Episode 4

Gossip Girl S2E04 - The Ex Files

Summary

In this episode of the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve dive into Season 2, Episode 4 of Gossip Girl, titled "The Ex Files." They explore the scandalous secrets, dramatic confrontations, and shifting power dynamics among the Upper East Side elite. From Vanessa discovering Katherine's affair with Marcus to Serena's unexpected rise as the new queen bee, the hosts break down every juicy detail. They discuss the intricate schemes orchestrated by Chuck, the emotional turmoil of Serena and Dan's breakup, and the fallout from Blair's dethroning. Along the way, they share their thoughts on the episode's writing, directing, and acting, while also touching on some behind-the-scenes gossip and fandom reactions from 2008.

Keywords

Gossip Girl, Season 2, Episode 4, The Ex Files, scandal, affair, breakup, power dynamics, Chuck Bass, Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Vanessa Abrams, Nate Archibald, Katherine, Marcus, emotional turmoil, dethroning, schemes, drama, Upper East Side

00:00 Introduction and Random Facts

09:02 Eagles Game and Sports Talk

17:12 Pathfinder Game Anecdote

22:22 Gossip Girl Season 2, Episode 4 Overview

27:32 Breakfast Scene with Serena, Eric, and Lily

47:02 Dan and Serena's Awkward Encounter

51:07 Blair's Schemes and Chuck's Manipulations

53:47 Vanessa's Discovery and Confrontation

01:04:00 Dan and Amanda's Date and Serena's Reaction

01:06:26 Lily and Rufus' Complicated Relationship

01:10:00 Blair's Master Plan and Vanessa's Interference

01:15:00 Serena's Transformation and Rise to Power

01:20:00 Final Thoughts and Predictions

01:25:00 Fandom Reactions and Episode Grades

01:30:00 Best Outfits and Plugs

01:35:00 Sign-Off and Teaser for Next Episode

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
Leif:

That was a really weird, gross scene, I thought. But they agreed,

Leif:

they were gonna both let the past go and move

Leif:

forward.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

So fucking move forward.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Willy, what the fuck are you doing? And Rufus, why are

Leif:

you even entertaining this at this point?

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

Leif:

waffles are freshen, and the gossip is hotter than

Leif:

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

Leif:

girl veteran.

Leif:

And I'm Steve the newbie. The

Leif:

greenhorn. I don't know, Leif. What do you call the

Leif:

new kid on the block in second season terms

Leif:

in Gossip Girl?

Leif:

I don't know, but if you keep sneaking up on me, I think we gotta put a

Leif:

bell on you.

Leif:

Kinky. Think about it. Oh. Yo.

Leif:

So here's the deal, folks. Leif is watching.

Leif:

Leif is a fan of Gossip Girl since it first

Leif:

aired, and I'm watching for the very first time. And together,

Leif:

we're your dynamic duo, bringing you all the

Leif:

drama, romance, and sometimes questionable

Leif:

fashion choices of this iconic

Leif:

2007 series.

Leif:

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

Leif:

dive, analyzing the show one episode at a

Leif:

time. We're going to look at all the obscure references,

Leif:

parallels, and of course, the couture

Leif:

catastrophes. And along the way, we're also going to

Leif:

be looking at some fandom stories and some

Leif:

behind the scenes gossip.

Leif:

And, since we are all about inclusivity here at the non

Leif:

judging breakfast pod, there is room for

Leif:

you at the non judging breakfast table. So go ahead

Leif:

and grab your m mimosa or a cup of coffee or

Leif:

some of Chuck's special medicine if it's that kind of

Leif:

morning. And let's go ahead and get started.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

So, this episode will be coming out on

Leif:

September 9, which means we're, three

Leif:

days out from the eagles first game

Leif:

of the season.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

We are all Brazil.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Who are we playing?

Leif:

Packers.

Leif:

The packers. Starting off against? Oh, that's the m. Is that the

Leif:

Mexico game?

Leif:

Brazil.

Leif:

Brazil. In Brazil. Yeah, they actually were.

Leif:

You're not allowed to wear green.

Leif:

Not allowed to wear green. I was just about to say that that

Leif:

is like that. That they're worried about

Leif:

the gang colors. And so, I'm guessing

Leif:

it'll be a black and white.

Leif:

Thank God for football season. Cause I know you like baseball, and I

Leif:

do root for the Phillies, but this is the worst time of the year

Leif:

for me, sports wise.

Leif:

And. And right now, like, right now, when this

Leif:

airs. I cannot imagine how fucking stoked I'm gonna

Leif:

be if they keep going the way the Phillies are always

Leif:

really great.

Leif:

So that's awesome. But, yeah, I just can't take the grind

Leif:

of the baseball season.

Leif:

I love it. I watch, I watch almost every

Leif:

single game. I watch every game I can

Leif:

or I listen on the radio. I'm just an absolute

Leif:

nut. And, like, I love going to, like, minor league

Leif:

games. I'm going to the Trenton Thunder on Sunday and

Leif:

then I'm going to the Phillies on Monday. So,

Leif:

also, I want to say happy birthday to

Leif:

the wife of the pod, Robin. It was her

Leif:

birthday yesterday.

Leif:

Happy belated birthday.

Leif:

Yeah, happy belated birthday, Robin.

Leif:

and even though we don't know whether or not you're

Leif:

ever going to see this, this should be the only place I wish her a happy

Leif:

birthday

Leif:

and be like, oh, I did wish you a happy birthday.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

I'll vouch for you

Leif:

back to June when we're recording this. I heard you murdered

Leif:

someone this week.

Leif:

Oh, so I did. Once

Leif:

again, this is the third time I've killed

Leif:

Dan. I run a Pathfinder game on Wednesdays,

Leif:

and it is the third time that I have killed the

Leif:

magus. We play with a gentleman named Adam Freire, and

Leif:

we have developed the Adam Freire guide to

Leif:

frontline fighters. And the number one

Leif:

rule is a minimum of

Leif:

ten hit points per level.

Leif:

So these guys are a 10th level

Leif:

party. So to be a frontline

Leif:

character in the way that we

Leif:

play, your best bet is to have 100 hit points at

Leif:

this. At least. At least. If you're going to

Leif:

be upfront, visible,

Leif:

and sometimes the only target available, which is

Leif:

all of the boxes that were checked last night, you

Leif:

need at least 100. Give me a guess

Leif:

on the hit points.

Leif:

90 lower.

Leif:

Ouch. 85

Leif:

lower. Wow. Is he

Leif:

not leveling?

Leif:

I, I. You're. You're

Leif:

going to be shocked.

Leif:

70 lower. Okay, just.

Leif:

Just.

Leif:

He was at.

Leif:

What's the point?

Leif:

He had 60 hit points.

Leif:

And how. I don't know.

Leif:

But. But when I killed him, it

Leif:

was. I remember, like, I. It

Leif:

was. I was. I had to quicken. Scorching Ray and an attack.

Leif:

I hit him with a quick and scorching ray and an attack. And

Leif:

then the other guy went and hit him with a quick and scorching

Leif:

ray. I wasn't even rolling enough

Leif:

dice. I was rolling five e dice

Leif:

in a Pathfinder game. I was rolling three d

Leif:

six per ray instead of four. When he

Leif:

said, well, that's it. I'm dead. I was like, I

Leif:

barely hit you. Like, I barely hit

Leif:

you. How are you dead? And I kind of felt bad

Leif:

because it was the third time I killed him.

Leif:

But then when he said he had 60 hit points and

Leif:

everyone at the table gasped,

Leif:

Isaiah was like, minimum ten per level,

Leif:

bro. Minimum ten per level.

Leif:

What are you thinking? He's like, we're. We're

Leif:

in a world where we just fought Lamias and there

Leif:

are magical beasts just walking around. How are you at

Leif:

six? He's like, I'm a wizard at 85.

Leif:

Yeah, that something's to got to be

Leif:

wrong there. That's got. That's impossible.

Leif:

Speaker two. He had a zero con. He had a plus zero con.

Leif:

He had a decent ac, but he was also the

Leif:

most hittable in the party. Like, he had the lowest

Leif:

ac and the lowest hp,

Leif:

and. And in that. In that particular

Leif:

combat, they were fighting genies. They put up a

Leif:

wall at fire.

Leif:

In a ring around too much playing five e.

Leif:

Yeah. So

Leif:

today we are here to talk about Gossip Girl, season two,

Leif:

episode four, the X Files.

Leif:

Yes, of course.

