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#love a good njbc episode
gossipgirls · 4 years
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NJBC in 3x14 - “The Lady Vanished”
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Drop the Evie essay you wrote
okay so first of all it wasn’t really an essay the way some of my ramblings are, more like just me writing down all of my thoughts in a vaguely coherent manner bc my brain was running too fast to really organize it 
and second of all, just to be on the safe side, these are the potential trigger warnings that I would give for the essay — I don’t know if they all actually come up or not, but better safe than sorry, so proceed with caution!
Potential TWs: being outed, parental neglect, character death (canon), suicide attempts (semi-canon), eating disorders, lots of mental health issues, and lots of general trauma and feelings of never being good enough, and canon typical references to drinking/drugs/partying/etc
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so just like a fun fact, Evie’s vitamin water of choice is zero sugar strawberry lemonade and yes i spent too long reading reviews on different flavours all because gossip girl did an entire product placement episode
anyways now onto real thoughts let’s go lesbians let’s go
so okay evie has a... very negative experience with Lily’s various boyfriends and husbands.  When Evie was younger she was always hopeful that this time would be different, that they’d be a family, that her mom would actually stick around, and every single time she’s been let down and left heartbroken.  When her mom starts dating Bart, Evie is very against it but she just can’t be bothered to even try to talk to Lily — Lily will date him, maybe get married, play house, abandon her children, then get divorced, and the cycle will repeat, and Lily will never give a shit about how her children feel about it.  Bart is just the latest rich man for Lily to set her sights on.  Given the overall shittiness of most of Lily’s exes, Evie had figured she would be a lot more vocally against Lily dating again, but Bart... 
Bart himself may terrify Evie, but Evie’s unwavering faith that Chuck will always protect her outweighs that fear, and Evie has long since given up on her mom caring about her opinions so she just takes comfort in the fact that Chuck will be there and tries to just ignore the rest — and the fact that Bart is pretty much always away does help with that.  That being said, she was very distraught when Bart spends season 1 christmas with them, but then Bart’s “present” for her was flying Chuck home for a few days because Lily mentioned that Eric was teasing Evie about being excited about having Chuck as a brother, and he's trying to semi-win over the kids (aka bribe them into accepting him as Lily’s fiancé)
Evie speaks several languages!  She started learning French and Spanish at a very young age, and then picked more up from Lily’s various husbands.  She’s not fluent in all of them but she can hold conversations in eight languages — and four of them were from Lily’s boyfriends (and italian was half pieced together from French and Spanish), and she just keeps learning more because she tries to keep herself too busy to think at any given moment
Rufus is her favourite step-dad by far, but Chuck is her favourite step-sibling (and second favourite sibling, after Eric).  That being said, Bart was surprisingly decent to her because even he quickly figured out that Evie has the innate ability to get Chuck to do basically anything, and he wanted her on his side, only he underestimated how much Evie hates him for treating Chuck like shit — as she says in 2x07, “if you want us to be a family, you should learn how to be a dad”
Evie has a bit of a thing for stealing coats lmao — it’s not unusual to find her stealing Chuck, Eric, Theo, or even Nate’s jackets when she gets cold or starts feeling particularly self conscious.  At the housewarming party she actually gets to bothered by all the media watching her constantly that Chuck goes and gets her one of his blazers to replace the cropped one she was wearing, and she immediately feels a bit more at east
Evie is a jock like it’s understated but she’s on multiple sports teams at school and plays outside of school too — she’s also in dance classes several times a week, along with private vocal lessons, and being part of every theatre production at Constance Billard (musicals and plays), and is on the yearbook committee.  Basically, Evie needs a fucking nap, and with a lot of pushing from Chuck and Eric and Theo (to balance out Blair “do absolutely everything in the name of Yale” Waldorf) she does eventually ease up on her extra-curriculars
She holds far too much power in the Constance-St Jude hierarchy.  She’s a freshman, but it’s well known that Evie is completely untouchable.  Some people (cough Jenny) might try to cross Blair, but no one is stupid enough to go after Evie — she’s not just Blair’s protégée, she’s also under Chuck’s protection.  And when Jenny does try to cross her in season 3 (physical and emotional bullshit, public humiliation, telling the entire school she’d tried to kill herself and had been at Ostroff not “in florida”), well... she learns that even being family won’t stop her entire life from being destroyed
Speaking of Jenny... that’s a very messy relationship — I want to like Jenny, I really do, but I just... don’t so far.  They’re a very sweet relationship early on, neither of them had dated before and they were just really smitten with each other and things were good.  There were definitely some issues because of the Jenny-Blair war, but they’d been okay — or so Evie had thought, until Jenny dumped her by means of introducing everyone to her new boyfriend, Asher.  Then of course there’s the party and Jenny outing her, and then just not talking to her for months until she needs something from them (an in to the White Party).  Eric manages to convince Evie to play nice, but he does so under the impression that Jenny had apologized to Evie — he didn’t know she’d only apologized to him.  Eventually Jenny does apologize and Evie tries to forgive her, and she keeps giving Jenny more and more second chances (especially once they become step sisters), but Jenny really just keeps hurting Evie to get on top because with Blair gone, Evie immediately becomes the new queen, and Jenny cares more about being queen than being nice.  Little does she realize that part of why Evie became queen with no challenge is because she’s nice.
