Episode 1
Gossip Girl S1E01 - Pilot
Trigger Warning: Discussion on Sexual Assault that happens in the episode.
Leif and Steve do a spoiler free after watch of the OG Gossip Girl.
The guys break down Season 1, episode 1 titled the Pilot. In this episode the privileged prep school teens learn that Serena van der Woodsen is back in town.
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
Hello, here at the non-judging breakfast pod we like to keep things light. However, sometimes the
Speaker:show and therefore our recaps touch on some serious topics. This episode contains
Speaker:discussion about sexual assault. We avoid getting into any graphic detail, however we
Speaker:understand that this is a sensitive topic for many people. Additionally, if you or a loved one has
Speaker:been a victim of sexual violence or may be a victim of sexual violence, the National Sexual Assault
Speaker:Hotline can be a valuable resource. They offer 24-7 live chat and other information. Just visit
Speaker:www.rainn .org. That's rainwith2nz.org. They also have a phone hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Hey,
Speaker:Upper East Siders. Here's what's up. We're going to be working our way through the iconic 2000s TV
Speaker:series Gossip Girl, one take down at a time. We'll be dissecting each piece of juicy gossip and
Speaker:analyzing storylines, all while admiring and sometimes mocking the fabulous fashion, devious
Speaker:schemes and petty rivalries. Alright, while we go ahead and get into it, we're going to be going
Speaker:through the pilot episode first. It was written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. On some
Speaker:sites, they do give credit to Cecily Vons Iscora who did write the books. It was based on, but not on
Speaker:all sites. The original air date was, so it actually came out on iTunes first. It was
Speaker:downloadable September 14th, 2007. And then it was actually CTV in Canada on September 18th and
Speaker:then on the CW on September 19th. I didn't realize iTunes was streaming shows already by 2007. Well,
Speaker:it wasn't streaming. It was a free download. You download the episode and then later on you could
Speaker:download for like a dollar each or something like that. And then so I actually wanted to get into
Speaker:that. Gossip Girl had decent ratings for the CW the first two seasons, but then they definitely
Speaker:dropped fast. It did manage to get six seasons because they did realize that people were
Speaker:watching online quite a bit on iTunes. And then also on the CW website, they did stream the past two
Speaker:or three episodes you could watch. Okay. So, yeah. So it was written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie
Speaker:Savage, mainly. Josh Schwartz is obviously from the, came from the OC and then at the same time he was
Speaker:also developing Chuck. Yeah, which I was a big Chuck fan most of the way through. Yeah, I actually
Speaker:did watch that from day one. Gossip Girl, I didn't pick up until midway through season four because I
Speaker:actually discovered the OC while I was in college. I binged that and then binged Gossip Girl caught up
Speaker:on the midseason break back then with the network TV. So the first season you had 18 episodes, then
Speaker:season two you had 25, season three through five had 23 episodes each. Usually yeah, 23 or 24. And
Speaker:then you had a shortened six season. But the way things were done back then, it's different than
Speaker:from streaming. Shows were written with the concept that people would only watch one in three
Speaker:episodes. So you had a lot of resetting back to the status quo at the end of episodes so people could
Speaker:get, if they missed a couple of episodes, they could come right back in. Right. And because you
Speaker:didn't always have that ability to pick up right where you left off. You would have to have episodes
Speaker:that someone could watch the episode you're showing and understand the entire plot that's
Speaker:going on. You had to tell a complete story in every episode. You couldn't have cliffhangers quite
Speaker:the same way. You did, but you had to complete story arcs every week. So they did bring in a veteran teen
Speaker:drama director to direct the pilot, Mark Piznarski. He did several episodes of My
Speaker:So-Called Life, which was really a show that spoke to my generation. Yeah, My So-Called Life and the
Speaker:start of Claire Danes are really big for us. And the inexors. Jared Leto, unfortunately. Yeah, and
Speaker:Jared Leto, yeah, Leto. He also directed Everwood, two episodes of Veronica Mars, two
Speaker:episodes of the 90210 reboot, Friday Night Lights, Riverdale. And then he did do one movie
Speaker:that I did see this with Josh Harnett and Lili Sobozki, or if I'm probably saying the name wrong.
Speaker:It was pretty bad, but I did see it. Because I did watch a lot of teen entertainment. Was Friday
Speaker:Night Lights the show? Yeah, he directed a couple episodes of the show. Okay, okay. Yeah, I forget
Speaker:the guy who was staying up who directed and wrote the movie and also wrote the show, the showrunner
Speaker:for the show, but not the director for a huge episode. Yeah, I did watch the first season of
Speaker:Friday Night Lights and some of the second season then it got into like murder and shit and I was like,
Speaker:well, okay. Yeah, the first season was definitely really good. I did not like that storyline with the
Speaker:goofy friend. Yeah. I'm forgetting his name. Anyways, back to Gossip Girl. Yes. This episode,
Speaker:the pilot, at a privileged prep school for teens on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the students first
Speaker:learned that Serena Vanderwitz and his back in town, they learned the all important news in their
Speaker:lives from the internet blog of the all knowing, albeit ultra secretive Gossip Girl. No one knows
Speaker:Gossip Girl's identity, but everyone in this exclusive and complicated vicious circle relies
Speaker:on her website and text messages for the latest scoop. Even Serena's closest friend, Blair
Speaker:Waldorf, is surprised to find that Serena has suddenly ended her self-imposed exile from a
Speaker:boarding school in New England and returned to Manhattan for school. Once the Upper East Side's
Speaker:most notorious party girl, Serena's reason for returning are mysterious, although they may have
Speaker:something to do with her younger brother, Eric, who is secretly in the hospital following a
Speaker:suicide attempt which is kept under wraps by their overprotective mother, Lily. Whatever the
Speaker:reasons, the change in Serena is obvious, especially to Blair, but his friendship with
Speaker:Serena has always been competitive and difficult. Into this crowd comes Dan Humphrey, a
Speaker:kid from Brooklyn whose freshman sister Jenny tries a little too hard to fit into Blair's circle
Speaker:of gossip friends who include Gossip Girl's contacts, Isabelle and Coddy. Blair's nice guy
Speaker:boyfriend, Nate Archibald, is also troubled by Serena's return for his best friend Chuck Bass,
Speaker:the school's snobbish, cynic and resident bad boy. Notice about a fling that Serena and Nate had,
Speaker:which is why Serena left out to avoid a scandal which, in the snobbish world of high society, is
Speaker:social suicide. Elsewhere, Dan and Jenny's father Rufus, a former rock musician and art
Speaker:gallery operator, also has a return of feelings for Serena and Eric's mother Lily. Wow, that was a
Speaker:lot. Yeah. That's a thorough recap. Yes, it is. So, we enter in on the train with a young folks by Peter,
Speaker:Bjorn and John. We immediately recognize that this is a Josh Schwartz show. Josh Schwartz loves
Speaker:the indie rock and very current in his music taste. Yeah. Yeah. And it's one of those songs that, as
Speaker:soon as you hear it, you're like, oh, wow, I remember this. It's really iconic for the time. It
Speaker:really puts you back into that late 2000s when there was a big push in that indie music, when
Speaker:everybody was building home studios. Yes. And I think Josh Schwartz actually played a big factor
Speaker:in the popularization of that genre through the OC and gospel track. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, you think
Speaker:about those, there are those TV shows where they would literally sell the soundtrack from a show
Speaker:because they were building that kind of audience with it. And I absolutely agree with that. You
Speaker:think of shows like the OC that it would say like featuring this episode, featuring music by and
Speaker:those sort of things. And I think that the same thing could be said about Josh Whedon with Buffy
Speaker:Core music, as I like to call it, the stuff you'd hear at the bronze. Yes. All right. So we do see
Speaker:Serena on the train and she arrives at Grand Central Station. And we are immediately
Speaker:introduced to the concept of Gossip Girl when Melanie 91 takes a pic of Serena arriving. Yeah.
