Episode 6

S4E06 - "Easy J"

Hey Upper East Siders — and all you scandal-loving listeners! This week, Leif and Steve dive headfirst into Gossip Girl Season 4 Episode 6, “Easy J”, where Jenny Humphrey’s grand return to Manhattan sends shockwaves through the social food chain.

Little J’s back from exile, rocking her own designs and her trademark chaos energy. But is she here to reclaim her place… or just to blow it all up? 👀

Leif (our resident Gossip Girl historian) and Steve (our freshly corrupted newcomer) unpack the delicious drama that unfolds when Jenny crashes the W party, tangles with Blair over a dress, and reignites that never-quite-dead spark with Nate. Meanwhile, Serena’s love life continues to be one long, luxurious disaster, and Chuck plays puppet master from the shadows — though even he might be losing control of the board.

The hosts get into all of it:

  • Jenny’s fashion revenge arc and why it still hits
  • Blair’s toxic perfectionism (and what makes her so irresistible)
  • Serena’s eternal struggle between chaos and charisma
  • Dan and Nate’s unintentional himbo energy
  • And of course, the real MVP: Gossip Girl’s ability to turn teen melodrama into Shakespearean theater

Expect unfiltered opinions, pop-culture parallels, and at least one tangent about Rufus Humphrey’s very questionable dad vibes. As always, the coffee’s strong, the waffles are fresh, and the gossip? Hotter than ever. ☕🔥

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Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion. 

Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.

The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion.

Transcript
Steve:

I'm just thinking of today, the photo that Rufuss Humphrey is trying to

Steve:

hide from people of him shaking Jared Kushner's hand at at a celebrity event.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Hey, upper East Siders and all you scandal loving listeners

Leif:

out there, you just tuned into the Non-Judging Breakfast pod where the

Leif:

coffee is strong, the waffles are fresh and the gossip is hotter than ever.

Leif:

My name is Leif and I'm your seasoned gossip girl veteran.

Steve:

And I'm Steve.

Steve:

I'm the newbie, the rookie, the greenhorn, the what is the season

Steve:

four newbie called now Leif

Leif:

Jenny was right.

Leif:

If we keep going, we'll both end up dead.

Leif:

And I like myself too much to let that happen.

Leif:

I assume you feel the same way.

Steve:

I see no other option but a truce here.

Steve:

Leif.

Steve:

Alright, so here's the deal folks.

Steve:

Leif has been watching Gossip Girl since it first aired, and

Steve:

I'm diving in for the first time.

Steve:

And together we are your dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama, romance,

Steve:

and sometimes questionable fashion choices of this iconic 2007 series.

Steve:

Bring

Leif:

your magnifying glasses because each week we're dissecting every juicy detail

Leif:

of the show, what episode at a time.

Leif:

We'll connect the dots, uncover those sneaky little Easter eggs, and of course,

Leif:

serve up some piping hot behind the scenes T and expect some iconic moments

Leif:

from fandom as well, because what's a deep dive without a little drama?

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here at the Non-Judging

Steve:

Breakfast Pod, there is always a seat for you at the non-judging breakfast table.

Steve:

So go ahead and grab your mimosa, a cup of coffee or roll up

Steve:

something from Chuck's stash.

Steve:

And let's go ahead and get into this.

Steve:

Well, before we get into it, we

Leif:

got another tip.

:

What is it now?

Leif:

Got a comment from Spotify.

Leif:

Oh, thank you for getting in touch.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

So James Salter, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, wrote in the movie title is, this was on

Leif:

the episode for Double Identity.

Leif:

Mm-hmm.

Leif:

And he says the movie title is surely a reference to the classic double Indemnity.

Leif:

Oh.

Leif:

And so like.

Leif:

Undergraduates.

Leif:

Right.

Leif:

We, you know, we added, we thought it was one thing, and then there was

Leif:

also two different things between the gas grill Wiki and also IMDB.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

This one, once again, the gas grill wiki said double identity, which

Leif:

was what we said in the episode, but the IMDB does say double indemnity.

Leif:

Indemnity.

Leif:

Indemnity.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Uh, and I looked at a couple others coming up, colo, uh, goodbye Columbia.

Leif:

Mm-hmm.

Leif:

Which we, we said was goodbye Lenin on IMDB.

Leif:

They say goodbye Columbus.

Leif:

Oh.

Steve:

We really need the tell all behind the scenes book.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

For this, although according to Norman Buckley, it wouldn't be too juicy.

Steve:

According to Norman Buckley, everybody just loved each other on that show.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Which makes me very happy, by the way.

Leif:

But that is it for tips to for today.

Leif:

So send your tips into wherever you prefer.

Leif:

You can get us on social media, you can email to the Non-Judging Breakfast

Leif:

pod@gmail.com, comment on Apple or on Spotify, and we will read your

Leif:

questions or comments on the air.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

Thank you very much, James.

Leif:

We really appreciate you commenting and we are here to talk today

Leif:

about season four episode six.

Leif:

Easy J. Original air date was October 25th, 2010, and of course was based

Leif:

on easy a. The 2010 film starring Penn and Badley and Ebbett Stone.

Steve:

I

Leif:

forgot

Steve:

Penn Badley was in that.

Steve:

I al I always forget that he is the star of that because I saw that before.

Steve:

I knew Gossip Girl.

Steve:

So I didn't really know Penn Badley.

Steve:

That's, that's the reason why he was so buff in season three.

Steve:

Yeah, I remember us talking about that.

Steve:

So here's another question.

Steve:

Is this the first time one of their projects has been used as the title?

Leif:

I was thinking that as well and I didn't look it up.

Leif:

I know there are more to come.

Leif:

There's definitely some more to come, uh, coming up pretty soon actually.

Leif:

But, uh, this might have been the first Serene Lantern.

Leif:

Uh.

Leif:

This episode was written by Jake Coburn, who previously did episode six and

Leif:

16 of last season, which were enough about Eve and the Empire Strikes Jack.

:

Uh,

Steve:

well, it stepped it up for this episode.

Steve:

Yep.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

This one was definitely better than neither of those.

Leif:

Enough about you was Okay.

Leif:

That was, that was the, the Freshman Toast Dinner one.

Leif:

Oh, right.

Leif:

Okay.

Leif:

Where Vanessa and, uh, Blair were going again, add

Steve:

to head.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

I actually did like that.

Steve:

And it still both lost Olivia.

Steve:

Yes, yes.

Steve:

I did like that one.

Steve:

Uh, except I didn't like Olivia in parts of that one, but I, yeah, the Empire

Steve:

strikes Jack, that whole storyline.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

This episode was directed by Lee Chalet Chael, who previously directed

Leif:

season one episode eight 16 Candles, and has been a TV director since 1984

Leif:

doing things like family ties, spin City, Gilmore Girls and the Middle.

Leif:

Oh,

Steve:

we've, I remember talking about her before because my friend Colleen

Steve:

is actually worked on the middle and knows, and knows this director very well.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

You're, you're supposed

Steve:

to remember this episode to get her on.

Steve:

I, I, I, I did reach out.

Steve:

I did try.

Steve:

I did talk to Colleen, but I wasn't able to to get it back around.

Steve:

But Colleen does have wonderful things to say about her.

Leif:

She's mentioned a little bit in this next comment.

Leif:

Um, 'cause So Tim Gunn was in this episode?

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

And after this episode, he was interviewed by E News Oh boy.

Leif:

And he had this to say about.

Leif:

Young, 17-year-old Taylor Mumon.

Leif:

Oh, oh, what a diva.

Leif:

She was pathetic.

Leif:

She couldn't remember her lines and she didn't even have that many.

Leif:

I thought to myself, why are we all being held hostage by this brat?

Leif:

Damn.

Leif:

He goes on.

Leif:

I'd say, you know, young lady, there are hundreds of thousands of

Leif:

girls that are just as attractive and even smarter than you.

Leif:

Why are you acting like this show is a huge burden on you?

