Episode 1

S4E01 - "Belles de Jour"

The Non-Judging Breakfast Club is back for Season 4! 🥞☕ Leif (the seasoned Gossip Girl veteran) and Steve (the rookie, diving in for the first time) kick things off with the Parisian glamour of the Gossip Girl premiere.

In this episode, they break down:

  • Blair and Serena’s Paris adventures and the fallout of past scandals
  • Chuck Bass’s dramatic return and reinvention
  • Nate’s questionable choices and new entanglements
  • Why this season feels like a rebirth of Upper East Side chaos


It’s a fresh start, new lies, and plenty of scheming. Whether you’re rewatching or experiencing it all for the first time, join us for laughs, insights, and all the gossip hotter than ever.


----------------------------------

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pods.

📱 Follow us on Threads, IG & X @NonJudgingPod

🧇 Leave a review if you love waffles and wild plot twists

🔗 http://nonjudginbreakfastpod.com

🔗 http://njbpod.captivate.fm/discord

----------------------------------

Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion. 

Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.

The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion.

Transcript
Leif:

You know, her highly reputable dad went to med school there.

Steve:

He was recently honored, and I'm sure that they

Steve:

would be really proud of him.

Steve:

Oh, boy. but it's not like anyone's ever gonna

Steve:

know because no one wants a scandal, on the Upper east side.

Leif:

Hey up re Ciders and all you SK Scandal loving listeners out

Leif:

there, you just tuned into the non judging breakfast

Leif:

PD where the coffee is strong, the

Leif:

waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter

Leif:

than ever.

Leif:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

the newbie the first time through. What

Steve:

am I now that we've hit season four?

Leif:

I know you think I'm crazy, that I'm a

Leif:

schemer and a liar and pathologically

Leif:

selfish. And that's true. Or it was.

Leif:

At least until season four.

Steve:

Hey, there's nothing like birthing a new season

Steve:

to get you back into

Steve:

full, form here.

Leif:

Fair enough.

Steve:

Just as long as we don't talk about your georggina.

Leif:

That's all we're talking about this episode.

Steve:

So here's the deal, folks. Leaf has

Steve:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

your dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama,

Steve:

romance, and sometimes questionable fashion

Steve:

choices of this iconic

Steve:

2007 series.

Leif:

Bring your magnifying glasses, because each week we're

Leif:

dissecting every juicy detail of the show

Leif:

one episode at a time. We'll connect the

Leif:

dots, unco, cover those sneaky little Easter eggs,

Leif:

and of course, serve up some piping out behind the

Leif:

scenes tea. And expects some iconic moments from

Leif:

Phantom too. Because what's a deep dive without a little

Leif:

drama?

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity

Steve:

here at the non judging breakfast pod, there

Steve:

is always a seat for you at the non judging breakfast

Steve:

table. So go ahead and grab a

Steve:

mimosa, a cup of coffee, or

Steve:

maybe call up. Well, I don't know

Steve:

where to get anything from now. And now that Chuck'has gone.

Steve:

So guess. Grab that little black book and hope there's a

Steve:

secret back page to it. Yeah. And

Steve:

let's go ahead and get into this.

Leif:

Yep.

Leif:

Season 4, Episode 1 Belle D?

Leif:

Joour Original Air Date was September

Leif:

13, 2010 But

Leif:

a little over a month before that, on June

Leif:

4th, our friend Chase Crawford

Leif:

was arrested in Plano, Texas for a

Leif:

joint. Hey, Joy.

Steve:

Oh, man. And it's

Steve:

funny. So I saw the mugshot. You just showed me the

Steve:

mugshot. And how do you look that

Steve:

good In a mugshot

Steve:

like, you look like he got his stylist in

Steve:

there. It looks like Nate Archibald got his

Steve:

stylist in there before getting his mug shot taken.

Leif:

Well, you gotta rest it, like in a strip ball.

Steve:

And for a joint, like it

Steve:

was Texas. It was Texas. You could still

Steve:

get arrested in Texas for a joint. Yeah.

Leif:

He is from Texas.

Steve:

Oh, I think I did know that.

Leif:

And his sister is married to Tony Roma.

Steve:

Yes, I did remember. I do remember. We talked

Steve:

about that. The, Wait,

Steve:

how many? Super bowl ring champion Tony

Steve:

Romo. I'm trying to remember.

Steve:

I believe that was zero. Right.

Leif:

Judges, judges, can we get a rulling?

Steve:

We get a rul.

Leif:

Yes, it was. It was a fact.

Steve:

0'Okay okay. Good, good.

Steve:

But then they got Dak Prescott, who now, of course,

Steve:

has. Wait, wait.

Steve:

that's also zero, isn't it? Yes, yes.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

Also zero. Abby'for Mr. Roo.

Steve:

Yes. Zero. Yes. Well,

Steve:

if you can't get through a broadcast without needing a

Steve:

loenge, I don't think you get an Emmy.

Leif:

This episode aired, on September 13th, and. But it was

Leif:

based on the movie Belle de Joour, which came out in

Leif:

1967, in which a frigid young

Leif:

house voice decides to spend her midweek

Leif:

afternoons as a prostitute.

Steve:

Interesting.

Leif:

Very French thing to death.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Definitely not an American movie.

Steve:

No. And it's. The

Steve:

description of Frigid is

Steve:

interesting because there's a lot of

Steve:

context that that just means not interested in

Steve:

sex. And so

Steve:

to then professionally be like, well, you know, I'm not

Steve:

really into this with my husband, but

Steve:

professionally, I

Steve:

think I'd make a killing. You?

Steve:

I'm good at it. I don't like it. It does feel

Steve:

like work. So why not just make money doing

Steve:

it?

Leif:

Makes sense to me.

Steve:

Like George Carlin always said, fucking is

Steve:

legal. Selling is legal. Why isn't selling

Steve:

fucking legal?

Leif:

So, this episode is written by, once again, the combination

Leif:

of Josh Avfron and Stephanie Savage.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. It

Steve:

feels it. It's funny how

Steve:

Stephanie Savage can't really do one on her own, but when

Steve:

she's paired with Saffron like this, there

Steve:

tends to be a lot. A lot more

Steve:

continuity. It's almost like Stephanie Savage

Steve:

throws ideas on a page. Whereas

Steve:

where she becomes sort of this Lennon McCartney, when

Steve:

she's working with Josh Saffron, we.

Leif:

Josh Schwart or Josh Schwartz.

Steve:

Right. When she has that other

Steve:

writer with her.

Leif:

Well, she doesn't have a writer's background. She was a producer

Leif:

who got the opportunity to write.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And Back again in the director's chair is

Leif:

Mark Paznarsski, who did the

Leif:

pilot, the Wild Brunch, Blair

Leif:

Waldorf, Mus'pie Valley

Leif:

Girls, Dan Def Floret, The

Leif:

Grandfather Part I 2, and the Treasure of

Leif:

Serena Madre.

Steve:

Pretty solid.

Leif:

Very.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wild Brunch

Steve:

was episode two, I will eat. Yes, right. So he did the

Steve:

first two episodes.

Leif:

Correct.

Steve:

Okay. I don't know why I thought Buckley did. Oh,

Steve:

I think Buckley did the third, right?

Leif:

No, that was the guy who did the season finale. Jay Miller

Leif:

Tobin.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Cause the third one was Poison Ivy.

Steve:

Right?

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Which was been one of our favorites

Steve:

all along.

Leif:

And then so the last one he did was the Treasure of Serena Madre, which

Leif:

is the last season's Thanksgiving episode.

Steve:

Yes. And Blair Waldo from West Pie was

Steve:

Thanksgivingod 2. Right.

Leif:

Season one Thanksgiving.

Steve:

Yeah. So he's done two Thanksgiving episodes.

Steve:

So. Yeah, very solid. Very solid

Steve:

credits.

Leif:

And I don't know if you notice, but, Taylor Bumpsson is still

Leif:

credited as main cast.

Steve:

I did not. Well, I didn't realize see

Steve:

her name in the credits.

Leif:

O.

Steve:

You know, maybe I didn't just

Steve:

wrote it off. But that's

Steve:

interesting that she would still have a, credit. Unless

Steve:

she's still on the show and just

Steve:

has a lesser.

Leif:

I mean, she's still under contract. She's still listed as main

Leif:

cast.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

So she's still getting paid for every episode, supposedly.

Steve:

That's the job I want. I justnna be

Steve:

main cast on a show, Steve.

Leif:

Isn't that another job you have had for the last like five

Leif:

years?

Steve:

Okay, Duce.

Leif:

What a us that vulture recap, Al.

Steve:

right, here we go.

