Episode 21

S4E21 - "Shattered Bass"

This week on The Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve break down Gossip Girl Season 4, Episode 21, “Shattered Bass.” With Chuck hitting “rock bottom” (or pretending to), Blair torn between Louis and chaos, and Charlie going full Single White Female, the Upper East Side is messier than ever. Add in secret tapes, fake rehab, royal engagement drama, and one very uncomfortable desk hookup—and you’ve got a classic late-season spiral.

About the Show

The Non Judging Breakfast Pod is a weekly Gossip Girl rewatch where no scheme goes unchecked, no red flag is ignored, and everyone has a seat at the breakfast table. Coffee strong, waffles fresh, gossip scorching.

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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 take the tape out of my pocket and just snip,

Steve:

oh, this tape also.

Leif:

How is that tape labeled? I assume they were just

Leif:

like, labeled by timestamp. And did he have the

Leif:

exact timestamp memorized, or does this tape say

Leif:

this is the one that shows that Russell Thorpe is

Leif:

guilty?

Steve:

Yeah, why?

Leif:

And also, why didn't Chuck watch that one before

Leif:

then?

Steve:

Foreign.

Leif:

Ciders. And all you scandal loving listeners out

Leif:

there, you've just tuned into the non judging

Leif:

breakfast pod where the coffee is strong, the

Leif:

waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than

Leif:

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

Leif:

Gossip Girl veteran.

Steve:

And I'm Steve, the new guy, the rookie, the

Steve:

greenhorn, the. What are we saying now, Leif? That

Steve:

we're in season four?

Leif:

I'm not sure, but call me Serena. Let's see where

Leif:

this thing goes.

Steve:

You do realize that that is your cousin that I

Steve:

slept with, right?

Leif:

That's what makes it hot.

Steve:

Okay, let's just go ahead and get into this. So

Steve:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

in for the very first time. And together, we are

Steve:

your dynamic duo, bringing you all the drama,

Steve:

romance, and sometimes questionable fashion

Steve:

choices of this 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 phantom moments too,

Leif:

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

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here on 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 something from Nader Chuck's stash. And let's

Steve:

go ahead and get into this.

Leif:

Before we get into the episode, we got another

Leif:

Spotify comment from mal on episode 19. What is it

Leif:

now? And Mal comments. I think it's noteworthy

Leif:

that when Blair finds out that Dan is responsible

Leif:

for Louis family finding out about them, she

Leif:

doesn't immediately accuse him of sabotaging her

Leif:

on purpose, which she 100% would have done with

Leif:

Serena or Chuck. Also, I'm, deeply offended that

Leif:

Blair didn't get best outfit for her pink dress.

Leif:

At least give her credits for buying dance Thai.

Steve:

Well, so, yeah, we did. We did give Dan.

Leif:

Yeah, sorry, I just didn't like all the pink.

Steve:

Yeah, it was too. It was. And it was so hot pink,

Steve:

which was really.

Leif:

They all kind of, like, canceled each other out.

Steve:

but that is a really good point, though, that.

Steve:

That Blair does not instantly assume that Dan is

Steve:

trying to sabotage her the way she would if it was

Steve:

Chuck or Serena, because either of them would be

Steve:

trying to sabotage her. So it just speaks to the

Steve:

history, but it also speaks to how she doesn't

Steve:

really view Dan as a threat, but also how she

Steve:

thinks that Dan is a little bit more respectable

Steve:

and less scheme. So.

Leif:

And for those who are kind of missing the Dan and

Leif:

Blair interactions these last couple episodes when

Leif:

I was so much.

Steve:

Yeah, you're speaking to me now.

Leif:

I did notice While editing episodes 19 and 20 back

Leif:

to back, there was another parallel between Dan

Leif:

and Blair that we didn't really talk about. In

Leif:

Petty and Pink, Serena is aggressively possessive

Leif:

of dad. He's mine. She's talking to Blair.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

But in the next episode, the Princess of the Frog,

Leif:

Chuck, shows that same type of possessiveness

Leif:

towards Blair. You're mine, Blair. You can't be

Leif:

with anyone else, et cetera, et cetera.

Steve:

Yeah, so.

Leif:

So it's another way the writers are definitely

Leif:

paralleling them.

Steve:

yeah, yeah, they're both being seen as the

Steve:

possession of somebody else.

Leif:

But we are here to talk about this Dan and Blair

Leif:

free episode. Season 4 Episode 21 Shattered Bass

Leif:

original air date was May 9, 2011 based on the

Leif:

episode titles based on the movie Shattered Glass.

Leif:

Ah, Director Billy Ray. Not that Billy Ray.

Leif:

Starring, Hayden Christensen and Chloe Savini and

Leif:

Steve Zahn. I tried to watch this last night. I

Leif:

tried.

Steve:

Was Hayden Christensen not bringing it home?

Leif:

No.

Steve:

And I mean, Steve Zahlin is just Steve Zahn.

Leif:

Yeah, I don't even think I got to him. I saw Chloe

Leif:

Savini. She was pretty. She was just sitting there

Leif:

being pretty.

Steve:

M. I do remember hearing about that movie. What

Steve:

year did it come out?

Leif:

2003. Okay, so right around Attack of the Clones

Leif:

era.

Steve:

Yeah. Surprised Lucas let him. Let him out of the

Steve:

cage to go do other stuff.

Leif:

But this episode was written by Sarah Goodman, who

Leif:

has previously written, the Wrath of Khan. And

Leif:

then in season three, how to Succeed in Basness,

Leif:

the Hurt Locket, Ex husbands and wives. And then

Leif:

in season four, she's written Double Identity, the

Leif:

Witches of Bushwick. And while you weren't

Leif:

sleeping.

Steve:

Yeah, if I remember correctly, Double Identity was

Steve:

co written with Josh Saffron.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

Yeah, she has an up, and she has an up and down

Steve:

resume.

Leif:

We other than the hurt Locket Everything on there

Leif:

is fairly good.

Steve:

Yeah. how to succeed in Bassness. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve:

There's the hurt locket is the one that always

Steve:

stands out to me as being just terrible. I think

Steve:

it is. I mean, hurt locket is among my least

Steve:

favorite episodes.

Leif:

Episode was directed by Allison Liddy Brown. This

Leif:

is her second episode of Gossip Girl. She had done

Leif:

Remains of the Jeff, and that's the one where

Leif:

Serena throws, the party for air. quotes for

Leif:

Jenny.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

but she does.

Steve:

That one's not terrible.

Leif:

Yeah. She does have 83 directing credits going

Leif:

back to 95, all in TV, including two TV movies.

Steve:

Okay. She's been around.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

does she do any more Gossip Girl after this? No.

Steve:

Okay.

Leif:

And we also get the return of the great Wallace

Leif:

Shaw to Mario Collins.

Steve:

Yes. Because this season, Wallace, Sean, not

Steve:

enough.

Leif:

And then also the return of Michael Boatman as

Leif:

Russell Thorne.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes.

Leif:

Why don't you give us that vulture recap?

Steve:

Vulture, what do you have to say?

Steve:

what are the limits of love? This was the question

Steve:

that hovered over the glossy heads of the players

Steve:

on last night' episode of Gossip Girl. Each of

Steve:

whom tested the boundaries of their intend. of

Steve:

their intendeds, with varying results. Blair

Steve:

wondered if Louis would ever tolerate her acquired

Steve:

habits of scheming, playing sex games, and

Steve:

dropping everything. Even him, to tend to Chuck

Steve:

Bass the second he calls from a rooftop. Louis

Steve:

claims he will, but is he being sincere? Blaire

Steve:

gives him another test just to be safe. Meanwhile,

Steve:

Nate finally got Reyna to stop yelling at him

Steve:

about trying to find out who killed her dead

Steve:

mother by telling her it was actually her father

Steve:

who killed her. That didn't make Reyna feel any

Steve:

better. And, by the forlorn look on Nate's face as

Steve:

their limo drove into the distance, he realized he

Steve:

probably still wasn't going to get laid for quite,

Steve:

quite some time. Neither will Dan Humphrey, much

Steve:

to Charlie's disappointment. As it. As it turns

Steve:

out, being asked to call a girl by his ex

Steve:

girlfriend's sister's name while doing it wasn't

Steve:

his bag. Jordan. I forgot that it's also

Steve:

stepsister.

