Episode 19

Gossip Girl S2E19 - The Grandfather

Hello Upper East Siders and Gossip Girl enthusiasts! This week on the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve dive into the drama of Gossip Girl Season 2, Episode 19, "The Grandfather." As Nate reconnects with his Vanderbilt roots, he finds himself at a crossroads between family legacy and personal freedom. Meanwhile, Blair's spiraling out of control leads to unexpected alliances and shocking revelations. Serena and Chuck team up to save Blair from herself, while Vanessa grapples with the implications of Nate's newfound family ties. Join our hosts as they dissect the twists, turns, and tantalizing drama with their signature humor and insight. Don't miss this deep dive into the tangled lives of Manhattan's elite!

Farm to Fable - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CUr4lHRzEWXai6NwmNuVc?si=eadf398bf56746a0

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:

Vanessa has had sparks with someone else this season.

Steve:

Vanessa has had sparks with someone other

Steve:

than Dan and other than Nate.

Steve:

No.

Steve:

No, no. Because she's not

Steve:

going. No.

Steve:

Well, maybe.

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 fresh, and the gossip is hotter than

Leif:

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

Leif:

Girl veteran.

Steve:

And I'm Steve the greenhorn, the

Steve:

newbie, the I don't know, Leif. What do we call the

Steve:

season two newbie on. In Gossip Girl

Steve:

terms?

Leif:

I don't know. But do you know how exhausting it is to be me?

Leif:

All the work, the planning.

Steve:

I mean, I can only imagine.

Steve:

I feel like in this case, I'm more the

Steve:

Serena.

Leif:

Yep, probably.

Steve:

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

Steve:

since this show first aired in 2007, and

Steve:

I'm diving in for the first time. And together, we're

Steve:

your dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama,

Steve:

romance, and sometimes questionable fashion

Steve:

choices of this iconic 2007

Steve:

series.

Leif:

That's right. Each week we're taking a deep dive into the

Leif:

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

Leif:

the hidden parallels and obscure references, and along the

Leif:

way, we'll take a look at some stories from fandom and some behind the scenes

Leif:

gossip.

Steve:

And since we're all about inclusivity here at the non

Steve:

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

Steve:

judging breakfast table. So go ahead and

Steve:

grab a cup of coffee or a mimosa, maybe

Steve:

some of Chuck's special medicine and come join

Steve:

us and, let's get into this.

Leif:

All right. Happy new year, everyone. It is January

Leif:

6th when this episode will be coming out.

Steve:

Yeah. Happy new Year. Thank you for listening.

Leif:

Hopefully everyone had a good holidays. Whatever you

Leif:

particularly celebrate.

Steve:

Yes. Enjoyed time with the family, if you want to be

Steve:

around your family. And time alone, if you had nice

Steve:

time alone.

Leif:

Yes. And I actually

Leif:

read a post about that recently.

Leif:

They. They were like, traumatized by their parents

Leif:

for Christmas because they always had to do this, like some stupid

Leif:

thing with family. This is the first year

Leif:

that their m. Mom was dead and like, they were so happy

Leif:

they could just be alone on

Leif:

Christmas.

Steve:

Jesus.

Leif:

Wow. Yeah.

Steve:

I mean, because we. I'm sure we all

Steve:

have those like, traumatic

Steve:

Christmas things. Like, like my

Steve:

dad would often be very like, this

Steve:

is the image I have in my head of how this is going

Steve:

to go when the kids come down. And so when

Steve:

we'd be excited to like, come down and, like,

Steve:

open presents. My dad would often be like,

Steve:

no, you wait. And

Steve:

like, if we came down early, he'd get so

Steve:

mad. Or if we didn't have enough excitement

Steve:

at something we opened, he'd get really mad,

Steve:

which I know I kind of did to my K

Steve:

when they were really young. Out of that same.

Leif:

Yeah, I probably fact checked on this, but I've always heard that

Leif:

in lease in the US Is the highest rate of

Leif:

suicide in any month of the year.

Steve:

Yeah, I believe. Yeah, I would believe

Steve:

that. In fact, I would think.

Steve:

Yeah, December, I think, makes a

Steve:

lot of sense. Yeah, that's.

Steve:

Yeah. If you or someone, you know, is

Steve:

struggling with depression, please get help.

Leif:

And,

Steve:

And I know we. We. That might sound like some

Steve:

levity, but we do.

Leif:

Like, honestly, definitely, you're struggling even.

Leif:

Just. Just talk to us. Reach out.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Happy to listen.

Steve:

Yeah, very much.

Leif:

Let's talk to someone.

Steve:

Yeah. Like we were saying, like, this could be very

Steve:

fun time for people if it wasn't.

Steve:

Please, you know, reach out or reach out to

Steve:

a professional and find someone to talk

Steve:

to.

Leif:

On a more positive note, we are here to talk about

Leif:

season two, episode 19 of Gossip Girl

Leif:

titled the Grandfather. The

Leif:

Grandfather originally released on, March

Leif:

23rd of 2009. And of course, the title is

Leif:

based on the Godfather, Right.

Steve:

Which Robin only recently has

Steve:

seen for the first time. We recently watched the

Steve:

Godfather part one and two.

Steve:

And when they make the

Steve:

Corleone reference in this,

Steve:

Robin was like, I get this

Steve:

now.

Leif:

Now read the book.

Steve:

Oh, I read the book. I actually read the book before I saw the

Steve:

movie. What's that?

Leif:

Have her read it.

Steve:

Yeah. Oh, yeah, I should. Because the book is.

Steve:

It was, an amazing read. It was.

Steve:

I tore through that because I was always. Ah. I

Steve:

would either read nothing or tear

Steve:

through a book in, like, two days.

Leif:

I actually like, his other book, too, Mario

Leif:

Puzzles. Silmarillion, basically

Leif:

is, the Family, which is based on the

Leif:

Borgias.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Leif:

Like, his whole life working on that. It was like, I think this

Leif:

last book he published.

Steve:

Oh, no kidding. Because I knew that. I know there's other

Steve:

Godfather books, too. I know there's the Last

Steve:

Dawn.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And I don't. Is there another Godfather

Steve:

Part two book? Because I know

Steve:

the movie mirrors the. The first book

Steve:

mostly.

Leif:

and then the movie splits off completely. The Last diet

Leif:

is not even. I don't even think he has two

Leif:

other gangster mafia books.

Leif:

But they're not the Corleone.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

They're other families.

Steve:

Yeah, well, yeah, because part two is

Steve:

half original story and

Steve:

half Godfather Part one.

Leif:

Yes. Okay, so this episode was written

Leif:

by Robert Hole, who,

Leif:

previously did the X Files and A Wonderful Lie

Leif:

and co written by Etan Frankel,

Leif:

previously co wrote on There Might Be Blood.

Steve:

Okay. Yeah. the writing on this one

Steve:

had had good moments, and it had.

Leif:

Yeah, it's a mixed bag.

Steve:

Yeah, it really was. Which is funny having

Steve:

co writers, they don't do that often.

Steve:

And I can only imagine that if they. When they do

Steve:

that, it is because there is specific things that

Steve:

each contributed that they wanted credit

Steve:

for, which tells me that one of these guys is probably

Steve:

much better than the other.

Leif:

Or one person wrote the script

Leif:

originally. The room didn't like it, and

Leif:

someone else was coming to give it a fresh up.

Steve:

That makes a lot of sense, too. Yeah.

Leif:

Episode directed by J. Miller Tobin

Leif:

previously did Poison Ivy, the Blair Bitch

Leif:

Project. Some are kind of wonderful.

