steve:iconic 2007 series.
Leif:That's right. Each week we're going to take a deep dive into the
Leif:series one episode at a time. We're going to analyze all
Leif:the obscure references, parallels, and
Leif:of course the couture catastrophes. We're also going to talk
Leif:about behind the scenes gossip and fandom stories
Leif:along the way.
Steve:And since we're all about inclusivity here at, ah, the
Steve:non judging breakfast podesthe, there's always room for
Steve:you at the non judging breakfast table. So go ahead
Steve:and grab your mimosa, a cup of coffee, or
Steve:some of Chuck and Nate's special medicine if it's that kind
Steve:of morning. And let's go ahead and get right into
Steve:this episode first.
Leif:actually, we got a little cast news to talk about.
Leif:Won't be exactly news by the time you guys are listening to
Leif:this, but it was just a couple days ago that the
Leif:new Ariana Grande video came out of
Leif:featuring our own and Badgley.
Steve:I didn't actually realize how new
Steve:that was. You had mentioned it to me just today.
Leif:Yeah, they came out four days ago as of this recording. Oh,
Leif:okay, so it's a sort of COVID but
Leif:not a cover of the boy is mine by Monica and
Leif:Brandi, who are in the video as well. And
Leif:it's, I like, the music's not exactly
Leif:for me, but I did enjoy the video
Leif:because it was, you know, kind of a throwback. It told a
Leif:whole story and went through, like, all
Leif:scenario.
Steve:It really reminded me of the old MTV days
Steve:where, where you would have, like a bit
Steve:of a movie that goes along with
Steve:the video. You, you saw it, like, with a lot of Michael
Steve:Jackson videos and a lot of the hip hop videos,
Steve:especially, like, even with, like, the break in the middle, that
Steve:was no music and just a cut scene.
Steve:Yeah, it really reminded me of some
Steve:classic MTV when, when
Steve:artists were really starting to try to play
Steve:with the format and, yeah, like you said, the
Steve:song wasn't really, the song wasn't for
Steve:me. You know, it's, I
Steve:wish no shade towards Ariana Grande.
Steve:my niece is a huge fan.
Leif:We don't, we don't, we don't want to be killed by the grande fans.
Leif:And she got a great voice. But I had to bet I did
Leif:go back and watch the other, the Monica and
Leif:brandy version again, and
Leif:it just. Not necessarily them, but
Leif:the, the beat just had a little more junk in the trunk.
Steve:Yeah. And that song also is one. It's going to take me
Steve:back, you know, it's always going to put me back in
Steve:college and, and I, it's always going to take me
Steve:back there. And whereas this song that I heard for
Steve:the. And I also have to be completely fair and
Steve:say it is rare for a song, the first time
Steve:I hear it, for me to be like, that's, that's
Steve:something I love. But, yeah, no shade
Steve:towards Ariana Grandpa. And the video
Steve:was fun. Yeah, I had a lot of
Steve:fun with that video.
Leif:You know, after listening to the Monica brandy one
Leif:again, I was like, yeah, that is a thick beat.
Leif:And so I had to go down a little rabbit hole.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:So it was actually produced by Dallas
Leif:Austin, who has worked with, who's who
Leif:of the music business. Yeah. Lionel Richie,
Leif:Madonna, MJ,
Leif:TLC, Duran Durang, West Stefani,
Leif:Pink, George Clint and George
Leif:Michael.
Steve:Yeah, yeah.
Leif:So admit many others. So,
Leif:yeah, he did what he was doing.
Steve:It's, it's also interesting that
Steve:this video was, came
Steve:out right before we are
Steve:shooting this particular episode because
Steve:it did have all of the Batman,
Steve:themed.
Steve:You know, no Batman, but it was a
Steve:very Gotham themed. Yeah.
Leif:So definitely a catwoman.
Steve:Yeah, definitely a catwoman.
Leif:Was Penn playing
Leif:Christopher Walken's character from,
Leif:bat Mary terence.
Steve:Oh, I mean, I just.
Steve:Oh, maybe I was seeing it more
Steve:as the more recent, like.
Steve:Yeah, but maybe.
Leif:Maybe I kind of felt he was
Leif:channeling that kind of character.
Steve:I see it now that you mention it.
Leif:So enough, about Ariana Grande,
Leif:the lovely woman she is. Happy 30th
Leif:birthday. But we are here to talk about Gossip
Leif:Girl, and we're.
Steve:Indeed.
Leif:Yeah, we're going to talk about season two, episode three. Yeah, the
Leif:Dark Knight.
Steve:The Dark Knight. A reference I definitely
Steve:get.
Leif:it's the Christopher Nolan's Batman movie, the second in his trilogy.
Steve:Yeah, yeah. And also just, you
Steve:know, at which this would have been around that time,
Steve:but also the dark knight just being a
Steve:Batman reference. anyway, I have
Steve:a tattoo of Gotham.
Leif:The original air date was September 15,
Leif:2008, and the
Leif:tv.com episode description reads,
Leif:serena and Dan are trapped in an elevator during
Leif:citywide blackouthenne making them work out their
Leif:differences. Marcus and Blair have problems of
Leif:their own, which is passion. While Chuck problem is
Leif:having no passion with women other than Blair.
Leif:Nate struggles with his feelings for Vanessa and Katherine.
Steve:Yeah, I don't think he
Steve:really does, but I don't think it's that he's struggling
Steve:with his feelings. I think he's
Steve:struggling with a situation.
Leif:As, the episode was written by John
Leif:Stevens. This is his first episode of Gossip
Leif:Girl. Also, has written for Gilmore
Leif:Girls, the OC, Gotham, and
Leif:Pennyworth.
Steve:Yeah. I actually have been meaning to watch Pennyworth
Steve:just because I like the concept of it.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Have, you seen it?
Leif:No. Janice Cook is back. She
Leif:previously directed all about my brother in season one, which
Leif:we both gave a b minus.
Steve:Yeah, that was. That was when Georgina
Steve:outed Eric.
Leif:Right. And Ashere and all
Leif:that.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Jenny's party.
Steve:Yeah. Not a terrible episode, but also
Steve:not. Yeah, I mean, b minus episode.
Leif:I thought this was definitely a big improvement from the last
Leif:few weeks.
Steve:Yes. Oh, yeah. From the m. From the last
Steve:two weeks. Yes. Over season one. No, but,
Steve:like.
Leif:Yeah, this. This episode, I think,
Leif:could have fit just as well.
Leif:Many episodes in season one.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah. I I. Like, I thought this was the first
Steve:one that felt like they were.
Steve:It felt like they were trying again.
Leif:So I was thinking about it today after I rewatched
Leif:it in season one of the
Leif:OC. They had this whole mini season
Leif:before, like. Cause they. They ran seven episodes
Leif:in this during the summer, right?
Steve:Yes.
Leif:And then. And then they came. They came back, like, two, like a month and a
Leif:half later.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:For the rest of the season.
Leif:And that was. It was like a whole mini arc before they got to school.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:And it's like, a lot happened in that arc.
Steve:I remember this. I remember.
Leif:I kind of feel like they're trying to recreate that with the
Leif:Hamptons, but it was just too short. It was only two
Leif:episodes. So, like, you had dance Serena get
Leif:together and break up, like.
Steve:Right.
Leif:Like, there's, like, all these mini arcs that.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Over two episodes.
Steve:Yeah. And. Yeah.
Leif:It just didn't work right.
Steve:Yes.
Leif:And now they're back to the city, and I.
Leif:Yeah, I will talk about the grade when we get there, but, yeah, I definitely thought
Leif:this episode was better.
Steve:I agree that I liked this episode.
Leif:Yeah. The heat wave was funny. You know, those days in the city
Leif:are all those.
Steve:Oh, yeah.
Leif:The dog days of summer.
Steve:The makeup. Kudos to the makeup department.
Steve:And maybe they were just out in the city sweating it up
Steve:like that. But the way that they had, like,
Steve:that, that you. You looked at them, and it's
Steve:like they were glistening. Like they were out
Steve:in this city in the summer.
Steve:Yeah. I really thought.