Leif:

yeah, that was not what Dan was looking for.

Steve:

No, no, that was. Yeah, I. Like I said, I forgot

Steve:

in. In my earlier part that, yes, it's also

Steve:

stepsister. That's my ex stepsister. Your cousin.

Steve:

Yeah. It's a lot to take in.

Leif:

Indeed.

Leif:

We get into Act 1. We open in another Blair as

Leif:

Audrey Dream, and this time it's Roman Holiday.

Leif:

She is riding on the back of a scooter with Louis

Leif:

driving. She smiles at Louis reflection in the

Leif:

side view mirror. But then it morphs into Chuck.

Leif:

The dream turns into a nightmare and he starts

Leif:

driving recklessly leading to a crash as Blaire

Leif:

awakes.

Steve:

Oh, Blair, just stop.

Leif:

Yeah, Stockholm syndrome.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, it's. Oh, it's so foretelling and it's

Steve:

so annoying.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl has this to say. Good morning,

Leif:

sleepyheads. Looks like dream until your dreams

Leif:

come true wasn't such a good idea after all. Blair

Leif:

awakes from her nightmare and applies some cover

Leif:

up to the small cut on her cheek.

Steve:

We all remember what happened. Oh, but she wasn't

Steve:

scared though, so. So, you know. So that made it

Steve:

okay. Douchebag.

Leif:

We see a shot of the broken glass in the Empire

Leif:

suite and then the camera shifts so we see Nate

Leif:

looking through the broken glass with a

Leif:

disappointed look on his face. He has his bag

Leif:

packed and he's ready to leave. But, he has time

Leif:

for a cup of coffee and a tete a tete with Chuck.

Leif:

Speaking of Charles, he is acting like nothing is

Leif:

wrong and invites Nate to the ribbon cutting of

Leif:

his new Brooklyn hotel, Charles Place. Nate is

Leif:

still upset about lying to Reyna and tells Chuck

Leif:

he knows what he did to Blair. Chuck says if you

Leif:

leave, don't be there when I get back. Nate

Leif:

replies, I've already gone.

Steve:

Oh, you two. And stops barring. But. But again, I

Steve:

did see notice that Chuck is now completely put

Steve:

together again. Like, oh, I punched a window and

Steve:

now I sobered up.

Leif:

But did he though?

Steve:

not. Yeah, I mean, he shaved. He shaved.

Leif:

Vanessa calls Serena to figure out if she is

Leif:

behind Charlie's scheme from last week. Serena

Leif:

just says what Charlie is saying is probably true,

Leif:

but if not, good on her for firing back. Okay,

Leif:

bye.

Steve:

Yeah. Vanessa, go away. Go. Just go away there.

Steve:

You have no purpose on this show anymore.

Leif:

Go to Spain.

Steve:

Go to Spain.

Leif:

Dan and Charlie are at the loft eating candy for

Leif:

breakfast and being cute and flirty. Charlie may

Leif:

have inadvertently revealed her kink a little

Leif:

early in the relationship. When she mentions her

Leif:

favorite childhood book. She recovers by

Leif:

commenting on how his writing resembles

Leif:

Fitzgerald. This allows Dan to segue into the

Leif:

party of the week, which is an alumni event for

Leif:

Constance St. Jews, to which he invites her. She

Leif:

accepts with a quick kiss, which seems to surprise

Leif:

Dan a bit. Dan then also invites her to the pre

Leif:

party and engagement toast at the Waldorf hotel or

Leif:

apartment.

Steve:

Yeah, so unlike our typical Gossip Girl episodes

Steve:

with a party of the week, we have two parties this

Steve:

week because we have the engagement party and the

Steve:

Black tie affair. So I thought that was kind of

Steve:

interesting that there were two parties this.

Leif:

Week and we end in the middle of the second party,

Leif:

essentially.

Steve:

Yes, yes.

Leif:

But also. I know. so he's invited to the

Leif:

engagement party, which is, I think the first

Leif:

public declaration of Dan and Blair being friends.

Steve:

Yes. Yeah, I actually they declared that.

Leif:

They declared they were dating, but they were

Leif:

really were at the pink part. Right, but this is

Leif:

like the first declaration, like he's being

Leif:

invited to a social event.

Steve:

Yes, by Blair. By Blair. Yeah, by Blair

Steve:

personally. So I did clock that and did see that,

Steve:

like. And he is going enthusiastically to support

Steve:

his friend. Yeah. So I really did like that.

Leif:

Speaking of the Waldorf apartment, we see Blair,

Leif:

Eleanor and Cyrus discussing Louie giving up his

Leif:

right of succession. The engagement party they can

Leif:

throw to rectify that. And advertising vitamin

Leif:

water. Serena comes downstairs and gives a half

Leif:

hearted apology to Blair, who sees right through

Leif:

it.

Steve:

Yeah, again, I clocked the vitamin water. It's

Steve:

been a minute since we've promoted vitamin water.

Steve:

it's been all bing for so long.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Ah, also we see Cyrus here, right?

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

For the first time. It was so great to see him

Steve:

back.

Leif:

And Eleanor.

Steve:

And Eleanor. Yes, it was. Yeah, it was great.

Steve:

We've seen Eleanor this season. I don't feel like

Steve:

we've seen Cyrus yet. Or at least, as I said, not

Steve:

enough. I would have Cyrus on every episode if I

Steve:

could just because even this episode where he's

Steve:

just so thoughtful.

Steve:

And kind and I just love his presence on the Upper

Steve:

east side.

Leif:

Jack's back meeting with Reyna. He immediately

Leif:

invites her back to a hotel room. She instead sits

Leif:

back at the bar and he joins her. Rayna explains

Leif:

that Bart killed her mother in the building fire,

Leif:

of which Jack was aware. Reina offers Jack the

Leif:

control of Bass Industries in exchange for the

Leif:

evidence Chuck is protecting. However, they are

Leif:

interrupted by Nate, who is shocked to see Reyna

Leif:

with Jack.

Steve:

this might be my favorite Jack episode. I. I mean,

Steve:

Jack is always just gonna come in and be a

Steve:

disgusting human being from the moment he walks on

Steve:

and the way he is like instantly flirting with

Steve:

Reina and he's so gross and he's such an asshole.

Steve:

And when Nate comes in and he just starts firing

Steve:

shots at Nate, it was just. I really felt it was

Steve:

Jack at a. At a 10 from the start of this. Well, I

Steve:

guess actually it's more like Jack at an eight.

Steve:

Think Jack at a ten. He's stealing people's. He's.

Steve:

He's bartering with people as I was.

Leif:

Going to ask you because last a, couple episodes

Leif:

ago, you were wholly against the. The William

Leif:

Vander with some glow up. But you, I guess you are

Leif:

here for the Jack glow up.

Steve:

I, I'm not really finding it to be much of a glow

Steve:

up, really. I, I don't. I'm not. I'm not feeling

Steve:

on Jack's side. I feel like Jack had a funny

Steve:

episode where he helped out Chuck. I'm not really

Steve:

here for him to be a good guy. I was just here for

Steve:

what he did this episode.

Leif:

But it seems like he's now on Team Chuck, which is

Leif:

team main cast, which is the quote unquote good

Leif:

guys.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, I, I don't feel. I feel like he played

Steve:

ball with the good guys. Right. I don't feel like

Steve:

Jack. And maybe I'm wrong, but I don't feel like

Steve:

Jack. I feel like Jack at this point could still

Steve:

very easily do another heel turn in the next

Steve:

episode. I, I felt like with William, they were

Steve:

trying to make a. It felt like they were trying to

Steve:

make an honest man of him again. And I didn't

Steve:

really get that feeling with Jack because they

Steve:

still had Jack be a total fucking scumbag from the

Steve:

start too.

Leif:

Charlie returns home to the penthouse to find

Leif:

Rufus waiting with her meds she forgot to pick up.

Leif:

He found out about them from Carol, who called and

Leif:

mentioned that last time Charlie was happy, she

Leif:

went off her meds and things went bad. Charlie

Leif:

acknowledges this, and she definitely doesn't want

Leif:

that to happen again.

