Episode 3

S3E03 - "The Lost Boy"

Hey there, Gossip Girl fans! This week on the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve are back at it again, diving headfirst into the dramatic whirlpool that is Gossip Girl Season 3, Episode 3, aptly titled "The Lost Boy." Buckle up, because the Upper East Side is buzzing with more secrets than a high school locker room! Trust issues? Oh, you bet! Dan is finally catching a break and sniffing the sweet scent of popularity—will he rise to the occasion, or is he just a deer in headlights? And let’s not forget about Scott! His true identity is about to drop like a bomb, leaving Vanessa tangled in a sticky web of lies and half-truths. Classic! Meanwhile, our favorite scheming couple, Chuck and Blair, are back to their usual antics. Will their playful rivalry bring them closer together, or will it send them spiraling apart? The tension is thicker than a New York bagel, and friendships are hanging by a thread! Join Leif and Steve as they dissect all the juicy plot twists, character dynamics, and that ever-present Gossip Girl tension that keeps us all glued to our screens. So grab your breakfast of choice—whether it's a fancy avocado toast or a good old-fashioned bowl of cereal—and get ready for a lively discussion that’s bound to leave you hungry for more Gossip Girl gossip!

Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion. 

Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.

The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion.

http://www.nonjudgingbreakfastpod.com 

Discord - http://njbpod.captivate.fm/discord 

@NonJudgigBreakfastPodon ⁠Instagram⁠ & ⁠Tiktok⁠ & Threads

@NJBPod on X (twitter)⁠

Facebook - Non Judging Breakfast Pod ⁠Page ⁠and ⁠Group⁠.

⁠Linktree ⁠

Youtube - @NonJudgingBreakfastPodcast

Questions, comments Sponsorship requests, or business opportunities? Email us at nonjudgingbreakfastpod@gmail.com 

#GossipGirl

Transcript
Steve:

And it's so funny because Dan, the guy who's been ignored for two

Steve:

seasons, got one little sniff

Steve:

of popularity.

Leif:

Of course, he does have that other stalker girl from

Leif:

NYU recognized just by his name.

Steve:

That is true.

Steve:

Overhearing is are you Z?

Steve:

Dan Opre.

Steve:

He's going to put you in the stalker pile.

Leif:

Hey, Upper East Siders and all you listeners out

Leif:

there, you just tuned into the non judging breakfast

Leif:

pot. The coffee is strong, the waffles

Leif:

are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than ever.

Leif:

My name is Leith and I'm your seasoned Gossip Girl veteran.

Steve:

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

Steve:

greenhorn, the, I don't know, leap. We're in season three.

Steve:

What are we calling me now?

Leif:

I don't know. But if you keep pushing, Blair's gonna push back and I'm

Leif:

gonna be right behind her.

Steve:

Well, as long as you leave a sock on the door when you

Steve:

are, then I think we're in the clear.

Steve:

Okay, so here's the deal, folks. Leaf has

Steve:

been watching Gossip Girl since it first aired and I'm diving

Steve:

in for the first time. And together, we're your

Steve:

dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama,

Steve:

romance, sometimes questionable fashion

Steve:

choices of this iconic 2007

Steve:

series.

Leif:

That's right. Each week we'll be taking a deep dive into the show

Leif:

one episode at a time. We'll look at all the hidden

Leif:

references and obscure parallels. We'll also take

Leif:

a look at some stories from fandom and some behind the scenes

Leif:

concepts along the way.

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here at the non

Steve:

judging breakfast pod, there is always room for you at

Steve:

the non judging breakfast table. So go ahead and grab a

Steve:

mimosa, a cup of coffee, or some of Chuck's

Steve:

special medicine and let's get started.

Leif:

Let's get started. And the week of this

Leif:

recording week, we got the

Leif:

sad news about Michelle Trachtenberg.

Steve:

Lost. Lost her. Her fight with the,

Steve:

liver transplant. That they're suspecting

Steve:

that it's complicated.

Leif:

Well, as of now, there's been no actual information

Leif:

release other than the fact that she has recently had a liver

Leif:

transplant.

Steve:

Yes. And a friend of hers did

Steve:

say when they talked that she was

Steve:

concerned about the survival of this

Steve:

transplant. But yeah, very sad.

Steve:

I know, I know. We shit on her earlier

Steve:

performances on the show.

Steve:

and it was actually especially

Steve:

kind of impactful watching this

Steve:

episode and watching her really

Steve:

crush it. We've talked about a

Steve:

lot when she came onto the show, they didn't know what to do with her

Steve:

and weren't writing to her strengths.

Leif:

Yeah. The character was originally written. Josh Schwartz

Leif:

wanted it to be Misha Barnes and she turned it down.

Steve:

Yeah. And another big

Steve:

thing that took the adjusting, as I

Steve:

said when we were first watching it, I

Steve:

watched Michelle Trachtenberg grow

Steve:

up from being a 14 year

Steve:

old or 15 year old to being an

Steve:

18 year old or so on

Steve:

Buffy. So then turning around

Steve:

a few years later and having her then

Steve:

be that same age again was also

Steve:

a little. I know you're not.

Leif:

It.

Steve:

It hurt the suspension of disbelief in that first

Steve:

season. And now in

Steve:

season two and season three, she really just

Steve:

blends in. it's also so sad because

Steve:

again, a huge Buffy fan.

Steve:

Huge Buffy fan. And I've always,

Steve:

always loved her

Steve:

storyline, her season five storyline.

Steve:

I love the this is your sister that you've always

Steve:

known and always been there and always has

Steve:

been, no matter what the audience knows.

Steve:

I always thought that was super creative and I always thought she

Steve:

played a, phenomenal little sister.

Leif:

Yeah. Ah, she's. She's always been magnetic. She's.

Leif:

She was a year younger than me. so I grew

Leif:

up right alongside of her, essentially.

Leif:

I mean, I remember watching her on Pete. Pete. She was

Leif:

Iggy Pop Star.

Steve:

that's funny because Pete and Pete is, You and I

Steve:

are just that far apart that a lot of those shows

Steve:

were too, too young for me. But my

Steve:

sister was watching some of them because they were just. She was

Steve:

just at the top of that age bracket. So

Steve:

I was familiar with Harriet the Spy. Never saw it.

Steve:

I was familiar with Beat and Pete. Never watched

Steve:

it. But you knew that this kid

Steve:

got great traction at a young age.

Leif:

Moving on to more positive topics, we had

Leif:

the second episode of, Good Cop, Back

Leif:

Cab. Have you watched it yet?

Steve:

I have not seen the second episode. I watched the first

Steve:

episode and really liked

Steve:

it. You know me, I am easy to

Steve:

please. Everyone in our

Steve:

gaming group always makes fun of me for being the guy

Steve:

that likes everything, because I really do.

Steve:

But I had so much fun with that first episode

Steve:

and I really am looking forward to the next one.

Leif:

It's, better than I expected. It's

Leif:

still, as a show, as a whole, not.

Steve:

It doesn't break any new ground. It's still a cop

Steve:

show.

Leif:

But, the second episode, lady, does get a chance

Leif:

to actually emote a bit. she.

Leif:

She was really good at that. You know,

Leif:

one scene in particular that

Leif:

was nice to see.

Steve:

Yeah. And. And the flip side of that,

Steve:

I really liked seeing her in

Steve:

a. In a more comedic role,

Steve:

even though she's not really driving the

Steve:

comedy. It's almost a comedy with all

Steve:

straight men the way that they're

Steve:

being played. I,

Leif:

It's a more family friendly Reno 911.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, it really is. I

Steve:

like that the father is super corrupt and they

Steve:

call him on it every step of the way.

Leif:

Oh, it's. It's even worse than second episode.

Steve:

Yeah, I mean, it's. I feel

Steve:

like it does point out

Steve:

some of those problems

Steve:

in the justice system. I also feel like, you

Steve:

know, it is a cop show.

Leif:

and also some other good news, I guess, depending

Leif:

on good news. But

Leif:

Domino Kirk announced on Twitter

Leif:

that her, and Pen are having twins.

Steve:

Yes. Congratulations, Pen.

Steve:

And, what's her name again?

Leif:

Domino.

Steve:

Domino. Congratulations to the two of

Steve:

them. Robin actually held up her phone

Steve:

yesterday and said spotted and

Steve:

showed me the announcement, so congratulations.

Steve:

Ben and Domino.

Leif:

They're a little new nuclear family.

Leif:

One son from her first

Leif:

relationship. And then they had

Leif:

one son together. Now two more children.

Steve:

Yeah, that's

Steve:

got to be daunting. I had a friend,

Steve:

a good friend of mine who called me many years ago who

Steve:

said, I need your advice on how to do it. And I go, what? Being

Steve:

a dad? And he says, being a dad to three kids.