Leif:I thought it was always in specific
Leif:areas that they were glistening. I
Leif:mean, sweat gathers, and it was
Leif:cheeks and boobs. And I thought to
Leif:myself, someone had the job that week of making
Leif:sure Serena's tits were always glistening.
Steve:the. Where I really noticed at first, though, was
Steve:Dan's neck was the back of his neck.
Steve:But the. The close ups were definitely,
Steve:like. I mean, you know, moisture
Steve:gathers in
Steve:crevices. Right. That's the most.
Steve:That's the most disgusting thing I've said on this show, I think,
Steve:but, yeah.
Leif:Like, because, you know, shooting for an episode usually lasts,
Leif:like, ten days or so.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:So someone for those ten days had the job of
Leif:making sure that she was glistening. Jessica and Blake were
Leif:glistening at all times.
Steve:Yeah. the other time I noticed it, though,
Steve:was Blair. When she comes in
Steve:from outside and she's trying to. She's trying to hit
Steve:that, and I also noticed
Steve:it. I just really thought that stood out to
Steve:me. Yeah. I felt the heat in that
Steve:episode.
Leif:So moving into act one
Leif:in the last hazy days of summer, a few simple
Leif:tips to beat the heat. One, drink plenty
Leif:of fluids. Two, stay out of the sun.
Leif:Three, limit all physical activity.
Leif:That is, within reason. Gossip girl
Leif:narrates a montage. Chuck is drinking
Leif:alone, Jenny is running errands, and Dan and
Leif:Serena are making out.
Steve:Yep. Yeah. I mean, that sums it
Steve:up.
Leif:Blair is trying to get busy with Marcus, but the
Leif:old limey doesn't have what it takes to come out
Leif:and.
Steve:Play Robin right off the bat
Steve:with this one to end it with the forehead
Steve:kiss. Like, to have this really sweet, like, you know, you're
Steve:more to me than that, and I don't want to rush things, and I want to think
Steve:of you as this delicate flower, which also is kind of,
Steve:but like, to go through all of that, but then
Steve:to end it with the creepy forehead kiss
Steve:from this, you know, 32 year
Steve:old. Yeah.
Leif:We see Jenny struggling under all the stuff she is
Leif:carrying while talking on the phone with Vanessa. They
Leif:are discussing whether Vanessa should call Nate or not.
Steve:I love Jenny's advice here. I love
Steve:how she's just like, will it. Will it
Steve:sound creepy?
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Yeah, it will. It will you. Yes.
Steve:But that's what you do. Like, you're. You're fucking Vanessa.
Steve:Go be Vanessa and stop being this. And I
Steve:thought that was great.
Leif:Now Katherine is dressing Nate like he is her son.
Leif:Last week, I wondered whether this relationship getting worse.
Leif:This week's writer, John Stevens, says, hold my beer.
Steve:Hold his fucking beer.
Steve:Dressing him up like a, boy
Steve:toy. Like a, fucking head doll.
Leif:So gross.
Steve:Oh, my God. And, yeah.
Steve:Oh, my. And. And it's funny because, like, when I mentioned that to
Steve:Robin, her first response was like, oh, well, you
Steve:know, well, she's dressing him the way that she wants him to
Steve:look for, like, the man she wants. But I was
Steve:also like, but she's taking him shopping the
Steve:way a, mom takes their kids shopping for the first
Steve:day of school to do it. Like, it was
Steve:so gross. Weird.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Nate gets a call from Vanessa and makes plans to hang
Leif:out with her. Sure this will go great.
Steve:Yeah, we've. We've seen Nate lie
Steve:before and kind of
Steve:drown in his lies before,
Steve:and this time he turns around. Like,
Steve:you can tell. It's like that disdain that he actually has
Steve:is building for Catherine or already has, where he just turns like, oh,
Steve:it's my mom. Doesn't blink an eye,
Steve:doesn't have any hesitation, and
Steve:just lies straight out and
Steve:is just cool with it.
Leif:And, well, in this case, I don't blame him.
Steve:No, not at all. Not at all. It's just
Steve:that he never thinks through his lies. And this
Steve:one was like he didn't need to, but, like,
Steve:no hesitation.
Leif:Dan and Serena are walking down the street and discussing
Leif:announcing their relationship status. However, it looks
Leif:like their secret is going to get out as a random
Leif:person snaps a photo of the pair kissing on the
Leif:sidewalk.
Steve:Yeah, I'll start now by saying
Steve:that this whole Dan and
Steve:Serena episode annoyed the
Steve:shit out of me. Like. Like, all of it.
Steve:And. And it started here, where it's
Steve:like, Serena lives in the fucking spotlight.
Steve:She. She has. The reason you know
Steve:her is because you saw her at a party and
Steve:recognized her out of everybody else because she's always in the
Steve:fucking spotlight. And you've been watching her in the spotlight
Steve:creepily for a year.
Leif:That was before Gossip Girl.
Steve:Yeah. I I'm. But I'm saying.
Leif:Well, but that was before the entity of Gossip
Leif:Girl.
Steve:When was the entity of Gossip girl?
Leif:Pretty soon after that.
Steve:Interesting. But my point still being that,
Steve:like, prior to this relationship,
Steve:Serena had lived a very public life.
Steve:Yeah. And. And that's how he knew
Steve:so much about her to begin with. Like, he had
Steve:doeb because.
Leif:But apparently he did not know anything about her.
Steve:Yeah. I guess it's the
Steve:whole thing with.
Leif:The relationship is he put her on a pedestal, and then
Leif:once when he got to actually know her, he realized
Leif:he really.
Steve:She was a human fucking be.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:And. And a human being that is. That. That
Steve:has mean, you know,
Steve:means well beyond
Steve:his. And. Yeah, I
Steve:was with the one girl.
Leif:Another week, and we get another cameo. This time it's
Leif:former America's Next Top model contestant and
Leif:Mark Lee. Chuck is walking her out of the
Leif:penthouse and promises to call her later when he's feeling
Leif:better. Chuck gets the blast about DNS
Leif:kissing.
Steve:But it's like, why is Chuck irritated by this? Like, what?
Steve:What? Chuck seems irritated by the.
Steve:By the gossip girl blast, but, like, what stake do
Steve:you have in dan and Serena?
Leif:Oh, he just doesn't like Dan.
Steve:Yeah, but, like, it was. I.
Steve:Like, I felt like the jenny and blair reactions
Steve:made more sense. I thought Chuck. It's like, what does Chuck
Steve:care? Nate. I think nate could have cared, but
Steve:he.
Leif:Well, he just cares about serena, and he thinks that Dan's bad
Leif:for. Yeah,
Leif:that's what the show's trying to tell you, is chuck cares
Leif:about serena as a sister, and he thinks this is the
Leif:wrong decision.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Which it is.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:As we find out.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Maybe, that's what the show is trying
Leif:to.
Steve:I know. Yeah. I'm just.
Leif:Blair also gets the blast and is.
Steve:Disgusted, and that made sense to me,
Steve:especially when she explains herself later
Steve:on. I love the best friend. Tough love later
Steve:on.
Leif:Yeah. She had good advice.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Jay runs back into the loft to hug and congratulate
Leif:Dan. Rufus asks Dan if he worked out his issues
Leif:with Serena yet, and Dan.
Steve:Lies that he has, and Rufus seems
Steve:to see through that, too. Yeah, Rufus can tell.
Steve:Like, oh, yeah, great son.
Leif:yeah, he does his son, likes to avoid those conversations.
Leif:Vanessa and Nate are being cute walking down the
Leif:street. However, Catherine is spying from her limo.
Steve:Yeah, venates. they're cute.
Steve:I just coined that one. I don't know if someone else did.
Steve:One eight, sir.
Steve:Yeah, I think.
Leif:I think their official ship name is Natesa.
Steve:Natesa.
Leif:Let's see.
Steve:See, like. But, like, she is
Steve:already, like, bossy of his time. And, like,
Steve:you know, like, oh, you have family stuff again.
Steve:It's like, I do have family stuff.
Leif:This. This is, like, now Lex Luthor status, though.