Leif:

She was on her phone during the every break.

Leif:

I wanted to tell her, if you were on your Blackberry, you can retain this stuff.

Leif:

But wait, he wasn't done.

Leif:

I learned from teaching to stick with the topic.

Leif:

I don't get involved in character appraisals.

Leif:

I just asked her, do you want to share with me why you'd always,

Leif:

why you're always on your phone?

Leif:

At one point the director leaned in and whispered to me this day in, day out of

Leif:

my life, she annoyed the entire crew damn

Steve:

contractually obligated to come back.

Steve:

We need you for an episode and fine, I'll do it.

Steve:

But

Leif:

going a middle aged man, just going after a 17-year-old

Leif:

girl like that is this vile?

Steve:

It is.

Steve:

It is.

Steve:

Which it also just kind shows that, like that idea of looking for grownups

Steve:

in a kid group, kids to be grownups.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

That you have the, this 17-year-old girl doing 17-year-old girl stuff

Steve:

and I, I also really hate the.

Steve:

Other people can do this thing, so you should love it more.

Steve:

When Taylor Mumps was very clear that she hated doing this.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

And she was on the Warp Tour at this time.

Leif:

So, so this aired in October, so it was probably filming August to early

Leif:

September, which means she was probably on the Warped tour at the time, was

Leif:

probably communicating with her, you know, banning, you know, logistics

Leif:

of getting back to her next date.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Steve:

I mean, she, she had another job at this point, and

Leif:

admittedly the performance was a little flat.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

But, but do you really have to go out in the media and call her?

Leif:

Pathetic.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And a brat, yeah.

Steve:

Just scorching her.

Steve:

And, and you're, you're Tim Gunn, like you, he already

Steve:

had a career at this point.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

You know, he already, that was, it was a little harsh.

Steve:

Why don't you go ahead and read us that Vulture Recap.

Steve:

Okay.

Steve:

At first, Blair assumed her wait until dark themed nightmare was

Steve:

a literal interpretation of her fraught relationship with Chuck.

Steve:

He was lying in, wait for me, just like he was in real life.

Steve:

She tells Serena of the mysterious intruder dream.

Steve:

Blair struggled with only it wasn't him.

Steve:

She says, mystified.

Steve:

It was a woman with long blonde hair.

Steve:

Serena of course couldn't care less, but the dream troubled

Steve:

Blair for the rest of the episode.

Steve:

Could the assailant have been Jenny Humphrey?

Steve:

Yes, she decided.

Steve:

Although that too seemed facile.

Steve:

Trying to understand one's unconscious thoughts is a

Steve:

messy and difficult endeavor.

Steve:

It is fumbling about in the dark, blind, helpless, in a constrictive pencil skirt.

Steve:

You grasp it, strands wondering what the hell that thing is and where it came

Steve:

from and what it could possibly mean.

Steve:

But the answers are always elusive.

Steve:

In the end, it's Chuck who gives the best interpretation of Blair's dream, the

Steve:

menacing figure who grabbed her ankles and held her down while she struggled.

Steve:

Wasn't him or Jenny, it was herself.

Steve:

We're holding onto the pain because it's all we have left.

Steve:

He explains to her, we don't have to, we have a choice.

Steve:

And thus, another facet was added to the character of Chuck Bass, Natalie

Steve:

dressed billionaire, twins enthusiast, and now speaker of profound truths.

Leif:

Uh, check.

Leif:

Oh.

Leif:

We begin act one with another Blair Dream.

Leif:

This one is based around Audrey's.

Leif:

Wait until Dark Blair is in a dark room being stalked by who

Leif:

he at first assumed to be Chuck.

Leif:

But when Blair reaches back to unmask, her attacker, her hand pulls

Leif:

away with locks of platinum blonde hair and a diamond studded headband.

Steve:

This was also a stage play 'cause my, uh, shortly before I came, got to

Steve:

high school, my school put on this play.

Steve:

Interesting to nobody but me.

Leif:

And then Gossip Girl opens with this.

Leif:

They say waking up is hard to do, especially when you're not alone.

Leif:

They say that life is full of surprises, that our dreams really can come true.

Leif:

But then again, so can our nightmares.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

So this scene kind of opens the door to the supernatural in the show.

Leif:

It

Steve:

does.

Steve:

'cause it's a prophetic dream.

Steve:

It it is, yeah.

Steve:

And the grasping at the, the headband and the, but

Leif:

the fact that, that Jenny was in town,

Steve:

that and Jenny being in town, that.

Steve:

It was, you're right, it was, Blair knew before Eric when

Steve:

they, which, and, and, and, yeah.

Steve:

Blair knew before Eric and her other dreams were also kind

Steve:

of prophetic, weren't they?

Steve:

Like, if you think about the Vanessa

Leif:

one, the other ones were kind of self-fulfilling though.

Leif:

This was like actually predicting something that was gonna happen.

Steve:

I, I, I was just saying that the Vanessa one, she didn't know

Steve:

Vanessa was gonna be her rival, but the dream had it in there.

Steve:

Fair.

Steve:

But I'm, but all in all, there is that element of Blair's preternatural

Steve:

ability to dream into existence.

Leif:

Blair star awake from her nightmare, but the scene quickly shifts to Serena

Leif:

waking up next to Colin, and she decides to sneak out without waking him.

Leif:

Fucking,

Steve:

I have so many words, so many words about this whole fucking episode.

Leif:

Serena arrives back at the Waldorf apartment only to have Blair

Leif:

catch her doing the walk of shame.

Leif:

Blair drops a wicked burn when Serena reveals she spent the

Leif:

night with Colin, the cab stealer.

Leif:

Moving on.

Leif:

Serena tries to help Blair analyze her dream and on who her

Leif:

mysterious attacker really was.

Leif:

Well, it took a little longer than I thought.

Leif:

It appears that by the end of the scene, Blair has a strong

Leif:

suspicion of who it was.

Leif:

So yes, I, this is my first laugh out out of moment of the episode.

Leif:

Okay.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

The one of many.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

I also, you really showed him Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Burn.

Steve:

I, yeah.

Steve:

I, I love that.

Steve:

She was so good.

Steve:

Um, but, but also, I'm already so fucking annoyed with Serena

Steve:

and this, and I'll also say.

Steve:

I said last week that that guy's a professor.

Steve:

Well, I, I don't remember if I said it on the podcast, I said it watching at home.

Steve:

I think it's in my live.

Steve:

I think I got that in my live take.

Steve:

But I remember sitting there thinking like, that guy's gonna

Steve:

be end up being a her professor.

Steve:

Which is kind of funny 'cause he probably wasn't at that time.

Steve:

Maybe not, but, well, and at first it was 'cause they were flirty and

Steve:

I was like, oh, that guy's totally gonna end up being her professor.

Steve:

But then it was like, oh no, she's seen this professor.

Steve:

But I'm like, this isn't done.

Steve:

Like, let's put a pin in that.

Steve:

Now that you, do she do any math on his age?

Steve:

A little bit.

Steve:

I mean, if he's a professor at a university, he is not,

Leif:

he's not a real professor.

Leif:

So he is, let's say he is a businessman, so he went to at

Leif:

least undergrad for four years.

Leif:

So that's, that puts him at 22.

Leif:

Right?

Leif:

Probably had at least an MBA probably, which is probably two

Leif:

years, least two more years.

Leif:

That's 24.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

He started a successful business, which will be generous

Leif:

and say one to five years.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

I, I mean, to make a million dollar business.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Uh, as somebody who, as a friend who did that, it was probably about

Steve:

three and a half to four years before they could sell it for multimillion

Leif:

dollars.

Leif:

So that put them anywhere from 25 to 29 Uhhuh.

Leif:

Then he wrote a book about his business, which.

Leif:

Would've taken at least a year at minimum, minimum to write,

Leif:

edit, and publish minimum a year.

Leif:

So that's

Steve:

the 30, right.

