Episode 19

S4E19 - "Petty in Pink"

Dan and Blair’s “fake dating” plan goes public, Serena loses control, and Lily’s Pink Party ends in humiliation. Leif and Steve recap Petty in Pink with sharp banter, royal drama, iconic mess, and major Chuck revelations. Gossip Girl 4x19.

This episode covers:

  1. Dan & Blair’s very public kiss
  2. Serena’s jealousy meltdown
  3. Lily’s house arrest disaster
  4. Charlie stirring chaos
  5. Chuck’s shocking discovery

Pour the coffee, grab a mimosa, and join the table—because the Upper East Side never keeps secrets for long.

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

🎧 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:

Because he got cucked.

Steve:

Yeah, he did.

Leif:

And smiled at it and su.

Steve:

Yeah. And was happy about it. I don't know.

Steve:

Personally, I don't always think that that.

Steve:

Is a negative thing.

Steve:

You know, to each their own.

Leif:

Hey Upper east siders and all you scandal loving

Leif:

listeners out there, you just tuned into the non

Leif:

judging breakfast pod where the coffee is strong,

Leif:

the waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter

Leif:

than ever. My name is Leif and I'm your seasoned

Leif:

Gossip Girl veteran.

Steve:

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

Steve:

rookie, the. What are we calling me now Leaf that

Steve:

we're in season four.

Leif:

I'm not sure, but how about a single malt M for

Leif:

breakfast?

Steve:

Well, it takes the edge off the coat.

Leif:

It certainly does.

Steve:

So here's the deal, folks. Leif has been watching

Steve:

Gossip Girl since it first aired and I'm diving in

Steve:

for the very first time. And together we're your

Steve:

dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama, romance

Steve:

and sometimes questionable fashion choices of this

Steve:

iconic 2007 series.

Leif:

Bring your magnifying glasses because each week

Leif:

we're dissecting every juicy detail of the show

Leif:

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

Leif:

uncover those sneaky little Easter eggs, and of

Leif:

course serve up some piping hot behind the scenes

Leif:

tea. And expect some iconic fan of moments too

Leif:

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

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here at the

Steve:

non judging breakfast pod, there is always a seat

Steve:

for you at the non judging breakfast table. So go

Steve:

ahead and grab a mimosa, a cup of coffee or roll

Steve:

up whatever Chuck is getting his day started with.

Steve:

And let's go ahead and get into this.

Leif:

A couple things before we get into the episode. So

Leif:

you were on Farden Fable and you watched a late

Leif:

season nine episode of Smallville.

Steve:

Correct.

Leif:

Which you have not seen anything like past. Like

Leif:

season four.

Steve:

Right? Yeah, I think some of wherever James Matt

Steve:

Marsters joined Brainiac, I think season five. So

Steve:

I think a couple episodes of season five and then

Steve:

yeah, a random one here or there beyond that. So

Steve:

yeah, it was pretty much a cold episode for me.

Leif:

Have you watched anything else from that season?

Steve:

No, I have not. I thought about watching a little

Steve:

bit more of it and then watch Stranger Things

Steve:

instead.

Leif:

I would suggest going back to the start of that

Leif:

season. When people ask me for comparisons to Dan

Leif:

and Blair and other teen shows, the first

Leif:

comparison is obviously Joey and Pacey from

Leif:

Dawson's Creek.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

But I think even closer to them is Lois and Clark.

Leif:

From Smallville. They also just really nailed that

Leif:

old school screwball comedy atmosphere. And

Leif:

unfortunately the episode you saw didn't really

Leif:

have much of them interacting.

Steve:

No, it was, it was actually quite the opposite

Steve:

that we saw them together in the beginning, but a

Steve:

big part of the tension was that was the secrets

Steve:

between them. What is it now?

Leif:

And ah, we also got an email from friend of the

Leif:

pod, Eden. She writes in hey njbp.

Steve:

I haven't written in a while, but I just finished

Steve:

your recap of Damien Darko, one of my all time

Steve:

faves and wanted to share some thoughts. I

Steve:

completely get why you guys were not fans of this

Steve:

one. The Ben storyline is awful, but I barely care

Steve:

about him because the Dan and Blair arc is so

Steve:

good. The episode has so much potential. Classic

Steve:

Gigi give us incredible setups and then fail to

Steve:

deliver. One thing I love is how this episode

Steve:

echoes Donnie Darko, also a fave of mine. In that

Steve:

film, the protagonist is influenced by unseen

Steve:

forces. In Gossip Girl, that force is literally

Steve:

Gossip Girl. Plus the usual web of adult

Steve:

corruption, Lily, the legal system, etc. Everyone

Steve:

is operating within an invisible structure,

Steve:

directing their choices. Both the film and this

Steve:

show are obsessed with the gap between the world

Steve:

people appear to inhabit and the world they're

Steve:

actually living in. Like in dd, this episode

Steve:

contains a reality distortion that is Dan and

Steve:

Blair becoming friends. I also love Dan and

Steve:

Blair's walk and talk scene so much. It's one of

Steve:

my favorite devices and something this show does

Steve:

extremely well, exploring character through

Steve:

conversation. Their small moments and cultural

Steve:

references often tell us more about them than

Steve:

anything. They explicitly reveal a few notes on

Steve:

the references. It makes total sense that Blair

Steve:

would dislike Scorpio Rising and see it as

Steve:

esoteric. It's experimental, underground, and a

Steve:

fixture of counter culture, which also explains

Steve:

why Dan would defend it. Blair's line that Drek

Steve:

puts the ick in esoteric is perfect. She's clearly

Steve:

spending a lot of time with Cyrus because Yiddish

Steve:

is now part of her everyday vocab. Similarly, it

Steve:

tracks that Dan wouldn't appreciate Degas. He

Steve:

claims he doesn't think fashion is art, which

Steve:

Blair pushes back on. That viewpoint is a great

Steve:

metaphor for his relationship to the Ues. He sees

Steve:

this world as superficial when there is always

Steve:

more beneath the surface. The ballerinas might

Steve:

look frilly and decorative, but Degas also shows

Steve:

the backstage reality that is exhausted bodies,

Steve:

discipline, ambition, which is why Blair resonates

Steve:

with it. While she usually presents one version of

Steve:

herself through her friendship with Dan, we start

Steve:

to see more of what she hides from the world. This

Steve:

theme is essential to Gossip Girl and links all

Steve:

the way back to the first episode of this season

Steve:

and its belle de jour reference. It also shows up

Steve:

in Ben and Damian's conversation. Damian and Ben

Steve:

both present one facade, while hiding a completely

Steve:

different truth. The nerd to drug dealer pipeline

Steve:

concept is honestly a whole show I would watch by

Steve:

itself. Damian elevates what is otherwise the

Steve:

armpit of this episode and season, AKA anything to

Steve:

do with Ben. And I especially love the detail

Steve:

about Damian writing an essay at boarding school

Steve:

comparing the Wire to the Iliad. We learn so much

Steve:

about him from that line, including how he views

Steve:

systems of power. The Wire and the Iliad are both

Steve:

about people locked into battles they didn't

Steve:

choose, which brings us back to the show's focus

Steve:

on appearance versus reality. These characters are

Steve:

constantly dropped onto battlefields, pushed into

Steve:

situations created by forces outside their

Steve:

control. Class, social standing, family

Steve:

expectations, etc. It all loops back to the

Steve:

masquerade ball, to the tension between Brooklyn

Steve:

and the Ues. Blair wears the dresses and plays the

Steve:

part, then eats an entire pie alone. The

Steve:

ballerinas shine in their poses, but when we pull

Steve:

back the curtain, they're vulnerable and human.

Steve:

Can't wait for the next episode. Best Eden.

Steve:

Thank you very much for writing in Eden.

Leif:

Yes, I do. Like, I didn't really think about the

Leif:

Debian Darko connections either, or the Dottie

Leif:

Dark. Yeah, that does make sense.

Steve:

Yeah, I. Yeah, a lot of it does. And I. It's funny

Steve:

because I wasn't looking for it. I haven't seen

Steve:

that movie in.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

A very long time, so I wasn't really looking for

Steve:

those. Yeah. Yeah, it's. So, yeah. Thank you, very

Steve:

much for the insight. We really appreciate that.

Leif:

We're talking about season four, episode 19, Petty

Leif:

in Pink.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Original air date was April 25, 2011 and of

Leif:

course, based on the film pretty in pink, 1986

Leif:

brat pack. We got Molly Ringwald, John Cryer,

Leif:

Harry Dean Stanton.