Leif:

A take on the X Files.

Leif:

The X Files. Yeah, I.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah, I definitely. I mean, I was a

Leif:

huge X Files fan. And, fun, for a while.

Leif:

Yeah, I was a huge fan.

Leif:

I got into it. I feel like the movie was, like,

Leif:

announced, and my. My roommate was,

Leif:

like, super into it and then got me

Leif:

into it, and we went and there it was, playing enough

Leif:

that we were able to watch from the beginning.

Leif:

And, by the time the movie came out, I was already kind of bored with

Leif:

it.

Leif:

But being that that's when I got into

Leif:

it, it made it more.

Leif:

You know, it was more interesting to me

Leif:

because that's when I got into it.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

but, yeah. And then it just did. It went on too long

Leif:

with. Not. With no real

Leif:

conclusion to it, no real answers.

Leif:

But I loved it for a while.

Leif:

This episode originally aired on September 22,

Leif:

2008. The Gossip Girl

Leif:

wiki episode description reads, vanessa

Leif:

discovers a scandalous secret about Katherine and enlists

Leif:

Blair's scheming expertise to use

Leif:

the information to help Nate. Meanwhile,

Leif:

Lily finds herself drawn back to

Leif:

her ex Rufus once again, and Dan and

Leif:

Serena face off in light of their breakup.

Leif:

Yeah, accurate.

Leif:

Written by Robert hall. This is his

Leif:

first of, ten episodes writing Gotham. Segura

Leif:

also had credits for Veronica Maurar's Once

Leif:

Upon a Time and Gotham.

Leif:

Okay, that's the second Gotham writer that

Leif:

we've had. Gotham was well after this, right?

Leif:

Yeah. Was that Cw

Leif:

Fox?

Leif:

maybe.

Leif:

Yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right. And that

Leif:

was also the dude from the OC.

Leif:

Yes. Brian, Ben Mackenzie.

Leif:

Ben McKenzie played, commissioner Gordon. Really liked the

Leif:

first season of that show. Yeah, I felt like it kind of

Leif:

didn't know what to do. I feel like they were

Leif:

like, oh, this will never get through the. This will never go

Leif:

anywhere. And then they made this great first season, and they're like,

Leif:

oh, it is going somewhere.

Leif:

This episode was directed by Jim

Leif:

McKay. Only episode of Gossip Girl. This

Leif:

guy's got a kind of unusual career. Like, he does, like,

Leif:

one or two episodes of, like, a bunch of

Leif:

shows, including stuff like the Wire,

Leif:

breaking bad, interesting. Big love,

Leif:

blue bloods, treme, and then

Leif:

I've never seen any of his movies. Our song,

Leif:

girls town, and everyday people.

Leif:

That is. That. That is an interesting resume.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

He stick around? Like, I guess maybe he's just trying to learn.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

I was gonna say, either he's

Leif:

really difficult to work with and people don't want him

Leif:

around long, or he's just one of those.

Leif:

I want to pop in and. And try

Leif:

this out.

Leif:

Yeah. You know, we get into the

Leif:

episode. Wakey, wakey, Upper east

Leif:

siders. Welcome to the first day of senior year. And

Leif:

in the onset of a new social

Leif:

dynasty, the big question is, was

Leif:

Serena single and on top of the world? Will

Leif:

Katsus become the house of Vanderwitson?

Leif:

So they have the foreshadowing here, and there's

Leif:

a bit in this scene. There's quite a bit in this scene of the.

Leif:

Of foreshadowing, the end of

Leif:

this and

Leif:

the crowning of Queen s, which

Leif:

I thought that was really interesting to see in the

Leif:

gossip girl monologue.

Leif:

And then we open with Serena, Eric, and Lily

Leif:

eating a very delicious looking breakfast. Lily

Leif:

and Serena are, being cute mother and daughter for once.

Leif:

It's ruined by Chuck walking in and making a gross

Leif:

quip. He also reveals that Dan, Serena broke

Leif:

up and that the throne is hers for the taking.

Leif:

Yes, again, that

Leif:

foreshadowing. And Chuck, you

Leif:

know, basically saying the

Leif:

throne is there for the taking. And Serena being like, that's

Leif:

not my thing. Like, that's Blair's thing. Like, leave me out of

Leif:

that. I also really loved Eric's

Leif:

reaction to the food. Like, are we expecting more

Leif:

people here? And Lily's like, I'm trying to be a

Leif:

mom. And it is funny cause

Leif:

Lily does struggle to mother her own kids,

Leif:

and she's so good at mothering other people that it makes sense

Leif:

that she'd have a breakfast for ten people

Leif:

to mother.

Leif:

Her kids just throw money at

Leif:

it.

Leif:

It was so good to see Lily again, though, and,

Leif:

like, she has a tough episode,

Leif:

but, man, it was so good to have her

Leif:

back. Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Like, I didn't realize how much I missed her. I knew I

Leif:

missed her from episode one of the.

Leif:

We talked about the storylines probably were supposed to be

Leif:

hers.

Leif:

Yeah. But when she actually was there, it was

Leif:

like, oh, it just was so good to have her back.

Leif:

Eric and Chuck leave for school, and then Lily and Serena

Leif:

discuss the breakup again.

Leif:

Some cute mother daughter stuff here. And

Leif:

they have that, cute

Leif:

relationship and trying to understand each

Leif:

other and, like, I'll be okay, or at least I hope so.

Leif:

Yeah, I like that. Lily and Serena seem to be in a good place

Leif:

right now.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah, they really. Yeah. And it was also

Leif:

nice that she was, you know, asking about the romantic getaway

Leif:

and asking about her relationship with Bart, and it really

Leif:

was, you know, in the previous episode, she wanted

Leif:

that two way conversation. M with

Leif:

Blair. She gets that with Lily here. Yeah.

Leif:

In Brooklyn, Dan and Rufus are discussing

Leif:

the same breakup. Rufus advises Dan to

Leif:

lay off the sarcastic deflection when he

Leif:

sees Serena. Dan immediately uses sarcasm to

Leif:

deflect. Jenny is also worried about confronting Blair

Leif:

again.

Leif:

Yeah, I liked Rufus here. Rufus trying to give

Leif:

some dad advice again.

Leif:

He was trying to be very good advice.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Really?

Leif:

Don't be a dick, Dan.

Leif:

yeah, exactly. It's

Leif:

not too difficult to follow, apparently.

Leif:

it is.

Leif:

Apparently it is. And I

Leif:

also, this scene was the first time that we

Leif:

really get the breakdown of the victims and.

Leif:

And. And projects.

Leif:

Yes, and.

Leif:

And we. We really see. And

Leif:

when Jenny breaks that down and, like, her fear of

Leif:

going back, she's.

Leif:

She's worried about being a victim this year.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Good day. Plays over a montage of Blair interview,

Leif:

interviewing applicants looking to join the

Leif:

clique. Hey, look. Another person of color. I'm

Leif:

sure she'll see her right. All the time again.

Leif:

No, they picked the white girl.

Leif:

No, we're gonna. We're gonna see her again.

Leif:

Right? they picked the white. They picked the white girl.

Leif:

Aw. I

Leif:

did see Iz kind of look, like, disappointed that she

Leif:

got shut down.

Steve:

Yeah, a little.

Leif:

Little smidge there.

Leif:

Well, I mean, she vacations in the Adirondacks. What are

Leif:

you thinking?

Leif:

But she's got.

Leif:

The doctor for the dicks.

Leif:

They get there, they turn her down.

Leif:

Serena is walking into school and sees Dan

Leif:

riding in the courtyard and immediately freezes up.

Leif:

Yeah. You feel it bad for Serena? Yeah, because she

Leif:

said that last episode, she still loves

Leif:

Dan.

Leif:

Yeah. And Dan said. Dan was saying it, too.

Leif:

Like, dan did say I

Leif:

still, and she said, I know. I. Me, too.

Leif:

And so it was a two

Leif:

way thing, but, yeah, it's awkward to see.

Leif:

To see each other, you know? Yeah.

Leif:

Blair and the minions are

Leif:

bemoaning the lack of quality candidates when Chuck shows

Leif:

up with another folder to add to the pile.

Leif:

Why? Did they suspect something here? It

Leif:

seems weird.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. And

Leif:

my, when Chuck was like, oh, here's another

Leif:

candidate to the fold. When. When Chuck.

Leif:

A transfer student.

