Episode 6

S3E06 - "Enough About Eve"

This week on the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve are celebrating a major milestone—it's the 50th episode! Join them as they dive into Gossip Girl Season 3, Episode 6, titled "Enough About Eve." With the stakes higher than ever, the drama unfolds in true Upper East Side style, leaving our favorite characters tangled in lies, betrayal, and unexpected alliances.

As Blair schemes to secure a coveted toast at a school dinner, Vanessa finds herself caught in a whirlwind of deception, leading to a showdown that could change everything. Meanwhile, Nate and Serena's relationship takes a turn as they navigate the murky waters of family loyalty and manipulation. With Chuck's charm and Vanessa's questionable decisions, the episode is packed with twists that will keep you guessing!

Leif and Steve break down all the juicy moments, iconic fashion choices, and the underlying themes of family and friendship that resonate throughout the episode. So grab your favorite breakfast treat—whether it’s a mimosa or a stack of pancakes—and join the conversation that promises to be as delicious as it is dramatic!

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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#GossipGirl

Transcript
Steve:

She's the fucking

Steve:

worst. Just. Oh, your

Steve:

roommate is a celebrity, so therefore she

Steve:

must be.

Leif:

Yeah, and also so the previous

Leif:

scene, education shouldn't be for sale, or

Leif:

knowledge shouldn't be for sale, but in this scene, she's totally gatekeeping

Leif:

it from. Is she even qualified?

Leif:

Yeah, pick a lane,

Leif:

lady. Pick a lane.

Steve:

Yeah, well, she can afford it.

Steve:

What are you mad about?

Leif:

Hey, Upper east siders, and all you scandal loving listeners out

Leif:

there, you just tuned into the non judging breakfast

Leif:

pod where the coffee is strong, the waffles are

Leif:

fresh, and the gossip is hotter than ever. My

Leif:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

new kid on the block. The what am I

Steve:

now? Leif, we're about three seasons in.

Leif:

When are you going to learn to have a little faith? Keep working and your

Leif:

time will come.

Steve:

Fair enough. Just as long as I don't betray the one

Steve:

person who trusts me more than anyone else.

Leif:

That's. That'd be a good idea.

Steve:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

bringing you all the drama, romance, and, um,

Steve:

sometimes questionable fashion choices of this

Steve:

iconic 2007 series.

Leif:

Grab your cocktails and your magnifying glasses, because each

Leif:

week we're dissecting every juicy detail of the show

Leif:

one episode at a time. We'll connect the dots,

Leif:

uncover those sneaky little Easter eggs, and of course,

Leif:

serve up some piping hot behind the scenes tea.

Leif:

Oh, and expect some iconic fashion moments

Leif:

too, because what's a deep dive without a little drama?

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here at the non

Steve:

judging breakfast pod, you can go ahead and pull up a

Steve:

seat to this non judging breakfast table and go

Steve:

ahead and grab your coffee, grab a mimosa, or

Steve:

maybe go ahead and find Chuck's dealer. And let's dive

Steve:

into this episode.

Leif:

All right, Pop the Champagne. It's the 50th

Leif:

episode of the non.

Steve:

Judging breakfast pie

Steve:

milestone episode.

Steve:

Seriously? Most. I believe that

Steve:

most drop off before 20

Steve:

and we're like in a

Steve:

small bracket at this point. 50 episodes is

Steve:

a pretty big deal.

Leif:

We're almost halfway through the series. I believe there's like

Leif:

113 episodes total. Okay,

Leif:

so we're getting close to the halfway point.

Steve:

That's interesting

Steve:

mostly because 113 episodes

Steve:

and I know we're not even halfway through season

Steve:

three, so I would think we'd be halfway through the

Steve:

series, at the end of series season

Steve:

three. But I guess some of

Steve:

season six.

Leif:

Is only 10 episodes.

Steve:

I was gonna say I just saw, I guess, a later episode because season

Steve:

one is short, too, so. So

Steve:

season six, they're like, okay, let's wrap this up.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

Yeah. The only reason why even God succeeds, because they.

Leif:

Gossip Girl is like the. The first show for the

Leif:

cw, right?

Steve:

Yes. It was their flagship show

Steve:

when they launched. Right. And no

Steve:

movie where six seasons in a movie is

Steve:

really the goal. Right.

Leif:

We got six seasons in a reboot. No one

Leif:

watched two reboots.

Steve:

Right. Is it just one? Oh, it's

Steve:

Pretty Little Liars, I think has more than one reboot.

Steve:

Okay. That's the one I'm thinking of. Uh,

Steve:

I guess he had just one Gossip Girl reboot that

Steve:

nobody watches that got a second season.

Leif:

So did you have any inkling going

Leif:

into this episode that you were going to see Gina Torres?

Steve:

I saw her name in the credits, and I was

Steve:

like, oh, wow, Zoe. That

Steve:

was her name. Right? On, uh, Firefly. Yes.

Steve:

She was also great in suits. I

Steve:

used to watch suits. When. The first several

Steve:

seasons. Phenomenal. She

Steve:

is a spectacular actor.

Steve:

That again, when we go back to those conversations

Steve:

we had about being able to lose an actor in a

Steve:

role, and I've never really seen her

Steve:

do the same thing twice.

Steve:

She always plays strong

Steve:

women, but she always

Steve:

has something different about them.

Steve:

Some of them can pilot a spaceship or captain

Steve:

a spaceship.

Leif:

So some are a higher being.

Steve:

Some are a higher being. That's right. When she was,

Steve:

uh, the God, the goddess on

Steve:

angel, she gave birth to herself. And

Steve:

yes,

Steve:

Joss Whedon's really messed up and has women

Steve:

issues.

Leif:

To be fair, he was not the showrunner that season.

Steve:

That's true. That's true. Uh, because

Steve:

that was season four and it was season

Steve:

five that.

Leif:

Yeah, everything else was over.

Steve:

Yeah, everything else was over. And basically, the team of

Steve:

Buffy, Firefly, and Angel all

Steve:

converged on the best season

Steve:

of any of it, in my opinion. That last

Steve:

season of Angel, I agree. Pure gold.

Steve:

But, yes, I was glad to see her. And

Steve:

I kind of, after seeing this performance,

Steve:

really kind of put her in that

Steve:

Steven Root. I'll always talk about how much I love

Steve:

Steven Root because you never see

Steve:

him redo a character.

Steve:

And I find that Gina Torres. I find

Steve:

that Layne Meester does

Steve:

that as well. So I.

Steve:

I really appreciate that.

Leif:

I didn't realize how tall she actually was until seeing her next

Leif:

to Vanessa. Yeah, she was towering

Leif:

over Vanessa.

Steve:

Uh, yeah. It's funny because she plays A

Steve:

lot of these roles with really big

Steve:

men around her also, you

Steve:

know, uh, especially in

Steve:

Firefly where you have people like.

Steve:

I can't remember the guy who played Jane's name.

Steve:

Adam.

Leif:

Adam Baldwin.

Steve:

Adam Baldwin.

Leif:

Not related to the Baldwins.

Steve:

Not related to the Baldwins. But yeah,

Steve:

Adam Baldwin is a. Is a really tall guy. Nate

Steve:

Fillion's a pretty tall guy. I don't know about Alan

Steve:

Tidyk, but I'm kind of assuming he's always sitting down.

Steve:

And he was always sitting down because of course you

Steve:

know how to get your spikes clean. You put them through

Steve:

the wash too soon.

Leif:

Uh, we are here to talk about Gossip

Leif:

Girls Season 3, Episode

Leif:

6 Enough About Eve Original

Leif:

Air Date October 19, 2009

Leif:

Title was based on the movie all about

Leif:

Eve, a 1950 movie starring

Leif:

Bette Davis, Ann Baxter, George

Leif:

Sanders, directed by Joseph

Leif:

Manekwitz, and

Leif:

yeah, Seemingly a timid but secretly

Leif:

ruthless ingenue insinuates

Leif:

herself into the lies of an aging Broadway star and her

Leif:

circle of theater friends.

Steve:

I have not seen it. That

Steve:

actually sounds interesting, that description to

Steve:

me. I haven't seen it, but I've definitely heard

Steve:

about it.

Leif:

I've seen parts of it. And yeah,

Leif:

the opening dream is basically the opening scene of the movie.

Steve:

Mhm. I can't wait to talk about

Steve:

that.

Leif:

This episode was written by Jake

Leif:

Coburn. First episode officially written

Leif:

by him, but he's been a story editor for every episode this

Leif:

season. Okay. And it was directed by

Leif:

John Stevens, who's all over the place now because he

Leif:

was the writer for two episodes of. For Dan De

Leif:

Floret. And he did also wrote three

Leif:

episodes in season two and previously

Leif:

directed Seder. Anything?

Steve:

Oh, okay. And is this also the guy that did

Steve:

mostly cinematography work?

Leif:

Nah.

Steve:

Uh, okay, that was somebody else. That was last week.

Leif:

Okay, why don't you go ahead and read us that

Leif:

vulture recap?

