Episode 18

Gossip Girl S2E18 - The Age of Dissonance

Summary

Welcome back, Gossip Girl fanatics! This week on the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve dive into the whirlwind of Gossip Girl Season 2, Episode 18, "The Age of Dissonance." As the Upper East Side students step into the spotlight for their senior class play, tensions flare and secrets unravel. Blair battles to maintain her social standing amidst the chaos, while Serena's latest crush leads to unexpected complications. Meanwhile, Dan finds himself entangled in a controversial relationship with Ms. Carr, prompting a series of explosive confrontations. Join our hosts as they dissect the drama, intrigue, and questionable decisions with their signature humor and insight. Don't miss this deep dive into the tangled lives of Manhattan's elite!

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:

If that school expelled him every lawyer in

Leif:

New York would be banging on their door.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, they would be moving to the Upper east

Steve:

side.

Leif:

They would know in the school.

Steve:

Yes, they would.

Steve:

They would have the Humphrey wing.

Steve:

Imagine Blair having to sit in

Steve:

the Humphrey auditorium.

Leif:

Hey Upper East Siders and all you scandal loving listeners out there, you just

Leif:

tuned into the non judging breakfast pod where the coffee

Leif:

is strong, the waffles are fresh, and the

Leif:

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

Leif:

seasoned Gossip Girl veteran.

Steve:

And I'm Steve, your newbie, your

Steve:

greenhorn, your. I don't know, Leif. What are we calling

Steve:

the season two Gossip Girl newbie this week?

Leif:

I don't have time for this when all my enemies just keep changing.

Steve:

Hey, that's fair enough, but, you know, just don't

Steve:

shatter my image of you in the process.

Steve:

So here's the deal, folks. Leif has been watching Gossip

Steve:

Girl since it first aired, and I'm diving in for

Steve:

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

Steve:

bringing you all of 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:

show one episode at a time. We'll analyze all the

Leif:

hidden parallels, obscure references. Along

Leif:

the way, we're going to look at some behind the scenes gossip

Leif:

and phantom stories.

Steve:

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

Steve:

breakfast pod, there's always a seat for you at the non judging

Steve:

breakfast table. So please pull up a,

Steve:

mimosa, grab a cup of coffee, or roll up

Steve:

some of Nate and Chuck's special medicine. And let's get

Steve:

this going.

Leif:

This episode is going to be coming out on December

Leif:

16, which will be the last episode of

Leif:

the year for us. It'll be a two week release

Leif:

break.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

For Christmas and New Year's and then we'll

Leif:

be back after the new year. I think we got our first

Leif:

Quebecois listener, from the providence of

Leif:

Quebec.

Steve:

Hey, welcome. Hello.

Leif:

Ah.

Steve:

I wish I had something that I could say in French

Steve:

right now that was appropriate.

Leif:

Bonjour, Bonjour,

Leif:

Bonjour, Bonjour, Bonjour.

Steve:

And hello.

Leif:

I got my French, teachers to let us watch

Leif:

Beauty and the Disney's Beauty and Beauty and the Beauty's just based

Leif:

on that opening song.

Steve:

When I was young, my family went

Steve:

on a vacation every year. And one year I met, like, I

Steve:

had this crush on a girl from Quebec and we couldn't

Steve:

like, talk to each other at all. And it was

Steve:

cute.

Leif:

Did you meet her at the Niagara Falls,

Leif:

Steve?

Steve:

Not. No, it was. It was in the Poconos.

Leif:

So this episode we're here to talk about is

Leif:

season two, episode 18 of the Age

Leif:

of Dissonance. Originally aired on

Leif:

March 16, 2009. That

Leif:

was, six weeks after the previous episode,

Leif:

season break.

Steve:

I noticed that when I was reviewing

Steve:

for the Vulture recap. Do we know

Steve:

why? Did something happen?

Leif:

I don't think so. They would just take breaks

Leif:

in the spring a lot.

Steve:

Yeah, I guess I'm used to shows

Steve:

taking a month off. Short high

Steve:

six weeks seems like a longer hiatus than most would

Steve:

take it. Also, it's also an

Steve:

interesting time to take that long of a hiatus

Steve:

after what was arguably,

Steve:

kind of train wreck of a show of an episode.

Leif:

Yeah. Kind of a cliffhanger ending, too.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly. Cliffhangers that

Steve:

weren't really, well,

Steve:

hungry.

Leif:

So, of course, the title is based on the Age

Leif:

of Innocence.

Steve:

Yeah, I've never. I've never seen it. Good

Steve:

book.

Leif:

Good movie.

Steve:

I've never read it either.

Leif:

Interesting line that, Ms. Carr decides to quote at the

Leif:

end. I didn't really see how it made sense for

Leif:

their relationship, but, yeah, I.

Steve:

Think we'll get to that. Yeah. Needed to pull

Steve:

something out.

Leif:

Episode was written by Jessica

Leif:

Queller. She has previous written the

Leif:

Serena Also Rises Bonfire, the

Leif:

Vanity, Blair Waldorf Must Buy,

Leif:

Roman Holiday and the Handmaiden's Tale.

Steve:

Yeah, they brought, both her.

Steve:

And as we'll get to in a second, Norman Buckley.

Leif:

Clearly.

Steve:

I really felt like they were like, we need to clean up

Steve:

the mess.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Of that was left behind from last week. They

Steve:

brought in big hitters and, that. That I really

Steve:

felt did a decent

Steve:

job salvaging what they were given.

Leif:

Yes. And as you said, directed by Norman

Leif:

Buckley, who previously did work with.

Leif:

With her on Handmaiden's Tale, but also did A Thin Line

Leif:

between Chuck and Nate and Much Ado About Nothing

Leif:

and New Haven Can Wait.

Steve:

And. And Norman Buckley is also such a

Steve:

pro.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

With these teen dramas to begin with. I mean, he's

Steve:

worked. I know he was on. Worked on Pretty Little Liars.

Steve:

He worked on something before this.

Leif:

He's worked on pretty much every Josh Works show.

Steve:

Yeah. I was going to say. Oh, yeah. Because it was the O.C. when

Steve:

we were watching the O.C. we saw his name come up there.

Leif:

It's always a big episode, too.

Steve:

yeah. Yeah. Norman Buckley is a very

Steve:

competent teen drama

Steve:

director.

Leif:

Yeah, sure.

Steve:

Accomplished is the word.

Leif:

Why don't you go, ahead and read Us. That vulture. Recap?

Steve:

Sure thing. Like a crocus

Steve:

poking out of the late winter snow,

Steve:

last night's new episode of Gossip Girl was a

Steve:

welcome arrival to the cold and barren

Steve:

television landscape. As its

Steve:

petals slowly unfolded, it stirred

Steve:

the life that has lain dormant inside our

Steve:

souls since the show went on unexpected

Steve:

hiatus in February and gave

Steve:

us a glimpse of colorful spring

Steve:

ahead. And how colorful it was. Last

Steve:

night's plot, The Constance Billard St.

Steve:

Jude Performance of the Age of Innocence,

Steve:

required with required everyone

Steve:

be dressed in ridiculous costumes.

Steve:

Everyone except Jenny, Chuck, and Vanessa,

Steve:

who were not in the play, but who, let's face

Steve:

it, always wear ridiculous costumes.

Steve:

Blair was tragic and noble in black,

Steve:

while Serena was luminous and white.

Steve:

Her creamy breasts nestled like eggs in the

Steve:

feathered Easter egg Easter basket of

Steve:

her dress. I did not write this. Nelly

Steve:

Yuki was forced to wear a fat suit to play

Steve:

Mrs. Manson Mingott. And when Blair

Steve:

spat at her. My problem is a two faced, four

Steve:

eyed, devious little snipe in a fat suit.