Leif:

A transfer student. I mean, I figured he was

Leif:

up to something to get Blair back, which

Leif:

I still do. but, like,

Leif:

you know, I didn't see the scheme laid

Leif:

out. to be. I'll be. I'll be honest

Leif:

right now, they got me on the. On

Leif:

the red herring here. Like, they did. Like,

Leif:

I fell for it on the first watch.

Leif:

Which. What? Right? Which one?

Leif:

Amanda? Not one. I shouldn't say red herring, but, like, I

Leif:

did not see them working together.

Leif:

Okay, that.

Leif:

That caught me. That. That. That surprised me.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

that was good. Yeah. Chuck having

Leif:

her resume and whatnot also

Leif:

didn't really. On the first watch, that

Leif:

didn't register on my radar.

Leif:

Like, it kind of did. Like, oh, that must be the girl chuck was

Leif:

talking about. But, like, it didn't really

Leif:

register. It's like, of course, chuck stalking the new

Leif:

girl.

Leif:

Well, he does have that little conversation with eric about how he's

Leif:

using Blair's system to scout potential dates.

Leif:

Yes. Yeah. again,

Leif:

I wish I would have remembered to bring up Eric Moore in

Leif:

that first scene because the Chuck Eric

Leif:

relationship, and he's like, bring. Bring the orange juice. I

Leif:

have champagne chilling in the limo, and he's like, he's

Leif:

kidding, I think.

Leif:

But, But back to this scene.

Leif:

Yeah, it didn't register. It registered to me that it

Leif:

was a matter of what I really saw

Leif:

was, here's another girl I'm going to give to

Leif:

Blair to make her jealous so

Leif:

that I'm going to be flirting with. So I'm going to show Blair I'm

Leif:

interested in this girl. That's what I saw,

Leif:

and I did not see what it was coming.

Leif:

Coming in brooklyn, Nate ambushes

Leif:

Vanessa. I, don't know a lot, but if a woman

Leif:

isn't returning your phone calls, just showing up, probably not a

Leif:

good idea.

Leif:

Yeah, Vanessa, you could have told him. You. You

Leif:

could. You could have said, hey, yeah, she

Leif:

blackmailed me and said that you would tell.

Leif:

Where the captain, I guess. Yeah, maybe Catherine,

Leif:

part of the blackmail is he can't say anything. Well, I'll

Leif:

just assume that.

Leif:

Yeah, but even if that was, what would she do

Leif:

at that point?

Leif:

Like, she would reveal where the captain is?

Leif:

Yeah, maybe, but that's the whole

Leif:

blackmail. Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

I mean, personally, I think

Leif:

captain should be revealed, but.

Leif:

Yeah, well, the captain. A. The captain should be revealed. And

Leif:

also, I'm gonna reveal that you're

Leif:

where your dad is.

Leif:

Okay.

Leif:

I'm gonna reveal that you're blackmailing a 17

Leif:

year old that you're having sex with.

Leif:

Although they could skip the country before.

Leif:

Yeah. Diplomatic community.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Dan and Jenny are at school discussing breakup

Leif:

etiquette. The me girls completely ignore Jenny

Leif:

as they walk down the hall.

Leif:

I love the foreshadowing here when Dan

Leif:

says it's better to be ignored because he

Leif:

thinks he's been ignored, but he just hasn't been

Leif:

noticed. He's never been shunned.

Leif:

Ignored. Yeah, he's never been

Leif:

shunned.

Leif:

Let the shunning begin.

Leif:

So I really liked the second watch through

Leif:

when he said that line. Better to be ignored, you

Leif:

know, until the birds start flying into

Leif:

you and the. And the automatic doors don't

Leif:

open.

Leif:

Yeah. Out in the courtyard, Dan bumps

Leif:

into new girl Amanda. Those

Leif:

bangs, though, she just seems weird.

Leif:

Yeah. Like, instantly is like,

Leif:

yeah. Yeah. And that was my first comment. I go,

Leif:

those bangs, though. And Robin gave me the worst look. She's

Leif:

like, what's even worse is that you're right.

Leif:

But yeah, her voice is like.

Leif:

Yeah. Just. Yeah.

Leif:

Just off about it.

Leif:

Yeah. Every. Every angle. I

Leif:

was just like. Although I just thought it was

Leif:

bad acting, I still didn't see.

Leif:

I mean, it was bad acting.

Leif:

It was. I didn't see the setup coming.

Leif:

Still, Blair and Serena

Leif:

are discussing how it hurts to see your ex dating someone

Leif:

else. Oh, how convenient. They walk out into the

Leif:

courtyard just in time to see Dan and Amanda

Leif:

flirting. Of course.

Leif:

Yeah. Even more like they were just. He's talking to

Leif:

a new student. Like, he wasn't, like, doing

Leif:

anything overtly flirty. Right. He was

Leif:

talking to her, and Blair just instantly is

Leif:

like, well, that's good. That's a

Leif:

thing. And it's like, I mean, he definitely.

Leif:

Was flirting and then asked her outd.

Leif:

But can you see that from across a courtyard?

Leif:

Right?

Leif:

I think you can.

Leif:

Yeah. I just thought it was. I think

Leif:

Blair jumps to conclusions sometimes,

Leif:

but I get it.

Leif:

Looks like Humphrey defied our great expectations

Leif:

in Waldorf's rules of order, daring to

Leif:

date before serena. It's only a matter of

Leif:

time before it's off with his head or

Leif:

hers? Gossip girl quips as we move into

Leif:

act two. Blair and serena are, ah, reading

Leif:

the scouting report on amanda that chuck conveniently

Leif:

provided. Amanda is dan with

Leif:

boobs.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Serena, this is Dan

Leif:

with boobs. So when Serena at the

Leif:

edge is like, I'm fine, she gets up and you hear one of the other

Leif:

girls. I think it's is go. She's not fine.

Leif:

It just. It was just one of those little

Leif:

throwaway lines that just. I loved it.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Catherine stages the run in with vanessa at the

Leif:

gallery. Katherine hands Vanessa a check made

Leif:

out to cash and is gone before Vanessa can

Leif:

look up and judge her.

Leif:

So stealthy. Like, she was clicking

Leif:

around in those high heels. Like Dan said earlier about the

Leif:

loft, she was wearing pumps on a concrete

Leif:

floor, and then she just bat.

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, I know we hate Catherine, but

Leif:

I love that dress.

Leif:

Yeah, well, I mean, that she has.

Leif:

She has good style. She always has.

Leif:

I mean, that dress, hugged her form.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

And then Dan and Serena finally

Leif:

see each other at school, and it is, of course, awkward

Leif:

as fuck. Things are seeming to smooth

Leif:

over when Amanda shows up and Dan tells Serena that he

Leif:

and Amanda are eating lunch together. Chuck

Leif:

is in the background paying very close attention to

Leif:

everything that is going on here.

Leif:

I was. I was, again distracted by the bangs.

Leif:

Like, I thought that they looked like she cut them herself,

Leif:

and, it was, like, distracting to me. Like,

Leif:

and I don't get distracted by that kind of shit.

Leif:

But, like, also in season one, Chuck was always just sitting

Leif:

in the background watching people.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

But, yeah, he was.

Leif:

Like.

Leif:

He definitely was. I mean, Ed was trying to show that he was scheming, I

Leif:

think.

Leif:

Yeah, I think that was. That was his

Leif:

scheming. Look, I. You know, because I

Leif:

did. I do remember, like, leaving that scene thinking, what

Leif:

is he up to? And, like, why is he so

Leif:

vested in Dan and this girl? Like.

Leif:

Like, it still wasn't dawning on me. Like, they really got

Leif:

me on.

Leif:

This, but it was. I I

Leif:

thought the writing was good because they. They clearly set it up

Leif:

from the very first scene where, you know, he talks about Serena

Leif:

should be queen.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah, there's for your take. It's there for the taking.

Leif:

Yeah, exactly. And. And it's. So. It

Leif:

was. I think this is Chuck's best

Leif:

scheme so far because you really don't see it coming,

Leif:

and you don't see him doing it. You

Leif:

see little strings being pulled, but

Leif:

it doesn't seem like it's going the way

Leif:

he's describing it.

Leif:

And I feel like the writing room host strike is now

Leif:

starting to settle down. The show isn't the

Leif:

same thing it was for those 1st 13 episodes, but I think

Leif:

it's found its new rhythm. It's new. This is

Leif:

what the show is now. And I think

Leif:

they found their groove a little bit.

Leif:

Yeah, I agree with that. I think that

Leif:

is all very accurate.