Steve:

All right. At first, Blair's mission

Steve:

on last night's Gossip Girl seemed simple. She

Steve:

was going to undermine Vanessa, who had been asked to

Steve:

perform a toast at a school sponsored

Steve:

dinner for a group of parents. But

Steve:

Vanessa, who saw the stuffy dinner being

Steve:

her one chance to get her jerk hippie family to

Steve:

love her, reacted with uncharacteristic

Steve:

vehemence to defend her position,

Steve:

sparking a cold war of lies, deception,

Steve:

and real politic, one that

Steve:

ultimately bore a human cost. In

Steve:

the end, Vanessa left Dan and

Steve:

Olivia feeling betrayed, her mother feeling

Steve:

insulted, and Rufus and Lily feeling

Steve:

awkward. Blair alienated not just

Steve:

everyone at the party, but her best ally,

Steve:

Chuck. Meanwhile, uptown, Nate

Steve:

was using similar Means to conduct an elaborate

Steve:

scheme to discredit the rival Buckley

Steve:

family, using Serena as a pawn. The

Steve:

plan works, but she's upset and therefore

Steve:

makes the wrong face at, uh, Carter.

Steve:

A variation of that O shaped mouth thing she always

Steve:

does, which causes him to run away to an oil

Steve:

rig in Texas so that she'll stop pitying

Steve:

him or something.

Steve:

Watching him get into the town car that would

Steve:

take him to years of hard labor. We, the

Steve:

viewers were moved to make a similar face.

Steve:

And it looks like this. And there's a capital O with an

Steve:

umlaut. And no, it's not an umlaut for

Steve:

an OTs. Um, not an

Steve:

omelette. That's breakfast. So

Steve:

I don't know what it's called over

Steve:

an O, but there's two dots over this capital

Steve:

O. I think I.

Leif:

Liked what Nate was just boring.

Steve:

Yes. Yeah,

Steve:

most of my notes are, uh, Nate doesn't scream.

Leif:

So let's get into the episode. Act

Leif:

one begins. No Gossip Girl blast.

Leif:

But we have a dream sequence.

Leif:

Blair is dreaming. And this is an. As I

Leif:

mentioned, it's an homage to, uh, the title

Leif:

reference of the movie All About Eve. In the dream sequence,

Leif:

Vanessa receives an award that Blair clone clearly

Leif:

wanted.

Steve:

Yes, I. And I didn't know

Steve:

the movie. Right. I didn't understand.

Steve:

I didn't realize it was a Betty Davis movie and

Steve:

not a Hepburn movie. But on the second

Steve:

watch, they tell you. Well, I. They

Steve:

tell you right afterwards. I'm saying that when I first

Steve:

watched. So on the second watch, when I knew that the

Steve:

way that Blair is like,

Steve:

this isn't right. This isn't who

Steve:

I should be.

Leif:

Mhm.

Steve:

Where in her dream, she's recognizing

Steve:

she's the wrong person.

Steve:

I really thought that was well

Steve:

done.

Leif:

And, um, Blair awakens from her nightmare, but Chuck is

Leif:

there to reassure her that she will soon be the queen of

Leif:

nyu.

Steve:

I love the

Steve:

Chuck love for Blair

Steve:

here. The tell me it isn't

Steve:

Chateau because I know how much Walter

Steve:

Charade. Charade. Tell me it's not charade because I

Steve:

know how much Walter Matthau freaks you

Steve:

out. And then she says, no, I was

Steve:

an All About Eve. And he immediately that's not

Steve:

Hepburn. So the whole. He knows

Steve:

her so inside and out,

Steve:

literally, I guess, but just knows her

Steve:

so well that when she wakes up,

Steve:

startled, she's having a bad

Steve:

movie dream.

Leif:

Nate invites Serena to cousin Tripp's campaign headquarters

Leif:

to let her know that the Buckleys are putting Carter into

Leif:

forced labor. However, Nate

Leif:

has a, uh, plan.

Steve:

I bet he came up with it himself. Yeah.

Leif:

Not from the grandfather at all.

Steve:

Yeah. Tripp is running for congress. I think

Steve:

that's kind of a neat element

Steve:

for Nate. I like that there's something for Nate to

Steve:

do with his cousin

Steve:

running for office. But Nate

Steve:

doesn't scheme.

Leif:

Yeah, he should be out there shaking hands and making

Leif:

friends.

Steve:

Yes. He's not the behind the scenes. He's not

Steve:

the fixer. Yeah, he's.

Steve:

He. He's meant to be one of these

Steve:

politicians one day. He's not meant to

Steve:

be the fixer

Steve:

at the loft.

Leif:

It looks like Rufus is deciding what to take to Lily's. Now

Leif:

that they are married. We learn that Vanessa is making an

Leif:

impression at nyu. Rufus suggests that she invite

Leif:

her parents to the freshman dinner. Dan thinks V

Leif:

is a shoo in to give the toast, but she is suffering from self

Leif:

doubt. Everyone also encourages Dan to invite

Leif:

Olivia to the dinner to meet the family.

Steve:

Um, this whole scene

Steve:

was very quick fire. There

Steve:

was.

Leif:

Yeah, a lot of stuff going on.

Steve:

A lot of stuff going on. Was this coming back from a

Steve:

hiatus? I didn't look at the. From the

Steve:

dates, but was this coming back

Steve:

from.

Leif:

I don't think so.

Steve:

Like, uh, sweeps or something? The only reason I

Steve:

ask is because the. Hey, Rufe is howl's married

Steve:

life. Those kinds of lines aren't

Steve:

always a week to week, but more often. Uh, let's

Steve:

recap what happened a while ago. Although

Steve:

back then when things weren't streaming yet,

Steve:

they still had those week to week

Steve:

updates. But I. I did just kind of have that

Steve:

thought right now as we were talking. And

Steve:

like I said, it was very quick fire. First, the. Let's remember

Steve:

that they're getting married. Okay. Rufus is

Steve:

moving out now.

Leif:

Officially.

Steve:

Officially moving in with Lily. Pulling out albums,

Steve:

packing up welcome back cotter mugs.

Steve:

And then we get to the Vanessa stuff that she's honored in

Steve:

the paper and that she's going to give this

Steve:

speech at nyu. And then

Steve:

we get the Olivia stuff. The. You should bring her to

Steve:

the dinner.

Leif:

People like you. You better if it's me. Your family.

Steve:

I. I actually wrote that line down. People

Steve:

like you more when they've met your. When they've met our

Steve:

family. Bam. Um, and Dan. I love

Steve:

how Jenny says that. And Dan's like,

Steve:

yeah, fair.

Leif:

Now, not just this episode, but like the last few

Leif:

episodes. Those welcome back Katara modes

Leif:

a bit all over the place. They have more of a storyline than Eric

Leif:

does. It wasn't in the episode

Leif:

at all.

Steve:

Yeah, uh, you're absolutely right. And

Steve:

they've. They've now Been mentioned at least three or

Steve:

four times in the past few episodes.

Steve:

We.

Leif:

We get it.

Steve:

You have welcome back Cotter mugs,

Steve:

and they looked plastic.

Leif:

Nate's big plan is for Serena, who have, uh, we

Leif:

have never seen playing cards, to play poker with PJ Buckley to

Leif:

win Carter's freedom. Serena rightfully has

Leif:

doubts, but Nate claims Brie told him all of

Leif:

PJ's tells.

Steve:

Again, Nate, this isn't. This isn't

Steve:

your wheelhouse. Also, is

Steve:

it so bad that Carter is being

Steve:

sent to work off his

Steve:

$500,000 debt on an oil

Steve:

rig? He's.

Leif:

Well, I think it's a little more than $5,000.

Steve:

Five hundred thousand?

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

He says half a million. Nate at some point says half a million.

Leif:

Well, I think it's also implied that he's going to get beat up while he's there, too.

Steve:

I, uh, got the impression it was more of a. Here's, uh, a

Steve:

tough, grueling labor job, and if he doesn't

Steve:

cooperate, he gets beat up

Steve:

mostly. And I guess a lot of that comes from his reaction in

Steve:

the end, like, no, I'm going to go work off my debt.

Steve:

And that is sort of

Steve:

what gets in the back of my head of, this

Steve:

guy does owe them a lot of money and did

Steve:

do something pretty shitty, so them wanting

Steve:

him to come work it off.

Steve:

I mean, I'm kind of not super mad about

Steve:

that with it. Mostly because of his reaction in the

Steve:

end. Yeah, I guess when it was still

Steve:

forced labor, I wasn't okay with it.

Leif:

And they're like, it was. The line is something about

Leif:

they want to get him around a bunch of Texas

Leif:

roughnecks.

Steve:

Oh, okay. I don't. I don't think I caught that

Steve:

line.

Leif:

So I think it's implied that he's going to be taking, like,

Leif:

weekly beatings, but maybe

Leif:

not.

Steve:

Okay, I'm back. Okay with it again.

Steve:

Forced labor, I'm not okay with. But beating

Steve:

Carter Basin weekly.