Steve:

It was like the first balmy spring

Steve:

breeze blew across our faces,

Steve:

but it didn't last. Gossip Girl's

Steve:

plot, like the weather, is unpredictable.

Steve:

And while one moment we are basking the sun,

Steve:

we were soon boiling hot.

Steve:

Then the weather changed again.

Steve:

The sweat congealed on our forehead, and suddenly

Steve:

we were freezing in our unseasonable clothes,

Steve:

holding desperately to our arms and trying

Steve:

to keep warm.

Leif:

That says a lot.

Steve:

It does.

Leif:

Well, let's see what else we can add to it.

Steve:

Yeah, that really mirrors

Steve:

a lot of how I felt about it.

Leif:

So let's get into Act 1.

Leif:

We open with a Gossip Girl monologue.

Leif:

On the Upper east side, all the world's a stage,

Leif:

and the men and women merely players. But once

Leif:

a year, constant St. Jude students shed their

Leif:

usual roles and take on new ones for the senior

Leif:

class play. This year's pick, the Age of

Leif:

Innocence. Before Gossip Girl, there was Edith

Leif:

Wharton and how little has changed.

Leif:

The same society snobs still reign

Leif:

only in corsets and horse drawn carriages.

Steve:

Yeah, I thought it was an interesting choice for

Steve:

a high school play. I don't know a whole lot about

Steve:

it. but what I do know, I always

Steve:

thought it was a more adult

Steve:

themed. I thought it was more adult

Steve:

themed. I don't mean that sexually. I mean

Steve:

that as in. And who would be in a.

Leif:

Definitely. There's definitely a lot of passion and

Leif:

subtext, but it's all subtext. Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah. And I guess that's what I. What I mean is that it?

Steve:

That. And they even Allude that to that

Steve:

in the. In the episode that it is the

Steve:

subtext that the passion is in what isn't

Steve:

happening.

Leif:

Isn't that, like, almost every Shakespeare play?

Steve:

I mean, it is, but in Shakespeare,

Steve:

I feel like you often get the release, too,

Steve:

you know? and theater kids all want to

Steve:

do Shakespeare, right? Not that any of

Steve:

these are actual theater kids, because it's just. No, you all

Steve:

have to be in a play unless you're diagnosed with

Steve:

stage fright. Yeah.

Leif:

The students are prepping for a play. More

Leif:

bro time. As Nate is complaining to Dan about having

Leif:

to do a play. Chuck got his doctor to diagnose

Leif:

him with a case of acute stage fright.

Steve:

Yeah, I found that to be really funny. I thought it was

Steve:

a great Chuck thing to

Steve:

do.

Leif:

At least they're trying to explain why he's not connected to anyone

Leif:

else here.

Steve:

Yeah. I also feel like

Steve:

they've, in the past few episodes, really been

Steve:

giving Chase Crawford the direction of

Steve:

smiling more. And I get, it's

Steve:

probably very character driven that

Steve:

he's on the upswing. His

Steve:

family's financial problems are taken care

Steve:

of. His dad has done the right thing. He has

Steve:

a girlfriend. So I

Steve:

feel, like it's a good character

Steve:

thing. I feel like he's smiling all

Steve:

the time now, and I like seeing Nate

Steve:

happy.

Leif:

I'm sure that'll last so long.

Leif:

Ha. Jesus Christ.

Steve:

Even if it's with Vanessa,

Steve:

Blair, per.

Leif:

Usual, is not so subtly insulting Serena with

Leif:

nice sounding words. Serena is attempting her own

Leif:

age inappropriate fling to get even with Dan.

Steve:

Yeah, great. Serena has a

Steve:

crush, so what is she going to

Steve:

inappropriately eat and or lick

Steve:

by the end of this episode?

Leif:

And I love Dorota to see. She's, like, holding the

Leif:

player's extensions up to her own ears and also looking

Leif:

in the mirror.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Serena and Blair's banter is interrupted by a

Leif:

celebration from Nelly, who just got early

Leif:

acceptance to Yale. Blair runs off to

Leif:

find Queller.

Steve:

Yeah, that was

Steve:

neat. I kind of liked this whole

Steve:

celebration because once it happened,

Steve:

they were just like, yeah,

Steve:

sorry, B. Yeah, a lot.

Leif:

Of people, like, they were totally agree with Nelly

Leif:

when she said, a lot of people want to take you down.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Serena's new crush Julian is berating both

Leif:

Humphrey siblings out in the auditorium. And Dan

Leif:

sees Ms. Carr enter at the theater and is

Leif:

distracted as the other teachers are seen gossiping

Leif:

about her.

Steve:

why are they gossiping about you?

Steve:

Oh, because of the really inappropriate thing you were

Steve:

accused of doing, and then you got your job back,

Steve:

idiot. Why Are you in that

Steve:

rehearsal? Why did you walk in? Are you

Steve:

directing the play? Do you have anything to do with the play? Or are you

Steve:

just going into the place near the one

Steve:

exact person that you have been instructed to stay the

Steve:

fuck away from?

Leif:

Vanessa is, of course, forcing her way into another

Leif:

Constance event by filming a documentary about

Leif:

Constance hiring a hot Broadway director for the

Leif:

school play.

Steve:

It's really funny because I actually sat there

Steve:

thinking, well, they found a way to shoehorn

Steve:

Vanessa into this one. How

Steve:

can we force her in? Oh, we're going to make a

Steve:

documentary about this play that we're doing

Steve:

at the school.

Leif:

Sure. Well, no, she's gonna do the.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

Yeah, she's gonna show up.

Steve:

Well, they. She did say she got permission to do it

Steve:

from the director because the

Steve:

director is so full of himself.

Leif:

Chuck enters a busy restaurant and is greeted by a

Leif:

former associate of his father's. However, the

Leif:

real meat of the scene is Carter

Leif:

Basin having lunch with the mysterious L from last

Leif:

week. Carter and Chuck trade jives while Al

Leif:

sneaks out through the kitchen. We all see

Leif:

the same business associate from earlier get up

Leif:

and leave at the same time.

Steve:

I like the Carter shake Up.

Steve:

It's not the Michelle Trachtenberg

Steve:

shakeup. It's. Remind me his name.

Steve:

Who plays Carter? Sebastian. Stan

Steve:

Sebastian. Stan is a

Steve:

pro. Yeah. When he comes

Steve:

in and he does this shake up, it's always.

Steve:

He's a piece of shit. And you always kind of see him, even

Steve:

though the one time he really wasn't, he just got punched in the

Steve:

face for not being a piece of shit.

Steve:

But, like, you know, he's a piece of shit.

Steve:

And yet it's a

Steve:

fun shake up. Whereas I think to

Steve:

the. To the Michelle Trachtenberg shake Up and

Steve:

the Aaron shake up, where they just weren't

Steve:

good shakeups, you know,

Steve:

Car's the.

Leif:

Character that Chuck should have been.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

he's Chuck without the whole rapey vibe.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Steve:

yeah. That is so. That is

Steve:

so accurate.

Leif:

Dan continues to be distracted, but asks

Leif:

Jenny to deliver a note to Ms. Carr because he feels

Leif:

bad about how the other teachers are treating her.

Steve:

Dan, you fucking

Steve:

idiot.

Leif:

He just doesn't care. He's.

Steve:

He's.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And he's just so dumb. Like, he's such

Steve:

a teenage boy, which I get. There's

Steve:

so much of it that I would probably be acting

Steve:

the same way. But I'm, as an adult watching this.