Steve:

Poison Ivy to date

Steve:

may be my favorite. Yeah. Episode. I mean, Poison

Steve:

Ivy is. Was a

Steve:

fantastic episode.

Leif:

Yes. It's the only episode we both gave

Leif:

a pluses to.

Steve:

Is it really? That's. That's funny.

Leif:

Why don't you go ahead and read the Vulture recap?

Steve:

All right. Unlike the Vanderbilts,

Steve:

daily Intel will leave behind no oil

Steve:

portraits, ancestors, or

Steve:

presidential seals. Our recaps of

Steve:

Gossip Girl are, our legacy.

Steve:

We've devoted many evenings of our lives to

Steve:

studying the facets of its characters.

Steve:

And through it all, we've seen many of them

Steve:

struggle to choose whether to act like their better

Steve:

or worse selves. Chuck,

Steve:

the wayward billionaire's son, is a

Steve:

brash, bitter pervert with a tender

Steve:

soul. Serena vacillates

Steve:

between purposeful and accidental sluttiness.

Steve:

Her mother, Lily, is like a human coconut

Steve:

with two hard shells that, once cracked,

Steve:

reveal a sweet, milky center. And

Steve:

then there's Blair. This episode, it was

Steve:

her turn to have an identity crisis. Early

Steve:

on, she declared the old Blair dead.

Steve:

It was time for the rise of the new Blair.

Steve:

But then a funny thing happened. The new

Steve:

Blair was pretty much exactly the same as the old

Steve:

Blair. She lounged around in

Steve:

lingerie, freaked out about not getting into Yale.

Steve:

She drank too much and acted like a total

Steve:

B1 of her upper eas. One,

Steve:

might take this as evidence that the character of

Steve:

Blair is less multifaceted than her Upper

Steve:

east side comrades, but we think it's just the

Steve:

opposite. Her character is like the Hope

Steve:

diamond, unbreakable and

Steve:

precious. Pretty good,

Steve:

yeah. Yeah, sums it up.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Let's go ahead and get into the episode.

Leif:

Act one Begins. There's some shots of Central

Leif:

park covered in snow, and we get a Gossip

Leif:

Girl narration. Springtime on the Upper

Leif:

east side, where the winter chill is supposed to

Leif:

be so last season. But when mittens and

Leif:

scarves are all the rage, the best thing

Leif:

you can do is just button up and hope for

Leif:

warmer days.

Steve:

I did from the start. When I saw

Steve:

this pair come on screen, I was like,

Steve:

oh, no. And I'll talk more about it after you give

Steve:

the.

Leif:

Dan and Vanessa are walking down the street in the snow.

Leif:

They discussed Vanessa backpacking with Nate in Europe this

Leif:

summer. Then they meet up with Nate and his cousin

Leif:

Tripp, who is encouraging Nate to reconnect with the

Leif:

grandfather. Nate wants no part of it. As he explains,

Leif:

they cut off Nate and his mom when his father got

Leif:

busted.

Steve:

It's coming. The Dan and

Steve:

Vanessa. I felt when

Steve:

I saw them together walking and talking, there

Steve:

was something in me that was like,

Steve:

oh, no. Like, they're getting

Steve:

paired up right away in the beginning. And I

Steve:

felt in my soul that there was a

Steve:

foreshadowing happening there,

Steve:

and I. I'll talk more on it later. But I

Steve:

was like, oh, gross.

Leif:

I didn't really see it as different as any. Any other episode when they were

Leif:

together.

Steve:

I. I don't know what it was. Right. There was something

Steve:

in the two of them. They don't open

Steve:

a lot of scene episodes together.

Steve:

It was having the two of them paired

Steve:

up talking about her

Steve:

backpacking trip with Nate that I

Steve:

just was like, there's.

Steve:

I just felt something in my. In my gut.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

so you're the Broadway guy. Did you recognize the actor

Leif:

playing Trip?

Steve:

I did not.

Leif:

That is Aaron Trevette, who's apparently pretty popular

Leif:

on Broadway.

Steve:

Oh, I was unaware.

Steve:

Yeah. I don't recognize the name.

Leif:

Chuck enters Serena's room as he is concerned

Leif:

about Blair blowing him off. Serena lets

Leif:

Chuck know about Yale. Chuck ruins the moment by

Leif:

making a gross joke.

Steve:

Yep. Chuck going through Serena's phone and then.

Leif:

Being a pervasive days before.

Leif:

Passwords on phones.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Lily is meeting with art dealer Bex. Hey, I remember

Leif:

her. Much to Lily's surprise, Bex points out that

Leif:

Rufus probably remembers her too, because they totally did

Leif:

it last season. Yeah.

Steve:

I didn't realize that it ever actually got that

Steve:

far. To an actual. I guess they're okay. Yeah. At the end

Steve:

of the one episode, they finally were like, okay,

Steve:

let's go out. But, like,

Steve:

they didn't. How much did you actually

Steve:

date Rufus? like, how much did the two of

Steve:

them actually date? Because she was

Steve:

not with him. The next episode. And she

Steve:

was in, I think, the next

Steve:

episode. she was in one.

Leif:

They were together for a couple episodes.

Leif:

They were doing a little dating dance.

Leif:

And Purvis says in this episode that they dated a couple

Leif:

times.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. I just. I. To

Steve:

me, I guess big thing.

Steve:

Right? But I guess the big thing is

Steve:

Beck's being like. Oh, man.

Steve:

Beck's being like a fucking teenager

Steve:

about it is what really got me.

Steve:

And. And this plotline.

Leif:

She wanted a reaction there.

Steve:

Yeah, she wanted to react. Exactly. This

Steve:

plotline irked me because it was. Save it for the

Steve:

kids. Yeah.

Leif:

Back at the townhouse, Nate has mastered the split

Leif:

screen, but Dan and Vesa have come up with a plan to

Leif:

family trap.

Steve:

Nate, why are you pushing

Steve:

this?

Leif:

Well, they explain it.

Steve:

They do. I just for

Steve:

one. Vanessa, who hates all of

Steve:

this stuff. Right.

Leif:

Does she, though.

Steve:

Okay. Facts. And

Steve:

we're gonna get to that later. Right? Cause I.

Steve:

A lot to say about Vanessa

Steve:

reminding us how much she sucks in this

Steve:

episode.

Leif:

I actually didn't mind Vanessa in this episode.

Steve:

I got really irritated with

Steve:

Vanessa because Vanessa, who

Steve:

always professes being poor

Steve:

and professes the

Steve:

slumming it in the Brooklyn,

Steve:

was very excited to be

Steve:

traveling Europe on her boyfriend's dime.

Steve:

So that's where I'm going to start with

Steve:

that. And I'm not. And you

Steve:

know, as somebody who has traveled on a friend's dime

Steve:

before, like, I'm not shaming that.

Steve:

I'm shaming the. I'm not even.

Steve:

I'm not necessarily shaming anything. I just. I'm

Steve:

just pointing out that Vanessa has always

Steve:

spoken about how much she hates

Steve:

these, like, the people around. Around.

Steve:

More like around Dan and Nate.

Leif:

Now it is possible. And I could totally

Leif:

see Vanessa being the type of person be assist.

Leif:

Are like, staying in hostels. And basically, she's paying

Leif:

for her half.

Steve:

I could see that too. That's never mentioned.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And. And there is,

Steve:

like, other

Steve:

indication of. I.

Leif:

She always has a job, so she's got. Yeah, she has some.