Steve:

I'm, um. I'm at it.

Leif:

Blair is in the dorms, flanked by her minions.

Leif:

They are discussing the article about Vanessa. When they run into

Leif:

her in the halls, Vanessa gets a bit

Leif:

cunty and rubs it in Blair's face that Mr. Ellis

Leif:

just asked her to give the freshman toast.

Steve:

Yeah, I mean, Blair comes in in a

Steve:

horrible dress. I hated that

Steve:

dress just because I didn't like the cut on it. I thought it just

Steve:

made her body shape

Steve:

indiscernible, almost the black against

Steve:

the grayish. The grayish, like, diamond. Oh,

Steve:

yeah.

Leif:

It was a box dress.

Steve:

Yeah. I did not like Made

Steve:

my mind my like eyes. Bewitched.

Leif:

Believe that was Ellie Sad.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Sorry Ellie.

Steve:

And Blair is also here with her new minions, who

Steve:

actually had a little more of a role

Steve:

in this episode, despite

Steve:

that they are incredibly hard

Steve:

to find on the Internet. I tried

Steve:

looking up the actors who played them. They're not

Steve:

listed on the wiki. With the other recurring

Steve:

actors who were in the episode.

Steve:

I tried just googling season

Steve:

three Minions, Gossip Girl.

Steve:

All I come up with is Penelope,

Steve:

Hazel, Nelly Yuki.

Leif:

That you go on imtv?

Steve:

Yeah, I went on imd. Well, yeah,

Steve:

I did, but did I.

Steve:

But not through Gossip Girl guy. I'll give it another

Steve:

check. But yeah, I looked all over and could

Steve:

not find the.

Steve:

The. The new minions.

Steve:

And I was actually also surprised that not only could I not

Steve:

find the. The college minions whose names are

Steve:

currently.

Leif:

Escaping me, Amalia and Sophie.

Steve:

Amalia and Sophie. I all. They all. There was

Steve:

also no mention of Jenny's Minions, who

Steve:

I'm assuming aren't going to have

Steve:

a huge role

Steve:

this season but will be coming back

Steve:

eventually.

Leif:

We shall see. Olivia is back from

Leif:

Japan. She has just given Dan an early iteration

Leif:

of a smartwatch, and Dan invites her to the

Leif:

dinner to meet his parents.

Steve:

Yeah, Olivia is really into Dan and

Steve:

you really see how excited

Steve:

she is to have a normal

Steve:

relationship. And with a guy

Steve:

who doesn't care about all of the

Steve:

other yeah, bullshit

Steve:

and wants to meet his

Steve:

parents, not his publicist.

Leif:

Indeed. Vanessa leaves a

Leif:

voicemail for her parents inviting them to dinner.

Leif:

Gossip Girl chimes in with

Leif:

careful, Vee, don't send out your invitations just

Leif:

yet. We hear another girl has her eyes on the

Leif:

prize.

Steve:

Yeah. Uh, and it's interesting because of course

Steve:

the red herring is that it's between Vanessa

Steve:

and Blair this whole time. And now we're

Steve:

like, blair was never in the running

Steve:

for this. Blair's not even a consideration.

Leif:

We're not to that scene yet.

Steve:

Well, I'm saying that we now know that because

Steve:

the it was made clear two people

Steve:

are up for this. Vanessa is

Steve:

definitely one of them. And then we see it

Steve:

go to the other one who is not

Steve:

Blair. Mhm. And that's what triggered that. It was like,

Steve:

oh, the other person isn't Blair.

Steve:

Blair's not the second choice. Vanessa's the second

Steve:

choice. Olivia is the first choice.

Leif:

You saw, uh, uh, you saw Jeta Torres's name in the

Leif:

credits. Did you recognize her voice on the voicemail?

Steve:

Yes. Yeah, instantly.

Leif:

And Blair is in a room with the minions rattling off names

Leif:

of historical leaders. It looks like Blair is Having

Leif:

them research quotes because she is confident she will be the one

Leif:

giving the speech. Gossip Girl

Leif:

continues, though things are rarely as simple

Leif:

as they appear. Yeah,

Leif:

and then Olivia calls Mr. Ellis, and we

Leif:

find out that she was the other girl for the toast. And of

Leif:

course, they want, uh, the Hollywood starlet to give the

Leif:

speech over Vanessa. Gossip Girl takes us to the act

Leif:

break with. And

Leif:

something tells me we're in for a show.

Steve:

Oh, that's why. Okay, I thought that was that

Steve:

other scene. Might be. Sorry I spoiled

Steve:

ahead of it, but yeah, this is okay. So this is

Steve:

where we learn Blair is

Steve:

not in the running. The second choice. Yes,

Steve:

my bad.

Leif:

And we go into Act 2. Blair is

Leif:

meeting with Mr. Ellis and pleading her case to be the one to make

Leif:

the toast. However, Blair learns that she is, at

Leif:

best a distant third choice.

Steve:

And I thought you were talking about this scene

Steve:

before. Anyway, he doesn't like you.

Steve:

Blair, this guy is

Steve:

not. This guy is in no way,

Steve:

shape, or form charmed by

Steve:

anything you're bringing to the table.

Leif:

And why would he be?

Steve:

Why would he be?

Leif:

As Blair exits the office, Vanessa is just getting off the

Leif:

phone with her mom, who, it looks like, is coming to town.

Leif:

Blair manipulates Vanessa into thinking she has to

Leif:

take Olivia down.

Steve:

Vanessa, you're so fucking dumb.

Steve:

You know, Blair is

Steve:

always, always up to something.

Steve:

You know, you never trust her, and yet you just

Steve:

let her play you in

Steve:

real time, knowing you were

Steve:

being played and you just went

Steve:

along with it instead of just doing the normal

Steve:

Vanessa, uh, moral thing and going,

Steve:

hey, I heard you got that

Steve:

speech. I was supposed to give it.

Steve:

I'm kind of bummed about it. Have

Steve:

the grown up conversation that Vanessa always tries

Steve:

to do. But no, instead you're gonna

Steve:

fucking fall for Blair's

Steve:

bullshit. Yeah.

Leif:

Not a good episode for Vanessa.

Steve:

No, no, not a good episode

Steve:

for Vanessa. And an, uh,

Steve:

episode where Vanessa could have

Steve:

really shined. Yeah.

Leif:

And this moment right here, Honest.

Steve:

Yes. Right this moment right here,

Steve:

she decides to have a bad episode by

Steve:

deciding to let Blair into her

Steve:

head.

Leif:

Nate and Serena get off a freight elevator to find a

Leif:

bar and poker table set up in what looks like an under

Leif:

construction warehouse. Looks like Serena is playing

Leif:

PJ heads up for 25k

Leif:

when first.

Steve:

First of all, he drops the

Steve:

25k and Serena's like, that's a lot of money.

Steve:

Is it, Serena? Now, I would

Steve:

think that's a shit ton of money.

Steve:

But to you guys, Serena, you

Steve:

spend more than that in the summer gallivanting around

Steve:

Europe. Do you. Do you.

Steve:

Do you realize how much you spend on a

Steve:

daily basis. You

Steve:

have drivers in your employee

Steve:

who probably

Steve:

make just barely over that

Steve:

in a year because you just

Steve:

throw that money out

Steve:

as it is. Mhm.

Leif:

Vanessa is almost as bad at lying as a Humphrey.

Leif:

But luckily for her, Dan is as gullible as a small

Leif:

child. She successfully convinces him to

Leif:

disinvite Olivia from the meeting the parents in favor

Leif:

of a more low key romantic dinner for two.

Steve:

Yeah, Vanessa sucks, Dan. Don't thank

Steve:

her. She. She sucks. And

Steve:

she's again, she's clearly up to something.

Steve:

Oh, Dan does read it. Dan does read her.

Steve:

And then she lies again.

Steve:

So don't thank her, Dan. She

Steve:

sucks.

Leif:

Things are not looking up for Serena at the poker game.

Leif:

It's time to up the stakes. If Serena wins,

Leif:

Carter's debt is forgiven. However, if

Leif:

she loses, the Buckleys get a picture of Tripp

Leif:

holding a bong.

Steve:

When Nate re ups and buys back in,

Steve:

he drops half the amount of cash that he

Steve:

dropped when he first bought in. I also think

Steve:

it's interesting that the 10,000, the

Steve:

$25,000 around

Steve:

this time. Poker

Steve:

was huge.

Steve:

Um, it was on ESPN and it

Steve:

was. I, uh, mean it still is, but there was

Steve:

that point between in the

Steve:

early 2000s where Texas Hold'em just

Steve:

went crazy and all the big

Steve:

tournaments were about a $10,000 buy

Steve:

in. And so I think that it's interesting that the

Steve:

25,000, it's like people know

Steve:

what the stakes usually are. We've got to make it a lot

Steve:

more than that.

Leif:

In their dorm room, Vanessa and Olivia are talking

Leif:

about Dan backing out on the meet the parents dinner.