Steve:

It's. You're an idiot. And I also.

Steve:

I do love that Jenny

Steve:

is like, all right, I'll help you. That she's

Steve:

reluctant but she'll also. She's always

Steve:

there for her big brother and

Steve:

it's one of those character things that I really love about

Steve:

Jenny and when she gets

Steve:

torn with you know, she tries to

Steve:

cover before Rufus can get a hold of

Steve:

it.

Leif:

Which why is he like he doesn't know whose

Leif:

note that is? Why is he just going into the note?

Steve:

I mean it's Rufus, It's

Steve:

Rufus doing. There is a. There is

Steve:

a metal object. There is a metal key shaped

Steve:

object in it which I think is a little. Would. Could be a

Steve:

little sus.

Leif:

It wasn't in there though because Jenny hands him the key.

Leif:

We'll get to that.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

So Jenny delivers The notes to Ms. Carr who gives a response with

Leif:

a key back to Jenny, which she does initially

Leif:

in that scene. They put it in. But yeah, so that's a

Leif:

just like another thing scene where we can see the note going back and

Leif:

forth. Blair finds Queller who

Leif:

explains that the anonymous tipster gave Yale the reason for

Leif:

Blair's previous detention. And Yale

Leif:

subsequently rescinded Blair's

Leif:

acceptance.

Steve:

My first thought was that it could

Steve:

be Harold that made that call. That when

Steve:

Harold, because of his disappointment and what he saw and

Steve:

that that he wanted to basically send the message to

Steve:

Blair of being a good person is more

Steve:

important than impressing me. So my first thought

Steve:

was how did Harold do this?

Leif:

Yeah, I would have never gone there. We

Leif:

know Harold's that could, that could have a person you.

Steve:

I. And I also.

Leif:

He's a nice guy, but he's not. I mean

Leif:

he basically lied to his wife for 20 years

Leif:

and then cheated on her and then left her.

Steve:

Yeah. There's definitely. Yes, you are.

Steve:

You are correct that Harold is not a

Steve:

beacon of morality.

Leif:

So yeah, my, my head never all that there. But Interesting thought.

Steve:

Yeah. Well and I think it's a matter of. Although

Steve:

he is. He has shown these bad things. He does

Steve:

love his daughter. There's no doubt that he. Well but he also like

Steve:

fucking moved to another country and was like Deuces,

Steve:

like I love you Deuces.

Leif:

I. Yeah, I.

Steve:

When my ex wife and I first

Steve:

split, I had friends that flew me out to California and one

Steve:

of my friends said, you know, if you didn't have kids

Steve:

you'd be right back here. And I was like I can't. What

Steve:

if my kids out of this scenario?

Steve:

The thought never occurred to me to

Steve:

move across the country from my kids, let

Steve:

alone across an ocean.

Steve:

I could not fathom being

Steve:

that Far away from my kids because

Steve:

I chose to. If my kids decided

Steve:

to move to Europe, then I will

Steve:

support them. But I couldn't

Steve:

be that far away.

Leif:

And that's why, my head never went to

Leif:

Harold. Just like Blair, I immediately went to

Leif:

Nelly. We end the act with a

Leif:

little Gossip Girl narration.

Leif:

Every actress eventually finds the hook into her

Leif:

character, even if sometimes life has to give her a little

Leif:

push. But don't worry, Bea. When God

Leif:

closes the door, he opens a play.

Steve:

I like that.

Leif:

We move into Act 2. Chuck

Leif:

arrives home to find Elle waiting for him. She

Leif:

tells him she needs his help.

Steve:

Okay,

Steve:

next.

Leif:

Yeah, not. Not much going on there.

Leif:

At rehearsal, Rufus bumps into Jenny, and

Leif:

she drops a note from his car to Dan. Rufus picks

Leif:

up the note and immediately snoops. Looks like

Leif:

a different Humphrey is about to show up to dan's

Leif:

rendezvous with Ms. Carr.

Steve:

Now, if I'm correct, when

Steve:

they bump and they drop the note, I think

Steve:

you can hear the key.

Leif:

Yeah, he fried fall. Yeah.

Steve:

And so I'm wondering if it was

Steve:

a mess up on their part

Steve:

that the key wasn't supposed to fall out in the first place. And

Steve:

when it did, and they gathered the letter, Jenny was

Steve:

like, And Jenny was the one who got it.

Leif:

They would reshoot that.

Steve:

You would think. But it

Steve:

just. It was an awkward exchange,

Steve:

but at the same time, I was glad he found the letter.

Steve:

Like, I was like, yeah, get her, Rufus.

Leif:

Any chance Rufus just decides to stay and has sex

Leif:

with Ms. Carr?

Steve:

My son is too young for you. But

Steve:

me,

Steve:

sir, I'm too young for you. Didn't my

Steve:

dad have your poster on his wall?

Leif:

They talk about, ver is, like, 27.

Steve:

He had Dan at 12.

Leif:

Blair bursts into the dress room in an attempt to bully

Leif:

Nelly Yuki. But Nelly points out that there are

Leif:

about a thousand people that would love to take Blair down.

Leif:

The argument is interrupted by a Gossip Girl finally

Leif:

outing Marcus's affair with his stepmother.

Leif:

Looks like Blair has a new V for

Leif:

vendetta.

Steve:

Yeah, I loved Nelly here. I

Steve:

loved Nelly's takedown of

Steve:

Blair. I also.

Steve:

Then Penelope chimes in, and

Steve:

you're. You're just struck by the fact that

Steve:

Blair really has lost control

Steve:

of the menu.

Leif:

Yeah. Serena is trying to flirt with

Leif:

Julian, who is ignoring her. Serena uses

Leif:

Vanessa's documentary as an excuse for the three of them to

Leif:

grab lunch together.

Steve:

Serena had nothing to lick

Steve:

nearby.

Leif:

That's because she understood.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, she. She

Steve:

can't flirt this way. She can't flirt out in the open.

Steve:

Someone give her some strawberries.

Leif:

Blair comes up to the pair, guns blazing. But

Leif:

Serena and Vanessa both laugh it off.

Leif:

Blair is really unraveling here.

Steve:

I liked V. I liked Vanessa

Steve:

in, in a lot of this episode. I thought

Steve:

Vanessa was pretty good and I really.

Leif:

I don't have time for this.

Steve:

Yeah, I loved how she was. Yeah, she was just

Steve:

like. No, just walked away.

Steve:

Just took her shot and walked

Steve:

away. I loved it. She did. She

Steve:

did well.

Leif:

At the Vander Woodson penthouse, Elle is explaining her

Leif:

situation to Chuck Savior, a woman

Leif:

everywhere.

Steve:

Chuck.

Leif:

Chuck promises to get her a new identity so she can escape

Leif:

to the powerful men from parts club.

Steve:

Chuck, you are a multi

Steve:

billionaire. You have had contacts

Steve:

for all kinds of shit throughout this entire

Steve:

show. And now you only know one

Steve:

guy that you

Steve:

hate

Steve:

and don't trust at

Steve:

all.

Leif:

Remember a couple episodes where he. He was ready to just crash the

Leif:

bass plane. You have a fly with private

Leif:

chat, Chuck.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

You don't ask for it.

Steve:

Yeah, you can

Steve:

disappear her anywhere you want.

Leif:

It looks like Nate got roped into lunch with. With

Leif:

Serena, Vanessa and Julian. However, Nate and

Leif:

Serena look on in annoyance at it looks the

Leif:

only. Because it looks like the only ones connecting are Vanessa and

Leif:

Julian. Vanessa is desperately trying to help

Leif:

Serena get this older douchebag to notice her.