Steve:

And well, and now that book has been out long enough to be a best seller.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Which I believe the cover had it even say best seller, which means

Steve:

that's not the first printing.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Which means at least another year or two before he would get a bestseller.

Steve:

So

Leif:

at

Steve:

a minimum, let's say 32.

Steve:

32. Yeah.

Steve:

At a minimum 32.

Steve:

Oh boy.

Steve:

Yeah, because that's why I said, I said This guy's gotta be in his thirties.

Steve:

I, and he, like you said, he has to at least have an MBA.

Steve:

He probably doesn't have a doctorate for being a guest.

Steve:

Professor.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

But he has to have credentials that No.

Steve:

20-year-old.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

No one in their twenties.

Steve:

He was, he

Leif:

is successful enough in business to both write a book about

Leif:

it and then be named as a professor.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

At Columbia.

Steve:

At Columbia.

Steve:

A book that that other people in business are like.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Read this, the Lily, the a book that impressed Lily Bass, who is, as we're

Steve:

supposed to believe sort of a business.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Genius, early

Leif:

savvy.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

Nate, on the way to visit his dad in prison, calls Dan and complains about how

Leif:

Juliette bolted after their big debut.

Leif:

Hey Nate.

Leif:

Maybe she noticed how awkward and Lacky chemistry that scene was last episode.

Leif:

As he hangs up the phone, Nate sees Juliette waiting in line at the

Leif:

prison visitor center and they're both shocked to see each other.

Steve:

Yeah, he's man, Nate.

Steve:

Oh, wait, it, that's not, that's not here.

Steve:

It's the next time they see each other.

Steve:

You, you can go ahead because like they have the bump in.

Steve:

Yeah, but I want, nothing really happens yet.

Steve:

Yeah, nothing really happens here.

Leif:

Chuck is creeping on co-eds on the Columbia campus and bumps into Serena.

Leif:

Serena asks, when is he going to be done tormenting Blair?

Leif:

To which he responds that he hasn't even started yet.

Leif:

Chuck is eager to meet the new businessman set to replace the guest lecturer who

Leif:

Chuck and Blair made quit last episode.

Leif:

Yeah,

Steve:

that's right.

Steve:

I've forgotten that that.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

So then they

Leif:

hire

Steve:

this

Leif:

guy.

Leif:

That's why I said he might not have been a professor last week.

Leif:

Right.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

When you guessed that.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

That's why I was saying that, that's really funny.

Leif:

As Chuck enters the lecture hall, Serena is surprised to see Colla behind her.

Leif:

It looks like she just slept with her new professor.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Or didn't.

Steve:

But

Leif:

yeah, as we do find out later, she didn't actually, uh, at this point

Leif:

though, I didn't really believe her.

Leif:

Right.

Leif:

It wasn't until they had their conversation together that it was

Leif:

revealed that they actually didn't.

Steve:

You're right.

Steve:

It's hard to trust what Serena actually says.

Steve:

And and it also Yeah.

Steve:

Immediately the divide in our house between me being like, Ew, I knew it.

Steve:

That's disgusting.

Steve:

That's so wrong.

Steve:

And Robin being like, that's hot.

Steve:

It's like, no, it's not.

Steve:

He's a he predator.

Leif:

Blair gets off the elevator at the penthouse and slowly walks

Leif:

through the empty apartment.

Leif:

Eventually she opens a bedroom doorway to find Jenny Humphrey staring back at her.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Bum, bum bum.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

It was very horror movie coated with like the, the loud

Leif:

footsteps in the empty apartment.

Leif:

You can't.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

It was well done.

Leif:

Well shot a gossip girl had this to say.

Leif:

As we go to the first act break,

Leif:

they say life is full of surprises.

Leif:

That our dreams really can come true.

Leif:

Then again, so can our nightmares.

Leif:

Welcome home Jenny Humphrey.

Leif:

We've missed you.

Leif:

Two begins.

Leif:

Blair reiterates to Jenny that she banned her from Manhattan.

Leif:

However, Jenny is able to negotiate a day pass for her interview.

Leif:

The biggest condition is that Jenny must not speak to anyone while she is here.

Leif:

Blair,

Steve:

you're such an asshole here.

Steve:

And, and just blaming Jenny for everything.

Steve:

Uh, I mean, she definitely blamed Chuck too, but laying all of this

Steve:

on Jenny and being so shitty, like Blair, you deserve everything you get.

Steve:

In this episode,

Leif:

Julia and Nate are sitting on a bench talking about how they ended

Leif:

up meeting each other at prison.

Leif:

Juliette proceeds to tell Lie after lie to Nate.

Leif:

She didn't know about his dad.

Leif:

She's only at prison because she's teaching prisoners how to read, and

Leif:

then about getting a text message that her teaching session was canceled.

Steve:

The one thing that I believe is that she didn't

Steve:

know his dad was transferred.

:

Yeah.

Steve:

But other than that, and, but she said she didn't know

Steve:

about the dad at all, right?

Steve:

Yes, she did.

Steve:

Um,

Steve:

Nate, sweetie.

Steve:

If you weren't so dumb, she wouldn't find it so easy to lie to you.

Leif:

So I'm not sure if this was purposeful or not, or just coincidence,

Leif:

but several times you got like a closeup on Juliet's earrings.

Leif:

Did you notice that she was wearing like dagger earrings?

Leif:

Oh, I didn't really,

Steve:

I didn't notice it.

Steve:

No, but that does make sense.

Leif:

Blair finds Serena on campus to tell her about Jenny, but is

Leif:

quickly distracted when Serena reveals Colin is their new professor.

Leif:

Serena promises to tell Colin that the naughty business is off the

Leif:

table before exiting stage left.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

We'll see how that goes.

Steve:

Serena?

Leif:

Well, she can't help if she got manipulated.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

But again, she, she went there with good intentions.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

When Blair sees Chuck exiting the lecture hall, Blair grills him about

Leif:

Jenny being back in town and attempts to eavesdrop on his conversation with Arthur.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Quick scene.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

After Chuck leaves, Blair calls over Herb Minions and orders them to stake

Leif:

out the Vander Woodson penthouse and to follow every move Jenny makes.

Leif:

The minions are still anxious to hear why Jenny was banned in the first

Leif:

place, but Blair shuts that shit down,

Steve:

and that's what I love, is that Blair refuses to admit that Jenny

Steve:

and Chuck banged, and because of that she's just digging herself deeper.

Steve:

Why are we following this girl around?

Steve:

Don't worry about it, just do it.

Steve:

We

Leif:

get a family brunch at the penthouse with Jenny, Eric, Dan Rufuss, and Lily.

Leif:

Where's Serena and Chuck?

Leif:

I love seeing Eric and Jenny friendly again.

Leif:

Lily praises, Jenny's design sketches.

Leif:

But when Rufuss invites the family to go out to dinner to celebrate after the

Leif:

interview, Jenny deflects and suggests staying in and eating chili tonight.

Leif:

Lily isn't too keen on the lingering smell.

Steve:

I love how throughout the episode,

Leif:

Lily cannot let the chili thing go.

Leif:

Well, Ru Rufuss blames it on the cumin, but me, I'm wondering, does Rufuss

Leif:

make his chili with or without beans?

Leif:

And is the lingering smell really the farts he's ripping at bed at night?

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Is it, is it the chili itself or Yeah.

Steve:

Is it the aftermath

Leif:

of the chili?

Leif:

Eric and Dan followed Jenny to her room to figure out what's really going on.

Leif:

She tells them about Blair, but is indifferent to it.

Leif:

Dan offers to escort Jenny to her interview.

Leif:

But what, just as Jenny is declining, the three here, Chuck's voice out in the hall.

Steve:

Chuck shows up and good of Dan trying to be the big brother.

Steve:

And like you said, I also loved seeing Eric and Jenny being friendly.

Steve:

So

Leif:

and so.

Leif:

Dan goes out to confront Chuck, and Chuck claims.

Leif:

He came to tell Jenny he was sorry, but he surreptitiously steals Jenny's sketchbook

Leif:

as Dan is hurting him out the door.