Steve:

And he had triplets, and he called them his insta

Steve:

family.

Leif:

Well, luckily, Pen's out of work now, so he can. He can

Leif:

focus on his family.

Steve:

Yeah, he can do the John Lennon thing without all the

Steve:

abuse.

Leif:

Well, today we are here to talk about Gossip Girl.

Leif:

Season three, episode three, the Lost

Leif:

Boy original air date was September

Leif:

28, 2009 and based on the

Leif:

film the Lost Boys.

Steve:

Yes. obviously familiar with the Lost

Steve:

boys.

Leif:

It is 1987 film with a

Leif:

who's who of 80s cast.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Directed. Directed by the guy who gave us the nipple.

Steve:

Batsuit. Yeah.

Leif:

Schumacher. Oh, okay.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

And we had. The Coreys

Steve:

were in it. We had Kiefer Sutherland in it.

Steve:

We had. Trying to think of who else.

Steve:

But I just. It was. They were just like,

Steve:

who is every hot

Steve:

actor around right now? And let's put

Steve:

them into this vampire movie.

Leif:

This episode was written by Robert

Leif:

Hall. he did three. Three episodes in season three,

Leif:

Season two, rather. They were the X

Leif:

Files. It's a Wonderful Lie. And

Leif:

the grandfather.

Steve:

Yeah, I. I feel like the X

Steve:

Files was the first one to kind of

Steve:

get the swing going of season

Steve:

two that we had those first three

Steve:

episodes of the.

Leif:

Well, the third episode, because that was the Dark Knight.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Okay. I was. So it was just the

Steve:

first two that Were the.

Leif:

The Hamptons.

Steve:

The Hamptons, right. Okay. I keep thinking it was

Steve:

three episodes, but I've only seen this

Steve:

once.

Leif:

well, Marcus was in a few more, so he kind

Leif:

of jammed it up.

Steve:

Okay. That's why. Because Marcus was

Steve:

still in it.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

And then it was directed by Jean

Leif:

de son Jack.

Leif:

probably that up pretty bad, but, he did,

Leif:

previously the Magnificent Archibald.

Leif:

That was the Thanksgiving episode, definitely.

Leif:

That was a really good scene at the end with, Eleanor,

Leif:

Jenny and Bless.

Steve:

Where. Where Eleanor is like a, parent.

Steve:

She parents Jenny and.

Leif:

And Blair.

Steve:

And Blair. Yeah, it was so. I remember

Steve:

getting teary watching that. That's. That

Steve:

was wonderful Eleanor

Steve:

scene.

Leif:

Why don't you go ahead and read us that vulture recap?

Steve:

All right. The vulture recap says,

Steve:

with everything they've been through, the lies, the

Steve:

scheming, the boyfriends who turned out to be Ponzi

Steve:

schemers, the girlfriends who turned out to be stepsisters,

Steve:

the children they never knew existed,

Steve:

it's not surprising that our friends on Gossip Girl have

Steve:

developed what would commonly be called trust

Steve:

issues. Except in their case, they're actually

Steve:

right. The Gossip Girl world is one of sidelong

Steve:

glances, elaborate lies, and outlandish

Steve:

plots. If someone awkwardly stutters in

Steve:

a, sentence or tries to get off the phone

Steve:

quickly, it means something. In last

Steve:

night's episode, square jawed, shifty eyed, Scott

Steve:

loved a lie about a college seminar

Steve:

causes Vanessa to. To question his entire

Steve:

identity. And of course, she turns out

Steve:

to be right because he is not who he says he

Steve:

is. He is, in fact, Lillian,

Steve:

Rufus's son, which he then lies

Steve:

about. Meanwhile, Serena doesn't trust Carter

Steve:

Bazin, in part because of what happened in

Steve:

Santorini. Chuck and Blair pretend not to

Steve:

trust each other, but only because they think it's

Steve:

hot. And of course, no one trusts Georgina,

Steve:

except maybe Rufus, who, human

Steve:

labradoodle that he is, trusts everyone.

Steve:

Or maybe it's just the Botox

Steve:

shaded.

Leif:

Ah, Matthew, settle there?

Steve:

Yeah, a little bit.

Leif:

There a lot of stuff going on in this

Leif:

episode.

Steve:

Yes. Yeah, it was a very

Steve:

scheme packed episode that. I

Steve:

really liked that. That aspect of it.

Leif:

We'll go ahead and get into Act 1 with

Leif:

the gossip Girl blast.

Leif:

Mornings in New York. Time to wake up from

Leif:

bad dreams, roll out of beds we've made, and

Leif:

start making plans for a brighter future.

Leif:

Lair is leaving a message for Chuck. While walking into her

Leif:

dorm building at nyu, Blair

Leif:

ignores the sock on the door and her room.

Leif:

Enters her room and is shocked to find a

Leif:

shirtless Diane on a bed with your dad.

Steve:

So you just finished your first class.

Steve:

You're already starting to talk about skipping

Steve:

classes to go bang.

Steve:

That's usually like second

Steve:

semester sort of stuff. Usually it's you skip

Steve:

class sometime halfway through your first semester because

Steve:

you're drunk. You don't start skipping for sex until

Steve:

at least the second semester.

Leif:

Claire Walters is advanced for her age.

Steve:

That is true. Always has been. Also, who doesn't know what

Steve:

a sock on the door means?

Leif:

I'm wearing a glove and I still want to wash my hands.

Leif:

After Blair leaves in disgust, Georgina is making plans to

Leif:

meet the family and friends. Georgina seems like she's falling

Leif:

for lonely boy, who maybe, as the kids say,

Leif:

just be vibing.

Steve:

Yeah, kind of picked up on that.

Steve:

Kind of picked up on that.

Leif:

Serena and Vanessa catch a Once again,

Leif:

shoeless and clueless Dan doing the walk of shame.

Leif:

Serena hopes it was Blair. Vanessa hopes it was

Leif:

Georgina.

Steve:

that scene was fantastic. Every bit of it.

Steve:

Vanessa walking out. Oh, I thought I heard you guys

Steve:

here. And Serena and. And

Steve:

Vanessa at the same time. Please tell me it was

Steve:

Georgina. Please tell me it was Blair. It

Steve:

was just so. It was really well

Steve:

acted, directed, blocked. It was

Steve:

just really a really good set up

Steve:

for that scene.

Leif:

After sitting and explaining things, Vanessa and

Leif:

Serena agree not to judge Dan, but to tease him

Leif:

mercilessly. Serena recruits Dan to come

Leif:

help her. Vanessa is about to come along for when

Leif:

another hole is inadvertently poked in Scott's

Leif:

story.

Steve:

Yep, Scott's stories

Steve:

keep crumbling. I found that scene

Steve:

with Vanessa, Serena and Dan to be really

Steve:

nice, like a nice friend. They're

Steve:

all pretty much siblings at this point. Dan

Steve:

and Vanessa have really established that sort of

Steve:

sibling sort of relationship. And

Steve:

Serena and Dan becoming

Steve:

siblings. I thought that was a really

Steve:

cute scene. And you know we're going to mock you for

Steve:

this mercilessly, but, you know, have

Steve:

fun.

Leif:

Well, I don't get. So skipping ahead,

Leif:

Dan goes with Serena and she came to get Blair

Leif:

and she ends up taking Dan said, what did she need? Of

Leif:

course she walked to NYU so she could go walk

Leif:

to meet Carter. Like Dan just immediately

Leif:

walks away when she meets Carter.

Steve:

Yeah. What? Yeah,

Steve:

she had no real reason. She's the

Steve:

Vanessa. There's no reason

Steve:

for Serena to be there.

Steve:

Of course, Serena is the new Vanessa.

Leif:

Vanessa calls Scott, who continues to poorly lie

Leif:

to her as, ah, the camera pulls out. It is revealed that

Leif:

Scott is receiving guitar lessons from Rufus.

Leif:

Rufus starts giving fatherly advice about Scott's relationship

Leif:

with Vanessa when they are interrupted by Jenny and

Leif:

Eric. Rufus may be oblivious, but I think

Leif:

Jenny has her radar up.

Steve:

I kept in my head. Ganon. There's. Hey,

Steve:

you're really good at this. Thanks, dad. Dan. Dan.

Steve:

Dan's dad.

Leif:

Eric. One line of the episode is comparing

Leif:

Shakira to David Belly.

Steve:

Although Eric looked cut when

Steve:

he came in. Broader shoulders,

Steve:

like, tighter shirt on him. Did he

Steve:

also, like, bulk up for, in

Steve:

the off season?

Leif:

I didn't notice.