Steve:

Yeah, and it's kind of funny. First of all, we

Steve:

had, the whole Harry Dean Stanton references way

Steve:

early. Remember, that's one of those things that

Steve:

got Rufus and Lily together. The other funny

Steve:

thing, I'm really shocked they didn't use Pretty

Steve:

in Pink in some form when Jenny was on, because

Steve:

such a big thing about that is that she can't

Steve:

afford a dress and makes her own. Yeah, she has to

Steve:

make her own clothes. So, it's interesting that

Steve:

they saved it until the Pink party. I wish that I

Steve:

saw more parallels.

Leif:

Here episode was written by Amanda Lasher, who's

Leif:

previously done in season two, Predator J, Gone

Leif:

with the Will, Satyr Anything. Season three, the

Leif:

Freshmen. They shoot Humphreys, don't they? In,

Leif:

the Lady Vanished. It's a dad, dad, dad, dad

Leif:

World. And then in season four, she's already done

Leif:

two episodes. The Undergraduates and the Townie.

Steve:

Yeah, it's a roller coaster of a.

Leif:

Resume there, so very good ones, though.

Steve:

Yeah. Dad, dad, dad, dad World was great.

Leif:

I know you didn't particularly like they Shoot

Leif:

Humphreys out there, but it's definitely a classic

Leif:

episode.

Steve:

They shoot Omfrees, don't they? Is the threesome

Steve:

episode Threesome Fallout?

Leif:

No, that's, when Jenny gets into. She's the

Leif:

terror, I can tell you an episode.

Steve:

Oh, right, right, right, right.

Leif:

Gone with the Will is good. Seder Anything was

Leif:

good.

Steve:

Undergraduates, I think, was good.

Leif:

That was when you had the. The fake. The fake

Leif:

fight with Blair and Serena.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

And then, of course, the Taddy was really good.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

the episode was directed by Liz Friedlander. this

Leif:

is her first and only episode of Gossip Girl. But

Leif:

a lot of credits in the genre. One Tree hill,

Leif:

Melrose Place, 90210, privilege, pretty little

Leif:

Liars, the Vampire Diaries, Secret Circle. So

Leif:

very, accomplished in the genre. But then also I

Leif:

noticed her most recent credit was the third

Leif:

episode of the season two of Fallout, which I just

Leif:

watched last week.

Steve:

Yeah, which was fantastic. They haven't done a bad

Steve:

one yet. But I did catch up on Fallout when you

Steve:

had brought it up.

Leif:

I haven't watched the fourth episode yet.

Steve:

Me neither. I did want to wait for everything to

Steve:

be released, but then I figured that I'm going to

Steve:

eventually see too much on TikTok.

Leif:

Exactly. Why don't you give us that Vulture recap?

Steve:

All right, Vulture, what did you have to say? last

Steve:

week, Serena taught her cousin Charlie how to blow

Steve:

a thousand dollars on clothes like it was no big

Steve:

whoop. This week, she indoctrinated her in the

Steve:

complex art of managing your friendships through

Steve:

stealth, manipulation, and one upsmanship. She

Steve:

should have stuck to shopping. Serena's mission to

Steve:

find out whether Blair and Dan were being horrible

Steve:

friends by sneaking around behind her back, failed

Steve:

spectacularly. Of course, Serena can't even fasten

Steve:

a bra, but never mind. Put together a mission. And

Steve:

the resulting blowout, in which Blair called

Steve:

Serena out on her egoism and her stupidity, left

Steve:

Serena diminished and alone, pathetically dialing

Steve:

a one night stand in France just so that she could

Steve:

have a French boyfriend too. Elsewhere Other

Steve:

friendships exploded simultaneously. And

Steve:

Archibald, surrounded by a grotesque Greek chorus

Steve:

of pink clad botoxed minions, told Lily off for

Steve:

cold shouldering her when the captain was down and

Steve:

out. And Dan unceremoniously slammed the door on

Steve:

his old buddy Vanessa's face when her soon to be

Steve:

replacement scoped out her old room. And with Nate

Steve:

continuing to blithely step Chuck's ex girlfriend

Steve:

in his BFF's very home, it raised the question,

Steve:

who on the Upper east side is a good friend? Only

Steve:

it seems Rufus, who in another life we imagine was

Steve:

a loyal hound called Rusty. Sic', em, Rufus sicum.

Steve:

Remember Rufus? Remember when Rufus had integrity?

Leif:

yeah. Well, we get into Act 1. Gossip Girl opens

Leif:

with Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but ask

Leif:

any Upper east side girl to show you her most

Leif:

prized possession. And we bet the box is Vivier,

Leif:

not Cartier. But the truth is, just because the

Leif:

shoe fits doesn't mean you won't want to wear it.

Leif:

We get a short sequence of Blaire's Vivier shoe

Leif:

placed in a box and delivered to Blaire before

Leif:

jumping into a scene of Blair trying on outfits

Leif:

with Dorota in preparation for a grand date with

Leif:

Louis.

Steve:

So we see Blair being terrible about her outfit

Steve:

and decides to go raid Serena's closet.

Leif:

an interesting thing is she. She ends up wearing

Leif:

the exact outfit she's wearing here for the rest

Leif:

of the day. Until the party.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Lily, on house arrest at the penthouse is trying

Leif:

to find an outfit that will hide her ankle

Leif:

monitor. Serena, Eric, and Charlie come home and

Leif:

find Lily amidst the spoils of her online shopping

Leif:

safari. Lily has to clear up, though, because the

Leif:

pink party planning committee is coming over to do

Leif:

gift bag preps and slowly can't attend the actual

Leif:

event. Serena pulls Charlie aside for a quick

Leif:

chat.

Steve:

Lily's on house arrest. The big reveal.

Leif:

Eric's immediately suspicious. Yeah, like really,

Leif:

they're coming here? He knows which way the wind's

Leif:

blowing.

Steve:

Yeah. Eric pays attention on the Upper east side.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Rufus is at the loft borrowing movies, and Dan

Leif:

lets him know he got a job opportunity, but he

Leif:

feels a little bit weird about stalking a royal.

Leif:

Rufus is proud of the job, but then gets cranky

Leif:

because Dan and Vanessa aren't talking.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, Rufus, he's mad at her from the time

Steve:

that she almost killed somebody and blamed it on

Steve:

your daughter. oh, yeah, it's fine.

Leif:

It was just Jenny Ruis weird obsession with

Leif:

Vanessa.

Steve:

Yeah, shouldn't you bring Vanessa around more?

Leif:

Blair is still picking outfits when she gets a

Leif:

call from Louis. Blair lets him know that she is

Leif:

going to essentially be introducing him to New

Leif:

York society on their date today. But Louis tells

Leif:

her no one does know as to know that he is with

Leif:

her. Not a problem. Blair has the perfect spot to

Leif:

avoid prying eyes. The minions arrive, and, Blair

Leif:

stops Dorota from telling them her date is with

Leif:

the prince. Blair demeans the minions a bit,

Leif:

however, for Penelope, the scent of gossip is like

Leif:

catnip. And she can't help but tip off Gossip Girl

Leif:

to the mystery.

Steve:

And Blair has an idea as to where they can go

Steve:

where people like them would never be caught. Ah,

Steve:

so of course we're moving to Brooklyn.

Leif:

It's not even Brooklyn. It's Lower west side.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Yeah, but they. But they treat it like

Steve:

Brooklyn.

Leif:

It's NYU territory.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Their shared ground. Yeah.

Leif:

The look on Jessica's face when she hands over the

Leif:

cuff just made me think of our conversation with

Leif:

Alice. Alice. she talked about how, like, all the

Leif:

great outfits and stuff she got to try on but

Leif:

didn't get to keep anything. Yeah, yeah, look when

Leif:

she's, like, giving it over.

Steve:

yeah, when she finally snatches it out of her

Steve:

hand.

Leif:

It appears Serena did get Vanessa's message from

Leif:

last week and is now having Charlie help her

Leif:

research Times. When Dan and Blair were spotted

Leif:

together in the middle of their research, a Gossip

Leif:

Girl blast goes out seeking info on, Blair's

Leif:

mystery date, which, of course, Sarita assumes is

Leif:

Dan.

Steve:

I loved this scene because of all of the times

Steve:

Blair and Dan were like, we need to make it look

Steve:

like a coincidence. We need to. We need to make it

Steve:

be. We need plausible deniability. And so here's

Steve:

Serena, reading all of these Gossip Girl blasts,

Steve:

providing the COVID for them. Like, oh, no, no, of

Steve:

course they would have. I was drugged. Oh, of

Steve:

course they would have done that, because she

Steve:

loves Nanette and Dan loves those stupid movies.