Steve:

Even by Upper east side standards, the characters

Steve:

that populate the world of Gossip Girl are

Steve:

privileged. Many of the things that

Steve:

preoccupy huge swaths of the

Steve:

minds and time of even New

Steve:

Yorkers of serious means comes to

Steve:

them effortlessly. Their hair is always

Steve:

perfectly groomed, even Vanessa. They

Steve:

have the ability to stay fit and thin

Steve:

without ever going to the gym. They can

Steve:

flit seamlessly through time and

Steve:

space from burrow to burroug in the blink

Steve:

of an eye. They can be accepted into Ivy

Steve:

League colleges without having to write an essay or

Steve:

even fool around with someones dad, we

Steve:

think. And they never even step into bad

Steve:

lighting. But as fortunate as they are, life

Steve:

still occasionally hands them a big bag of shit.

Steve:

In dans case this happened quite literally,

Steve:

we saw in last nights Vermeer in the form of

Steve:

Milo, his supposed baby son

Steve:

with Georgina Sparks. By the time we

Steve:

catch up with him, Dan seems to have come quite a

Steve:

way toward accepting this change of course in the

Steve:

life hed planned for himself, other than telling his

Steve:

parents, of course. But Ive sealed

Steve:

my fate, he says to Lily when he does. And he

Steve:

doesn't sound too sad about it, perhaps

Steve:

because he can put off the

Steve:

dispiriting reality of being a professional

Steve:

writer a bit longer.

Steve:

Elsewhere, other cast members were grappling with

Steve:

their sudden storyline changes.

Steve:

Serial monogamous Nate, having dated pretty

Steve:

much every other primary female cast

Steve:

member, loses himself in Chuck's little black

Steve:

book. Serial philanderer Chuck,

Steve:

after being shot and left four dead in Prague, adopts

Steve:

a new personality, complete with Eastern

Steve:

European time warp wardrobe. And

Steve:

Blair and Serena come close to realizing

Steve:

that their true loves may be each

Steve:

other. I don't think they'll ever

Steve:

realize that.

Leif:

Let's get into the episode. Act one begins with

Leif:

a Gossip Girl monologue.

Leif:

Nothing beats a summer abroad. But when

Leif:

traveling far from home, it's always nice to bring along

Leif:

an old friend from the neighborhood cobblestones

Leif:

and Cafe de flur. Serena'locked down

Leif:

the Left bank and becomeused to us all.

Leif:

Meanwhile, Blair rules the Right bank,

Leif:

storming the shops and consuming the classics and

Leif:

sampling sugary snacks like a modern

Leif:

Marie Antoinette. But we hear

Leif:

Serena's stories sizzle while Blairs are

Leif:

more fizzle. She's shopped at Sa

Leif:

Laurent and died at Durn,

Leif:

but the only beau he's had in summer is on

Leif:

her headband. We get a montage of

Leif:

Blair and Serena andjining Paris before we focus on

Leif:

them at an outdoor cafe, talking

Leif:

all about all of Serena's boys and Blair's lack

Leif:

of them. Blair is looking for a real

Leif:

connection and it's. And not just a

Leif:

fling.

Steve:

Yeah, or she's going to come home with a

Steve:

Chuck bast sized cloud over her head

Steve:

and you. You go to Paris to find

Steve:

romance. And

Steve:

Blair is doing it Blair way.

Leif:

Rufus and Lily apparently also took evigation,

Leif:

but are back at the penthouse and listening to their answering

Leif:

machines. There are messages from both

Leif:

Eleanor and the Bass business manager, Bruce

Leif:

Kaplan. Rufus is still rightfully

Leif:

salty about Chuck and Mrs. Dan since he hasn't

Leif:

spoken to his son all summer.

Steve:

Remember answering machines? Yeah, that were

Steve:

already outdated by this point.

Steve:

Or later in the episode. Vaness is

Steve:

like, I left that in Dan's voicemail.

Leif:

They all have cell phones.

Steve:

They all have cell phones. But Lily now

Steve:

has a. Well, I guess Lily has canonically had a

Steve:

landline that they have called both

Steve:

places on a landline. So it makes sense for there to

Steve:

be and well, no, because even by

Steve:

then it was voicemail.

Steve:

M Even when I had a landline,

Steve:

there came a point that it was just voicemail.

Leif:

Lysen to that classic retro look.

Steve:

Yeah. Still, do you know what the nostalgia does

Steve:

for her?

Leif:

Dan and Nate have a phone cover station. Dan is

Leif:

living vicariously through Nate's little black book exploits

Leif:

and living in denial about being a father.

Leif:

Dan promises that he will tell his parents today, but just

Leif:

then Vanessa is at the door.

Steve:

I love that

Steve:

Nate and Dan how Dan's going to Nate for

Steve:

these stories to fill him

Steve:

in that Nate seems to be having a

Steve:

really fun summer

Steve:

where with you see all the women

Steve:

in the law in the

Steve:

penthouse with him and so

Steve:

nice little bit of banner. And also I love that Nate

Steve:

knows. I love that Dan confided in Nate

Steve:

about this whole thing. So I love that

Steve:

friendship, especially after how

Steve:

last season ended with them kind of fighting

Steve:

with each other and, But having that great apology and

Steve:

making up.

Leif:

Welle, they made up the fast forward

Leif:

there at the end, the very end of the episode.

Steve:

Right. That's what I'm saying is that, like, the way that it

Steve:

transitioned to them making up

Steve:

and now for them to actually have this summer

Steve:

of real friendship, like, real

Steve:

friend stuff of like being

Steve:

there for each other and talking to each other. So.

Leif:

And they had a very similar summer to

Leif:

Serenas IND was like, yeah, yeah, I had

Leif:

that.

Steve:

I had that thought too. That there is a parallel between,

Steve:

I had that thought of how

Steve:

they.

Leif:

Both had some fun.

Steve:

They both had some fun. There's at one point Serena says,

Steve:

nate broke up with me. And it's like, no, you told Nate you

Steve:

wanted to be alone. And then he said, okay, then we're broke.

Steve:

Broken up. Like, it was a very

Steve:

mutual thing. And you both went off and

Steve:

did your own thing. So.

Leif:

Back in Paris, Blair and Serena are

Leif:

discussing Serena's choice of Nate or Dan.

Leif:

Serena gets a large envelope delivered, but is hesed

Leif:

to open in front of Blair, who seems to think it's a

Leif:

catalog for Brown. Yeah,

Leif:

Serriena's lying again. Alri rightty.

Steve:

Yep. we're kicking off a new season,

Steve:

some with some vand der lies.

Leif:

Lily is meeting with Bruce Kaplan, who is looking

Leif:

for Chuck, who hasn't been making his mortgage payments.

Leif:

He is hoping Lily can help track him down.

Steve:

This is. Where was Rupa standing

Steve:

there?

Leif:

Nah, that was earlier. That was at like, when they

Leif:

were playing the party or maybe later.

Steve:

Oh, okay.

Leif:

yeah, this is just where, yeah, Lily'meeting with them.

Leif:

And. Or on the phone with them, rather.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Leif:

And then lily, calls serena, trying to find

Leif:

chuck and serena. Thankfully,

Leif:

chuck has, Serena says, thankfully, chuck has stayed away all

Leif:

summer. She also tells lily that she got into columbia

Leif:

and is worried about blair, how blair is going to

Leif:

react.

Steve:

And there is also that setup that

Steve:

right before Serena lied where blair was

Steve:

like, I'm so glad you're nowhere near me.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

So serena has reason to be worried

Steve:

about what blair's gonna think.

Steve:

But also, don't lie about it, Serena.

Leif:

Vanessa is upset. Dan is called,

Leif:

hasn't called or emailed all summer. Vanessa

Leif:

becomes a little worried when she sees the state of theoft, but then gets

Leif:

upset again when she spives drorgina's panties.

Leif:

Perfect timing, because drorgina comes out carrying dan's

Leif:

son milo.

Steve:

Yeah, I did like this. I liked

Steve:

vanessa looking around the room,

Steve:

and she had some

Steve:

great just shots

Steve:

at this situation, like, oh, I guess you're not alone.

Steve:

And dan just being like, u. so when she

Steve:

finally goes, I guess I should leave. And dan's like,

Steve:

yeah, yeah, you should.

Leif:

And then we move into act two.

Leif:

Nate sits down at a crowded restaurant with a

Leif:

blonde who is having a very animated phone

Leif:

conversation. The woman at the next table is

Leif:

trying to read a book and is annoyed at the situation.

Leif:

Sorry. Annoyed at the distraction. When nate's

Leif:

d gets up to continue her conversation somewhere a little more

Leif:

private, he tries to banter with the book reader.

Steve:

Yeah, and failseah,

Steve:

the partd I loved was he's like, I'm nate

Steve:

archibald. And she ignores him, and he's like, well,

Steve:

can I at least get your number, Bro, she's not

Steve:

giving you her name. You

Steve:

expect her number. Well, can I just get

Steve:

your social couple

Steve:

things?