Leif:

Chuck rubs the situation in Serena's face and

Leif:

then snaps a pic of Dan and Amanda for Gossip

Leif:

Girl.

Leif:

and this is where I was like, what is he up to?

Leif:

Like, careful, b. Cause he's up to something. but

Leif:

what? Like. Like, why does that

Leif:

relationship mean anything to Chuck? It

Leif:

was other than is Chuck trying to get that

Leif:

girl because she's the new girl, but that just seemed a little

Leif:

too easy. I don't

Leif:

know.

Leif:

Lily shows up to the gallery to see Rufus because

Leif:

she clearly is lonely with Bart still out of

Leif:

town. Looks like they are going to see repo

Leif:

man together. It's better than Rufus and Vanessa, but

Leif:

I don't really want to see these two have an affair. It's easy to

Leif:

see why Lily has been married five times.

Leif:

Yeah. What the fuck are you doing, Lily?

Leif:

Like, what the fuck? And Rufus,

Leif:

what the fuck are you doing by inviting her to go to the

Leif:

movie with you? Like, what the fuck?

Leif:

You're. You're seeing Claire now.

Leif:

And so when I was writing that line, I was

Leif:

kind of worried it was going to be taken as slut shaming, which is

Leif:

definitely not. I'm shaming Lily for being a shitty

Leif:

partner.

Leif:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah.

Leif:

She's just got back from her

Leif:

honeymoon, and now she's hanging. She's going to

Leif:

ruin.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

She.

Leif:

Her and Bart had that conversation. Let

Leif:

it. Let the ass go.

Leif:

They.

Leif:

That was a really weird, gross scene, I thought. But they

Leif:

agreed, they were gonna both let the past go

Leif:

and move forward.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

So fuck it. Move forward.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Willie, what the fuck are you doing? And Rufus, why are

Leif:

you even entertaining this at this point?

Leif:

I think. I think, the first time he got caught off guard.

Leif:

Yeah. But, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah. I

Leif:

love how this resolves itself. I think

Leif:

it was perfect. But at this moment,

Leif:

I'm like, why are you going to the movies with Lily?

Leif:

That's. I mean, she just, like, kind of invited herself. Was

Leif:

you, like, can't really stop her from coming. I mean, but you could

Leif:

say.

Leif:

You could say, that's not a good idea.

Leif:

Like, you could be like, hey, I'm not

Leif:

ready for that. I'm not. There he could say what he says in the end,

Leif:

you know?

Leif:

Back at Constance, Blair and

Leif:

the negroes are threatening Amanda to stay away from

Leif:

dan, and Serena sees and does

Leif:

nothing.

Leif:

Threatening with, like, violence. She drops

Leif:

the, field hockey stick on her foot. She,

Leif:

like, threatens her with violence to not go to lunch

Leif:

with her.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

And. And Serena,

Leif:

like, Oh.

Leif:

Really? Lunch Serena. The meal before

Leif:

dating.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

That's good. Elsewhere in

Leif:

Manhattan, Vanessa is trying to return Catherine's

Leif:

check and is about to leave when she hears Catherine behind

Leif:

the door. Vanessa, wanting to give

Leif:

the duchess a piece of her mind, grabs a check off the

Leif:

table, opens the door, and only to see

Leif:

katherine and Marcus getting down Game of Thrones

Leif:

style. Vanessa snaps a pic and

Leif:

peaces out.

Leif:

That was so fucking

Leif:

gross.

Leif:

Well, to be fair, at least it's an age appropriate relationship. Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah, at least. At least they're both probably about the same

Leif:

age.

Leif:

Oh, yeah.

Leif:

Was so fucking gross. And,

Leif:

like, the whole, like, you know,

Leif:

when he spins her around, like.

Leif:

And it was like, you're into this, dude. Like, you are

Leif:

so fucking into this.

Leif:

That's gross, dude.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Weird. Your dad has. Your

Leif:

dad's been. You're like, well, maybe not.

Leif:

Cause that's why, Cath. Apparently they.

Leif:

Those guys just don't fuck their wives.

Leif:

Maybe they only fuck

Leif:

their. What? Kids.

Leif:

Anyone else?

Leif:

anyone else? I don't. That's

Leif:

so fucking gross. Yeah.

Leif:

Dan has been stood up by Amanda, and Chuck

Leif:

is only too happy to tell him why. And Dan

Leif:

defends Serena at first, but it's clear that Chuck got

Leif:

under his skin.

Leif:

Yeah. And in

Leif:

Chuck likes to think that he knows

Leif:

Serena better than Dan. And Chuck knows who

Leif:

Serena was before she went away and

Leif:

knows the old Serena and,

Leif:

well, yeah, Chuck definitely knows Serena better. Yeah.

Leif:

They've known each other since they were little kids, right?

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Chuck also really

Leif:

liked the old Serena more, which

Leif:

that at this point was, like,

Leif:

okay, he always has wanted

Leif:

Serena to be the old Serena again. So is that where he's

Leif:

heading with this?

Leif:

On the Met steps, Blair and her minions continue

Leif:

to bully amanda. Serena is clearly

Leif:

uncomfortable with what's happening, but at the same time, doing nothing to

Leif:

stop it.

Leif:

Amanda is terrible. Like, I feel

Leif:

like every time there's a new character on here, I have something

Leif:

to say about their shitty acting.

Leif:

But. But, man, she's terrible. And,

Leif:

Serena tries to resist, but, like,

Leif:

not. Not very hard, but, like,

Leif:

God, she's just. She's difficult to watch.

Leif:

wait till you meet some of Serena's guest star boyfriends.

Leif:

Oh, boy. Oh, my God. Every, like,

Leif:

all the men that they've had, all the grown

Leif:

ass men that they have had as, like,

Leif:

one offs. Yeah.

Leif:

At the cafe, Vanessa shows Dan the picture

Leif:

of Marcus and katherine. One of the bright spots

Leif:

about later seasons is we start to get actual smartphones,

Leif:

which means we don't have to look at those shitty flip phone

Leif:

pictures anymore. Dan suggests Vanessa take

Leif:

the picture to Blair.

Leif:

I really love Dan in this scene. I thought he was really

Leif:

well written. I thought he was really well acted.

Leif:

Look up for revenge, and you'll see blairwaldorff.com.

Leif:

dot google revenge, and you'll get

Leif:

blairwaldorff.com. and, yeah,

Leif:

just, like, the suggestion of going to

Leif:

Blair was brilliant. He was

Leif:

right.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

And just in general, this. I feel like

Leif:

pen. Pen Badgley had a great episode

Leif:

acting wise. I felt like he really. He was

Leif:

really good.

Leif:

I m think he likes playing the asshole.

Leif:

Yeah, I can see that.

Leif:

and he just is so good with

Leif:

the witness, with, like, playing off the wit

Leif:

and the sarcasm. I really liked him.

Leif:

In this scene at school, Dan

Leif:

immediately gives up any moral high ground and takes a

Leif:

ride to Douchetown. when confronting Serena.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. It didn't look

Leif:

good for Serena either, because she did

Leif:

go to the lunch and do that. He

Leif:

also. He's putting way more on,

Leif:

but so he's.

Leif:

Yeah, he's. He's being offensive,

Leif:

and she's being defensive.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Even though she's trying to deny she's doing it, she. She is

Leif:

actively participating.

Leif:

Yeah, but she.

Leif:

She's doing it defensively, though.

Leif:

She gave the nod.

Leif:

You know, I'm definitely team Serena here.

Leif:

Yeah. I'm. I'm a little more team Dan here, to

Leif:

be honest. And it's. And it's because. And,

Leif:

like I said, like, he. He gave.

Leif:

He gives up. The more he had, the more moral high.

Leif:

Yeah, he did. He gives it up, but he does, and he comes

Leif:

in judgy and Douchey, which is

Leif:

classic Dan. And,

Leif:

I mean, the whole thing. If Dan, at any point, would

Leif:

just accept the fact that

Leif:

Serena was born into

Leif:

more money than Dan could dream of.

Leif:

That's all he has to accept. Yeah.

Leif:

That being born into that she

Leif:

has a certain amount of attention on

Leif:

her, and that's all he ever had to

Leif:

accept. My. My only reason that I was more

Leif:

team Serena here is because

Leif:

she gave Blair the nod. Because she didn't

Leif:

tell Blair. No. Absolutely not. We're letting

Leif:

this go. She let Blair,

Leif:

and she let Serena, for the

Leif:

past, for coming up to this point,

Leif:

her status as being Serena

Leif:

as being the old Serena as having all of

Leif:

that status didn't mean anything to her anymore,

Leif:

and now it kind of

Leif:

does because she doesn't have Dan anymore. Ah. Like

Leif:

she had something else that meant more to her.