and regarding Evie’s other relationships... so serena was a really good big sister when Eric & Evie were kids — Blair was the responsible sister and Serena was the fun sister, but it was a good balance and it worked.  But when the twins were around eleven and Serena was around 13, she became besties with Georgina Sparks, and everything went to shit.  Serena started getting into partying and drinking and drugs and became just as flighty and unreliable as Lily, which takes a significant toll on the twins’ mental health — side note, one of their therapists at the Ostroff Centre believes that their significant codependency stems from the abandonment issues they have as a result of Lily and Serena just up and leaving them whenever anything “better” comes along.
And unfortunately for the twins, this was around the same time (grade 6) that Theo got sent to boarding school, so really they lost both their sister and their best friend at the same time, and Theo leaving also messed up the overall group dynamics and they half lost Nate too — he was still in their lives but he went from being the dad to Blair’s mom to being more of a big brother, and there was this sort of hole that didn’t get filled until a couple of years later.
And of course, a lot of it then fell to Blair to try to fill that hole and the holes left by Serena and Lily and went from being sort of “mom friend big sister” to “literally the closest thing we have to a mom”, which is also just a lot of pressure for a thirteen year old girl and part of why Blair and Chuck got a lot closer after he ended up becoming their dad was because she finally had someone that she could talk to too.
Also like full disclosure, Chuck never really intended to become their dad.  He started off as a reluctant big brother because he was Nate’s best friend and Nate was the dad friend when they were younger, and Evie just kind of decided that she loved him and like no one can argue with Evie so all of a sudden he was part of the family.  He doesn’t really become dad until the van der Woodsens move into the hotel because suddenly Eric and Evie are just always there, and he doesn’t even realize it until months later, after Serena is gone and he realizes that he’s been skipping parties to like play mario kart and shit with the twins and Blair is just like “lmao yeah buddy you’re the last one to get this memo”
and then there’s this list that I made of the NJBC’s roles in raising the twins and theo back when they were younger
Blair: holds their hands to cross the street, teaches them not to talk to people who wear sneakers or to strangers, teaches them how to dress themselves like respectable people, makes them finish their homework before watching tv, hates all of their nannies and only trusts dorota to take care of them Nate: teaches them to tie their laces and their ties, plays video games and sports with them, helps them with homework and doesn't get impatient when they struggle, lets them use his notebooks to draw in when they're bored Chuck: will destroy anyone who hurts them, teaches them street smarts and how to tell when someone is lying, is the one who lets them do dumb and reckless things because he'd rather they do them when he's there to get in trouble, still refuses to believe that they know what sex is Serena: reminded them that it's okay to have fun and draw outside the lines, stood up for them when lily was being a shit mom and always tried to protect them from the worst of her neglect, came up with games to play when they were sad to take their minds off whatever is upsetting them
And Theo!!!!!!  Theo has been their best friend for their entire lives!  They’ve known him since they were babies and the three of them have always been inseparable!  Like highkey they were just a more functional NJBC lmao, and we love them for it!  Theo getting sent to boarding school was really hard on all three of them but they stayed in constant contact and whenever Theo is back in the city, it’s almost impossible to see them not together.  Theo does know that they were in the Centre, so once he’s back full time, he’s spending as much time visiting them as he can!  Even when Eric and Theo are dating (and later when Evie and Theo are dating), the group dynamics really never change!  It’s still always the three of them, and sometimes Jenny in s1, they’re still each other’s family, and they’re still just a bit too interdependent to be entirely healthy (it’s the trauma and neglectful parents)
on a slightly related note, neither of the twins drink anything other than champagne and sometimes wine, and neither of them touch drugs at all, and it’s entirely because of Serena.  They’ve both seen how much she’s changed since she got into that scene, and especially since ‘liking partying’ turned into ‘alcohol addiction’, and they’re both too afraid of ending up like that to even take the risk.  It’s something that definitely sets them apart from pretty much any of their peers, but they’ve gotten very good at just laughing it off with a “hey, I just don’t want to end up on Gossip Girl tomorrow” which people generally accept