Speaker:We, we instantly, again, we are put into that time period that that late 2000s when it was the dawn of
Speaker:social media and when it was the dawn of, you know, anyone could be on the paparazzi, you know, anyone
Speaker:can spot somebody at this point, anyone can catch a picture and post it. And so it really puts you into
Speaker:that mindset. And also it immediately tells you it sets up so much in that first bit that this person's
Speaker:been gone for a while. It's important that she's back and that random people are spotting her and
Speaker:posting about her coming back. So she's important to a lot of people that, that she doesn't recognize
Speaker:because Serena doesn't talk to Melanie 91. So it also tells you that Serena is isolated and alone
Speaker:and, you know, in her fame a little bit. Yeah, stuff like that. And so also we see at Grand Central
Speaker:Station, as we later find out, after all, is a small island that we see Dan and Jenny returning from
Speaker:Hudson after a weekend with their mother. So we kind of know right away that their parents are
Speaker:separated. They're meeting their dad, Rufus, who is a former rocker, one of the top 10 forgotten
Speaker:artists of the 90s. The number nine on the top 10 forgotten bands of the 90s list, which also I love
Speaker:that this was seven years after the 90s and his band was forgotten. They're already doing a list of,
Speaker:there's already a top 10 list. There's already a top 10 list. Yes. So we see Dan staring at Serena
Speaker:Longley. His stalker crush is back in town. She's been gone for about a year. And everyone's curious
Speaker:to find out why she's back. Yeah. And they, you know, they do the great setup there with, you know,
Speaker:with Dan and Jenny, with Jenny making it known right away. Like, you know, it's still not going to
Speaker:happen. It's been your whole life, you know, just setting that up right there, then in there, that
Speaker:there's history there. Then there's a one-sided history. And once again, somebody recognizing
Speaker:Serena that Serena isn't recognizing. So then we jump over to the Waldorf townhouse and don't get
Speaker:used to the townhouse because it switches to a penthouse after this first episode. Yeah. Not
Speaker:uncommon. They built sets after the first episode. This was just probably someone's actual
Speaker:house that they recorded it. Yeah, exactly. So often, and it's not even there. I mean, so many
Speaker:times on pilot episodes, when you don't know if you're going to get an episode too, it's, okay,
Speaker:we're going to shoot this where we can. And then if we get the budget, then we build sets. Then we build
Speaker:sets. And so like most, after this episode, most of the interior shots are on sets, but there is a lot of
Speaker:location. Everything is in New York. And I actually add a lot to the fandom of the show because
Speaker:in New York, if you're going to be shooting on the street, you have to put up notices beforehand,
Speaker:like several weeks beforehand. So people knew exactly where they're going to shoot. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:And so there's fans there. They're stolen scripts from the set. There's photos of the set, you know?
Speaker:So like there's all kinds of spoilers online and stuff going on. And the fandom was really crazy.
Speaker:And it really affected the show quite a bit because it was one of the first shows where you could tell
Speaker:the writers were listening to the fans online. They were definitely paying attention. That's
Speaker:interesting. That's really interesting. So speaking of replacing the townhouse with the
Speaker:penthouse later on, the actress who plays Blair's mother is replaced after this first episode as
Speaker:well. Yeah. And I think that was a good choice because the actress that replaced their Margaret
Speaker:Collins is definitely a little more motherly looking. The first actress was very young. And we
Speaker:already have the young parents in Rufus and Lily that I think we should have some like normal age.
Speaker:These are rich people. They're not running off having kids early. They're getting married,
Speaker:going to college. Yeah. These are people. And the really big point to that is that we learn this in
Speaker:other parts of the episode. These are people who had their lives planned out for them. Yes. With a
Speaker:little bit of nuance to make some decisions. But these are people that had no choice but to follow
Speaker:these footsteps that were laid out for them. And they're trying and they have those same
Speaker:expectations of their kids. And that's just a recurring theme in the beginning of this show. And
Speaker:so speaking of that, we see Nate Archibald with his father, the captain. And we assume he's a sailing
Speaker:enthusiast of some kind, presumably. But I don't think that's ever really addressed in the show why
Speaker:he's called the captain. And then we also see Chuck with two of the minions, Cotty and Iz. I don't think
Speaker:they're named here, but that's who they are. They will be recurring. And he offers to go take a puff
Speaker:with Nate. So they're stoners apparently. Um, from that first scene, I had that feeling with
Speaker:Cotty and Iz of there's more to these two than we're seeing already. Like, like, there was just
Speaker:something there was like, I had a feeling of like, I feel like I need to watch out for these two at some
Speaker:point because they seemed to be so. They seem to be written almost like window dressing in their
Speaker:first scene. And I always feel like window dressing is there to look at, you know? So it was
Speaker:just something in my head with those two. Yeah. I mean, I will say they are recurring characters. So
Speaker:they will be coming back. And so that that's it for that scene. We then move to Blair and Nate getting
Speaker:hot and heavy in her body. And then, you know, we're going to see Nate in the bedroom. And then Serena
Speaker:arrives at the party and when Blair's mom entered, it's yells in that Serena's here. We definitely
Speaker:see Nate's very interested. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's an instant weirdness there. That, yeah,
Speaker:that comes through. Yeah. And Blair wants to seal the deal, it looks like, but she, you know, she
Speaker:reluctantly puts her clothes back on and they go out. Serena's talking to her mom. She's looking
Speaker:for quote unquote him. And so we don't know who that is, but we later find out that's her brother, Eric.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. And yeah. And there's also, is there also that moment where they see each other, where
Speaker:Nate and Serena see each other? Was that at that same time? Yeah. So Nate and Serena lock eyes and
Speaker:then Blair walks out of room between them. So you get the great shot of them like kind of looking.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah. And, and, you know, it says so much in that just the way that they shoot it,
Speaker:just the, the, how uncomfortable she looks, how happy he looks. And then the, and then when Blair
Speaker:just steps in between, it's just, it's almost heartbreaking, you know? It's, yeah. It's, and so
Speaker:we also see, see like, Blair's with her minions and she's trying to play it off, like this, she knew
Speaker:Serena's coming back, but it's pretty obvious that she did not, yeah, that's what he's coming
Speaker:back. So then we switch to Serena at the Ostrov Center, which is presumably some type of
Speaker:celebrity rehab type place for rich people to, you know, get over vendors or whatever they're trying
Speaker:to hide from the general public. And she is, she's looking at her brother sleeping in bed. We don't
Speaker:know exactly what happened at this point, but I think we do see his wrist bandage. So yeah, yeah, we
Speaker:do. Yeah, we, yeah, it is evident that there was a suicide attempt. I feel like immediately when
Speaker:you, when you meet him, I got that impression, maybe it was the conversation they had, but I just
Speaker:remember feeling like, yeah, this is, yeah. So then the final scene before the end of the cold open
Speaker:is Dan looking at it and his laptop, and this really weird looking fake cat behind the laptop. I don't
Speaker:know what the set designer was looking at there, or they decided to put that weird fake cat out there.