Steve:

I guess what I'm saying is that this trip probably wouldn't happen

Steve:

without Nate's money. Even. Even if she's

Steve:

making contributions and things like that, it's probably

Steve:

not happening without Nate being

Steve:

able to have some

Steve:

luxury involved or at least

Steve:

Nate providing certain aspects of

Steve:

it.

Leif:

So I'm not even entirely convinced that Vanessa is all that

Leif:

poor either.

Steve:

No, I think she's. I think she's Humphrey poor. I

Steve:

think she's. I think she's poorer than the

Steve:

Humphreys.

Leif:

I don't even know that she's been. She has to be at

Leif:

least partially being supported by her parents, be able to live in

Leif:

New York City.

Steve:

No, no. Yeah, yeah, I'm considering

Steve:

the Humphreys are probably in a.

Steve:

Into a 1 to 5 mil

Steve:

range. That's kind of where I picture

Steve:

them to be. So I would picture Vanessa to

Steve:

be in the like 1 to 3. When I'm

Steve:

saying poorer, I mean by a couple

Steve:

million.

Leif:

I was actually talking about the Humphrey wealth on

Leif:

Reddit this week, saying how different

Leif:

the OC and, and Gossip Girl are, because

Leif:

the Humphreys probably have similar money to the

Leif:

Cohen in.

Steve:

The OC and then the Cohen's.

Steve:

So you're saying that they don't have. That

Steve:

they don't have Upper east side money? They're. Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

They're California rich.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. From, what. What industry made

Steve:

them rich again?

Leif:

Real estate. Oh, how about that?

Leif:

Lily comes to the gallery to chide Rufus for not telling her

Leif:

about Bex. Lily comes up with the idea that

Leif:

they should exchange lists at dinner. Rufus

Leif:

rightfully points out that this has disaster written all

Leif:

over it.

Steve:

Yeah, grow up. Like, nobody.

Steve:

Nobody.

Leif:

You're in your 40s.

Steve:

You're in. Yeah. You're in your. Yeah,

Steve:

it's so. It's such a dumb

Steve:

plot line. Like,

Steve:

I'm sure that this shit gets discussed. I know Robin

Steve:

and I, like, talked about

Steve:

this kind of thing, but, like, it's not

Steve:

a thing that we.

Steve:

That impacted us.

Leif:

So I think in, Lily's case, she was just

Leif:

upset that someone that worked for

Leif:

her slept with her boyfriend.

Steve:

Right. And I never got the impression that it was

Steve:

a secret Rufus kept. I felt like it was,

Leif:

Oh, yeah, yeah, we went on a couple dates.

Steve:

Yeah, we went on a couple dates. And, yeah, I

Steve:

mean, we. We banged one out. So,

Steve:

like. Yeah, like, I've banged people. Like,

Steve:

no one you'll see. No one you'll see. On mtv.

Leif:

Nate arrives with Dan and Ves at the Vanderbilt

Leif:

Compound by limo. However, the titular

Leif:

grandfather one ups the limo by arriving via

Leif:

helicopter trip, reveals that the grandfather

Leif:

didn't actually ask for Nate to come.

Steve:

Yeah, I get Nate's reaction to be

Steve:

like, oh, well, fuck this. And this was

Steve:

also where I feel like where Vanessa and

Steve:

Dan would be more like,

Steve:

hey, man. Yeah, that's kind of fucked up, but it's

Steve:

just a constant, like, no go toward your fa.

Steve:

Like, I just felt like it was

Steve:

pushing Nate. And maybe it's because I'm a guy that people keep

Steve:

telling me to talk.

Leif:

To my dad, but, like, I

Leif:

mean, but I totally. What? You're already

Leif:

there. It would be childish to get up and leave

Leif:

now. At least just talk to him, see what happens.

Steve:

Yeah, I get it. I

Steve:

just kind of felt Vanessa was

Steve:

very pushy for something that I, think that

Steve:

maybe in the back of my head, the whole time I was thinking,

Steve:

vanessa, this is not gonna work out for you

Steve:

in the long run. Like, I felt like it was

Steve:

against Vanessa's best interest.

Leif:

Yeah. it was pushy, but I think sometimes people need

Leif:

that.

Steve:

That's fair. That's fair.

Leif:

I think Nate needed it here, and.

Steve:

And I was not mad. Oh, well, I guess

Steve:

we're not quite there yet.

Leif:

And this is also the start of, Dan being

Leif:

just witty all episode.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Is that a medevac?

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Must be close to a hospital.

Steve:

You told me it was a mansion, not a country

Steve:

club.

Leif:

And I feel like Penn was just having fun and improving this

Leif:

whole episode.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because there's also the

Steve:

line about when he walks in and

Steve:

starts talking about universal healthcare. And

Steve:

what topics do you think I should talk about?

Leif:

The grandfather is at first surprised to see Nate.

Leif:

However, he quickly embraces Nate to the applause of the

Leif:

gathered family.

Steve:

Yeah, I thought that was a

Steve:

sweet moment.

Leif:

Again, Dan's just, like, looking at. Why is everyone clapping?

Steve:

I think Dan was probably my favorite

Steve:

in a lot of ways in this episode. I think that he.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Looks like V. Is leading a lost lamb back to the

Leif:

flock. And C. Is coming to be

Leif:

sheepishly bearing gifts. Chuck arrives at

Leif:

Blair's to find her lounging in negligee.

Leif:

Carter nonchalantly walks up and kisses

Leif:

Blair. Chuck is totally rattled.

Leif:

Carter pushes Chuck further by revealing to Blair

Leif:

that Chuck had been pursuing a hooker while

Leif:

Blair's life went up in flames.

Steve:

Fucking got him.

Leif:

Got him.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And I will give Ed, Westwick, some props for the facial

Leif:

acting. He did really well.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steve:

And didn't lose his accent when he

Steve:

came out of Batman voice. So,

Steve:

like, good job, Ed. Yeah.

Leif:

And then before we go to commercial, we get another Gossip Girl

Leif:

narration. We hear Carter Basin

Leif:

dealt Chuck another losing hand. But rest assured,

Leif:

Upper East Siders, Chuck always has a card up

Leif:

his sleeve. Act two

Leif:

begins. The grandfather is giving Nate, Dan,

Leif:

and Vanessa a tour of the mansion. After the grandfather

Leif:

tells Nate he is proud of him for how he handled the situation with his

Leif:

father, Trip comes in and lets everyone know it's time

Leif:

for some quote unquote touch

Leif:

football.

Steve:

I had no problems with the

Steve:

grandfather in this. I don't think

Steve:

the grandfather did anything. He

Steve:

welcomed his grandson back and then

Steve:

tells him how proud he is. And he says the thing about,

Steve:

I was worried that you had your mom's looks and your dad's

Steve:

brains, but I'm really proud of you for handling

Steve:

that the way you did. That the grandfather

Steve:

was not just bailing them out.

Steve:

And I know Nate felt like he

Steve:

was abandoned and

Steve:

destitute, but he was abandoned and

Steve:

destitute in a mansion

Steve:

in the Hamptons. So

Steve:

I feel like there's a little bit of

Steve:

perspective for Nate of, we didn't

Steve:

abandon you. Your mom

Steve:

married a fucking idiot, so she has

Steve:

to live in this place because we're not bailing the idiot

Steve:

out. And I thought, I think

Steve:

that's fair. You know,

Steve:

nobody went hungry, nobody

Steve:

starved. And to be

Steve:

like, I'm really proud of how you

Steve:

handled that, I would be too. So

Steve:

I have at this point, I.