(that being said, Evie did smoke for a while pre-canon bc cigarettes curb hunger, but she hasn’t smoked at all since ending up in the Centre, and once she’s out too many people have an eye on her for her to even try, and she does want to stop)
(TW ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, fairly detailed discussion) so okay the breaking point for the twins... lily had just gone awol again and Blair was away visiting her dad and evie was at the archibalds’ house hanging out with theo, who was home for a weekend, and eric didn’t want to call anyone because lily’s disappearance had left him in a spiral of feeling annoying and like people didn’t really want him in their lives and there wasn’t a specific trigger but instead of the spiral slowing down or evie/chuck/blair being able to pull him out of it, it just kept getting worse until he was slitting his wrist in the bathroom — only Evie had just gotten home and when he didn’t reply to her calling his name, she got freaked out and started looking for him and when she saw him, she just... couldn’t deal.  She called 911 for eric but then she was just in the bathroom and covered in his blood and she didn’t know what to do and she needed to calm down so she grabbed a bottle of valium that she thinks was Lily’s but instead of just taking one pill she ended up taking all of them and downing them with a bottle of vodka serena had hidden — once she realized what she’d done she called Chuck and basically just said “I think I fucked up” and Chuck freaks out (understandably) and rushes to their suite and gets there basically just in time to see both of them being loaded into an ambulance; he claims he’s their brother and rides with them to the hospital where he calls blair, and arranges for his jet to pick her up asap, and then tries (unsuccessfully) to get in touch with lily
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xsecretblastsx · 3 years
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2x02 - Never Been Marcused
Here we are on a new recap, sadly we say good bye to the hamptons on this episode, but it seems fitting considering is the start of fall after all. 
This one of those episodes were I barely remember what happens except for a few scenes here and there from my first watch, so it almost felt like watching a new episode. Anyway here we go.
As usual recap under the cut:
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Thoughts I had while watching the episode:
Akward morning after talk between Dan and Serena, not my prefered way for the start of an episode, but what can I do
Well they are kind of cute here, I’ll admit. Though I’m kind of glad Serena’s first instict wasn’t to get back together right there and actually acknoweldging their break up had a lot of reasons behind it.
Blair looks super cute riding that bicycle, so picture perfect. Too bad is only on paper. That Marcus guy is super boring.
Blair can be like “Revenge is so 12 hours ago” but Serena’s is all of us being like “Sure Blair, you totally love Marcus and all of this has nothing to do with Chuck ofc” 
I’m not sure if being refered as “ a perfect post Bass palate cleanser” can be taken as a compliment. And just like magic a wild Bass appears.
I’m just here to enjoy the akward moment every single boyfriend of Blair has to endure whenever they realize that Chuck Bass is going to be a relevant part of said relationship.
“For England” Marcus your nation is surely going to be proud of you for acting like a total englishman and accepting to be civil with Chuck Bass, the guy who just totally manipulated you into inserting himself in your date.
“Blair Waldorf a fling... you’re not exactly low maintenance” Serena speaking words of wisdom.
I guess abstinence (on Serena’s side mostly) was hard for Serena and Dan, otherwise I can’t understand why they’re acting as if keeping their hands to themselves is so difficutl, they never seemed that type of couple in S1.
Blair called him Charles, I guess she was pretty mad. 
That whole sequence of Dan and Serena fooling around on the Jitney is soooo extra, and so unintentionally funny.
Nate’s family drama is never ending, though imagine the tragedy it must be for any UES to lose their money. Auch.
Surprise! Nate’s fling is actually the Duchess.
This whole dialogue: “No offense but don’t you think you’re a little outmached?” “As a guy. Blair wants to be a princess (>.<) and your greatest achievement is owning part of a burlesque club” and the cherry on top “Oh you know is love when you star talking like an assasin” Oh Nate Archibald, I love you. 