Leif:

So she was reading wharton's house of the mirth.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

did you ever teach that?

Steve:

No.

Leif:

You have you read it?

Steve:

No, I'm not familiar.

Leif:

So it is a satire on, new york high society.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Interesting.

Leif:

And a little small continuity era. like, the camera kept

Leif:

switching back and forth between behind nate's

Leif:

shoulder, behind juliet's shoulder.

Steve:

Hu.

Leif:

When it was behind nate's shoulder, she had the book

Leif:

open completely.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

When she was behind her shoulder, it was, like, folded over.

Steve:

Yeah, she just kept opening and closing

Steve:

it and. Yeah. No. Yes. It's

Steve:

funny. I didn't catch it, but I'm seeing it.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Blair is approached by a frenchmanile admiring an

Leif:

edward manet painting. He politely introduces

Leif:

himself as louis and compliments her beauty.

Leif:

Also, for some reason, he Was reading her watch from

Leif:

across the room and figured out she was from New York

Leif:

and not from her divine French accent.

Leif:

They make plans for a late dinner tonight.

Leif:

While putting her info into Louis'phone

Leif:

she overhears him speaking rapid French to his

Leif:

driver. And here's the Grimaldi name.

Steve:

Yes, I was unfamiliar with the

Steve:

Grimaldis of. I didn't know their name,

Steve:

but I obviously Monaco

Steve:

royalty and princess Grace and

Steve:

all that. I'm peripherally familiar.

Leif:

Prince Albert.

Steve:

Prince Albert. Oh, yeah. Really?

Steve:

I didn't know that they invented that.

Leif:

Yep, they invented

Leif:

that. At least they popularized it.

Leif:

Did. See? So the painting they were looking at was,

Leif:

le dejun sur le. Which

Leif:

translates to luncheon on the grass.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

Did you get a look at it at all?

Steve:

Not particularly. I was paying more attention

Steve:

to.

Leif:

So it's a picture

Leif:

of two men and

Leif:

a naked woman having a picnic,

Leif:

and then there's a second woman kind of in the background in the

Leif:

water.

Steve:

Interesting. I did not notice

Steve:

that. And that is so

Steve:

telling. Y. Like, that is really

Steve:

funny. That's really funny.

Leif:

Are, you kicking yourself with that? Thinking of Monaco last

Leif:

week?

Steve:

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Once he

Steve:

said it, I was like, prince of

Steve:

Monaca, near France. Yeah.

Leif:

Blair immediately calls Serena to tell her she may

Leif:

have bagged a prince and is on her way to being the

Leif:

next Grace Kelly. Blair needs

Leif:

Serena to help her do some emergency shopping

Leif:

before her date tonight.

Steve:

I love this, and I love it's

Steve:

the Serena knows that she can always get

Steve:

what she wants. I think that that is part

Steve:

of why Serena is such a narcissist and

Steve:

why she is so entitled is. Cause she really

Steve:

does just get what she wants. Like, oh, here's a cute

Steve:

bartender I'm gonna slay like

Steve:

I've got it right's.

Leif:

yeah. In the elevator, in the dark. D. Yeah. Did you

Leif:

mention my name?

Steve:

Yes. Yes, exactly.

Steve:

So when she's out with this

Steve:

guy, and she gets the call that Blair needs

Steve:

her, I love that she drops everything for

Steve:

Blair in these moments. And she always

Steve:

drops everything for Blair when Blair says, I need you.

Steve:

But this one is a little different. Cause Blair isn't

Steve:

having a relapse with

Steve:

her eating disorder or she's not

Steve:

facing with something horrible that Chuck did.

Steve:

It's I need to go shopping. But it's

Steve:

still Serena always dropping everything

Steve:

when she says those words, I need you.

Steve:

And you just know that Serena's like, I could get this

Steve:

anytime. I could have this anytime.

Steve:

There are millions of you in France.

Leif:

Yeah. It was completely being this sex for Serena.

Steve:

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

For hereah. for her. Yeah. And she's a ride or

Leif:

die.

Steve:

Yeah. And I do love that. Like

Steve:

she always a ride or die at the end of the day.

Steve:

So.

Leif:

So we get the obvious Grace Kelly reference here, but

Leif:

also topical to this time period

Leif:

in the real world, 2m months

Leif:

after this episode aired was when

Leif:

Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton.

Leif:

so we're right in the heart of that whole thing.

Steve:

Okay. Oh, so right, there

Steve:

was American royalty or there

Steve:

was British royalty dating an

Steve:

American.

Leif:

And while Blair and Kate Middleton don't look exactly the

Leif:

same and they're both small brunette

Leif:

women, they have the same body type and

Leif:

coloring.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Katy Perry's teenage dream greets our

Leif:

eardrums as we get a montage of high end

Leif:

power shops and a Gossip Girl blast.

Leif:

Spotted bns cheek and

Leif:

cheerful up on the boulevard O

Leif:

small. They dollied at department stores

Leif:

and stayed a while at Ali Vile

Leif:

down on Rue St. Herie. They courted

Leif:

couture at Palais Royal and

Leif:

found the perfect outfits to bash the competition.

Leif:

Then they headed to the Golden Triangle where

Leif:

Montaign meets Georges. So. And

Leif:

luxury goods are the opiate of choice.

Steve:

All right.

Leif:

And then, little mid act montage

Leif:

with a, Gossip Girl blast in there.

Steve:

Yeah. But of course, this one

Steve:

is' this was an actual blast though,

Steve:

right?

Leif:

I believe so.

Steve:

yes, yes, yes. Which that

Steve:

was also interesting in this episode that a lot of Gossip

Steve:

Girl was blasts and

Steve:

less narration. More blasts. Yeah, that. It's

Steve:

almost like Gossip Girl is featured

Steve:

a little more in this

Steve:

episode than

Steve:

others as an active

Steve:

participant in these people.

Leif:

Indeed. Lives could be hit to

Leif:

get something.

Steve:

Could be. Which I doubt it is, which makes me

Steve:

even more mad. But we'll get

Steve:

there.

Leif:

Blair is excited to find out more

Leif:

about Louis, but Serena advises against

Leif:

googling him. I guess they stopped getting those Microsoft

Leif:

dollars this season. Blair gets a text from

Leif:

Louis and has a friend, so

Leif:

she enlists Serena to double with them. Serena

Leif:

uses this as an excuse to further delay telling

Leif:

Blair about Columbia.

Steve:

Yeah, she's about to tell her.

Leif:

And then Blair ask a favor.

Steve:

Yeah, as. As a weor asked her to go on

Steve:

this date, but also shoots her down

Steve:

at first.

Steve:

As much as I'd like to hear about how they offer a course in raw

Steve:

foods,

Steve:

we have more important things to talk

Steve:

about.

Leif:

Georgina is being pressured by a mysterious

Leif:

Russian car and is stressed due to the demands of

Leif:

parenthood. She answers a call from a

Leif:

confused Rufus. Georgina is holding Milo's

Leif:

birth certificate. The list stand'name but not

Leif:

yet signed. Yeah, Is that how

Leif:

that works?

Steve:

Nope.

Steve:

I mean, legally.

Leif:

Nope.

Steve:

I don't think that there's,

Leif:

I guess what if the dad's not there?

Steve:

Right. Well, and that's kind of the thing

Steve:

is, I think maybe what it

Steve:

does is that it says, yes, this is

Steve:

my kid. But even then, a paternity

Steve:

test still negates that

Steve:

signature. So it doesn't matter, you know,

Steve:

if a kid's born and I sign yes,

Steve:

this, I'm the father on this birth certificate

Steve:

and then I find out six years later that

Steve:

the mom cheated on me and that that's not actually

Steve:

my kid. I'm not on, you

Steve:

know.

Leif:

Ah, that's not necessarily true.

Steve:

No.

Leif:

If you've been raising that kid, I believe they

Leif:

have often still been.

Steve:

If you've been raising that kid and you're like, well, fuck you, you're not

Steve:

mine. You're a piece of shit. Like, there is that. There is

Steve:

that. But I feel like, well, let's be more like

Steve:

six months later. I'm very sure you

Steve:

can be like, I'm not sure.

Leif:

Ex. The exact timeline.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. But there is a point where you

Steve:

are no longer going to be

Steve:

obligated even if you sign this thing. But,

Steve:

well, Dan

Steve:

Youuck ID is dumb

Steve:

ass.

Leif:

but he is cute as a dad.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Dan and we are. Are walking and talking. Dan is

Leif:

freaking out about being a dad and isn't telling anyone. As

Leif:

a form of denial, Vanessa points out that he is an

Leif:

idiot for not having a paternity test done.