Leif:

But now that that's gone.

Leif:

I think for Serena, it's like almost like

Leif:

a, ah, natural. It's like almost like a chameleon. Like

Leif:

she's a, you know, puts up those, you

Leif:

know, you see it when we'll talk. Like when the

Leif:

girls bring up the guy, the guys for her to

Leif:

date.

Leif:

Like immediately. She's like biting her lip.

Leif:

Yeah. Like, and doing immediately into a

Leif:

doctor's mode. Yeah.

Leif:

But, yeah. So we got, after Serena

Leif:

leaves, Amanda shows up and basically asks Dan out on a date

Leif:

tonight. This is where Dan should have started to suspect something

Leif:

was up.

Leif:

Yeah. And, and I guess

Leif:

the second one, for me, it was. It was a little

Leif:

later that, that I thought that something was

Leif:

suspicious because this, at this point,

Leif:

it was still, we didn't get our lunch date, so let's have a

Leif:

date tonight. The choice of

Leif:

venue was questionable

Leif:

for a first date. Why would you go.

Leif:

I believe the word send the message.

Leif:

Well, but that was after they showed up. Yeah. You know,

Leif:

like, like, why would you go there in the first place?

Leif:

At Blair's penthouse, Vanessa is showing Blair

Leif:

the picture. Blair is fighting back tears as

Leif:

she sends the photo to herself and then

Leif:

threatens for Vanessa to keep quiet and let Blair handle

Leif:

it.

Leif:

And, Leeton Meester, just doing fucking

Leif:

lean meester shit. Like,

Leif:

just fucking

Leif:

great. Great acting, great emotion,

Leif:

great, you know, command of the.

Leif:

Of the whole thing. The way that Blair is

Leif:

able to shut shit down when she

Leif:

needs to, she gets emotional, she's crying, she's

Leif:

upset. But the second she realizes it's on and how

Leif:

she just gets it together and goes right at

Leif:

Vanessa. Like, I

Leif:

love, I loved every. I mean, I love every

Leif:

Blair scene pretty much, but she

Leif:

was fucking great.

Leif:

Here the sun sets on

Leif:

NYC as Dan and Amanda arrive at the club.

Leif:

Dan doesn't think it's a good idea, but Amanda is determined

Leif:

to send a message.

Leif:

Yeah, that's where I should

Leif:

have been suspicious when she said that. My first watch through,

Leif:

I was like, what are you sending a message for? What are you trying to

Leif:

hate?

Leif:

Bullies?

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Like the. I hate bullies from earlier.

Leif:

I. But, like, let's send a message that they're

Leif:

like, what message are you trying to send?

Leif:

Like, that was so dumb. What I did love in

Leif:

that scene is when Penelope

Leif:

bumps is and Iz is like, I'm not sharing my

Leif:

lump crab meat.

Leif:

What Dan Hemprey does with the other serfs in the village

Leif:

is his business. But when he brings his new maiden to

Leif:

court, it's a declaration of war. Sound

Leif:

the trumpets. Trumpets. We move into act

Leif:

three. The next day, Dan is

Leif:

woken up by Jenny, who is extremely disappointed

Leif:

in big Brother.

Leif:

Jenny is adorable here. I loved this scene. I loved

Leif:

how outraged she was because

Leif:

as much as she is, like

Leif:

in the Gossip girls girl.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah. And then she's in the Gossip Girl

Leif:

universe, but she's still one of those little

Leif:

girls reading gossip Girl. So I really loved

Leif:

that that came through. She's also

Leif:

always been the biggest

Leif:

supporter of Dan and Serena. Yeah,

Leif:

she's always been their biggest fan.

Leif:

Chuck creepily awakes Serena from sleep to show

Leif:

Serena the gospel girl blasts about Amanda and Dan's

Leif:

date.

Leif:

So fucking creepy. That would the.

Leif:

How.

Leif:

Jesus, I would

Leif:

fucking strangle him.

Leif:

So weird.

Leif:

And I love that. I love the

Leif:

Harry Dean Stanton obsession in this episode too.

Leif:

Like the constant shout outs to Harry Dean Stanton.

Leif:

Jenny finds Vanessa waiting for Blair outside

Leif:

Constance. Jenny asks Penelope and is where Blair

Leif:

is. The mean girls let Jenny know

Leif:

her torment is yet to come.

Leif:

So dumb. Like, why are you

Leif:

doing this? Why are you gonna pick on

Leif:

a fucking girl like that?

Leif:

Because that's what they do.

Leif:

I know, but so fucking

Leif:

dumb. Oh, I actually had a question that I thought

Leif:

of earlier in this episode and it is a bit of a

Leif:

spoiler question, but I think that it's an

Leif:

appropriate one. They're seniors now and

Leif:

there's three seasons left of the show

Leif:

after this. Five seasons, right. Or

Leif:

six seasons.

Leif:

There's six seasons total.

Leif:

So there's four more seasons to go. Do they

Leif:

graduate this year and where? Post high

Leif:

school. Yeah, the, big.

Leif:

Yeah, college is a definitely a big, like, picking. College is definitely

Leif:

a big theme this season. And then they graduate. Jenny and

Leif:

Eric obviously still have another year.

Leif:

Yeah. Another two years left. Yeah. Okay.

Leif:

I. I was. I wanted to know because.

Leif:

Because Constance and St. Jude

Leif:

have been such a

Leif:

backdrop for so many scenes,

Leif:

never a classroom.

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, that's. That's kind of gone.

Leif:

Ok. Ok. I wasn't sure if they were going to continue

Leif:

with that or.

Leif:

There's a little bit with Jenny and Eric, but

Leif:

generally. Yeah, every season is a year.

Leif:

Okay, that. That's what I thought. I just

Leif:

wanted to clarify.

Leif:

Serena is rightfully pissed at Dan, who is

Leif:

least attempting to apologize. Serena's

Leif:

brilliant solution to the drama is to refer to a

Leif:

third wheel on Dan's and Amanda's next

Leif:

date.

Leif:

Yeah. How is this a good idea? What. What is

Leif:

the. What?

Leif:

What's the purpose?

Leif:

In what universe do you say just.

Leif:

Because you're gonna be friends, you don't have to hang out with her on a date?

Leif:

On the first date, I mean, well,

Leif:

second date, but still, like, yeah, like, what?

Leif:

Why?

Leif:

What good is any of that? Like, hey, you know what? Maybe I should

Leif:

introduce her and you should. I should meet her and you should

Leif:

introduce her and we should hang out.

Leif:

Cool.

Leif:

You know, but like, no,

Leif:

don't go out tonight together. And why are

Leif:

you going out to like, a fucking party

Leif:

bar, you know? Why are you going to the party

Leif:

of the week, Barna, instead

Leif:

of, you know, getting to know each other

Leif:

somewhere else? Anywhere?

Leif:

Yeah, maybe the

Leif:

cafeteria. I mean, you go to high school together.

Leif:

Yeah. The courtyard there where you're. Where you hang out more

Leif:

than you go to class.

Leif:

Vanessa goes to a restaurant to find out what Blair's

Leif:

plan is. Vanessa sees Blair with Marcus and

Leif:

assumes Blair is doing nothing. Vanessa storms off

Leif:

before Blair starts verbally smacking Marcus around.

Leif:

Then Katherine shows up so she can get her just

Leif:

dessert courtesy of queen Bee.

Leif:

Vanessa's so goddamn stupid. She's so fucking

Leif:

stupid to sit there to her. Blair to tell her

Leif:

like a couple days ago, hey, I got

Leif:

this. And then she sees one

Leif:

look and is like, oh, well, I'm gonna go to the duke

Leif:

instead. Like, you

Leif:

fucking idiot, you.

Leif:

Vanessa, right?

Leif:

Like.

Leif:

Like, no, worse.

Leif:

You underestimated

Leif:

fucking Blair, you idiot.

Leif:

But Blair is fucking masterful. I loved

Leif:

it. I love the, you know. I beg your

Leif:

pardon? Oh, you have? Oh, not yet, but you will.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

It was a great plan. Yeah,

Leif:

Vanessa screws it up. Looks like she. Yeah, she screws

Leif:

everything up as usual. She's going to spill the tea to

Leif:

daddy lord.