Speaker:And he's just, he's now stalking Serena again, trying to figure out why she's back and
Speaker:presumably, you know, participating in some kind of online discussion. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, and
Speaker:like you said, it is just, you know, he's, I feel like he's not even as interested in the gossip side
Speaker:of it as much as it is just, wow, she's back, you know? And we are back for act one. Serena wakes up to
Speaker:her brother, Eric, with a bandage on his wrist. Serena is back in town for her brother who clearly
Speaker:attempted suicide, and Lily comes in completely avoiding the situation, and Serena confronts her
Speaker:about her avoidance. Yeah, and instantly we see that conflict between Lily and Serena. And the,
Speaker:yeah, and the sweeping problems under a rug versus directly handling problems between the two of
Speaker:them. Yes, Lily is definitely concerned about appearances, and we see that throughout the
Speaker:episodes, making up various stories about where Eric has been, you know, visiting people in Miami,
Speaker:et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, and obviously embarrassed, you know, and there's the side of it
Speaker:that is, oh, I don't want to bring shame to the family. I don't want to bring shame to him, but it's
Speaker:also, I don't want to bring shame to me that you're seeing her come out with too. So, yeah, just the bad
Speaker:motivations all around with what she's doing here. Then we move on to the Humphrey Loft, where we
Speaker:have Rufus, the hot rocker dad, played by Matthew Settle, who probably looks like he's about maybe
Speaker:five to six years older than his son. He looked like he had him in elementary school. Yeah, and he's
Speaker:mentioned in Rolling Stone magazine, as I mentioned before, as the number nine most
Speaker:forgotten van of the 90s. And you get your typical family squabbles, and it's momentarily brought
Speaker:up about the absent mother. She supports Jenny's efforts to, you know, get into the party, but Rufus
Speaker:is like, oh, no, she's bad, she's bad, bad bomb, bad bomb. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you also have Jenny
Speaker:addressing the invitations in this scene, too, where there's the setup of how she's trying to
Speaker:impress Blair and how she's trying to get her way into that group. Yes, it's mentioned that one of
Speaker:the minions noticed her calligraphy in our class and said that if she makes all the, if she does all
Speaker:the addresses on the invitations, she can get one to the party. So Rufus at first jumps on her about
Speaker:it, but then he realizes he needs to be a dad first, and he supports Jenny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah,
Speaker:and it's also, there is that aspect of the attitude of 90s music would completely scoff at a party like
Speaker:the one that his daughter is creating invitations for. So it really does kind of fit that aspect, too,
Speaker:that there was such the counter, I don't want to say counterculture, but the Gen X contrarians that
Speaker:were always, you know, too cool for a party like that attitude. So next we move to outside of the
Speaker:palace hotel and Nate is confronting Serena. Clearly something happened to them, but Nate's
Speaker:with Serena's best friend and Serena doesn't want anything about it. She knows she made a mistake.
Speaker:Yeah, again, a very telling moment, and they don't necessarily say everything that happened, but
Speaker:they say enough to let you know that these two have participated in some kind of activity that Blair
Speaker:would not approve. What was also interesting to me when I was watching was that it didn't come, I don't
Speaker:believe it had come up at this point that Blair and Nate had been together as long as they have. I think
Speaker:that comes up later in the episode. So there's almost the feeling of, oh, did they get together
Speaker:and then she got together with, and then he got together with Blair after Serena went away. Like
Speaker:that was a lingering question at that point in the episode. Yeah, it's hard for me to remember what I
Speaker:felt at the time that I first watched it, but we definitely quickly learned that Nate and Blair
Speaker:have been together since kindergarten. Right, and what it is, is I remember when I heard that in the
Speaker:episode, I was like, oh wait, but that history between those two, oh shit, like, oh, this is
Speaker:really bad. I remember that it was when I found out that I found out that later that they had been
Speaker:together so long. All right, and then so we see the one and only time with Chuck and Nate riding a bus in
Speaker:the pilot episode, that's never seen again, because why would these two rich kids be riding a
Speaker:bus when they have limos or driver services? Now, actually, we do fight out later that Chuck is the
Speaker:only one who does have a limo, because it does make sense, because even rich people in New York still
Speaker:have nowhere to park a car, unless you're someone who owns multiple hotels. I was going to say, you
Speaker:would assume that a hotel chain would have a limo service, if at least contracted to them, but the
Speaker:other Upper East Side teens all have driver services, which we all use, got a car. The
Speaker:pre-oober days. The other thing with that scene on the bus though, is that it also sets up that
Speaker:recurring gag of, I go to school with you. I go here. And while Chuck is having an out of it, Nate does
Speaker:comment, oh, that's funny. Yes, despite being very good looking, Dan is apparently a nobody at
Speaker:this school. Yeah. And they really set it up that he is almost anti-social and sticks to himself. Yes,
Speaker:we get the first instance of nervous Dan, where after they get off the bus, he just rambles on to
Speaker:himself, like he's still talking to them. And that's definitely a recurring trait for Dan. He's
Speaker:definitely a bit nervous. Yeah. Yeah. And we actually see that in later scenes in this episode.
Speaker:And then we get Blair and on the Met steps flanked by her minions talking to Jenny as Serena comes up.
Speaker:And they are sitting on the Met steps, which are basically an extension of the New York City
Speaker:sidewalks, which are quite dirty. And they're wearing these very fancy designer clothes. And
Speaker:they are just casually sitting, you know, yeah. And also the kiss on the lips party, I was trying to
Speaker:remember the name of it, but it's the kiss on the lips party, which I mean, I feel like it's a little,
Speaker:I want to say on the nose, but you know, it's yes. I believe that is the name of one of the books, kiss on
Speaker:the lips. And yes, that is the party of the week as is tradition for gospel most episodes and in a party
Speaker:of the week. Yeah. And this week's party is the kiss on the lips. Yeah. And yeah. And that whole
Speaker:interaction between the two of them is so interesting where it's, oh yeah, my best friend.