Steve:

Yep, definitely does not want that. So she will be

Steve:

sure? Absolutely. obviously she's just going to

Steve:

take her meds and everything is going to be fine.

Steve:

Definitely not going to Single way Female.

Leif:

Her cousin no Louie, is walking the streets

Leif:

between Blair and Sophie. Sophie is unimpressed by

Leif:

Manhattan's architecture. Blair once again

Leif:

apologizes for Chuck's outburst at the party in

Leif:

the last episode and invites them both to the ball

Leif:

tonight. When Blair spots Jack, she makes an

Leif:

excuse to leave. After she does, Sophie calls her

Leif:

out for lying and also tells Louis she went to see

Leif:

Chuck after the party.

Steve:

Yeah, Blair, these people, These people are gonna

Steve:

follow you. Like these people have resources

Steve:

beyond yours and you would have him followed if

Steve:

you suspected something and you're a terrible

Steve:

liar. She's not usually a terrible liar, but here

Steve:

she is.

Leif:

Gossip Girl has this to say. Let's hope the only

Leif:

thing Bea has in common with Marie Antoinette is

Leif:

impeccable taste, or she might just lose her head

Leif:

before she gets her crown.

Leif:

We go to Act 2 at the penthouse, Charlie is

Leif:

looking at old pics of Dorina and Cher at parties.

Leif:

She lets Serena know that Dan invited her to the

Leif:

ball tonight. Serena is slightly awkward about it,

Leif:

but, ultimately supportive of her cousin. When the

Leif:

discussion of new dresses comes up, Serena is

Leif:

confused why Charlie doesn't have her trust fund

Leif:

yet and decides to investigate.

Steve:

Yep. I do like how it was like, oh, maybe these

Steve:

problems with my mom and. And CeCe are in the way.

Steve:

And Serena's like, nah, nah, that. That. That

Steve:

isn't it. Trust me. My. My mom and CeCe hate each

Steve:

other, and we're doing fine.

Leif:

Blair visits Chuck at the construction site of his

Leif:

future hotel in Brooklyn to warn him about Jack.

Leif:

Chuck doesn't apologize for what happened last

Leif:

week, but does say he feels bad about it, at

Leif:

least. As Blair leaves the site, we see Louie has,

Leif:

secretly followed her in his limo.

Steve:

Yeah, which I don't blame Louie, but also, Blair,

Steve:

a text would have. Would have sufficed. Yeah.

Leif:

Once again.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And also, how did she not see the limo, like, 20ft

Leif:

away as she walks out of the building?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. Although she could very easily assume

Steve:

it's Chuck's, but, I mean, the windows down. The

Steve:

windows down with his head sticking out of it.

Steve:

He's not a. He is not subtle. A private

Steve:

investigator. He is not.

Leif:

Well, also, the thing I meant to mention earlier,

Leif:

how quick did Chuck get this hotel. New hotel,

Leif:

pushed through?

Steve:

He wasn't talking about it ever before now and

Steve:

then it's just like, oh, yeah, by the way, I

Steve:

bought a hotel in Brooklyn now, too, so I can go

Steve:

there and have reason to be there for more plot

Steve:

that's going to come up.

Leif:

I already got, like, all the building permits

Leif:

approved.

Steve:

And, yeah, he's Chuck Bass, I guess. just imagine

Steve:

him sitting in, like, the. The building permit

Steve:

office, like. And what even makes you think I'm

Steve:

going to rush this through for you, pal? I'm Chuck

Steve:

Bass. Yes. Oh, okay. Who? Who?

Leif:

I mean, if you would have said Donald Trump, I

Leif:

would have recognized you. God damn, those Trumps

Leif:

always getting me.

Steve:

Well, I'm sure that they have nothing on the

Steve:

horizon.

Leif:

Coming up.

Steve:

No distractions coming up from. From them. Thank

Steve:

God this Show ends before 2016.

Leif:

Jack has called back Russell for a meeting to

Leif:

essentially try to get him to do the same deal

Leif:

with that rain offered. Jack tells Russell that

Leif:

Blair is Chuck's biggest weakness and is the key

Leif:

towards pushing him over the edge. Russell

Leif:

mentions a box that Chuck has that he is willing

Leif:

to pay for.

Steve:

Yeah, we have, you know, Jack Scheming again and

Steve:

again, not out of character to be like, your kid

Steve:

seems like she doesn't really know what she's

Steve:

doing. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna step this up a

Steve:

level.

Leif:

Charlie again returns to the penthouse, this time

Leif:

with a new dress, which Serena is excited to see.

Leif:

Serena gives her some privacy when Charlie gets a

Leif:

call from Carol. We only hear Charlie's half of

Leif:

the conversation, but we get the impression that

Leif:

Carol is worried about Charlie. After the call

Leif:

ends, Charlie dumps her new prescription in the

Leif:

trash in the.

Steve:

Living room next to the desk where everybody uses

Steve:

that trash can. And at the time, the empty trash

Steve:

can next to the desk. Yes, or near empty.

Leif:

So do you think she did that on purpose or

Leif:

accident or just because she's dumb?

Steve:

I think that it was, yeah. I kind of wonder if

Steve:

that was a cry for help thing. Like, I'm not going

Steve:

to take these, but I need someone to know I'm not

Steve:

taking them. because it did feel very obvious and

Steve:

very easy to get caught. M. So whether. Whether.

Steve:

Whether conscious or whether subconsciously it

Steve:

felt like a cry for help.

Leif:

And this is what Gossip Girl has to. I don't think

Leif:

that's what the doctor had in mind when he said,

Leif:

use as directed.

Leif:

We go into Act 3. At the engagement party.

Leif:

Penelope is mocking Blair for Louis no longer

Leif:

being a prince. Cyrus lets Eleanor know that, like

Leif:

him, Princess Sophie is a bird watcher. Sophie

Leif:

arrives to applause. Cyrus and Eleanor walk over,

Leif:

and Cyrus gives her a less than formal greeting.

Leif:

Blair steps in before Cyrus can do any more damage

Leif:

and asks Louie's whereabouts again.

Steve:

Cyrus is just a gem. The. She's an ornithologist

Steve:

like me, and I don't want you to talk to me about

Steve:

bugs, their birds, deer, and I don't know, it's

Steve:

just. He's just so charming.

Leif:

Louie goes to the construction site to confront

Leif:

Chuck. Louie accuses him of going after Blair, but

Leif:

Chuck easily turns the conversation back around on

Leif:

him as a frustrated Louie relieves he questions

Leif:

Chuck's bandage hand.

Steve:

Louie, I mean, I get why you go to Chuck and why

Steve:

you're trying to act this way to Chuck, but you're

Steve:

not going to win this that way. Chuck's not going

Steve:

to give a shit. No, Chuck's not intimidated by

Steve:

your. By your casino country. No, he probably

Steve:

bankrolls part of your country in. In the fall,

Steve:

every year.

Leif:

Rufus is surprised to see Serena still at the

Leif:

penthouse. Rufus is suddenly an expert on Blair

Leif:

Waldorf and questions why she isn't at Blair's

Leif:

engagement party.

Steve:

And then, you know, gives her great fatherly

Steve:

advice about returning to your toxic friendship

Steve:

with your best friend. Yes. Aw. Because she's not

Steve:

Jenny.

Leif:

Serena goes into her old room. now Charlie's room.

Leif:

To find a dress for the party. Charlie is

Leif:

overwhelmed with insecurities surrounding going on

Leif:

a big date with Dan. Sarita tells her to breathe

Leif:

and then reviews the fundamentals with her. She

Leif:

also mentions how great a night she had with Dana

Leif:

Cotillion. Conveniently, Charlie spots the promo

Leif:

photo of Dan dipping Serena at cotillion. Despite

Leif:

Serena's advice that Charlie's hair looks better

Leif:

down, she pulls it back in a ponytail, clearly

Leif:

imitating Serena's style from the photo.

Steve:

Serena, white female. This is where we start

Steve:

seeing it.

Leif:

You get the fundamentals. Lipstick lasts longer,

Leif:

but gloss is funner.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Dan loves to dance, but he's terrible at it. So no

Leif:

laughing.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

And your feet won't hurt in heels if you drink

Leif:

just about the right amount of champagne.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes.