Leif:

Yep. Fucking with Bee's plan B's got a plan

Leif:

and you're fucking with it.

Leif:

Vanessa, Dan and Amanda are out

Leif:

on their date. Serena is clearly feeling left out

Leif:

when Dan and Amanda start nerding out on poetry.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah. These two people are on a date getting

Leif:

to know each other.

Leif:

She's dying with booze.

Leif:

Yeah, and. Yeah, and like

Leif:

you're going to be insecure. Like that is going

Leif:

to be the feeling you have when these two people are getting to know

Leif:

each other and you're trying to get to know her too, because

Leif:

they have chemistry. You and Dan have

Leif:

chemistry. You do, but

Leif:

you can't. But you're not together.

Leif:

So let him be with somebody

Leif:

else. Why did you think that was a good idea?

Leif:

Serena goes to the bar to get a drink and catch her breath.

Leif:

Penelope. And is encouraged. Serena's competitive

Leif:

side. It looks like old Serena might be making

Leif:

a comeback.

Leif:

Who drinks like that? Who drinks a martini like

Leif:

that? Like, she drinks martinis like, she eats

Leif:

strawberries. Like. Like no one

Leif:

does.

Leif:

Yeah. This is what I was talking about earlier, how, she just instantly goes into

Leif:

seductress mode.

Leif:

Yeah. Like, without a. Without a thought about

Leif:

it. But, like, the martini glass on

Leif:

her lip, it's like, what is

Leif:

that?

Steve:

Sexy.

Leif:

Like, I.

Leif:

When Blake Lavie does it?

Leif:

Yes. Yeah, I guess I'm. I mean,

Leif:

never wanted to be a martini glass before, but.

Leif:

We turn back from commercial, and Dalton's, lacrosse

Leif:

captain is boring the rest of the table with tales of glory

Leif:

on the field. The girls step away, and lacrosse

Leif:

boy tries to have a dude pro moment with Dan, who just

Leif:

shakes his head.

Leif:

And walks away smoking

Leif:

hot. Right? And Dan's just like,

Leif:

it's so great. I love that.

Leif:

I. Ah, loved. Yeah. How he's just, like, really great.

Leif:

Yeah, I. The whole look of, like, I

Leif:

can't do this. I can't.

Leif:

I can't.

Leif:

Just walked away. Loved it.

Leif:

Dan and Serena talk at the bar. Serena is

Leif:

breaking down in tears. Dan dearly

Leif:

wants to comfort her, but decides against

Leif:

it. Things end. And Serena politely

Leif:

telling Dan to get the fuck out.

Leif:

You see the turn. You. You see that.

Leif:

That you. You see the,

Leif:

Why should I leave?

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Why should. Like, this is where all my friends

Leif:

are. Yeah.

Leif:

And, like, your kind of place.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Dan, you can't afford a year, and

Leif:

she's not wrong. Like, why are you there in the first place? Like,

Leif:

why is that where you went on this date? Yeah. Like,

Leif:

which really tells me that Serena picked the location,

Leif:

right? Like, it seems like, why would you let her pick the location

Leif:

of your three way date? Like, weird.

Leif:

but, yeah, you just see that kind of.

Leif:

That turn in her face that.

Leif:

That, like, you know. No, I need him to

Leif:

live. He's the only one that can keep padme alive.

Leif:

Darth serena.

Leif:

Darth Serena.

Leif:

Blair reveals the truth about Catherine

Leif:

and Marcus to Nate. Blair blackmailed Catherine

Leif:

into paying off the archball debt and to leave New

Leif:

York with Marcus. However, v blew up the

Leif:

plan by going directly to the duke.

Leif:

Fucking vanessa.

Leif:

Fucking Vanessa.

Leif:

Fucking Vanessa. Blair had it covered.

Leif:

Blair had everything covered. And

Leif:

you actually probably would have won in the end

Leif:

here too. Like, you probably. Nate may

Leif:

have still been mad because his reasons for being mad weren't

Leif:

about you fucking with Blair's plan, it was

Leif:

for not going to him in the first place.

Leif:

Yeah, which is funny because his, because her whole thing to

Leif:

Vanessa. I, will say this. Vanessa's whole thing to

Leif:

Blair was. I don't want Nate to know.

Leif:

Yeah. So in that

Leif:

respect, Blair was kind of

Leif:

fucking with Vanessa's, side of it because she

Leif:

did ask for that one thing to be kept out of it.

Leif:

But the thing that Nate's mad about

Leif:

isn't her fucking with Blair's plan.

Leif:

It's not telling her in the first place.

Leif:

You went to Dan and then Blair.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Friends with Blair.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

You hate Blair at the club, chuck

Leif:

eggs on the mean girls to nair teeny Amanda.

Leif:

yeah, this is, this is so

Leif:

fucking dumb. yeah. yeah.

Leif:

Especially when you find out later that, you know, he, he

Leif:

all this.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you realize that

Leif:

he was, that he set her

Leif:

up for this. Like, ah, he's the one that was like, here. Don't you guys

Leif:

remember how to throw a nair teeny?

Leif:

Look? Yeah.

Leif:

In Brooklyn, Lily is still lonely and makes another

Leif:

unannounced popover. It looks like Lily is looking

Leif:

for net for some Netflix and chill. Rufus

Leif:

does the right thing and shuts that shit down.

Leif:

Yeah, I I feel for Lily

Leif:

here. Yeah. I really do.

Leif:

But you knew you're getting into.

Leif:

Rufus was absolutely right. Rufus

Leif:

made it clear. You. You made

Leif:

this choice. I wanted this too, and you

Leif:

did not. Like,

Leif:

although he could

Leif:

have, he could have been a little less with the

Leif:

kiss when Claire showed up.

Leif:

It didn't have to be quite so, like.

Leif:

Yeah, it could have been a very. It could have been a

Leif:

very quick, nice kiss. It would have

Leif:

communicated everything. But

Leif:

he definitely was like, I need to let Lily

Leif:

know what I'm, what I'm saying here. There

Leif:

is that little thing in the back of my

Leif:

head that says,

Leif:

if Claire wasn't on her way,

Leif:

what would Rufus have done? If he

Leif:

didn't already have a date with Claire?

Leif:

Would he have come to that same

Leif:

conclusion?

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Like, he didn't.

Leif:

I guess we'll probably never know.

Leif:

Yeah, but he did the right thing. That's, that's what's

Leif:

important here.

Leif:

Blair schleps all the way to the outer burrow to

Leif:

give an essay. Tongue lashing. In the words of Red

Leif:

Foreman, Vanessa is a dumbass.

Leif:

Yeah. You don't go to the queen if you don't want her to actually

Leif:

get you. Don't go to queen bee if you don't want her to get shit done

Leif:

like, she's gonna have a plan. And, like,

Leif:

she's such a fucking dumbass.

Leif:

Penelope dumps a martini glass full of

Leif:

Nair on Amanda's head, whose hair begins

Leif:

to immediately fall out.

Leif:

I felt really bad for her. Yeah, for we

Leif:

before he does. She was paid. Yeah, I still feel bad,

Leif:

even after. But before that, you felt really bad for

Leif:

her.

Leif:

Yeah. Although Robin does point out that it doesn't

Leif:

work that fast, that Nair has to, like,

Leif:

sit for 20 minutes.

Leif:

I kind of figured, although that

Leif:

was, like. I mean, do you normally. Don't you, like, diluted with

Leif:

water or.

Leif:

No, I.

Leif:

Who knows? Someone, right. Didn't tell us.

Leif:

Yeah, I have never naired judgmental.

Leif:

Dan is in fine form when he tears Serena

Leif:

apart. Look out, Dan. You may be

Leif:

creating a monster.

Leif:

Yeah, you've got this misplaced anger here,

Leif:

Dan, and, it's going in the

Leif:

wrong direction, and it's gonna bite you in

Leif:

the ass.

Leif:

Spotted a beautiful blonde phoenix

Leif:

rising from the ashes of a major public

Leif:

humiliation. Welcome back, Serena.

Leif:

Consider us your humble servants, because if looks

Leif:

could kill, we wouldn't want to be Dan

Leif:

Humphrey. We move into the epilogue.

Leif:

Vanessa tries to apologize to Nate, but

Leif:

Nate turns her line from earlier back on her. They were

Leif:

never really friends anyway.