Speaker:And you can tell that there's that tension there. There's that, yes, my best friend, but oh, but you
Speaker:can't come because there's, you know, it's not any more any invitations. There's not enough. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. We're at capacity. Yeah. We're at, yeah. Had I known yesterday, like, God, I know you were
Speaker:coming. Yes. Yeah. And so yeah, it really does set all of that up. They do plant, Serena asked for a
Speaker:little date there. And I don't know, I think if this show was written a few years later, Blair would be
Speaker:definitely a queer coded character. Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. There's definitely some sexual
Speaker:attraction in there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think so too. Yeah. Yeah. And there really is. There really
Speaker:is that like, with the back and forth like that kind of, yeah, absolutely. All right. And we are back
Speaker:for act two. And we are in the, on the street with Dan and Rufus hanging flyers for their band. Rufus
Speaker:makes dad jokes about getting off your blog. And yeah. Yeah. And just again, firmly letting us know
Speaker:that this is late 2000s when blogs were like, still were at that point for a dad to be referencing a
Speaker:blog, it tells you the blogs were on their way out. They're like, dad's just learned the word. But I
Speaker:mean, Rufus is a cool dad and yeah, it's kind of weird. Like even then, were musicians still like
Speaker:hanging flyers around town? Yeah. I mean, I doubt it. I mean, maybe in New York, I mean, New York, when
Speaker:sometimes in certain areas you'll see flyers hanging up. But you think that one of the nine,
Speaker:number nine of the 10 most forgotten bands of the 1990s would have a publicist. Yeah. Yeah. We're
Speaker:just enrolling some magazine and yeah, I think you could have like a website. Come on. Yeah. You
Speaker:should have an agent. You should have someone working for you at this point. And so then from
Speaker:that, see, we burst into the hospital room with Serena coming to kidnap brother Eric. They're
Speaker:going to a shopping trip at Bendles. Yeah. I guess funny, I had a little bit of anxiety at this, at that
Speaker:like, oh my God, like you're taking him out of the hospital. Is that okay? Is that safe? But it's
Speaker:also, the connection that the two of them have was so touching and how she wants to get him out and get
Speaker:him doing things and doesn't want to hide him away and how she's not ashamed of her brother and what
Speaker:has happened to him where it really shows you that Serena wants him to be better not be hidden. Yes.
Speaker:Even early on, I think we see that they kind of took care of themselves to a certain extent. Lily
Speaker:probably was not the best mother. Yeah. You get that impression a lot. They were sort of the kids on
Speaker:their own, sort of the upper east side version of a latchkey kid, almost. So then we move into Bendles
Speaker:and Jenny is shopping for a dress and she has called Dan for advice because she apparently has no
Speaker:friends either and no mom because she, the mom is in Hudson and dad will not go into her department
Speaker:store. Yeah. Come on, come on, dad. Like, it's not hard to do. You can go in and tell your daughter she
Speaker:looks beautiful and at the same time, though, I love that they set up this relationship with Dan
Speaker:and Jenny. Yeah. They are a close brother and sister that they know that their parents are going
Speaker:through shit and they have each other for it and that they're, I love the relationship that that
Speaker:established and, you know, yeah, it's awkward to go with your dress shopping with your sister. Yes.
Speaker:And he does it anyway. And clearly, like, they have separate interests, but they, yes, like I just
Speaker:said, they are there for each other. And we see Serena and Eric show up and Dan, you know, like
Speaker:quickly like ducks behind the clothes rack. Yeah. Again, you see nervous Dan. Yeah. The nervous Dan
Speaker:spotting of the week where he dims behind the the coat rack as soon as Serena shows up and and he has a
Speaker:chance to meet the this girl that he's been crushing on forever and hides. Yes. And we also see
Speaker:so we already saw Jenny, you know, cozying up with Blair, trying to get in with Blair's group, but she
Speaker:also kind of is playing both sides of the fence here. She she gives Serena an invitation. She's
Speaker:like, you know, here's an invitation, but don't tell anyone where you got it, which I also find
Speaker:hilarious because there's only one person writing the invitations. So weird. Don't tell
Speaker:anyone where you got this thing that is in the handwriting that I was complimented on and hired
Speaker:to do this thing for. No one will figure it out. Yes. Then we see Nate and Chuck smoking a joint in the
Speaker:park. They're talking about Nate and Blair having sex for the first time. So apparently they have not
Speaker:had sex yet. And we got the strong bro culture vibes. You're entitled to type that S. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:You instantly learn how how disgusting Chuck is. Yes. And and yeah, episode one is not Chuck's
Speaker:finest anything. And so another line right here about Chuck's mother, you know, getting a
Speaker:medication from people use that to excuse this, the can, you know, as the pilot not being part of
Speaker:Canada because Chuck's mother is not around after this. And, you know, I will go to detail it is a major
Speaker:plot point later on, but she is not in the picture. And so that so people use that as an excuse to, you
Speaker:know, forgive Chuck for what happened to pilot saying it's not in Canada. Oh, yeah. Well, I know
Speaker:what I watched. Yes. I know what I want. Yes. The show. And I know that I that it that it didn't bode
Speaker:well for my opinion, Chuck. And and And here's the other side of Chuck is that I've known Chuck. I've
Speaker:known Chuck's before. And I've been Nate in that sense. I've been a Nate to a Chuck before. And if you
Speaker:play along, because you don't want to go, you don't want to go to your friends. And now, as an adult, I
Speaker:look back and I teach my kids to be better than that. I teach my son to be better than that. I teach my
Speaker:oldest and my daughter to be better than that. And I can't say that I have never known somebody to be a
Speaker:disgusting creep like Chuck. And have looked for excuses for them. Just like you're saying with the
Speaker:mom. Yeah. A lot of people, we've all gone through that. But like you said, I do think that is one thing
Speaker:that Gen Z is they will call people out on it more. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like shows like this made it
Speaker:acceptable to call people out on it. Yeah. And showed that it was wrong. And also showed people
Speaker:that, yes, this is happening. You know, there are people doing this. You know? Main characters do
Speaker:this. Whereas so many other shows, it's the bad person that rolled into town for three episodes
Speaker:and does something shitty. But no, this is a main character, someone that you're going to have to
Speaker:watch for a while. You're going to have to lose respect for them right off the bat. Yeah. Close
Speaker:friends, you know, suddenly you see a real life, close friends and family are sometimes shitty
Speaker:people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah. And yeah, you're absolutely right. All right. So moving on
Speaker:to Blair and Serena meeting for drinks. They just served kids at upscale bars apparently. And yeah,
Speaker:I've been drinking from right off the bat with was like, wait, this is high school, right? They said
Speaker:high school. They said high school. There's an prep school. They said all these things. They're
Speaker:talking about Dartmouth. So they're not in college yet. So yes, the most of the main cast are
Speaker:juniors, Eric and Jenny are freshmen. But yes, apparently they can just be served anywhere in New
Speaker:York. Yeah. Yeah. Walk into bars and order Margenies. So yeah, Serena says she doesn't want
Speaker:to be queen anymore apparently before she left. She was in the position of Blair is now as queen bee.