Steve:

I liked this scene. Yeah, I really liked.

Leif:

That's what was really good in this episod. She was a great friend.

Steve:

She was fantastic. Like you said, she was a great

Steve:

friend. And this scene, especially

Steve:

where she has reason to be

Steve:

upset and hurt, and

Steve:

yet she's just being there and being a good friend to

Steve:

Dan and listening and giving him hard advice and telling

Steve:

him things that he needs to hear.

Steve:

I thought it was a little weird that it's like

Steve:

you need a paternity test. And Dan pushed back before

Steve:

being like, well, yeah, won't. But I won't sign the thing unless

Steve:

I get one. I thought there was a little

Steve:

fumbling of the dialogue.

Leif:

But all in all, I think that's the conflicted nature. I think

Leif:

Dan kind of likes being a dad.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Even though he knows he's not really ready. But he does

Leif:

like it.

Steve:

Yes. And here's the thing.

Steve:

It's very easy

Steve:

to like at that

Steve:

point because,

Steve:

you are up a lot and you are exhausted

Steve:

and I mean Bailey was awful at

Steve:

night. We couldn't get them to sleep at night.

Steve:

So it is. You're kind of too

Steve:

exhausted to reflect on much else other

Steve:

than I don't want to break this thing.

Steve:

And which Dan mentions where Dan is like, you

Steve:

know, you have to, like, feed them and you

Steve:

can't drop them. And that's really. You

Steve:

go through, like this nine month

Steve:

period where that's all you are

Steve:

focused on unless you. I was

Steve:

working at the time when my kids were born. So when I

Steve:

went to work, it was okay. I'm working and

Steve:

doing work stuff. But as soon as I get home, everything

Steve:

going through your head is, don't kill the baby. And

Steve:

so I really, And it's

Steve:

also. It's exciting and it's sort of a game

Steve:

almost. So, like, the

Steve:

real difficult parts of

Steve:

parenting haven't

Steve:

started yet. And I love being a

Steve:

dad. I think, you know how, you know, I feel about my

Steve:

kids and how close I am with my kids. I

Steve:

love being a dad. It takes time

Steve:

to really understand the

Steve:

entire scope of what you have done when you've

Steve:

created a child. And I feel like Dan hasn't

Steve:

gotten there yet.

Leif:

And Vanessa had a couple good lines in the scene. He had the

Leif:

donpe t mention of her Geordian and

Leif:

also her hair. Lies. You can't trust one thing that

Leif:

comes out of her mouth, let alone anywhere else.

Steve:

Robin also cracked up with that.

Leif:

They missed a chance to call the baby Damien.

Steve:

They did. They did.

Steve:

Although I feel like Milo might be

Steve:

something there might be.

Steve:

That might be a reference. Now that you say Damian,

Steve:

I could be off.

Leif:

Blair is shocked to see Louis driving the car

Leif:

and not in the backseat. It looks like things got

Leif:

mixed up. And now Sarita is dating the prince.

Steve:

To which I said, wow, it's the prince and the

Steve:

pauper, which, you know,

Steve:

the. I don't know. I called

Steve:

this immediately when they. When they got out

Steve:

of the car. O. Yeah.

Leif:

And plus, we already did this in season two.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes.

Leif:

And like, season two, Blair fails and the guy still comes

Leif:

back.

Steve:

Does he? Yes.

Steve:

I was wondering. I kind of had a feeling

Steve:

that he would, but likeuse. he doesn't in this

Steve:

episode, but.

Leif:

It'S in the episode description, so. Oh, it is for next

Leif:

week.

Steve:

Oh, okay.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl takes us to the next break

Leif:

with

Leif:

spotted be riding shotgun.

Leif:

Let's see if our royal wannabe has a grace to

Leif:

make it through the night.

Leif:

Act three begins. Paying

Leif:

off from her earlier voice message. Eleanor and her

Leif:

people have invaded Lily's penthouse for the fashion Night

Leif:

out party. Rufus is annoyed that Lily is

Leif:

tracking Chuck. Eleanor hears Chuck's name and

Leif:

mentions that Blair still hasn't told her why they broke

Leif:

up. We see the woman that Nate failed to chat

Leif:

up at the restaurant, working at the party and

Leif:

learn her name is Juliet.

Steve:

The Rufus reaction I

Steve:

thought was interesting

Steve:

because I understand his

Steve:

fury with Chuck,

Steve:

but he's like I hope this kid's dead almost.

Steve:

And that's what bothers me. That like I

Steve:

get that your. Your daughter was. Has been through

Steve:

some serious shit because of this guy and that you're

Steve:

really mad at him, but to just be

Steve:

like, oh, he might be in trouble. Fucking

Steve:

good. Good. I hope his body washed up on

Steve:

a shore somewhere. Which I know that's later, but

Steve:

like bruh, he's still

Steve:

an 18 year old kid and

Steve:

he is your

Steve:

stepson weirdly in a kind

Steve:

of roundabout way. So like

Steve:

maybe tone it down a bit. Although I also don't know how

Steve:

I would feel, you know, but like I don't wish

Steve:

people de. So I. Yeah, he just was a

Steve:

little callous, I thought.

Leif:

On the double date, everyone except Blair seems to be

Leif:

having a great time. Blair is going right while

Leif:

everyone else goes left. Blair excuses

Leif:

herself to take a call from Eleanor.

Steve:

Wonder what Eleanor has to say

Steve:

now that Lily slipped the

Steve:

info to Eleanor.

Leif:

About Brown

Leif:

on the phone with her mother and irritated

Leif:

Blair insist that she has matured beyond petty jealousy

Leif:

of Serena. Elor says that's great since they are going

Leif:

to clubump you together, huh?

Steve:

Yes. How much have you outgrown that, Blair?

Steve:

Let's find out right now.

Leif:

Just not near any fountains.

Steve:

Yeah. Or cake.

Leif:

Nate shows up at the party and learns Juliet's name

Leif:

from her name tag. Before he can try

Leif:

flirting some more, Lily pulls him away to see if he

Leif:

can help her find Chuck.

Steve:

I like that. And list Nateah.

Steve:

He's a good. The thing

Steve:

you're forgetting is that Nate really isn't so much in the

Steve:

putting together stuff and thinking things.

Steve:

He's not really Detective Nate, but he

Steve:

knows people that do. And also it makes sense,

Steve:

you know, he's probably gone to Prague with Chuck.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Blair returns to the table to find French

Leif:

British singer and actress Lou Dean

Leif:

in her seat chatting it up with Serena.

Leif:

Blair tells Serena that Lou Dolan can be her new

Leif:

best friend and enjoy her date before storming

Leif:

off.

Steve:

So that's a cameo? Yes. Oh, okay. I

Steve:

didn't.

Leif:

Well, she has an actress.

Steve:

Ye.

Leif:

But she's. She's camez herself.

Steve:

Right, Right. That's what I mean.

Leif:

But she blends in a little bit more than a normal like

Leif:

fashion person.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Kind. She does know how to act.

Steve:

Was. I was very much like why is.

Steve:

Why are we just introducing this person, this new friend

Steve:

here? That makes a lot of sense.

Steve:

And for them to kind of put a

Steve:

cameo little shoeorned. But

Steve:

it made sense. It makes more sense that

Steve:

Serena met a famous person. Yeah, that makes a

Steve:

lot more sense. And feels less

Steve:

shoehorned. This scene felt shoehorned to me. Like

Steve:

why is this woman sitting at their table? Why

Steve:

is she meeting new friends in the middle of their double

Steve:

date? Double date. So that makes a lot more sense.

Leif:

But yeah. And ah, that's what Serenia would

Leif:

do.

Steve:

M H yeah. Oh, I could totally see her being a

Steve:

star fucker like her mom. Ye.

Steve:

Or Rem.

Leif:

Her friendship with Poppy.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Neither Nate nor Lily are happy to see Georgina

Leif:

at the party gulping a mimos as she snatched from the nearest

Leif:

cater waiter. Nate tries to pull her out of the party,

Leif:

but she shrugs his vanilla ass off.

Leif:

Georgina calls Dan and then hands the phone to

Leif:

Rufus before revealing baby

Leif:

Milo.

Steve:

Fucking Georgina was

Steve:

spectacular in this

Steve:

scene. Walks in, you got 15

Steve:

seconds to refill this or you're fired. Some

Steve:

random cater waiter then

Steve:

tells Naties to vanilla and just tears

Steve:

through this whole fucking scene. Did she pull the

Steve:

baby out yet? Yeah, yeah. And she p.

Steve:

She's like, here you go, grandpa. Just

Steve:

this fucking Tasmanian

Steve:

devil ripping through the

Steve:

scene and she crushed it.