Steve:

It was such great payoff for Dan and Blair's setup

Steve:

over several.

Leif:

Blair knew what she was doing. Yeah, that's the

Leif:

double edged sword of Gossip Girl.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly.

Leif:

Dan is posted up outside Vaselka and sees Louie

Leif:

getting out of his limo. You really get a sense

Leif:

that Dan is uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Steve:

Yeah, it's kind of a weird assignment. I can be.

Steve:

You should be uncomfortable stalking a stranger.

Steve:

Just. Or, just to take tabs on where they are.

Leif:

Yes. Let's hire this random college student to be

Leif:

a paparazzi.

Steve:

Yeah, weird. I mean, no weirder than hiring a

Steve:

random high schooler to do an expose on the murder

Steve:

of a person in a building by Bart Bass.

Leif:

Well, at least he had like an in there.

Steve:

Yeah, that's fair.

Leif:

Serena's text ring with Lily is interrupted by a

Leif:

call from Charlie, who then says she sees Dan

Leif:

outside of Baselka looking guilty. Charlie tells

Leif:

Serena to stand by as Dan goes inside. She then

Leif:

sees Blair exiting a towel car. Charlie turns her

Leif:

back to avoid being spotted and then lets Sarita

Leif:

know the quote unquote bar bad news. Blair enters

Leif:

and Dan and her banter a bit. When Dan sees who

Leif:

she's there to meet, he gets up and leaves.

Leif:

Charlie conveniently still has her back to the

Leif:

restaurant as Dan makes his exit and Blair, Louis

Leif:

are still inside.

Steve:

This is funny. The trying to teach Charlie how to.

Steve:

How to manage the Upper east side intrigue and

Steve:

shenanigans. And here she's seemingly just

Steve:

fumbling every step of the way, despite really

Steve:

doing exactly what she was supposed to do.

Leif:

Yes, poor S. Apparently Blair and Dan's boots are

Leif:

made for walking right all over you. That's what

Leif:

Gossip Girl says. As we go to the break, we come

Leif:

back to Act 2 and Serena enters Vaselka and thinks

Leif:

she has caught Blair and Dan on a date. But Dan,

Leif:

when she get walks through the table, she finally

Leif:

sees Louis face and she's relieved. Blair pulls

Leif:

her aside to explain why she and Louis are keeping

Leif:

a low profile.

Steve:

How is that Dan's hair from the back like. Like

Steve:

that? That man looks absolutely nothing like Dan

Steve:

from behind.

Leif:

Serena exits and explains to Charlie that she must

Leif:

have been mistaken about seeing Dan. But Charlie

Leif:

is insistent that she knows who Dan is and what he

Leif:

looks like. However, Charlie decides to stay in

Leif:

lower Manhattan. She claims it's to check out nyu.

Leif:

Serena hops into a cab uptown and Charlie uses her

Leif:

phone to find Dan on the Gossip Girl spotted map.

Steve:

Yeah, so she, she needs to prove that she's not

Steve:

incompetent and Serena's a fucking asshole.

Leif:

Yeah, I, mean, she's also basically saying Gossip

Leif:

Girl is incompetent because Dan was spotted there,

Leif:

right? Yeah, which we know. Gossip Girl's not

Leif:

incompetent. She's tracking these people 24 7,

Leif:

apparently.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes. Yeah, she's got airtags on all of them.

Steve:

And meanwhile, Serena's like, I don't know.

Leif:

Must be confused child at the Empire Reina goes

Leif:

through a box of her mom's things while Nate sits

Leif:

across the table and he suggests talking to Chuck

Leif:

as he went through something very similar.

Leif:

However, she isn't ready to talk to anybody else

Leif:

about it yet. When Chuck enters, doing his best

Leif:

Howard Hughes invitation, she puts the contents

Leif:

back in the box. Reyna steps away to make a call,

Leif:

and Nate tells Chuck he's here for Chuck when he's

Leif:

ready to talk about whatever's bothering him. When

Leif:

Nate walks away, Chuck finds a photo of Reyna and

Leif:

her mom that Raina dropped on the floor. And that

Leif:

leads Chuck to the box, where he quickly figures

Leif:

out what Reina is doing.

Steve:

I wish I wasn't so bored with all of this. I wish

Steve:

Nate wasn't so boring because I. And I wish Reina

Steve:

wasn't so boring. I really liked Raina for all

Steve:

this time, and I feel like she was better with

Steve:

Chuck. Yeah, she's getting the Nate curse and just

Steve:

becoming boring. And it's not even like. It's not

Steve:

even a super boring plotline. Right? It's not a

Steve:

boring thing that they're going through. It could

Steve:

have so much drama. You know, finding family is.

Steve:

It's full of drama. Why am I bored? Stop boring me

Steve:

with Nate stuff. And I love Nate. why is he so

Steve:

boring? Like, could you imagine a spin off of just

Steve:

Nate? That would be the most boring show.

Leif:

Dan calls Vanessa in an attempt to mend fences.

Leif:

There is some understandable awkwardness, but the

Leif:

two make plans to grab a drink later.

Steve:

I loved how Dan didn't feel like he really wanted

Steve:

to be doing this, but it was like, my dad thinks

Steve:

we should be friends again, but, like, I'm well

Steve:

aware of how much you suck, but I'm just gonna do

Steve:

this anyway.

Leif:

And Vanessa's still being an asshole.

Steve:

Yeah, Vanessa, who was begging to be his friend

Steve:

again, is immediately, like, shitty when he calls.

Steve:

It's like, vanessa, you're on thin ice as it is.

Steve:

Be nice.

Leif:

You haven't earned stock yet.

Steve:

No. Since you're so eager to be back into this

Steve:

group of friends that never liked you, never

Steve:

wanted you there, that you never wanted to be a

Steve:

part of in the first place.

Leif:

Ann shows up at the penthouse to let Lily know

Leif:

that they will be prepping the gift bags at Blaine

Leif:

Trump's house rather than here. She also asked

Leif:

Lily to send over the food she had catered for the

Leif:

pre party event. Eric is surprised to see the

Leif:

scones being taken away, and Rufus suspects Lily's

Leif:

social standing has taken a hit since the

Leif:

sentencing.

Steve:

Yeah, Rufus. Yeah, maybe it has. Maybe all of

Steve:

these snobby Upper east side people who have never

Steve:

really been too kind to anyone about anything

Steve:

ever, aren't going to be kind about this.

Leif:

I wasn't Too familiar with Blaine Trump. So I kind

Leif:

of googled her. Yeah, she was married to Donald

Leif:

Trump's brother Robert from 1984 to 2008. So she

Leif:

was actually already divorced from him for like

Leif:

three years by the time this was happening.

Steve:

Oh, that's funny. I wonder if someone just didn't

Steve:

do their research.

Leif:

I mean, she probably kept the name because she's

Leif:

like, she's a philanthropist. In socialites, her

Leif:

name kind of means something now.

Steve:

Yeah, that makes sense. And also, she doesn't say

Steve:

anything here, but you can see. And I feel like

Steve:

this is like really good acting. Some of the first

Steve:

good acting that I've given Ann credit for. But

Steve:

the glee in telling Lily that she can't host and

Steve:

that she. And. And the satisfaction she gets of

Steve:

asking for the food to be sent over was, I thought

Steve:

some of Anne's best work.

Leif:

Not bad.

Steve:

Yeah, usually she's. Usually she's just a, nothing

Steve:

actor on this show. And that was just. You could

Steve:

just feel how happy she was.

Leif:

It's funny you should mention that. I was going to

Leif:

say this to the end, but, why not just say it now?

Leif:

This is the last episode we see Anne on screen.

Steve:

Oh, no kidding.

Leif:

Even though there's two seasons left, she just

Leif:

never appears again, right?

Steve:

Well, I mean, because she's never really done.

Steve:

She's never really been on for the parenting, so

Steve:

getting some shots in on her way out for Lily is

Steve:

fantastic. And way to, way to bree it all on your

Steve:

last episode.

Leif:

A deranged looking Chuck asks Nate if Reina is

Leif:

looking for her mother. He says it's a mistake,

Leif:

but frames it as if her mother had plenty

Leif:

opportunities to contact her. She would have, but

Leif:

didn't. when Nate says that Chuck at least got

Leif:

some answers. And doesn't Reina deserve the same?