Leif:

And Serena comes up with a plan for Vanessa to play

Leif:

Serena to her and get said

Leif:

douchebag a lot of things.

Steve:

Again, I'm going to. I'm going to be very kind to

Steve:

Vanessa this episode. The fact that Vanessa

Steve:

from the get is like, why are you into this

Steve:

guy? This guy is full of himself.

Steve:

Because Vanessa doesn't have

Steve:

the time of day

Steve:

for rich assholes to begin

Steve:

with and pretentious people. Even though she's

Steve:

pretty pretentious, she doesn't really

Steve:

like.

Leif:

She even says later, he's annoying. I know because

Leif:

basically I am.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. She says that. And

Steve:

when Nate gets up and leaves

Steve:

and then shortly after,

Steve:

Julian is like, yeah, I'm done here too. That's

Steve:

when I was like, is he into Nate?

Steve:

That would make sense. But

Steve:

also why. Why

Steve:

is Serena into this guy?

Leif:

Like she's just trying to get even with Dan.

Leif:

Yeah, that's like the only explanation.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

In Brooklyn, Dan is asking Jenny about Ms.

Leif:

Carr. Jenny admits Rufus intercepted the note.

Steve:

Yeah, I love Jenny's whole thing

Steve:

here, which is like, Yeah. Uh-huh.

Leif:

About that.

Steve:

Yeah, dad. Dad has it.

Steve:

I love, love, love when. When Taylor

Steve:

Mumpson does the little sister. Shit. She's

Steve:

so good. Is she an only

Steve:

child? I think we. She is Right. Didn't we discuss

Steve:

that at some point?

Leif:

Possible.

Steve:

I don't know for sure, but she does the little sister shit

Steve:

so. Well.

Leif:

Ms. Carr is prepping for a

Leif:

romantic rendezvous when Rufus comes in

Leif:

and hands her the key.

Steve:

Yeah. You gave his kid a

Steve:

key, and you're lucky that all he did

Steve:

was come in and give it back. What are you.

Leif:

What? I don't get what the whole point of the key is. Isn't she gonna be

Leif:

there?

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Steve:

Why do.

Steve:

Why do you even need a key?

Leif:

And who carries a spare key around with them, too?

Steve:

Yeah. To give to high

Steve:

schoolers.

Leif:

To give anyone.

Steve:

Yeah. Why do you have keys to your own

Steve:

house on you right now?

Leif:

And why do you need to give him a key? To meet you there at

Leif:

the place.

Steve:

Where you already are. Where you already have a key to.

Leif:

Unless there was more to that nose. Like, I'm going to show up tied

Leif:

to my bed naked.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Just come right in.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Maybe not kink

Leif:

shaving, but yeah.

Steve:

but even then. Even then, she was

Steve:

lighting candles, so, like, she was clearly getting ready

Steve:

for dinner first. And that's the other

Steve:

thing. I could not imagine

Steve:

being a dad, walking in there and seeing

Steve:

the person, seeing this predator lighting

Steve:

fucking candles, waiting for my

Steve:

kid to show up. Just the fact that he

Steve:

just gave you the key and left. I don't

Steve:

know how he doesn't torture. I don't know how

Steve:

he doesn't at least

Steve:

immediately call the school

Steve:

and be like, get. Get her gone

Steve:

before she bangs my son on school property.

Leif:

Poor Miss Iowa. Caught playing Mrs.

Leif:

Robinson. Looks like the teacher just got

Leif:

schooled. Cuckoo Kaju,

Leif:

back from commercial. Dan is being pissy of because

Leif:

his dad fucked up his booty call. Ms. Carr should

Leif:

obviously be fired for actions, but I'm confused on why Dan

Leif:

would be expelled or punished at all for this.

Leif:

Yeah, Dan, if that school

Leif:

expelled him, every lawyer in New York would be banging

Leif:

on their door.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. They would be moving to the Upper east

Steve:

side.

Leif:

They would own the school.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

They would have the Humphrey wing.

Steve:

Imagine Blair having to sit in

Steve:

the Humphrey auditorium.

Steve:

But, Dan, you're an idiot.

Leif:

Spell your kid. Because his teacher.

Leif:

Teacher at our school.

Steve:

Yeah. Seduced him.

Steve:

What? Made the first move on

Steve:

him, then gave him a key.

Steve:

So, yeah.

Leif:

Julian is at Serena's penthouse helping her

Leif:

rehearse as usual, being quite

Leif:

pompous. However, it looks like Serena's

Leif:

Serena idea is working. That is, until Nate

Leif:

catches Vanessa talking on the phone. He

Leif:

thinks directly to Julian. The date ends as

Leif:

another Gossip Girl blast. Adding the real reason why

Leif:

Serena got accepted to Yale. Not to be

Leif:

mean, but did anyone actually think Serena got into

Leif:

Yale based on her grades?

Steve:

Yeah. And I. I've gotten the impression

Steve:

Serena gets good grades

Steve:

now, but she didn't.

Steve:

They.

Steve:

They've said earlier that she has.

Steve:

She was not a good student before this year, and.

Leif:

Yeah. So her GPA can't be that

Leif:

great.

Steve:

Yeah. And no extracurriculars other than this

Steve:

play.

Leif:

She played field hockey that one day.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, but that. I thought that was P.E.

Leif:

maybe. Next we find Chuck

Leif:

handling L off to handing L off to

Leif:

Carter, who, as we know, is an expert at crossing

Leif:

borders. However, as the Lima pulls away,

Leif:

Carter reveals the wrist tattoo showing that he is part of

Leif:

Bart's club.

Steve:

Yeah, Chuck, you're an idiot. Like you. You don't trust

Steve:

this guy to begin with. And I

Steve:

did. There is the part of me that was like. That was pretty

Steve:

fun. Like, I did kind of like that,

Steve:

but I also was like, chuck, you're an idiot.

Leif:

And Carter was clearly just fucking with Chuck because they were just

Leif:

taking her to sign an NUA and hold her hand. Her case of money.

Leif:

It's like, yeah, he totally

Leif:

made it seem way worse than it was.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

With that move.

Steve:

I also love that Carter is in the club that Chuck

Steve:

wants to get into.

Leif:

Dorota is coaching Blair to use her real

Leif:

life pain to fuel her acting on stage.

Leif:

However, they are interrupted when a pissed off Serena enters

Leif:

the dressing room and accuses Blair of sending the tip about

Leif:

Serena and Yale. Blair's new target

Leif:

is Dan.

Steve:

I loved Dorota giving the acting

Steve:

advice to Blair, and it

Steve:

shows this more rounded

Steve:

character of Dorota that you

Steve:

only see her as this live in

Steve:

maid to this brat all the

Steve:

time, but she has her own

Steve:

life beyond it. You see that she understands

Steve:

the theater and things like that. I just.

Leif:

I love that Dan pulls Ms.

Leif:

Carr into the costume closet and uses moves from the

Leif:

play to seduce her. They are now having

Leif:

sex on school property.

Steve:

Yeah. I realize

Steve:

as somebody who did theater all throughout high school,

Steve:

all throughout college, that the actual costume

Steve:

shop. Not. Not the costume shop, but the actual

Steve:

costume closet for one, is a. Is a place

Steve:

where sex often happens,

Steve:

but also during a

Steve:

play is where there. There's not a

Steve:

lot of traffic during a play because the costumes are already

Steve:

created and you're not going into the closet or anything,

Steve:

but there's traffic still

Steve:

to

Steve:

risk having sex

Steve:

on school property in the.