Leif:

Also don't think they could have bailed their

Leif:

house out, because that was frozen by. The assets were

Leif:

frozen.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Leif:

There's nothing they could really do about that.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

But they did give him a fricking mansion in the Hamptons.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. They abandoned them.

Steve:

With only a mansion that's

Steve:

probably fully staffed

Steve:

in the Hampton.

Leif:

Blair and Serena are shopping. Blair is

Leif:

explaining her new not planned plan and the

Leif:

Carter situation. Serena is scandalized when

Leif:

Blair walks out of the store without paying.

Steve:

Yeah, okay, Blair.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

I like the coat though.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Serena is so shocked, she calls Chuck to discuss

Leif:

the Carter and Blair relationship.

Steve:

Yep. And they, they, they

Steve:

all have history with Carter, which we already know.

Steve:

So that, that'll be a fun team up.

Leif:

Serena, arrives home to find Lily making her

Leif:

list. In addition to Bart and Trent Reznor,

Leif:

the list also contains slash.

Leif:

Serena advises to make an assessment of

Leif:

Rufus list before revealing her whole list.

Steve:

Serena was great here. The

Steve:

digs.

Leif:

She was definitely funny. But Lily, why are you

Leif:

taking relationship advice from a teenager?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Why? Yes, because

Steve:

it's a teenage plotline. Like it's

Steve:

not a good adult

Steve:

relationship line. I

Steve:

did love Serena's wittiness.

Steve:

Her one liners were

Steve:

absolutely hilarious.

Leif:

The techno pop beats of MGMT

Leif:

Drop as we see Nate and Dan roughing up on the

Leif:

football field. Very reminiscent of the football

Leif:

scene from Wedding Crashers when a lot of people were first

Leif:

introduced to Bradley Cooper.

Steve:

Yep. I actually have Wedding Crashers written down

Steve:

here because that was exactly what I thought. Which

Steve:

came first?

Leif:

I'm pretty sure Wedding Crashers. That was like

Leif:

2001 or 2002, Bradley

Leif:

Cooper's debut. It, wasn't his debut, but it was his

Leif:

first, like, famous role.

Steve:

Okay. Wow. Okay.

Steve:

because I love that's. I love that movie. That's one of those when it.

Steve:

When it's on and I'm not doing anything else, that

Steve:

it just stays on and I watch it. But also, I feel like

Steve:

in this scene, be is starting to

Steve:

realize what it means to push

Steve:

Nate back to the family.

Leif:

Yes. Because, as we see on a terrace overlooking the

Leif:

action, Vanessa and Trip's fiance Maureen have

Leif:

a conversation about joining the Vanderbilt family

Leif:

and what that means.

Steve:

Yeah. Which you're laying on this 18 year

Steve:

old, and it

Steve:

is that sense of.

Leif:

Well, I don't think she's much older.

Steve:

Yeah, no, no, I. I mean, I. I. I gathered that.

Steve:

She was probably, like, 22.

Leif:

Yeah. I would figure that he Their law school

Leif:

age.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Aaron Tripp.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. So I would figure around 22,

Steve:

23. I. I think it's more with

Steve:

Vanessa. I forget the

Steve:

fiance's name, but she lays out for Vanessa why

Steve:

it's good for her, though, too. Yeah,

Steve:

like. Like all of your advocacy

Steve:

and all of your. We,

Steve:

love that. Yeah, we love that for

Steve:

Nate and for his future

Steve:

wife. So, yes, you are

Steve:

now welcome into this

Steve:

week. I think the Vanessa

Steve:

realizes it's a. We can benefit from you

Steve:

being with Nate, and

Steve:

I think that that is part of what gets

Steve:

her head turning. But really,

Steve:

Vanessa, she's right.

Steve:

You do have access to make all of these things that

Steve:

you want to do come true if you

Steve:

just postpone a trip.

Leif:

But, I mean, at 17, 18, that's

Leif:

tough.

Steve:

Yeah, it is. It is.

Leif:

There's that patience. Then Carter arrives at the

Leif:

Vander Woodsen penthouse. Chuck stares in wonder while

Leif:

Serena blackmails Carter into leaving town based on something

Leif:

that happened in Santorini.

Steve:

Yeah, I do love that Serena just

Steve:

kind of owns him. It's also just one

Steve:

of those. Well, this. It was sort of

Steve:

like Georgina Sparks getting rid of her that

Steve:

it was halfway through an episode. Well,

Steve:

here's a, vague reason that you should get out of here.

Leif:

At least it is something that they did mention before.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, it did come back. And I did.

Steve:

I did like that. I do like

Steve:

Serena having something on Carter. I also

Steve:

like Carter. Sort of thinks that he has something on

Steve:

Serena. But Serena kind of doesn't care

Steve:

about a lot of her past anymore now

Steve:

that the guy that she didn't kill by handing him

Steve:

cocaine is all out in the open.

Leif:

Blair knocks on a strange door and enters

Leif:

as we go to commercial break with a Gossip Girl Narration

Leif:

spotted Bea taking one small step

Leif:

for new Blair. One giant step towards a

Leif:

strange townhouse. Enter at your own risk,

Leif:

Bea.

Steve:

So how many in the forums thought that she was

Steve:

walking into the gentleman's

Steve:

club that Chuck had

Steve:

been at the previous two

Steve:

weeks?

Leif:

Didn't see any match in that, but there

Leif:

was. It's now live reaction thread. So it's.

Steve:

Yeah, but is that. I felt like that's. They wanted

Steve:

us to think. That's what I mean.

Steve:

That's what I thought. I felt like that it was,

Leif:

I just kind of thought she was going to some party.

Steve:

That's fair.

Leif:

Back from commercial, Rufus and Lily exchange

Leif:

lists after dinner. Rufus's list is rather

Leif:

short, so Lily only gives one of the two pages she

Leif:

wrote. Even the shortened list gives Rufus pause.

Steve:

This is on an index card.

Leif:

Dan limps back to the loft with Vanessa in

Leif:

tow. Jenny and Dan tag team Vanessa into

Leif:

explaining the conversation with Maureen and how Vanessa is

Leif:

worried that the grandfather is going to control too much

Leif:

of their lives.

Steve:

And she's maybe valid in

Steve:

her concern. However,

Steve:

Nate doesn't know who he is, and Nate has

Steve:

always been a puppy dog chasing after the new

Steve:

thing, and some structure could

Steve:

do him good. So if

Steve:

grandfather is going to

Steve:

help him find a path, I'm not,

Steve:

I'm not angry about that. I

Steve:

feel like everything in this

Steve:

is coming up Nate right now, except

Steve:

for Vanessa not wanting that for him.

Leif:

I know you're a Nate stab, but this is just more of Nate

Leif:

being a flip floppy hypocrite because all first

Leif:

season he was telling, everyone how much he didn't want his family to

Leif:

control what he's doing.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, you're right.

Steve:

I feel like he didn't want his

Steve:

dad controlling what he was doing.

Steve:

You know, I feel like a lot of that

Steve:

was. But I'm not disagreeing with

Steve:

you either. Nate always does this. Nate always goes back

Steve:

and forth, and Nate always chases the big shiny thing that

Steve:

is dangling in front of him. I do. I am a

Steve:

Nate, Stan. I do love Nate. I feel like Nate

Steve:

always tries to do the

Steve:

right thing. I think he usually tries

Steve:

to do the right thing, but when women get

Steve:

involved, he loses. He

Steve:

gets a little gray area and goes puppy dog

Steve:

chasing.