Leif:

Olivia gives Vanessa a present she brought back from

Leif:

Japan. Vanessa is showing signs of guilt.

Leif:

However, that doesn't stop her from stepping out into the hall

Leif:

to accept the toast and rub it in a minion's

Leif:

face. So uh, Patty.

Leif:

So Patty.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. And only

Steve:

fuels what Blair will do when you do

Steve:

that shit.

Leif:

The minion quickly runs into Blair's room and gives her the

Leif:

update about the toast. Phase one is complete. It

Leif:

sounds like phase two involves bringing back Chuck and Blair's

Leif:

sex game from the summer.

Steve:

Yeah, Blair is scheming and she is in

Steve:

full swing. Blair is in her

Steve:

element doing Blair shit.

Steve:

And it's funny, I

Steve:

recently in preparing some

Steve:

tiktoks, uh, for sort of a

Steve:

season two recap like we discussed.

Steve:

I was listening back to some of our

Steve:

old episodes and

Steve:

there's this time where I was

Steve:

like, I don't like how

Steve:

Catherine is

Steve:

steamrolling Blair and had Blair

Steve:

on her heels. So Much. And you

Steve:

said, this is Blair now. This is the

Steve:

character of Blair. And

Steve:

it really shines in this

Steve:

season, right, that Blair

Steve:

is constantly playing from behind

Steve:

and constantly trying to catch

Steve:

up and is completely out of her

Steve:

element in this season.

Steve:

And to see her

Steve:

gain this traction

Steve:

in the bulk of this

Steve:

episode, you

Steve:

almost think she's going to get away with it. You

Steve:

almost think, wow, Blair is back up to her

Steve:

old shit and she's

Steve:

flying high. And I thought,

Steve:

uh, without going into what happens later in the episode,

Steve:

I just think that that really was a reflection of

Steve:

this season, is a reflection of that side of Blair that

Steve:

is always playing from behind. Yeah.

Leif:

Back at the poker game, Nate gives Serena the

Leif:

nod to go all in. However, uh, looks like he got

Leif:

PJs tells mixed up because Serena goes down

Leif:

again and PJ gets the picture of Trip.

Leif:

Gobs with girl. Brings us to the act break with,

Leif:

oh, looks like Carter is going down to

Leif:

Texas and Trip's career is going up in

Leif:

smoke.

Steve:

Yeah, that. That photo of. Of

Steve:

Tripp smoking cannabis

Steve:

from a bong on his

Steve:

bachelor party.

Leif:

I think this is kind of referencing, um,

Leif:

Michael Phelps. There's a big

Leif:

hubbub about him holding a bong.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Around this time.

Steve:

Yes. Very similar photo, too. Is this.

Steve:

Is this zero nines right

Steve:

now? Right. So, 09.

Steve:

Obama's President Obama

Steve:

at this point has admitted to smoking weed. He

Steve:

admitted it on the campaign trail.

Steve:

And because it has been

Steve:

such a joke since Clinton,

Steve:

the I tried it, but I didn't

Steve:

inhale fiasco. Also,

Steve:

we had George W. Bush,

Steve:

who was like a, uh, cokehead in

Steve:

college. So at this point

Steve:

in New York City, I

Steve:

really don't think a bong, if he was,

Steve:

you know, doing rails off a hooker,

Steve:

Sure, I could see that still being a

Steve:

problem. Not today.

Steve:

Probably not as big a deal today. I

Steve:

expect our politicians are doing rails off of

Steve:

hookers most of the time anymore.

Leif:

Why you become a politician.

Steve:

Right. That's why. Become a politician. If I

Steve:

can't get cocaine and hookers,

Steve:

maybe a little ketamine.

Leif:

Act three begins. Vanessa and her

Leif:

mother, Gabriella arrive at Lily and

Leif:

Rufus's penthouse, and Gabriella

Leif:

teases Rufus about the new digs. However,

Leif:

Gabriella gets much more serious Barb in

Leif:

when the talk of NYU comes up.

Steve:

First of all, what's up, Zoe? Shout out. Shout

Steve:

out to Gina Torres. Again.

Steve:

I hated her. I thought she did.

Leif:

Yeah, she was worse than Vanessa.

Steve:

Yes. I actually think I have a note

Steve:

somewhere of I know where Vanessa gets it from. Yeah, I see where Vanessa

Steve:

gets it. From. And this is a little later. This

Steve:

is when she. Her later scene when she

Steve:

talks about Olivia. But

Steve:

the whole concept of this. First

Steve:

of all, I'll, uh, also say I didn't realize NYU

Steve:

was a private school. I thought it was

Steve:

either a public school or sort of like temple, where it

Steve:

was like state affiliated. So

Steve:

I didn't realize NYU was a

Steve:

private school. That's

Steve:

weird to me because

Steve:

it just is. But, uh, that being

Steve:

said, Vanessa, going to a

Steve:

private school, you have these parents who

Steve:

are clearly very educated

Steve:

people. Where'd you go to college?

Steve:

Did you, uh. And maybe they went to public

Steve:

schools, maybe they went to state schools. Did you go for

Steve:

free? Did you take out student loans? Or did you

Steve:

go for free? Because any college you went

Steve:

to, you paid for it. Unless you were

Steve:

getting full scholarships,

Steve:

but someone's still paying for it. It's still not free.

Steve:

You still are. Uh. Oh, well, I didn't pay for it. I was

Steve:

on a sports scholarship. You paid for it with your

Steve:

body for as long as you played those

Steve:

sports.

Leif:

You bring that up and we've kind of speculated

Leif:

the past that maybe Vanessa isn't as poor

Leif:

as she seems. Another thing that kind

Leif:

of popped up in the scene that might lend it to that.

Leif:

We also talked about how all the Upper east

Leif:

side parents call the boys by their

Leif:

full names. Daniel Nathaniel

Leif:

Charles.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Rufus calls him Dan. Nate.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Gabriella asked about Daniel. Will

Leif:

we be seeing Daniel today?

Steve:

That's. That is really interesting.

Steve:

And it, because it does, has

Steve:

always made that distinction between the.

Steve:

The Upper east side and Brooklyn parent

Steve:

parenting. It also

Steve:

is a level of detachment and a level

Steve:

of connectedness. Mhm. I know that

Steve:

Nate wants to be called Nate because he's been

Steve:

in my house and I hung out with him and listened to him.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

So I call him Nate. I know. I listen to my kid and

Steve:

he talks about Chuck, so I know he's Chuck.

Steve:

And so it demonstrates

Steve:

not only the division in

Steve:

stature almost, but also the division

Steve:

in being close with your

Steve:

kids. Mhm. Which obviously the woman

Steve:

who doesn't have any contact with her

Steve:

daughter for two and a half years is

Steve:

not very close with her kid. She also mentions that she just

Steve:

got back from traveling. So again, like, these

Steve:

are wealthy people, wealthy educated

Steve:

people. I will go on record as

Steve:

also saying I believe higher

Steve:

education should be free. I don't

Steve:

believe private universities should be free, but I

Steve:

do believe state colleges should be

Steve:

free. That's a personal belief. I'm

Steve:

not as an educator.

Steve:

And having said that, if my

Steve:

kid wanted to go to A private, uh, school and could

Steve:

afford it, then I'm not going to shit on

Steve:

them. But it's even more hypocritical when

Steve:

the knowledge you had isn't

Steve:

free. You're out here fighting for union workers.

Steve:

What are you doing? Are you a community organizer? Where did

Steve:

you learn how to do that? Are you lawyers?

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

So many questions.

Steve:

Yeah, it's just so.

Steve:

I'm 100% opposed to

Steve:

putting my shit on my

Steve:

kids. And parents who put their

Steve:

shit on their kids

Steve:

suck. And we all, uh. Every parent does it. And

Steve:

I know I have done it and I still do it. But

Steve:

it's a goal to not

Steve:

do, and especially not

Steve:

openly show disappointment in a decision

Steve:

they are confident is good for them,

Steve:

and they do that. My kids make decisions, and I'm

Steve:

like, ooh, I don't like that decision. I'll

Steve:

voice my opinion on what they're doing,

Steve:

but they make the decisions, and I

Steve:

support what they are doing.

Steve:

The level of just shittiness

Steve:

from this parent just this whole episode

Steve:

drives me nuts.

Leif:

At a bar, Chuck and Blair are discussing getting

Leif:

back to their game. The target, as you may have

Leif:

guessed, is Mr. Ellis.

Steve:

Yes. Chuck doesn't

Steve:

hesitate. I know early on

Steve:

we talked about, uh, Chuck being bi

Steve:

in the books and how it was

Steve:

kind of a missed opportunity for the show.

Steve:

At the same time, he's very

Steve:

confident walking up to this man and

Steve:

knows that he can seduce this man. And

Steve:

so it really does kind of lend

Steve:

into. With other things he says later

Steve:

in this. It lends into the fact that

Steve:

there is a

Steve:

bisexual. He's on that spectrum

Steve:

somewhere, which I.

Leif:

Think McKinsey scale or something.