Steve:Yeah, yeah.
Leif:Hailing in the limo.
Steve:Yeah, yeah. Jesus Christ.
Leif:Blair and serena, are prepping for the party. They
Leif:discuss eleanor meeting Marcus for the first time.
Leif:Serena tries to get blair to ask serena about
Leif:serena and dan getting back together. Blair finally
Leif:relents and asks serena the same question. Ruth as dan,
Leif:serena is a little more honest.
Steve:Yeah, a ah.
Leif:Little more.
Steve:Yeah. And like I said, blair's response.
Steve:Okay, you guys talk through all of your stuff, and if you're
Steve:still happy, then I will be happy for
Steve:you. And fair.
Leif:Yeah. Blair gets a call from katherine asking
Leif:about who nate was with. These. These
Leif:ladies are scheming.
Steve:She lives in
Steve:brooklyn. The way
Steve:she says, that is so
Steve:great.
Leif:Nate comes over to the penthouse to. And finds
Leif:Chuck in a robe, smoking a joint. Nate
Leif:changed his mind about Chuck's money, but it's too late. Chuck
Leif:has reinvested. Chuck once again
Leif:mentions some kind of ailment. Whatever it is,
Leif:japanese takeout seems to be the cure.
Steve:Yeah, I, called right then and
Steve:there. I was like, chuck can't get enough.
Steve:I like when he. Yeah, like,
Steve:Chuck can't get it up.
Leif:Oh. Back at
Leif:the atelier, Jenny is busting her butt trying to get
Leif:ahead in the fashion world. Jenny notices something off
Leif:about the dress she is fitting to the model, but Laurel
Leif:just slaps her down. Lie away, little
Leif:J. Lie away?
Steve:Yeah, right here. This scene. You
Steve:see the plotline of this
Steve:play out? You know, it. It is
Steve:a very obvious take. I end up
Steve:liking it a lot.
Leif:Anyway, cliches are cliche for a reason.
Steve:Yeah, well, I was having this conversation earlier.
Steve:They're familiar, and they feel good.
Steve:And the. But, like, Laurel
Steve:is such an asshole.
Steve:Yeah, like, all the time. And I was like, jenny,
Steve:like, lil J, you chose this.
Steve:This was your decision. You were like, oh, I could
Steve:go work for the cameo from
Steve:two weeks ago, but no, I'm going to choose to work
Steve:under these conditions instead. And Laurel
Steve:didn't change at all. She's like, oh,
Steve:thank you for staying. Now know your fucking place.
Leif:Dan and Serena are walking in the park, but Serena gets a
Leif:call. Dan is taken to task by a trio of middle
Leif:school girls dressed in PW uniforms.
Leif:This scene was Joshua absolutely reading the
Leif:message boards and turning those posts into dialogue on the
Leif:show, and Dan and Serena are still avoiding the real
Leif:conversation.
Steve:I loved it. I absolutely.
Steve:I loved it. I loved these little junior
Steve:Upper east siders. And honestly, if Josh
Steve:Schwartz wants to throw in the forum
Steve:comments into his show
Steve:regularly by throwing those girls
Steve:in, I am here for it. I
Steve:am totally here for it. I loved
Steve:it.
Leif:It was.
Steve:I was also with. When they're like, we're
Steve:all on your side, it's, like, not me. And I
Steve:was like, yeah, little girl. Cause, like, he's a
Steve:fucking dumbass.
Leif:But it's kind of interesting. Who was on his side?
Steve:The little girl that looked like. That looked like the
Steve:blair? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Was she? I
Steve:thought she had, like, blue eyes, but she had the headband.
Leif:Yeah, she had the head.
Steve:She had the headband. Yep. I've come to
Steve:realize the headband. The
Steve:significance of the headband now.
Leif:That's why I said they were there. BW uniforms.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Yeah, the Blair waldroph uniform. Nate and
Leif:Vanessa are about to kiss, but are interrupted by multiple texts from
Leif:Katherine. Blair walks in flowers and
Leif:sunshine. However, Nate and Vanessa see through Blair
Leif:immediately. When Vanessa walks away, Blair easily
Leif:maneuvers Nate into bringing Vanessa to the party. Classic
Leif:divide and conquer. Nathan, you are
Leif:the weakest leak.
Steve:It was. I loved this scene. I
Steve:loved how they were both like, wait, you came down here
Steve:to invite me to a party? Like, how they both saw through it,
Steve:but I loved how when Vanessa walks away and
Steve:Nate, And they start, like, whisper
Steve:arguing, and he's like, and what? Your plan is to
Steve:distract me with Vanessa? Yes. Well, that just
Steve:seems really nice for one of your plans. Hey,
Steve:let's. What is she? And she says, don't be offensive.
Steve:As far as your plans go, it's kind of nice.
Steve:Don't be offensive.
Leif:Yeah, that's pretty good. I waited to get it. look at a little shot
Leif:of vitamin water.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Blair calls Katherine to let her know that the plan
Leif:is on, but her bedroom floor is off limits.
Leif:Blair, does that mean she's free to fucking your bed?
Steve:Yeah. And Blair, would it. Would it.
Leif:Why would you say my. My room is off limits?
Steve:Yeah. Yeah. Why is it just the floor?
Steve:You also have, like, a couch in there. Yeah, I'm pretty
Steve:sure that stuff started.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Which I would personally. I'd rather them fuck on
Steve:my floor.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Any other place in my room. And. Yeah,
Steve:and it was also, like, Blair, what did you do? Like,
Steve:what? Like, now Nate is the
Steve:casualty and.
Leif:Like, that Larry doesn't care.
Steve:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steve:Sometimes she has an inkling of who's gonna be
Steve:a casualty. Right. Like, she. She cared when
Steve:Eric was the. Was the accidental casualt.
Leif:He's a civilian.
Steve:Right. Well, yeah. All right,
Steve:facts. Fair. Fair.
Leif:Nate's in the game.
Steve:Yeah, he is. I mean, I can't argue that.
Leif:And, that is the end of the first act. We move into act
Leif:two. Serena rise back at the penthouse to
Leif:see the flight attendant having. Leaving while
Leif:Chuck pours himself a glass of whiskey,
Leif:neat. Chuck admits that he is having a problem in
Leif:the bedroom. Chuck glass used Blair as
Leif:sexual drain out.
Steve:he's tried everything from the erotic to the
Steve:pharmaceutical. Yeah.
Leif:And he doesn't have a romantic bone in his body.
Leif:Especially that one.
Steve:Yeah, especially that one. And,
Steve:man, Chuck, you're so fucking
Steve:gross. Like, you're so gross.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:So, yeah, we. We get the. The best and the worst of
Leif:Chuck in this episode.
Steve:Yeah, we really do.
Leif:You get the super quippy, hilarious line
Leif:one liners, but then you also get the creepy Batman
Leif:rapist.
Steve:Yeah, yeah, we get, like, the fucking.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Eleanor walks into the atelier just as
Leif:Jenny was questioning Eleanor's design. didn't see that one
Leif:coming. Jenny tries to apologize, but it's too
Leif:late. Eleanor, already grumpy from her
Leif:transatlantic flight, promptly fires
Leif:Jenny.
Steve:I love Margaret Collins in this whole
Steve:episode. She is.
Leif:And I love all their seas together.
Steve:Yeah, I want more of that. They are
Steve:two powerhouses just really
Steve:acting up a storm together. They're
Steve:amazing.
Leif:I love that we got some more layers to Ella this
Leif:episode. She opened up the jetty in a way we haven't seen
Leif:before.
Steve:Yeah, and that scene where it's like
Steve:this intern is shitting on my stuff,
Steve:like that.
Leif:Biggest fear.
Steve:Yeah, exactly. And like, to fire her. She's
Steve:completely in her right, and she acted like a. Like
Steve:a strong boss. And when she
Steve:comes in and she fires her and she even says, I'll give
Steve:you the letter of recommendation, you still get the
Steve:letter of recommendation from me. Your job here is
Steve:done.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Like, she.
Leif:People around here I can trust.