Steve:

Every time in season two and three that we get

Steve:

Georgina, it is just

Steve:

so far removed from who she was

Steve:

in season one that it felt so clunky

Steve:

and so, so

Steve:

forced. And now she just seems so

Steve:

effort. Effortlessly

Steve:

crazy. You know. And just

Steve:

owns her scenes now. I just really

Steve:

love what Michelle Trachtenberg has

Steve:

done with the character now.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl takes us to the break with

Leif:

spotted Georgina sparks a straw

Leif:

and Dan's dad with a scowl. Looks like

Leif:

lonely boy has a baby boy.

Steve:

I like that one. Yeah.

Leif:

We go into Act 4. Lily

Leif:

quickly breaks up the party to deal with this new family

Leif:

drama. Dan finds Nameate first and then

Leif:

Rufus and Lily suggests that they talk in

Leif:

Serena's room.

Steve:

Why would you empty out your party though?

Steve:

Like why not just send them into another?

Leif:

She doesn't want the scandal.

Steve:

Oh no, it's Lily. Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

She's trying to avoid scandal.

Steve:

Yeah, I just kind of was thinking you just. I feel

Steve:

like it makes it a bigger deal to send everybody

Steve:

out instead of being like, oh, here's some random people. Go sit in another

Steve:

room 't even talk about this where no one can hear you

Steve:

talking about it.

Leif:

Nate tracks down Juliet and does some more

Leif:

flirting. However, he is once again interrupted, and this

Leif:

time, it's the empire security alerting him

Leif:

to something happening in his suite.

Steve:

Yeah, then you just hear the

Steve:

ruckus in the background.

Leif:

Now, why didn't the

Leif:

security tell them what was going on? Or if they

Leif:

did, why would Nate bring Juliet to see

Leif:

that?

Steve:

I. Okay, I was going to say that. And

Steve:

when they showed up, that, like, why

Steve:

is she there?

Steve:

Oh, man. There's an emergency at my thing. You

Steve:

better come with me, person I'm trying to hook

Steve:

up with. I hear a bunch of women screaming

Steve:

in the background of my room. You gotta

Steve:

see this.

Leif:

Check out how much booty I'm getting.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. I know you're not really impressed

Steve:

with me so far, but if you see how much ass I pulled

Steve:

this summer, you will definitely turn your. Turn

Steve:

your whole idea around. Enlightened, notach

Steve:

chauvinistic.

Leif:

bless your heart. Blair

Leif:

is sitting on a fountain by herself when Serena tracks her

Leif:

down. Blair reveals she found out about

Leif:

Serena.

Steve:

Going to Columbia and another one of

Steve:

these bestie fights that,

Steve:

And it makes good tension between these

Steve:

two.

Leif:

We'll continue the next scene, but I guess this is

Leif:

a good time.

Leif:

I need to talk about. What was the

Leif:

timeline on Serena applying to Columbia?

Steve:

Right, because we know

Steve:

that Blair didn't actually apply. Didn't actually

Steve:

apply, but was accepted. And

Steve:

there'the deadline after the deadline at the

Steve:

beginning of, Before the end

Steve:

of the school year. Yeah, right. She. All of those

Steve:

were sent out, but she didn't apply because she had missed

Steve:

the deadline. Which means that Serena

Steve:

knew that she applied to Columbia

Steve:

way before that. Or

Steve:

Serena serenaed her way in like she did

Steve:

to. To Yale. Ye. Which is

Steve:

my real assumption that Serena's like,

Steve:

where Blair applied to

Steve:

Columbia. Serena told

Steve:

Columbia I'd like to go here, and they

Steve:

sent her a welcome packet.

Steve:

That's where I would assume, you know.

Leif:

Her highly reputable dad went to med school there.

Steve:

Yeah,

Steve:

he was recently honored, and I'm sure that they

Steve:

would be really proud of him.

Steve:

Oh, boy. it's not like anyone's ever gonna

Steve:

know, because no one wants a scandal on the upper east

Steve:

side. Highly

Steve:

reputable. And the highly

Steve:

reputable Holland Campbell is Dr.

Steve:

Holland Campbell as well.

Leif:

No. 3 is. She was a child.

Steve:

Is she sereno have

Steve:

aspirations of medical school? Because, sweetie,

Steve:

maybe a psychiatrist, maybe.

Leif:

Georgina apologizes to Lily for the dramatic

Leif:

reveal, but she felt like it was the only way to get

Leif:

Dan to face reality. She then plays on

Leif:

Lily's maternal instincts for other people's children

Leif:

to get her to soften up towards Myla.

Leif:

Rufus comes out of Sera's room and tells Lily

Leif:

that Dan hasn't done a paternity test.

Leif:

Georgina comes prepared because she produces a

Leif:

paternity test showing that Dan's the daddy.

Leif:

Rufus remains skeptical.

Steve:

Oh, well, there you go. There you go. She had

Steve:

the test done. That must be legit.

Steve:

These people with unlimited resources.

Steve:

That's gotta be legit. Dan. But you know what? Call

Steve:

and check. Call and make sure. We'll get back to

Steve:

you.

Leif:

I'm sure it was actually your sample.

Leif:

Serena and Blair continue to argue. And Serena

Leif:

wants to continue on with what she has always

Leif:

known. But after Blairair's horrible freshman year at

Leif:

NNU and the Chuck drama, she wanted

Leif:

a clean slate, away from her old life.

Leif:

Blair says she is going back to the date alone

Leif:

and that she will say as Serena tripped and

Leif:

fell into a fountain. And then she

Leif:

pushes her into a fountain.

Steve:

Yes. Which

Steve:

I loved. It kinda. You know, it's just so

Steve:

classic Blair and it's so classic Blair

Steve:

and Serena that Blair is mad at

Steve:

this thing. And I'm going to lash

Steve:

out and shove your face in a

Steve:

cake or push you into a fountain

Steve:

or tell everybody that you

Steve:

have that you're a drug addict in recovery. You know,

Steve:

like, she does these overly dramatic

Steve:

things when she's mad at Serena

Steve:

because Serena's the only person who would put

Steve:

up with her bullshit.

Leif:

Indeed.

Leif:

And we move into Act 5.

Leif:

Dan confirms the paternity results for the doctor, but

Leif:

Rufus is still doubtful. However, it is enough for

Leif:

Dan who signs the birth certificate. Dan and Rufus

Leif:

embrace. Dan, bless your

Leif:

heart.

Steve:

You called to her doctor that she gave the

Steve:

sample to. That's not

Steve:

verification. You may have just called

Steve:

a photo hut that just at

Steve:

this point in time, was so hurt for money

Steve:

because no one was getting film developed anymore

Steve:

that she. That she just paid them off. Like you don't know

Steve:

who you just talked to.

Leif:

Again, all she could have done is just get the actual

Leif:

dad's sample and submitted that.

Steve:

Yeah. Or that.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Either way.

Leif:

Cause we know, she's actually cut off that so she doesn't have

Leif:

a ton of money.

Steve:

That's true. That's true.

Leif:

She can't just go around bribing people. So it's much more likely that she

Leif:

just had a father's sample.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Ready for this moment, Nate and

Leif:

Juliet returned to the Empire suite to find a

Leif:

Cadre of women in lingerie playing rock band

Leif:

3. Nate is flustered, and Julia has

Leif:

seen enough. She gives Nate her number and

Leif:

instructions to call her when he gets his shit

Leif:

together.

Steve:

What was the emergency, though?

Leif:

I guess they were just being loud and disturbing. Other guests

Leif:

maybe.

Steve:

Yeah, but like, doesn't Chuck do that all the time? Like,

Steve:

it's the. Yeah, it just didn't seem to be.

Leif:

I think Chuck's party is more subthu

Leif:

subuede.

Steve:

Yeah, it just didn't seem too

Steve:

crazy to me. It just seemed like a bunch of women

Steve:

playing Rock Band. Yeah, that seemed pretty

Steve:

harmless to me. And also, once again,

Steve:

why is Juliet there? Why did you.

Steve:

Why did you invite this person with you? Or

Steve:

did she invite herself? Because at the reveal

Steve:

at the end, we know that she may have been

Steve:

like, oh, well, let me go with you. But

Steve:

also, why would you want to got take.

Leif:

I gotta take care of this my end. Yeah,

Leif:

yeah, I'd love to see you for lunch tomorrow.

Steve:

Yeah, I'll call you. And she gives him her

Steve:

number too. She's like, man, well, if you're ever, ready

Steve:

to actually talk now, I'll give you my number. Now that

Steve:

I've seen this craziness. Okay,

Steve:

I'm into you, but not now.

Leif:

Oh. Nate getting taken advantage of by a guest star yet

Leif:

again. Lily ask

Leif:

her stepson about his romantic future with

Leif:

her daughter. Dan thinks that

Leif:

that ship is sailed, and he doubts Serena wants to be a

Leif:

stepmom. This doesn't stop Dan from asking how she

Leif:

is, though.