Leif:

Sounds kind of like you do. Just about the right

Leif:

amount of dabs, and you can walk down the street.

Steve:

Yep. Yeah. Give me just the right amount of dabs,

Steve:

and I can walk. And I can walk through Manihunk.

Steve:

Too much, and he won't leave the couch, Right?

Steve:

Yep. Too much. I won't leave the couch. Not

Steve:

enough. And I also won't leave the couch.

Leif:

Eleanor and Blair observe Sophie having a good

Leif:

time with Cyrus. It's impossible not to love that

Leif:

guy. Cyrus has completely won over Princess Sophie

Leif:

by talking up Blair's positive attributes. Sophie

Leif:

says she will make sure that the court reinstates

Leif:

Louis as heir and that he and Blair can make their

Leif:

first royal appearance tonight at the ball. Louis

Leif:

also shows up, and Cyrus hosts the happy couple.

Steve:

I loved Cyrus's list, how it gets to the, you

Steve:

know, avid friend of birds, and he said, you've

Steve:

never met a duck you'd let go hungry, which, you

Steve:

know, her love for that duck pond and her. It's

Steve:

just lies with one of the things.

Leif:

Lies with the truth.

Steve:

Exactly. Exactly. Lies with the truth. But just to

Steve:

flame Blair and make her look good and just doing.

Steve:

Because it shows how much Cyrus pays attention and

Steve:

how thoughtful he is toward his stepdaughter, who

Steve:

he hardly ever even sees. So, it just really. As

Steve:

much as I've always loved Cyrus, it just cranked

Steve:

that up a little more.

Leif:

At this point, I kind of thought they were going

Leif:

to waste the opportunity to say the princess bride

Leif:

to be.

Steve:

Same, same.

Leif:

I was right there for you.

Steve:

I was waiting for it. Yes. Because he says earlier

Steve:

on something very close to it. And it's like, ah,

Steve:

you see the thing. Come on. Yeah.

Leif:

Jack goes to the construction site to find Chuck.

Leif:

Stumbling drunk, Jack goads Chuck into attacking

Leif:

him. Just as Nate also shows up. Jack motions over

Leif:

two large men that are implied to be workers from

Leif:

a mental health facility, but are dressed more

Leif:

like they work at a warehouse. Whoever that,

Leif:

whoever they are, they are, forcibly remove Chuck.

Leif:

Jack takes Chuck's, key card and makes a rehab

Leif:

joke. Nate follows after Chuck and the two men we

Leif:

see Russell was watching from above.

Steve:

Yeah, this all seemed very easy and convenient,

Steve:

but it also felt very Gossip Girl. So it, felt

Steve:

like, wow, he just got these guys to come and take

Steve:

Chuck away. But also in the Gossip Girl universe

Steve:

and general TV universe, that could happen.

Leif:

So know what we know at the end of the episode?

Leif:

Were those guys just some guys that probably like

Leif:

working downstairs on the construction site?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. They're, they're. He's just a

Steve:

you and you. Yeah, yeah, put. Wear this tan jacket

Steve:

for me.

Leif:

Gossip Girl has this to say, though. We hear one

Leif:

bass is hitting bottom. Looks like the hotel isn't

Leif:

the only Charles that needs rehab.

Leif:

We move into Act 4. Serena finds Blair at the

Leif:

party and makes a much more heartfelt apology.

Leif:

This time be excessed because Penelope would have

Leif:

gotten too much satisfaction out of being maid of

Leif:

honor. Their phones buzz as they get a blast about

Leif:

Chuck being hauled off the rehab.

Steve:

I always love when they make up. My favorite thing

Steve:

in Blair Serena relationships is when they make

Steve:

up. And it's always sweet and heartfelt and it's

Steve:

always the best friends just taking all of the

Steve:

bullshit and saying, all right, fuck it, we know

Steve:

who we are. Let's just ignore all of that. And so

Steve:

it was, it was nice.

Leif:

Serena and Dan bump into each other. Dan tries to

Leif:

clear the air between them and Serena says, it's

Leif:

all good, but I'm not buying it.

Steve:

They seem at a. At the end of this, they seem

Steve:

like, okay, they're at a tolerable place, but

Steve:

still cold, you know, still not too friendly.

Leif:

Well, I don't think Surya is too happy that Dan

Leif:

asked Charlie.

Steve:

No, she probably isn't, but also, fuck off,

Steve:

Serena.

Leif:

Blair goes to a room to redo the makeup on her

Leif:

cut, and Louie is there waiting for her. He tells

Leif:

her he knows she went to see Chuck twice. Blair

Leif:

has an excuse for everything, but Louis somehow

Leif:

connects Chuck's bandaged hand to her cut. Blair

Leif:

admits to having a dark side and offers Louis the

Leif:

chance to end things however, he still loves her,

Leif:

and if he wants to share her whole life with him,

Leif:

to join him and his mother at the party tonight

Leif:

for their formal debut.

Steve:

Isn't the engagement party the formal debut? It

Steve:

almost seems like this is the formal debut, but.

Steve:

Okay, they need to get her at the party of the

Steve:

week, too.

Leif:

This is the exclusive free party.

Steve:

Yes, yes.

Leif:

But also, this is very much a, parallel to last

Leif:

year with Chuck and the Empire State Building.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Come to this place at this time, and we could get

Leif:

married. Or else we're not going to be married

Leif:

ever.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Even though the way it plays

Steve:

out, it just really feels.

Leif:

Why? Has it played out yet?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, no, no, I'm saying, like the. Yeah,

Steve:

I'll. I'll wait. I'll wait on what I was gonna

Steve:

say.

Leif:

Dan asked Serena if she has seen Charlie yet. Just

Leif:

then, Charlie gets off the elevator, and Serena

Leif:

immediately recognizes her cotillion dress.

Steve:

We all did. I. I don't know how it fit Charlie. I

Steve:

mean, I know they're almost the same height, but

Steve:

not really. They're not even close. yeah. I mean,

Steve:

yeah, Charlie's a bit shorter than Serena.

Steve:

Different body types, but sure. Cool. Yeah, she

Steve:

just slipped that on this old thing.

Leif:

At the Empire Suite, Thorpe is going through the

Leif:

box of videotapes from Andrew Tyler. He pulls one

Leif:

out with a grin on his face and gets up to leave,

Leif:

but is stopped by Chuck, Jack, and Nate getting

Leif:

off the elevator. The reveal the whole fight was a

Leif:

ruse, despite Chucky. Chuck getting in at least

Leif:

one real punch. Good guy. Jack came up with the

Leif:

plan and reached out to Nate when the Thorps

Leif:

approached him. Security guards also get off the

Leif:

elevator to force Thorpe to show the video.

Steve:

Yeah, we're just gonna let you steal the thing

Steve:

that we know if I'm. If I am Thorp. In that

Steve:

moment, I take the tape out of my pocket and just

Steve:

snip. Oh, this tape also.

Leif:

How is that tape labeled? I assume they were just,

Leif:

like, labeled by timestamp. And does he have the

Leif:

exact timestamp memorized, or does this tape say,

Leif:

this is the one that shows that Russell Thorpe is

Leif:

guilty?

Steve:

Yeah, why?

Leif:

And also, why did Chuck watch that one before

Leif:

then?

Steve:

Yeah, why did that. Why did Chuck not watch?

Steve:

You're in. You're investigating a murder,

Steve:

essentially, Chuck. And you only watch one of the

Steve:

12 tapes. Like, wow, this stuff happened before my

Steve:

dad was accused of killing someone. So check it,

Steve:

Chuck. Or after, whatever the timestamp was. But

Steve:

Chuck watch all the tapes.

Leif:

Yeah, so, yeah, they. They watch the Tape. And

Leif:

they. They see that Bart left. When he. After Bart

Leif:

left, Russell comes in and he's locked the door

Leif:

shut from the outside, and he's the one that

Leif:

started the fire. And of course, Avery. The letter

Leif:

from Avery was to Thorpe and not Bart. And, Well,

Leif:

you predicted everything.