Steve:Yeah. I had so much respect for
Steve:her in that scene as a
Steve:boss. She showed me, like,
Steve:CEO boss, you know?
Steve:And whereas Laurel has just
Steve:shown, like, just asshole.
Steve:Yeah. Just. Just. I'm going to stomp you in the dirt, and
Steve:I'm going to just bully you. Whereas,
Steve:like, Margaret Collins was more
Steve:brutal on Jenny by firing
Steve:her but just didn't do it with any kind
Steve:of anything other than just business.
Leif:There's no vindictiveness, like, with Laurel.
Steve:Yeah, it wasn't, Yeah, I loved it.
Steve:Yeah, I thought she just. She sold me on that.
Leif:Nate runs it to Marcus. Out on the streets. Nate discovers
Leif:that Catherine is coming. Nate quickly leaves a
Leif:voicemail for Vanessa. I'd inviting her to.
Steve:Goddamn it, Nate. Oh,
Steve:I promise I won't do this thing. And then he does it, and it's
Steve:like. And Vanessa's response when
Steve:she's talking to Rufus in the next scene where she says,
Steve:like, I can handle this. Like, I can take it. Like,
Steve:vanessa's seen shit. Like, Vanessa knows
Steve:and shit.
Leif:Vanessa gets the voice valve just in time for Rufus to enter the
Leif:lock with an air conditioner. Vanessa opens up to Rufus,
Leif:battle frauds with Rufus, or, sorry, with Nate.
Leif:Dan walks in on Vanessa, says
Leif:she will meet him at the party. So
Leif:more weird scenes with, Rufus and Vanessa.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:I was really worried he was gonna say, vanessa is
Leif:gonna be my date. We could double date
Leif:Dan.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah. yeah, I'll go with Vanessa.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:And the woman that he did end up dating looked a
Leif:little like Vanessa.
Steve:A little bit. I can see it. I
Steve:did like his advice to her, though, when he's, like, when
Steve:she. When he said, well, you can do x, y, and z, and she's like, that
Steve:is the mature, grown up response.
Steve:Well, if you want to do the immature thing, you can just
Steve:pretend you never got that message and show up anyway.
Steve:And it was like, I liked
Steve:it. Yeah.
Leif:We have arrived at the party of the week.
Leif:All the principals are arriving. Chuck and Blair trade
Leif:barbs. Chuck goes full into full
Leif:Batman mode and starts grinding on Blair right
Leif:in the middle of the party.
Steve:Subtle.
Leif:So creepy.
Steve:Like, it's so creepy, but also, like,
Steve:you're. She's just, like, letting this happen.
Steve:Yeah. And, like, letting him, like,
Steve:whisper things into her ear that are just
Steve:so erotic. And
Steve:it's like. Like, guys,
Steve:you're, like, at the middle of a fucking party you're throwing.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Dan picks up Serena at the pass, but things seem off
Leif:between these two lovebirds.
Steve:Yeah. They clearly
Steve:just have nothing left to talk about other than their
Steve:issues, which they're avoiding talking about.
Leif:Back at the party, Nate confronts Blair, who
Leif:doesn't deny helping Catherine to set him and Vanessa
Leif:up.
Steve:I don't like sharing my toys,
Steve:especially when I've paid for
Steve:them.
Steve:She is so disgusting.
Steve:Yeah. oh.
Leif:So bad.
Steve:Oh, my God.
Leif:Can this story end?
Steve:Please, like. And, like, I don't even care if she
Steve:doesn't go to jail. I would love for her to just end it, just
Steve:like, with her losing fucking everything. Like, I feel like
Steve:that, but I feel like it's gonna end with her just going
Steve:away and, probably coming back at some
Steve:point.
Leif:Then Katherine comes and gets way too handsy
Leif:with Nate. He threatens to break up with her
Leif:and he her. And Katherine instantly
Leif:plays the victim and starts apologizing. She is just
Leif:pulling right from the abusers handbook now.
Leif:Vanessa walks in and sees Dane, Catherine holding hands.
Leif:And then Howard goes out and all of manhattan.
Steve:Yeah, she's so gross. Vanessa sees it
Steve:and he's like, fuck. But, like, she's so
Steve:gross. She's so, like, the whole,
Steve:like, trying to turn the tables and making it Nate's
Steve:fault and like, oh, it was just.
Leif:We move into act three. Blair
Leif:brings out the candles and tells everyone to remain
Leif:calm.
Steve:No one goes outside in a blackout.
Steve:Well, at which, actually, Robin was like, what? No one can go out? And I
Steve:was like, yeah, but it's a New York blackout. Like, there's no street
Steve:light.
Leif:Yeah, it'd be scary.
Steve:It would be pitch fucking black
Steve:out there. Except for headlights. Headlights would be the only thing
Steve:you would see. That sounds terrifying. Yeah.
Steve:I mean, maybe not in the Upper east side as much.
Leif:Nate pulls Vanessa aside and explains what's.
Steve:Been going on when Vanessa
Steve:stops and just says, tell me
Steve:everything.
Steve:Vanessa, just, in my
Steve:opinion, like, she just skyrocketed
Steve:for me. Like, that she
Steve:is as much as she, like, she's such an
Steve:asshole on so many occasions. She really is the
Steve:person who I feel like is the
Steve:most understanding of people
Steve:go through shit.
Leif:And Vanessa should be a good
Leif:character.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:But they just never give her a reason to exist.
Steve:Right? Yeah. And. And I
Steve:really felt that,
Steve:like, my heart just for
Steve:Vanessa just. It was the first time that I
Steve:was really like, wow. Like, wowed
Steve:by her.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Just to stop and be like, okay,
Steve:this is super fucked up.
Steve:Tell me. And like, wow, that's.
Steve:That is a good person.
Leif:Katherine confronts Blair about her lack of
Leif:sex life with Marcus and how it will always be that
Leif:way.
Steve:Oh, why do you know this?
Steve:Why do you know about his sex life?
Leif:Yeah. Well, I mean, presumably because the dad's the
Leif:same way.
Steve:Maybe, but, like.
Steve:But why are you talking about it? Why are
Steve:you bringing. Why is.
Steve:Ew. Yeah.
Leif:Where are they going with this?
Steve:Yeah, you're talking to a
Steve:teenager. Yeah. Hey, you know, you're dating my
Steve:son, but I bet he doesn't plow you, does
Steve:he? Like, that's so fucked
Steve:up.
Steve:No boundaries.
Leif:Oh, yeah, she. I mean, she. She wants to pretend she's still a teenager.
Steve:She does. She really does.
Leif:She's treating Blair like an equal.
Steve:Yeah, one. One last hurrah. Before the book,
Steve:before the surgery.
Leif:Dad and Serena are stuck in an elevator. Dan
Leif:uses the emergency phone and is pretty much told to just
Leif:hang tight. Serena points out that he should have
Leif:mentioned her name. They argue momentarily before
Leif:Dan gives in and calls. And of course, now someone
Leif:is coming right away.
Steve:She was right. Because. Because she, for
Steve:one. Okay, Daniel,
Steve:she lives in the building like she's a tenant.
Steve:They know her like, so even aside from
Steve:the whole, like, the world stops for Serena Vanderwitson,
Steve:which. Yeah, you know what? It fucking does. And you
Steve:could love that about her. You could. You could
Steve:love that about her, but instead, you just let it bother you.
Steve:Fuck off, Dan. Fuck off.
Leif:it does bother pretty much everyone,
Leif:and that's. That's where Blair big
Leif:problem, too.
Steve:Yeah, but Serena doesn't
Steve:necessarily ask for it. Right.
Steve:I feel like Serena just goes about her life doing
Steve:Surina.
Leif:I'm not blaming, sir.
Steve:Yeah, no, no, I. And I. But I'm saying, like, the
Steve:people that do have a problem with it, and
Steve:Blair. Blair doesn't like it because, of course, there
Steve:is the whole. Blair's always working to be
Steve:what Serena is naturally.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Whereas. And I guess Dan kind of is, too.
Steve:But at least Blair is able to see
Steve:through that and remain best
Steve:friends with her, you know, most of the time.