Leif:

Chuck and Serena are begging De Roda to reveal where

Leif:

Blair is so they can help her. When Chuck offers money,

Leif:

Dorota curses at him in Polish.

Steve:

Dorota is not for sale,

Steve:

Mr. Chuck.

Leif:

And, yeah, I did actually look up the translation.

Leif:

basically translated to, are you crazy, you

Leif:

little shit? I work for Ms. Blair, not for you. What do you think

Leif:

you can buy me?

Steve:

That's fantastic. but, yeah.

Steve:

Dorota not for sale.

Leif:

I love that.

Steve:

And I also love

Steve:

when Dorota was like. And she said if

Steve:

Mr. Chuck comes by to let him know that Carter

Steve:

Basin is much more.

Steve:

Much more attentive to a woman's needs.

Leif:

Over dinner, Nate is reassuring Vanessa that nothing

Leif:

is going to change. Vanessa tells Nate that

Leif:

she. That he should go meet Trip and the grandfather.

Leif:

They have all summer to eat pierogies.

Steve:

Yeah. She sends him out to go

Steve:

do. To go see the grandfather and

Steve:

talk to him about these things. Nate

Steve:

was all happy to sit here and hang out with you.

Steve:

You sent him back with his family,

Steve:

so you. You set

Steve:

this all in motion. Vanessa

Steve:

again, she was.

Leif:

She thought she was trying to do the right thing.

Steve:

Yeah, I. I feel like maybe she did do the right

Steve:

thing. It's just not the right thing for Vanessa.

Leif:

I mean, she could have just gone along with it and

Leif:

gotten everything she wanted as well.

Steve:

I mean, yeah.

Leif:

Chuck and Serena arrive at the strange townhouse

Leif:

expecting some type of bacchana, but instead

Leif:

find Blair begging for admittance into Sarah

Leif:

Lawrence. However, knowing about the hazing of

Leif:

Ms. Carr, the dean turns her down.

Steve:

Blair facing real

Steve:

consequences that are

Steve:

long term and impactful

Steve:

is probably pretty jarring

Steve:

to her. She's obviously had

Steve:

other things that had consequences.

Steve:

Sleeping with Chuck and Nate, there were

Steve:

consequences, but they blew over.

Leif:

They were social consequences.

Steve:

They were social consequences that blew over

Steve:

her.

Leif:

This is a life consequence.

Steve:

Right. Her eating disorder had consequences,

Steve:

and she struggles with it, but she

Steve:

still has the help to

Steve:

work through it. But this is.

Steve:

You're not getting into college right

Steve:

now. Like, right now. Like, nobody wants

Steve:

to take you. You're gonna have to go to Upper

Steve:

east side community college.

Leif:

again, so this is one of the scenes I didn't really like the writing

Leif:

on, because why did he even agree

Leif:

to the meeting?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, I agreed to meet with you because

Steve:

I'm doing the middle of.

Leif:

Night first so I can turn you down.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. So I can see the

Steve:

tears in your eyes

Steve:

myself.

Leif:

Also, not that he doesn't deserve it, but Roman Polanski

Leif:

catching a stray from Chuck at the beginning.

Leif:

But, yeah, that was, like, 30 at the time of this

Leif:

air. That was already over 30 years old.

Leif:

Joke.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. and again, there's a lot

Steve:

of times that you see not only in Gossip Girl,

Steve:

but just when you get those writers who are referencing things

Steve:

that are way outdated, and

Steve:

it's like, people have Already there are new references you can

Steve:

make to these things. You don't need to keep making those old

Steve:

references. I see it in Buffy a lot

Steve:

that like, even though Buffy is from 30

Steve:

years ago, they're making references

Steve:

from the the episode the Zeppo

Steve:

we just watched. No

Steve:

one who wasn't like a film buff

Steve:

knew. Yeah, you had to be know the Marx

Steve:

Brothers to know the, the Zeppo.

Leif:

Although don't they explain it in the episode?

Steve:

She just says you're the Zeppo. She just,

Steve:

she. She just makes the reference. She doesn't explain who

Steve:

Zeppo is.

Leif:

Chuck and Serena follow Blair outside, glad

Leif:

that she is still fighting. However, Blair is now more

Leif:

distraught than ever.

Steve:

Yeah, she's cracking.

Leif:

And we go to the act break with another Gossip

Leif:

Girl monologue. Poor Bea

Leif:

couldn't spin this one in her favor. Looks like now

Leif:

she's spinning out. We move

Leif:

into Act 3. Serena and Chuck

Leif:

find Blair at the Vanderbilt reception.

Leif:

Blair plans on blowing up her reputation and pissing

Leif:

off as many people as possible. She starts by

Leif:

dropping the Dan and Ms. Carr sex bomb on

Leif:

Serena.

Steve:

Yeah, that. That was rude.

Steve:

It was rude, but it was going to come out

Steve:

eventually. And it's funny. We talked last week about who

Steve:

will she tell? And I love that when she

Steve:

told it, it was like, oh, I'm in my fuck it's

Steve:

phase. So here's some information.

Steve:

I actually love how all of that. I love the

Steve:

fallout from this too.

Leif:

Dan and Vanessa pass through security. Dan

Leif:

is being snarky about the Vanderbilts wealth and politics.

Leif:

The grandfather swoops in to pull Nate away for

Leif:

a bit. Dan wonders if the Humphreys have a

Leif:

family crest.

Steve:

I would really like to reach out

Steve:

to listeners to really know what they

Steve:

believe the Humphrey

Steve:

family crest would look like. I would

Steve:

love for someone to design for us the

Steve:

Humphrey family crest and send

Steve:

that to us. I think that is

Steve:

on the front.

Leif:

Of my mind as Humphrey. Is that a Scottish name?

Steve:

Humphrey, I think. Is it British or

Steve:

Scottish? It might be Scottish.

Leif:

Scottish. They probably do have a family grass somewhere.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Steve:

Unless Humphrey is Scottish for a

Steve:

profession.

Leif:

Rufus, the big snooper, goes into Lily's

Leif:

purse looking for cash, but finds the other half

Leif:

of Lily's list.

Steve:

Is she okay with you going into her purse? Like,

Steve:

is this, Is this an acceptable thing?

Steve:

Thing? Have you had that conversation?

Steve:

I. I can go into Robin's purse whenever I

Steve:

want to. Because we have that established

Steve:

that, you know. Oh yeah, it's in my purse. Go ahead. And

Steve:

I still don't do it unless she

Steve:

specifically says, it's in my

Steve:

purse, you know, but if I'm, like, looking for something around the

Steve:

house, if I look in her purse and I'm like, oh, I checked your purse,

Steve:

she would say, okay, no big deal. But I still

Steve:

don't do that without letting her know first.

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, there's usually stuff in women's purses that I don't want to

Leif:

see.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. I mean,

Steve:

yeah. Like pictures of her kids.

Leif:

Lily doesn't have pictures of her kids.

Steve:

No, Lily wouldn't have.

Leif:

No, Lily wouldn't have pictures of her kids.

Leif:

Back at the reception, a drunken trip tells

Leif:

Vanessa that Nate has an internship at the mayor's

Leif:

office and can no longer go on the backpacking

Leif:

vacation.

Steve:

And this is where I'm feeling like

Steve:

Vanessa is getting selfish. And

Steve:

where it comes out that. Yeah, yeah,

Steve:

that she. That. Because

Steve:

I get. She probably doesn't want to go

Steve:

do this Europe trip alone.