Steve:

I liked this scene.

Steve:

I liked the two of them together.

Steve:

I, I do feel like Chuck feels bad.

Steve:

Yeah, right.

Steve:

I think that Chuck sincerely feels bad.

Steve:

I think that Chuck has a sort of soft spot for Jenny as well as.

Steve:

Using Jenny.

Steve:

I feel like Chuck is just kind of such a bad person that he doesn't know the line

Steve:

between using people that you care about.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

And I honestly think that in his sick, twisted way, Chuck does care

Steve:

and Chuck does feel bad that he caused so much damage to Jenny.

Steve:

And I think that the apology is real.

:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

It's the, but he is also using her at the same time, but he is also using her

Steve:

at the same time, like stealing her stuff.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

So just to fuck with Blair, like Yeah.

Steve:

He just got a couple of nice little digs and I and Dan there.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

You should be a writer.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

He does that a couple times in this episode.

Steve:

That is just so good.

Steve:

They're like, oh, there, there's that.

Steve:

There's that writer in you again.

Steve:

And like he says later on, like, really clever, Dan, you should be a writer.

Leif:

Serena catches up with Colin in the quad.

Leif:

The conversation starts with Serena saying the right things, that

Leif:

they can't have a relationship because he is now her professor.

Leif:

We also learned that Serena was telling the truth about not

Leif:

actually doing the deed last night.

Leif:

Hour.

Leif:

By the end of the conversation, Colin has manipulated Serena into dropping

Leif:

the class and going on a date with him.

Steve:

How bad do you want to get fired if you're a brand new professor and

Steve:

you're like, yeah, it's a guy here.

Steve:

I'm gonna start dating students again.

Steve:

He is a billionaire.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

And he is just doing this for fun.

Leif:

Yeah, and he is a, he's just wanting the Bachelor of the Year award.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

The real question is why is Columbia hiring this guy?

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly.

Leif:

But like just using his, you know, experience to just so easily

Leif:

manipulate Serena in the scene.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

And she came in there with all the right intentions, but by the end

Leif:

of the scene she was dropping the class and going on a date with him.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And we know now that it is all just a ruse for this guy to like fuck with her anyway.

Steve:

Which we'll get to later.

Steve:

Well, I mean, that's what I was led to believe by the end of the episode.

Leif:

Jenny is giving instructions to Vanya for delivering her

Leif:

dresses to the interview when she receives a call from Chuck.

Leif:

Chuck tells Jenny he accidentally took her portfolio and that you'll have it waiting

Leif:

for her at the front desk of the empire.

Leif:

The one place she is

Steve:

definitely not supposed to go.

Steve:

Super manipulative, super shitty.

Steve:

Like, sorry, I just have it here.

Steve:

You have to come get it.

Steve:

Sorry.

Steve:

My.

Steve:

Gossip Girl says

Leif:

this,

Leif:

spotted B'S disciples on little J's tail.

Leif:

Watch out Jack, break a deal with the devil, and there will be Elder Pay.

Leif:

Act three begins.

Leif:

Jenny arrives outside the interview to find Dan in some type of Corona

Leif:

error slash assistant waiting for her.

Leif:

Dan wishes her luck, even though she doesn't need it, we get a

Leif:

cute hug between the siblings.

Steve:

I thought that scene was a little awkward, like, oh,

Steve:

well she's here waiting for you.

Steve:

I just thought it was weird for Dan to do that into introduction

Steve:

where it could have just as easily been like, okay, let's go in.

Steve:

Yeah, it was, it felt like a cameo, like it felt like that assistant was a cameo

Steve:

itself, the way they do that Think.

Steve:

I think that was the only one that wasn't a cameo.

Steve:

Right.

Steve:

I wonder, I wonder if it was a contest winner, like Geneviere said,

Steve:

back in, possibly in season two.

Leif:

Juliet gets a call from Ben and she reveals that Nate's dad

Leif:

was transferred into his prison.

Leif:

Juliet kind of admits she's falling for Nate.

Leif:

Ben says he's okay with it, but his face tells a different story.

Leif:

We also get a hint about why Ben is in prison.

Leif:

After hanging up, Ben flags down another inmate and asks for an

Leif:

introduction to the captain.

Steve:

Yeah, Howie's back.

Steve:

Howie's back.

Steve:

I have good things to say about Howie in this episode too.

Steve:

By the time we see him later, he seems to have turned it around.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

I'm very proud of Howie.

Leif:

Serena is reading Collin's book at the penthouse.

Leif:

When Lily comes home, when Lily sees the book, she congratulates Serena

Leif:

on taking such a challenging class.

Leif:

Rather than focusing on boys, they hug as Serena silently screams to herself.

Leif:

Uh, ser.

Leif:

Oh, Serena.

Leif:

Jenny is interviewing with Reality Star Tim Gunn and gives him the Cliff

Leif:

Notes version of her last two years.

Leif:

When the models come out wearing Jenny's dresses, she is shocked to see

Leif:

the word whore painted on the dresses.

Leif:

Tim Gunn is disgusted by display and immediately concludes the interview.

Leif:

Without giving Jenny a chance to explain.

Steve:

Yeah, I felt like this was clumsy, that like some of these

Steve:

outfits come out and they say that, and your instinct is like, get her

Steve:

out of here when she's like, wait, that's not what I'm, I didn't do that.

Steve:

Like I,

Leif:

well, if we go back to that interview from the beginning, this

Leif:

might have been like the 30th take

Steve:

and they were like, we gotta get outta here.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Dan tries to stop Blair from entering the building where Jenny's

Leif:

interview is happening, but Blair is just there for the aftermath.

Leif:

Jenny nearly in tears, comes out and knows Blair is the

Leif:

one who sabotaged her dresses.

Leif:

Blair Hands, Jenny, a bus ticket and skedaddles.

Steve:

That's no way to impress Dan, which, you know,

Steve:

I'm rooting for a Dan Blair.

Steve:

A Dan Blair Fallout at some point here.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

That's no way to get, that's no way to achieve my goals for you, Blair.

Leif:

Nah.

Leif:

Chuck sees a Gossip girl Blas, about the incident and calls Dan Chuck offers to

Leif:

get Dan and Jenny into the party where Time Gunn will be later tonight, and Chuck

Leif:

even offers tickets for the whole family.

Leif:

So Jenny is forced to agree

Steve:

still up to U, still using Jenny.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

For your gain, Chuck.

Leif:

It is nice that it does lead to good things potentially.

Leif:

For Jenny.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Again, I think that it's Chuck's weird.

Steve:

Like I can make it up to Jenny and fuck Bover Blair at the, he's a multitasker.

Steve:

Yeah, it's, he should write a book

Leif:

and Gossip Girl has this to say as we go to the next act.

Leif:

Break

Leif:

spotted little J having a fashion emergency looks like B drew blood Careful.

Leif:

Little J Queen B doesn't grant second chances.

Leif:

She attacks at first sight.

Leif:

Yeah, we go into act four.

Leif:

Serena and Colin arrive at the party, but Serena is hesitant to to be

Leif:

photographed with Colin because she doesn't want Lily to be disappointed

Leif:

in her Serena ditches the red carpet for a less conspicuous entrance.

Steve:

Serena's conflict here.

Steve:

I thought it was really well communicated and really made her

Steve:

character a little less typical.

Steve:

One dimensional Serena following the boys around that she does want to impress

Steve:

her mom, and she knows that dating this guy is not gonna impress her mom, and

Steve:

she knows why it isn't, she isn't naive to the fact that she does chase boys a

Steve:

lot and when, when she should be doing something else or when she, when her

Steve:

goals require her to do something else.

Leif:

And she knows because as the forums keep com, uh, pointing out, this is just

Leif:

a complete reaction to the trip storyline.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

Yes.

Leif:

So, yeah.

Leif:

She knows exactly what's going on here.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Lily and Rufuss meet and greet with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at the party.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

I love how familiar Rufuss is with the Trumps, with, with, with the Kushners.