Leif:

Chuck's response is to ask, can she handle being

Leif:

rejected by her mom so soon after losing her dad?

Leif:

When Nate walks away, Chuck calls Andrew Tyler and

Leif:

asks him to investigate the fire. And if Avery

Leif:

Thorpe was there that night.

Steve:

Yeah, it's funny because I kind of get, you know,

Steve:

obviously we know why Chuck doesn't want her

Steve:

looking into this because he's currently under the

Steve:

impression that his dad may have had something to

Steve:

do with it. And Chuck, even here, does not seem

Steve:

like he's completely, completely convinced by what

Steve:

Russell told him. But he shook enough.

Leif:

He's worried.

Steve:

That prospect. Yeah, he's very. He's clearly

Steve:

worried it could be true and doesn't want Rangers,

Steve:

which is what.

Leif:

What Thorpe said. You Know your father. And you

Leif:

know, he could be capable of this.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. No, not of an actual person. Only.

Steve:

Only neighbors, janitors and custodians.

Leif:

Red shirt, red shirt. Security guard.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes. Red. Red shirt security. Tm. why do our

Steve:

folks just keep getting picked off?

Leif:

Blair De Rota return to the apartment, to find

Leif:

Louis waiting. He tells her his parents found out

Leif:

about the date and upset that he is with a

Leif:

commoner. Blair initially thinks that Penelope

Leif:

told Louise Handler Lucien about the date, but

Leif:

they figure out it was Dan that did. Blair comes

Leif:

up with a plan and tells Louis to get out his

Leif:

suit. She then calls Dan and tells him to meet her

Leif:

at the Paul Smiths in half an hour. As Dan gets

Leif:

off the phone, we see Charlie is still tracking

Leif:

him.

Steve:

and when she calls him and she's like, meet me

Steve:

here. You know why?

Leif:

And you should be ashamed of yourself.

Steve:

And you should be ashamed of yourself and Dan just

Steve:

being like, ah, fuck. Like. Like the recognition

Steve:

that Blair knows and she wasn't supposed to. And

Steve:

we know that Dan was like, I can't do this. This

Steve:

is unethical, and it would hurt my friend. I'm not

Steve:

gonna do it. But just the whole setup and reaction

Steve:

was fun.

Leif:

Yeah, but the story is stupid, terrible.

Steve:

The entire story of this episode.

Leif:

Sorry to Google, 75% of royal princes are now

Leif:

married to commoners. In Europe, all four of Queen

Leif:

Elizabeth's children are married to commoners.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And this little tiny country, Monica, they're all

Leif:

worried about. And like Blair says, at least I'm

Leif:

not a circus performer, because guess what? They

Leif:

have married circus performers.

Steve:

Right? And I actually thought that I remembered

Steve:

that being a thing. So when she made that comment

Steve:

later, it was. It made sense. But this isn't. This

Steve:

also isn't just some commoner, too. This isn't.

Steve:

This isn't Princess Di walking down the street.

Steve:

You know how this is a affluent woman of a New

Steve:

York dynasty. or at least a budding New York

Steve:

dynasty. So it's not that, like, she does. Like,

Steve:

she comes from nothing or has nothing to bring to

Steve:

the family.

Leif:

And this is what Gossip Girl has to say about it.

Leif:

Charlie may be new to the city, but apparently she

Leif:

already knows how to get around. Who needs a map

Leif:

when you can just follow the cheater? Who's

Leif:

cheating Gossip Girl?

Steve:

Yeah, who is cheating here because no one is in a

Steve:

relationship.

Leif:

We move to Act 3. Blair and Dan are shopping for

Leif:

ties. While bantering, Dan explains what happened

Leif:

with Lucien and how he backed out right away when

Leif:

he saw it was her. Blair explains that her plan is

Leif:

for Lucienne to catch Dan and Blair in an intimate

Leif:

moment at tonight's pink party to throw him off

Leif:

the scent of Blair and Louis. Charlie's outside

Leif:

the store snapping pictures of the two.

Steve:

This plan is really dumb too. Like, oh, we just

Steve:

need to make sure that this guy sees me kissing

Steve:

you. So then that way he knows that the prince

Steve:

isn't into me.

Leif:

But it's a total Blair plan.

Steve:

It is a Blair plan.

Leif:

And it did work too.

Steve:

It is solid. It is solid scheming in the. In the

Steve:

universe of Gossip Girl, for sure. It's just a

Steve:

really dumb plan in general. Although, the other

Steve:

side of this scene is the, one Harry met Sally.

Steve:

Yes, that. We have another reference here where

Steve:

they're. Where she. Only she's more the Harry

Steve:

putting stuff.

Leif:

On him, which I said from the beginning. They

Leif:

sometimes flip back and forth.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Which. But it's good. I mean, a

Steve:

tribute should not be one to one identical. Yeah,

Steve:

it's like a tribute band, right? When, when I go

Steve:

see a tribute band, I want to see their versions

Steve:

of this, of the. Of whatever they're playing. You

Steve:

know, the. The newspaper taxis, my friends that

Steve:

are in a Beatles tribute band. They're fantastic.

Steve:

And they sound like if the Beatles were writing

Steve:

their music today. So it's a new twist on what

Steve:

you're listening to. That's what I want to hear.

Steve:

So I. Same thing with this.

Leif:

So they're Oasis.

Steve:

No, they're good.

Leif:

Wait, you don't like Oasis?

Steve:

they're just. No, they're really good. not to say

Steve:

Oasis isn't good. I hated Oasis when they came

Steve:

out. I like them. I appreciate them a lot more

Steve:

now, but I hated them because of their Beatles,

Steve:

because I was. Oh, when. Don't look back in anger

Steve:

when it sounded like. Imagine I would get so mad

Steve:

when I. When that would come on the radio.

Leif:

That's such a good song though. Eric and Serena

Leif:

are trying to pick a movie for tonight. Rufus

Leif:

enters and is frustrated he has no pool on the

Leif:

Upper east side. And it's a. Apparently also out

Leif:

of touch in the current rock scene. We learned

Leif:

that Serena has some blackmail info that could

Leif:

help get the party moved. But Rufus doesn't want

Leif:

Serena cross the line. However, Serena gets her

Leif:

own reason across that line when she receives a

Leif:

text from Charlie showing Dan and Blair tie

Leif:

shopping for the pink party.

Steve:

Yeah, Rufus, that would be wrong, wouldn't it?

Steve:

Like clearly egging her on to do it. Which it was

Steve:

like Rufus what have you become? Your journey to

Steve:

the dark side is complete now.

Leif:

I don't like the writing of having Eric being the

Leif:

one to bring this up and suggest it in the first

Leif:

place. He knows what it's like to be added. I

Leif:

don't like that he is the one that suggests this.

Leif:

No, it doesn't really make sense. And also the

Leif:

text from Charlie. This is Dan, right? It looks

Leif:

like he's going to the pink party. It looks like

Leif:

they're going to the pink party. You can see her

Leif:

roll your eyes through the text.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Chuck returns to the Empire to find Nate and Reyna

Leif:

heading out. Reyna's PI found someone with the

Leif:

same name and age as her mother living in New

Leif:

Jersey. When Chuck offers to come with them, Reyna

Leif:

accepts.

Steve:

Part of me wonders if that. Well, we aren't there

Steve:

yet, but so. And also, I thought it was actually.

Steve:

I know Chuck has ulterior motives, but I feel like

Steve:

there's an element of he cares too, you know, that

Steve:

he cares because of himself, but I think that he

Steve:

cares about Reina.

Leif:

Maybe.

Steve:

Maybe.

Leif:

Blair and Dan are at her apartment doing that last

Leif:

minute prep and reviewing the plan. After some

Leif:

more banter, Blair receives a text that the party

Leif:

has been moved to the penthouse. Dan thinks they

Leif:

should back out of the plan, but Blair says it's

Leif:

still a go.

Steve:

Yeah, and Dan wanted to tell Serena about the plan

Steve:

ahead of time. Gonna. Gonna remind everyone of

Steve:

that. That Dan did want to tell Serena in case she

Steve:

found out.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl has this to say as we go to the

Leif:

break. Sorry, lonely boy, but it looks like this

Leif:

is going to be a surrender of the pink party for

Leif:

you. Is that. Does that mean he's gonna get. Is

Leif:

that what. Yeah, that.

Steve:

Yeah. What is. What did. What's that mean? Gossip

Steve:

Amanda Lashy. Could I get. Can I get a quick note?