Steve:

In the vicinity of where

Steve:

everybody is,

Steve:

all of the seniors, all of

Steve:

the teachers who have come for the play, your

Steve:

Boss, who told you to stay away from this person?

Steve:

The dad who just told you to stay away from

Steve:

this person, for fuck's sake. And

Steve:

Dan using the fucking blocking from the

Steve:

play. Like

Steve:

with the oh shit, this is working look on his

Steve:

face. Yeah, that was

Steve:

good.

Leif:

Moving into Act 3, opening night is here.

Leif:

We get a scene showing the very students doing some last minute

Leif:

rehearsing. V asks us about why she

Leif:

hung up earlier. Blair gives Dan a

Leif:

dirty look.

Steve:

I really liked this scene despite not having a

Steve:

lot to say about it. I liked the pre show

Steve:

chaos and everything that was

Steve:

happening.

Leif:

Chuck is meeting with his father's friend from earlier,

Leif:

trying to gain access to the club. However,

Leif:

Mr. Campbell completely shuts it down and plays dumb about

Leif:

the whole thing. As the man leaves, Chuck gets

Leif:

a text with a meeting spot for later tonight.

Steve:

Is this where he says, I care about

Steve:

this person? I think it is. Which is

Steve:

funny because he's talked to her like three times and most

Steve:

of the conversations are leave me alone or give me

Steve:

money. I care about

Steve:

her.

Leif:

Backstage, Julian is giving additional, perhaps

Leif:

unwanted advice to his actors during their first act

Leif:

break.

Steve:

Every douchebag theater person.

Steve:

I just, I've

Steve:

worked with that, before and it

Steve:

just, it just rang.

Leif:

So true in, the audience. Queller

Leif:

is thanking Julian's critic friend, Christopher

Leif:

Isherwood for attending. If you didn't guess that person

Leif:

is actually playing themselves as Chris

Leif:

is a real person and a well known theater

Leif:

critic.

Steve:

I didn't know at this point, I didn't

Steve:

know the name, but as soon as

Steve:

he was on m stage I was like, oh, that's a real

Steve:

person. This is a cameo.

Steve:

Yeah, he's got them cameo

Steve:

chops. Those cameo acting

Steve:

chops.

Leif:

Vanessa is confused as to why Nate is being

Leif:

cold to her. Julian is mocking Nate

Leif:

and laughing at his own jokes. Does Julian

Leif:

not read the newspaper?

Steve:

Yeah, I, I thought about that too. Of

Steve:

how do you not know that this kid

Steve:

has literally lost everything

Steve:

and you're berating him and like, not that you would ever know what

Steve:

it's like to lose anything. you

Steve:

idiot.

Leif:

Dan and Blair are doing a remarkable job of

Leif:

carrying on two conversations without the audience

Leif:

noticing. Much to everyone's surprise,

Leif:

Blair pins Dan down into the carriage and mounts

Leif:

on top of him and then berates him.

Leif:

However, from behind, it looks like they are sharing a rather

Leif:

passionate makeout session. It looks like Dan

Leif:

might know the real culprit behind the recent

Leif:

string of Gossip Girl blast.

Steve:

There's some chemistry here.

Leif:

I thought so.

Steve:

I, I said that Robin was like,

Steve:

no, but

Steve:

I Caught something from Blair

Steve:

and Dan there.

Leif:

Their comedic chemistry, if anything, is

Leif:

stellar.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

They bounce off each other so well.

Steve:

They always do. But that whole

Steve:

scene seemed a little intimate

Steve:

almost.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And I mean, I know it's supposed to be like a make out scene

Steve:

from the audience's perspective, but

Steve:

I felt like there was a little bit of something there.

Leif:

I don't disagree. Maybe it's just, we

Leif:

know Leighton Meester's taste in men.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And I. Dan does look a lot like her

Leif:

eventual husband.

Steve:

Oh, yeah. She's married to Adam Brody,

Steve:

right? Yeah. Seth

Steve:

Cohen. She's got a type.

Steve:

It's the Josh Ford stand in.

Steve:

Let's keep her away from Benjamin Levi.

Leif:

The play continues, and the students stumble over their

Leif:

lines. And Nate explodes in rage because he thinks

Leif:

Julian is after Vanessa. Blair and

Leif:

Serena and Nelly use this as an excuse to go off

Leif:

script as well. Poor Dan tries to

Leif:

awkwardly keep playing it straight.

Steve:

This is why you never force kids

Steve:

to do theater. Theater is fun

Steve:

for people that really enjoy it. I

Steve:

understand having classes where you

Steve:

do scene work

Steve:

in an English class and understanding

Steve:

theater and understanding those sorts of things, but

Steve:

forcing kids into a play is

Steve:

a really bad idea

Steve:

because anyone that hates it is

Steve:

ready to just blow the whole thing up at any given time.

Leif:

So right before Nate comes out on stage, there's like a

Leif:

quick little scene with him and Jenny.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

And Jenny, like, has a little throwaway line

Leif:

about, you know, basically gotten Nate's head about

Leif:

Vanessa and the director. I, wonder if there's another deleted

Leif:

scene somewhere of Jenny seeing Nate

Leif:

being jealous about.

Steve:

Oh, and pushing that a little bit,

Steve:

because I felt like Jenny was kind of

Steve:

downplaying it.

Leif:

Yeah. It came off as like a throwaway line. But that

Leif:

could have just been Jenny acting.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

And then.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

But who knows?

Steve:

Because I actually liked that they were friendly,

Steve:

you know, I. I. Because I, feel like the last

Steve:

time the two of them really talked was

Steve:

the dance. The dance. Right. I know

Steve:

Vanessa and Jenny have talked since then, but I don't know if Nate

Steve:

has.

Leif:

Shakespeare says, all is well that ends

Leif:

well. And sometimes it just ends.

Leif:

After the commercial, everyone is backstage and Julian

Leif:

is berating the cast. However, the critic says he loves

Leif:

the show, and Julian attempts to roll with the punches

Leif:

and take credit. This finally allows Serena to

Leif:

see who Julian really is.

Steve:

This is, for one, this is when I was like, oh, that's a

Steve:

cameo. But

Steve:

yeah, Serena, this director being

Steve:

such a. Such an asshole the whole time. That

Steve:

was really funny, the taking credit. Like.

Steve:

It was.

Steve:

Yeah, it was Dumb, but in a fun

Steve:

kind of way.

Leif:

Nate finally learns about Vanessa playing Serena,

Leif:

but it still appears this relationship might not last

Leif:

much longer.

Steve:

What's, ah, really bugging you, Nate? Let's talk

Steve:

about it. Because, which he does. I

Steve:

mean, he does say they have nothing in common. Yeah, we have

Steve:

nothing in common. And

Steve:

it's funny to me because Robin and

Steve:

I, as you know, Robin and I have very little

Steve:

in common, traditionally speaking.

Steve:

And we really like that. We really like

Steve:

that we have that. There's Steve's world

Steve:

and Robin's world and then our world, you know,

Steve:

that I go out and play D and D,

Steve:

and she watches garbage reality

Steve:

TV shows or goes to fun restaurants with

Steve:

friends that then she tells me about and takes me to

Steve:

later there, we. We have our own stuff

Steve:

that we do separately, and then we have our stuff that we do together.

Steve:

And I find that that's why

Steve:

we work so well.

Leif:

It's harder in high school, though.

Steve:

It is in high school. You just always. And back.

Steve:

You know, you just want to be around each other all the time and want to just

Steve:

do everything together.