Steve:Most of the time?
Leif:Some of the time?
Leif:About, a third of the time, sure.
Steve:But I mean, like you said from the start, like, they are the core
Steve:friendship. You know, they are the core ship.
Leif:They were in season one. It's that. It's now the Chuck and
Leif:Blair show.
Steve:Oh, okay. I thought that was an
Steve:ongoing thing.
Leif:It should have been.
Steve:Yeah, agreed.
Leif:Jenny, broken and defeated, is about to leave her job for
Leif:the last time and presumably walk back to
Leif:Brooklyn in the middle of a blackout. However, even
Leif:Eleanor isn't that cruel and tells Jenny to stay until the
Leif:blackout is over. Oh, and as long as you're here, make yourself
Leif:useful.
Steve:Yeah. and again, like, every scene
Steve:with.
Leif:The two great binding, this. Yeah, this is where, you know,
Leif:they. She reveals, you know, their
Leif:insecurities to Jenny, and then Jenny, you know, comes back, you
Leif:know, gives her a little pep talk.
Steve:What was that? This one? Yeah.
Steve:and and they just. They have great
Steve:chemistry together. They both are just
Steve:really vulnerable and
Steve:very, you know,
Steve:just. Just the communication is so
Steve:good, and just. They just play off each other so well. I loved
Steve:it.
Leif:Back to Nate and Vanessa. Nate is begging her to
Leif:save him from his to catch a predator scenario gone
Leif:wrong. She tells him he needs to do it himself,
Leif:but she will be here when he gets back.
Steve:again, Vanessa was great in this. Vanessa was just
Steve:understanding and loving and
Steve:caring and was just a very
Steve:empathetic person in this
Steve:episode. And I loved it.
Leif:Blair attempts to seduce Marcus. She tells him
Leif:to meet in her bedroom, but chuck
Leif:overhears.
Steve:Yeah. And so then we have the revenge of the nerds
Steve:setup, which. Great. Chuck
Steve:back. We're. We're inching back
Steve:to episode one. Chuck.
Leif:Yeah. not good. Even though flair clearly knew
Leif:who it was.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:Back from commercial. We get a run in between Vanessa
Leif:and Catherine. Yes, Catherine. We do try to
Leif:forgive children when they're victims of sex crimes.
Steve:She's so fucking dumb. She is so
Steve:dumb.
Leif:Yes, we forgive them.
Steve:Yeah. Oh, you just. You're just okay with
Steve:him paying or being paid by me
Steve:for sex so he can save his family?
Steve:You're okay with that?
Leif:What is wrong with this lady?
Steve:Ugh.
Leif:No.
Steve:one told her no as a kid.
Leif:Blair is waiting in her room when Chuck enters and
Leif:imitates Marcus Saxon telling Blair to blow out her
Leif:candle. Chuck and Blair begin to get
Leif:steamy in the dark.
Steve:The brit doing the
Steve:american doing the brit. My one note is
Steve:it must have been really difficult for him to do a
Steve:shitty british accent to try to sound
Steve:like Marcus. Yeah. My other thing about this,
Steve:and this is a, buffy thing, I went to a
Steve:panel, for. At a. At a comic book
Steve:convention years ago, and there was a buffy panel, and James
Steve:Marsters.
Leif:You didn't realize he was american, did you?
Steve:No, I did. I did know. So Spike was
Steve:on this panel, and I got in line, and I
Steve:said one of my favorite Buffy
Steve:moments was when the american guy was
Steve:pretending to be, who was acting as a british
Steve:guy pretending to be an american guy. And he's
Steve:like, I'm a friend of Xander.
Steve:I love that scene so much. And I got to
Steve:actually tell him that to his face.
Steve:I also asked Amber Benson what it was like to have her name
Steve:on the credits on her last episode,
Steve:but I've always wondered. That is such
Steve:a. Like, I've always been like, what a dick move of
Steve:Joss Whedon to, like, not give her an
Steve:opening credit until.
Leif:Your shirt at the atelier Eleanor is
Leif:really opening up with Jenny about her
Leif:insecurities. Jenny returns the favor by opening up to the
Leif:Eleanor. She talks about how one of Eleanor's dresses
Leif:inspired Jenny to take up fashion in the first place.
Steve:Yeah. And, yeah, this was the one that I was thinking of where. Where
Steve:they really. Where she. Where she lays that
Steve:out. That, like, And she's like, you don't have to, like,
Steve:tell me these things. She's like, no, like, you're. You're the reason I'm
Steve:here. Yeah. Like, which also,
Steve:if you think about it, really explains
Steve:we didn't know that beforehand. And it really gives a lot of
Steve:background as to why she turned down,
Steve:what was her name in the other episode?
Leif:Tinsley Mortimer.
Steve:Tinsley Mortimer. Why she turned down Tinsley
Steve:Mortimer's internship. Yeah.
Leif:In the elevator, things are heating up with Dan, but not
Leif:in the sexy way. Like, last week, they finally admit
Leif:that they forgive each other for their sins, but Dan's issues are
Leif:going to prevent them from working as a couple.
Steve:They had the time to sit and
Steve:discuss. Yeah.
Leif:They were forced to finally, finally work it out.
Steve:Yeah. And they. And that was my thing is
Steve:that, like, for one, I felt like the catalyst was kind
Steve:of dumb. Like, the. Tell the people
Steve:that the name of the person in the
Steve:elevator because she lives there, but, like, they could
Steve:have worked it out and they decided to
Steve:just not talk and just,
Steve:like, ignore it. And that bothered me because there was.
Leif:That period of they both knew is not
Leif:right.
Steve:And that's why.
Leif:That's why they didn't want to talk.
Steve:Yeah. I don't know. I feel like there was.
Steve:I feel. I feel like if Dan wasn't such a pretentious
Steve:dick, there was anything.
Leif:They're both who they are, so it's just, they are not right at this.
Leif:At least at this time.
Steve:Yeah, I get that. But also, like, I think Dan's an idiot.
Leif:Oh, yeah, he's definitely an idiot. He's
Leif:judgmental.
Steve:Yeah. If Dan could get over his shit, like you
Steve:said in. In. In your.
Steve:In your scene by scene, like, if Dan could get
Steve:over his shit, then they could work
Steve:it out.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:It's Dan just being too wrapped up
Steve:in his own judgmental shit.
Leif:Nate is looking for Vanessa, but finds Katherine
Leif:instead. The lights come back on and it
Leif:looks like Nate is still trapped.
Steve:Yeah. I don't think I even had a note for this
Steve:because they just. Yeah, yeah.
Leif:Just end the story already, please.
Leif:Marcus enters players river to fight. Find, her getting hot
Leif:and heavy with Chucky boy.
Steve:I mean, she looks guilty. Yeah.
Steve:And it also makes me realize Chuck doesn't get punched
Steve:enough.
Leif:Yeah, he should get punched more.
Steve:Yeah, like. Like, it should be, like, an episode
Steve:activity, like the weekly punching of Chuck,
Steve:but. But, it was nice to see him get punched.
Leif:Although Marcus looked like deranged.
Steve:Marcus look like what?
Leif:You look deranged.
Steve:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I I believe that
Steve:that was because the guy playing Marcus is not
Steve:a very good actor. Yeah, but that.
Steve:That could be me.
Leif:But, yeah, he looked, like, super sweaty, and his eyes were, like, all
Leif:sucking in and, like.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Just looking sickly almost.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:So that is the end of act three. We move into the epilogue.
Leif:Blair tells Marcus that she thought Chuck was
Leif:him. Chuck claims Blair knew exactly who
Leif:it was. And then Marcus steps in and punches
Leif:Chuck and storms out.
Steve:Well, my bad. That's where you get punched.
Steve:Yeah, but it doesn't get punched enough.
Leif:Blair follows after him, and Marcus demands
Leif:the truth in front of all the guests. Blair admits that
Leif:she did know his chuck, that it was Marcus just wasn't
Leif:making shit happen. Marcus is
Leif:having his manhunt challenge immediately rises to the bait
Leif:and plants a big, fat smooch on Blair.