Steve:

But it also kind of reinforces the.

Steve:

It's not going to happen without Nate.

Steve:

So, again, I feel like Nate is going to be

Steve:

the one really financing this trip. But

Steve:

also, here's something that he is suddenly

Steve:

interested in.

Leif:

Do you have anything else on that?

Steve:

I'll just close with. I feel like

Steve:

Vanessa is being selfish now.

Leif:

I don't know if you caught it, but as Vanessa walks

Leif:

away, there was a lingering shot on

Leif:

trip, like, doing the whole Broadway thing, staring

Leif:

at the camera with an expression of like, my

Leif:

plan is going exactly as I thought. So was there

Leif:

another deleted scene here? Was it. Was there a scheme going on

Leif:

here that we didn't find out about?

Steve:

Yeah, I know what you're talking about,

Steve:

and I kind of dismissed it because,

Steve:

of that. Because it didn't seem like anything was really coming

Steve:

through to a whole plan

Steve:

on his part. I don't feel like it was well

Steve:

executed if that was the intention.

Steve:

I also kind of feel like it could have just been.

Steve:

Now that you're mentioning the Broadway thing, we

Steve:

know how much Broadway actors struggle

Steve:

with the, with the fourth wall.

Leif:

Ryan from the OC Nate confesses

Leif:

that he is strongly considering the internship because

Leif:

it is an amazing opportunity. Nate leaves

Leif:

Vanessa, who looks to be on the verge of tears.

Steve:

Vanessa, you wanted him to reconnect with his family,

Steve:

and this is what reconnecting with a rich and

Steve:

powerful family looks like.

Steve:

I think that I feel like a lot of this should

Steve:

have been predictable. And maybe

Steve:

not losing my summer of fun

Steve:

predictable, but

Steve:

getting wrapped up in the family politics

Steve:

predictable. Like, that is what is going to

Steve:

happen. And maybe there's that part

Steve:

in Nate who knew that's what was going to

Steve:

happen that was also keeping him from wanting

Steve:

to come back. But then once the path

Steve:

is laid out and it's like, here's the super

Steve:

easy thing for you to do. Just go work for the mayor

Steve:

and do whatever they tell you to do.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And because if Nate's good at anything, it's doing what he's told to

Steve:

do.

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, I guess she just didn't expect them to kind of

Leif:

control what he's doing.

Steve:

Yeah, I guess I just. What did

Steve:

you expect?

Leif:

That they would have family holidays and.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Play football.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Because that's what they talked about.

Steve:

Yeah. But Vanessa, you see all of this

Steve:

all the time. Like, you see these people that you

Steve:

see it happen to. So I'm, not necessarily

Steve:

trying to blame Vanessa, but I blame Vanessa.

Leif:

Blair continues to drop scandal bombs on

Leif:

unsuspecting society types, but is pulled away by

Leif:

Chuck. Once alone, Blair tries to seduce

Leif:

Chuck, but he doesn't take the bait.

Steve:

First of all, blowing up all those people's business was

Steve:

fucking great. I'm not mad at

Steve:

that one bit.

Leif:

Third marriage, DUI. was it five

Leif:

DUIs? Five DUIs? how do you get five DUIs? I guess

Leif:

be rich.

Steve:

Yeah, five DUIs. but you drink

Steve:

so much to deal with the fact that your

Steve:

husband made all of his money in the porn industry.

Leif:

Big fan of your sights.

Steve:

Big fan of your sites.

Steve:

I did want to add one thing. When Blair

Steve:

took Chuck. When Chuck took Blair into the

Steve:

other room, Chuck had very strong

Steve:

Faith vibes. Very strong. Like,

Steve:

a lot. If Elijah Dushku was a better actor,

Steve:

it was very reminiscent of

Steve:

that Faith Xander scene. I could say it's also in the

Steve:

Zeppo when. When she

Steve:

basically, like, like,

Steve:

forces herself on Xander in a

Steve:

very. Xander's very happy, willing, and

Steve:

accepting of this. But when she really forces

Steve:

himself on her, I found a big parallel

Steve:

there in how that went

Steve:

down, but I didn't really know. I. I had

Steve:

this, like, man, I wish Elijah Dushku was a

Steve:

better actor because Faith would have been so much cooler.

Leif:

Hell, Buffy Pants let you hear that.

Steve:

I know, I know. I like Elijah

Steve:

Dushku as Fate because she's Faith, and I

Steve:

liked her in Dollhouse because that's what she did.

Steve:

But she's mid. She's

Steve:

mediocre. Yeah, come at me. Come at

Steve:

me. She might be one of the better actors on the

Steve:

show,

Steve:

but she's mid.

Leif:

We go to the commercial with another Gossip Girl

Leif:

narration. The danger with

Leif:

Calling someone's bluff is that even if you win,

Leif:

you risk them walking away from the table for

Leif:

good. And who wants to play with themselves?

Leif:

Nate finds Blaire sitting alone in an unheated

Leif:

room and offers his coat. They reminisce about the past.

Leif:

And I think Blair sort of remembers why she was in

Leif:

love with Nate Archibald.

Steve:

oh, but also, this could be a good time for

Steve:

this. I was very much stanning the Nate

Steve:

Vanessa thing. I feel like this is a good time for

Steve:

that shakeup and for this Blair Nate

Steve:

shakeup when, when. When he came out and saw

Steve:

her there and gave her the coat. I feel like this

Steve:

was one of the better written scenes. I

Steve:

actually like the, the back and forth and the,

Steve:

You like watching the same movies over and over. Do you

Steve:

remember what you told me? I like, know how things turn out. I like

Steve:

the. How conversational it was.

Leif:

I like, I like the scene. I do

Leif:

not like where it's going. It's more of Nate

Leif:

going back into that, putting himself back into that corner he was in

Leif:

the first season with his family controlling him. he's stuck in a

Leif:

relationship with Blair and it was pretty clear

Leif:

that Blair just wants to use him.

Steve:

Yeah, I get what you're saying.

Steve:

I felt like the shake up

Steve:

is what I liked about it. Vanessa, I think Vanessa just

Steve:

pissed me off. This episode.

Leif:

Serena finds Dan and gives him a nice smack

Leif:

for about two seconds. Dan tries to defend himself, but

Leif:

quickly apologizes for his actions. The scene ends

Leif:

with the pair laughing about the whole thing.

Steve:

Dan's defenses

Steve:

that he had were.

Steve:

I felt like he really put thought into

Steve:

that prior to this and was

Steve:

like, look, she wasn't my teacher. but,

Steve:

Serena being like, it was like 20ft away from where I

Steve:

was standing. Okay, I'll give you

Steve:

that.

Leif:

It was a funny scene. But again, I don't like

Leif:

that. They're basically equating Dan sleeping with

Leif:

a teacher being just as bad as a teacher sleeping with a

Leif:

student.

Steve:

No, no, absolutely. I.

Leif:

What? What is that?

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

yeah, last time they were, oh, dad's going to get

Leif:

expelled. And it's like, what?

Steve:

And it is that high fiving the guys

Steve:

and shaming the women that they sleep

Steve:

with. Kind of in that same vein of

Steve:

now, oh, you're the guy who went and did

Steve:

this. But it's like that teacher

Steve:

was at work

Steve:

and in a closet with a kid

Steve:

she was told to stay away from because

Steve:

of the rumors of them fucking.

Leif:

Lily confronts Rufus about his passive aggressive

Leif:

attitude. Rufus reels, reveals he found the other

Leif:

half of the list. The pair argue. Yes.