Steve:

I did. I did. I predicted that whole thing. I was

Steve:

so proud of that that I predicted the letter

Steve:

because it, the, the letter threw me. Because when

Steve:

it was, First of all, when. When Russell first

Steve:

told Chuck that that was the case, that, yeah,

Steve:

I'm, I hate your dad because he killed my wife. I

Steve:

was like, that sus. Something seems off. When the

Steve:

letter came in and it didn't have a name on it, it

Steve:

was. Wait a second. That's not, that was not

Steve:

addressed to Bart Bass. so, yeah, just the way

Steve:

that everything played out, I was, I was a little

Steve:

bit ahead of that. I felt like, I felt like since

Steve:

Russell told Chuck the truth, the. The. The lie,

Steve:

I've been ahead of Russell Thorpe until the end of

Steve:

this episode. This is the first time I was not.

Leif:

And we go into Act 5. Serena attacks Charlie about

Leif:

the dress. But a confused Dan tries to deflect and

Leif:

defend her.

Steve:

Yeah. Cause Serena, you're not mad about the

Steve:

dress. You're not mad about the dress. She

Steve:

borrowed a dress from you. Now, granted, Charlie,

Steve:

you could have just said, oh, my baby, sorry I

Steve:

borrowed your dress. But Charlie had to turn it up

Steve:

a bit and be like, but at.

Leif:

One point, like, Serena said, you're not leaving

Leif:

here with that dress on.

Steve:

Like, so, yeah, take it off. It's like Serena,

Steve:

she's at a party with nothing else, without other

Steve:

clothes. You want her to take a dress off in the

Steve:

middle of this party? You're a psychopath. And Dan

Steve:

just being like, I don't care whose dress it is.

Steve:

Yeah, like, I don't give a. Who cares? Does she

Steve:

dress like you? Let's go. But yeah, you're not mad

Steve:

at the dress, Serena. You're mad that she's with

Steve:

Dan.

Leif:

As Chuck continues to interrogate Russell and a

Leif:

patient, and a hungry Jack complains about the

Leif:

lack of food. Thorpe admits he thought he was

Leif:

killing Bart and not his wife. He also reveals the

Leif:

deal he made with Bart to cover the fire in

Leif:

exchange for Thorpe's company and the insurance

Leif:

money. Chuck lets Thorpe go, I guess for Raina's

Leif:

sake.

Steve:

Which that was, you know, I, I. First of all,

Steve:

when, when Jack came in and picked up the phone, I

Steve:

was like, okay, I'm calling The cops. It's like,

Steve:

yeah, what? Obviously, I did again, Jack was funny

Steve:

in this scene with his. Hey, can we do this

Steve:

quickly? I'm kind of hungry. And you got nothing

Steve:

in here except hallucination mushrooms. and just

Steve:

his, like, little interjections to break the

Steve:

serious tone of the scene. But also, we have

Steve:

Russell here just given complete, confession. A

Steve:

complete signed confession, you know, telling

Steve:

everything. And then, yeah, then Chuck's like,

Steve:

well, yeah, you're right. Your daughter might be

Steve:

mad, so I'll just let you go. Although he does

Steve:

offer him Thorp Industries. Right.

Leif:

But he doesn't take it.

Steve:

Do we know that? Do we know he doesn't take it?

Steve:

Because he just says, you can have it. And he put

Steve:

his hand out.

Leif:

Well, then. And then after that, Chaq is like, at,

Leif:

least let me get my airfare.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Which of course, Rado's paying for. But still, I

Leif:

think it implies that Chuck was not taking the

Leif:

money.

Steve:

Yeah. Which.

Leif:

Yeah, he just let him for no reason.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Just like Serena let Juliet go.

Steve:

yeah.

Leif:

Oh, he did so much to his family already.

Steve:

Yeah, we did so much to his family already. After

Steve:

he drove me across state lines and was definitely

Steve:

flirting with me and leading me on and putting me

Steve:

in a position that a, teacher should not be in

Steve:

with their students. Not saying he deserves jail

Steve:

for the state lines thing, but he deserved to be.

Steve:

Fuck that guy. Of course, he does deserve jail for

Steve:

the assault that he committed in jail. Yeah.

Leif:

Even if Davien is a piece of.

Steve:

Shit against an ambassador's son. Like a dignitary

Steve:

from another country that you just roughen up when

Steve:

you see him.

Leif:

At the Waldorf apartment, Cyrus and Blair share

Leif:

leftover desserts from the concluded party. Blair

Leif:

is worried Louie will never be able to see or love

Leif:

her dark side like Chuck did.

Steve:

Yeah. Maybe just get soon. So get over that and

Steve:

move past it.

Leif:

But this is where we get the Princess Bride line.

Steve:

Yes. Where. Yeah. Where we do have Cyrus finally

Steve:

dropping the line. The Princess Bride to be.

Leif:

And also his catchphrase as well.

Steve:

Yes, yes. That knowing everything is not enough.

Steve:

And it's really funny that, like, he uses it in a

Steve:

different way too. Right. Which I like. How clever

Steve:

he can be with his catchphrase. And here it's all

Steve:

of the darkness inside you is not enough to turn

Steve:

me away. Which is, pretty beautiful. Yeah.

Leif:

I mean, there is someone, besides Chuck and Louie

Leif:

that has seen pretty much all sides of her and

Leif:

seems.

Steve:

To love side of her.

Leif:

Seems to love her.

Steve:

I agree with that. Sentiment. Let's see. I want to

Steve:

do that finally. Yeah, let's see if Harry can

Steve:

finally meet Sally sexually.

Leif:

Ew. He made it weird.

Steve:

Yeah, he does that sometimes.

Leif:

Nate is late to pick up an annoyed Reina. She also

Leif:

is pissed Jack backed out of the deal and told her

Leif:

he just used her for a free flight. Reina still

Leif:

blames Chuck for her mother's death and by

Leif:

exemption extension, blames Chuck for covering it

Leif:

up. She is still intent on vengeance at any cost.

Leif:

So Nate reveals the truth about whose father

Leif:

actually killed mummy.

Steve:

He made a deal with Chuck. You did not make any

Steve:

deals with anyone else in that room. He made a

Steve:

deal with Chuck not to tell.

Leif:

At the penthouse, Rufus finds Charlie's empty pill

Leif:

bottle.

Steve:

Which somehow the pills got on top of the papers

Steve:

he just threw in.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

Okay. They're very bouncy pills.

Leif:

At the ball, Dan opens the cab door for Charlie,

Leif:

who ignores a call from Rufus.

Steve:

Yep, she's fine. Yeah, everything's fine.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl takes us to the final break with.

Leif:

They say love is the best medicine. That is,

Leif:

unless you don't take it. We move into the

Leif:

epilogue. Jack and Chuck do a post mortem on the

Leif:

scheme and appear to make up Chuck plans to win

Leif:

back Blair.

Steve:

Great. Awesome. I can't wait to see more of Chuck.

Steve:

And.

Leif:

Reina, with Nate by her side, calls her father and

Leif:

tells him she knows the truth. Despite Thorpe's

Leif:

pleas, she says he is dead to her as her mother.

Steve:

Reina, at any point in this conversation when your

Steve:

dad says, did you learn this from Chuck? Did Chuck

Steve:

tell you this? Did Chuck. At any one of those

Steve:

points, you could have just said no. Jack told me.

Steve:

Nate told me. Which it was Nate. You could have

Steve:

thrown Jack under the bus. You could have just

Steve:

said, no, Nate. Chuck didn't tell me because he

Steve:

didn't. Because he didn't tell Urena.

Leif:

Yeah. Serena has invited Vanessa to the penthouse

Leif:

because they both got out schemed by Charlie.

Leif:

Rufus comes downstairs looking for Charlie and

Leif:

shows them the empty pill bottle.

Steve:

Serena, she wore your dress, so it's not a huge

Steve:

scheme. Sure, she lied about it being your dress,

Steve:

but she didn't out scheme you. She showed up

Steve:

dressed like you.

Leif:

I disagree. She did the exact same thing she did

Leif:

with Vanessa. She made Serena into the villain so

Leif:

Dan would come and rescue her. And whenever, like,

Leif:

Dan's like, no, leave her alone. Leave her alone.