Leif:Chuck is forced to look on in defeat.
Steve:So, I mean, it's another Chuck scheme
Steve:backfiring. Yeah, because it only pushed
Steve:them closer together. But also, like, couple of
Steve:things that just. First of all, the fact that Blair
Steve:was like, you need to have sex with me now at this
Steve:party. And he was like, let's not
Steve:at this party right now. And she's like, no.
Steve:And then, like, well, I get the.
Leif:Sense that this has been building up, but, yeah, it
Leif:kind of showed that it's, you know, she's been antsy for, like, a week
Leif:or two now.
Steve:Yeah, we do get that impression. And, like, you know,
Steve:the whole, like, chuck pushing it over the edge thing
Steve:by their whole encounter, the whispering,
Steve:but for it to end with him being like,
Steve:okay, I'll show you. And I'm going to just make out with you right here
Steve:in front of all these people. And it's like, it was
Steve:such a.
Leif:Nineties, early 2000 macho type thing.
Steve:It really was.
Leif:And you're gonna challenge my manhood?
Steve:Yeah. And, like, okay, I'll show
Steve:you how passionate I am. And it was like,
Steve:yeah, yeah, I didn't buy it. Like,
Steve:Chuck. It didn't look like it. It looked like
Steve:you're backfired. But, just give it a week.
Leif:Nate catches Vanessa just as she is leaving.
Leif:Vanessa tearfully tells Nate that he should be with
Leif:katherine. Katherine slips Nate a hotel
Leif:card and tells him to meet her tomorrow.
Steve:I really felt for Vanessa and Nate in this scene,
Steve:too. Like, vanessa really looks
Steve:upset and really looks hurt, and I
Steve:felt for her and all, but, like, with Nate, like,
Steve:really? You want me to be with her?
Steve:Okay, I
Steve:guess. Vanessa says I should keep being with you for
Steve:the money. Like, come on. Come on,
Steve:chase. You're better than that.
Leif:Jenny is getting ready to leave now that the power is
Leif:back. Good dad. Rufus shows up, date in tow,
Leif:to pick up jenny. Eleanor reinstates jenny
Leif:and immediately puts Jenny, Rufus, and Rufus date
Leif:to work.
Steve:Robin even pointed out I wasn't supposed to mention her name
Steve:again. I told her I'll give her a second shout out when she starts watching the
Steve:show.
Steve:but, she pointed out that, like,
Steve:everyone is Eleanor's gopher too.
Steve:Like, can your dad just go pick us up some takeout?
Steve:And, his friend here, if she can get the drinks and if, just,
Steve:like, sending people out for food that you just
Steve:met.
Leif:Yes. Ah, it extends to other people later in later
Leif:seasons, too.
Steve:I thought it was so great, and I felt like,
Steve:again, it felt. She
Steve:sells it, though. And if Eleanor Waldorf
Steve:turned to me and said, hey, I need you
Steve:to go get me chinese food, I don't think I could say
Steve:no.
Leif:The power is back on, and Dan and Serena
Leif:are saying goodbye. It looks like the OG
Leif:golden couple is not meant to be.
Leif:Dan just needs to get over his issues, because as we see
Leif:the door close, Serena declares that she loves
Leif:Daniel.
Steve:Yeah. And, like, Dan, you're just
Steve:as fucking dumb as the end of season one. And,
Steve:like. And really, it was like, what was
Steve:the purpose of this little three episode
Steve:epilogue? Why did you put us all through this
Steve:again?
Leif:Yeah, it should have just moved on.
Steve:And honestly, I'm not. I I'm
Steve:not completely sold that this is done,
Steve:because I feel like it sometimes takes them
Steve:three episodes to break up in this show.
Leif:Yeah. Well, of course. The next episode is called the x
Leif:Files. Chuck has Ann Markley in the back
Leif:of his limo, eager, for round two. She seems
Leif:ready to go, but Chuck rises. He only wants to be with
Leif:Blair. Oh, Chuck.
Leif:Now stop being a sex pass and be a decent
Leif:person.
Steve:Yeah, and also fucking rude.
Steve:My note there is fucking rude.
Leif:Yeah, she was just trying to get her not.
Steve:Yeah. And he's like. And he's like, oh, I am all
Steve:better, just not for you. Like, oh, you
Steve:dick.
Leif:You, can at least go down on her.
Steve:Yeah, like, make it worth her while.
Leif:Back in Brooklyn. Dan investor. Bemoaning their
Leif:respective failed relationships, Vanessa reveals
Leif:Catherine threatened to reveal the captain's locations of the
Leif:FBI if Nate leaves her. Is Nate's dick
Leif:actually the fountain of youth? Surely there are other.
Leif:There are other attractive young men in New York that would be all too
Leif:happy to sleep with Katherine. Why is she so
Leif:thirsty that she has to resort to
Leif:bribing and blackmailing
Leif:teenagers? Note the pluralization of
Leif:teenagers now.
Steve:Yeah. Yes. She's now
Steve:blackmailing multiple teenagers. And,
Steve:like, yeah, you know, she might
Steve:turn in Nate's dad, but what about, like, the
Steve:sex trafficking and soliciting of a minor
Steve:that she's doing? Like, she. You've got stuff on
Steve:her, too, Vanessa. And also, please don't do
Steve:the damn Vanessa. I, keep seeing it coming
Steve:like this fucking freight train.
Leif:I like this scene, though. I thought it was a good friendship scene.
Steve:I, thought it was a great friendship scene. I'm worried about it getting
Steve:romantic. I just feel like they were definitely.
Leif:Hot and sweaty together.
Steve:Yeah. And they're all gonna fuck.
Leif:And why wouldn't they? They all look great.
Steve:Like, why wouldn't any of them? Why don't they all
Steve:just have a big cess tuple? Yeah. And just
Steve:call it a day.
Leif:Yep.
Steve:Just. Just live in a, big fucking
Steve:beach house together and make the most
Steve:beautiful babies. All of them. Yeah.
Leif:But that is our episode. So, any
Leif:predictions?
Steve:I guess that's a little more small.
Steve:It's a little more Chloe from small
Steve:bill.
Steve:Anyway, predictions? the Dan Vanessa
Steve:ship seems like it's coming closer. I keep
Steve:feeling like they're trying to set that up.
Leif:So, any guesses on what's
Leif:going on with Marcus? Why he doesn't. Why
Leif:he doesn't like to have sex with his girlfriend?
Steve:the fact that you had brought up. Did
Steve:you bring up his dad? Like, maybe that she knows it? Cause
Steve:his dad's like that.
Steve:but, you know, I. There's the.
Steve:The thought of, is this. Is he an asexual
Steve:character? Like, is that a thing that they're going to bring
Steve:into the show and discuss? That would be
Steve:cool, but I feel like it's probably some kind of
Steve:royal snobbery or some kind of stuff like
Steve:that. Or maybe he doesn't want to go to jail
Steve:as, like, a 32 year old sleeping
Steve:with a 17 year old.
Leif:It's New York. It's all good.
Steve:It's New York.
Leif:It's even. I think it's 16 in
Leif:Pennsylvania.
Steve:It is. Well, it is,
Steve:but there are certain like, other
Steve:caveats to that, like police and,
Steve:like, teachers and certain, like,
Steve:professions that it is actually still, like,
Steve:illegal lords.
Steve:That's why I brought it up, because it is
Steve:typically things where it is positions of
Steve:power that make it
Steve:illegal. But this also doesn't seem like that's, like, a
Steve:profession. Like, he's in a position of
Steve:power, but I feel like it's one of
Steve:those positions of power that would make it
Steve:disgustingly easy to get
Steve:away with doing this, which,
Steve:like, unity. Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:Let's go ahead and get into some segments
Leif:we're gonna go to this week in fandom. jumped into the
Leif:wayback machine to check out the television without pity
Leif:forums, and I'm here with my boy Steve. Say hello,
Leif:Steve.
Steve:Hey, what's up, everybody?
Leif:Not. Not a rocky aboical fan.
Steve:Not a what?
Leif:Rocky aboical fan.