Steve:

Yeah. I just felt like I. And maybe it was just what

Steve:

he was wearing, but I thought Eric came in looking a

Steve:

little more cut.

Leif:

Forget what year Revenge started.

Leif:

He was on that, and he looked much more

Leif:

rough around the edges character.

Steve:

Oh, okay.

Leif:

I didn't.

Steve:

I didn't realize it. Was it simultaneous

Steve:

to Gossip Girl?

Leif:

Yeah, it

Leif:

didn't go at the beginning. It

Leif:

started at some point. I forget when.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

Dan and Serena are walking down the street talking

Leif:

about the respective relationship. Serena warns Dan

Leif:

to DTR with Georgina before she goes from

Leif:

zero to crazy fair.

Steve:

That's it if you know somebody

Steve:

like that. Because, yeah, fair advice and good

Steve:

advice.

Leif:

As Dan leaves, Carter shows up for his date with

Leif:

Serena. As the pair are talking, another woman

Leif:

walks up and accuses Carter of sleeping with her and leaving the

Leif:

next day. She then slaps him even

Leif:

though Carter denies it. Serena chickens out and inviting Carter

Leif:

to the family event that evening.

Steve:

That felt like a setup. The first time

Steve:

watching the whole thing. I,

Steve:

had Chuck Bass written all over it and

Steve:

felt like a setup, I think.

Leif:

Yeah. Maybe that's why Carter didn't defend himself.

Leif:

He thought it was so obvious.

Steve:

Yeah, he did say, I don't know her.

Steve:

This isn't real.

Leif:

I wasn't at that place.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't even at the place where she said I was,

Steve:

but okay. Serena.

Leif:

Vanessa is at NYU trying to get info about

Leif:

Scott's enrollment. She discovers that there is no

Leif:

Scott Adler registered at the college.

Steve:

I really like

Steve:

Vanessa being the sleuth,

Steve:

that it really makes sense to her character.

Steve:

She wants to be a documentary filmmaker. She wants

Steve:

to do investigative things. I felt that

Steve:

this episode, Vanessa

Steve:

really kind of shined in that

Steve:

respect that she had something to do and

Steve:

everything she was doing made sense. It really

Steve:

is a nice change of pace for

Steve:

Vanessa, for her. For her character to be making

Steve:

sense.

Leif:

And that is the end of the first act. We move

Leif:

into Act 2

Leif:

at the palace. Blair enters the enters

Leif:

with room service. Once the server leaves, Blair

Leif:

strips down to her Kiki de Mont

Leif:

Ponace, Belle de Jour romper and pounces

Leif:

on Chuck. However, Chuck isn't quite in the

Leif:

mood because he has a big business meeting coming up.

Leif:

Blair puts her coat back on and storms out. As

Leif:

she leaves the hotel room, she discovers an invitation

Leif:

to La Taba Altair.

Steve:

Chuck, take 10 minutes. Take a 10

Steve:

minute break. You've been working so hard on this.

Leif:

Take 10 takes chef. Much

Leif:

more.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

You gotta do it the right way. The Chuck fast way.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

You gotta take your time.

Steve:

Yeah. It would take the whole couple of hours.

Leif:

But this is secret society number three.

Leif:

It is.

Steve:

It is.

Leif:

In biblical times, destiny was delivered

Leif:

in the form of stone tablets or a burning

Leif:

bush. But today, true destiny is

Leif:

often engraved and carries an embossed sea.

Leif:

Deal. Dan is back at the

Leif:

dorm and awkwardly tries to de escalate the

Leif:

relationship. And Georgina completely plays it off at school.

Leif:

Even Dan is surprised at how easy that was.

Leif:

Too easy, one might say.

Steve:

Yeah, it was Dan, being

Steve:

super awkward again and not

Steve:

knowing how to say the thing.

Leif:

If you want me to leave, I can just leave.

Steve:

Yeah. And Georgina, the way she

Steve:

played it too, like, you're adorable. Can you get pizza? Let's

Steve:

go. That it really kind of felt

Steve:

like the message was receipt.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

She. But also you kind of get the

Steve:

sense that it is Georgina and that that's a card that she has

Steve:

to play that, Georgina has shown she's

Steve:

good at wrong and playing.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And she thinks she can eventually convince him.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Because I do think she was legitimately.

Steve:

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

Leif:

Blair and Serena are strolling in the park

Leif:

discussing first letable elater and

Leif:

then Blair's sexual frustrations. I guess

Leif:

that's just what seeing a shirtless Dan in the flesh does to

Leif:

someone. Blair tries to get Serena

Leif:

to dump Carter. The ever defiant Serena

Leif:

instead calls and invites Carter to the event

Leif:

leader.

Steve:

Once again, we have a really nice best

Steve:

friend scene that we had one last

Steve:

week. More toward the end. But I

Steve:

feel almost as though the writers

Steve:

are very intentionally creating

Steve:

these moments to bring

Steve:

Blair and Serena together. And I'm not mad at it. I think

Steve:

it's actually a really good thing to really

Steve:

constantly establish that

Steve:

friendship. So I, I just really liked,

Steve:

what this scene did for sort of the

Steve:

meta story of their

Steve:

friendship.

Steve:

I think it also kind of, I think Blair's kind

Steve:

of showing her hand a little bit here too.

Leif:

And I think Serena almost swallowed that fun. Just to show

Leif:

Lair how hard she.

Steve:

Is flirting with Carter. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah. She was gonna start licking it at least.

Leif:

Chuck shows up for his business meeting only to be

Leif:

told it's been canceled by an attractive assistant.

Leif:

She blows off Chuck's attempts to charm his way back into the

Leif:

meeting and instead advises Chuck to get a famous photo of her

Leif:

boss in order to impress him.

Steve:

I initially, in the first couple

Steve:

seconds, thought that Chuck was establishing

Steve:

something here that could be

Steve:

the thread that pulls

Steve:

Blair and Chuck apart. He sees

Steve:

a pretty, young person who looked really

Steve:

familiar. The actor looked really

Steve:

familiar. And I felt like she looked like someone from an

Steve:

earlier episode of Gossip Girl, but I could just

Steve:

be completely mistaken. But I kind

Steve:

of had that thought.

Leif:

Of, yeah, look those things up and see.

Steve:

Oh, I see. I'm not. I thought I'm not supposed to be looking stuff up.

Leif:

Oh, you can look up an actor's name.

Steve:

Oh, okay, then I'll. I'll. I'll do that.

Leif:

I like. If you see an actor, an episode, look up that

Leif:

episode and.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Click on and see what episodes they were on.

Steve:

Well, there, there. Am I right? Was she in something?

Steve:

Or do you. Oh, okay. I had no idea. I'll. I'll do that

Steve:

research. Like I was saying, though, last,

Steve:

week, I said that the Blair

Steve:

and Chuck cannot be smooth sailing

Steve:

indefinitely. They has to be

Steve:

a shakeup at some point. So I thought that

Steve:

this. That his approach

Steve:

to the receptionist might have been

Steve:

that read that he was being too flirty.

Steve:

I. I'm glad that I was wrong.

Leif:

So there was definitely something major set up for their

Leif:

relationship in this episode. We'll talk about it while we get to

Leif:

it.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

Joanna Garcia is helping Blake Lively shoulder

Leif:

the mandatory cleavage requirements for the episode as Brie and

Leif:

Nate are walking and talking. Bree's family

Leif:

has still not called her back. The new couple decide

Leif:

it's time for a public date.

Steve:

Robin, when we were watching this, Robin, like,

Steve:

got up for just a quick second and said something like, are

Steve:

you asleep yet? And I realized I

Steve:

actually completely zoned out on this

Steve:

scene the first time I watched it, and

Steve:

the second time I watched it, I realized that it really.

Steve:

I didn't miss anything,

Steve:

that it was just more

Steve:

boring Nate relationships stuff.

Steve:

And so deep into the

Steve:

episode, both times, they.

Leif:

They're.

Steve:

You can tell that they're like, oh, and we got to throw this Nate stuff

Steve:

in here too, because it's so late in the

Steve:

episode. It's not, it's not even in the exposition.

Steve:

Nate has these two scenes that

Steve:

are nearly pointless except

Steve:

for breeze scene at the end.

Steve:

It's just this pointless, boring

Steve:

Nate arc.

Leif:

Welcome to the next five season. Oh.

Steve:

Nate.

Leif:

Yep, yep, yep. Nate's

Leif:

just kind of there. That sucks. Dating older

Leif:

women. That's Cool.

Leif:

At least he's over 18 now.

Steve:

Exactly.

Leif:

Yeah. Now.

Steve:

Now that it's. Now that it's a little more appropriate.

Steve:

She's a master's student we established, right?

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

yeah.