Steve:

Yeah, sweet Dan. And

Steve:

also fair.

Leif:

It's an awkward conversation.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, super awkward. Yeah. You know,

Steve:

I almost wanted to hit it with your daughter. Mom,

Steve:

but. But

Steve:

I. But, you know, I ended up, getting this.

Steve:

This other person pregnant, so.

Leif:

Womp, womp.

Steve:

Yeah. So I guess, yeah, I don't think I'm gonna be dating my

Steve:

stepsister.

Leif:

A dripping Serena re enter the restaurant and

Leif:

pulls John Michelle away to take her home.

Leif:

Being alone with Louis, Blair starts making excuses to

Leif:

leave. Which, when Louis reveals that

Leif:

she has failed his test, Louis was

Leif:

in fact the royal all along. Wa.

Steve:

No.

Leif:

Blair, you dumb bitch.

Steve:

So fucking stupid. Blair, you did

Steve:

it again. Blair, I, want you

Steve:

to love me for me. Or maybe before me,

Steve:

but you're hot enough that I don't care.

Steve:

Also, I don't often say this

Steve:

because I in general, don't

Steve:

really think this very often

Steve:

watching the show, but Serena looked hot

Steve:

when she got out of the water. Like when she walked

Steve:

in in that scene that was like, that's kind of

Steve:

hot. Like, to walk into the restaurant and be like,

Steve:

walk me home to that dude. I'd be like,

Steve:

okay, sure, Sure.

Leif:

I can do that.

Steve:

Yeah. And there's so much of this show. It's like,

Steve:

these are teenagers. And I know they're not

Steve:

teenagers, but I to keep my own

Steve:

immersion. I don't think of them

Steve:

like that. You know, it's

Steve:

so seeing Serena that come in like that,

Steve:

it was like, damn. Which is

Steve:

just. I don't usually think like that

Steve:

about her.

Leif:

It's a little bit different me. Cause I was watching it when I was the same

Leif:

age as the actors.

Steve:

Right. No, and I get that.

Steve:

And, because there are other shows that it's

Steve:

more where I have that sort of

Steve:

sense, you know, that, like, where

Steve:

it's not like I think these teenagers are

Steve:

hot, but when I watch this as a

Steve:

teenager, they were hot.

Leif:

You get that, Lily. Nostalgia boner.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly. Yes.

Leif:

Gossip Girl takes us to the break with.

Leif:

We hear Bakarat just updated its menu.

Leif:

The ghetto d Jour is now humble pie.

Leif:

Bo Blair.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

So we know. We remember Lord

Leif:

Marcus. So, we know that actor was American. Do we

Leif:

think Louis is American or is he actually

Leif:

French?

Steve:

I kind of feel like he has

Steve:

an American swagger to

Steve:

him, which makes me think he's not

Steve:

really French. But I also think his

Steve:

accent is pretty impeccable, so it could be.

Leif:

I, believe he actually is French.

Steve:

Yeah, he nails the accent.

Leif:

So we move into the

Leif:

epilogue. Vanessa calls the

Leif:

loft and Georgina answers the two spar.

Leif:

But the general gist is that Vanessa is ready to

Leif:

be Dan's friend whenever he needs her. As she hangs

Leif:

up, Georgina leaves a post it note with a message that she's gone

Leif:

to the spa. Passport in hand, she exits

Leif:

aloft. And we see a shot of Dan sleeping with

Leif:

baby Milla.

Steve:

Again, Georgina. This

Steve:

whole episode, she walks in and

Steve:

drops the bomb, the little one. But this whole

Steve:

episode was really her just dropping a

Steve:

chaos bomb and post a

Steve:

note. Going to the spa. And

Steve:

I saw the bags packe the first time, so I

Steve:

knew she was running away. I didn't notice the

Steve:

passport the first time. I didn't notice that

Steve:

she was running all the fuck away. Yeah.

Leif:

Oh, Dan, you're stuck now.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And that's the last time we ever seen Regina Sparks.

Steve:

No.

Leif:

Oh, no. I'm just kidding.

Steve:

Oh, okay, good. I was gonna say I would be.

Leif:

Really sad because y stuck with a babe for the rest of the series.

Steve:

The rest of the year.

Steve:

well, then just use it for baby

Steve:

oile. They squeeze the oil

Steve:

from the babies. They have to wring the oil from the

Steve:

babies. Is that how they do it?

Leif:

Blair finds Serena packing and sort of

Leif:

apologizes. Blair tells Serena that she has been

Leif:

faking all summer and that she isn't even close to

Leif:

being over the pain of what happened with Chuck.

Leif:

This softened Serena's stance. The two make up

Leif:

and agree to give Columbia a shot. Blair sends the

Leif:

tip to Gossip Girl and we get some shots of the

Leif:

masses reading the blast.

Steve:

Yeah, it's kind of the classic Blair

Steve:

manipulation of Serena of

Steve:

I did something really terrible to you.

Steve:

Now here's the really terrible thing

Steve:

I'm going through, so forgive me.

Steve:

Yeah, it's not an unnatural thing to

Steve:

do. It is also something

Steve:

that many of us do to especially the people we

Steve:

love. You. You lash out at the people you love

Steve:

because you know they'll forgive you. So.

Steve:

But it is that same sort of

Steve:

manipulative,

Steve:

oh, my life is so terrible. I

Steve:

need you here. And, Serena also

Steve:

rightfully being like, you know, I went through some shit last year

Steve:

too. Yeah, I. And if

Steve:

you went measure for measure for that

Steve:

year, I'd say Serena had

Steve:

it a bit worse. Mostly because I'm

Steve:

saying Serena had more

Steve:

stuff happen, I guess.

Steve:

Well, I guess some of that was preeason before,

Steve:

but most of Serena's stuff.

Leif:

Was brought on by herself.

Steve:

But that's also true. That is also

Steve:

true.

Leif:

Flair got trafficked by her boyfriend.

Steve:

That, yeah, she did get trafficked by her boyfriend.

Steve:

Attempted, traffic, but traffic nonetheless.

Leif:

One of the people who see the blast was Nate,

Leif:

who calls Juliet to admit that he was hurt by

Leif:

someone. Juliet invites him to the coffee.

Leif:

During this conversation, we saw Juliet putting tags

Leif:

back on her outfit. After hanging up, she immediately rips the

Leif:

tag off again and puts the jacket back on. And we

Leif:

get a shot of her bulletin board with pictures of the

Leif:

NJBC and a map of Manhattan with

Leif:

strings tacked between the points of interest. There are

Leif:

even pictures of Dan and Vanessa on there. And her computer

Leif:

is open to Gossip Girl.

Steve:

Yes. Bum, bum, bum.

Leif:

Who is Juliet?

Steve:

Yes. So the one thought is,

Steve:

is this Gossip Girl? It

Steve:

would be really weird to not have it be

Steve:

a cast member or even like a

Steve:

peripheral cast

Steve:

member. But yeah, I feel like it'd be

Steve:

weird to have Gossip Girl be a,

Steve:

not an extra, but a short

Steve:

lived. Now I also don't know that she's short

Steve:

lived. I feel like we're going to need a

Steve:

Jenny replacement to balance things

Steve:

out. I'm pretty sure you and I, talked

Steve:

about there will be another permanent cast member that comes in

Steve:

that's on the COVID in

Steve:

on the HBO Max M. And I've never

Steve:

really paid enough attention to clock that because

Steve:

it's like I don't know who that is. So I'm not worried about it. So I don't even

Steve:

know if that's the same person.

Leif:

It's naturally yet.

Steve:

okay. I didn't think so. But is

Steve:

this Gossip Girl? That seems like a stretch. Do they want me to think

Steve:

it's Gossip Girl? Absolutely.

Leif:

In the middle of the night, Lily gets a call from the

Leif:

Paris police. They found a body

Leif:

with a gunshot wound and Chuck Bass's

Leif:

identification.

Steve:

Is Chuck dead?

Leif:

I could change one thing from this episode. I

Leif:

would'put this reveal much earlier in the

Leif:

episode and then wait till the

Leif:

end. But you get this. Oh, she gets the call and then

Leif:

immediately oh, there's Chucky's alive.

Steve:

So I actually would have

Steve:

made that be XOXO

Steve:

that a body washed up on the street Gossip

Steve:

Girl monologue out and not find

Steve:

out this Chuck shit until next week. Till next week.

Steve:

I think that. I think they should have let us think

Steve:

he's dead. Yeah. For

Steve:

And I think you're saying the same thing, that they should have let us think

Steve:

for a while that Chuck is dead.

Steve:

And Yeah,

Steve:

I. Because I like that she had to like investigate,

Steve:

hear about it. But then it'sh. He's dead. Then we

Steve:

flash right to no, he's not. And it just

Steve:

seemed the wasted opportunity.