Leif:

H. Everyone sucks here.

Steve:

Yeah. I, My only thing is that I do love when

Steve:

Lily has no time for Rufus's

Steve:

bullshit. I love. I love her

Steve:

reactions when Rufus says. Well, it wouldn't

Steve:

be the whole. The whole honesty or whatever. When

Steve:

Lily's like, oh, Jesus Christ. When she has

Steve:

that moment. I love, I love that she

Steve:

just never has time for Rufus's passive aggressive

Steve:

bullshit.

Leif:

I do like that every scene has Lily kind

Leif:

of lounging out because they're hiding her. Kelly's

Leif:

pregnancy.

Steve:

Yes. It's funny because I didn't

Steve:

notice it in that first episode. In the first

Steve:

episode where you mentioned it in the one with

Steve:

Jack and

Steve:

now it is so

Steve:

obvious. The big coat and then walking and

Steve:

standing right behind the counter when she talked to Rufus.

Steve:

In the one scene, a lot of counters, a lot

Steve:

of neck up and a lot of. The

Steve:

one. The one that I was really impressive

Steve:

was. It's the later scene

Steve:

with her when she's really lounging

Steve:

and it looks like

Steve:

they have made a

Steve:

costume. That is a

Steve:

pillow that. So when she's

Steve:

lounging on it, it's part. It

Steve:

looks. I'm pretty sure that the pillow is

Steve:

actually part of her dress and that

Steve:

she's sitting straight up and down.

Steve:

But they make it look like a lean.

Steve:

With the costuming. I'm. That was

Steve:

my. How I saw that outfit.

Leif:

Vanessa is apologizing to Nate for earlier when

Leif:

they are interrupted by an announcement from the grandfather about

Leif:

Nate's internship.

Leif:

Call your travel agent, kitties. Looks like Nate

Leif:

Archbold traded in a summer of love for a one

Leif:

way ticket to his legacy.

Steve:

This is the point where I felt like Vanessa has spent this

Steve:

episode trying to remind me how much she sucks.

Steve:

I just. I was annoyed with you.

Leif:

I didn't get that at all.

Steve:

Yeah, I was really annoyed.

Leif:

I was fine with Vanessa. This episode we move

Leif:

into the epilogue. Serena comes home and

Leif:

finds Chuck drinking alone. She urges him

Leif:

to keep fighting for Blair and he knows what to

Leif:

say.

Steve:

Ah, vulnerable. Chuck.

Leif:

Back in Brooklyn, Vanessa discusses her relationship

Leif:

status with Dan and Jenny. Dan and Jenny both

Leif:

advise giving Nate space, but that it will work out

Leif:

in the end.

Steve:

I've dealt with Upper east side grandparents.

Leif:

Before, which he has.

Steve:

Yes. Also, this was the. So

Steve:

I mentioned it at the top of the. Of the

Steve:

show that I thought there was something up with

Steve:

Dan and Vanessa. And I felt like it was reinforced here

Steve:

with them sitting there, him

Steve:

kind of consoling her. I

Steve:

see.

Leif:

I just got big sibling vibes from all three of

Leif:

them.

Steve:

I get. I get something.

Steve:

Obviously there's. There's a shake

Steve:

up with Vanessa happening, so,

Steve:

see?

Leif:

We'll see. Rufus returns to the penthouse and

Leif:

apologizes to Lily. And the final Gossip Girl

Leif:

narration begins.

Leif:

Springtime. A season for rebirth and new

Leif:

beginnings. For some, it's a chance to turn over a

Leif:

new leaf. Looks like

Leif:

their, issues are resolved for now.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Chuck arrives at the Blair's house, but is once again

Leif:

turned away by Doroda. As Dorota goes back

Leif:

upstairs, Chuck sees something that disturbs him.

Steve:

Oh, that. I'm sorry. That previous scene is the one where

Steve:

she had that outfit that I was talking about.

Steve:

When Dorota totally cockblocked Chuck,

Steve:

I was like, Nate is up there. And

Steve:

Robin's like, no, Nate is at his grandfather's. Why

Steve:

would Nate be at the wall? Nate's not there. I'm like, nate is

Steve:

in that room with Blair right now.

Leif:

We switch to the bedroom where Nate is saying goodbye to

Leif:

Blair after bringing her home. Blair asked

Leif:

Nate to stay, and I was like,

Leif:

boom.

Steve:

ITV so hard.

Leif:

For others, it's the surprise of seeing something

Leif:

bloom. We shift back to Chuck,

Leif:

and it is revealed that he saw Nate's coat.

Leif:

J. Miller Tobin ends the episode almost exactly

Leif:

the same way they ended Poison Ivy with a

Leif:

dramatic multi stage pull out.

Steve:

Yep.

Leif:

Exact same shot.

Steve:

Yeah. Oh, wow.

Leif:

It's Blair and Serena. Like, they do that. Like. Yeah, they pull

Leif:

out. It stops. Pull outs again. And then one more time.

Leif:

Yeah, they do the same exact thing here. And

Leif:

we end the episode with.

Leif:

But yours truly, it's a reminder that

Leif:

on the Upper east side, everything old can be

Leif:

new again. XOXO

Leif:

Gossip Girl Episode done.

Leif:

Predictions going forward.

Steve:

Dan and Vanessa. Dan and Vanessa is my

Steve:

biggest prediction. I think that Blair and Nate

Steve:

are not going to last, but I think that they're going

Steve:

to. I think that they're going to have an awkward

Steve:

the morning after because I think Nate right now

Steve:

is. Is kind of in this. Oh,

Steve:

maybe I do want everything that I said I didn't

Steve:

want last. Last season. And, I.

Steve:

I don't deny that Nate's a big flip flopper. I just,

Steve:

I. I just think that's Nate.

Leif:

Well, what. What big event have we not got to.

Leif:

That's traditional for the end of senior year, Senior

Leif:

trip?

Steve:

Prom. We got prom coming up.

Steve:

Okay, we've got prom. We've

Steve:

got.

Leif:

I don't see Chuck as a prom guy.

Steve:

No, but Nate's definitely a prom. Nate is a

Steve:

prom guy for sure.

Steve:

Yep.

Leif:

And you know, you say Dan and Vanessa, but

Leif:

he's gonna go with Serene.

Steve:

He,

Leif:

Vanessa has had sparks with someone else this season.

Steve:

Vanessa has had sparks with someone other

Steve:

than Dan and other than Nate.

Steve:

No,

Steve:

no, no. Because, she's not going.

Steve:

No.

Leif:

Well, maybe I'd rather that than

Leif:

the Dan.

Steve:

Yep. Facts.

Leif:

That is it for our episode. Let's get into some

Leif:

segments. We jump into the Wayback Machine

Leif:

to visit the Television without pity forums from

Leif:

2009. Hello there,

Leif:

Peabody here. And this is the Wayback Machine

Leif:

for traveling through time.

Steve:

And this is my boy, Sherman. Speak,

Steve:

Sherman. Hello.

Leif:

Good boy. They were definitely glad

Leif:

Ms. Carr and the Eyes Wide Shut storylines are over.

Leif:

Very bored of Rufus and Lily. They with the

Leif:

will they or won't they? People watch for the teens, not the

Leif:

parents.

Steve:

Yeah, that whole storyline

Steve:

about them, their role in

Steve:

this show now should be more

Steve:

about their relationship with

Steve:

their kids than their relationship with

Steve:

each other. They're together. Yeah, we're, we're, we're good with

Steve:

this. Don't give them

Steve:

teenage drama to shake

Steve:

up their thing. Just let them fucking be.