Leif:

Grad.

Steve:

Grad students. So could be a doctoral, you

Steve:

know, could be beyond. But

Steve:

it's within college. But they're within six to

Steve:

eight years.

Leif:

Yeah. Outside the

Leif:

auction house, Blair and Chuck bump into each other and quickly

Leif:

realize they are both here for the same photo.

Steve:

Wow.

Steve:

I. I liked this

Steve:

conflict for. For the two of them. That it

Steve:

is putting them in a

Steve:

friendly competition

Steve:

that doesn't compromise

Steve:

the relationship quite like

Steve:

another person would.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

That they need tension, they need fighting, they need

Steve:

scheming. That's their foreplay.

Steve:

So for them to both be going

Steve:

after this same piece of art, I thought that was

Steve:

really good.

Leif:

Vanessa invites Scott to her dorm room to elicit

Leif:

a confession out of him. To his credit, Scott

Leif:

comes clean and reveals the truth about being Rubus and

Leif:

Lily's love child. Gossip Girl has this to

Leif:

say. They say

Leif:

honesty is the best policy. I hope

Leif:

everyone's policies are paid up because we're on a collision

Leif:

course.

Steve:

A quick note about Scott. Scott. I looked

Steve:

into Inspector pilot or Pilot

Steve:

inspector. The only thing that I could find

Steve:

is that it is Jason Lee's

Steve:

head.

Leif:

I saw that.

Steve:

I, And I wonder if they're trying to say that he looks like Jason.

Steve:

Like a young Jason Lee. Like he could be

Steve:

Jason Lee's kid. But that is the only reference

Steve:

I could find on it.

Leif:

Have you seen the recent pictures of.

Steve:

Him of r. No, I

Steve:

haven't.

Leif:

He's one of those people that he. His face still

Leif:

looks young, but, you know, he's got like,

Leif:

receding hairline.

Steve:

I. Yeah,

Steve:

he's got like a baby.

Leif:

Face with a receding hairline. So it creates a little

Leif:

cognitive dissonance.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. It's sort

Steve:

of like I can see. There's a face

Steve:

that I can see, but I can't

Steve:

place the name of it.

Leif:

We move into Act 3.

Leif:

Back from the break, Scott is explaining his story

Leif:

to Vanessa. Vanessa reveals to Scott that his

Leif:

parents lied to Lily and Rufus about him dying.

Leif:

Scott begs Vanessa to wait a day or two more m. So he can

Leif:

talk to his parents before revealing the truth to

Leif:

Rufus.

Steve:

Asking for a day or two is reasonable.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Ah, that situation that he put her in

Steve:

is not unreasonable. Give me a day or

Steve:

two. I need to think this over and talk to my

Steve:

mom and talk to my parents.

Leif:

Yeah, I want to find out why they lied.

Steve:

Yeah. Find out why they lied. They need to tell, and they need to know

Steve:

before I go to Rupert. All of that

Steve:

was fair.

Leif:

Yeah. Carter is trying to check out of

Leif:

his hotel, but his card is being declined, and his.

Leif:

He is being charged for room service he claims not never

Leif:

to have ordered. Serena walks in on the scene and

Leif:

offers to pay his tab. Carter is upset that

Leif:

Serena clearly doesn't trust him.

Steve:

Again, felt like a setup. It.

Steve:

It had Chuck Bass written all over

Steve:

it. They.

Leif:

They kind of play their hand, too, right. In this next scene because

Leif:

they are charged Bob's Dom.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

and then Chuck shows up.

Steve:

Shows up with the bottle of Dom.

Leif:

Yeah. Chuck comes to Blair's dorm room with a

Leif:

bottle and a proposition that they both skip the

Leif:

auction and just bang one out.

Steve:

Sounds fair. Again, yeah, they both had other

Steve:

ideas. Yeah, they. And again, like,

Steve:

you know, Chuck is coming in here with

Steve:

some kind of scheme, like he's up to something.

Leif:

Vanessa continues to be the worst when she invites

Leif:

Dan to coffee to tell him that Scott is lying, but refuses

Leif:

to tell the whole story. And after Vanessa leaves,

Leif:

Georgina lends a friendly air and convinces Dan that they

Leif:

should investigate Scott's identity.

Leif:

Why tell him that he's lying

Leif:

without explaining it?

Steve:

Yeah. Or without at, least. Yeah, first. Yeah.

Leif:

First of all, just don't say anything.

Steve:

Yeah. First of all, you've already said you're not going to tell this

Steve:

secret, and then you tell the secret that leads to the

Steve:

secret. You know, you tell the. The other big

Steve:

secret to Daniel, and

Steve:

now you don't even say, hey, I

Steve:

can't tell you right now, but he'll tell you

Steve:

in a couple days. You could easily just say,

Steve:

look, there's another secret here, and it's not mine to tell,

Steve:

which happens a lot on this show. It is okay to

Steve:

say to someone, I know a secret. It's not mine

Steve:

to tell. You need to get it from this person.

Leif:

But the fact that she specifically called him to tell

Leif:

him.

Steve:

Yes. She sets up a meeting with. With Dan to

Steve:

be like, hey, I have a secret. Yeah, I have a secret. My

Steve:

boyfriend's lying to me. He's not who he says he

Steve:

is. That's it.

Leif:

And don't worry about it.

Steve:

Yeah, don't worry about it. It's all fine.

Leif:

No worse.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And then Georgina comes in and, Mrs. Dan.

Leif:

Definitely time to investigate.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Chuck and Blair are just about to get to the good stuff

Leif:

when their phones keep simultaneously interrupting them. they

Leif:

quickly learned that each of them was using sex to distract the

Leif:

Other from the auction. While the respective representatives bid

Leif:

on the photo, Laird dashes out of the room with

Leif:

Chuck, shoes in hand.

Steve:

Dorota's opposition research isn't what it used

Steve:

to. Used to be.

Steve:

they were. Yeah, they were trying to find the. The

Steve:

value of the painting and have their people doing the

Steve:

research behind their backs. I loved it.

Leif:

Lots of these people stealing each other's shoes.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Shot. Getting the paces on medicine from last season.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

Yeah. Indeed.

Leif:

Georgina's sleuthing skills, picked up in a past life

Leif:

as a preteen spy, combined with Dan's

Leif:

memory for random facts, allow the pair to track down

Leif:

Scott's true name.

Steve:

Now you say sleuthing skills. I'm going to replace that

Steve:

with stalking skills. We know

Steve:

Georgina is a little

Steve:

unhinged, and so it just kind of

Steve:

really explained to me that side of her character

Steve:

that, yes, I'm gonna go on and learn everything I possibly can

Steve:

about these people. And that just really fit in line with

Steve:

what I know.

Leif:

Well, presumably she just googled the three things Dan

Leif:

told her. Scott, MVP and

Leif:

Eagles.

Steve:

Lions.

Leif:

Lions.

Steve:

Lions. Yeah.

Steve:

Yes. A soccer

Steve:

team called the Lions. And then that bound

Steve:

his championship team.

Steve:

And when I said that, though I do, I would

Steve:

like to think that. That the intention

Steve:

was more showing that

Steve:

Georgina is good at this,

Steve:

has that kind of savvy

Steve:

with searching and

Steve:

stalking. Essentially.

Leif:

she would be a good partner for Dan.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

It would be a powerful duo. Scott finds Vanessa

Leif:

and tells her he had had it out with his parents. He also

Leif:

asked her to be by his side when he goes to confess his

Leif:

identity to Rufus.

Steve:

Cool. Cool. I'll be there for

Steve:

you. Absolutely.

Leif:

Dan is able to connect Scott's name to the fan

Leif:

mail he got last year, but doesn't put the whole truth

Leif:

together. Dan leaves a voicemail for V but

Leif:

invites Georgina to the auction to go find Vanessa. of

Leif:

course, dad. Think it's all about him.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah,

Steve:

Obviously you like your stalker.

Leif:

That's pretty rock star.

Steve:

I, ah, published one essay and they're already

Steve:

coming after me. It must be

Steve:

about me. Yeah, and it's so funny because Dan, the guy

Steve:

who's been ignored for two seasons, got one

Steve:

little sniff of popularity.

Leif:

Of course, he does have that other stalker girl from

Leif:

NYU recognized just five by his name.

Steve:

That is true.

Steve:

Overhearing is

Steve:

going to put you in the stalker vial.

Leif:

And gust girl has this to say as we go to act

Leif:

break. Turns out

Leif:

photographs won't be the only thing up for grabs

Leif:

tonight. Priceless secret is on the Auction block.

Leif:

And bidding begins. Now

Leif:

we move into Act 4. Nate and Brie

Leif:

arrive at the Sotheby's, and Nate pulls

Leif:

Brie in for a dramatic kiss in front of the swarming

Leif:

paparazzi.