Steve:

Yes. It seemed like the writers were like, oh, but we can't.

Steve:

If people think he's actually dead, they might not

Steve:

tun next week.

Steve:

We better let them. Yeah.

Leif:

So that's why I say just put the Lilyy getting that call

Leif:

in the be.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

But the final scene is before we get. We

Leif:

can all start Morning Chuck. We get a flashing sequence where we

Leif:

see a writhing Chuck being treated by floor

Leif:

delacour post gunshot. Chuck sees

Leif:

flashbacks with some of the horrible things he has done

Leif:

before. We flash forward to him waking up. He

Leif:

looks around the room and sees a copy of

Leif:

Henry V and introds himself as Henry

Leif:

Prince. The scene flashes forward it again

Leif:

to present day and the parent are now

Leif:

a couple arriving in Paris looking for

Leif:

work.

Steve:

I loved this episode. I

Steve:

maybe not loved, but I really enjoyed this

Steve:

episode until this. And I don't

Steve:

even mind this storyline. I just thought

Steve:

the reveal was so

Steve:

anticlimatic and just

Steve:

especially with there being no space

Steve:

to mourn like you said, to mourn

Steve:

Chuck. Good storytelling would have us

Steve:

Mourn, Chuck. Good storytelling

Steve:

had us mourning Tyrion before he realized that he

Steve:

was okay. Good storytelling lets

Steve:

you mourn first. And we

Steve:

didn't get that.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl ends the episode with this

Leif:

line.

Leif:

Napoleon once said, secrets travel fast in

Leif:

Paris, but Gossip Girl travels

Leif:

faster. Bezoo bizzoo.

Leif:

What's coming next?

Steve:

I'm curious. Is Nate

Steve:

gonna have an interesting relationship?

Steve:

Because there is somebody who's going to have a

Steve:

relationship with Nate who has

Steve:

piqued my interest more than anyone else

Steve:

he's been with because of this whole she's

Steve:

got ulterior motives that we know

Steve:

now upfron the other time

Steve:

with the last one at the beginning of last season

Steve:

when she was with when he was with the Buckley.

Steve:

And we find out later that she was

Steve:

scheming it was such a boring

Steve:

relationship to get to that reveal. So at

Steve:

least now if it's a boring relationship, at least the reveal

Steve:

is up frontt so we know there's something else going on.

Steve:

Again, I feel like this

Steve:

episode sets up a season nicely.

Steve:

We have the Dan story with

Steve:

the Dan Milo story that I don't

Steve:

think a baby is just on the show

Steve:

now. Although there was that point

Steve:

where Lillian Rupus are like, could you

Steve:

imagine starting over again? Teeh heee.

Steve:

And was that foreshadowing to the damn

Steve:

thing or is that foreshadowing to

Steve:

them now? Jumping the shark

Steve:

together with a new baby coming into

Steve:

this. So I did have that thought. Like is are Lillian Ruf

Steve:

is going toa have a kid. so I see

Steve:

these big, big arcs playing out.

Steve:

I'm kind of wondering if we're going toa

Steve:

see some of these parallels.

Steve:

So again, like the parallels between the Buckley at the

Steve:

beginning of last season and with

Steve:

Juliet at the beginning of this season. So I'm

Steve:

wondering what kind of parallels at the end of this season

Steve:

where the friendship's going to kind of like fall apart and

Steve:

come back together. So I see like this,

Steve:

the Blair and Serena at the same

Steve:

school again being plenty of

Steve:

fodder for drama for

Steve:

them. I also predict some

Steve:

really fucking annoying

Steve:

storytelling because we have

Steve:

Dan and Vanessa at

Steve:

NYU and Serena and Blair

Steve:

at Columbia and Nate at Columbia.

Steve:

So now once again, we don't have the cast

Steve:

together. And there is

Steve:

zero reason for Dan and Vanessa to

Steve:

be involved with Blair, Serena or Nate

Steve:

other than the step siblings and

Steve:

Nate and Dan just being friends. But they don't have

Steve:

reason to be going to the same parties anymore. They

Steve:

don't have reason to be going to the same events.

Leif:

Any thoughts on, what Juliet's motivations

Leif:

are. I had the thought of

Leif:

if she's not Gossip Girl.

Steve:

Yeah. I do not think she's Gossip Girl. I'll say

Steve:

that outright. That I do not think Juliet is Gossip

Steve:

Girl. I think that it's

Steve:

probably something related to

Steve:

Gossip Girl. I kind of had the thought of, is

Steve:

she hunting Gossip

Steve:

Girl? And these four

Steve:

people are always at the center of it, or these six people

Steve:

are always at the center of it. So I kind of had

Steve:

that thought that maybe she's hunting Gossip

Steve:

Girl.

Leif:

Anything else?

Steve:

I don't think so. I think that

Steve:

the Chuck storyline is gonna annoy me until he's back in the

Steve:

fold. That's a prediction. I think it's

Steve:

gonna take three episodes for

Steve:

him to come back to New York, but he'snna come back to New

Steve:

York, and the whole Parising is gonna irk me.

Leif:

So I'll say everyone's still in Paris next

Leif:

week.

Steve:

Everyone is still in Paris next week.

Leif:

Everyone's there. Is still there.

Steve:

Yeah. The girls in Chuck. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve:

Oh, great. Okay. So they're gonna run into each other,

Steve:

obviously. Oh, and I wonder if Blair's gonna

Steve:

get the info that Chuck's dead and then run into

Steve:

him and be like, you motherfucker. Oh. So Blair's gonna mourn Chuck for

Steve:

an episode and then find out he's not dead.

Steve:

Oh, that's okay.

Steve:

Interesting.

Leif:

Let's get into some segments

Leif:

this week in fandom. when we jumped into the

Leif:

wayback machine to travel to the fan forums

Leif:

from 2010.

Leif:

Hello there, Peabody here. And this

Leif:

is the wayback machine for're traveling through time.

Steve:

And this is my boy Sherman. Speak,

Steve:

Sherman. Hello. Good boy.

Leif:

A lot of pre episode excitement for the Caesar

Leif:

premiere. And overall, most really liked the

Leif:

episode.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Solid. I guess. I didn't like

Steve:

the end, but I thought the rest of the

Steve:

episode was solid.

Leif:

By the way, did you recognize Flor Delacour?

Steve:

I did not. Would I know her from.

Leif:

From Harry Potter or. Her real name is Clubet

Leif:

Posey. Her character is 4 do dell cor.

Steve:

Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Steve:

It's funny cause you kept saying fld Delacro. I'm like, I know that name. Where do

Steve:

I know that name from?

Leif:

Y the actress's name is Clevn Posey.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

even though they liked the episode overall, they are

Leif:

tired of seeing Serena and Blair fight.

Steve:

Yeah. I mean, we've been doing it for

Steve:

three years now. Yeah.

Leif:

Lots of love for Katie Cassidy. What is

Leif:

Juliet up to? Is she Gossip Girl?

Steve:

Yeah. Which she can't be Gossip Girl.

Steve:

Like, she can't be at season four.

Steve:

And I think. I believe. I

Steve:

know. I don't know. No, but I

Steve:

thought that someone at one point spoiled

Steve:

that. It's revealed in the last episode.

Steve:

So I think I do know that I could be wrong,

Steve:

but I think Rachel spoiled that for

Steve:

me. Or. Or someone. Or may. It could even

Steve:

have been you, like, way early on. Like, you don't find out till the end or something

Steve:

like that.

Leif:

did you watch, Arra.

Steve:

Oh, only the first half of the first season.

Leif:

Did you recognize Katie Cassidy?

Steve:

No. Was she the leading?

Leif:

Yeah, she's a, Laurel. Black Canary.

Steve:

Oh. Yeah. I didn't even recognize her.

Leif:

They were disappointed by so little Chuck s screen

Leif:

time.

Steve:

Me.

Leif:

And why didn't that woman bring him to a hospital?

Steve:

Yes. Why didn't she take him to a

Steve:

hospital?

Leif:

What is she up to?

Steve:

Yeah, we had that conversation too. Like,

Steve:

why are you nursing him back to health in your

Steve:

dirty apartment?

Leif:

That is it for this week in fandom. let's move over to

Leif:

episode grades.

Leif:

You re first this week.

Steve:

I'm gonna give it a B. I thought it was

Steve:

a solid season premiere. Again. I actually, I'd

Steve:

probably say this is my favorite season

Steve:

premiere. Out of the three that

Steve:

are not the pilot that

Steve:

season two and season three, season four, I'd say this is probably

Steve:

my favorite of those three.

Steve:

I felt like it was a bit better of a,

Steve:

foundation. The. Minus the

Steve:

places where it comes down from an A.