Steve:

The Kinsey scale. Yeah, he. Yes,

Steve:

exactly.

Leif:

And definitely not all the way at the hetero end.

Steve:

Right? Exactly, exactly.

Leif:

Serena feels horrible about ruining Trip's

Leif:

campaign and wants to help Nate talk to the grandfather about it, but

Leif:

Nate pushes it off. Nate takes a call from the

Leif:

grandfather and reveals to the audience that the picture was a

Leif:

setup. Unfortunately for Nate, Serena

Leif:

overhears as well. Presumably they both know

Leif:

about the plan. And you're on the phone. Why

Leif:

do you take out the picture and talk

Leif:

about over the phone?

Steve:

Right. Yes, well, and it's.

Leif:

Although, just say the plan's working.

Steve:

Although, tell me that's not the most neat thing

Steve:

to do. Or, hey, granddad, the plan to,

Steve:

uh. The plan to disparage the Buckleys.

Steve:

It's in full effect. The fake picture that we sent

Steve:

them. Yeah, they believed it. And I have the real picture

Steve:

right here in my pocket. See? Nate,

Steve:

Shut. Shut the fuck Up. Put that. Oh,

Steve:

get rid of that. Shut the fuck up.

Leif:

At the penthouse, Rufus, Lily,

Leif:

Gabriella and Vanessa are enjoying pastries with

Leif:

Gabriella's rhubarb jam. Gabriella,

Leif:

who hasn't even met Olivia, begins shitting on her for being

Leif:

a shallow celebrity.

Steve:

She's the fucking

Steve:

worst. Just, oh, your

Steve:

roommate is a celebrity, so therefore she

Steve:

must be.

Leif:

Yeah. And, uh, also, so the previous

Leif:

scene, education shouldn't be for sale, or

Leif:

now it shouldn't be for sale. But in this scene, she's totally gatekeeping

Leif:

it from. You know, is she even qualified?

Leif:

Yeah, pick a lane,

Leif:

lady. Pick a lane.

Steve:

Yeah, well, she can afford it.

Steve:

Like what?

Steve:

What are you mad about?

Leif:

Uh, yeah.

Leif:

Olivia calls Vanessa, who once again lies and

Leif:

tells Olivia that Dan didn't want Olivia to meet his parents

Leif:

because they would hate her.

Steve:

This is where I wrote. I can see where Vanessa gets it

Steve:

from. Her mom is shitty at all. Everything

Steve:

except her timing on walking in on Vanessa.

Leif:

Back at the bar, Chuck is flirting with Mr.

Leif:

Ellis. Blair waits in the wings and watches as Chuck

Leif:

repeatedly tries to keep Mr. Ellis at bay.

Leif:

Blair only swoops in after Chuck fails to stop Mr.

Leif:

Ellis from kissing him. As Blair chases

Leif:

after Mr. Ellis, we learn that this was of course

Leif:

a setup so Blair could get the toast.

Steve:

For the Tribeca scavenger hunt.

Leif:

Yeah, number 27.

Steve:

Number 27 on the Tribeca scavenger hunt.

Steve:

I also think that it's

Steve:

interesting that the

Steve:

game itself, there was never a kiss.

Steve:

Blair always interrupted. Mhm. And when

Steve:

she sat there waiting until the

Steve:

kiss to barge in, it

Steve:

was like, what the fuck are you doing?

Steve:

Why did you wait? And then as soon as they get out there

Steve:

and she smacks him and then he turns around

Steve:

and we see that it's all a scheme. It's like,

Steve:

damn, you roped Chuck into this.

Steve:

Oh.

Leif:

Vanessa ignores Blair's call and

Leif:

Gabrielle sort, uh, of apologizes to Vanessa

Leif:

and promises to keep an open mind about tonight.

Leif:

I say sort of because she never actually says I'm sorry.

Leif:

Yeah, but it had to feel the

Leif:

apology scene.

Steve:

Yeah, Parents on, um, this are

Steve:

terrible at apologies.

Leif:

Dan burns the chicken and Olivia convinces him to go

Leif:

to the dinner party after all. Gossip Girl tells

Leif:

us. As for

Leif:

Lonely Boy, I suspect tonight is going to be a

Leif:

strictly a family affair to

Leif:

remember.

Steve:

Yeah, I don't really have much on this. I

Steve:

maybe still would have eaten some of that chicken. Like, cut

Steve:

away the skin. I think underneath there are parts of

Steve:

it that were probably still pretty good. Two seasons ago, Dan would

Steve:

have been like, here you go.

Leif:

Act four begins at the party,

Leif:

Blair finds Vanessa and rubs Mr. Ellis's flip

Leif:

flopping in her face. Vanessa begs

Leif:

Blair to not to steal the speech.

Steve:

Oh, Vanessa. I also

Steve:

had. This is I think when I had the realization

Steve:

Blair's parents aren't even

Steve:

there. Yeah. They're not even showing up to this

Steve:

thing.

Leif:

Dan introduces Olivia to Rufus and Lily.

Leif:

Olivia starts acting very out of character and tries to

Leif:

big time Lily with her insider connections.

Steve:

Yeah. Olivia, what are you doing?

Steve:

How is this how you. Oh, yeah.

Steve:

Dan is worried because his parents don't

Steve:

like vapid Hollywood

Steve:

celebrities. You know what I'll do to show

Steve:

them I'll be exactly what they

Steve:

don't like. Who? How is

Steve:

that? Yeah. Your logic.

Leif:

And also try to big time Lily. Really? I mean, she's

Leif:

like best friends with a major designer, has been a

Leif:

Manhattan socialite for over 20 years.

Steve:

Lily could probably fucking crush you.

Leif:

Is apparently best friends with Mayor Bloomberg, who is

Leif:

richer and more famous than most celebrities.

Steve:

Yeah. Huh. That

Steve:

Olivia girl, she irked me. I'm gonna buy

Steve:

the production company doing her next four films

Steve:

and shut them down and then sell them at a profit.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Chuck's plans are canceled, so he also shows up to dinner

Leif:

party. Amalia, uh, starts to blab about Blair's

Leif:

plan, but stops herself too late as Chuck sees Blair

Leif:

and Mr. Ellis chatting it up like a couple of

Leif:

besties.

Steve:

I love the. Chuck calls her a minion.

Steve:

Hey, you're one of the. You're one of the new minions,

Steve:

aren't you?

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

Where is she? Where's Blair?

Leif:

Serena confronts Nate about his lies.

Leif:

Nate finally reveals the true plan to discredit the

Leif:

Buckleys. Serena promises that Nate is going to

Leif:

regret lying to her as she walks off, cell phone in

Leif:

hand.

Steve:

The way that he's like, I'm sorry for lying to you. And she's like, you

Steve:

will be. And it's like, oh, God, it's going to be. It's

Steve:

vengeful Serena. We're going to get

Steve:

another hand spoonful of vengeful Serena. I'm not

Steve:

mad, but as we

Steve:

see.

Leif:

Her walking off the scene ends. We clearly hear

Leif:

calling information. Do we really

Leif:

think PJ Buckley would have a listed number?

Steve:

I also want to point out that once

Steve:

again, Nate is just being

Steve:

used by people. He is just.

Steve:

And it's often his family.

Steve:

And here his grandfather is just using

Steve:

him to help Trip

Steve:

win this campaign, and

Steve:

Nate just is blind to it.

Leif:

Family helps family.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

At the party, Olivia is still acting weird and out of

Leif:

character when Dan pulls her aside to ask her what

Leif:

the fuck is going on? Once they actually communicate

Leif:

with each other, they, they quickly figure out that Vanessa lied to both of

Leif:

them. Um, just as they come to this realization, they

Leif:

spot Vanessa stealing the microphone.

Steve:

Yes, I, I again reiterate. Why

Steve:

are you acting like this? And

Steve:

it's good that they finally talk to each other and

Steve:

have that conversation. They should have had that

Steve:

conversation at the house. Olivia should have asked

Steve:

Dan why. Dan should have asked Olivia why

Steve:

if that was on their mind.

Leif:

Well, Vanessa just kept getting in there at the right, just at

Leif:

the right moment to tell another lie.

Steve:

Exactly. Or to put another thought in their heads.

Leif:

Yeah, uh, going back to, um,

Leif:

Olivia's plan, I think she's basically just pissed off

Leif:

that Dan. She thinks Dan's embarrassed by her,

Leif:

so she's just blowing up.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, I, I, I do see that side of

Steve:

it too.

Leif:

Backstage, Vanessa hides the microphone and tricks

Leif:

Blair into revealing her true feelings about her own

Leif:

superiority and also the fact that she lied to

Leif:

Chuck. Just, uh, talk into my

Leif:

purse.

Steve:

Yeah. Vanessa, why do you think you're

Steve:

so much better than me? And please talk directly toward my

Steve:

purse. No, no, louder. I'm going to move it

Steve:

closer. Now tell me. Ha.

Steve:

Huh? Wait, there was a

Steve:

microphone in there.