Leif:

Yeah. Chuck finds L

Leif:

leaving the hotel. Who admits you just using

Leif:

Chuck for his money. It's been a couple episodes since we

Leif:

got in a poor Chuck moment, but this one definitely

Leif:

stings a bit.

Steve:

You don't know this woman.

Leif:

Chuck the hooker was using you for

Leif:

money.

Steve:

what?

Steve:

And he not only falls for it, but

Steve:

then is still reeling over it.

Leif:

Yeah, definitely overacted a little bit there.

Steve:

Yeah, I did find it cute. Give your heart to

Steve:

someone. You know, you have a good heart. Give it to

Steve:

someone.

Leif:

There's just so many different stories they could have done with.

Leif:

Chuck just moved back into lilies. What about a story with him and

Leif:

Eric?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

They go off on a little adventure while everyone else doing the

Leif:

play.

Steve:

Yeah, this entire

Steve:

new secret cult. Did we ever get a name for this one?

Leif:

No, I'm just calling it Barts Club.

Steve:

Barts Club. Yeah, because the other two were

Steve:

actual, like, secret societies. They were

Steve:

actual known secret societies, but I guess

Steve:

the prostitute secret society, they

Steve:

don't really advertise.

Leif:

Dan confronts Ms. Carr, who gives her a much

Leif:

deserved verbal smackdown for acting exactly like

Leif:

Blair. The coup de grace is Dan telling

Leif:

Blair that he and Ms. Carr just had sex in the

Leif:

costume closet.

Steve:

Yeah. I love that you see Dan

Steve:

in real time, realize that

Steve:

Rachel is just as catty as Blair

Steve:

is. And that line walking

Steve:

away. Oh, and we had sex in the costume

Steve:

closet. So do with that, which you will. That's

Steve:

yours.

Leif:

Now, as Weird

Leif:

as I'm much more bothered by

Leif:

Ms. Carr's relationship with Serena and Blair than the one

Leif:

with Dan. She wasn't his teacher. He's

Leif:

18. This relationship with Blair and

Leif:

Serena was much weirder.

Steve:

I. All of it

Steve:

is.

Leif:

I mean, the whole thing with that is not great, but

Leif:

whatever. It happened.

Steve:

Fireable.

Leif:

Yeah, definitely fireable, for sure. But

Leif:

the ones with the. It was the balance.

Leif:

Predatory. I wouldn't really say it's predatory.

Steve:

I agree. Even though I've called her a predator and I've

Steve:

said the relationship with flair.

Leif:

And Serena was just wrong from the.

Steve:

Start, and she had no

Steve:

boundaries. Yeah. And that was the thing. As this teacher.

Steve:

She never had any boundaries

Steve:

with anybody.

Leif:

Ah. At all.

Leif:

Blair's look and lie to Ms. Carr

Leif:

absolutely slays. However, Dan's

Leif:

behemoth has clearly already broken Ms.

Leif:

Carr, and Blair, in a moment of relative

Leif:

empathy, declares Ms. Carr's punishment is to live

Leif:

with the consequences of her own actions.

Steve:

Yeah. You see, Blair realizing

Steve:

that what Serena said really

Steve:

rattled her, that betrayal is in her

Steve:

nature. And when she

Steve:

sees this sort of reflection of herself

Steve:

that she created because

Steve:

Rachel didn't come into this

Steve:

ready to fight, she started getting

Steve:

attacked and went and went on the

Steve:

offense. She was wrong about all of

Steve:

it. But I think Blair saw that

Steve:

reflection of what she had

Steve:

caused as well, and it really gave

Steve:

her that moment to pause.

Steve:

And I thought that was really good of Blair. I thought she

Steve:

was really cold but

Steve:

strong.

Leif:

And Blair's line, by the way, was student sex in

Leif:

the costume closet. Is that what they mean by heartland

Leif:

values?

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

We move into the epilogue. Dan,

Leif:

being a good guy, admits to Serena that he is indirectly

Leif:

responsible for the Gossip Girl blast. And Serena leaves

Leif:

to apologize to Blair.

Steve:

Yeah, and that was sweet. That was a cute

Steve:

little bang.

Leif:

Yeah. He had no. There's no real reason for him to admit

Leif:

that. I mean, he could. He could have just got away with it.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

No one would have known.

Steve:

but. But Dan always seems to want to

Steve:

make things right. With Serena especially. He always wants to make things

Steve:

right, but especially with Serena.

Steve:

Although Serena at this

Steve:

point doesn't know that he's slept with

Steve:

Ms. Carr. In fact, she doesn't

Steve:

know that there's been anything beyond them.

Leif:

Having that one picture be interesting who Blair actually

Leif:

tells.

Steve:

Yeah, if anyone.

Leif:

Vanessa shows up at Nate's house to apologize for

Leif:

earlier. However, Nate is finally watching the Age of

Leif:

Innocence and actually loves it. Perhaps rumors

Leif:

of Natesa's imminent demise were somewhat

Leif:

exaggerated.

Steve:

Yeah, I liked this. You, know, I.

Steve:

I liked Nate being happy With Vanessa again at

Steve:

the end. I also found it to be the most

Steve:

mature relationship. This is,

Steve:

I believe, the longest

Steve:

running relationship without

Steve:

a huge problem

Steve:

so far. That, you know, Dan and

Steve:

Serena from the start were always

Steve:

one or two episodes, and then something would get in the way. One or

Steve:

two episodes, something gets in the way.

Leif:

They would have miscommunication similar to this for the first

Leif:

season. They were together basically from

Leif:

episode four through

Leif:

almost the end of the season.

Steve:

Were they okay?

Leif:

Yeah. it's just this season where they get together for like two episodes and they break

Leif:

up.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. So the. So I guess this is. This is

Steve:

more the longest of the. Of the season. Yeah, this

Steve:

is probably the longest running relationship of the

Steve:

season without a

Steve:

breakup, without a shake up, without

Steve:

parents fucking.

Leif:

Rufus and Dan actually have a nice quick scene.

Leif:

Dan admits that Rufus is right, but that he needs space to

Leif:

make his own mistakes.

Steve:

He's right. Yeah. that's a real big

Steve:

thing about parenting is that you have to let your

Steve:

kids grow up and make mistakes. And if

Steve:

you shelter them from them, it's.

Steve:

They're not going to know how to handle mistakes when they're.

Steve:

When they do make them, when you're not there to prevent

Steve:

it.

Leif:

Serena finds Blair drinking alone at the bar.

Leif:

Serena apologizes for not believing Blair, but

Leif:

Blair admits Serena was justified for not

Leif:

trusting her. Gossip Girl narrates. And

Leif:

life as an art. Some endings are

Leif:

bittersweet.

Steve:

We see this core friendship

Steve:

again, and the, you're still my best friend,

Steve:

you know. Love that, Serena. But you.

Steve:

We've talked before about this being the core

Steve:

friendship of the show. And I like that

Steve:

Serena made. Tried to make things

Steve:

right. Yeah, I feel like made things right.

Leif:

But, yeah, Polaris just wants to be alone.

Steve:

Yeah. Which I get. She's pretty mad

Steve:

at herself.

Leif:

Next we see Dan sitting on his bed, and Jenny delivers a

Leif:

final Goodbye note from Ms. Carr. Gossip

Leif:

Girl continues. Sometimes fate throws two

Leif:

lovers together only to rip them apart.

Steve:

Boom. Go. Get out of here.

Leif:

And yeah, they do show. The note says,

Leif:

dan, I'm going back to Iowa, as you must have

Leif:

known. I'm sorry for everything. As

Leif:

Edith Wharton wrote, there is no one as kind as

Leif:

you. No one who gave me reasons I understand for doing

Leif:

what at first seemed so hard.