Steve:

Great.

Leif:

They look pretty, though.

Steve:

One note about these

Steve:

scenes that I really

Steve:

like how they were shot. This whole outdoor

Steve:

outside, them coming in from the limos.

Steve:

Them coming in. I thought it was well shot

Steve:

and well directed. just the way that

Steve:

they were one after another kind of bringing them through. Some

Steve:

of it felt like one shot. I don't know if it was one

Steve:

shot, but some of it felt that kind

Steve:

of one shot scene feeling that

Steve:

really brought in a continuity.

Leif:

as boring as Nate's storyline is, at least he actually has one.

Leif:

Unlike, you know, Jenny.

Steve:

This is just.

Leif:

And her familiar Eric.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Her familiar. Her familiar Eric.

Leif:

As she's, casting spells, she comes

Leif:

in for one. One light just kind of follows along behind it.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And it says something else that has nothing

Leif:

to do with anyone's talking about.

Steve:

No. Yeah. Oh, we can have Eric for

Steve:

an episode.

Leif:

Cool.

Steve:

We'll just put him in here. Of course, the guy

Steve:

Eric is just getting paid for

Steve:

showing up.

Leif:

Vanessa and Scott holding hands with the next to arrive.

Leif:

Vanessa checks her phone and sees three missed calls from

Leif:

Dan, but chooses to ignore it. She instead stops

Leif:

to give Scott some reassurance.

Steve:

Yeah, Vanessa knows what's going on, so doesn't have to

Steve:

worry about Dan's phone calls that

Steve:

she keeps ignoring.

Leif:

Blair steps out of her limo just as Serena is walking

Leif:

up. Blair quickly catches her up on the.

Steve:

Quest for the photo and again starts to

Steve:

show her hand to Serena by talking about

Steve:

Carter.

Leif:

Yes. And of course, Chuck shows

Leif:

up. And this is where Serena finally starts to figure things out.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

Claire storms off. However, Chuck hangs back to give Serena

Leif:

the exact same advice about Cara that she got from Blair.

Steve:

Momentarily, she's putting

Steve:

it together. Yeah.

Leif:

Rupus has to go check on the auction schedule before

Leif:

Scott can make his confession. To make matters worse, it looks

Leif:

like Scott's adoptive mother has also shown up at the

Leif:

auction drive from Boston.

Steve:

Right. Yeah, that was. She got there quick. I

Steve:

also really. Rufus is like,

Steve:

see you, buddy. On the arm,

Steve:

like, hey, pal. I just, It was

Steve:

the most, like, not

Steve:

dad like thing.

Leif:

It was.

Steve:

It was how I would sort of like I would

Steve:

a student that did a good job. I might give that

Steve:

little arm bat. Well done.

Steve:

Because it's too condescending to bat them on

Steve:

the head.

Leif:

Blair and Chuck sit down together, preparing to go to war

Leif:

over the photo. However, the two only

Leif:

succeed in distracting each other, and Serena ends up winning

Leif:

the photo.

Steve:

I love that. What, ah, I really

Steve:

loved about it is the way they

Steve:

distracted each other by telling each other

Steve:

how great each other is. You

Steve:

don't need some secret society to prove how great

Steve:

you are. You're Chuck Bass. When do you need to buy

Steve:

somebody's affection? Was it. When do you need

Steve:

to buy your way into someone's good graces? You just go

Steve:

in and take it. And so I really like

Steve:

how they distracted each other by

Steve:

loving each other so much. And I

Steve:

thought that was really sweet.

Leif:

Scott's mother confesses her fear is what caused her

Leif:

to lie to Lillian Rufus. But she is now here to

Leif:

support Scott in whatever he chooses. Thank God

Leif:

they got a good actress for her because she. She actually able to.

Leif:

This is like the one time I actually cared about Scott. You

Leif:

put on the screen.

Steve:

It's funny, I.

Leif:

She, She carried the scene.

Steve:

She did. And at the same time, I

Steve:

didn't fully trust

Steve:

her. Maybe it wasn't the first time watching, maybe it was

Steve:

the second time. It kind of reminded me

Steve:

of my. My.

Steve:

My older sister was

Steve:

adopted by my dad during his first

Steve:

marriage, before he met my mom.

Steve:

And when she was in her

Steve:

20s, she wanted to find her biological

Steve:

parents and

Steve:

did the research, tracked them down, eventually found

Steve:

them. And they were this couple that is still.

Steve:

Was still together, but at the time, they just

Steve:

were too young to have a kid. They weren't ready to raise a

Steve:

kid. And, I remember my

Steve:

dad lipping out

Steve:

on my sister. My dad could not handle

Steve:

her wanting to go

Steve:

find these biological

Steve:

parents that my sister had to keep

Steve:

saying, you're my dad. You're. You're the one who

Steve:

raised me. That doesn't change.

Steve:

And after she got in touch with

Steve:

them, she invited them to her wedding a

Steve:

few years later. She had been in touch. And I

Steve:

know that they didn't come to the reception. They left

Steve:

early. And my dad had said something about

Steve:

them not getting to be a big enough part of it, and they

Steve:

were mad about it.

Steve:

And it always kind of. It kind of made me reflect

Steve:

on that in the sense that I felt that

Steve:

there was a lack of sincerity in what she

Steve:

was saying. When she said,

Steve:

you're my son, I felt like

Steve:

that was her really almost guilting

Steve:

him into, you're my son, but

Steve:

go do whatever you want. And I felt that that

Steve:

was a way of putting in his

Steve:

head that he

Steve:

shouldn't be telling Rufus.

Steve:

And again, like you

Steve:

said, I thought she

Steve:

carried that scene. I felt For Scott in that

Steve:

scene. I didn't trust her in that scene.

Leif:

Well, she's always been shady.

Steve:

Exactly, exactly.

Leif:

So we shit on, the assistants a lot

Leif:

this show. But I think this is the second time,

Leif:

at least the second time that Vanya has given

Leif:

up information. That's how she found them

Leif:

at this auction. She says, I went to their building.

Leif:

I knew their address, and the doorman told me.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, that's really funny.

Leif:

These writers just hassle. They get people to stand or sit behind

Leif:

desks.

Steve:

Receptionists, doormen.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Dan and Georgina arrive and meet up with Rufus to

Leif:

tell him that Scott is Dan's fan from last

Leif:

year and might be dangerous. Vanessa walks up and

Leif:

says, he's not dangerous. And Scott comes up with his mom

Leif:

and confesses with another lie about

Leif:

being Rufus and Lily's dead son's brother.

Steve:

Why? That was so dumb. Why

Steve:

are you lying about this? And again, I feel like

Steve:

it was the mom being like, you are my son,

Steve:

that it kind of put it in his head, oh, if I go do

Steve:

that, then I'm someone else's son, and I can't do that to my

Steve:

mom. I really kind of felt that

Steve:

that was the manipulation.

Leif:

But we go into the break with,

Leif:

sorry, Vanessa. Looks like the price of

Leif:

truth was just too rich for Scott's

Leif:

blood.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Act five begins, and Serena has it out

Leif:

with Chuck and Blair over their scheme to destroy Carter's

Leif:

credibility. However, through their confession, Serena

Leif:

figures out that Carter used his last trip go looking

Leif:

for her father and that Carter only came

Leif:

back from when he found him. Marie seems

Leif:

oddly interested when she overhears the conversation.

Steve:

Yeah, it was Serena's recognition

Steve:

that Carter went off to find her

Steve:

dad was really. I liked

Steve:

it. I like this Carter Basin glow up.

Steve:

So far, it's sincere. It seems

Steve:

to be so far. I also like

Steve:

that their scheme all caught up

Steve:

the warrant for his arrest. Well, you just might want to take a

Steve:

DNA sample down to

Steve:

the police station tomorrow.

Leif:

Well, who did Chuck rape.

Steve:

To get? Carter

Steve:

got him.

Leif:

I'm Carter Basin.

Steve:

In his Batman voice,

Steve:

Scott is continuing.

Leif:

The charade with Rufus, who is overcome with emotion and

Leif:

gives Scott a. Huh? Hug.

Steve:

Dad.

Leif:

Just the look on Scott's face of like, oh, it's

Leif:

happening, it's happening. And the look on

Leif:

Rufus's face, too.

Steve:

yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Oh, my God.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

My son. He would have loved me. Yeah, I'm a good

Leif:

dad.

Steve:

I'm a good dad. It's like.

Steve:

And you know Scott, he probably would have been a good dad

Steve:

to you. Male Scott

Steve:

Male son of, his.

Leif:

Who can play guitar.