Leif:

And when they walk away.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

You see Charlie turn over her shoulder and look at

Leif:

Serena. Catch you.

Steve:

Because Dan needs a damsel to save. Dan needs A

Steve:

damsel to save. Yeah, he does. How many damsels do

Steve:

we got at the end of this scene? At the end of

Steve:

this episode, but also Serena off.

Leif:

Yeah. Dan, is escorting Charlie through the ball.

Leif:

We see Kadi and Iz are back and pretending not to

Leif:

hear Dan. Charlie mischievously pulls Dan into the

Leif:

headmistress Queller's office. Alone in the

Leif:

darkened office, she ignores his ramblings and

Leif:

removes her dress and invites him to join her on

Leif:

the desk. Dan goes over and starts making out with

Leif:

her as she begins to remove his clothes. Charlie

Leif:

then stops kissing him and tells Dan to call her

Leif:

Serena. Dan immediately loses wood and tells her

Leif:

this is a bad idea. As Dan leaves her, to get

Leif:

dressed, Charlie gets a text that her trust fund

Leif:

account has been activated.

Steve:

First shout out to Caddy and his. It was. And. And

Steve:

especially his. Who disappeared by the end of

Steve:

season one. So having them back. Ah. Who is a

Steve:

nice. Cotty did. Oh, you're right. Cotti

Steve:

disappeared at the end of season one, but it was

Steve:

great to have them back.

Leif:

But also, I'm much more petty of the dad, because

Leif:

if I was dad, I would be saying, well, I was the

Leif:

one invited to Blair's engagement party. Where

Leif:

were you guys?

Steve:

Well, so, here's my other thought about the two of

Steve:

them in this. Is that because of that? Because

Steve:

they're here and not at Blair's? My thought was

Steve:

that they are not only here in New York, but

Steve:

they're not under Blair's thumb. They're no longer

Steve:

minions. They're out there carving their own path,

Steve:

was the way I read into it, which I was saving for

Steve:

stock Stockwatch, but I'll go ahead and say it

Steve:

now.

Leif:

And also that you get the reference to season,

Leif:

one, episode 12, School Lies, when they're going.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

Yeah. When. About the, swim. The swim accident.

Steve:

Yeah. But then let's also call me my cousin, who

Steve:

is your ex and your stepsister, because while I'm

Steve:

wearing this dress and have my hair up the way

Steve:

that I was, it was for you. Make me be that

Steve:

person, even though you're clearly into me for who

Steve:

I am. But, like, I don't know. I don't know what

Steve:

medication prevents that.

Leif:

Yeah. Seems suspicious.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Blair passes by Kadian is. And drops that she is

Leif:

marrying a prince. She gets a call and then tells

Leif:

Serena's cousin to tell Louis that she was here

Leif:

and that she'll be back. But I'm not too sure how

Leif:

much she paid attention because Charlie seems more

Leif:

fixated on Dan, who is still straightening his

Leif:

clothing.

Steve:

Yeah, I thought. And I meant to say this before,

Steve:

that the end of that first scene where, like, Dan,

Steve:

like, walks out and Charlie's like, oh, crap. But

Steve:

then it's like, oh, but I got my trust fund. That

Steve:

just seemed like a weird time for the script to

Steve:

put that in. But, yeah, for. And then Blair just

Steve:

comes out and does this info dump of like, oh, if

Steve:

you see Louie, I gotta go save Chuck. It's like,

Steve:

what? You're running out. You get a phone call and

Steve:

you're running out to save Chuck, when you were

Steve:

basically told by Louis, stop chasing after Chuck.

Leif:

Well, she just says, tell about here, but I'll be

Leif:

back. And I'll be back. She doesn't say anything

Leif:

about, oh, I.

Steve:

Thought she said to Charlie, chuck needs me. Or

Steve:

did she say that to someone else right beforehand?

Steve:

She does say out loud when she gets off the phone,

Steve:

chuck needs me. At some point, she mentions Chuck

Steve:

that she's leaving because of Chuck.

Leif:

I think that's when she gets out on the roof.

Steve:

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I. I feel like I.

Steve:

Maybe I. I thought I remembered her saying, I got

Steve:

a call and Chuck really needs me. But I could be

Steve:

wrong.

Leif:

I think it's just so obvious to everyone else, to

Leif:

us that it's about maybe.

Steve:

Yeah, maybe that's what it was. That it just felt

Steve:

obvious.

Leif:

Rufus tells Serena and Vanessa that Charlie is off

Leif:

her meds and that it happened before the last time

Leif:

she was happy and it ended badly.

Steve:

yeah, really? We. We got that from earlier. He's

Steve:

come through with that a few times, so I didn't

Steve:

really have much to say on that.

Leif:

Yeah, basically, he comes in and tells now Vanessa

Leif:

and Serena know about the Mets.

Steve:

Oh, okay. This is where he tells Vanessa and

Steve:

Serena about it. That's right. I forgot. Because.

Steve:

Yeah, because he walks in on them and is surprised

Steve:

to see them talking.

Leif:

And then, back of the party, we see Minnie and

Leif:

Serena and Minnie Blair are back and they are

Leif:

mocking an arriving Chuck. He ignores their jibes

Leif:

and says he's still fighting for Blair.

Steve:

Adorable, adorable throwback to the mini Serena

Steve:

and mini Blair. I really like the callbacks in

Steve:

this episode. I was rooting for you.

Leif:

Blair shows she's still in field hockey shape by

Leif:

running up the stairs to the roof of the

Leif:

construction site. Blair sees a figure in the

Leif:

shadows and reveals she's got a call and said

Leif:

Chuck was up here threatening to jump again. When

Leif:

Thorpe steps into the light to reveal himself,

Leif:

it's pretty clear that was a lie.

Steve:

So when she got the call at the ball, at the party

Steve:

and was like, I have to leave. And we all. And

Steve:

like we said, whether or not she said it was for

Steve:

Chuck, we all knew it was for Chuck. I thought it

Steve:

was Louie. And when someone stepped out onto the

Steve:

roof there, I thought it was going to be Louis

Steve:

being like, fuck you. You. You ran off to go save

Steve:

Chuck again. So I was pretty shocked that it was

Steve:

Thor, because then the whole tone shifts. That

Steve:

Blair's in danger.

Leif:

Yeah, I'm in danger. that was the end of the

Leif:

episode. Gasparl says this as the episode ends. A

Leif:

dream is just a dream. Or is it a place where

Leif:

fantasy and reality collide? Everything you wanted

Leif:

seems possible until you realize the nightmare is

Leif:

just beginning. Xo. Xo, Gossip Girl.

Leif:

That is the episode. And what is coming next?

Steve:

Well, Blair's in danger. I believe Blair is going

Steve:

to be in some kind of hostage situation that is

Steve:

going to be way too ridiculous to be believable

Steve:

and that it will end up with Russell Thorpe

Steve:

getting away with it. But Blair being unharmed.

Steve:

Blair is a damsel in distress. Chuck is going to

Steve:

do everything he can to rescue her. Dan is going

Steve:

to rescue her.

Leif:

Interesting.

Steve:

Is that. Is there is no one on this show who can

Steve:

save a damsel in distress better than Dan

Steve:

Humphrey. It's not in Chuck's wheelhouse. Chuck is

Steve:

a schemer. He's not a saver.

Leif:

He is the Dark Knight, though. And this is

Leif:

basically the Dark Knight set up.

Steve:

Where is she? Where's Blair? He's only the Dark

Steve:

Knight because he can't talk without. He can't

Steve:

hide his accent unless he's grumbling.

Leif:

And is Louie going to turn into the two face?

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Then, yeah, we're gonna have Blair

Steve:

tied up into a bunch of canisters of oil or

Steve:

whatever blows up like that. But I do think that

Steve:

Louis is going to dump Blair because she's going.

Steve:

He's going to see that she'll always go running to

Steve:

Chuck. I think that that's in here somewhere. I.