Steve:

No central group

Steve:

together. We always like it when everybody's

Steve:

together in the end, which they don't always do

Steve:

for season premieres. I also

Steve:

didn't like the Chuck stuff at the end. I want.

Steve:

I wanted to mourn Chuck. So other than

Steve:

that, I think that it was a couple, writing

Steve:

things here and there that were a little.

Steve:

Why are you saying it like that? But it

Steve:

wasn't. Didn't take away from my

Steve:

experience. So, yeah, B.

Leif:

So, yeah, I really liked this episode. Like you said, it's

Leif:

definitely the second best season premiere

Leif:

of the show. behind the

Leif:

pilot, it did feel slightly

Leif:

disjointed. It was pretty clear that there was an A

Leif:

team and a B team. So I forgot to mention at the

Leif:

top. But even though Josh Schwartz hadn't

Leif:

written anything since the Valley Girls

Leif:

episode, which is the backdoor pilot, and

Leif:

before that, the season one finale. Co

Leif:

wrote. He was the writer on set in

Leif:

Paris.

Steve:

Interesting hint.

Leif:

so they were filling both

Leif:

simultaneously. So he was probably

Leif:

the B team back in New York.

Steve:

Right, Right.

Leif:

And kind of felt those Scenes felt a lot

Leif:

flatter.

Steve:

Yes. Yeah.

Leif:

Ultimately, I landed on a B. Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah, it was good.

Leif:

Stockwatch, who do you got going up?

Steve:

All right, so let's see.

Steve:

I have Juliet going up. We'renna

Steve:

start there because she is up

Steve:

to something. And I'mnna have both. I'm gonna have

Steve:

the girls going up. Blair and Serena, they had a nice

Steve:

come together moment at the end. And

Steve:

I don't think that Blair had a particularly great episode,

Steve:

but I think that they're heading in a good trajectory. So I'm

Steve:

going to give them both.

Leif:

The up for me. I had Georgina going

Leif:

upuse she pulled her ski off, it seems like.

Steve:

See, I was on the fence about Georgina,

Steve:

but I was like. I kind of left her neutral because

Steve:

it'sus I didn't know where she was, but I was on the

Steve:

fence with her.

Leif:

I had Serena going up because she got it to Columbia

Leif:

and she was a good friend. I had Lily going

Leif:

upuse she was a good mother to other people's kids.

Leif:

I had Chuck going up because he

Leif:

survived. He didn't die.

Leif:

I had Eric and Jonathan going up. Cause they were re apparently back

Leif:

together in Italy, so good for them.

Steve:

No, they said Elliott.

Leif:

That was Elliott.

Steve:

Yeah, they said Eric and Elliott.

Leif:

Okay, I'll change that to Elliott. Then

Leif:

they're enjoying Italy. And then we hada. I had

Leif:

Vanessa gous. She was a good friend.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And then I had Julia up cause she's gotten eightate

Leif:

wrapped around her finger.

Steve:

Yeah, I should put Vanessa up.

Steve:

Yeah. She doesn't get

Steve:

it very often.

Leif:

Who do you got going down?

Steve:

I'm gonna start with Rufus for just being

Steve:

Rufus. For just the shittiness.

Steve:

Dan is stuck with a kid that's probably not

Steve:

his. I'm gonna have

Steve:

Nate for just kind

Steve:

of being a mess right now. I

Steve:

feel for him and Jenny.

Steve:

I'm gonna send Jenny down because she is still not on the Upper

Steve:

east side. And they did mention her in the beginning of this episode, but they

Steve:

mentioned.

Leif:

She was doing great.

Steve:

Oh, they do, don't they? All right, I'll leave her

Steve:

neutral. So, yeah, I guess that's it

Steve:

for me.

Leif:

Going down. I had Blair going downuse she was

Leif:

kind of shitt this episode. And she failed the

Leif:

princess test.

Steve:

Yeah, I guess I kind of knew that was gonna be

Steve:

what Blair does, but liked how she ended up.

Steve:

But I think, it's fair that she got that.

Leif:

And then Dan. Cause, yeah, he's stuck with a

Leif:

kid. And Nate not cause his

Leif:

life is a mess, but because he's getting Used once again.

Steve:

Well, yeah, but here's the

Steve:

best outfits from the last

Steve:

episode we seen.

Leif:

Best Alpha you got.

Steve:

I want to first start with my shout out to

Steve:

Georgina's first outfit that you see

Steve:

the casual around the house and just in general,

Steve:

Georgina's like mom wear

Steve:

is. It felt like something

Steve:

that a young mom would wear and I thought

Steve:

that it really matched her general

Steve:

style too. So I really liked her stuff. But overall

Steve:

I'm giving it to Blair at the

Steve:

Louvre. The flower print dress that she

Steve:

was wearing, I really liked that.

Leif:

So I also gave it to Blair. But

Leif:

and Alpha, you see for like half a second at the beginning of the

Leif:

episode it was her, purple,

Leif:

beaded organza dress by Maxime

Leif:

Simons. she's also wearing black

Leif:

patent leather Louis Vuitton pumps and a

Leif:

clutch from Svorsky.

Steve:

And it's interesting that she started the episode in purple

Steve:

too, but doesn't end the episode in purple.

Leif:

That is it for segments.

Leif:

You got anything to plug this week?

Steve:

I believe I'm still just plugging my

Steve:

Instagram TikTok and Threads

Steve:

Steve Marshon M A R

Steve:

C H I O n or you can find me

Steve:

on Spotify with the same name without the dot in the

Steve:

middle and I

Steve:

don't really have much else coming up. We are working hard

Steve:

on getting best of this going so

Steve:

keep we'll keep you posted on that.

Leif:

If you want to follow me, you can find me on

Leif:

Instagram and on bluesky,

Leif:

hotcapacola. That's H o t

Leif:

C A P I C O L

Leif:

a and you can follow the podcast

Leif:

on Instagram, TikTok and threads

Leif:

nonjudging BreakfastPod. You can

Leif:

also find links to our Discord, our Patreon

Leif:

and our subreddit on our website

Leif:

nonjudging

Leif:

breakfastpod.com

Leif:

and if you'd.

Steve:

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

Steve:

say. Please feel free to send us an

Steve:

email@nonjudgingefastpodmail.com

Steve:

and we'd love to hear your thoughts and maybe

Steve:

read your email here on the show.

Steve:

Also while you're listening to us, if you wouldn't mind

Steve:

hitting that like or subscribe button and

Steve:

leaving us a comment in will really help boost our

Steve:

visibility in Spotify and Apple

Steve:

podcasts. So again, another chance to let us know

Steve:

what you're thinking of our podcast.

Steve:

And also if you could tell your friends what

Steve:

you're listening to, go ahead and make us

Steve:

your water cooler talk.

Leif:

Every week and next episode we will

Leif:

be Back to talk about season four,

Leif:

episode two, Double

Leif:

Identity. The episode

Leif:

descriptions Blair is pursued

Leif:

by a handsome young man she suspects is part

Leif:

of Monaco's royal family. Chuck

Leif:

adjusts to a fresh start in Paris with a

Leif:

mysterious new women woman.

Steve:

Yeah,

Steve:

you suspect that.

Steve:

Okay. All rightah.

Steve:

I don't even know where to go with that because we already got the

Steve:

reveal Soeah.

Leif:

Yeah, I remember these are episodes come out

Leif:

like three or four weeks before the episode comes

Leif:

out.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

So.

Steve:

Yeah. It's just. Yeah.

Leif:

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

Steve:

XO XO Every time you walk away.

Speaker C:

And run away you take a piece of me with

Speaker C:

you there every time you

Speaker C:

walk away or run away you take a piece of me

Speaker C:

with you there every

Speaker C:

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

Speaker C:

me with you there

Speaker C:

oh it seems I'm walking right to

Speaker C:

your door.

Steve:

My.

Speaker C:

Heart'S still resting looking for something

Speaker C:

more

Speaker C:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean to

Speaker C:

me I'm trying really hard to believe

Speaker C:

every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me with you there

Speaker C:

every time you walk away or run away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away a run away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of me with you there

Speaker C:

never feels right when I'm out here on my

Speaker C:

own

Speaker C:

I left last night and it feels like

Speaker C:

way too long

Speaker C:

are you ever gonna see everything you mean to

Speaker C:

me I'm trying really hard to believe

Speaker C:

every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away on away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away or run away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of me with you there

Speaker C:

come back to me

Speaker C:

smile and you'll make my

Speaker C:

life complete

Speaker C:

every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away around the away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away run away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away run away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of meat with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away a runaw away you take a piece

Speaker C:

of me with you there

Speaker C:

Every time you walk away a run away you take a

Speaker C:

piece of me with you there.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

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

Listen for free