Steve:

Who can play guitar, who's definitely

Steve:

cooler than Dan.

Steve:

And you kind of get the

Steve:

sense, we get the sense that

Steve:

the Rossens kind of suck.

Steve:

Right. That they love

Steve:

their kids. But you also kind of wonder,

Steve:

like, what kind of affection is there in

Steve:

that family? Has he ever had a hug from his

Steve:

dad before? Because he didn't look like it.

Steve:

He looked genuinely like.

Leif:

This is what a hug from a dad feels like.

Leif:

Serena convinces Blair that she should give up the

Leif:

photo for Chuck. Blair sets the invitation

Leif:

for Tabla Italiter on a table, and

Leif:

Serena examines it and quickly comes to another

Leif:

realization.

Steve:

It's funny because when I, when I first watched

Steve:

this, the first time we saw the invitation, I was like, I

Steve:

recognize that handwriting. I, I, I

Steve:

recognized it right away from season

Steve:

one.

Leif:

Blair gives the photo to Chuck and, ah, they make up

Leif:

and reaffirm their love to each other.

Leif:

Gossip Girl pipes in with

Leif:

an epitymore. Even when you win, what

Leif:

you thought you wanted can suddenly be, be

Leif:

afraid.

Steve:

Yeah. Again, I thought they were sweet, her giving

Steve:

the painting to Chuck because she doesn't need

Steve:

the club. Yeah.

Leif:

She does not know it's a setup yet.

Steve:

Yeah. Ah, does she find out in this

Steve:

episode?

Leif:

they don't show that.

Steve:

Yeah. So.

Leif:

But this is what I was mentioning alluding to

Leif:

earlier as setting something

Leif:

up to me. This is a clear. The

Leif:

writers are clearly flagging up. Lair is willing to

Leif:

give up what she wants for Chuck.

Steve:

Yeah. And Chuck has not demonstrated.

Leif:

they can go kind of three ways

Leif:

here. They can go,

Leif:

you know, Chuck does give something up for Blair.

Leif:

They can have Chuck not give

Leif:

up something for Blair. Or they can have this

Leif:

situation come up again and Blair this time cheating.

Steve:

So. Yeah.

Leif:

So I figured I feel like they're gonna have to go one at

Leif:

three ways there.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. That, that, that

Steve:

tracks.

Leif:

And then Serena confronts Georgina about the

Leif:

invitation. She would recognize that g

Leif:

anywhere. Serena tells Gina it's time

Leif:

to go.

Steve:

Yeah, that's going to go over well.

Leif:

Well, I mean, I like the side of Serena when Serena

Leif:

is playing the game. She plays to win.

Steve:

You're right.

Leif:

She is.

Steve:

You're right.

Leif:

cold blooded. That.

Steve:

Yeah, she, you're absolutely right.

Leif:

And she does much more interesting. Serena.

Steve:

It is. Especially since Serena tries

Steve:

so hard not to play most of the time

Steve:

and, and spent her.

Leif:

She wants to think of herself as being a good person.

Steve:

Yes. And she spent the better part of

Steve:

her last two years in high school trying to stay out

Steve:

of the game until that one moment when she kind

Steve:

of felt like force and took

Steve:

took over his queen for about five

Steve:

minutes and realized she didn't really want it.

Steve:

But, yeah, she doesn't really play the game much. So now that

Steve:

she's about to. That is going to be a nurse.

Leif:

Serena hurries Dan, Vanessa, and Rufus into the

Leif:

town car so that Georgina is left out in

Leif:

the cold.

Steve:

That was cold, Serena. And

Steve:

it's so funny. Yeah, because she's such a bad

Steve:

liar, too. Oh, no, no, Georgina is definitely not.

Leif:

She had a headache.

Steve:

Yeah, she had a headache. Yeah, that's the

Steve:

ticket.

Leif:

And Gossip girl has this to say about it,

Leif:

but it's the things we walk away from that feel like they cost

Leif:

the most. And yet it's when we've been

Leif:

outbid, forced to watch our prize go home

Leif:

with others, that rules of protocol no longer

Leif:

apply. I wouldn't put your paddles away just

Leif:

yet. Who knows what Pitters will do when they. When

Leif:

they're desperate. And we

Leif:

move into the epilogue, Dan

Leif:

is giving Georgina a gentle breakup call out of the close

Leif:

supervision of Serena. Georgina tries to play

Leif:

it off cool, but her face and her laptop wallpaper

Leif:

tell a different story.

Steve:

Yeah, the, wallpaper in the background

Steve:

is what was the most

Steve:

noticeable. Yes.

Leif:

Serena and Dan have a quick conversation and

Leif:

is revealed that Carter isn't returning any of Serena's

Leif:

messages.

Steve:

Yeah, that tracks.

Leif:

It turns out the system from earlier is friends with

Leif:

Georgina and helped g set up Chuck and Blair.

Leif:

Chuck tells the club owner to thank his assistant when

Leif:

the lease, of the Empire hotel isn't renewed.

Leif:

Sounds like Chuck has bigger plans on his mind.

Steve:

Yep. Chuck figuring out this scheme and

Steve:

then getting the best of it. I really liked Chuck getting

Steve:

the best of her after she screwed him like that

Steve:

and gave the guy the photo. Like, here. Here's this

Steve:

photo, and it's so funny. Here's this

Steve:

5,6000 dollar photo that

Steve:

my friend paid for. Here you

Steve:

go. And just walks out like you can have it.

Steve:

And it was a power move.

Leif:

So, I understand the

Leif:

photos of him with, like, celebrity and stuff on the wall,

Leif:

but on the, like, not the desk. Like the

Leif:

credenza. across from the desk, there's a portrait

Leif:

of just the guy.

Steve:

Oh, wow, I didn't notice.

Leif:

Portrait of himself in their office.

Steve:

It takes a special kind.

Leif:

Scott returns to the dorm to say goodbye to

Leif:

Vanessa. Vanessa reluctantly agrees to keep

Leif:

Scott's secret. However, as the cower pans out, we

Leif:

see Georgina listening from outside the door.

Steve:

So Georgina's gonna know the secret.

Leif:

always look around corners.

Steve:

Yes. Yeah.

Leif:

Or you're gonna talk about secrets.

Steve:

Also, earlier, when you said to

Steve:

Vanessa, here's a big secret. Give me two

Steve:

days. Fair saying. Here's a big

Steve:

secret. Now keep it forever from your family,

Steve:

because Rufus is more of a dad to

Steve:

her than her dad. Yeah, we've known that for

Steve:

years. You. The Humphreys

Steve:

are more Vanessa's family. Do we know

Steve:

Vanessa's last name?

Leif:

Abrams.

Steve:

Abrams. Right. We do, but we know more m. But

Steve:

she's more a Humphrey than she is anything

Steve:

else. So you're saying

Steve:

keep this lie up for me

Steve:

indefinitely while I leave

Steve:

you and go back to Boston?

Steve:

So you're not even continuing this

Steve:

relationship, and you expect her to keep up with your

Steve:

lie? No. That and, now puts Vanessa in a

Steve:

really weird situation because how do you tell Ruiz,

Steve:

hey, by the way, that's actually your

Steve:

kid. He's lying. So

Steve:

it's all. It's so so to do

Steve:

to her. Yeah.

Leif:

Carter arrives at the penthouse and uses and

Leif:

Serena uses her lips to lure him into staying for

Leif:

breakfast. The family, minus Lily welcomes him

Leif:

for grapes. I guess, Rip is getting a bit

Leif:

bougie now that he's on the Upper east side.

Steve:

I've been noticing that. That more and more.

Steve:

It's just. I mean, he was running the auction and

Steve:

handling this auction and all of these things

Steve:

that he would have been so

Steve:

opposed to even attending a year ago.

Steve:

He's just. Well, this is my new role.

Leif:

Yeah. Half husband.

Steve:

Yeah. Trad

Steve:

husband.

Leif:

Chuck is outside the Empire hotel and tells Blair

Leif:

that her faith in him allowed him the courage to risk his

Leif:

father's fortune to buy the entire

Leif:

hotel. Also, he, booked the penthouse so

Leif:

they can bang out their

Leif:

frustrations.

Steve:

Yeah. why you have

Steve:

this hotel empire? Why do

Steve:

you need to cash out all of your stuff when your

Steve:

company that you own could just buy that hotel

Steve:

and you could just make that your personal project. Why

Steve:

go out on your own? Why sell all of your shares

Steve:

in the company that you're running?

Leif:

I think you can't just buy a

Leif:

hotel in Marathon. That's going to be billions of

Leif:

dollars.

Steve:

I mean, but yeah.

Steve:

Yeah, I guess I just thought it was a bit more.

Steve:

You have hotels?