Leif:

We get a montage of way too much pink, but at

Leif:

least Lily is having a good time for now. Charlie

Leif:

continues to be wowed by this world, and Serena

Leif:

asks if she has seen Dan and Blair yet. Serena is

Leif:

convinced that when they show up, they won't be

Leif:

able to resist slipping away for a bit of bit for

Leif:

a bit of naughty time. Because that's how Serena

Leif:

acts. She thinks everyone is, like,

Leif:

uncontrollable.

Steve:

Just.

Leif:

He is.

Steve:

Yes. Everybody has to be feral. Sort of like the

Steve:

three episodes that she was trying to get on Ben.

Steve:

He was like, I'm not interested in you, but I am,

Steve:

but I'm not.

Leif:

Or the episodes before that with Colin where we

Leif:

had outside, we kept talking about she. She just

Leif:

couldn't keep it in her pants.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The whole plan was just not. And

Steve:

while Colin was like, yeah, we can. Okay, we

Steve:

won't. All right, sure. But we can, though.

Leif:

Blair and Louie arrive and she explains the plan

Leif:

to him while they check their coats. Louie is a

Leif:

bit ruffled when he finds out she is going to kiss

Leif:

Dan, but she quickly reassures him.

Steve:

Yeah, he. He doesn't seem to like this plan very

Steve:

much, but also the way that Dan once again, just

Steve:

puts Dan or Blair just puts Dan down. Like, oh,

Steve:

it's just. It's just a Humphrey. Just.

Leif:

Lily walks over to Rufus and Eric, ecstatic about

Leif:

the party being moved. But when she walks away,

Leif:

they hear some ladies shitting all over her.

Steve:

Yeah. Which. Yeah, it's what happens when you get

Steve:

the party moved. you might learn some

Steve:

uncomfortable facts.

Leif:

Penelope and Jessica are with Blaire, trying to

Leif:

guess who she's dating. Serena and Charlie walk up

Leif:

and join the conversation. Blair shoos the minions

Leif:

away and reveals to Serena and Charlie her secret

Leif:

boyfriend is the prince. Serena and Charlie aren't

Leif:

buying it, though, and they comment on how good

Leif:

Dan looks in his tie. Blair says she stopped

Leif:

listening as soon as Serena mentioned Dan and then

Leif:

walks away. Serena convinces Charlie to bait Blair

Leif:

by flirting with Dan.

Steve:

I love how in Blair's world, there's nothing with

Steve:

Dan and there never would be. And why would you

Steve:

ever even consider that? So even though I'm in

Steve:

this scheme with Dan that I'm about to, you know,

Steve:

blow up, I'm not even going to mention it because

Steve:

who would ever believe that I'd be interested in

Steve:

the Humphrey? There's always that ethos there.

Leif:

Now, when Penelope and Jessica are trying to

Leif:

guess, originally I thought they said John Stamos,

Leif:

but it's someone named Jason Simos, who I couldn't

Leif:

quite figure out. I googled Jason Seymour in New

Leif:

York and two different things came up. One was

Leif:

someone who's like, a producer and a camera person

Leif:

on some location. Short shorts in, like, the late

Leif:

2000s or the early 2000s. So. Well, after this was

Leif:

done.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

but I guess maybe he was like. He could have. That

Leif:

guy could have been, like, a travel leisure person

Leif:

in New York. Who knows? And then the other person

Leif:

that came up with that name was the president of

Leif:

the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society.

Steve:

which. That doesn't necessarily scream Penelope to

Steve:

me. that doesn't sound like who she's giving

Steve:

handies to.

Leif:

So. Call to action. Someone please tell Me who the

Leif:

hell Jason Simos is.

Steve:

Yeah. And why is Penelope be giving him a handy?

Leif:

At a diner in Jersey, Chuck with Raina and Nate

Leif:

introduces them to a middle aged waitress named

Leif:

Avery Thorpe. The woman regretfully informs them

Leif:

that she's never had any kids, so she couldn't be

Leif:

Reina's mother. The disappointment convinces Reyna

Leif:

that Chuck was right and that she shouldn't dig up

Leif:

the past.

Steve:

Yes, this one thing got in my way and I give up.

Steve:

It's hard. And, there is this part of me that

Steve:

wonders if that was Reyna's mom, that if we're

Steve:

gonna see this come back around again at some

Steve:

point. So I had that thought too.

Leif:

Would they have really reused that storyline

Leif:

again?

Steve:

They have reused how many storylines so far this

Steve:

season? I'm still the more, I'll get into it

Steve:

later. But even, like the Charlie big secret

Steve:

thing, you know, like, I feel like whatever that

Steve:

is, it has to be rehashed of a rehash of

Steve:

something.

Leif:

Blair gets a text from Louis that his handler has

Leif:

arrived. She immediately finds Dan and Charlie

Leif:

flirting and admonishes them. Both of them or both

Leif:

of them? She is Serena's cousin and he is Serena's

Leif:

ex, and they should know better. Blair pulls Dan

Leif:

away under the guise of needing to lecture him

Leif:

some more. As they walk away, Dan points out that

Leif:

she seems to find a lot of reasons for them to

Leif:

kiss and not to get handsy. Lucien spots them

Leif:

going upstairs and follows them. Charlie also

Leif:

follows moments later.

Steve:

I do love how Blair is turning on Charlie. That

Steve:

Charlie can only be, you know, the welcome

Steve:

addition for so long. But she has now been on.

Steve:

Been put on Blair's radar.

Leif:

Well, I mean, from Blair's point of view, she

Leif:

doesn't want Lucien to see Dan with her, flirting.

Steve:

Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Or she could just be jealous.

Steve:

Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. I really

Steve:

did get a little bit of both that this is your

Steve:

cousin's ex. He's off limits. But I did get a

Steve:

sense of an I don't want you with him either.

Leif:

Lily finds Ann to thank her for moving the party,

Leif:

but instead learns that it was only moved because

Leif:

of blackmail. She says Lily should have suffered

Leif:

her humiliation in solitude. And then points out

Leif:

that every woman at the party is relishing in

Leif:

Lily's downfall. Oh, and her ankle monitor is

Leif:

showing.

Steve:

Boom. Just. Just completely dragged Lily. Yeah,

Steve:

and. Yeah, and I wasn't mad at it. I wasn't mad at

Steve:

it.

Leif:

She would have done the exact same thing.

Steve:

Yep, she did the exact same thing.

Leif:

Blair and Dan are, walking down the stairs doing a

Leif:

post kiss recap when everyone's phones call for

Leif:

the Gossip Girl blast of their makeout. We get

Leif:

some great reaction shots from Eric, Penelope, and

Leif:

Jessica. Then we get Charlie coming down the

Leif:

stairs behind Dan and Blair, making a pretty.

Leif:

Pretty obvious who sent the video.

Steve:

Yep. Well, I mean, Lucienne has something to take

Steve:

home to the Royals.

Leif:

Nothing about it five minutes later.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, we've got this whole

Steve:

big plot to make sure that nobody finds out that

Steve:

we're together. And then let's just announce it.

Leif:

Was this just another test by. By Louis?

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

To see how dedicated she could be.

Steve:

Yeah. Can you date a royal without anyone knowing?

Steve:

The answer? No, she can't.

Leif:

Dan and Blair go to find Serena, but are caught by

Leif:

Penelope, who demands to know if it's true. When

Leif:

Blair sees Lucienne watching in the background,

Leif:

she grabs Dan's hand and declares their love for

Leif:

each other.

Steve:

Yeah, double down. Went for it.

Leif:

Yep.

Steve:

So if it is a test, she's passing this time.

Steve:

Louie.

Leif:

Serena finds Louis, who is unbothered because he

Leif:

knows the plan. But Serena sews doubts in his head

Leif:

when she tells him that Dan and Blair have been

Leif:

secretly seeing each other for months and reminds

Leif:

him that Blair lied to him in Paris as well. Blair

Leif:

rushes up to explain, but when Serena storms off,

Leif:

Blair chooses to follow her friend first before

Leif:

talking to Louis.

Steve:

Yeah, she does the friend thing first, which is

Steve:

good. And, yeah, so then they follow Serena into

Steve:

her room.

Leif:

Lily sneaks out of the party and onto the

Leif:

elevator. And we get a Gossip Girl narration. oh,

Leif:

Lily may be wearing her dancing shoes, but it

Leif:

looks like she's about to make a run for it.

Steve:

Just so much dumb stuff.