Steve:

Oh, good to see you again.

Steve:

Was that a bit of a jump scare for you?

Steve:

A little bit.

Steve:

We were both like, what the fuck?

Steve:

But like, you know, it also its, it makes so much sense.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

I mean, at

Leif:

the time Trump was mainly just a reality star and vodka's heavily involved

Leif:

in fashion and stuff, so it makes that,

Steve:

and she was heavily involved in his show.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And was really the voice of reason on that show.

Steve:

A lot of, I I actually watched The Apprentice.

Steve:

I didn't realize she was on the show.

Steve:

Oh yeah.

Steve:

My, when I actually watched The Apprentice for years.

Steve:

That's too bad.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

No, but, but in all honesty, I really liked the show.

Steve:

I really liked the reality TV of let's build these businesses

Steve:

up and, and also, you know.

Steve:

The, the guy hosting wasn't talking politics while it was going on.

Steve:

He was just, you know, this seemingly billionaire businessman

Steve:

that everybody knew the name of.

Steve:

He didn't come across as what he is now.

Steve:

So, yeah, I watched that show all the time until it started getting into

Steve:

the celebrity apprentice over and over, and then I wasn't as into it.

Steve:

I was into it when it was like people cutting their teeth in the business world.

Steve:

I, I like what they were doing then, you know, it went to shit.

Steve:

And yeah, Ivanka had a big role on the show.

Steve:

Like, like literally sat at his right hand and would help make

Steve:

decisions or would, would like, ask questions and feed into the decisions

Steve:

and was a big part of the show.

Steve:

Her and Don.

Leif:

Yeah, I was pretty much done with reality TV by like the third season

Steve:

of Real World.

Steve:

That's fair.

Steve:

But I nev so I never got into real world.

Steve:

I hated Real World from the beginning and I hated all of the reality TV That

Steve:

was just, let's put people in a volatile position and make them hate each other.

Steve:

So like, I never got into real world, I never got into Survivor.

Steve:

But then you had this new competition show that had a premise that engaged me.

Leif:

I liked, uh, real World.

Leif:

'cause I was 13 and they showed risque stuff on there.

Leif:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly.

Steve:

Whereas for me, I had just gotten to the point, if you remember, real World

Steve:

was very much played alongside 9 0 2 1 oh that the whole first season was,

Steve:

here's what it would really look like.

Steve:

Here's the real life.

Steve:

9 0 2 1 oh.

Steve:

When people stop being nice and start being real, I.

Leif:

Jenny is nervous about pissing off Blair Moore, but Dan and Eric

Leif:

forced her to go to look for Tim Gunn.

Leif:

Good.

Leif:

Getting her to do that.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

I I like how Dan and Eric are like her bodyguards all episode.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Serena's surprised to see Lily at the party goes over to greet her mother.

Leif:

Lily sees Colin and points out how handsome he looks.

Leif:

Serena decides it's time she comes clean about dropping the class so she

Leif:

can bang the hot professor guilt free.

Leif:

But before she can, Colin comes over and kisses Serena before

Leif:

introducing himself to Lily.

Leif:

What a fucking

Steve:

idiot.

Steve:

What a fucking idiot.

Steve:

Oh, she's just over there talking to that older lady.

Steve:

I'm just gonna come over and say, I don't give a shit what her mom thinks.

Steve:

How fucking dumb are you?

Steve:

Uh, savvy businessman, dumb ass bachelor, or he just doesn't

Steve:

care, or he just, of course.

Steve:

Or he just doesn't fucking care.

Leif:

The minions are wearing matching dresses that are

Leif:

unable to get into the party.

Leif:

So they call Blair to let her know that Jenny is there After they hang up with

Leif:

Blair, they see Chuck entering the party with a tall blonde woman on each arm.

Leif:

This isn't Congress.

Leif:

Get something done.

Steve:

And Chuck just wats by,

Leif:

Hey ladies, Jenny approaches Tim Gunn and apologizes for earlier

Leif:

and managed to snag a second interview before the scene cuts.

Leif:

Tim Gunn lets it drop.

Leif:

The Chuck is the one who set up the initial interview

Steve:

and the way Jenny is, the way that that scene cuts

Steve:

there, like Jenny play it off.

Steve:

It seems as though she didn't play it off.

Steve:

Chuck did this, I'll be right back.

Steve:

Tim Gunn, who I'm trying to

Leif:

impress what I, I'm questioning did Jenny apply to Parsons?

Leif:

And if not, why wasn't she?

Leif:

She suspicious when she got a random interview.

Leif:

Right?

Steve:

Because things like this just happened in the Gossip Girl universe.

Steve:

Tim Gun just wants to interview me.

Steve:

Okay,

Leif:

Juliette goes to visit Nate and it seems like she is about to confess

Leif:

some things when Nate gets a call from the prison that his father has

Leif:

been jumped by some other inmates.

Leif:

As Nate rushes off, Juliet gets a text from Ben that implies he is

Leif:

responsible for the captain's beating.

Steve:

Did you get my message?

Leif:

Lily introduced his rufuss to fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi or

Leif:

Ra Robin Squealed for, for this one.

Leif:

The minions finally get past the doorman and they track

Leif:

down Jenny, who is with Eric.

Leif:

Jenny, however, is not intimidated by mere minions and even

Leif:

gets a bit of intel off them.

Leif:

However, it sounds like the big, bad Blair has arrived.

Steve:

Yep.

Steve:

And the minions let out that they have no idea why Jenny was

Steve:

banished in the first place.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

Aside from the obvious,

Leif:

Blair has arrived but runs into Chuck before she can find little

Leif:

j. Blair quickly figures out that Chuck orchestrated this whole thing.

Leif:

Chuck doesn't think Jenny will talk, but is interrupted by a blast.

Leif:

Jenny walks in and admits that the blast is true in a mic drop moment.

Steve:

Yep.

Steve:

Give it up Blair.

Steve:

Everyone knows I did.

Steve:

And to who?

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

And we get this,

Leif:

uh, kind of gross, uh, blast from Gossip Girl.

Leif:

It looks like New York's best kept secret is finally out.

Leif:

Turns out little J didn't lose her V card to Damien Algar.

Leif:

She waited and chucked it away with her stepbrother.

Leif:

Guess that explains the Humphrey and Hudson.

Leif:

Hell has no fury like a Waldorf scorn.

Leif:

Looks like the jokes on Chuck and Blair and Little J's got the last laugh.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Ugh.

Steve:

Just gross.

Steve:

Awesome girl.

Leif:

Still so obsessed with Jenny's virginity.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

But good quip.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Chucked it away with her stepbrother.

Leif:

Chucked

Steve:

it away with her stepbrother is good.

Leif:

We go into Act five.

Leif:

We get a j, Dan, and Jenny scene where it starts out Dan comforting

Leif:

his sister, but then switches to judgmental mode because of her

Leif:

eagerness to jump back into scheming.

Steve:

Yeah, it's funny, I usually want to get on Dan for being judgy.

Steve:

I'm not entirely upset with him this time and it's because he's not entirely

Steve:

wrong that it did take five minutes for Jenny to just get right back in and start

Steve:

swinging and his delivery was harsh.

Steve:

Maybe you should go back to Hudson is a little harsh, but also Jenny did just get

Steve:

right back into this and start swinging so I can understand how that concerns Dan.

Steve:

'cause he's seen her spiral.

Leif:

I, I just didn't really see anything bad about this particular scheme.

Leif:

She was just basically taking back her own power and revealing her own secret.

Steve:

I, I think it was more the reveling in them.

Steve:

Fight tearing each tearing at each other afterwards.

Steve:

I think that Dan was more commenting on her, uh, on the aftermath, the way

Steve:

Jenny was like, yep, I'm back at it.

Steve:

You know?

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

Lily, in a surprising twist, is actually totally fine with Serena dating Colin,

Leif:

and even says someone like Colin will make Serena's life a whole lot easier.