Also apparently Chuck did spend tme with Bart from time to time, is kind of hard for me to imagine them playing Squash though.
Chuck keeping noble secrets from Nate. That’s love.
Hi Rufus... and Vanessa
Oh Marcus, giving so much intel to his new “best friend”.Also I kind of like the polo/vest combo Chuck’s wearing there. Weird.
“I have to present myself as crown jewel, sorrounded by other smaller slightly flawed gems, but quality stones nonetheless” this is such Blair thing to say haha.
“If you can’t find common ground wiht a dictator I don’t know who can” The added commentary is really making this episode for me. 
I’ve never related more to Blair than this moment where she express how great it is that Serena’s free from Dan.
I just love when we get to see how much Chuck actually cares about Nate, selling his shares of Victrola is no small deal.
Nate and Vanessa! I still can’t believe how much I don’t mind, and actually kind of like this ship.
I kind of would love to see Anne Archibald doing her shopping at Salvation’s Army.
I love the combination of that suit with that shirt Chuck’s wearing, the color really suits him. I don’t know why but I’m noticing his wardobre much more this time around. Figures. I do remember thinking the first time around he was going to try and seduce the duchess. Now that would have been another akward moment of “Sorry Nate”
Serena looks so pretty here, even if I’m not that fan of her outfil. 
“So she can warn me about the effects of too much botox” auch.  Chuck: 1, Blair: 0. and he’s definately enjoying it.
I so wish Rufus had gone to tour again. He deserved to live that dream to the fullest.
“A lowly Waldorf” wow. Even I was hurt by that. 
I love it when the GG voice oveer points out how ridiculous everything is. Case in point: “Chuck and Blair’s dates are mother and son, and Nate and Blair are exces, and Nate and the mother are in a book club?”
I get why Nate is mad at Chuck for not being upfront about the money, because it’s not easy addmitting that kind of problems in their wordl and even less accepting that kind of help, but Chuck’s intentions were good. Fact is he always helps Nate anyway he can.
The fact that Dan and Serena’s plotline this episode was basically just trying to resist each other, and I can’t help but think that this was the show’s way of trying to make them be more “chair like”, you know intense chemistry and sex appeal. As if.
“if the best version of the situation is I’m going to become Blair’s father in law I think is just time to move on” Now imagine that, thanks to Nate for putting that horrifying thought in my head.
And this is the start of Nate Archibald the gigolo.
“Oh my effing God” same Blair, same. Props to Nate for still acting so rightous and being all like “I don’t have anything to explain to you” 
Blair telling the Duchess how things are going to be now... You go baby Vamp!
“I’m gonna turned it in a novel” so I guess this throway line was the start of “Inside” 
Rufus beyond anything was first a Dad, the Humphrey kids got the best dad in the show, the kind of Dad any of the NJBC would have love to have as a parent, and yet they feel they were the unlucky ones.
That last scene between Chuck and Blair is such a display of chemistry a lot of ships wish they had. and the literal definition of what eye sexing each other means. 
I feel so bad for Nate and Vanessa right now... with the add visual bonus of her sadly blowing the candles for a date that wasn’t. Feeling sad for Vanessa, now that’s new for me.
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So this episode while there are moments that I really liked and it did kind of move the plot forward in some points, it also fills a lot like a filler episode and like I don’t really have much to say about it. Maybe because these storylines while I don’t hate them I don’t particularly like them either, in particular this chapter of the Serena and Dan saga this episode feels such a waste of time, they’re basically stalling because they really don’t want to have the difficult conversation of why they broke up and how they can fix their issues, and so to keep avoiding they distract themselves with taming their unrestrained need for sleeping with each other... sorry but what?
I’m not saying there’s no chemistry between Dan and Serena, but their relationship in S1 except for like 1 or two scenes was very much rooted in cutesy moments, tenderness, and how Serena was better with Dan (ugh) and how he wanted for her, not only because she was super hot, they never acted like “oh it’s so hard to keep our hands from each other, and we can’t resist this atraction” that couple were Chuck and Blair, so on this episode I just can’t buy it, it seems forced, almost as if the show wanted them to be more exciting and outrageous... to keep them as the main couple of the show as they were suposed to be, after all at this point of the show while Chuck and Blair were getting more traction, they hadn’t really overtook the show as they eventually did. It also felt part of the “omfg” vibe the show was going for, that scene in the Jitney was so extra, though in my case rather than getting me into them just made me laugh. 