Leif:

In this episode, we move into Act 5. Chuck and

Leif:

Nate, are back at the Empire, but Nate is going to

Leif:

stay at Reyna's tonight. Why did he come back here

Leif:

if he's just gonna. They're all together. Yeah,

Leif:

but whatever. He thinks she should keep looking

Leif:

for her mom. Nate that is. But. However, Chuck is

Leif:

adamant that she doesn't and explains his final

Leif:

conversation with Russell. Chuck says he's going

Leif:

to try to find the truth. And just then, Andrew

Leif:

Tyler enters with a file box.

Steve:

Yeah, and he basically kicks Nate out. He gives

Steve:

Nate a look of like, the out, I've got business.

Leif:

Blair and Dan follow Serena to a quiet bedroom and

Leif:

explain the whole friends, not friends thing that

Leif:

developed over Christmas break. Then why they

Leif:

kissed the first time. And that it meant nothing.

Leif:

Serena isn't buying it and gives her signature

Leif:

line. However, it's Dan who leaves, and Blair and

Leif:

Serena continue their conversation. Sarina lashes

Leif:

out and says the only appeal Dan had to Blair was

Leif:

that he was hers. Blair lashes right back and

Leif:

essentially calls Serena an uncultured dimwit.

Steve:

Which Blair had.

Steve:

Every right to do.

Leif:

horrible. The theme.

Steve:

Yeah. she was such an asshole because.

Leif:

Here, declaring Dan as her possession.

Steve:

Yeah. And here's your two best friends, the only

Steve:

two people who are ever there for you, who will

Steve:

ever drop anything to help you, and you're just

Steve:

like, oh, yeah, both of you for being friends and

Steve:

not wanting me to know, and it's like there was

Steve:

nothing to tell, and by the time there was, they

Steve:

didn't care anymore. So it's just so frustrating

Steve:

that. That she was just, like you said, calls Dan

Steve:

hers, despite them agreeing that they're not

Steve:

anything. And also, Blair. Serena, with the whole,

Steve:

like, oh, you just want things that I have and

Steve:

that you just want to live my. You know, you want

Steve:

the spotlight. And it's like, who cares about

Steve:

spotlight? It's Dan Humphrey. Clearly, I don't

Steve:

care about spotlight if that's who you're mad

Steve:

about.

Leif:

So Dan. He's so over Serena right now, the way he

Leif:

just, like. He's like, no, I'm over this. I'm

Leif:

walking. He just walks out.

Steve:

He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

I said, what happened? I. I'm not lying. I did

Leif:

nothing wrong.

Steve:

Peace. Yeah. Yeah. You want to be mad at me

Steve:

yourself?

Leif:

And then. So where do you weigh in on the Chapal

Leif:

versus Robert debate?

Steve:

I'd have to check my notes.

Leif:

I bet Eden has an opinion on that.

Steve:

Probably.

Leif:

They're French, new wave directors.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I've never watched any of

Steve:

their films.

Leif:

A police officer finds Lily in the building lobby

Leif:

with the intent to arrest her for violating her

Leif:

house arrest. Lily drops a line about being

Leif:

confused about the limits of her house arrest

Leif:

being the apartment or the building. But in the

Leif:

meantime, there have been some noise complaints

Leif:

about her party.

Steve:

Yeah. She goes downstairs to call the cops, and,

Steve:

like, I. I get why it's funny, but it's also just

Steve:

dumb that she does it just to have them run. Have

Steve:

the cops run the people out that she could have

Steve:

just kicked out of her house.

Leif:

But she wanted to embarrass them, though.

Steve:

Yeah, she did. but, like, who's embarrassed,

Steve:

though? Like, what? They're embarrassed, and they

Steve:

can easily say, well, that's what happens when you

Steve:

get kicked out of a felon's party.

Leif:

I wish they would have just arrested Lily. Like,

Leif:

yeah, you're going to gi.

Steve:

Sorry.

Steve:

Yeah, no, sorry. You're going to. Oh. We're not

Steve:

confused about the parameters of your. Of your

Steve:

parole, so we'll clear this up for you. You have

Steve:

the right to remain silent.

Leif:

Back at the party, Blair is looking for the

Leif:

prince, but safety dance is interrupted by the

Leif:

police getting off the elevator and breaking up

Leif:

the. Lily walks behind the officers with a

Leif:

satisfied look on her face. Ann and the other

Leif:

socialites look mortified.

Steve:

And Lily just stands behind the cops.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Oops.

Leif:

Gossip Girl has this to say. Time to grab your

Leif:

Judith Liebers, ladies. Looks like the Upper east

Leif:

side's smoothest criminal has just given you the

Leif:

boot. We move into the epilogue. Post party. Rufus

Leif:

apologizes to Lily for the party move blowing up.

Leif:

She admits that hearing those things might have

Leif:

been a good thing, and now she can use this time

Leif:

to actually reflect on her life.

Steve:

I wonder what that's going to look like. I wonder

Steve:

what Lily reflecting will look like.

Leif:

So at the beginning of the season, you had a

Leif:

couple of predictions about Rufus and Lily getting

Leif:

another kid, either by Lily getting pregnant or

Leif:

were by adopting Milo.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

I kind of find it interesting that her sentence is

Leif:

specifically nine months. It seems like an odd

Leif:

number.

Steve:

That is an interesting. Yeah. Also, I had

Steve:

flashbacks because the school where I met our

Steve:

mutual friend Adam. The number of times I had to

Steve:

speak into someone's ankle to let them know that

Steve:

they were in school and that they were not in

Steve:

violation of their parole because that thing will

Steve:

just ring, and then there will be a human being

Steve:

like, why aren't you at home? It's like, hi, I am

Steve:

their teacher. They're in school right now.

Leif:

Oh, boy. Charlie knocks on the door to the loft so

Leif:

she can apologize to Dan for recording him. Dan

Leif:

silently invites her in to talk. Charlie says she

Leif:

saw the kiss and thinks Dan really likes Blaire,

Leif:

to which he admits she is probably right. Charlie

Leif:

then reveals she, too, has experienced unrequited

Leif:

love and watching the one you want walk away with

Leif:

someone else. Charlie lets Dan know that Vanessa

Leif:

told Serena about the first Dan Blair kiss. Dan

Leif:

assumed it had been Chuck. When Dan learns this

Leif:

new info, he invites Charlie to stay.

Steve:

Definitely some setup here. Definitely pushing

Steve:

this Charlie Dan friendship and getting it to try

Steve:

to be something else, it seems. But also, Dan,

Steve:

realizing it was Vanessa is like, oh, you know, I

Steve:

like.

Leif:

How he's just gonna plans to stand her up. He's

Leif:

not gonna call her. Just gonna stand her yeah.

Steve:

Also, Dan finally admitting again that he does

Steve:

like Blair, even though there was the whole. He

Steve:

doesn't really.

Leif:

You know, he, basically admitted already to Eric.

Steve:

I'm saying that now that they have had their. Now

Steve:

that Dan and Blair had their oh, it was nothing

Steve:

moment. Because with Eric, it was before the it

Steve:

was nothing moment. So now for Dan to be like,

Steve:

yeah, it wasn't nothing. Which you could also kind

Steve:

of see. I'm sorry. You could also see that he was

Steve:

jealous of Louis in that first scene when he was

Steve:

stalking him. I thought when he saw her go over

Steve:

there, I. I thought he looked a little jealous.

Leif:

I think he was just still uncomfortable with the

Leif:

whole thing, possibly. Blair and Louis are riding

Leif:

in a limo. Blair explains the situation to him,

Leif:

but unlike Serena, he says he believes her. As the

Leif:

limo comes to a halt, we hear people outside.

Leif:

Louis asks one more time she is ready to go

Leif:

public, and then leads her out of the limo into a

Leif:

sea of paparazzi and then kisses her in dramatic

Leif:

fashion.

Steve:

All of that, this entire episode, just to. Just

Steve:

all.

Leif:

Just comes around, didn't matter at all.

Steve:

And it's. Never mind. It was like Indiana Jones.

Steve:

It was going to happen that way anyway.

Leif:

We see Serena's laptop open to a bio page for

Leif:

Louis and overhear her calling Jean Michel, the

Leif:

limo driver that went on the double date with her

Leif:

at the beginning of the season. What are you

Leif:

doing, Serena? What are you doing?

Steve:

Like, you're going to. You're going to show her,

Steve:

all right? That's how you're really going to get

Steve:

back at certain. Back at Blair.