Leif:

Looks like Lily is trying that old reverse psychology.

Steve:

When she started laying that all into her, I was like,

Steve:

uh, Robin was like, really Lily?

Steve:

And I was like, no, no.

Steve:

Lily knows exactly how to talk to her daughter, and that was perfect.

Steve:

Like, you know, your life will just be easier with someone like that.

Steve:

Like all the things that you, that Serena has heard from everyone,

Steve:

and now she's hearing it from li.

Steve:

Like perfect, Lily.

Steve:

Perfect.

Steve:

But I, I can get why Robin would believe her there, 'cause that it

Steve:

seems like something Lily would say.

Steve:

Yeah, no, I, I mean that's, that, that's exactly it, is that she would, she kind

Steve:

of lived that life despite being very smart and despite graduating from Brown,

Steve:

Lily jumped from rockstar to rockstar in her youth and has married powerful

Steve:

man after powerful man, like mm-hmm.

Steve:

It's her mo too.

Leif:

Nate is in the prison hospital with the captain who says he doesn't

Leif:

know the guy who beat him up.

Leif:

The captain affirms that he is still on the wagon but is

Leif:

disappointed and couldn't make it.

Steve:

I applauded everything about him here.

Steve:

He took accountability, he stayed clean.

Steve:

Nothing stronger than a Tylenol after I got my ass kicked in prison and

Steve:

sits there and says, you know what?

Steve:

I'm bummed your mom can't make it, but I understand why she isn't and you're

Steve:

here and that means the world to me.

Steve:

He didn't say I, he didn't put anything on Nate.

Steve:

It's the first time Nate's had a scene with his parents that they didn't

Steve:

put some kind of bullshit on him.

Steve:

It's the first time that it was just being here and being

Steve:

with you is good enough for me.

Steve:

Captain Howie 2.0.

Steve:

I appreciate you.

Steve:

Prison's done well and Nate getting him to turn himself in.

Steve:

It's just he, he's living accountability and that is, that

Steve:

is modeling good fatherhood.

Steve:

Even from a prison cell.

Leif:

Colin is on stage accepting the Bachelor of the Year award.

Leif:

He starts talking about giving it up for the right woman.

Leif:

When Serena, Lily and Rufuss leave the party, if he ever finds that woman.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

The, the, the Bachelor of the Year award.

Steve:

Can we just talk about that for a second?

Steve:

How this guy was like auditioning by like, making sure that someone caught

Steve:

him, putting women in a cab every morning.

Steve:

Don't forget to vote for me.

Steve:

What a dumb award.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Well, the award for a dude who bangs the most in New York.

Leif:

Outside the event, Jenny finds Chuck and Blair arguing.

Leif:

She points out that together they were invincible, but now that they

Leif:

have turned against each other, they will inevitably destroy each other.

Leif:

Dan sees Jenny walking away and is once again proud of his little sister.

Steve:

I love that scene.

Steve:

I, I'll never beat you, Blair.

Steve:

You'll eventually come back on top and win, which is why I'm

Steve:

not sticking around, which is why I'm getting the fuck outta here.

Steve:

But you two will destroy each other,

Leif:

do it.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl has this to say,

Leif:

we hear Little J gave Chuck and Blair a goodbye kiss of death.

Leif:

We move into the epilogue.

Leif:

Serena goes to leave a note under Kyle's office door, but

Leif:

finds him there working late.

Leif:

They agreed to put off their romance until after the class

Steve:

again, the late night in his office thing.

Steve:

Better than his apartment like Blair said.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Better than his apartment, like Blair said.

Steve:

It also reminiscent of trip of the going back and breaking up with trip.

Steve:

Yep.

Steve:

Oh, I just wanted to slide this note under your door.

Leif:

We get a nice goodbye scene with Dan, putting Jenny

Leif:

into a cab back to Hudson.

Steve:

She takes the train in, but takes a cab back to Hudson.

Steve:

I dunno what that bill was, right?

Steve:

It's, but you know, I guess

Leif:

Billy is a

Steve:

billionaire.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

I I don't think they worry too much about cab fair.

Leif:

Chuck goes to Blair's apartment, he says it was fate that broke

Leif:

them up and it was no one's fault.

Leif:

He asked to call a truce.

Leif:

To which Blair grudgingly agrees.

Steve:

I really liked this.

Steve:

I, first of all this scene was shot really well.

Steve:

It was acted pretty well between the two of them.

Steve:

Mm-hmm.

Steve:

And the whole, if this would've happened differently, if this would've

Steve:

happened differently, we were, we fell to fate and that is what ended this.

Steve:

And we're gonna destroy each other and we're gonna be dead.

Steve:

And I like me too much to do that.

Steve:

And you, I assume you feel the same way.

Steve:

And the sticking the handout and then making the contact and pulling away,

Steve:

and then Blair closing the door.

Steve:

And you can just see how shook she is.

Steve:

And it's because you can't hate someone without loving them.

Steve:

And for her to close that door, she knows that the hating each other was

Steve:

the only thing keeping them together.

Steve:

And if they're gonna call this truth, just like Chuck

Leif:

said,

Steve:

yeah, it's just like Chuck said that that was what they had, and now

Steve:

they're just letting it go and it's gone.

Steve:

Now let's hope it sticks.

Steve:

Let's hope it sticks.

Steve:

I don't care if they get back together.

Steve:

I just don't

Steve:

Take a break.

Steve:

Take a break.

Steve:

Just go bang.

Steve:

Dan, both of you.

Steve:

Both of you.

Steve:

Both of both of you.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Go bang, Dan.

Leif:

Yeah, a tearful.

Leif:

Juliette gets a call from Nate and she breaks up with him.

Leif:

Juliette hangs up when she hears the ding of the elevator.

Leif:

And who gets off the elevator?

Leif:

None other than Colin.

Leif:

It appears Serena's new boyfriend is financing Juliet's Ivy League lifestyle

Steve:

or is he financing this whole thing with Ben and Juliette, which is

Steve:

my, was my take is is working for Colin.

Steve:

But we know Ben's the one with the grudge.

Steve:

We do, but I don't know how deep that grudge goes.

Steve:

I don't know what the connection is and I could only see if he's

Steve:

so interested in Serena and they're so interested in Serena.

Steve:

It feels tied together right now.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

As a first time watching, it feels to me like they were putting

Steve:

them very specifically together.

Leif:

Yeah.

Leif:

But what is he financing

Steve:

on a monthly basis?

Steve:

And that's what I don't know.

Steve:

The brother is in prison.

Steve:

I mean, is he a sugar daddy of some sort to her?

Steve:

I, that's, I guess that's why I feel like it has to be tied to

Steve:

the scheme that Juliet has to have something in it for her.

Steve:

She doesn't seem thrilled to be taking that check.

Steve:

Right.

Steve:

She doesn't seem to be, it seems like there's regret in

Steve:

taking that money to a degree.

Steve:

So that's why it makes me feel like it's all tied in to the scheme.

Leif:

Okay, well Gossip Girl ends the episode with this monologue,

Leif:

they say, or is not the answer, but sometimes it's a battle just to keep

Leif:

the peace on the Upper East Side.

Leif:

You may stand down, but you can never give up.

Leif:

But our most dangerous enemies are the ones we never knew we had.

Leif:

So if you want peace, always be prepared for war.

Leif:

Xo xo, gossip

Steve:

girl.

Steve:

That was the other reason why I had that thought.

Steve:

The the enemies are the ones you don't even know.

Steve:

And I know Nate doesn't know that Juliet is the enemy, but it also

Steve:

felt to me like Colin is the enemy.

Leif:

That is our episode.

Leif:

What other predictions do you have besides Colin?

Leif:

Is the enemy

Steve:

Col? Yeah.

Steve:

Colin is, Colin is the enemy.

Steve:

I believe that we're gonna see something, or I think that Nate is

Steve:

gonna put together that Juliette was involved with his dad getting beat.