Speaker:She wants to be friends and they see the man friend fences. It's mentioned that while Serena was
Speaker:away, Blair's parents split up because apparently her father is gay and left her man. And
Speaker:left her mom for another man. And again, it's one of those things that like that is traumatic with
Speaker:divorce is traumatic. And you know, learning something about your parents that you didn't know
Speaker:is traumatic. And so Blair is it's really setting up with Blair and Serena both have very traumatic
Speaker:family issues taking place right now. That are both more important than the friendship. Both
Speaker:really need a friend to help them through. So yeah, yeah, right before this happened with Blair, her
Speaker:best friend in the world just kind of disappeared. Yeah, suddenly to go to a new school. And then her
Speaker:and of course, at the same time, her boyfriend starts acting kind of weird. Yeah, as soon as her
Speaker:best friend disappears. So even though Blair is not the best person, you obviously right away kind
Speaker:of feel sorry for her. And Blair seems intuitive, you know, and you almost get that sense that she
Speaker:knows there's something there and she doesn't want to. She doesn't want to believe it, but she's
Speaker:waiting for Serena to tell her. And like, and it leaves Serena kind of hanging at the end that you
Speaker:can feel there's something she's still holding back. And so as I've seen as we go back to the broken
Speaker:loft with Jenny and Dan and you know, Jenny's kind of calling out Dan for his disappearing act at the
Speaker:store and tricks, you know, Dan into going to talk to Serena. Yeah, she's all low. She's probably
Speaker:just drinking by herself, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. And they referenced the birthday party that he saw
Speaker:her at a birthday party. Yes. And this birthday party becomes a big part of the lore of Gossip Girl.
Speaker:You know, this is where, you know, they've met, you know, Serena was drunk, but she talked to Dan, who
Speaker:was accidentally invited to this party. The first party, the high school party went, you know, and
Speaker:then soon after that, she, you know, soon after that, she kind of, you know, disappeared. Yeah.
Speaker:So, so even more, you know, of that, of her disappearance affecting other people. And, you
Speaker:know, and it's funny because she's allowed to disappear. But you have to recognize that there's
Speaker:a whole world. I don't think that Serena really recognizes that she's the center of an ecosystem
Speaker:of social culture in her circle, that she's almost, you know, a nucleus. Well, I think she does
Speaker:realize that and that is kind of why she just left suddenly because she knew she was going to cause,
Speaker:this is going to cause huge issues for everyone. That makes, that does make sense. But I, but then,
Speaker:then more to the point, she, I don't think that she really recognized what that and what
Speaker:disappearing really entailed. That it wasn't just going to be her disappearing, that she's
Speaker:leaving a vacuum. When she came back, I don't think she was expecting that vacuum to have been filled.
Speaker:Yeah. And so speaking of that vacuum, we find Jenny, excuse me, Serena at the palace bar,
Speaker:drinking her sorrows away. And she is confronted by Chuck and they kind of go back and forth to some
Speaker:quips and Chuck is pretty creepy. And, you know, he offers to take her back into the kitchen to get a
Speaker:truffle and grilled cheese, truffle oil grilled cheese sandwich which sounds pretty damn good.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Again, the, just like the skin crawling of Chuck throughout the entire
Speaker:conversation leading up to, and, you know, the whole like, let's go to the kitchen and you see the
Speaker:whole like Chuck trying to get her alone, which, you know, becomes a motif. Yeah. Yeah. He
Speaker:definitely like tells the cooks and stuff that, you know, after they make the sandwich because,
Speaker:you know, he doesn't know how to cook himself. Yeah. Get out of here. Get out of here. Shoo, shoo.
Speaker:Yeah. He clears the kitchen in some grand gesture that he thinks is impressive, you know. But yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. So before we get to that, we do have, it cuts to Nate entering Blair's bedroom and he starts to
Speaker:confess that Blair's wearing lingerie. They're, you know, they're obviously about to have sex for
Speaker:the first time. But he begins to confess the secret of why Serena went away. And as we, as it's cutting
Speaker:back and forth between him talking to Blair and Chuck and Serena talking, because apparently
Speaker:Chuck also saw this. He was, you know, lurking, watching his best friend have sex. Yeah. Yeah. He
Speaker:was, yeah, like, but like that seems like such a Chuck thing to do. Yeah. Like, oh wow. Yeah.
Speaker:There's two people having sex. I'm going to sit and watch. Yeah. Of course, also you're having sex in a
Speaker:bar at a wedding. Like, you're not really hiding it well. So this is actually at Grand Central Station
Speaker:as well. This is an actual bar that's at Grand Central Station. Oh really? Because the wedding
Speaker:happened there, the Shepherd wedding. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, you're having sex at Grand
Speaker:Central Station. Yeah. You might get an audience. I don't feel like you have an assumption of privacy
Speaker:at the place where people tend to refer to as one of the busiest places to find things on earth. So as
Speaker:we're flashing back to the, you know, Nate and Serena hooking up, Chuck begins to get very
Speaker:aggressive, starts grabbing her. Yeah. And really tries to force himself on her. And really,
Speaker:and luckily it appears, you know, well actually, unfortunately it appears that Serena probably
Speaker:has dealt with this before and it reacts appropriately and needs some rain to crash. Yeah.
Speaker:It gets out of there. Yeah. And did what I taught my daughter to do, you know, hit him. Actually what I
Speaker:tell my daughter is the number one rule when we watch horror movies is finish the job. You get him
Speaker:down and if he's still coming after you, you get him down until he's not coming after you anymore. I
Speaker:believe that's also one of the rules for Zobbyland. You got to do the double tap. Yeah.
Speaker:Double tap. Yeah. Absolutely. Like, and yeah, good on her. Like, fricking hurt him and get away.
Speaker:And, and yeah. And as she gets off us, you know, Dan, the perfect stalker moment where, you know, his
Speaker:crush actually just bumps into him conveniently. I worked that perfectly for him. Yeah. And he finds
Speaker:her phone and he picks it up as she runs off and. Yeah. And Dan and Chuck show that look. And, and you
Speaker:kind of have that like. You kind of you're already, I was already excited for, for, for you like
Speaker:they're going to have this is an over between them. Like, because that was, was that their second time
Speaker:meeting or did they already meet at the school when he was like, I go here. Yeah. But like, because once
Speaker:again, because I think Chuck also didn't really recognize him again. Probably not. Yeah. I think
Speaker:that that was also brought up that Chuck didn't recognize him and, and Dan was like, well, while
Speaker:Dan was retrieving the phone. And so that, yeah, that sets up the tension for the end of the act. We
Speaker:get, we get onto the third act. Nate is running with his father in Central Park and, you know, of
Speaker:course, very competitive. The captain, you know, beats the son. Yeah. Man, it was that whole thing.