Leif:

Blair steps out onto the stage and everyone

Leif:

silently judges her, including Chuck, who turns away in

Leif:

disgust. Vanessa momentarily cracks an

Leif:

evil grin until she is quickly confronted by a

Leif:

pissed off looking Dan and Olivia. Gossip Girl

Leif:

quips, Sorry,

Leif:

ladies. Les jeux sans fait.

Leif:

Thanks for playing each other.

Steve:

Yeah, you two fucked up. You

Steve:

two fucked up. You went at each other

Steve:

and you both fucked.

Leif:

I love how disappointed Rufus was.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

If you're curious, the les jusant fe, the

Leif:

literal translation is so les jus means the

Leif:

games or the plays, and san fe

Leif:

means are made. But the more accurate

Leif:

translation would be the bets are placed.

Leif:

Something, uh, you would hear at a Monte Carlo casino before a game of

Leif:

roulette.

Steve:

M. I can't remember if it's here or if it's

Steve:

right after where Rufus, where Rufus says, was that

Steve:

Blair? Someone really should have looked over that speech for

Steve:

best Rufus line

Steve:

in a while because I, uh, because,

Steve:

you know, Rufus hates Blair.

Steve:

Rufus has never liked her and,

Steve:

um, for good reason. But that was so funny.

Leif:

Act five begins.

Leif:

Vanessa confesses that she is the worst to Dan and

Leif:

Olivia. Gabriella walks up behind Vanessa

Leif:

just in time to hear Vanessa say she wishes Rufus and Lily were

Leif:

her parents.

Steve:

Her date just can't get any fucking worse.

Steve:

She's like, man, all this stuff, but my

Steve:

parents just totally fucking Suck and they're the worst

Steve:

and I wish that your parents were mine

Steve:

oh, hi. Uh, m. My mom's right behind me, isn't she?

Leif:

Lily helps Blair realize just how much she

Leif:

up with Chuck. Lily advises Blair to give Chuck

Leif:

a night to lick his wounds.

Steve:

Lily being.

Steve:

And Lily being an awesome

Steve:

mom again to someone who's not her

Steve:

kids. But also Lily just coming in

Steve:

there very much. I

Steve:

understand ambitious women.

Steve:

Like, this is Lily's life.

Steve:

She has never judged Blair for all of her

Steve:

bullshit and schemes. She sees Blair for what

Steve:

Blair wants to be. I think that this

Steve:

scene really kind of

Steve:

reestablished the relationship between the two of

Steve:

them and put

Steve:

Lily in more of a mentorship

Steve:

role. Uh, because here is this

Steve:

power. Lily is everything

Steve:

that Blair wants to be.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And so for everything you want to be, to

Steve:

be like, you done fucked up. Go let him go. Lick

Steve:

his wounds and call him tomorrow.

Steve:

But if you don't get him back on your side,

Steve:

you need someone that you trust, or you're

Steve:

screwed.

Leif:

They kind of hammered home two themes in this episode.

Leif:

One, communicate with your partner.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Chuck.

Steve:

Blair.

Leif:

And Dan and Olivia.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And that too.

Steve:

And Nate and Serena.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

If Nate would have gone. If Nate would have gone to Serena and been

Steve:

like, here's the whole plan. Play along.

Steve:

Serena would have done it.

Leif:

Maybe.

Steve:

Maybe. If it would have gotten.

Leif:

I don't think she would.

Steve:

I think she would have. If there was still a means of

Steve:

getting Carter out.

Leif:

Yeah. But then the

Leif:

second one is that Blair and Vanessa are basically two

Leif:

sides of the same coin.

Steve:

Yes, very much.

Steve:

And, uh, especially now that we're

Steve:

seeing evidence that Vanessa

Steve:

is even more wealthy than she's

Steve:

ever portrayed. That it's

Steve:

not that she couldn't go to college. Her parents

Steve:

wouldn't pay for her to go to

Steve:

college.

Leif:

Serena is lighting an abundance of candles in

Leif:

anticipation of a romantic reunion with Carter.

Leif:

Apparently, you can look a gift horse in the

Leif:

mouth because Carter decides he would rather work on an oil

Leif:

rig than to be pitied by Serena.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Carter being real.

Steve:

I actually respected this move. And this is at the

Steve:

point where I was like. And now

Steve:

also. Is this. Is this it for Carter? Oh,

Steve:

okay. I'm, um. I'm always just waiting

Steve:

for him to get the ax just because I know

Steve:

it happened. I wasn't mad about

Steve:

when he was clearly like,

Steve:

no, I agreed to this. I need to

Steve:

do this. I understood

Steve:

him. I wasn't mad about it.

Steve:

And, uh, especially the. Yeah, I

Steve:

don't want you buying my way out of these problems.

Steve:

And, yeah, I wasn't mad at Carter.

Leif:

Yeah, but the money was already spent.

Steve:

That's true. That is true.

Leif:

Vanessa, uh, chases down Gabriella to

Leif:

apologizes. Gabriella tells Vanessa to take a

Leif:

hard look at herself to figure out if she likes who this place is

Leif:

turning her into.

Steve:

How do you know what this place

Steve:

is turning your daughter into? You didn't hear the

Steve:

speech. You saw one bit of bad

Steve:

behavior that she was doing

Steve:

last year when she was in high school, and you weren't

Steve:

there to parent her. You're not even a parent to

Steve:

her. What do you know what she

Steve:

was before to say that this is what she's turning

Steve:

into? You don't fucking know your kid. You don't have a

Steve:

relationship with her. So save your disappointment

Steve:

for someone who you actually raise.

Leif:

Rufus and, um, Lily, unsurprisingly, think Olivia

Leif:

is the worst. Olivia is trying to apologize for her

Leif:

earlier behavior when Mr. Ellis surprised her by

Leif:

calling her up to give a toast. A young fan

Leif:

asked for a selfie with Olivia.

Steve:

Cute. And it was funny.

Steve:

And I. Yeah.

Leif:

Blair and Vanessa share a moment of solidarity as

Leif:

Gossip Girl has this to say.

Leif:

Nice try, ladies. You came out swinging, but

Leif:

never stood a chance against a Hollywood heavyweight

Leif:

who.

Steve:

Was never scheming at all, who was just

Steve:

along for the ride. You both

Steve:

schemed your way out of this and gave

Steve:

it to the person they wanted to have do it all along.

Leif:

Anyway, we go into the

Leif:

epilogue. Olivia is getting a second

Leif:

chance at making an impression on the Vanderhumps,

Leif:

this time with Jenny, but no Eric

Leif:

Vanderhumps.

Steve:

I think that's the first time I've heard you say it.

Leif:

Because they're officially married now.

Steve:

Yeah, they are. It didn't, uh. It. It took me a second to be

Steve:

like Vanderhumps in my mind. I immediately

Steve:

heard Vanderpump, which Robin

Steve:

loves. Vanderpump rules. The fact that I know

Steve:

what Scandival is. Scam Deval

Steve:

sand. Whatever. The Tom Sandoval

Steve:

situation, the fact that I know that

Steve:

name makes me want to play in

Steve:

traffic. And I'll

Steve:

be watching that show. Uh, I'll be doing something

Steve:

at home, and Robin will be watching it. And I'll hear something,

Steve:

and I'll relate or I'll hear it referenced in pop

Steve:

culture somewhere. I'll be like, God damn it.

Leif:

Blair goes to Chuck's hotel room to apologize. But

Leif:

Chuck isn't ready to forgive just yet.

Leif:

We get a needle drop as we begin the episode.

Leif:

Ending montage with Edward Sharp and the Magnetic

Leif:

Zero's classic Pop Home.

Steve:

Um, I thought that this was Such an

Steve:

interesting choice for a song

Steve:

because you have these

Steve:

people who. Their homes are not

Steve:

homes. Right now Rufus is leaving

Steve:

his home to a new home that he

Steve:

doesn't feel comfortable in yet. He made that clear to

Steve:

Gabriella. This is Lily's place. And Lily said,

Steve:

no, this is our place. You have Blair,

Steve:

who goes to seek Chuck, who

Steve:

is his home. I mean, especially if you listen to

Steve:

the lyrics to the song that that whole song has absolutely

Steve:

nothing to do with a place, has to do with the people you're with

Steve:

being your family.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And. And she goes to Chuck and Chuck isn't

Steve:

ready. I was worried Chuck had someone in there with

Steve:

him, but he closed the door and was alone. And I'm like,

Steve:

okay, I. I thought there was going to be, um,

Steve:

an orgy happening. He's

Steve:

like, opens the door to talk to Blair, but

Steve:

he's in solace because, you see

Steve:

Chuck seriously hurt his point to

Steve:

her.

Leif:

I know how you feel about the people you manipulate.

Steve:

Yeah. Oh, that's. That

Steve:

is rough. That is

Steve:

rough. And you also

Steve:

have Vanessa, who we haven't gotten to her

Steve:

next scene yet. But again, in with this

Steve:

song where home being

Steve:

family and her mom doesn't even stick

Steve:

around, we see Vanessa has.

