“Gossip Girl” — Poison Ivy
You wanna rumble, B?
My god this cast is good-looking. I mean, there have been some good-looking casts in television’s long, fabulous history. Actually, you’d be hard pressed to find a series whose cast isn’t at least marginally attractive (though I think a critic once gave that distinction to Homicide)? But there’s attractive and then there’s Gossip Girl whose main characters reach Lakshmi-levels of gorgeousness. Does that make it a better show? Not really, but it certainly doesn’t hurt (especially given the subject matter). More after the jump…
This week the show focused on the Serena/Blair cat fight, and on an Ivy-league mixer where all of the beautiful people can meet up with representatives from the nation’s elite colleges for reasons that aren’t exactly clear given most of the student’s apparent ability to go to whatever school their parents donated money.
The cat fight, for my money, provided the most entertainment as it involved not just field hockey and bruised shins, but short skirts and knee-high socks. Blair (Leighton Meester) continues to do her best Shannon Doherty impression by scowling and plotting the demise of Ms. Serena van der Woodsen and generally brunetting it up. Though if we can blame Blair for any one particular sin (and saying Serena had a drug problem she did not have — though inevitably will — was a big one), we should really cast stones on that hideous blue power suit she decided to wear to the mixer. She looked like a flight attendant for Air Asshole, though by the episode’s end apologies were made and clothes were changed, so I suppose everything worked out for the best.
As far as the plotline with the colleges, Dan initially was rejected by Dartmouth, despite being the best candidate, because he didn’t have the family name that Nate had — and Nate didn’t even want to go there. After some finagling by his rock-star dad, and a hastily produced gig at the punch bowl (as well as a helping hand from the aforementioned Nate) he ultimately shows up as a positive blip on the Dartmouth radar. Nate’s dad, might ultimately be the bigger obstacle for poor Dan to get around. Money, as they say, talks.
All in all it was a decent episode. Not as good as the past two weeks, but enjoyable nonetheless. I will say that of all the characters Chuck desperately needs to be rounded out a bit more. Right now he’s the flattest and one-note of everyone on the show and could certainly use some material that paints him as an actual human being. This week I also felt a little blah about the narration. It didn’t deliver any classic lines like last week’s “Fustercluck” or any significant exposition like in the pilot episode and instead just popped in every now and again to remind us who the series is named after. Striking a balance with this could be difficult in the long-run, especially since this character is never seen and we aren’t really sure how she’s getting her information.
October 4th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I thought this week needed more narration. I also think you owe some type service to Blair’s minions.
And- I think Blair and Chuck are on the road to sexville.
In other news- the TWoP recapper is worried that this show will be CANNED! If that happens, I will dramatically throw myself against the wall and sink down into a heap of tears.