Speaker:The captain just, and we didn't really touch on this earlier, but Nate. Nate from the start is one
Speaker:of my favorite characters because of how, because of his relationship with the captain. And, and my
Speaker:relationship with my dad wasn't like that, but it was troubled in its own ways. But it was just, I, I, I
Speaker:really felt for him right away. And in much the same way that like I've known Chuck's, I've known
Speaker:Nate's, you know, I've known those guys who can't tell their dad something as simple as like, no, I
Speaker:don't want to go to the same college you went to. Like, yeah, I know that like you're very proud of
Speaker:that, but like, I don't want to do that. And, and that, so that race, when they were racing and his
Speaker:dad beat him and it's like, they're like, like, nothing against beating your kid in a race, but to
Speaker:be such an asshole about it, like to, to really make your kid like feel like shit for not being faster
Speaker:than you yet. Like, yeah. So that is definitely a central part of Nate's character. He is a legacy.
Speaker:His, you know, family has, you know, his future planned out more than any of the other characters.
Speaker:The other characters actually, you know, so I have something of their own, especially Blair has like
Speaker:a very clear path planned out of what she wants. Yeah. And as does Dan. Serena is a little more
Speaker:wishy-washy and Chuck, you know, is, he's more on the business role than the college path. He's on
Speaker:the, he's on the business path. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and, yeah, and they, what was I trying to say here?
Speaker:They, they, they all have, even though their parents don't necessarily plan all of their
Speaker:lives, their parents are all very invested in their plans too. You know, like, but you're right.
Speaker:The worst of them is Nate, that it is you are expected to go and become a, is it a lawyer? Or, or I
Speaker:feel like there's something that his dad does that he's expected to become. Well, so that is a
Speaker:financial guy. Oh, okay. He's not, he definitely wasn't going to go to the same school and it
Speaker:definitely becomes more of a plot play of what, where, what the plot, the plans are for Nate is. So
Speaker:we'll get into that in the future. Yeah. But that, that definitely, there is definitely a plan for
Speaker:him. His mom's side of the family is actually probably the richer and they, they are actually
Speaker:the Vanderbilts. Oh, okay. So they are old, very old money. Yeah. So, and so also in the scene, we, we
Speaker:find, you know, the captain finds out that Nate and Blair broke up and he is very distraught about
Speaker:that. He's like, oh, no, you have to get back together with Blair. You have to get back
Speaker:together. Yeah. Obviously, there's more to that, but I think we find out later that it's tied to the
Speaker:business deal with his, the parents. He's trying to get into business with Eleanor Waldorf. Yeah.
Speaker:And again, it's just the way that these parents are you trying to use their kids as pawns. And, and, and
Speaker:the other, the flip side of it, the way that it's, you know, you're, you're trying to have your kid
Speaker:marry his high school sweetheart. Like, come on, dude. Like you're, he's not even, yeah, at 16.
Speaker:Like, come on, dude. Like that, that doesn't sound like, but I can't. Erred. So that is the original
Speaker:purpose of marriage, though. It really is. I know. It's so funny when people are like, when people
Speaker:argue about traditional marriage, I'm like, like, should we be trading land and crowns and
Speaker:noble, noble deeds? Okay. So after that, we do go to back to the palace hotel. Dan is arriving at the
Speaker:desk with Saria's trying to return Sarina's phone. Not sure why he didn't just return it again.
Speaker:He brought it home and they came back in the morning. That's kind of weird. Yeah. Yeah. We'll
Speaker:just run with that. Yeah. The desk clerk is giving him a hard time, but luckily Sarina just is happy to
Speaker:walk through. And she, she, oh yeah. Oh, you found my phone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And then
Speaker:Sarina's mom, Lily, also comes up and trying to get Sarina to go to the party because, yeah, it's about
Speaker:social standing and, you know, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Her, her mom is very interested in her
Speaker:attending this party and she is, and she's trying to tell her mom that like, not only do I not want to go
Speaker:like, really welcome, like they don't really, Blair doesn't really want me there. Like, but she
Speaker:can't really say that. See, I guess she has to explain why. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And, yeah. And,
Speaker:and her mom couldn't handle any kind of rift between friends, you know, because that needs to
Speaker:be swept under a rug. Yeah. And I forgot to also mention, uh, dad definitely makes an awkward joke
Speaker:about Prince Charming having a foot fetish to the desk clerk. Yeah. I don't know where that came
Speaker:from, but that was pretty funny. Yeah. Dan Huffery has diarrhea in the mouth sometimes. That's
Speaker:funny. That's funny. And so, but you know, luckily Dan's there to give Serena an excuse to get out of
Speaker:the party. Uh, and when she introduced him as Dan Huffery, Lily's eyebrow definitely raises out
Speaker:that name. Yeah. And, and there, you, you, you've seen the recognition. Um, and then the quick
Speaker:assumption, it, did they cut right away to, uh, is the name. Yeah. And that's quite the next scene.
Speaker:But, uh, yeah. So she, she raises her eyebrow at the, the name Huffery, but then she, when she hears
Speaker:Lick and Hawke, she's like, what? Oh yeah. That's right. Yeah. Because they say that they're going
Speaker:to the band, to the band. Uh, the next scene is, uh, Nate and Blair at the restaurant. Uh, Blair is
Speaker:wearing her, uh, her battle attire there. And, you know, they're, they're trying to recognize,
Speaker:Nate's trying to reconcile on behalf of his dad, basically. Yeah. Um, uh, yeah. And, and, and it,
Speaker:and it's interesting because like they make a deal and it really is like, uh, hey, this is how we stay
Speaker:together. And it really felt like a business transaction, you know? And, and that deal is that
Speaker:Nate will pretend Serena doesn't exist, essentially. Yeah. Yeah. He's not allowed to dog
Speaker:door and he'll pretend like she doesn't exist, which, you know, I, I immediately was thinking to
Speaker:myself, how long is that going to last? Uh, then we moved. So that, that we find out, yes, Lily and
Speaker:Rufus do know each other because Lily comes to the gallery to confront Rufus. They have a history.