Steve:Not really. Like, a little bit, but, like,
Steve:not. Not much.
Leif:Yeah, that's the line from the, Peabody.
Leif:Hello, there. Peabody here.
Steve:And this is the wayback machine for traveling through time.
Steve:And this is my boy Sherman. Speak.
Steve:Sherman. Hello. Good boy.
Leif:Oh.
Steve:Oh, bye. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Leif:So in the forums, chuck and
Leif:Blair are fire. Like.
Leif:Yeah, they were, they were wet in their panties
Leif:on the forums for Chuck and Blair.
Steve:Yeah, I get it.
Leif:I mean, like, the scenes were sexy.
Steve:Yeah. And he sure can whisper.
Leif:Yes.
Steve:Very inevitably.
Leif:Very talented. Whisper that.
Steve:Very odd, talented, inaudible whisperer.
Leif:Get good with his mouth.
Steve:Honestly, it is such a great. It is such
Steve:a cliche, but such a great, like,
Steve:where you have the guy whisper
Steve:into the ear and the woman, like,
Steve:visually note, like. Like it because, like.
Steve:Because the thing is, is that no man actually knows what they're
Steve:saying when they're doing.
Leif:Like.
Steve:Like, we're all like, whoa, that guy pulled it all.
Leif:More vibes from Rufus of Vanessa.
Leif:Yeah, we noted that. Yeah, well,
Leif:Marcus has a bad accent and no chemistry with Layton.
Steve:Yep. Zero chemistry. Terrible accent.
Steve:Yeah. I think that the no chemistry was by design,
Steve:though. I feel like it is because
Steve:they're trying to make this
Steve:non passionate, this passion
Steve:free relationship. I'm. That that might
Steve:have been by design.
Leif:Majority of the people were happy about Stanis arena breaking
Leif:up.
Steve:Dumb. Majority of the people are dumb.
Leif:They're clearly not working.
Steve:I know, I know, I know. But I feel like. But I'm
Steve:mad.
Leif:And they were never work. They were never going to work.
Steve:I know, but I still. I'm mad that
Steve:Dan can't grow up. Let me have
Steve:that. Let me have that.
Leif:The problem started before they even started dating, though.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:It's because he put her on a pedestal
Leif:and then couldn't make sure that she was not that person.
Steve:Yeah. Yep.
Leif:But, you know, he's a teenager. He'll learn. Hopefully.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:People actually like Vanessa for once.
Steve:Yeah. She was. She. She was great in this
Steve:episode as a human being and as a
Steve:person. Her acting was
Steve:on par for Vanessa, but, like,
Steve:which, not to shit on her acting, I think that she
Steve:just always plays Vanessa, you know? But, like,
Steve:I thought that her. She was really well written this
Steve:episode.
Leif:They were definitely all swooning over
Leif:Chuck, and no one was really buying the
Leif:nervous penis storyline.
Steve:Oh. You know, I mean,
Steve:I think that makes so much sense for a Chuck
Steve:storyline. Like, I think that, And,
Steve:yeah, I find it to be completely believable.
Leif:He's 17.
Steve:Yeah. But they also don't really portray them as
Steve:teenagers all the time. Right. Like, they make
Steve:them have grown up problems
Steve:a lot.
Leif:Yeah. I don't really buy it.
Leif:When I was 17, a slight breeze got me
Leif:there.
Steve:Yes. I mean, you're not
Steve:wrong.
Leif:I just move it around that. Those silk boxes
Leif:I'm sure he wears.
Steve:Yeah, I know. Yeah.
Leif:I'd be hard constantly.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:And then also much more positive about
Leif:Jenny's storyline this season compared with last season.
Leif:Yeah, I agree.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:I like her being ambitious in a
Leif:career oriented rather than being. Trying to be a mean
Leif:girl.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:Dan stock continues to plummet.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:But they were impressed with Penn's acting.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:I did think the season with him and Serena were really,
Leif:really good.
Steve:Yeah. No, yeah. No, both did a really good job.
Leif:More positive than negative for chair. But a few people are
Leif:already anticipating it, dragging out, like, Seth and
Leif:summer from the OC and becoming stale.
Steve:That's fair.
Leif:A few people were negative towards and even
Leif:slut shaming Blair.
Steve:I I can see it. I can see
Steve:it. Especially. Especially then. Especially, you
Steve:know, twelve years ago.
Leif:And so it's kind of interesting.
Leif:This is the same kind of thing. They got her
Leif:dethroned in season one, getting caught hooking
Leif:up with two guys.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah. But this time she was very
Steve:public about it. Yeah.
Leif:You know, it doesn't seem to be any repercussions either.
Steve:Yeah. I mean, we. Although we have not seen
Steve:anything after that.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:So. But, yeah, it did seem
Steve:very much like everyone, it seemed like
Steve:everyone was like. Yeah, we get it. Blair, he's a dud.
Leif:Now, a couple people seem to think something's
Leif:going on between Marcus and Katherine.
Steve:I've had that suspicion in the
Steve:previous episode, the fact that she always chases
Steve:away the girlfriends. Right. And the fact that she always,
Steve:like, gets in the way and that he doesn't
Steve:like how she is around them, the fact that she is a child
Steve:predator. Those things both kind of lead
Steve:me to say, like, maybe she made a pass at him
Steve:at some point, and he was like, no,
Steve:because why does she know that he
Steve:doesn't have sex? I
Steve:feel like.
Leif:Is there any chance that he's gay?
Steve:I think that's possible, too. I just feel
Steve:like they already did that. You know? I.
Steve:That was one of my thoughts, especially a
Steve:couple minutes ago when you asked.
Leif:Like, but they did with Jenny.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:And this show loves to parallel itself.
Steve:Oh, it does? Yeah. I mean, because I
Steve:also had that thought, too. I just wouldn't think that
Steve:they would want to go back to that well already.
Steve:That was the only reason I didn't. But then again, I think maybe I.
Steve:Sometimes I give this show too much.
Leif:We do. We do know, like, Eric likes those, older
Leif:looking, taller guys.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah, the. Eric likes those 30 year
Steve:olds.
Leif:That is it for the forums for this week, so let's go
Leif:ahead and move into some episode grades.
Steve:All right. I think I go first.
Leif:Yes, you are first.
Steve:All right. Yeah. Let's do some episode grades.
Steve:First of all, I gave this one a, solid b.
Steve:I thought it was a good, solid episode.
Steve:I enjoyed it a lot more. It was my favorite
Steve:of season two so far. I, like you said,
Steve:I feel like it had its place among
Steve:season one episodes, except for the.
Steve:The only thing that's out of place is
Steve:the soap opera storyline that we didn't
Steve:have quite that level of soap opera in.
Steve:In season one, but, like, I found the
Steve:Dan and Serena stuff annoyed me. Like I said,
Steve:the. The little j. And I Eleanor
Steve:seems predictable but amazing,
Steve:like, cliche, but so well done. This
Steve:show can work a cliche that is something that it has
Steve:done a m few times. The whole
Steve:Nate, Vanessa Catherine thing is gross, but it's
Steve:still intriguing and
Steve:engaging. and chair. Being chair.
Steve:I don't like it when Catherine gets the best of Blair. I don't like
Steve:it when she gets Blair on her back heels.
Leif:This is Blair now.
Steve:what?
Leif:This is Blair now?
Steve:Yeah. Just on her back heels.
Leif:Well, not necessarily that, but she's. She's all. She's always
Leif:feeding on insecurities that they really are going to play that
Leif:up going forward. She's. She has these
Leif:insecurities, and she. She's clever,
Leif:but she's not the smartest person in the room.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:She's. She does not. She's vicious and
Leif:she'll go to any lengths.
Leif:And she's definitely clever and she is smart, but she's
Leif:not the smartest.
Steve:Yeah, that's fair. But, yeah,
Steve:overall, solid b.
Leif:So I thought this episode, great directing, the use
Leif:of the blackout as a set piece was great. I think it
Leif:worked really well.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Then we also had great acting. Both the
Leif:sarita and Dan scenes and Eleanor and Jenny
Leif:scenes were both standouts.