Leif:

Yeah, they have one hotel. Oh.

Steve:

I thought it was, like, a, Well, it's a real estate empire, which is why, I

Steve:

guess I thought he had more hotels.

Leif:

Maybe, but probably not in Manhattan.

Leif:

Okay, I'm guessing

Leif:

the cost of a Manhattan hotel is probably at

Leif:

least $10 billion.

Steve:

Okay. okay. that's fair.

Leif:

A happy Carter and Serena part on the street And

Leif:

Carter is flagged down by Brie. It sounds like

Leif:

Carter did something to piss off the Buckleys. And Brie is going to

Leif:

use Carter's location as capital to get back in

Leif:

with her family.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Nate. Once again being used by an older woman.

Steve:

Yeah. M. Yeah, exactly. And this

Steve:

time as an afterthought.

Steve:

Yeah. And why are we pitting two

Steve:

side characters against each other? Why? They're not

Steve:

even. Both of these people are

Steve:

temporary.

Leif:

Like, both this

Leif:

cliffhanger and the next one are both all

Leif:

about side characters. Because we get this one. And then

Leif:

the final scene is Georgina deletes Dan's wallpaper

Leif:

and books. They trained for the Boston,

Leif:

clearly. To go after Scott.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes.

Leif:

Two more side characters.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Why.

Steve:

Why are we doing this, Gossip Girl? Why are we.

Steve:

Why are we making drama out of the people? We don't care. We're

Steve:

not going to care about mid season.

Leif:

And she has this to say about it.

Leif:

Anyone want to start the bidding war on what happens next?

Leif:

Going once, going twice.

Leif:

X.O.X.O. gossip Girl.

Leif:

what's coming next?

Steve:

Georgina's gonna go play Scott.

Steve:

Somehow Serena is going after

Steve:

Georgina, which is going to be fun. Yeah.

Steve:

I. I could not care less about the Carter

Steve:

briefing. It's. It's an extension of the boring

Steve:

Nate relationship that I already don't care about. And I'm

Steve:

starting to get bored with the Serena Carter relationship.

Steve:

Last week, when we read the max

Steve:

description of Serena not liking what she

Steve:

was seeing of Carter, I said last week, by

Steve:

the end of that episode, she's going to see that she was an

Steve:

asshole and that it was. That she was wrong about everything.

Steve:

So I'm kind of already getting bored with.

Leif:

Yeah. Carter has kind of been declawed, as it were.

Steve:

Yes. Very much the. The Carter

Steve:

of last season who kidnapped a girl in front of

Steve:

Chuck. And now he's

Steve:

just this sweet guy who will do

Steve:

anything for Serena.

Leif:

Anything else?

Steve:

Vanessa has to deal with this secret. I

Steve:

don't. I see Vanessa

Steve:

sitting on it and stewing about it, but she

Steve:

has no one to talk to about it, and

Steve:

so that's gonna have to boil over somehow.

Steve:

Who does Vanessa go to about it?

Steve:

Did she. She go to Blair? Like, does

Steve:

she go to

Steve:

Georgina? But Georgina already

Steve:

knows, so Vanessa is sitting on

Steve:

this thing that has to boil over at some point,

Steve:

too.

Leif:

Will Scott come back?

Steve:

I feel like he has to at some point. I feel

Steve:

like Scott has to come back at some point.

Leif:

I feel like he.

Steve:

He's been set up to be another

Steve:

Georgina esque character that he'll Pop in

Steve:

not so much for the chaos, but for

Steve:

the drama here and there. I feel like

Steve:

Lily has to be involved. He hasn't met Lily

Steve:

yet and that has to happen. So I'm, I'm

Steve:

assuming Scott will be back.

Leif:

It would be pretty funny if Lily never meets him.

Steve:

Yeah. Just never knows Rufus like,

Steve:

like season six is like oh yeah. By the way, did I ever tell

Steve:

you about that time I met our son's brother? Like.

Leif:

All right, let's go ahead and get into some

Leif:

segments this week in fan and we

Leif:

jumped into the Wayback Machine division. The Television without

Leif:

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.

Steve:

Speak Sherman. Hello.

Leif:

Good boy. Disappointing

Leif:

episode. Something feels off.

Steve:

I felt not so much that I was

Steve:

disappointed. I felt like it was a nothing

Steve:

episode. I felt like other than the

Steve:

Scott thing, nothing went anywhere.

Steve:

The plot of this season did not

Steve:

go any further. That didn't bother me.

Steve:

It feels like a standalone episode that

Steve:

doesn't really play into a greater arc which

Steve:

I think is what felt

Steve:

off. That everything just kind of

Steve:

wrapped up. And these cliffhangers also.

Steve:

Two, two cliffhangers that we don't really give a shit

Steve:

about because it doesn't affect the non judging Breakfast Club

Steve:

or Dan.

Leif:

It's apparently easier to get a guest storyline as a

Leif:

guest star. Way too much focus on them. The main characters like

Leif:

Jenny and Nate have almost zero screen time.

Steve:

Yeah, very weird.

Steve:

That's a higher again the higher Eric

Steve:

to pay him the money to be on set to just walk

Steve:

next to Jenny. That was it.

Leif:

Chuck and Blair work as a couple but they are missing the

Leif:

sexiness they had in season one. The audience was just

Leif:

as frustrated as glare and Sarah said

Leif:

I, I don't.

Steve:

Really know about that. I, I say that

Steve:

because the whole point was that there was supposed to be

Steve:

the, the tension in them not.

Leif:

But that's why I say the audience was just as frustrated.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Ah, that's fair.

Leif:

They wanted to see the sex.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. I mean the Blair coming

Steve:

on to Chuck was sexy when she, when

Steve:

he was working on this stuff. I, I, yeah, I

Steve:

mean I, I guess I kind of get what they're saying but I felt

Steve:

like it didn't bother me. I thought that it was

Steve:

a good storyline for what it was.

Leif:

Ed Westwick is hot but needs subtitles.

Steve:

Yeah, I always watch with subtitles, but

Steve:

that's accurate. Where

Steve:

is she?

Leif:

A lot of comments about the whispering this episode

Leif:

based on the Poor fashion and styling. There was

Leif:

speculation, that there was a reduced budget for season three.

Steve:

That I, that could make sense.

Leif:

Yeah. I mean, their highest rated

Leif:

episode of the series was season two, episode

Leif:

three, the Dark Knight. From there, it's pretty much a

Leif:

said slow, steady decline all the way through

Leif:

the next. And finally,

Leif:

way too much Vanessa.

Steve:

I get that. At the same time,

Steve:

I don't mind Vanessa when Vanessa makes sense.

Steve:

I felt like everything Vanessa did in this

Steve:

episode made sense for her to do.

Steve:

She wasn't out of place. She was caught

Steve:

in the someone, else's ski.

Steve:

I wasn't upset with Vanessa.

Leif:

I was very annoyed with the Dan

Leif:

meeting.

Steve:

The Dan meeting.

Leif:

Or she. She invites him to tell him she has a seat.

Steve:

Oh, that. Yes, yes. I was annoyed by

Steve:

that. On a whole though, I wasn't put off

Steve:

by Vanessa. That was

Steve:

Vanessa. Why would you. Why would you do

Steve:

this?

Leif:

And I did actually copy down one

Leif:

rather, vitriolic statement. It

Leif:

does contain a O.C. season 3 spoiler. So if you

Leif:

don't want to hear that, Skip ahead about 30 seconds.

Leif:

But user Fierce Plastic had this to

Leif:

say. Kill off Vanessa. Ugh.

Leif:

he did it with Marissa Cooper. He can do it with

Leif:

Vanessa. Ache her self righteous ass,

Leif:

get into the middle of a gunfight because she thought she

Leif:

could save everyone. And then she gets shot.

Leif:

Or at least make her interesting and have her start a downward

Leif:

spiral with drugs and sex. And she

Leif:

has a pro. She has to prostitute herself

Leif:

or what have you. She will be. She

Leif:

will at least be interesting. And then Blair saves

Leif:

her and then Vanessa can never say anything bad

Leif:

about anyone ever. I really hate

Leif:

Vanessa.

Steve:

Damn. Hey,

Steve:

get it out, buddy. Get it all out.

Leif:

That was from User Fierce Plastic. That is

Leif:

it for this week in fandom though. So let's head over to

Leif:

episode threes.

Leif:

What do you got this week?