Steve:

Thank you, R. what at first seemed so hard? You

Steve:

know, not banging my student.

Steve:

It was really tough. But then I got over it by banging

Steve:

my student and crossing other

Steve:

inappropriate lines

Steve:

and, you know, jeopardizing the future of

Steve:

a student.

Leif:

The scene shifts. Chuck is let into the

Leif:

Waldorf foyer by Dorota, who informs him

Leif:

Ms. Blair is out. Chuck declares he is m

Leif:

ready to wait. Gossip Girl states,

Leif:

sometimes the hero finally makes the right choice,

Leif:

but the timing is all wrong. And as they

Leif:

say, timing is everything.

Steve:

Hero, though. Are we calling Chuck a

Steve:

hero?

Leif:

He's the savior of all women that.

Steve:

He doesn't sexually assault.

Leif:

He say, lily, you try. He say, at least try

Leif:

to save Elle, you know?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steve:

How about Jenny? How about Jenny

Steve:

who we'll get?

Steve:

Oh, she's from the, she's a, she's from the Upper east side.

Steve:

She's poor.

Leif:

It's crazy. Like how like

Leif:

central to the show she was at the beginning of the

Leif:

season and how little she has been

Leif:

in these last few episodes.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Finally Carter has shown up in the same Blair

Leif:

where Blair is wallowing. His flirtations

Leif:

are not rebuffed. And Gossip Girl closes the

Leif:

episode. Looks like this story might have a

Leif:

second act. Let's hope it's not a

Leif:

tragedy. Xo. Xo

Leif:

Gossip Girl.

Steve:

Yeah, Carter's moving in on, Queen B.

Leif:

And they are dating at this time.

Steve:

Oh, are they?

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yes. Because as I've talked before, my.

Steve:

After they break up, he gets fired

Steve:

and break. They break up around the

Steve:

same time because my

Steve:

friend's late wife saw

Steve:

this man crying in a coffee shop and. Or,

Steve:

asked if he was okay and it was Sebastian.

Steve:

Stan.

Leif:

So predictions for next week.

Steve:

Something's going to happen with Carter and Blair.

Steve:

I'm. I'm pretty sure I'm very

Steve:

curious as to what Blair does with the information about

Steve:

Dan and Rachel because Dan didn't

Steve:

hide it. And Dan told Blair, the person

Steve:

who's the most likely to tell anybody, that it'll give

Steve:

her an advantage. So he knew what he was doing when he told

Steve:

her. So I'm not seeing any kind of

Steve:

Dan Serena thing. So I'm. And I'll

Steve:

be honest, I'm waiting.

Steve:

I'm waiting for Michelle Trachtenberg to show up. I don't know

Steve:

if she will this season, but I, think it's the

Steve:

PTSD from last season that when we get into a late

Steve:

season now, I'm.

Leif:

Kind of expecting episodes. Yes. Like six episodes.

Steve:

Yeah, we have like six episodes left. She had what, three

Steve:

episode arc last time? Three and a half. Because she

Steve:

was not in the one

Steve:

that she was introduced.

Leif:

So we got seven episodes left.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Because episode 19.

Steve:

Yeah, this was 18 and. It goes to 25.

Leif:

That is it for our episode. We can go

Leif:

ahead and get into some segments.

Leif:

This week, we jumped into the Wayback Machine to visit the

Leif:

Television without pity forums from 2009.

Leif:

Hello there. Peabody here. And this is

Leif:

the Wayback Machine for traveling through time. And this

Leif:

is my boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman.

Steve:

Hello.

Leif:

Good boy. So New Yorkers were

Leif:

excited to see Park Avenue winter.

Steve:

Oh, okay.

Leif:

Do you know what that is?

Steve:

No.

Leif:

You sounded like you did.

Steve:

No, I just. I figured they were excited.

Leif:

Yeah, a couple of people mentioned it, so I did look it

Leif:

up. It is a historic Park Avenue restaurant.

Leif:

it's no longer there anymore. It was there for 22 years. Now

Leif:

it's currently in Gramercy, Park. But

Leif:

every autumn, winter, spring, and summer, they

Leif:

completely changed the decor and the menu.

Steve:

Oh, that's cool. Neat.

Leif:

Most people didn't like the episode. Not

Leif:

a very popular episode.

Steve:

I felt like this episode was cleaning up the messes

Steve:

of the last episode more than anything.

Leif:

A lot of shade was thrown in the actress playing

Leif:

Ellen. Not. Not the best actress.

Steve:

Yeah, I. I don't know that she had a ton to

Steve:

work with, but yeah, I, she

Steve:

was. I felt like she was on par for

Steve:

a Gossip Girl extra, but she.

Leif:

Was like a central character to the play. Sure.

Leif:

Well, she's supposed to be.

Steve:

Sure.

Leif:

Maybe would be better if she was a better actress.

Steve:

Maybe she. Maybe she would have been if she was a better

Steve:

actress. Fair.

Leif:

Maybe we actually cared. I don't think a single

Leif:

person enjoyed the Chuck storyline. Why

Leif:

was she suddenly so important to him after one

Leif:

drug addled night?

Steve:

I had mentioned a couple times you've spoken to this woman, like

Steve:

three times. And he's. And he sat there with that one meeting. He's

Steve:

like, I care about her.

Steve:

Why I care about people in general. And

Steve:

I wouldn't want some rando prostitute that I hooked

Steve:

up with to be murdered by, a gentleman's

Steve:

culture. But I also don't

Steve:

understand his whole

Steve:

obsession.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

With her. Although he did say the sex was

Steve:

really good. Like it was like life changing

Steve:

before he passed out.

Leif:

Definitely. we weren't the only ones that noticed Pen and Layton's

Leif:

chemistry.

Steve:

Oh, did other people point that out too?

Steve:

Oh, and I do know that

Steve:

at some point they. That Pen and

Steve:

Layton date. I do. They don't.

Leif:

Nah. that would have been dangerous after Pen and Blake

Leif:

dated. That been out of his reason.

Steve:

I always thought that I had heard that the two of

Steve:

them dated.

Leif:

Now they just. They've always been friends.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Maybe that's what it is.

Leif:

She was the first guest on his podcast.

Steve:

Or maybe I'm thinking about it being about Carter,

Steve:

about Sebastian, Stan and.

Leif:

Then Adam Brody and then Adam Brody and ah,

Leif:

there's a lot of, Nate and slash Chase love.

Steve:

Yeah, I love happy Nate.

Leif:

And they like, they like Chase's acting in this one.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. I don't think it stood out, but

Steve:

I like this.

Leif:

I like this little dance that he did with the hat.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think Chase

Steve:

is fun. I love when he smiles

Steve:

more. As we've said many times. I

Steve:

wish they would write him funnier.

Steve:

Because he has the chops to be really

Steve:

funny.

Leif:

Why don't we go ahead and get into some episode

Leif:

grades?

Leif:

I really like this episode. I mean, the Chuck storyline

Leif:

was boring, but it was not, you know, a huge part

Leif:

of the episode. I think it's good to judge

Leif:

the episode by the party of the week. And for me the play

Leif:

was hilarious. The whole play was m great.

Leif:

So I gave this episode a B plus.

Steve:

I'm not too far off from you. I gave it a B.

Steve:

I felt like the aspects that I

Steve:

didn't like about this show were

Steve:

things like the parts of the

Steve:

plot that I had complained about

Steve:

previously. But ultimately,

Steve:

like I said before, I felt like this was an episode

Steve:

to clean up a real mess of an

Steve:

episode the week before and that they

Steve:

really did the best they could. They

Steve:

brought in two of the best.