Leif:

Been stood up by her mom who already is already on the

Leif:

road home. Gossip Girl chimes in with.

Leif:

When it comes to family, we're all still children at

Leif:

heart.

Steve:

Yeah, Zoe.

Steve:

Zoe's a bad mom. Yes,

Steve:

she was that. Ah, you didn't even go for you.

Steve:

You had to skip town so you couldn't.

Leif:

Hey, New York traffic is rough.

Steve:

I mean, I know it, but like.

Leif:

Oh, man, do you really want to spend time with

Leif:

Vanessa?

Steve:

Okay, fair, fair. I keep,

Steve:

you know, I keep putting this as my kids. I keep thinking about

Steve:

my kids and my kids are pretty fucking awesome.

Steve:

So like, I keep thinking about when I go to Lockhaven. I'm m

Steve:

definitely going to take Jake to the Texas

Steve:

before I head out of town. I'm definitely

Steve:

going to see him in the morning before I leave.

Steve:

I keep thinking about my kids, who are really cool

Steve:

and a lot of fun to be around and who don't

Steve:

suck. Yeah. So I guess if I was Vanessa's mom, um,

Steve:

I'd be pretty embarrassed just in general about what a,

Steve:

ah, annoying person I created

Steve:

in the first place.

Leif:

Brunch with the Vanderhumps appears to be going smashingly.

Leif:

And even Serena is there now. Gossip Girl

Leif:

continues. No matter how old we get, we

Leif:

always need a place to call home.

Steve:

Um, I love how Rufus is instantly

Steve:

over it. How it's not.

Leif:

He's got his. He's got his mugs now.

Steve:

He's got his mugs now.

Leif:

I love main characters.

Steve:

Yeah. I loved their reception at the

Steve:

beginning of brunch of Olivia. And

Steve:

I loved the little. Oh, yeah, Travolta has some of

Steve:

those. Oh, I'm kidding.

Leif:

It's like, fuck, I can't.

Steve:

I don't want to actually be the person.

Steve:

So I thought that whole thing was really cute. But I also

Steve:

just loved Ruth, Rufus being like.

Steve:

Yeah. Dan explained toppings.

Steve:

I love that about Rufus is Rufus, uh,

Steve:

embodies that unconditional forgiveness that a

Steve:

parent has to have.

Leif:

As long as it's Dan.

Steve:

As long as it's Dan. Well, he forgave Jenny. It wasn't

Steve:

unconditional.

Leif:

So we see

Leif:

Chuck was lying about having a meeting. He just wanted to

Leif:

drink alone. Gossip Girl continues.

Leif:

Because without the people you love most.

Steve:

Yeah, I spoiled that.

Leif:

And then Carter is taking a town car to the oil

Leif:

rig, and Gossip Girl continues. You can't

Leif:

help but feel all alone in the world.

Steve:

At least you get a limo to your

Steve:

oil rig job. They pick you

Steve:

up. They pick you up at your house.

Steve:

Yeah. To

Steve:

drive you to the airport. Probably on a PJ

Steve:

out to Texas to work off the debt.

Steve:

It's costing you more. It's probably costing

Steve:

them like a third of your debt just to get you to

Steve:

Texas.

Leif:

Blair finds Vanessa and joins her at this

Leif:

cafe. Gossip Girl concludes with.

Leif:

Fortunately, Misery Loves Company.

Leif:

Well, for now, at least.

Steve:

It was a great ending. The two of them sitting there

Steve:

together. I really liked that. I really

Steve:

liked they were losers together.

Steve:

We saw it earlier when they stood together when

Steve:

Olivia got the speech. And now we see it

Steve:

here that the two losers are being losers

Steve:

together because they fucked up so bad.

Steve:

And now they realize that

Steve:

and like you said, that they're two sides of the same coin.

Leif:

Uh, so this is the full Gossip Girl final

Leif:

monologue. When it

Leif:

comes to family, we're all still children at heart. No

Leif:

matter how old we get, we always need a place to call

Leif:

home. Because without the people you love most,

Leif:

you can't help but feel all alone in the

Leif:

world. Fortunately, misery loves

Leif:

company. Well, for now, at least.

Leif:

XOXO got some room.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Good way to end

Steve:

that good ending monologue.

Steve:

I, I again, I love the choice of song. I guess

Steve:

that would have, uh. The good choice of

Steve:

song. That song would have just been getting

Steve:

popular around then, because I know I heard

Steve:

it by the end of that year. I heard it in, like,

Steve:

November, December, that year for the first time.

Steve:

And again it just really

Steve:

hit that juxtaposition of

Steve:

the people having a home and not having

Steve:

a home and the

Steve:

family being the home where you

Steve:

really have Blair and Vanessa.

Steve:

Vanessa's mom clearly sucks, but also Blair's

Steve:

parents are mia. Like Blair was about to give

Steve:

this big speech too. Blair was on the

Steve:

ropes to give this big speech too. You're telling me that

Steve:

Harold and Eleanor couldn't fly into

Steve:

New York for a night. So they

Steve:

both have really nobody. Uh,

Steve:

that's their actual family.

Leif:

That is our episode. What's coming next.

Steve:

I'm wondering what the next steps for Blair

Steve:

and Vanessa are. Especially since

Steve:

in previous seasons we had the Vanessa episodes and

Steve:

the non Vanessa episodes. But she's

Steve:

really a, uh, full time at this point. She lives in the

Steve:

same dorm as Blair. Mhm.

Steve:

So I'm curious to see where that's

Steve:

going. I believe that they might be on

Steve:

a slight path to

Steve:

a seeing eye to eye.

Steve:

I think that that could make an interesting team up

Steve:

in the future. I'm curious, I'm really curious

Steve:

about Blair and Chuck. I'm wondering if this is the thing

Steve:

that Chuck that Chuck doesn't

Steve:

get past. And

Steve:

so I think that this could be the thing to

Steve:

break them up. All this time I was

Steve:

sure it was going to be another person.

Steve:

But I think this could do it. Or at

Steve:

least uh, even if it doesn't

Steve:

do it, it could lead to it that

Steve:

now that trust has been broken. Mhm.

Leif:

Yeah. Once you glue that something back together, it's never

Leif:

as strong as it used to be.

Steve:

Yeah. I also think Sabrina

Steve:

is going after Nate right now. Sabrina

Steve:

Serena.

Steve:

I did that at home too. I kept calling her Sabrina for some

Steve:

reason.

Leif:

In a sexy way or in a revenge way?

Steve:

In a revenge way. In a revenge way that

Steve:

she's Sabrina.

Steve:

Serena does not like to be

Steve:

manipulated and used and does not take

Steve:

kindly. And Serena is not,

Steve:

uh, she's sort of girl Nate in a lot of

Steve:

ways that it's the thing in front of her is the thing that

Steve:

she's going to go after that kind of golden retriever thing.

Steve:

And when she's angry, she just

Steve:

gets blinded by it. Like what

Steve:

she did to Chuck when Chuck hurt

Steve:

her feelings and she ruined million dollar

Steve:

business deals. And so I

Steve:

think that right now Nate is

Steve:

in her sights. Meanwhile, I think Nate is

Steve:

a clueless Labrador

Steve:

who's doing granddad's work because

Steve:

grandfather said, Nate, I need you to do this

Steve:

thing. And Nate just does it. Which is

Steve:

what Nate has done all along is what he

Steve:

Is told.

Leif:

Well, let's go ahead and get into some

Leif:

segments this week in fan.

Leif:

And we jumped into the Wayback Machine to visit the fan

Leif:

forums from 2009.

Leif:

Hello there, Peabody here. And this

Leif:

is the Wayback Machine for traveling through time. And

Leif:

this is my boy, Sherman.

Steve:

Speak German. Hello.

Leif:

Good boy. And

Leif:

most people thought this was a pretty

Leif:

bleh episode.

Steve:

Really. I enjoyed this

Steve:

episode probably more than most of

Steve:

this season so far.

Leif:

A lot of people saying Jenny needs to do more to

Leif:

do.

Steve:

Yes. Verified

Steve:

co sign.

Leif:

And, uh, yeah, there's also a lot of discussion on Taylor being wasted

Leif:

on the show and some random shade being thrown at

Leif:

Nina Dobrevs because they think, uh, Taylor should have been

Leif:

Atlanta Vampire

Leif:

Diaries started this year.

Steve:

Okay. So they thought that Taylor should

Steve:

have.

Leif:

Been the main character of Vampire Diaries

Leif:

because in the book, she's blind.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Now, I have

Steve:

not watched Vampire Diaries and

Steve:

so I'm assuming. So they wanted Taylor

Steve:

to leave Gossip Girl to go be the main character on this other

Steve:

show. And apparently. And now you're also saying that she was drunk

Steve:

on the show. What was the first thing that you said?

Steve:

I thought you.

Leif:

She's wasted on the show.

Steve:

Oh, see, I. When you first said that, I took that as

Steve:

wasted.

Leif:

Her talent is wasted.