Steve:

I gave this episode a B

Steve:

minus. I felt like

Steve:

again, I felt like it was an out of place

Steve:

episode. That it was sort of a nothing episode that

Steve:

didn't really go anywhere. I liked the Chuck

Steve:

and Blair stuff. I like that they schemed

Steve:

against each other and came together lovingly in

Steve:

the end. I like they were all. I

Steve:

liked that there were so many schemes in this

Steve:

that everyone was scheming

Steve:

or being schemed in some way, shape or

Steve:

form. I did think the

Steve:

ending with Carter and Brie and

Steve:

the ending with Scott and

Steve:

Georgina. All of these again, the side

Steve:

character things. I thought that was a lame way to

Steve:

end it. But overall I didn't hate the

Steve:

episode. But I don't Think it was a

Steve:

great or good episode, so be minded.

Leif:

All. right. I feel pretty much the same, but you're a

Leif:

little more generous to me. Like you said, this wasn't

Leif:

a bad episode, but it wasn't

Leif:

particularly a good episode, so I just went right down

Leif:

the middle of this. We'll just see.

Steve:

That's fair. That. That is a fair grade

Steve:

off the stock.

Leif:

Watch. Who you got going up?

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

I had.

Steve:

I had Chuck going up. He. He's

Steve:

got this big idea. He's got a.

Steve:

And did great scheming throughout the episode.

Steve:

Chuck. I, had Serena going up.

Steve:

I had Carter going

Steve:

up because he seemed to be landing

Steve:

Serena again. I had

Steve:

Vanessa going up because I

Steve:

liked her doing the sleuthing. I

Steve:

like that her role in the

Steve:

episode made sense, and for that,

Steve:

I gave her an up because I don't often give her

Steve:

enough. I had. Yeah,

Steve:

I didn't believe that's what I had.

Steve:

Oh, yeah. Yep, yep, yep. Sorry.

Leif:

For me. I had Serena going up because

Leif:

she was observant for once, and

Leif:

she was a cold, hard bitch at the end. I had

Leif:

Chuck going up because, he got a new

Leif:

plan. It looks like he's gonna go for it.

Leif:

I also had Brie going up because she got

Leif:

to make out with Nate, and she looks like she's gonna be able to

Leif:

get something to get back with her family.

Steve:

There's a fair one.

Leif:

And then this one might be a little controversial, but

Leif:

I had Rufus going on. Even though he was a

Leif:

doofus, he got what he needed.

Leif:

He got that closure. It's funny. It's gonna blow up in his

Leif:

face.

Steve:

Yeah, obviously it's funny because,

Steve:

yeah, he.

Leif:

Was happy all episode, pretty much.

Steve:

He really was.

Leif:

That's it. who do you got going down?

Steve:

So I. I had Rufus going down, and I had

Steve:

him going down simply because he got

Steve:

played so hard that I

Steve:

had Scott told him the truth. I would have had

Steve:

Rufus going up, but because

Steve:

RUP is kind of, in a sense, his

Steve:

just lost his son again.

Steve:

I. I felt for him, but, yeah, I had

Steve:

Rufus going down for that. I had Blair going

Steve:

down. She lost the scheme, and

Steve:

she gave the painting to Chuck. She.

Steve:

She lost. So I had her going down.

Steve:

I had Georgina going down because she

Steve:

just got dumped. and I

Steve:

believe that's everybody I had going there.

Leif:

All right, for me, I had Dan

Leif:

because he was narcissistic, and

Leif:

then he got yanked around by Vanessa, yanked around by

Leif:

Georgina, and, yeah, he didn't have a good

Leif:

episode. Blair going down because. Yeah, like, you Said she's

Leif:

now showing that she's once again being

Leif:

subservient to Chuck. I had Georgina going

Leif:

down because she got bulldozed by Serena

Leif:

Carteride. Going down because you lost

Leif:

all credibility and his credit got with

Leif:

and so he's not.

Steve:

That's fair.

Leif:

And Scott, I, Going down because he's a lying piece of

Leif:

shit.

Steve:

Add Scott to mind. I forgot Scott. I knew there was

Steve:

someone else forgetting.

Leif:

I also had Sean McPherson going down because he's about to lose

Leif:

his club. And the assistant because she's probably

Leif:

fired immediately.

Steve:

Yeah, those are also both there. I would

Steve:

actually like to add the assistant. I won't add Sean McGeerson, but I'll add

Steve:

his assistant. But here's the best

Steve:

outfits from the last episode

Steve:

we've seen.

Leif:

On over at the best outfits. Who you got?

Steve:

I had Georgina's, The.

Steve:

Which. The. The purple that she wore to the,

Steve:

To the auction.

Leif:

I thought it was more of a turquoise.

Steve:

Was it?

Leif:

That's confusing.

Steve:

Oh, I think Georgina's dress at the.

Steve:

At the auction was the thing that.

Leif:

I actually had the same thing. Oh,

Leif:

yeah, it was a Foley and Karena

Leif:

asymmetrical zigzag jersey dress.

Steve:

Nice. Yeah, I. Yeah, I thought it really

Steve:

popped. I don't know why I was thinking purple. I think she was in

Steve:

purple some at a different time.

Leif:

But yeah, Claire had purple on.

Steve:

Okay. But I remember it was Georgina

Steve:

that really caught my eye.

Leif:

And that is it for segments. You

Leif:

got anything to plug this week?

Steve:

right now, just my TikTok and

Steve:

Instagram. Steve Marshon M

Steve:

A R C H I O N. You can also find me on

Steve:

Blue sky at the Weed Wizard.

Steve:

That's pretty much what I have going on right now.

Steve:

No gigs or shows coming up. I've

Steve:

been really into the show Mythic

Steve:

Quest though on Apple tv.

Steve:

It's summer. The Always Sunny

Steve:

guys developed it and it stars Rob

Steve:

McElhenny as the

Steve:

creative director of a video of

Steve:

an MMO. And, it's a very fun

Steve:

show.

Leif:

Well, nothing for me this week, but if you want

Leif:

to follow me on social Media, I am

Leif:

HotCappicola. H O T C A

Leif:

P I C O L A on

Leif:

Instagram and Blue Sky. You can follow

Leif:

the podcast at Non Judging Breakfast

Leif:

Pod on instagram threads and

Leif:

TikTok. You can also check out our website

Leif:

non judging breakfastpod.com if you would like

Leif:

to take a look at our Discord server or support

Leif:

our Patreon. Always appreciated, never

Leif:

extended.

Steve:

And if you'd like to get in touch with us. Please feel

Steve:

free to send us an email at non judging

Steve:

breakfast podmail. dot com. We'd love to

Steve:

hear your thoughts. We'd love to read about

Steve:

your email on. We'd love to read your

Steve:

email here on the show and see what

Steve:

you have to say. Also, if, you could please hit

Steve:

that like button, hit that subscribe or follow

Steve:

button, leave a comment. That really helps us in

Steve:

Apple podcasts. And

Steve:

if you, could also tell a friend what you're

Steve:

listening to, it'll

Steve:

make us that, water, water cooler talk. Tell your

Steve:

friends to tune into the non judging

Steve:

breakfast pod and you can talk about Gossip Girl with them

Steve:

together.

Leif:

And we will be back next week to talk about

Leif:

Season three, Episode four

Leif:

Dan de Florets.

Leif:

The Max episode description reads

Leif:

it's the first day of school at Constance Pillard,

Leif:

which means it's also time for Jenny to take her,

Leif:

rightful place as the new queen

Leif:

bee.

Steve:

It's funny that the episode's named after Dan, but then

Steve:

Max is like, that's not really what this is

Steve:

about. But I'm excited to see Jenny back in

Steve:

action too, so that's fun.

Leif:

Well, Dan's single again, so maybe you get the new girlfriend.

Steve:

Yeah, maybe. Well, yeah, maybe someone,

Steve:

stalking Dan is going to, wind up with

Steve:

it.

Leif:

He is the king of NYU after all.

Steve:

Yeah, he's very popular.

Leif:

Well, until next time. You know you love

Leif:

us.

Steve:

XOXO Every time you walk away

Steve:

run away you take a piece of me with you

Steve:

there Every time you walk

Steve:

away run m away you take a piece of me

Steve:

with you there Every

Steve:

time you walk away run away you take a piece of of

Steve:

me with you there

Steve:

oh it seems I'm walking right to

Steve:

your door.

Steve:

My heart's still.

Steve:

Resting looking for 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 run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me walk away with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

never feels right when I'm out here on

Steve:

my own.

Leif:

I.

Steve:

Left last night and it feels like way

Steve:

too long

Steve:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean

Steve:

to me I'm trying really hard to believe

Steve:

every time you walk away run away you take a

Steve:

piece of meat 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? With you there?

Steve:

Come back to me,

Steve:

smile and you'll make my life

Steve:

complete?

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? 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?

Leif:

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.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Non Judging Breakfast Pod
Non Judging Breakfast Pod
A Gossip Girl Podcast

Listen for free