Steve:

One of the best team ups that they've had and

Steve:

really did a great episode. So I gave it a B.

Leif:

On to stockwise for me. Going up,

Leif:

I had Nate, he just, doing his

Leif:

thing all episode and ended happy with

Leif:

Vanessa. I had Dan going up because he was a good guy

Leif:

and he was, you know, stick. He was the only one

Leif:

who kept to his lines during the play. And well, he

Leif:

did get laid. So I also had Rufus going up because

Leif:

he was actually a good dad for once.

Leif:

Nelly I had going up because she got it to Yale. L

Leif:

going up because she got paid and that's what hookers want to

Leif:

get. That's what they want to do.

Leif:

And I had Carter going up because he was screwing over Chuck

Leif:

all episode and looks like he's going to get.

Steve:

I had a lot of the same and I'm going to add a couple that you

Steve:

did as well. I had Nate and Vanessa.

Steve:

I had Nelly as well. Congratulations

Steve:

Nelly. I had Julian the

Steve:

director going up because as much of

Steve:

a complete fucking asshole he was,

Steve:

he's going to get this amazing review

Steve:

from a critic. So this could actually have

Steve:

been good for his career. I had Carter Going

Steve:

up as well. I'm going to add Rufus

Steve:

as well. I'm going to send Dan

Steve:

into neutral because I had him going down. But then you

Steve:

made some good points. So I'm going to see. I've got Nate,

Steve:

Vanessa, Nelly, Julian, Carter,

Steve:

Rufus.

Leif:

for me, going down, I have Chuck

Leif:

Blair, Ms. Carr. Chuck and

Leif:

Blair obvious. Ms. Car is obvious. And I had Julian

Leif:

going down because he was just a douchebag. Side, I didn't like him.

Steve:

That's fair. That's fair. Otherwise, I had the

Steve:

same Chuck Blair and Rachel and Ms.

Steve:

Carr all going down.

Leif:

And I had Serena and Jenny neutral.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, Serena

Steve:

largely had a non episode. Same with Jenny

Steve:

at, the.

Leif:

At the end of the episode, she didn't get what she realized she didn't want anymore.

Steve:

Yeah. Yep.

Steve:

Classic Serena.

Leif:

Yeah, she's got to go.

Steve:

But here's the best outfits from the last

Steve:

episode we see.

Leif:

Best outfit for me, I had

Leif:

Blair's black lace, Marchessa gown

Leif:

from the play. It was paired with a black hat and

Leif:

some great accent jewelry.

Steve:

Yep, that's what I had to the

Steve:

I. Because also at the end when you see it

Steve:

when she's at the bar and you see almost like the

Steve:

landscape pattern on the lace

Steve:

top, that's m. Fucking awesome.

Leif:

And of course, you know it's a Marchessa gown in their

Leif:

other school's wardrobe.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah,

Steve:

I will say that, of course there is at

Steve:

the Constance Billard. Like, of

Steve:

course I will say that it is

Steve:

not a complete unheard of thing

Steve:

to find some ridiculous designer

Steve:

clothes in a costume

Steve:

shop because I remember we. I forget

Steve:

which if it was college, it's probably high school that we

Steve:

found some kind of. I don't even remember who it was because

Steve:

I didn't give a shit. But they were. But everybody was

Steve:

like freaking out that they found this

Steve:

designer suit just in our costume shop. And it's

Steve:

because people would donate clothes to the

Steve:

theater or things like that.

Leif:

So I also. Blair's hair looked great

Leif:

opposite. And the dress. They're the. Like the

Leif:

blouse she was wearing at the end was really cool too.

Steve:

Her makeup too. Her makeup was really great. Which is

Steve:

kind of funny that the whole thing was about them doing a

Steve:

play and they didn't have them in stage makeup. They had

Steve:

them just in normal stuff. Would have been

Steve:

really a, really funny touch to have them

Steve:

in stage makeup for it because of how.

Steve:

How bad high school kids are at

Steve:

applying stage makeup.

Leif:

Well, that is it for segments. You have anything you want to

Leif:

plug.

Steve:

In January and I'LL have the exact date next

Steve:

time in January, early January. I will

Steve:

be featuring at the open

Steve:

mic at Dawson Street Pub in

Steve:

Roxboro Maniunk. So come on out, to

Steve:

the open mic, play some songs and check

Steve:

out my set. You can also find me

Steve:

on TikTok or Instagram @

Steve:

Steve Marchand M A R C

Steve:

H I O N so follow

Steve:

my fun stuff on those platforms. And

Steve:

I'm also on BlueSky at theweedwizard,

Steve:

so follow me there too.

Leif:

Later this week I will be on an episode of the Farm to

Leif:

Fable podcast. It is a Smallville

Leif:

retrospective fan cast. Similar to our

Leif:

podcast, Michael is doing a deep dive in the TV

Leif:

show one episode at a time. My

Leif:

episode releases on December 19th. It is season

Leif:

eight, episode seven, titled

Leif:

Identity. I'll, put a link to the show notes, but Farm

Leif:

to Fable can be found wherever you listen to podcasts

Leif:

and you can follow me on bluesky

Leif:

and Instagram hotcapicola. That's H o

Leif:

T C A P I C

Leif:

O L A. You can follow the podcast

Leif:

at nonjudgingbreakfastpod. That's on

Leif:

Threads, Instagram, TikTok

Leif:

and on Facebook. And you can find our, Discord

Leif:

server and our Patreon by visiting our website,

Leif:

nonjudgingbreakfastpod.com and if

Leif:

you'd like to.

Steve:

Send us a message, we'd love to hear what you have to say and

Steve:

maybe even read it on the air. Our

Steve:

email address is

Steve:

nonjudgingbreakfastpodmail.com

Steve:

Also while you're listening, please, please, please

Steve:

hit that like that. Subscribe that

Steve:

follow the Rate us, please leave

Steve:

a comment. It really helps with our visibility on

Steve:

Apple, on the Apple podcasts.

Steve:

And also while you're at it, tell a friend,

Steve:

let people know what you're listening to and get other folks to

Steve:

listen. I'll even say, I hope,

Steve:

Katie, if you decided to listen, I know

Steve:

Robin's friend that she was just talking to the

Steve:

other day is rewatching Gossip Girl.

Steve:

So I hope that you have come and joined us as

Steve:

well.

Leif:

Right in. Let us know, Katie. And we

Leif:

will be back in the new year to talk about season two,

Leif:

episode 19, the

Leif:

Grandfather. The Netflix

Leif:

episode description reads,

Leif:

devastated by the recent plot twists in her life,

Leif:

Blair turns her back on her predictable existence

Leif:

in favor of a wilder lifestyle.

Steve:

Oh, this. This will be fun.

Steve:

Oh, Blair. Blair Going wild.

Leif:

Yes. Blair Carter coming up.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, I'm. I'm definitely. I'm m. I'm here for

Steve:

this. I'm here for it.

Leif:

Until next time, you Know you love us.

Steve:

XOXO Every time you

Steve:

walk away run away you take a piece of me

Steve:

with you there Every

Steve:

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 away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

oh it seems I'm walking right to

Steve:

your door

Steve:

my heart's still resting looking for

Steve:

something more

Steve:

are you ever gonna see everything 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 m

Steve:

never feels right when I'm out here on

Steve:

my own.

Leif:

I.

Steve:

Left last night and it feels like way

Steve:

too long

Steve:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean to

Steve:

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 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:

Come.

Steve:

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 or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Steve:

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.

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Non Judging Breakfast Pod
A Gossip Girl Podcast

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