Leif:

Surprising praise for Dan's witty

Leif:

pretentiousness. Normally they don't like Dan being pretentious.

Steve:

Yeah, but it was, but he was funny. He

Steve:

was.

Leif:

And again, I think it was just improv.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, that, that, that

Steve:

scans.

Leif:

Where's Eric?

Steve:

I mean, where is Eric half the time?

Leif:

Not a lot of sympathy for Chuck at this point.

Steve:

Chuck did go chasing down a

Steve:

hooker while. While his love

Steve:

of his life apparently was

Steve:

spiraling. So I don't really. And

Steve:

I very seldom have any sympathy for

Steve:

Chuck.

Leif:

And then finally, Nair are cute, but

Leif:

can't match the chemistry of chair. Yeah, the

Leif:

sounds cute, but they just don't really have much chemistry.

Steve:

Yeah, that's true too.

Leif:

Let's go ahead and move it to some episode grades. What do

Leif:

you got, Steve?

Steve:

I went C plus on this one. I thought

Steve:

it was an okay

Steve:

episode. I hated the Rufus and

Steve:

Lily storyline. I

Steve:

thought the Blair stuff was okay. I didn't think it

Steve:

was well written like we had talked about. I thought there was a

Steve:

few moments where I was like, oh, I think that this was

Steve:

a nice bit of dialogue.

Steve:

But for the most part I didn't think it was very well written.

Steve:

so yeah, I went C. I.

Leif:

Didn'T go quite that low. I thought the

Leif:

directing was very good in this episode. The acting was

Leif:

good. The writing was hit or miss in a couple

Leif:

scenes. But overall I liked it. So I give it a

Leif:

B.

Steve:

Fair.

Leif:

Moving over to Stockwatch, who you got going up?

Steve:

I have Nate Going up. Nate

Steve:

has all these things. He's going to be interning

Steve:

for the mayor. I mean, good job, Nate. I have grandfather

Steve:

going up. He got his grandson back. And

Steve:

grandfather, who is only ever referred to as

Steve:

grandfather, is,

Steve:

also has his

Steve:

family back in line going the way he

Steve:

wants it to. And I'm going to give Dan an up because

Steve:

Dan was fun this episode. I don't think

Steve:

he really went anywhere, but he was witty and

Steve:

fun, so I'm going to give him the up.

Leif:

This is one. Is a tough one for me. I did consider

Leif:

Dan because he was Woody, but then he also got slapped, so I

Leif:

kept him m at neutral.

Steve:

Yeah, that's fair, too.

Leif:

So the only two I had going up were Dorota because she

Leif:

was loyal and awesome, as usual.

Steve:

I want to add Dorota to mine. Yes.

Leif:

And then the grandfather for the same reason as you said. He got

Leif:

everything he wanted.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Who do you have going down?

Steve:

Blair for spiraling. I have Vanessa

Steve:

going down for setting all of that up

Steve:

and only to lose everything she

Steve:

wanted. And then I have Carter going down

Steve:

for getting one up by Serena.

Leif:

And those are my downs for me. I had Blair because.

Leif:

Yeah, she continues to spiral. Chuck

Leif:

is. He got dissed by Carter

Leif:

and didn't really do much. also losing out

Leif:

to Nate. It looks like Carter because he got kicked out

Leif:

of town. Vanessa for losing Nate.

Leif:

Nate for just being a dumbass and getting led by his

Leif:

family and being kind of a slut.

Leif:

Vanessa wasn't even totally sure they broke up, and he's already hooking up with

Leif:

Blair.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

And then Lily, because she brought that whole mess on

Leif:

herself.

Steve:

Oh, well, that's fair, too. I do want to add Chuck to

Steve:

mine because I kind of had him at neutral,

Steve:

but now. Yeah, he

Steve:

fucking.

Leif:

He got punked by Carter and.

Steve:

Yeah. And by Nate.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

But here's the best outfits from the.

Steve:

Last episode we've seen.

Leif:

Best outfit. Who do you got?

Steve:

Chuck's suit. That with the pink collar

Steve:

and. Yeah, I dug that.

Leif:

For me, it was, I'm. I'm gonna have to just change

Leif:

this to the best Blair Waldorf outfit award, because

Leif:

Blair's, a liche bandage dress was

Leif:

phenomenal.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that. Is that the blue

Steve:

one or the.

Leif:

Blue and white one? The one that she's trying to seduce Chuck in.

Steve:

Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah. That I, That was on my

Steve:

list, and I was like, I'm gonna go with Chuck suit.

Steve:

But I was. I was looking at that, too.

Leif:

You Got anything to plug this week?

Steve:

At this moment, I believe this

Steve:

Wednesday I will be. It's either this Wednesday

Steve:

or next Wednesday. I will be at Dawson

Steve:

street for the open mic. I will be the featured

Steve:

act. So come on out to the open mic, come play some

Steve:

music and I'll be the featured act.

Leif:

For me, by now my episode of Farm to

Leif:

Fable should be released. That's Farm, the

Leif:

Fable podcast. Recapping,

Leif:

Smallville. I am on episode

Leif:

seven of season eight. So check that

Leif:

out. And then if you want to follow

Leif:

me on social media you can find me on Instagram and

Leif:

bluesky hotcapicola H

Leif:

o T C A P I

Leif:

C O L A and you can find

Leif:

the podcast on most, social media

Leif:

at non judging breakfast pod that's on threads,

Leif:

TikTok, Instagram. You can also find us

Leif:

on Facebook where we have both a group and a

Leif:

page. And if you want to check out our patreon

Leif:

or discord just go visit the links on our

Leif:

website. Non judging breakfast pod.com

Leif:

and if.

Steve:

You want to send us an email or get in touch with us or have

Steve:

something you want to tell us or send us a

Steve:

crest for the Humphrey family,

Steve:

you can send us an email at non judging breakfast

Steve:

podmail.com

Steve:

and we would love to hear what you have to say and maybe even

Steve:

read it on our on the episode.

Steve:

And while you're at it, if you could give us a

Steve:

like a follow a subscribe and leave a

Steve:

comment that really helps with our visibility in Apple

Steve:

ipod, in Apple podcasts and

Steve:

if you could tell a friend what you are

Steve:

listening to that also really helps out help

Steve:

us build this community of Gossip

Steve:

Girl fans.

Leif:

And we will be back next week to Talk about Season

Leif:

2 Episode 20, Remains of

Leif:

the J. The Netflix episode

Leif:

description reads serena throws Jenny a

Leif:

partier, for her 16th birthday. But things get out

Leif:

of control when Poppy Lifton turns the small

Leif:

gathering into a huge social

Leif:

event.

Steve:

Oh Jesus Christ. Poppy.

Leif:

But glad we got Jenny back in the main storyline.

Steve:

Poppy is Serena's friend. Yeah. Okay. I was

Steve:

thinking, I was thinking Agnes.

Leif:

Huh?

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. It's nice to have Jenny back in the

Steve:

spotlight. In the spotlight. We've been missing her.

Leif:

Until next time. You know you love us.

Steve:

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 run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away or run away m 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

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 long

Steve:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean

Steve:

to me I'm trying really hard to believe

Steve:

every time you walk away run away and take a

Steve:

piece of meat 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:

Come back to me

Steve:

smile and you'll make my life

Steve:

complete

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 and take a

Steve:

piece of me you with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there Hm

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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