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Nate storyline on the other hand is the one that really went places this episodes. It turns out his family is on the brink up bankrupcy because all the legal issues his dad is facing, and because his grandfather won’t help he and his mother are a very precarious situation wich leads Nate to seek help. He tries going to Chuck but on one hand he doesn’t really now how to explaint the situation, and also Chuck’s apparently really busy with scheming his way back to Blair. Except Chuck because he knows Nate is going to refuse him and he can’t help but help him either way sells his shares on Victrola and gives the money to Nate’s mom. Of course when Nate finds out he gets mad, because pride and also because he hates that Chuck lied to him about Victrola and to be fair it hasn’t been that long since they had a big fall out because Chuck wasn’t honest about stuff, so there’s that. Still, I feel I must take a moment to point out how much Nate actually means to Chuck? He loves that club, it’s a place with a lot of sentimental meaning too for a lot of reason and yet Chuck doesn’t hesitate to part with it if meants helping Nate. I know Chuck makes plenty of mistakes and awful things during the show, but these kind of moments are always kind of overlook and I just feel that’s unfair because only focusin on the worst of him, reduces him to this one dimensional villian, and in reality Chuck is one of the most complex characters on this show. These kind of moments are an example of his many layers.
So back to Nate, he ends up going to Vanessa, and I just feel this rewatch is turning me into a Nate and Vanessa shipper. Truth is I never hated this couple, but I was a bit meh to it, in part because Vanessa annoys the hell out of me for the most part, but I always thought she was less annoying with Nate. I like how she just sits and listens to Nate, and I think this is something that his best friends are not always the best at, Chuck tries but he’s more the type of friend that goes into action, he does what is need to do in order help rather than the heart to heart talk, and Nate and Serena’s friendship at this point while getting there, is kind of akward still and also there’s always some crisis going on her life that prevents her for being fully there, and Blair and Nate well.. they weren’t ever the talking type. So Vanessa helps with that, also when the show started Nate wanted in someway to detached himself from the UES and all it’s expectations and so Vannesa was that needed breeze of fresh air, and while she can be as judgy as Dan, I always felt she made more of an effort with Nate to be understanding than Dan ever was with the UES. So I like them, at least for now. Too bad Catherine happens and while Nate was really into the idea of having an affair with her this episode he realizes that’s an awful idea (the fact that she has a step son that’s older than him and is also dating Blair is admiteddly gross) but it’s a desperate time, and she offers him her help... and so we got Nate the gigolo, and that last scene in the taxi when he cancels on Vanessa made me sooo sad.
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Lastly we have the Chuck and Blair part of the story, it’s always fun to see them scheming, and Chuck’s tactics these episode are rather sucessful at first and it’s mostly a display of him knowing Blair so well that he’s able to get the upper hand on all of her efforts to get on the Lord and his family good side. I should feel bad for her, in the sense that Chuck’s ruiningin her plans and it’s not fair because if he had showed up to Tuscany everything would be different. And yet I’m kind of glad he gets on her way because truthfully, this is just one of those times that Blair is trying to show herself as something she isnt’ in order to get a guy, and also climb higher in the social hierarchy, and it pains me because at the end of the day is just Blair not accepting herself, like Serena keeps pointing out through all the episode, just show the real Blair sure, she’s anything but low maintainance but there’s a lot of amazing in her that can make her shine to anyone. This plot also reminded me a bit of Blair and the prince storyline and also (because this party was trying to be very pretentious and sofisticated) that saloon thing she did with Dan in Season 5 and just remembering that gives me nightmare. So really not a fan of these particular scenes. In the end she ends up gaining the duchess via blackmail, which I like because I hate the Duchess so I’m all for Blair showing her Queen B side in full display and after this episode I missed it. It’s also the basis of that great moment at the end between her and Chuck in the Van der Bass kitchen, which is easily the most memorable thing in the whole hour and only for that I’m glad this episode exists. The chemistry and sexual tension  of this whole scene is amazing and it puts to shame all the Dan and Serena “can’t keep their hand of each ohter” scenes, this is how is done. Sorry Derena.
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Random bits I noticed:
The Pierces song playing in the background at the start of the episode, “Boy in a Rock and Roll Band” always puts me in a good mood for some reason.
That pearl headband Blair’s wearing at the party were so popular here for a while, I loved it so much back then, I sort of wish I had one now.