Leif:And I thought the writing was, you know,
Leif:outside of the Catherine and Nate
Leif:stuff, that that's the only thing. It really brought it down, so I actually gave it an
Leif:a minus.
Steve:That's fair. I don't think that's a. I, think that is a
Steve:fair grade. Yeah.
Leif:Let's go ahead and move the stock watch.
Leif:What do you got going up?
Steve:All right. Going up. for one, I was really torn
Steve:on Vanessa because she kind of loses out in the
Steve:end. But I felt like she was just such
Steve:a good, empathetic person that I had
Steve:Vanessa going up. I had
Steve:Jenny and Eleanor both going up because
Steve:they both, in both
Steve:performance wise and as characters, they
Steve:both had growth, like
Steve:visible growth in one episode. So
Steve:both of them, I had Rufus going up. Rufus
Steve:got. Rufus is dating. Good job, Rufus.
Steve:Get way to get back out there. But that's all that I had going
Steve:up.
Leif:for me, I definitely had Jenny. she, you know, started
Leif:off looked like she was going to get fired, but, you know, obviously pulled
Leif:through in the end and had some good bonding with
Leif:Eleanor. Eleanor, also, she. She
Leif:got good bonding with Jenny. And we got some more
Leif:layers to her. Like we got roman holiday. So I like
Leif:that Rufus, like you said, he's
Leif:dating. And, I by far the best parent because he's the only parent
Leif:that actually cared about his kids at the blackout.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:The only one to actually check on this child.
Steve:Yeah. Who went out in the blackout to find his
Steve:kid.
Leif:Yes. and then I also had dance
Leif:Renee going up because I think
Leif:they needed to have this happen. And they just,
Leif:you know, they were treading water for the past two
Leif:episodes and now they're finally out of
Leif:this and they can move on to, hopefully they could be
Leif:friends and, you know, still remain in the same orbit
Leif:because otherwise we got the two shows. Yeah, we
Leif:got. So we gotta kind of figure out a way for them to
Leif:still interact.
Steve:Which they've been really good at so far with every other
Steve:ex relationship.
Leif:But that. That's it for going up for me and you got going
Leif:down.
Steve:I have both of them going down, and I feel like the
Steve:breakup sends them down, and they got to go down
Steve:before they go up. I feel like they've kind of hit a rock
Steve:bottom here, too, which is much better than, like, a Chuck
Steve:rock bottom. I have Laurel going down because.
Steve:Fuck you, Laurel. Yeah.
Leif:I didn't even care enough about her to.
Steve:I just. I actually had her more as an
Steve:afterthought, but I wanted to make sure to
Steve:knock her down because. For being so shitty to
Steve:little j. And then I had Nate and Katherine, both
Steve:of them both going down because, God,
Steve:she's important. Eight.
Leif:Poor fucking for me. Chuck,
Leif:he loses this episode big.
Leif:Blair because she. She's humiliated
Leif:and acts a fool. Marcus because
Leif:he got cuck. Nate obviously is still
Leif:getting raped.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah.
Leif:Catherine being a rape.
Leif:And I gave Vanessa because even though I
Leif:liked her performance and I liked. I understood, I felt
Leif:bad for her. She clearly lost this episode.
Steve:yeah. And it's funny, I think that I really
Steve:like that she got an up and a down because I
Steve:really felt like both things happened
Steve:to her. Yeah. That there was character growth and
Steve:some great stuff, but also, she lost in the
Steve:end. And I also am glad that you
Steve:gave Blair, Chuck,
Steve:and Marcus the down because I didn't think
Steve:it was quite enough to send them down, but I
Steve:got it. And, like, I think they. Yeah. So I
Steve:think that I, like. I'm actually really happy with today's
Steve:stock watch.
Leif:Well, that is it for stock watch. who do you have for best
Leif:outfit?
Steve:But here's the best outfits from the last
Steve:episode we seen,
Steve:Chuck's pajamas. I thought those were just
Steve:fucking dope, and I want to wear them.
Leif:So I felt bad for Vanessa voting you're down,
Leif:so I'm going to give her the best outfit. I thought overall, she had
Leif:a couple of good outfits, but the one I gave it to
Leif:was the flower print maxi dress, from the
Leif:Jovic Hawk
Leif:2007 collection. And she also had,
Leif:like, the necklace with, like, the hoop, and I had two red
Leif:stones that kind of, like cranberries that kind of worked well
Leif:with the flowers.
Steve:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very cool.
Leif:That is it for segments. Let's go ahead and move
Leif:into plugs. Anything plug recommend this
Leif:week?
Steve:I. Would recommend watching. I think
Steve:I brought it up before, but I would definitely recommend watching the
Steve:sympathizer on, on Max.
Steve:It's a show about a, north
Steve:vietnamese spy
Steve:during the fall of Saigon and the
Steve:end of the Vietnam war, and it's just a
Steve:really cool spy
Steve:show intrigue. Fun
Steve:watch for me.
Leif:I am going to go ahead and recommend book
Leif:smart. I know I'm a little late on this one. It came out in
Leif:2019. It is a, teen
Leif:coming of age movie. I think it's best
Leif:described as super bad for Gen Z.
Leif:so yeah, it's very funny. Good to see that they are still
Leif:making like broad sheet teeny comedies.
Leif:So I really enjoyed that. So if you're a fan of super, I definitely
Leif:recommend it.
Steve:Yeah, I'll check that out.
Leif:And you can follow me on social media at
Leif:ah, hot capicola on Instagram. You can
Leif:follow the podcast at ah, nonjudging breakfast
Leif:pod on Instagram and TikTok and threads
Leif:and on Twitter. We are at NJB pod.
Leif:We also now have a website. You can find us at
Leif:nonjudging breakfast pod.com. nonjudging
Leif:breakfastpod.com and there you can find links to our
Leif:Reddit and discord servers.
Steve:Yeah, and you can feel free to follow me on
Steve:Instagram and TikTok at Steve
Steve:Dot Marshan Marchion.
Steve:And also if you want
Steve:to get in touch with us and send us an email, we'd love
Steve:to hear your thoughts. We'd love to hear your suggestions and read them
Steve:on the air. Our email address is
Steve:nonjudgingbreakfastpodmail.com.
Steve:and also please hit that little like
Steve:follow subscribe button. and
Steve:also tell your friends what you're listening to and get them
Steve:to listen to the non judging breakfast pod with
Steve:you.
Leif:Yeah, give us a review on iTunes. It
Leif:definitely helps with visibility a lot. We will
Leif:be back next week to talk about season two,
Leif:episode four, the X Files. The
Leif:max episode preview reads, vanessa learns
Leif:a scandalous secret and enlistsenhe Blair's
Leif:help.
Steve:Yeah, I love
Steve:the idea of a Blair
Steve:Vanessa team up. I'm here for
Steve:that because, like, for
Steve:Vanessa to go to Blair, it says a
Steve:lot, but also the fact that, like,
Steve:blair loves the challenge and Blair loves the
Steve:scheme.
Leif:So, I mean, the secret has to be what's going on with Marcus,
Leif:right?
Steve:Yeah, yeah, I mean, I figure it has to be.
Steve:And yeah, I, think it has to be
Steve:the, the katherine Marcus
Steve:thing. I'm really excited for this
Steve:episode.
Leif:we will be back next week. Until next time. You know you
Leif:love us. Xoxo.
Steve:Take care.
Steve:Every time you walk away run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away run away run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:oh it seems I'm walking right.
Steve:To your door.
Steve:My heart's still resting looking for
Steve:something more
Steve:are you ever gonna see everything thing you mean to
Steve:me I'm trying really hard to believe
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:never feels right when I'm out here on
Steve:my own
Steve:I left last night and it feels like
Steve:way too long
Steve:are you ever gonna see everything you mean
Steve:to me? I'm trying really hard to believe
Steve:every time you walk away, run away you take a piece
Steve:of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you.
Steve:There.
Steve:Come back to me
Steve:smile and you'll make my life
Steve:complete
Steve:every time you walk away I run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away, run away take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away, run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away and run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there.