Leif:

Well, she. I don't. No, she's not trying to get

Leif:

back to Blair. She's trying to get info on Louis

Leif:

from Jean Michel. Yeah, well, yeah, she's not

Leif:

trying to make Blair jealous. She's trying to get

Leif:

info.

Steve:

Okay, I was. I was taking it as she was trying to

Steve:

one up Blair because she's.

Leif:

Like, oh, I was thinking about our time there. Oh,

Leif:

and Louis. What about Louis? And plus, she has a

Leif:

page open to his bio, too, so it's clearly she's

Leif:

digging into Louis, trying to find dirt.

Steve:

One nasal. What is your fucking problem, Serena?

Leif:

Like, clearly, she's, not dating Dan because she's

Leif:

dating the friends.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Why are you mad? Yeah, because they lied about

Leif:

being friends.

Steve:

But who cares? Like, they're not dating. That's

Steve:

the thing that you should worry about.

Leif:

At the loft, Dan is opening a couple bottles of

Leif:

beer for him and Charlie and explains the history

Leif:

of Jenny's former bedro. And then she, then says

Leif:

she can go check it out. When there is a knock on

Leif:

the door, it turns out to be Vanessa, who Dan

Leif:

tells he was planning on standing up for being a

Leif:

rap bastard. But, Dan clearly states, for the

Leif:

record, they are not friends anymore.

Steve:

Yeah, I just want to make this very clear. It was

Steve:

harsh, but he was just like. Because, like, how

Steve:

much do you have to hate somebody to be like,

Steve:

we're not friends. We're not friends anymore. This

Steve:

is it. We're done. Move on with your life.

Leif:

if anyone can bring it out, Vanessa can bring that

Leif:

type of hatred out.

Steve:

Oh, I believe it. I believe it, man.

Leif:

At the Empire, Andrew Tyler is telling Chuck what

Leif:

he found. He gives Chuck a videotape that shows

Leif:

Bart and Avery Thorpe having an argument outside

Leif:

of the building. They both enter the building,

Leif:

Bart leaves, and Avery Thorpe is never seen again.

Leif:

yep, he done killed that.

Steve:

Yeah. Then. Then Chuck, of course, starts watching

Steve:

the video. And. And then that was. And that's it,

Steve:

right? That's the xoxo, I feel like there's a fake

Steve:

her death to get away from Thorpe thing in here.

Leif:

Well, this is how Gossip Girl ends the episode.

Leif:

You can never really know someone until you walk a

Leif:

mile in their shoes. At first, it might not seem

Leif:

like the most natural fit, but walk around in the

Leif:

shoes long enough, and you'll discover you just

Leif:

might like it. Just don't get too comfortable,

Leif:

kids, because you never know when the other shoe

Leif:

is going to drop. Xoxo, Gossip Girl. That is our

Leif:

episode. What is coming next?

Steve:

So I just said, I think that there's a she faked

Steve:

her own death thing, which, if it is, if it is

Steve:

that waitress and she faked her own death and

Steve:

didn't change her name. That is just some of the

Steve:

best. The fucking best, we have had so far. I do

Steve:

believe that Louis and Blair are not going to last

Steve:

very long.

Leif:

Can you give an episode cap?

Steve:

Okay, how many are left? Three. Two left. Three

Steve:

left in the season. There's 22 episodes, right? I

Steve:

think. I think it'll last the last. No, you know

Steve:

what? I think they're gonna break up the end of

Steve:

the next episode.

Leif:

Okay.

Steve:

I think. I think it'll. I'm gonna give them one

Steve:

episode. I don't feel like Blair can keep

Steve:

something up, and I don't think that they want him

Steve:

around that long. He's not good. He's. You know,

Steve:

he's not really bringing much to the table so far.

Steve:

I don't think. I mean, all he had to Do. All he's

Steve:

had to do is be pretty eye candy.

Leif:

So I, I don't know if you did the math. Earlier in

Leif:

the episode, we did find out Arena's age is she's

Leif:

26.

Steve:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

It was kind of weird because we saw, two 20 year

Leif:

olds.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

Possibly 19 or 20.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Probably 20 by now. End of, end of the

Steve:

season. It's. It's the end of the season. Yeah.

Steve:

So, yeah, that's the mo of people dating Upper

Steve:

East Siders. They like them young. At least we

Steve:

know it's not just the men.

Leif:

Yes, they are equal opportunity.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Any other predictions?

Steve:

I, did have one. Oh, I think this is eventually

Steve:

going to bring Reina and Chuck on the brink of

Steve:

another romance. at some point, I think there's

Steve:

going to be a tension there that is going to bring

Steve:

those two closer together. And outside of that, I

Steve:

really don't. Don't have anything else. No.

Leif:

Let's get into segments. Hello there. Peabody

Leif:

here. And this is the Wayback Machine for

Leif:

traveling through time.

Steve:

And this is my boy.

Leif:

German.

Steve:

Speak German. Hello. Goodbye.

Leif:

This week in fan and we jumped into the Wayback

Leif:

Machine to travel the Television without pity

Leif:

forums from 2011. Their overall impression of the

Leif:

episode. It was good. It was a good episode. It's

Leif:

fun.

Steve:

Okay. It had fun. It. It had fun. I thought it was

Steve:

mostly a dumb episode. I thought a lot of it was

Steve:

just dumb.

Leif:

This is a dumb show. I mean, ah, fair Sarita doing

Leif:

Sarita stuff. AKA being petty.

Steve:

Yeah. Yep.

Leif:

Nate and Reyna's relationship has run its course.

Leif:

Let's get Nate back in the main storyline.

Steve:

Yeah. I mean, war don't. Because we don't want the

Steve:

main storyline to get boring.

Leif:

Well, I like when he's interacting with Dan as

Leif:

just like a bro.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. I love him with Dan. I like them with

Steve:

Blair too. When. When they have.

Leif:

Yeah, their friend stuff is good.

Steve:

Yeah. When they have good friend stuff.

Leif:

Charlie is about the fatal attraction. Dan not

Leif:

buying the innocent act.

Steve:

Yeah. There's something there. And you know, we

Steve:

had that hint. I guess I should have predicted

Steve:

that too, that there's going to be something with

Steve:

Dan and Charlie. I also think, and I don't know

Steve:

why it took me this long before it occurred to me.

Steve:

Many shows and movies and screenwriters avoid

Steve:

having characters with the same name or having

Steve:

characters with names that are too close to each

Steve:

other or too similar. So to have a Charlie and a

Steve:

Chuck is a little bit of a strange writing thing.

Steve:

Whether she. I'm Assuming she came from the books,

Steve:

but if she didn't, it's just weird to name a

Steve:

character so close to another character.

Leif:

I don't think she came from the books.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

I believe it's short for Charlotte.

Steve:

Yeah, her mom. What's her mom's name? Caroline.

Steve:

Carol. Carol. So, yeah, Charlotte. I think they

Steve:

did say Charlotte.

Leif:

They're loving, the back to back episodes of Blair

Leif:

standing up to her. First off, first Chuck, last

Leif:

episode, then against Sariya this episode.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Good for her.

Leif:

They thought Louis is sweet.

Steve:

I mean, he is maybe too sweet for Blair.

Leif:

And they wish that we would get a seed of Nate

Leif:

reacting to Dare.

Steve:

Oh, yeah.

Leif:

I would like to see that.

Steve:

Yeah, I would too. I would too.

Leif:

That is it for this week at fandom. Moving over to

Leif:

episode grades. I went first last time, so you can

Leif:

go ahead and go first this time.

Steve:

This was really middle of the road for me. I'm

Steve:

gonna go a B minus. I don't think it was terrible.

Steve:

I don't think it was great. I think it had fun. I

Steve:

think the writing and the storylines were dumb

Steve:

earlier than usual, but I'm gonna drop it off at a

Steve:

B minus.

Leif:

Yeah, I mean, it wasn't an A episode by any means,

Leif:

but I thought it was very fun. And yes, the

Leif:

storylines were dumb, but I think it worked.

Leif:

Everything was kind of fun and goofy. the Nate

Leif:

Raider stuff was a little bit boring, but that was

Leif:

only a pretty small portion of the episode, so I

Leif:

actually gave it a B plus.

Steve:

Okay. Okay, Fair.

Leif:

Stockwatch, who do you have going up?

Steve:

Well, the newly announced couple of Louis and

Steve:

Blair. I'll give them both the ups. I am going to

Steve:

give Charlie an up for her. the way she ends up

Steve:

with Dan at the end and comes in to try to be a

Steve:

good friend to Dan. And I'm going to give Nate an

Steve:

up for being there for his girl and helping her

Steve:

find the thing. And I think that is it for my ups.