Leif:

Yeah. I don't like this, Nate. Because you

Leif:

lied to Vanessa. Like, you lied about the

Leif:

affair you had a lot of

Leif:

that you lied about.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

And,

Leif:

Nate, as usual, being a hypocrite.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Nate, this was not a good look for you

Leif:

at school.

Leif:

Is in. Penelope approached Jenny for some grade

Leif:

school level bullying.

Leif:

Yep. And it's like, basic bullying. It's like,

Leif:

I'm gonna take your bag and dump it out. Like.

Leif:

Like, jenny's right. Like, is that it? Like, is this

Leif:

what?

Leif:

But then they're right.

Leif:

Over time, that will really annoying.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah. After the second time, I start swinging from.

Leif:

Dan leaves a message for Amanda,

Leif:

apologizing for himself and to Serena.

Leif:

Hey, Dan, how about actually apologizing to Serena?

Leif:

Mm Mm Came at her pretty hard.

Leif:

You came at her pretty hard. Dan.

Leif:

Dan. Dan really wants Serena to be accountable

Leif:

for shit that she has, that she

Leif:

completely accounts for.

Leif:

And then he also wants her to be, because he

Leif:

wants her to be accountable for being

Leif:

this super popular

Leif:

person, but he also wants her to

Leif:

be accountable for the actions that other people

Leif:

do around her

Leif:

and wants her to be accountable for

Leif:

Penelope dropping this nair on her.

Leif:

And it's like, I get that you're pissed,

Leif:

but, like, you. You have always

Leif:

expected Serena to be more

Leif:

just different, you know, someone

Leif:

more than she is.

Leif:

Yeah. We see Chuck

Leif:

having a meal with Amanda. It looks like Chuck

Leif:

orchestrated the whole thing to make Serena queen.

Leif:

Chuck is such a loving brother wanting the best

Leif:

for his sister. Right, right.

Leif:

Yeah. Once I realized that Chuck was

Leif:

behind all of this first, like, like I said,

Leif:

the first watch through chucks up to something, but

Leif:

I had no idea where it was going. I

Leif:

I didn't see his hand. Yeah. In

Leif:

any of this.

Leif:

This is definitely Chuck's first big, successful

Leif:

scheme.

Leif:

Yeah. Everything else has blown up in his face. Every

Leif:

other scan scheme that Chuck has had, has blown up in

Leif:

his face because it has always been to

Leif:

get some kind of explosive

Leif:

behavior out of Blair, and now

Leif:

he's, you know.

Leif:

So this is just part one of the scheme, obviously.

Leif:

Yeah. Well, part one of the scheme is to knock Blair

Leif:

down and crown Serena

Leif:

as the new queen so that then.

Leif:

So Blair now needs a new

Leif:

king to elevate her

Leif:

ranks.

Leif:

So it looks like

Leif:

Jenny is ditching school to go to do

Leif:

more work at the atelier. Running from your

Leif:

problems never solves anything, little j. Yeah.

Leif:

Apparently she can hide an atelier.

Leif:

Penelope was like, you can't hide an atelier or.

Leif:

Or the Waldorf, warehouse

Leif:

anymore. Well, apparently she can.

Leif:

Apparently, she chooses Laurel's bullying over

Leif:

yours. Yeah.

Leif:

Back at school, headbands have already been

Leif:

replaced with scars, and Serena is extremely

Leif:

condescending to Blair right in front of the minions.

Leif:

God, we saw last season how

Leif:

fast these girls were to switch loyalties. Blair is

Leif:

caught off guard here, but I can't wait to see her

Leif:

counter punch.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. Just the way that Serena

Leif:

takes the scar. Takes the headband

Leif:

off of her head.

Leif:

The scarf. Yeah, you're right.

Leif:

Or the scarf. Yeah, she's. Well, she's wearing the scarf

Leif:

as a headband. right.

Leif:

Yeah, but very much in

Leif:

blair's style. And.

Leif:

Removes it, saying, this is not

Leif:

the style now, and

Leif:

ties it around blair's neck. You

Leif:

sweet little thing. This is what we're doing

Leif:

now. M. Who

Leif:

I like serena's

Leif:

transformation.

Leif:

We are not.

Leif:

Serena also arises.

Leif:

We're no longer wearing.

Leif:

Chuck reveals to blair that he is the puppet

Leif:

master behind it all.

Leif:

I wonder how that. Oh, I know how this

Leif:

happened.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

A reggae beat drops as we see Dan

Leif:

being completely shunned by everyone in.

Leif:

The school when

Leif:

he fucking realizes what's

Leif:

happening, and he realizes he is in

Leif:

over his head and, like.

Leif:

And, and Serena comes by and doesn't even

Leif:

glance at him. Yeah, it was just.

Leif:

Oh, and that is our episode.

Leif:

Any predictions?

Leif:

Well, queen bee is not going

Leif:

to let this go. Queen

Leif:

bee is going to want her thrown back.

Leif:

So there's definitely going to be a scheme to take down

Leif:

Serena. Now. Blair, this is.

Leif:

Serena is kind of your fault here, too, because

Leif:

had you not convinced her that Dan moving

Leif:

on was a bad thing, she would

Leif:

never have forced her way into

Leif:

this. Yeah. Relationship with dan,

Leif:

the three way date. It wasn't a date.

Leif:

So, yeah, blair's going to counter punch.

Leif:

Are we done with Amanda? Is she coming back?

Leif:

No, she's okay. Yeah, she seemed, when

Leif:

she first entered, I was like, oh, is this a new character

Leif:

that we're gonna have to see over and over again?

Leif:

Actually not.

Leif:

No. Cause she's going to boarding school in vermont.

Leif:

Yes. So let's go ahead and get into some

Leif:

segments this week in fandom.

Leif:

we jumped into the wayback machine. Gonna go back in time to

Leif:

the television without pity forums to see what they were

Leif:

saying back in 2008. Hello

Leif:

there, peabody here. And this is the

Leif:

wayback machine for traveling through time.

Leif:

And this is my boy Shermandhe. Speak,

Leif:

Sherman. Hello. Good boy.

Leif:

Chuck is an awesome villain.

Leif:

I agree. The key word here being villain.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah, he was a great

Leif:

villain.

Leif:

More. Vanessa is the worst, but some at

Leif:

least felt bad for the way Nate treated her at the end.

Leif:

Yeah, I'm with that. Vanessa

Leif:

was.

Leif:

Vanessa sucked, but she didn't really deserve.

Leif:

Yeah, it was a little too harsh at the end, and

Leif:

I, both.

Leif:

Of the guys were really over harsh in this day. And

Leif:

Dan.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And I felt. I

Leif:

even felt Dan was maybe

Leif:

a little more justified in his

Leif:

level of anger because of what just happened to

Leif:

his date, Nate. I feel like he just

Leif:

comes at her really hard when. When he. Without any

Leif:

self reflection, I still kind of hope Nate and

Leif:

Vanessa find a way together like I do

Leif:

in, defense of Nate.

Leif:

He was like, blair got

Leif:

the restitution money, paid that. That was

Leif:

huge.

Leif:

Yeah, it's. Well, it's just that Nate

Leif:

specifically said. That's not what I'm upset

Leif:

about. I'm upset about you not coming to me,

Leif:

which that is also kind of like. Is that

Leif:

really what you're upset about? Because it seems like you're upset about

Leif:

the money thing.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Like, you're right.

Leif:

Mixed opinions on Serena's heel turn.

Leif:

Some people like this. Some people didn't.

Leif:

I really like serena, how she's been, but I, guess

Leif:

I'm kind of ready for.

Leif:

I like this readiness right now.

Leif:

I thought it was done. Well, I'm. I'm a

Leif:

little. I'm a little saddened by it, but I think that's

Leif:

what makes a good heel turn. A good heel turn?

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

You know, when rock. When the rock

Leif:

came out and started shitting on Philadelphia

Leif:

for one of his heel turns, I remember being so

Leif:

mad and being like, oh, they got me.

Leif:

Gotcha.

Leif:

Many were completely shocked by Marcus and

Leif:

Katherine, and then at least one person thought the

Leif:

whole thing was completely illogical.

Leif:

I mean, I wouldn't say completely illogical,

Leif:

but it was pretty disgusting. And.

Leif:

Yeah, that whole blot line. Well, the.

Leif:

The logical comes from the fact that

Leif:

if Marcus could get it up for katherine, why can't

Leif:

he get it up for Blair? And then also,

Leif:

if Katherine's all so fucking Marcus, why is

Leif:

she so desperate to fuck Nate?

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, there is all of that. You are correct.