I loved the “Summer 08″ collage the Humphrey’s had in their loft. It also had this phrase “ I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality... I still believe that we shall overcome” by Dr. Martin Luther King. Kind of relevant isn’t it?
Having and episode ending with a shot of  the NYC skyline at night, while New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down playing in the background... these are the kind of details I love. 
Ending with a Chuck pick because I really like this suit
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xsecretblastsx · 4 years
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1x04 - Bad News Blair
This episode is the one that on first watch my love for Blair was born. This also an episode that’s heavy on the friendship front. I loved it.
Things I thought while watching the episode:
I love Blair as Audrey Hepburn. This is the first time we see her as such, in all her Holly Golightly glory.
This reminded me that Henri Bendel is no more
You know I think the first time I saw the series I didn't noticed her mom was played by a different actress here 
We didn't knew about her ED at this point, but is quite sad that Blair's says to her mom she lost two pounds and her mother praises her for it.
Those dudes that are watching Serena while she's on the street with Blair are so creepy, and again is sad that Blair sees this as another proof of how invisible she is next to Serena. 
“She likes you more than me” 🙁 
Do people really bump like that in NY? 
Chuck rolling his eyes at Carter Baizen is such a mood. Oh Nate, so naive. 
The way Blair lights up when her mother says she's perfect to represent her brand 
“Not a party for Senior Citizens, now go jump into a volcano” Chuck’s one liners this episode are on fire. Also Chuck’s outfit here. I’m dying. I saw interview once where the showrunners were like, and here was the point we discovered we could Ed anyway we wanted and he would go for it, or something like that.
"The model doesn't like herself" 🥺 
"Think about your boyfriend inside" Nate's has show more interest in Carter this episode than in Blair in the whole series, and actually Chuck has a good point you can complain, and keep talking about what you don't want but at some point you do have to know what you want otherwise you'll get nowhere. 
He annoys me but Dan's description of Blair is kind of amusing “95 pounds of girly evil”. But honestly is there an episode where he's not judgy about Serena and her friends? 
Blair's vulnerable face while her mother wishes her goodnight, because she can't quite believe her mom called her beautiful 
Eleanor pre Cyrus was a piece of work, pretending not to notice her daughter is only saying she didn't want to be in the shoot just to save face, or even how she discretly wipes a tear. 
I didn't even remember Jessica Simpson tried to have an acting career so Blair to me your modeling career was longer 
It's not one of her memorable outfits at all but I really like that green dress Blair is wearing
Chuck to the rescue!! What would Nate do without him.
Another episode where Dan says he’s sorry for judging Serena, two in a row so far. But this lines “Im sorry i gave you reason to?”He'll judge Serena always, no matter what ugh 
That improptu photoshoot the girls do in the end is one of GG most iconic moments.
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This is the first episode we really get our first deep look into why Blair is the way she is. Behind all her Queen Be persona there’s a girl that is really insecure. She has to be first among the other girls in school, be perfect, because she doesn’t feel like that around with two of the most importantbpersons in her life: her mother and Nate. And this brings another really important point: the complexity of her relationship with Serena. She loves her to pieces, but she feels invisible next to her, her boyfriend prefers her, and worse of all her mother too. How can one navigate loving someone so much but at the same time that person is getting all the love and attention from those you want it the most? Serena has “it” Blair not so much, and the saddest part is, this belief makes her act in a way that makes her “shine” less.
The episode also makes an important point about Serena’s character. Her love/hate relationship withe the spotlight.  Her argument with Dan at the photoshoot is a bit centered around this. I’m not a fan of Dan once again being judgy about Serena, and he's making it about him like always but between his words and Eleanor's the point is clear: even if Serena claims and wants to be in the sidelines, the spotlight always finds her, and some part of her loves it, even when she doesn't want to.
Finally this is the first episode that starts humanizing Chuck, for all his vices and bad qualities he knows how to be a good friend, not only he ends up saving Nate he doesn’t really want any retribution for it, insisting that there’s no need for Nate to pay him, the biggest take of all of this storyline, Nate’s really important to him. Which of course makes future events more interesting.
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Random things I’ve noticed: (that maybe no one cares) 
The dress Serena is wearing in Blair's dream is the one Blair was wearing the first time we saw her on the first episode
“Be goofy like when we were ten and would dance around to Gennie in a bottle with your mom's clothes" just picture that
Carter was a senior when the NJBC was in eight grade. He has a sister and he's the creator of the Lost Weekend.