Steve:

Her talent is wasted. Okay.

Leif:

Because she has no storylines.

Steve:

Yeah, they haven't really been giving her much. And

Steve:

she's electrifying everything she has done.

Steve:

That little interaction with Olivia,

Steve:

she's so cute in

Steve:

it. The one liner.

Steve:

Um, during the sewing

Steve:

marathon, you can go. She

Steve:

just owns what she does. So I can

Steve:

understand that argument. But also,

Steve:

she probably didn't really want to be on Vampire Diaries anyway

Steve:

because at this point, she's pretty sick of

Steve:

acting altogether.

Leif:

Her band is starting to take off.

Steve:

We. We were, uh. When we went up

Steve:

to the baseball game yesterday, when we went to see the

Steve:

Iron Pigs, a pretty reckless song came on

Steve:

my playlist. And it was one of those songs like,

Steve:

God, she's fucking pissed. And it was a

Steve:

slow song, but it was just all about

Steve:

being fucking used and manipulated to be an

Steve:

actor. And like, that first

Steve:

album has so much on it that it's

Steve:

like, oh, she was not

Steve:

happy.

Leif:

Um, that is it for this week in fandom. Let's move over

Leif:

to episode grades.

Leif:

You went first last time, so I'm going to go first this

Leif:

time. I kind of agree with

Leif:

the fans. This was a pretty middle of the

Leif:

road episode. Give it a

Leif:

slight bump because of Gina Torres, so

Leif:

I gave it a C plus.

Steve:

Wow. Okay. I don't think we've been this

Steve:

far off in a while. I actually gave this one an A

Steve:

minus. I actually. I

Steve:

liked the multiple schemes

Steve:

happening. I kind of liked. I thought

Steve:

Nate was less boring when he's not in a relationship and

Steve:

doing this stupid shit. I thought that there

Steve:

was a lot of. As, uh, I've clearly pointed

Steve:

out, there were a lot of holes in

Steve:

the ways things were presented. But

Steve:

as far as being entertained by what's going on in Gossip Girl,

Steve:

this really kept me in it the whole

Steve:

time. And so.

Leif:

Fair enough.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Moving over to Stockwatch.

Leif:

Going up. I had Dan and

Leif:

Olivia because they worked it out in the end.

Leif:

And, you know, Olivia's, uh, a star and gets

Leif:

the speech. Mr. Ellis because he

Leif:

gets to win the scavenger hunt.

Leif:

And Lily because

Leif:

she was much, much better this episode. She was really

Leif:

open. And I would have given

Leif:

Rufus enough, but I kept that in

Leif:

neutral because he had his little doubts there at the beginning and

Leif:

he tried to sabotage himself. But Lily's like that.

Leif:

You can have your. Your bugs. It's all good.

Steve:

We are 100% in

Steve:

agreement. I. I didn't do.

Steve:

Give Rufus anything for the exact same

Steve:

reason I gave Dan and Olivia the

Steve:

bump for working it out. I gave Lily the

Steve:

bump for her,

Steve:

especially her interaction with Blair. If nothing

Steve:

else, that alone just

Steve:

skyrocketed. And Josh

Steve:

Ellis, uh, for

Steve:

coming out on top, getting the kiss and the speaker

Steve:

he wanted in the first place,

Steve:

going down.

Leif:

Blair.

Steve:

Blair.

Leif:

Chuck, because he got manipulated by the woman

Leif:

he loves. Vanessa. He's

Leif:

horrible. Gabriella. Even worse.

Leif:

Carter, because he's going to an oil

Leif:

rig. Serena, because she got manipulated and

Leif:

didn't get Carter. And Nate because he tried to do

Leif:

a scheme but ended up screwing it up at the end.

Steve:

Okay, I had one more than

Steve:

you, but I had all of them.

Steve:

Blair, Chuck, Vanessa.

Steve:

Vanessa's mom, Carter,

Steve:

Serena, Nate. I also had.

Steve:

Is it Aubrey or Amelia?

Leif:

Um, Amalia.

Steve:

Amalia. I had Amalia because she literally got

Steve:

demoted by Blair,

Steve:

which, by rights,

Steve:

it should promote the other one. But you're still a minion of Blair, so

Steve:

you're staying neutral. And

Steve:

those are my downs. Same as you, plus

Steve:

Amalia. But here's the

Steve:

best outfits from the last episode

Steve:

we see.

Leif:

On to best outfit.

Leif:

There's a lot of good outfits. Um, yeah. You didn't like the Ali

Leif:

Saab dress? I did like that. My horny brain

Leif:

kind of wanted to give it to Olivia for that, uh, bandage

Leif:

dress. Because the damn one was. Or it's, like,

Leif:

yellowish. Oh. Oh, my party.

Steve:

Yeah, I was thinking of the top.

Leif:

That she was wearing now. The bandage. Yeah, the bandage dress.

Steve:

Yeah. That was really nice.

Leif:

Yeah. But, uh, I wasn't a fan of the color so I

Leif:

didn't ultimately give it to that. Even though she was showing everything

Leif:

off.

Steve:

Age appropriately at this point.

Leif:

So for me, I want Blair's green zipper dress

Leif:

from uh, Grace Sign with the gold necklace and the green

Leif:

jewels.

Steve:

At the very end. Yeah.

Leif:

She wants to go apologize to Chocolate.

Steve:

That is the same one I had.

Steve:

And for me it was when it really caught my eye,

Steve:

was in full lighting when she walked into

Steve:

the coffee house. The uh, cafe at the

Steve:

end where. And with the shot

Steve:

from the bust up with the. Where you really

Steve:

see that necklace and it just kind

Steve:

of shines against the dress and

Steve:

that gold zipper and just the way that they paired up,

Steve:

just eye catching. And also

Steve:

one of those Blair everyday

Steve:

stunning outfits that it wasn't her party

Steve:

dress, it wasn't her show off stuff.

Steve:

It's just her normal everyday outfits. I thought

Steve:

she looked great.

Leif:

That is it for segments. Anything you want to plug

Leif:

this week?

Steve:

I don't have too much outside

Steve:

of go ahead and check out my Instagram

Steve:

or TikTok or Threads.

Steve:

That seems to be popping off a lot for me lately.

Steve:

Uh, at Steve Marchon

Steve:

M A R C H I O N. You can

Steve:

also find me on bluesky Head

Steve:

Wizard. And aside from that, I

Steve:

don't really have much in the works.

Steve:

And most of the stuff I've been watching, everybody is

Steve:

watching anyway.

Leif:

Yep. Watch White, uh, Lotus. Watch good uh

Leif:

Cop, Bad cop.

Steve:

Yep.

Leif:

And if you want to follow me on social media, you can find me on

Leif:

Instagram and bluesky

Leif:

hotcapicola. That's hot.

Leif:

C A P I C O L

Leif:

A And if you want to follow the podcast, you can

Leif:

find us on Instagram, TikTok and

Leif:

Threads @ non judging Breakfast

Leif:

Pod. You can also find links to our, uh,

Leif:

subreddit, our Patreon and Discord

Leif:

servers at nonjudging breakfast

Leif:

pod.com and if you'd.

Steve:

Like to get in touch with us, we'd love to hear what you have to

Steve:

say. Go ahead and send us an email at

Steve:

non judging

Steve:

breakfastpodmail.com

Steve:

and we'd love to hear what you have to say and read it back on

Steve:

the air. We'd also really appreciate it if you

Steve:

can give us a like a follow

Steve:

subscribe and leave a comment on

Steve:

Spotify and Apple podcasts

Steve:

because it really helps with our visibility. And while you're

Steve:

at it, go ahead and tell your friends what you're listening to. Get

Steve:

them to chat about us during the

Steve:

week and make us your new water cooler.

Steve:

Talk.

Leif:

And we will be back next week to Talk about

Leif:

Season 3, Episode 7

Leif:

How to Succeed in Bassness.

Steve:

I m saw the title.

Leif:

The max episode description reads,

Leif:

chuck's club opens.

Steve:

Oh, shit.

Leif:

Well, uh, until next time. You know you love us.

Steve:

XOXO Every time you walk

Steve:

away run away you take a piece of me you

Steve:

with you there every

Steve:

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

Steve:

m me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

oh it seems I'm walking right to

Steve:

your door

Steve:

my heart's still resting looking for

Steve:

something more

Steve:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean

Steve:

to me I'm trying really hard to believe

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

um every time you walk away or run

Steve:

away you take a piece of me with you

Steve:

there every time you walk

Steve:

away or run away you take a piece of me

Steve:

with you there never

Steve:

feels right when I'm out here on my

Steve:

own

Steve:

I left last night and it feels like

Steve:

way too long.

Steve:

Are.

Steve:

You ever gonna see everything you mean to me

Steve:

I'm trying really hard to believe

Steve:

every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Steve:

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 m me with you there

Steve:

come back to me

Steve:

smile and you'll make my life

Steve:

complete

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of m me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me you with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there

Steve:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there.

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Non Judging Breakfast Pod
A Gossip Girl Podcast

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