Leif:

And then why does Dan have such a huge

Leif:

influence on Serene's personality? Yeah, but

Leif:

last year, he was making her, you know, making her

Leif:

dad makes her a better person.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

And this year, you know, because of how

Leif:

he's treating her, she's going to the dark side.

Leif:

Yeah. Yeah. She does hate, but, you

Leif:

know, love can do that. Yeah. Right. Love

Leif:

will definitely make you change your

Leif:

personality.

Leif:

Fair. But does Dan deserve that?

Leif:

No.

Leif:

No.

Leif:

Moving on to some episode

Leif:

grades. You went first last time, so

Leif:

I'm going to go ahead and go first this time.

Leif:

Not quite as good as last week, but I thought this was a very

Leif:

solid episode. The directing was solid. The acting

Leif:

was nothing to stand out from the acting, but

Leif:

it was definitely solid all around. There was nothing bad except for

Leif:

the Amanda, the guest star. The writing, I think, was,

Leif:

like I said, I think they're hitting their groove. like, this guy

Leif:

comes back for ten episodes, mostly in this

Leif:

season, two, three, and four, mostly. So, yeah,

Leif:

I think they're hitting their groove. So I gave this episode a b.

Leif:

Yeah, I'm with you on that. I actually was

Leif:

a b. I was kind of between a b and

Leif:

a b minus, and then landed on a b

Leif:

for pretty much everything that you just

Leif:

said. Like, the. I felt like it

Leif:

was a better written episode. I found they felt they're

Leif:

finding that groove. Like you said, I felt that

Leif:

Amanda was

Leif:

poorly acted and cast, but I feel

Leif:

like that happens a lot on this show.

Leif:

and in general, I just. I felt like it was

Leif:

solid, and it was definitely a step up

Leif:

from the beginning of this season.

Leif:

The first two episodes, the half were just off.

Leif:

Yeah, they were really tough to watch.

Leif:

Stock watch going up. I

Leif:

had Serena and Chuck. Serena, because

Leif:

she. She's now queen and Chuck is his scheme.

Leif:

He ran through the whole episode. He ran episode,

Leif:

yeah. And then I also had Rufus going up because

Leif:

he. He started off weak with, you know,

Leif:

caving her at the first attempt, but then he finished

Leif:

strong, and he's got a girlfriend now, so. Good for

Leif:

him.

Leif:

Yeah. Yep.

Leif:

Who you got going up?

Leif:

All three of the same. I, had Serena,

Leif:

Chuck, and I, Rufus, all for

Leif:

all for those same reasons. I also had

Leif:

Nate's stock going up because

Leif:

he's free of Catherine, or at

Leif:

least he should be free of Catherine.

Leif:

Yeah. I originally had Nate stock going up, but

Leif:

I, because he was such a dick at the end, I had kept him in

Leif:

neutral.

Leif:

that is a fair, a fair thing. I

Leif:

was kind of on the, on the cusp of that, but I went ahead and

Leif:

gave him the up going down.

Leif:

Dan, you were a dick all episode dick.

Leif:

And, yeah.

Leif:

Jenny, because you're, you're.

Leif:

You're skipping class now and you're. You're getting

Leif:

bullied and, yeah, not. Not looking good for your

Leif:

future right now. Jenny. Vanessa, you're

Leif:

a fucking idiot. Blair, she.

Leif:

She is dethroned again. Once again

Leif:

already.

Leif:

and then, Lily, just because she was being

Leif:

really sad and pathetic.

Leif:

I have one more. I actually had all of

Leif:

the exact same ones as you had Dan. I had

Leif:

Lily. I had Blair.

Leif:

This is actually her. Yeah, I guess

Leif:

this is her second dethroning, isn't it? Because she was

Leif:

dethroned by her first, by her first scandal last

Leif:

season. But yeah, blair, I had Jenny, I had

Leif:

Vanessa. I also had Amanda's

Leif:

stock going down for just being

Leif:

fucking awful.

Leif:

Yeah, I just didn't really count her because, yeah, she's.

Leif:

I didn't know if she was going to be back or not. And

Leif:

so I figured, anyone's fair

Leif:

game.

Leif:

so I actually want to add Catherine and Marcus to my

Leif:

down.

Leif:

Same. I actually thought of that when you were

Leif:

going through your ups and I meant to add them to my down as

Leif:

well, that both Catherine and Marcus getting shipped

Leif:

off.

Leif:

Thankfully, they are also gone.

Leif:

Sweet. I was actually worried she was going to come back

Leif:

at some point.

Leif:

I'm sure Nate will fasten the old.

Leif:

Lady to bang for money.

Leif:

Here's the best outfits from the last

Leif:

episode we see.

Leif:

For best outfit, I had Serena's

Leif:

gray and black bandage dress from etterville.

Leif:

Jenna.

Leif:

All right. For me, I had

Leif:

Blair's outfit on selection day.

Leif:

The.

Leif:

When she had the white cape.

Leif:

Yeah, the white cape that, like, giant brooch holding

Leif:

it together and. Like, yeah, I just

Leif:

thought it looked so.

Leif:

Yeah, I believe the cape was from Marc Jacobs.

Leif:

Okay. Okay. Yeah. Very elegant and

Leif:

very. I like that a lot.

Leif:

So that is it for segments. I don't really have

Leif:

anything to plug this week. do you got anything?

Leif:

I don't think I have anything coming. Oh,

Leif:

if you are in the Lockhaven

Leif:

area, I'm actually going to be playing the fringe fest

Leif:

next month in October. I'll give you more

Leif:

details on that. I can't remember the exact weekend,

Leif:

but I will be up there playing the

Leif:

Lockhaven pringfest.

Leif:

you can follow me on social media on

Leif:

Instagram apicola, and

Leif:

you can follow the podcast on Instagram and

Leif:

TikTok on judging Breakfastpod.

Leif:

You can also find us on Facebook.

Leif:

just search for nonjudging breakfast pod. You

Leif:

can also find us on Twitter.

Leif:

And we now have a website,

Leif:

nonjudgingbreakfastpod.com. from there, you can find our

Leif:

discord server.

Leif:

And if you want to get in touch with us and send

Leif:

us an email and let us know what you're thinking, we'd love

Leif:

to hear your thoughts and read them on air. Our

Leif:

email address is

Leif:

nonjudgingbreakfastpodmail.com.

Leif:

and also, while you're sitting there

Leif:

listening, please be sure to, like, listen to,

Leif:

like, subscribe, leave a comment. It really

Leif:

helps with our visibility, especially on iTunes and

Leif:

the Apple podcasts. And also, more

Leif:

importantly, tell a friend what you're listening to and

Leif:

listen together and have, an

Leif:

enjoyable experience with us.

Leif:

Next week, we'll be back to talk about season two,

Leif:

episode five, the Serena

Leif:

also rises. The max

Leif:

episode preview reads, blair

Leif:

decides to sabotage her mother's show at

Leif:

fashion week.

Leif:

Jesus, Blair, what is wrong with

Leif:

you?

Leif:

she's obviously going through some shit.

Leif:

Yeah. She's going to be frozen. Well, yeah.

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, who is she going after?

Leif:

Jenny, Serena or both? I

Leif:

mean, cuz. Yeah,

Leif:

I'm assuming both.

Leif:

Yeah, because I. Presumably Jenny's involved with the

Leif:

show and maybe.

Leif:

And maybe Serena, too, now that Serena is

Leif:

queen and sir, you know, the fashion model.

Leif:

I don't know if you saw the thumbnail.

Leif:

No, I didn't.

Leif:

Okay. Yeah.

Leif:

Is Serena and, like, is. Yes. Arena in a dress. Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah, I did see it now that I think of it,

Leif:

but yeah, so that all tracks. So of

Leif:

course that's gonna piss off Blair.

Leif:

Well, until next week, you know you love

Leif:

us.

Leif:

Xoxo.

Steve:

Every time you walk away run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run, away you take a piece of

Steve:

me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run hm. Away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

oh, it seems I'm walking right to

Steve:

your door.

Leif:

My heart's.

Steve:

Still resting looking for something

Steve:

more.

Leif:

Are.

Steve:

You ever gonna see everything you mean to me? I'm

Steve:

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 my

Steve:

own

Steve:

I left last night and it feels like

Steve:

way too late

Steve:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean m to

Steve:

me? I'm trying really hard to believe

Steve:

every time you walk away, 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:

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 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 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 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:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there.

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Non Judging Breakfast Pod
A Gossip Girl Podcast

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