The set for Blair's room is still not the one that we see the rest of the series. She has some Barbie Dolls and Care Bares in the top of a wardrobe
Dan's wearing a Lincoln Hawk t-shirt, nice detail 
I don't know why but i loved when Blair wokes up, happily looks in the mirror and Carmen is playing the background 
Moon river was playing in the background during Blair and Serena's argument, Blair's nightmare in real life
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gossipgirls · 4 years
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Serena is not morally the worst character in the show but she was the worst in terms of writing along with Nate. I honestly could not find anything interesting about her and her storylines were repetitive until she became a hot mess in s5. I don’t like to hate on female characters at all, but for a character who was supposed to be the lead, she was poorly written and acted in comparison to literally everyone else. It’s not even Blake’s fault, it’s just her writing is so bland.
this made me think of a lot of things about the show and serena that i haven’t yet said on this blog, and my response is SO long that i’m slightly embarrassed, so i am putting it under a “read more,” good luck hahaha.
/ tw alcohol, drugs and eating disorder mention
i agree that the writers definitely didn’t put even a tenth as much time into her as they did blair, chuck, etc. imo, they should have dealt a lot more directly with her clear substance abuse issues, like they did talk about it in that we knew she had a bad past with it, we knew that njbc were very much accustomed to taking care of a drunk/high serena (1x09 even though it was unfortunately mostly written as cute and humorous rather than sad and concerning, big time in 1x17, and the episode in season 4 where she was drugged but everyone thinks she overdosed on her own and when dan says it doesn’t sound like serena to him, blair says something along the lines of “i always forget how new you are, this sounds exactly like the serena i knew”), but they never REALLY delved into it in a satisfactory way that would more explicitly reveal her complexities. same with her abandonment issues as a result of her father leaving. which i think is mostly just a result of her trying to reform and be “good” for the whole show, rather than them writing in a longer period of time where she’s really struggling with sobriety, etc.
gg was great at introducing very interesting, complicated pasts and frameworks for their characters but they rarely fully dived in and explored the complexities of their characters (except for maybe with chuck, but even then it frequently remained quite superficial, like we’d see drugs on the table whenever he was spiralling, but they never… talked about it in a real way or the fact that he has a drink in hand about 90% of the time. even with blair, they dropped her eating disorder so fast that it was straight up unrealistic). for serena’s sake, i’m obviously glad that it wasn’t depicted as that serious, like i don’t wanna see these chars struggle per se haha, but i do think that if these things had been explored in a realer way (as i think they probably intended at the beginning of s1 given how the show was advertised), she would be way more appreciated by the fanbase as a complicated character. so i do fully see your point.
that being said, because it’s in my nature to read deeply into media that i love, i do see so many inklings and i do think that there are lots of scenes that could make her a really interesting character for all of the reasons that i mentioned above. she is a kind, bright person who is constantly fighting her demons, trying her best to keep her head above water and running from the culture that won’t let her grow and move on from her past. she is a woman who is so idealized and put on a pedestal by the men in her life that it’s no wonder she experiences so many identity crises. to so many people she’s never more than a fantasy, a myth of the it-girl or the trainwreck socialite, or a pretty piece of arm candy, but never her own person. she’s a glimmering party girl, living life so fast and so hard that people are constantly expecting her to drop, and tabloids relish in it whenever she does. she’s the sensational beauty who can’t help but wonder what will happen when her skin starts to wrinkle and clothes don’t fit the same - will the people who love her now still love her, do they all actually see the real her, or is this whole world as superficial as she fears? probably a big reason why her favourite book is the beautiful and the damned. also why i’m obsessed with ldr’s song “young and beautiful” for her. i think those fears become really clear as the show goes on, like in 5x04 when she reads her character in the inside and asks dan “do you even remember the girl that you fell in love with?” again, these could very well just be more my observations and analyses, but i do see them here and there in the show.
ultimately, your opinion is totally valid and NONE of this is to say that it’s not because i totally get it. she was definitely paid dust and i think the writers totally could have done more with the above issues in order to fully flesh out her character and reveal all of her complexities in a more explicit and interesting way. the writing often made her seem quite vapid and naive, which i really do not believe she was at all, and she deserved way better than that. i hope that someday there’s a surge of serena love in the fandom, but if there’s not, i get why. i just think it’s a shame, as was the writing, because there’s certainly a lot of potential!
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