Steve:

Oh, no. An Archibald. Probably the first and only

Steve:

time she has gone up. She has probably had nothing

Steve:

but negative stock up until now. But Ann,

Steve:

Archibald, on your. On your last episode, way to

Steve:

go. Way to really knock it out. And Archibald gets

Steve:

the up.

Leif:

Yeah, I had to keep her neutral because she got

Leif:

mortified at the end.

Steve:

That's fair. But I figured give her one on the way

Steve:

out for me.

Leif:

Going up. I had Blair because she got her. She's

Leif:

getting her royal fantasy fairy tale. I did not

Leif:

give Louie up, though. I gave Charlie up because

Leif:

he's with a commoner we'll get to why where he's

Leif:

going down later. Charlie going up because she.

Leif:

Yeah, she was. You know, she successfully

Leif:

navigated the Gossip Girl spotted map and ended up

Leif:

with Dan at the end there. I had Dan going up

Leif:

because he was. Got the banter, got to kiss Blair

Leif:

and had a fun. He was kind of having. He's no

Leif:

nonsense. He didn't. He was just being a good

Leif:

friend to everyone pretty much. I had Nate going

Leif:

up for the same reason as you. He supported Reyna

Leif:

in her trialing time. I had Eric going up even

Leif:

though that weird writing choice at the beginning,

Leif:

I thought he was. At the end of the day, he was

Leif:

doing everything to support his mom. And then I

Leif:

also had Penelope going up because that endorphin

Leif:

rush he got when finding out that Dan and Blair

Leif:

were dating.

Steve:

That's funny.

Leif:

Who do you got going down?

Steve:

I had Lily going down for getting humiliated at

Steve:

her party. I had Rufus going down for having the

Steve:

whole party moved and that ending up blowing, up

Steve:

in their faces. I had Serena going down for just

Steve:

being a. I had Vanessa going down for the same

Steve:

reason as Serena just being a fucking asshole. And

Steve:

I had Reina going down because she is not really

Steve:

finding out about her mom. And just in general,

Steve:

that whole thing got kind of boring. And do I give

Steve:

ch. I was. I was on the fence about Chuck because

Steve:

of the whole getting this thing at the end. But

Steve:

I'm going to let Chuck stay neutral.

Leif:

I had Truck as well.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

For me going down. I had Lily, the obvious one. I

Leif:

had Raina go down because she didn't find her mom.

Leif:

Serena going down because. Yeah, she was horrible

Leif:

opposite. She was being Serena.

Steve:

Yeah. Yep.

Leif:

Vanessa for being Vanessa. I had Rufus going down

Leif:

but for a different reason. You know, I had him

Leif:

going down because of his weird Vanessa obsession.

Steve:

Okay. Yes.

Leif:

And then I have Louie go down because he got

Leif:

cucked.

Steve:

Yeah, he did.

Leif:

And smiled at it.

Steve:

And so. Yeah. And was happy about it. I don't

Steve:

know. Personally, I don't always think that that

Steve:

is a negative thing. You know, to each their own,

Steve:

if Fair enough. But here's the best outfits from

Steve:

the.

Steve:

Last episode we seen.

Leif:

Moving over, to best outfit. Who do you have?

Steve:

I'm going to give it to Dan. And the suit and the

Steve:

pink tie I didn't like a lot. I thought a lot of

Steve:

the pink outfits were just awful. So I'm going to

Steve:

give it to Dan.

Leif:

Yeah. I was close to giving it to Blair for her

Leif:

outfit for the date, but it was just it was too

Leif:

similar to the dress that just won two episodes

Leif:

ago that she kissed Dan in. so I actually went

Leif:

with Dan as well. Oh, nice.

Steve:

Good job, Dan. He was sharp. He was sharp.

Leif:

He looked great. This episode. Yeah, that is it

Leif:

for segments. Do you have anything you would like

Leif:

to plug this week?

Steve:

I don't really have anything that I am plugging at

Steve:

the moment. so you can go ahead and Find me on

Steve:

TikTok or Instagram, Steve Marshon M A R and give

Steve:

me a follow there and see what kind of dumb stuff

Steve:

I'm posting while I'm on there. And I think that's

Steve:

pretty much it for me right now. Oh, actually,

Steve:

wait a second. I'm still waiting on some

Steve:

confirmations on this, but in March, I believe I

Steve:

want to say March 12. It is a weekend in March

Steve:

that I will be performing at the Morgantown Can

Steve:

Affair. So I was asked to play there, the other

Steve:

day and I said yes, I would love to. So the,

Steve:

Morgantown Can Affair in March. Come check me out.

Steve:

Playing some music.

Leif:

nothing that I want to plug this month, but you

Leif:

can follow me on social media, on Instagram and on

Leif:

Bluesky. I'm at Hotcap A Cola that's H O T C A P I

Leif:

C O L A and you can follow the podcast on

Leif:

Instagram, Tik tok and threads on Judging

Leif:

Breakfast bod. And if you want to find links to

Leif:

our Discord server to our Patreon. If you want to

Leif:

support the podcast and also our subreddit, you

Leif:

can go to our web page, Non Judging Breakfast

Leif:

Podcast.

Steve:

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

Steve:

would love to hear what you have to say and

Steve:

possibly even read your email here on the show. So

Steve:

please go ahead and send an email to non judging

Steve:

breakfast podmail.com and also while you're at it,

Steve:

if you can hit that like the subscribe the follow

Steve:

button, that really helps us out a lot. And if you

Steve:

leave a comment in Spotify or Apple podcasts, that

Steve:

really helps with our visibility. And finally, let

Steve:

your friends know what you're listening to. Tell

Steve:

the folks at work that the Non Judging breakfast

Steve:

spot is available wherever they stream podcasts as

Steve:

well.

Leif:

And we will be back next week to talk about season

Leif:

4 episode 20 titled the Princess and the Frog. The

Leif:

episode description reads, blair's dreams appear

Leif:

to be coming true, but Serena threatens to

Leif:

jeopardize it by dredging up Blair's past. Charlie

Leif:

befriends Vanessa, who may or may not have a

Leif:

Hidden agenda. Nate is torn between his,

Leif:

relationship with Ra and truth he must keep hidden

Leif:

out of loyalty to Chuck.

Steve:

Jesus Christ. That was at the Vanessa thing.

Leif:

I have to say, this next episode might be my most

Leif:

hated episode of the series.

Steve:

Really? That's. That's strong. And, God, Vanessa,

Steve:

like, I'm already annoyed, and we haven't even

Steve:

started it yet.

Leif:

So that part I actually like. Surprisingly. You'll

Leif:

see when you get to the part that I. I hate.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

You'll die. Well, until next time. You know you

Leif:

love us.

Steve:

XOXO Every time you walk away, run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there Every time you walk

Steve:

away run away m you take a piece of me with you

Steve:

there Every time you walk away, run away you take

Steve:

a piece of me with you there oh, it seems I'm

Steve:

walking right to your door my heart's still

Steve:

resting m looking for something more Are you ever

Steve:

going to see everything you mean to me I'm trying

Steve:

really hard to believe every time you walk away or

Steve:

run away you take a piece of me you with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there Every time you walk

Steve:

away or run away you take a piece of me with you

Steve:

there never feels right when I'm out here on.

Steve:

My own.

Steve:

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

Steve:

Are.

Steve:

You ever gonna see everything you mean to me I'm

Steve:

trying really hard to believe every time you walk

Steve:

away run away you take a piece of meat with you

Steve:

there Every time you walk away or run away you

Steve:

take a piece of m me with you there Every time you

Steve:

walk away or run away you take a piece of me with

Steve:

you there come back to me smile and you'll make my

Steve:

life complete every time you walk away or run away

Steve:

you take a piece of me with you there Every time

Steve:

you walk away or run away you take a piece of me

Steve:

with you you there Every time you walk away or run

Steve:

away you take a piece of me with you there Every

Steve:

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

Steve:

with you there Every time you walk away or run

Steve:

away you take a piece of me with you there Every

Steve:

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

Steve:

meat with you there Every time you walk away or

Steve:

run away you take a piece of me with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

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

Listen for free

Support Non Judging Breakfast Pod

A huge thank you to our supporters, it means a lot that you support our podcast.

If you like the podcast and want to support it, too, you can leave us a tip using the button below. We really appreciate it and it only takes a moment!
Support Non Judging Breakfast Pod
A
We haven’t had any Tips yet :( Maybe you could be the first!