Steve:

I think that that, that Nate somehow is gonna put things together.

Steve:

He'll have help, I think.

Steve:

I'm sure someone will help him put the pieces together.

Steve:

I think that Serena and Colin are gonna have a very

Steve:

annoying sexual tension, heavy.

Steve:

Plot line that is already disgusting to me as a teacher, as somebody who has dreamt

Steve:

of teaching college, that that's been my dream for years to be a college professor.

Steve:

And to me, the relationship with my students has always been so sacred

Steve:

and has always been, it's been so important to keep that, to keep a divide.

Steve:

And it is so gross to me.

Steve:

Whenever, if you remember the Rachel Carr storyline, I was just as appalled.

Steve:

Mm. And it just absolutely sickens me.

Steve:

So I really hope that Colin just gets hit by a bus or something, but I

Steve:

don't think I'm gonna be that lucky.

Steve:

Anything else?

Steve:

Dan and Blair, I feel are inching closer together.

Steve:

They had a little bit of screen time today.

Steve:

Is that the last we see of Jenny?

Steve:

I don't know.

Steve:

I, I, her coming back was a surprise to begin with to me.

Steve:

I honestly thought she was done.

Steve:

So I kind of wonder if we'll get a couple more cameos throughout this season, maybe

Steve:

especially toward the end of the season when they really like to shake stuff up.

Steve:

So I think maybe we'll see her again.

Steve:

I think that we will stop seeing her name in the titles either halfway

Steve:

through this year or next year.

Steve:

Anything else?

Steve:

I felt like I did have something else and it is slipping Chuck and Blair.

Steve:

Yeah, it, it was, I, I, I, Chuck and Blair, I feel like I have, are at

Steve:

a perfect point to reboot, right?

Steve:

They're at a good point to season one.

Steve:

It again, go back to dating, whoever not being in each other's sites.

Leif:

Well, if you remember, episode seven is traditionally

Leif:

a Chuck and Blair episode.

Steve:

Was that just six that we did, or is it, this

Leif:

is six we're just doing right now.

Leif:

We're

Steve:

doing six right now.

Steve:

So episode seven is typically a Chuck and Blair episode, so, okay.

Steve:

Although sometimes, sometimes, no.

Steve:

I mean, no, I already, I, I already, I can already just tell.

Leif:

Alright, well let's get into segments.

Leif:

This week in fan, uh, we jumped into the way back machine to

Leif:

travel to the fan forums from 2010.

:

Hello there.

:

Peabody here.

:

And this is the way back machine.

:

We're traveling through time and this is my boy Sherman speak chairman.

:

Hello.

:

Good boy.

Leif:

And this week, uh, the episode is much better than last week.

Leif:

Yeah,

Steve:

I agree.

Steve:

I thought it was better.

Steve:

Uh, one other thing that I meant to say there is that.

Steve:

Possibility hanging out there of Colin being Gossip Girl.

Steve:

There is that, that Juliet had the whole framework that they gave us

Steve:

that minute that they wanted us to think that she was Gossip Girl.

Steve:

When I saw them connected, I had the thought of could he be Gossip girl?

Steve:

That was the, the other pre, it's not a prediction, but

Steve:

the other thought that I had,

Leif:

Dan and Eric were great brothers for Jenny this episode.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

They were disappointed that there was no Chuck versus Ivanka interaction.

Leif:

Probably it was revealed beforehand that Ivanka would be in the episode.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And, and they all,

Leif:

they're all expecting the bath versus the Trump thing to come into play.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And yes, he's made com comments about her before too.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

She's, I. I believe at this point in her early thirties,

Steve:

I think she's around my age.

Steve:

I think she's a year or two younger than me, or maybe older, but, and,

Steve:

and so yeah, she would've been like 12 years older than Chuck.

Steve:

But I also, that wouldn't have really mattered for Chuck.

Steve:

That wouldn't have mattered.

Steve:

I would've loved to have seen some history there, although I could

Steve:

also see Ivanka not playing along.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Glad that we're getting a Nate story.

Leif:

That's non-romantic.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Okay.

Steve:

And, and it was that, it was a great scene.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

I, I really, I'll, I'll go back to that again, that it was nice again, like you

Steve:

said, Nate's romance tends to be boring.

Steve:

Juliet, a little less so because it's not a real romance, because there's

Steve:

something else underneath there was with Brie, but we know it all along here.

Steve:

Even more confused about Colin and Julie.

Leif:

That.

Leif:

Yep.

Leif:

Fair.

Leif:

Same.

Leif:

They seem to think Colin, uh, does genuinely like Serena.

Leif:

Eh, maybe everyone

Steve:

does.

Steve:

Everyone does.

Steve:

So, yeah,

Leif:

there was quite a bit of debate on whether Jenny will be back or

Steve:

not.

Steve:

I don't think right away, I don't think I, I think they very clearly

Steve:

sent her off again to Hudson, but I feel like if the plot could use her

Steve:

again, that they'll bring her back.

Steve:

And finally, people were surprisingly

Leif:

pissed off at Chuck.

Leif:

It was shitty to take Jenny's stuff.

Leif:

And not about that.

Leif:

About the last scene about calling a truce, about saying it was Noah's fault.

Steve:

They thought it was his fault.

Steve:

It was his fault that he slept with Jenny.

Steve:

That was his fault.

Steve:

The timing of sleeping with

Leif:

Jenny.

Leif:

So what they were kind of more mad about was the fact that the emphasis

Leif:

was taken off than decent proposal.

Leif:

The emphasis was moved to sleeping with Jenny when the decent proposal should

Leif:

have been the thing that kept them apart.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steve:

That Well, that's, I mean, which was Chuck's fault.

Steve:

That was Chuck's fault.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Which you're, I mean, honestly, yeah.

Steve:

Blair should have not forgiven him.

Steve:

Not forgiven him in the first place.

Steve:

And while we're at it, he should have fucking died in Prague.

Steve:

I do, I do like what they're doing with Chuck.

Steve:

I do like how Chuck, like, has seemed to kind of grow up, is trying to do

Steve:

some accountability, but then he is still doing the same stupid shit.

Steve:

Shit that's before that.

Steve:

This is what they did in season two.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And, and they should have just killed him.

Leif:

Let's move over to episode grades.

Leif:

You went first last time, so I will go first this week.

Leif:

Like the fans.

Leif:

I agree.

Leif:

This is a much better episode.

Leif:

I had multiple laugh out loud moments in the episode and the Chuck Dan stuff Yeah.

Leif:

Was so good.

Leif:

Yeah, I I laughed at, at, uh, Lily's, uh, little reverse psychology thing to

Steve:

Oh yeah.

Steve:

Oh, totally.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

But yeah, the, the acting was good pretty much for all right.

Leif:

Except for Taylor was a little flat.

Leif:

I will, I will say that, but probably

Steve:

really tired from being on tour and she just didn't care.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And she didn't care line.

Steve:

I just see her sitting there.

Steve:

Hello.

Steve:

Line line.

Steve:

Hello, Tim Gunn line.

Steve:

Can I just chew gum and someone just mouth the words over for him?

Steve:

Can we get an a DR? Yeah.

Steve:

We just do this in

Leif:

post.

Leif:

But I ended up, uh, landing on a b plus.

Steve:

Yeah, that's, that is actually where I land as well.

Steve:

I thought it was a good episode.

Steve:

The little things that kind of annoyed me, annoyed me character wise and not

Steve:

production wise, you know, and mm-hmm.

Steve:

I, which when a character annoys me, I think it's a good thing.

Steve:

So I, I thought it was, uh, I'll, I'm gonna land there too.

Steve:

A b plus.

Leif:

Moving over to Stockwatch going up, I had Jenny 'cause she got her

Leif:

second interview and it looks like she's gonna possibly going to Parsons

Leif:

and she's above all the scheming.

Leif:

At this point, I had Dan going up 'cause even though he had that one little blip

Leif:

there, he was overall a good brother.

Leif:

This episode I had Rufuss going up 'cause he was.