Steve:

Oh, the Charlie thing. Charlie's gonna get blown

Steve:

up somehow. Dan, obviously, is now no longer

Steve:

really fully on Team Charlie. I think that it is

Steve:

pretty easy to sway Dan, into believing that

Steve:

somebody needs help. So I think that there's going

Steve:

to be some kind of intervention around Charlie and

Steve:

hopefully one that Vanessa takes that goddamn

Steve:

trip. I hope Vanessa takes the goddamn trip and

Steve:

leaves. And leaves on a, unstable aircraft. I

Steve:

think that Russell is going to get away with

Steve:

whatever. I don't think Russell's going to jail.

Steve:

I'll say that, too.

Leif:

Okay.

Steve:

I think those are my predictions.

Leif:

Blair gonna die?

Steve:

No, no, Blair's fine. We're gonna think Blair's in

Steve:

danger, but she's never gonna actually be in real

Steve:

danger. I don't feel like the show could go that

Steve:

dark. I feel like the show could. Could kill

Steve:

Chuck. I don't think it could kill Blair. I don't

Steve:

think there's a show without Blair. There's a

Steve:

show. There's a show without Chuck. There's not a

Steve:

show without Blair.

Leif:

So, what do you think is the deal with Charlie?

Steve:

I feel like they're pushing sort of a borderline

Steve:

personality disorder and schizophrenia kind of mix

Steve:

here. They're definitely taking this single white

Steve:

female angle. I'm hoping she doesn't, you know,

Steve:

put a stiletto through someone's eye.

Leif:

But why'd she duck the pills out in plain sight?

Steve:

Like I said, that seems very cry for helpish.

Steve:

Like, hey, I feel that I'm. I. I'm feeling happy,

Steve:

I'm feeling good. so it's also kind of a maybe

Steve:

bipolar thing that they're going for as well, that

Steve:

I'm feeling manic, but maybe I need some help with

Steve:

this, but I don't want to say it. Or then again,

Steve:

dumping out the meds. She's also creating a

Steve:

situation where she's a damsel in distress even

Steve:

more, you know, by not taking care of her own

Steve:

health and mental health. Maybe she sees that as

Steve:

an avenue to being Dan. Or maybe she just gets so

Steve:

obsessed with Serena that she thinks she's Serena.

Steve:

And maybe that's the angle they're trying to take

Steve:

us.

Leif:

Any other predictions?

Steve:

I don't think so, because we're getting to the

Steve:

season finale. I. I think the big one is that

Steve:

Louie is going to get tired of this shit. But,

Steve:

yeah, I don't think I have anything else.

Leif:

Let's get into segments.

Steve:

Hello there, Peabody here. And this is the Wayback

Steve:

Machine for traveling through time. And this is my

Steve:

boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman. Hello. Good boy.

Leif:

This week in fandom, we jumped into the Wayback

Leif:

Machine that travels to the Television without

Leif:

pity forums from 2011. Overall impression of the

Leif:

episode was. It was not good.

Steve:

It was all right. I thought it was better than the

Steve:

last episode.

Leif:

Call me serena. Ah.

Steve:

What? Yeah.

Leif:

Yeah. Where did that come from?

Steve:

Yeah, gross. Now, if it were Chuck, she just

Steve:

picked the wrong guy because it was Chuck. He'd be

Steve:

like, I'll call you. I'll call you, whatever you

Steve:

want. Call you Blairina if you want.

Leif:

Call you Lily.

Steve:

He'll call you Lily. He says to Serena.

Leif:

Why did Blair forgive Chuck so fast? Mentions of

Leif:

the Saffron interview.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, it seemed like following the previous

Steve:

episode, they wanted to do damage control and

Steve:

immediately put Blair back on Chuck's side. I. I

Steve:

really hated her whole. I hated Blair's Chuck shit

Steve:

in this episode. But yeah, it was. Yeah, like you

Steve:

said, the, the Saffron interview, they really seem

Steve:

to realize, like, oh, yeah, I guess he really did

Steve:

assault her. And we need to really, play that down

Steve:

even more.

Leif:

Many commenters were disappointed at no Dan and

Leif:

Blair interactions.

Steve:

Yep. Same.

Leif:

A few people are rooting for Thorpe to kill Blair

Leif:

to put her out of her misery.

Steve:

No, I love Blair. Ah.

Leif:

Apparently it's already been announced at this

Leif:

point that Kaylee Diefer is becoming part of the

Leif:

main cast next year. Because they were talking

Leif:

about it.

Steve:

Oh, okay. And that's Charlie.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Just rename it the Chuck Bass Show. Everything is

Leif:

to serve Chuck. Jack is now on his team, Blair's

Leif:

on his team, Nate's on his back of the scene.

Steve:

But don't call it the Chuck Bass show, because

Steve:

fucking hell. He's really the worst person on this

Steve:

show and only proves it over and over again. Every

Steve:

time he gets worse, everyone rallies around and

Steve:

it's like, oh, that's Chuck. Well, he didn't rape

Steve:

you.

Leif:

Exactly. That's why it's the Chuck Bass show,

Leif:

because everything revolves around Chuck.

Steve:

It's. Yeah, it really is just. Yeah, can we stop?

Leif:

And, they were pretty hard on Nate for being

Leif:

stupid to tell Reina the truth, and for forgiving

Leif:

Chuck the first one. I kind of agree with Nate

Leif:

Taylor.

Steve:

Yeah, I. I'm not mad about Nate.

Leif:

He definitely did forgive Chuck a little.

Steve:

Fast, but everybody always does. Everybody always

Steve:

does. And that is kind of core to all of the

Steve:

relationships on this show that every fight that

Steve:

they ever have between anyone usually just ends up

Steve:

being like, bruh. Sorry. Yes. Sorry, bruh. Yeah.

Leif:

Fair enough.

Leif:

That is it for this week in fandom. Odds episode

Leif:

graze. It is your turn to go first.

Steve:

I'm giving it a solid C. I don't think it was

Steve:

great. I found many things I was annoyed with,

Steve:

especially that it is just the Chuck Show. There

Steve:

were parts that I liked. Cyrus alone saves it from

Steve:

failing. So, yeah, I'm gonna go with a solid,

Steve:

solid C. This, was a.

Leif:

Really weird episode because I think it was very

Leif:

well made. In this individual episode. The only

Leif:

thing that really brings it down is what came

Leif:

before and after and how it kind of ignores.

Steve:

Yeah, it.

Leif:

But, like, it was well directed. Like, I really

Leif:

liked a lot of the shots. Like the shot at the

Leif:

beginning with the. The glass and Nate looking

Leif:

through the glass. I thought it was really,

Leif:

interesting. They did some more interesting shots

Leif:

that Gossip Girl doesn't normally get to do. And

Leif:

there was good dialogue, a lot of good scenes. We

Leif:

had, The Blair and Louis scene was really good.

Leif:

The Blair and Cyrus scene was really good. I

Leif:

thought it was a good episode if you ignore

Leif:

everything that came before it. So as a standalone

Leif:

episode, I gave it a B minus.

Steve:

That's rare. That's fair. I kind of tied it in

Steve:

with everything else going on in my grade. another

Steve:

cool shot was the staircase shot of Chuck going up

Steve:

the stairs. They don't use that too much either.

Steve:

Yeah, but, you know, the glass. The one through

Steve:

the glass, I thought was a really cool shot.

Steve:

What's also really funny is that that glass seems

Steve:

like the kind of glass that's really, like the

Steve:

thick, you know, cubed glass, only they had to

Steve:

then make it into a single pane of glass for him

Steve:

to be able to punch through.

Leif:

Moving over, to Stockwatch. Who do you have going

Leif:

up?

Steve:

I have. Who? I wanted to have Blair going up, but

Steve:

she got kidnapped. I wanted to. I. I'll. I'm,

Steve:

First of all, I'll give Cyrus an up. I'll give

Steve:

Rufus an up for finding out the information that

Steve:

he needed to find out and looking to do something

Steve:

about it. I will give Louis an up, for getting the

Steve:

crown. I was about to give him neutral because he

Steve:

is getting played too, but he got his crown back,

Steve:

and that's more important than Blair. I will. I'll

Steve:

give Eleanor an up because she threw a lovely

Steve:

party, and. Oh, and I'm gonna give caddy and Izzin

Steve:

up for not being under Blair's thumb. I'm gonna

Steve:

look at them as being independent instead of being

Steve:

minions and give them a little bit.

Leif:

And I see that more as them being social rejects,

Leif:

but that's just me.