Speaker:They're kind of flirty. But, you know, Rufus is obviously still, you know, because they, you
Speaker:know, apparently she, uh, she treated, she did on him with Trent and Rithner. Yeah. I, and I loved, I
Speaker:loved the, I loved the, the, is a comment about how she moved on from, from rock stars to, to
Speaker:financiers or something like that. It's a billionaires. It's a billionaires. Yeah. From
Speaker:rock stars to billionaires. Um, yeah. And, and yeah, there, there's the, the history is really
Speaker:laid out. They clearly had, they, they lay out that they had this thing. Um, and you also kind of
Speaker:learned that, that Serena and Eric's mom had a wild side to her in her younger days that she was out, you
Speaker:know, partying with rock stars. Yes. And, and I just kind of have to wonder if it's Trent Reznor has
Speaker:ever seen this scene. Yeah. And what, what is thought. I want to, I want to see this spittake of
Speaker:Trent Reznor sitting in its home. We were with a, yes, you know, with it, you know, just sitting at
Speaker:his house for the first time in 2007 and having to think to himself that I sleep with her. And so we're
Speaker:back at the loft in Brooklyn. Dan is getting ready for his date and Jenny's getting ready for the
Speaker:party. Um, Rufus is semi creepy talking about how his daughter looks just like his mom, like the
Speaker:mother and like just has a weird look on it. Yeah. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's awkward, but especially
Speaker:with the age that the actor, it just makes it a little awkward. Yeah. Um, the, the, yeah, let me
Speaker:try. So, yeah. And, and to be fair, the. The portrayal of a father is sometimes difficult not
Speaker:to be creepier than it actually is, you know, because when we're watching those people on
Speaker:camera, they don't look appropriately apart in age to be father and daughter. And there's like a
Speaker:much bigger suspension of disbelief required there. Uh, so we see Blair's mom, uh, being
Speaker:horrible to her, criticizing her looks. Yeah. So thankfully we never see this actress again. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. She, yeah. And, and it's funny because it is those kinds of things that will, that you get
Speaker:that insight to how those mother-daughter relationships when, when they, when they do focus
Speaker:so much on aesthetics and appearances and, and the figure and look and everything. It's, it's really
Speaker:gross. As we would get a montage of Chuck Blair and Nate Coyote is partying a limo on the way to the kiss
Speaker:on the list party. Uh, this thing, you know, they look like they're having all kinds of fun. They're
Speaker:popping champagne and got music playing. But Nate is kind of sitting in the back and doesn't seem like
Speaker:he's really enjoying himself. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and, you know, you really come to understand that
Speaker:Nate was, Nate wanted out of that relationship and saw his way out and was going to take it and then had
Speaker:to, and then took it and then was put right back in. Yeah. His dad forced him back in. Nice. He stuck.
Speaker:Yeah. And, and, and now he, and now he's just feeling stuck in that future that his dad has laid
Speaker:out for him. Yeah. Uh, we get a quick scene of Dan looking love struck, picking up Serena in the
Speaker:lobby. Um, you know, me cute. Moe, he's staring as she comes up on the upper balcony. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Cute. And so we move to the party. Everyone's arriving. Chuck makes some creepy comments and
Speaker:goes into full predator mode when he sees Jenny. Um, you know, first Jenny, you know, she's, she
Speaker:seems just kind of excited, you know, older guy, you know, paying attention to where they're
Speaker:understandable. Yeah. Yeah. And, and yeah, he, yeah. And, and she, you know, she doesn't hear that
Speaker:he's the, the, the remarks that he made before he started, of course, you know, circling the
Speaker:waters. And then so, yeah, yeah. I mean, she just has a guy talking to him. And, and, and I, I just
Speaker:remember that just cringing when he, when, when they were talking. And so it's, it's tough cause
Speaker:Taylor Mopson is the actual age of the actress he's playing, which is 14. And then everyone else is in
Speaker:like 19, 20, 21. Yeah. So it just makes it even more cringy. Yeah. Yeah. It was, yeah, all around us
Speaker:really gross. And we got Serena and Dan walking on the sidewalk and they meet Rufus as he's loading
Speaker:the equipment. And, you know, awkwardly cute moment with Serena realizes that Dan brought her
Speaker:to be his dad. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. And that was cute also. And, you know, and to see her, to see
Speaker:his dad's band. So you also, you know, she learns that he was, I believe it even comes up then that he
Speaker:was the number nine of 10 most forgotten bands of the 90s. And so we cut back and Chuck is separated
Speaker:Jenny from the party and is starting to kiss her and she's clearly nervous. It's really, really
Speaker:uncomfortable. But, you know, Chuck picks up on him, he backs off. Yeah. We think, okay, not too
Speaker:bad. He was a little aggressive, but he backed off and, you know, they start talking. You know, he
Speaker:offers some or a drink though. And then, you know, Jenny's kind of secretly touched you behind your
Speaker:back. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, she, she learns quickly, this is not a good situation and I'm
Speaker:uncomfortable and I can't get out of this. And there's that moment where you're a little worried
Speaker:because she texted the emergency because the prior emergency was the fashion emergency.
Speaker:Whereas now he almost blows off the text because of it. Yeah. Because we immediately see Dan and
Speaker:Serena coming out of the show. First, we don't get to see Lincoln Hawk playing. Very disappointed in
Speaker:that. But we do get some Florida band banner and Dan does get the text from Jenny and he, like you said,
Speaker:he looks like he's about to blow it off. But he says, you know, she's having problems with some guy and
Speaker:Chuck and Serena's like, oh, yeah. Let's go. Yeah. Wouldn't Chuck? That's a real problem. That's the
Speaker:word Chuck. It's like, nope, let's go. Which is good. Yeah. Which again, it shows that very big
Speaker:shift in, in the very big culture shift of calling that shit out. That I feel like if this show was made
Speaker:10 years earlier, it would have been a different storyline. Yeah. They clearly all know that he is a
Speaker:shitty person, but they just kind of accept it because he's part of the club. Yeah. Yeah. So then
Speaker:we get the arrival at the party of Serena and Dan and this, immediately people just start texting
Speaker:instead of telling each other that she's there. For some reason, they just, you know, texting
Speaker:culture is in full swing. Right. Well, and if you remember early texting, that really was like, it
Speaker:was almost now like, what, the T9 texting? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So then we cut back to the rooftop.
Speaker:Chuck is now forcing himself on Jenny and she's actively saying no. You know, really hard to
Speaker:watch. But luckily Dan and Serena arrive and Dan just dropped Chuck with a punch and I cheered.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Same. I watched with my wife Robin, but it was like, got him. Yeah. Every time, every time.
Speaker:There's a moment where it looks like he's not going to hit him. When he pulls him away, they start
Speaker:walking away. Then you're like, okay, okay, but she's safe. But then when he turns, it's like, got
Speaker:him. But then of course, yeah, Chuck, you know, has to slush shame Serena and as they're walking away.