Leif:

Hobnobbing with the up the elites of the upper side.

Leif:

Uh, Lily, once again, just having a great time.

Leif:

So she goes up and Eric for the same reason as Dan.

Steve:

I'm just thinking of today the photo that Rufuss Humphrey is trying to

Steve:

hide from people of him shaking Jared Kushner's hand at, at a celebrity event.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Like, uh, and you have go up?

Steve:

I have going up.

Steve:

I have, uh, first of all, Jenny going up for ending on the high note and,

Steve:

and getting, getting, possibly getting into Pars is getting the interview.

Steve:

I have Dan also going up and Eric for being good big brothers.

Steve:

I have Lily going up for outsmarting Serena in using

Steve:

reverse psychology to get her.

Steve:

Daughter to do the things.

Steve:

I thought that was funny.

Steve:

I think that she got a leg up doing it.

Steve:

I'm giving her the up.

Steve:

I am going to think, oh, and I'm Howie.

Steve:

Howie goes up for me.

Steve:

Howie, good job.

Steve:

I'm gonna add him on there.

Steve:

I did not, but I'll add him.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

Howie, congrats.

Steve:

Good job.

Steve:

And you know who else I'm gonna give an up to?

Steve:

I'm gonna give an up to the minions because they did the task, they

Steve:

were assigned, they did everything they were supposed to do and it

Steve:

led to them getting the information they've been trying to get all along.

Steve:

And now they kind of got boosted a leg up on Blair because of that.

Steve:

So I'm gonna give them the Minions a collective up as well.

Steve:

And I believe

Leif:

that is all.

Leif:

For me going down Tim Gunn douche bag.

Leif:

Tim Gunn douche bag, just for his comments in real life, he goes down.

Leif:

Fair.

Leif:

I had Blair going down 'cause you know she got schemed.

Leif:

Mm-hmm Chuck going down 'cause he was a dick.

Leif:

I had Serena going down 'cause she's repeating the same

Leif:

mistake she always repeats.

Leif:

Mm-hmm.

Leif:

Mm-hmm.

Leif:

I have Colin going down 'cause he's a creepy manipulator.

Leif:

Mm-hmm And I had Juliette going down 'cause she got dumped and or she

Leif:

did the dumping, but she was forced into it and yeah, she just doesn't

Leif:

look good for her at the moment.

Leif:

And then finally, since she was mentioned, yep.

Leif:

Vanessa, I was

Steve:

gonna do it too.

Steve:

Honestly.

Steve:

Everyone that you said word for word, did you say Nate?

Steve:

Because I had Nate.

Steve:

I did not have

Leif:

Nate.

Steve:

I had Nate going down too for getting dumped.

Steve:

But other than that I had everyone that you said.

Steve:

Uh, Tim Gunn, Serena, Chuck, and Blair and Vanessa, forgetting mentioned

Steve:

in the very first scene when, when Dan was like, yeah, she moved in

Steve:

with her parents, blah, blah, blah.

Steve:

I was like, whoa.

Steve:

Vanessa's stock going down.

Steve:

I, I assume Colin as well.

Steve:

Colin as well.

Steve:

Yes.

Steve:

Colin, for being a creep.

Steve:

Anyone else?

Steve:

I ha I said Nate, I will also say Jared Ivanka, just 'cause I can Fair not,

Steve:

they added nothing to the episode.

Steve:

But here's the best outfits from the last episode we've

Leif:

seen.

Leif:

Moving to best outfits.

Leif:

Another weak batch episode.

Leif:

Really weak.

Leif:

Really weak.

Leif:

I almo and I almost saw Dan again for having another nice black suit.

Leif:

But in the end, I actually gave it to Penelope and the Minions 'cause for

Leif:

their matching white and silver dresses.

Leif:

Okay.

Leif:

So,

Steve:

and they're cool jewelry too.

Steve:

So this whole episode, I'm like, the fashion in this just doesn't pop.

Steve:

There's nothing really in it.

Steve:

Serena's dress is just another boob dress.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

That it's just a black styled dress to show off her boobs.

Steve:

Chuck is wearing that weird bow tie that's sticking out from the collar.

Steve:

Yeah.

Steve:

And I've always hated that style.

Steve:

Just nothing popped.

Steve:

And then I'm watching and it's like, the most interesting outfits

Steve:

in this episode were the minions.

Steve:

Yep.

Steve:

They were.

Steve:

They were coordinated and they were meant to look lesser than everybody else.

Steve:

You know, you have them in these.

Steve:

Neutral colors to not draw a lot of attention, which ended up just

Steve:

making them really kind of pop.

Steve:

'cause they did it together.

Steve:

I felt like Lily could have stood with them and maybe would've matched.

Steve:

She had a similar color scheme going on, which I also felt was

Steve:

to diminish from Serena's outfit.

Steve:

So yeah, I also was giving it to the minions as well.

Leif:

Okay.

Leif:

Well that is it for segments.

Leif:

Anything you wanna plug this week?

Steve:

I have been watching Peacemaker and I've been watching Alien Earth.

Steve:

Uh, both have been entertaining shows, so you should give that

Steve:

a, a watch if you're into it.

Steve:

And you can find me on Instagram or TikTok, Steve Marshon,

Steve:

M-A-R-C-H-I-O-N, or you can find me at the Weed Wizard on Blue Sky.

Steve:

So go ahead and gimme a follow up.

Leif:

Well, nothing for me to recommend this week, but if you

Leif:

wanna follow me on Instagram or Blue Sky, I am at Hot capa Cola.

Leif:

That's H-O-T-C-A-P-I-C-O-L-A.

Leif:

You can follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and Threads

Leif:

at Non-Judging Breakfast Pod.

Leif:

You can also find links to our Discord server, to our Patreon

Leif:

and our subreddit on our website.

Leif:

Non-judging breakfast

Steve:

pod.com.

Steve:

And if you would like to get in touch with us, we would love

Steve:

to hear what you have to say.

Steve:

Please send us an email at non-judging breakfast pod@gmail.com, and we would

Steve:

love to read what you have to say here on the air and love to get in touch

Steve:

and have the conversation expanded.

Steve:

Also, while you're listening, if you could hit that like, or subscribe or follow

Steve:

button and leave us a comment that really helps with our visibility in Spotify and

Steve:

Apple Podcasts, and we really appreciate those who have left comments in the past.

Steve:

And, uh, finally, go ahead and tell your friends what you're wa, what

Steve:

you're listening to here, and get them to listen to the Non-Judging

Steve:

Breakfast Pod and make us the water cooler talk for you at work next week.

Leif:

Indeed, and we will be back to talk about season four,

Leif:

episode seven, war at the Roses.

Leif:

The episode description reads, Blair is caught off guard and not in a good way by

Leif:

a surprise guest at her birthday party.

Steve:

It's gonna be Aaron, isn't it?

Steve:

It's gonna be Aaron.

Steve:

And because, uh, I saw war, I saw the title, I didn't read the description,

Steve:

I saw the title, war of the Roses.

Steve:

And honestly, if Eleanor and, um, Cyrus, Cyrus, I kept wanting to

Steve:

say, Cecil, if Eleanor and Cyrus.

Steve:

Break up.

Steve:

I will not be okay because they're my favorite couple on the show to be honest.

Steve:

Fair enough.

Steve:

Until

Leif:

next time,

Steve:

you know you love us.

Steve:

XOXO.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me, you whip you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Oh, it seems I'm walking right to your door.

:

My heart's still resting.

:

I'm looking for something more.

:

Are you ever gonna see everything you mean to me?

:

I'm trying really hard.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me, he with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me, he with you there ever feels right

:

When I'm out here on my own.

:

I left last night and it feels like way too long.

:

Are you ever going to see everything you mean to me?

:

I'm trying really hard to believe.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Come back to me,

:

smile, and you make my life.

:

Complete.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me, you with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of me with you there.

:

Every time you walk away, run away.

:

You take a piece of

:

with you there.