Steve:

Oh, and the final one I'm gonna give up is Jack

Steve:

goes up this episode. I feel like Chuck does too.

Steve:

I don't want to give it to Chuck, but I feel like

Steve:

Chuck gets everything he needs this time. You

Steve:

know, like, Chuck gets his name gets cleared, his

Steve:

dad's name gets cleared. His schemes all come

Steve:

through. Chuck has to go up to.

Leif:

All right, for me, I have Dan going up because he

Leif:

just had a fun party, and he Was a good guy. He

Leif:

stopped it when things got weird.

Steve:

And, yeah, I was so on the fence with that. You

Steve:

know what? Could you give Dan. Give Dan an up for

Steve:

me, too? I was on the fence about him, but he did

Steve:

do the good guy thing and was like, no, I'm not

Steve:

gonna call you that.

Leif:

I gave Rufus it up because he was a good father

Leif:

figure to Charlie. Serena up because she finally,

Leif:

you know, kind of apologizes Blair, and they made

Leif:

up. I have Eleanor and Cyrus going up because they

Leif:

were good parents for Blair, and now it looks like

Leif:

they're getting a princess daughter. And then I

Leif:

had Jack going up because he was good guy Jack.

Steve:

Yeah, he's.

Leif:

He's just Saint Jack now. That is it, though.

Steve:

well, he did. He did still sexually harass Raina.

Leif:

He just asked her, do you want to go back to my

Leif:

hotel? No. Okay, let's continue the meeting.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Shot is shot.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

Who you got going down first?

Steve:

I am giving Blair a down. She got kidnapped, and

Steve:

she is now in danger. I am going to give Serena a

Steve:

down. I know you gave Serena and up. I'm m giving

Steve:

her a down because she got played by Charlie and

Steve:

then had to turn to Vanessa for help. I'm going to

Steve:

give Vanessa down because she is on the episode

Steve:

and also continues to be played by Charlie. And

Steve:

shouldn't you be in Spain by now? I almost want to

Steve:

give nada down for not just saying for. Because he

Steve:

can't keep a secret, which he shouldn't have. I

Steve:

agree with him giving the secret away, but I'm

Steve:

gonna keep him neutral. Charlie gets it down for

Steve:

whatever is going on with Charlie, whatever is

Steve:

happening there. Her stock did drop today.

Steve:

Raina's, stock dropped because she just lost her

Steve:

dad. Oh, and Thorpe's stock goes down because he

Steve:

got found out and he. He is a murderer and now a

Steve:

murderer kidnapper. So he's just racking up his.

Steve:

His downs. Oh, and had mistress Queller for not

Steve:

locking her office and almost having people bang

Steve:

on her desk.

Leif:

For me, I had definitely had Nate going down

Leif:

because he forgave Chuck way too fast. Even

Leif:

though, like, they acknowledge that he realized

Leif:

what happened and then just forgave him right away

Leif:

and help Jack scheme. Blair going down because she

Leif:

is kidnapped and didn't have a great episode

Leif:

before that just kept leaving to go help Chuck.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. You got kidnapped by running off to

Steve:

help Chuck again.

Leif:

I had Chuck going down because. Yeah. I mean, even

Leif:

though he exonerated Bart, that really didn't do

Leif:

anything for him. And now Russell's still coming

Leif:

for him because he let him go for some reason. but

Leif:

speaking of which, I had Thorpe go and get down

Leif:

and I had Reina going down because, yeah, she

Leif:

found out her dad's a, ah, killer. And Charlie

Leif:

going down because she's going crazy apparently.

Leif:

Possibly.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

That is it for Stockwatch, though.

Steve:

But here's the best outfits from the.

Steve:

Last episode we've seen.

Leif:

Best outfit. Who did you have?

Steve:

So, I think I'm gonna give this one to Caddy and

Steve:

Iz as a pair. I did love they. They came in

Steve:

dressed how they always are. They always have

Steve:

these really interesting outfits that are subtle

Steve:

and yet really intricate and elegant. And I just

Steve:

thought they looked really good. So I'm giving it

Steve:

to Catty Inez.

Leif:

Fair enough. Yeah. Not a lot to choose from. What,

Leif:

I ended up is, nothing fancy, but, Blair's white

Leif:

coat and the green scarf she was wearing, like out

Leif:

and about throughout the episode.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Yeah. The one I considered was, I did

Steve:

consider Charlie and Serena's dress because I do

Steve:

think it looks better on Charlie. Personally, I

Steve:

like it better on Charlie.

Leif:

That is it for segments. Do you have anything you

Leif:

want to plug this week?

Steve:

I do. So I was at the gaming convention, the

Steve:

Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo this weekend and met

Steve:

an author named T.R. nichol. She's writing a

Steve:

series called the Legends of Lemuria. And as you

Steve:

know, Leif, that like, my biggest complaint about

Steve:

fantasy literature is that they won't just give me

Steve:

a book that I need to have three or seven or it's

Steve:

all of it has to be a series. And here we have a

Steve:

series that every book is its own independent

Steve:

thing and that made me want to read it. She also

Steve:

has some, one page dungeons and one die gaming

Steve:

systems that she has as well. So it was just a lot

Steve:

of fun gaming stuff and it stood out. At, these

Steve:

expos. There's often oceans of the same kind of

Steve:

games that you see. And so T.R. nichol, her stuff

Steve:

just kind of stood out. And so check out her stuff

Steve:

and. And you can check out Red Rose Productions as

Steve:

well. So some good stuff there. And outside of

Steve:

that, if you want to find me and hear anything

Steve:

that I have to say, you can follow me on Instagram

Steve:

or tick tock at Steve Marshon M A R C H.

Leif:

I O N. Nothing for me to plug this week, but you

Leif:

can follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram

Leif:

and Blue sky at hotcapicola. That's H o T C A P I

Leif:

C O L A. You can follow the podcast on Instagram,

Leif:

Tik tok and Threads at Non Judging Breakfast Pod.

Leif:

You can also find links to our Patreon, our

Leif:

Discord server and our subreddit on our website

Leif:

Non Judging Breakfast Podcast.

Steve:

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

Steve:

would love to hear what you have to say. Please

Steve:

feel free to send us an email at non judging

Steve:

breakfast podmail.com and we'd love to maybe even

Steve:

read your email back on the podcast here while

Steve:

you're listening. If you wouldn't mind hitting

Steve:

that like or subscribe follow button, that would

Steve:

really help us out. And if you could leave a

Steve:

comment on the episode that really helps our

Steve:

visibility in Spotify and Apple itunes. And

Steve:

finally if you could tell your friends what you

Steve:

are listening to, go ahead and spread the word at

Steve:

work and let them know that the Non Judging

Steve:

Breakfast Pod is available wherever they stream

Steve:

podcasts and you can make us your water cooler

Steve:

talk and we.

Leif:

Will be back next week to talk about the season

Leif:

finale. Season 4 Episode 22 the Wrong Goodbye.

Steve:

Oh, that's clever.

Leif:

The episode description reads. Season four wraps

Leif:

up with an explosive finale including the return

Leif:

of Constance Billard Bean Girls. Kadian is a cameo

Leif:

by Gossip Girl author Cecily von Zeisgar, a

Leif:

performance by Airborne Toxic Event, and oh, yeah,

Leif:

a few very juicy cliffhangers.

Steve:

Oh boy. All right, I am excited to get out of here

Steve:

and probably walk about 40ft and watch that right

Steve:

now.

Leif:

Well, until next time, you know. Ah, you 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 or run away you take a piece of me with you

Steve:

there Every time you walk away or run away you

Steve:

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

Steve:

walking right to your door My heart's still

Steve:

resting looking for something more Are you ever

Steve:

gonna 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 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 a

Steve:

There never feels right when I'm out here on my

Steve:

own.

Steve:

I left.

Steve:

Last night and it feels like way too long Are you

Steve:

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 your

Steve:

there every time you walk away or run away you

Steve:

take a piece of 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.

Leif:

To me.

Steve:

Smile and you'll make my life complete every time

Steve:

you walk away or run away you 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:

me 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:

me 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:

me with you there every time you walk away or run

Steve:

away you take a piece of me with you there.

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