Speaker:So Chuck being more of a douche bag. Yeah. It's, yeah, Chuck does nothing to earn any points at all
Speaker:in the pilot. But we end the episode with Dan and Jenny leaving the party and then we get this cute
Speaker:scene where Dan grabs Serena's hand and he comes with us and Serena's kind of surprised. But you
Speaker:know, that's a very cute scene. Yeah. Yeah. And really sets that friendship up, ship in that
Speaker:relationship up nicely. And we see Nate seeing Dan and Serena holding hands and he's solely drinking
Speaker:a beer. And then we get Blair and Chuck standing next to each other, getting some chemistry vibes
Speaker:there. What do you think about the chemistry there? Anything? Um, you know, it was neither of
Speaker:those characters left the episode looking good necessarily. And so I felt like there was
Speaker:something maybe there. I didn't really feel chemistry more of a, an alliance waiting to happen
Speaker:between the two of them. Yeah. Um, and then we end the scene, the episode with Jenny, Dan and Serena
Speaker:and the cab. And yeah, very cute. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. All right. We are back and we're going to get
Speaker:into some segments. We're going to start out with episode grades. Steve, what did you think? Um, so I
Speaker:kind of need to give this one two grades. One as an overall episode of a TV show, which I think was a,
Speaker:was it B? It was pretty engaging. Didn't really drag it all. Um, but I bump it up to an A when it comes
Speaker:to being a pilot episode because pilots are so difficult to weave all, to introduce all of these
Speaker:fresh characters that we've never seen before and weave their stories together. I think it was an A
Speaker:pilot, but overall it be TV show, be a B episode. So is your final grade of B or an A? I'm going to say a B. I
Speaker:am going to give it an A. This, I think Josh Schwartz kills it a pilot episodes. Um, I thought, I think it
Speaker:did a great job at introducing us to all the characters. Great music. Um, we get, you know,
Speaker:drama, we get action. We get, you know, we get all the relationships set up, I think pretty much from
Speaker:the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to give it an A. That, that's a fair great. That's a fair great.
Speaker:All right. I'm moving on to our stock watch, uh, who had a good episode. So I'd say, first of all, um, I
Speaker:feel that, that Serena and Dan, their stock goes up immediately. Um, both of them, the way that they
Speaker:are together, they really have kind of almost power couple energy early on. So I feel like both of
Speaker:them, their stock both went up. Um, meanwhile, obviously, when it comes to sliding stock,
Speaker:Chuck's stock, when, when took a serious hit, uh, throughout this episode, it started, you know,
Speaker:dipping and then took a really serious hit. And when you thought it couldn't go down any lower, it
Speaker:did. Yeah. I'm pretty much in agreement. Uh, Dan, obviously stock up, get to date with this is dream
Speaker:girl. Uh, Serena comes back and, you know, makes a splash. She's there for her brother. And I think
Speaker:Jenny also, uh, had a stock up, up moment. You know, she, she's, she's showing, she knows how to play
Speaker:the game. She's young, but she's, she's on the rise. But yeah, Chuck definitely stocked down.
Speaker:Horrible episode. Uh, it's going to be interesting to see if they can redeem him. I mean,
Speaker:as we know, he is a main cast member, so he sticks around. So it's going to be interesting to see
Speaker:where they take him. Um, I'd also say Nate and Blair stock went down, both of them. And, and I loved Nate
Speaker:as a character, but acquiescing to a relationship. You're not happy and, you know, for
Speaker:your father's sake, like, man, you, you're, you're, your stock's plummeting there. Yeah.
Speaker:You, you could clearly tell that he was not having a good time by the end of the episode. Yeah. And same,
Speaker:same with Blair. Uh, she is, you know, she's worried, you know, Serena's back and she's
Speaker:insecure about that. They've always had this competition and for the most part, she's always
Speaker:lost. Yeah. Now I also, I also feel like, um, like, uh, man, I wish I could think of his name. Rufus's
Speaker:stock went up, but I also feel like Rufus's stock is like Dogecoin. Yeah. Yeah. But both the parents, I
Speaker:kind of think we're fairly net neutral this episode. Um, as far as Lillian and Rufus,
Speaker:obviously, uh, Blair's mom, Eleanor was horrible. The captain's horrible, but they,
Speaker:they, they're kind of baseline. They didn't really drop. They just kind of are. Yeah. They're
Speaker:just already there. Although you could argue that Blair's mom's stock dropped so much that she was
Speaker:removed from the cast and replaced with a new mom. Tushae, Tushae. All right. Moving on, uh, what do
Speaker:you think was the best outfit of the episode? Um, I actually, because I'm such a much more casual
Speaker:person and I loved Serena's original outfit with like the skirt, the little train ride. Yeah. From
Speaker:the train ride. Yeah. The kind of it's something like, I guess sort of boho chic somewhat. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Um, for me, it was the, uh, outfit that Blair wore, uh, in her lunch, sushi lunch with Nate, uh,
Speaker:where they were reconciling, uh, obviously like a power off with the, with the red cardigan. You have
Speaker:the, uh, white button up with the blue stripes and blue Navy stripes and like an untied bow tie
Speaker:hanging down. I really liked that. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and it really fed into her entire
Speaker:approach to that conversation and that like I said, it felt like a business meeting. Her outfit
Speaker:was very intentional. Yeah. Yes. All right. Um, so any thoughts, any guesses on who Gossip Girl is? My
Speaker:first guess, and I think it's a long shot, but I'm, my original take is Chuck, that I feel like Chuck is
Speaker:nosy and is always there. Yep. He was, he was watching at the shepherd wedding. He was watching
Speaker:the sex scene. So he knew that was happening. What's funny is that the only thing going in
Speaker:Chuck's favor for him not to be Gossip Girl is that he was at, is that he saw Serena and me at the wedding
Speaker:and didn't talk about it. True. But, but Chuck is my current guess. Okay. Well, uh, I think that wraps
Speaker:it up from the episode. Anything else you want to add about the episode? Um, nothing I can think of
Speaker:about the episode itself, but I do want folks to know that they could check us out on Instagram, X,
Speaker:Facebook and TikTok. Um, X is what we used to call, what we call Twitter. No, no one calls it X. No one
Speaker:calls it X. We might also have the threads, but. And, and where, where can they find us? Uh, they can
Speaker:find us at the non-judgmental pod, breakfast pod, the not at the non-judgmental breakfast pod, the
Speaker:non-judging breakfast pod at the non-judging breakfast pod. And I did write it correctly, but
Speaker:I'm just saying it wrong now. We'll work on that. We'll work on that. It's a pilot. Yes. And, uh, yes.
Speaker:Uh, anything else you want to plug? Um, also, uh, come on out to the Christmas village in Love Park in
Speaker:Philadelphia on Tuesday the 28th, and you can catch me playing some music. I'll be the guy on the
Speaker:stage with the ukulele. Not nice. Yes. And, uh, so if you follow us on the socials, uh, and then if you
Speaker:would like to, uh, come check me out on Twitch, I do reviews for PA medical marijuana and also play
Speaker:some video games and still have a good time. So come out, check me out. It's twitch.tv slash
Speaker:hotcapicola. Well, I think that's it for now. And, uh, thanks for stopping by and next week we'll be
Speaker:back for the wild brunch. Yeah. Thank you very much for listening. Bye.
