Gossip girl 4x18

Is Lily van der Woosden illegally blonde? Yeah, Gossip Girl is back from yet another break, and before you start pouting like Blair Waldorf, your Cricket is merely posting the last episodes of the season for the sake of completion – not for the love of all that’s Serena. William van der Woodsen and CeCe Rhodes come circling the wagons and fire up the tension, and so does CeCe’s other daughter Carol, Lily’s estranged sister, while Lily awaits the judge’s verdict. To add even more mystery, Carol’s daughter Charlie arrives unannounced as well, and goes shopping with Serena. Blair is pouting, of course, after kissing lonely boy Dan Humphrey – and Dan is wondering what their kiss means. “Everything could change” someone tells Raina Thorpe over the phone, as she is in bed with Nate Archibald – and Chuck Bass is fuming in the living room. Chuck tries everything to get Blair back – and she has decided she wants to give him another chance. But when Chuck finds out about her kiss with Dan his infantile schemes makes her realize he isn’t ready yet. Further ruining their prospects for a happy ending, Prince Louis Grimaldi of Monaco has come to New York City, doubtless to propose to Blair. Oh, the shallow scandalous lives of Manhattan’s Upper East Side elite!

Gossip Girl 4x17

Chuck throws yet another party to celebrate his deal with a new financial backer, but Thorpe warns him the victory dance is premature. So, Chuck and Lily figure Ben must have spilled the beans on the affidavit. Serena has issues of her own with Ben, who doesn’t respond to her messages since they slept together. Vanessa finally tells Lily and Serena that she overheard Ben telling Damien he beat up Captain Archibald, S wants to hear none of it. But the affidavit is gone, and Ben was the only person who knew where Serena put it. Meanwhile Blair continues to plot exit strategies and plausible deniability about hanging out with Dan, and Raina is falling hard for Nate. When things come to a head at Chuck’s party, it turns out it was not Ben who handed Thorpe the affidavit, but his mother, who is determined to clear her son’s name at any cost. When Raina hears what her father is doing to Chuck and his family, she’s disgusted, but Chuck tells Thorpe that he knows where he can stick it: Lily has already called the District Attorney to come clean on the condition that Ben’s record be expunged. Then Thorpe explains why he has been so hell-bent on destroying the Bass legacy: he believes Chuck’s father had his wife killed. William van der Woodsen returns to town, with Lily’s mother Celia, to circle the wagons, much to Rufus’ chagrin. In the last scene Dan challenges Blair to kiss him so they will finally know if there really isn’t anything between them. As if we really have the patience to wait any longer for this season to be over, there’s yet another break until mid-April...

Gossip Girl 4x16

Let’s see, this week’s party is Eric’s eighteenth birthday; Damien extracts a check for $100,000 from Eric; Chuck and Lily try turning the tables on Thorpe; Blair loses her job at W Magazine, despite Dan’s help; Ben forces Serena to choose between him or her family; Vanessa returns to apologize to Dan; while Nate is dancing some kind of tango for three, trying to seduce Raina for Blair, but she falls for him. What else? Ben threatens to kill Damien if he ever speaks of the forged affidavit again and takes Eric’s check off him; then Damien offers his secret to Thorpe in exchange for a mere $100,000; Serena finally sleeps with Ben; while Vanessa is trying to reach her by phone to warn her about the ex-con con artist. In the last scene Dan and Blair watch The Philadelphia Story before she falls asleep on his shoulder: portending they’ll have a dalliance before she’ll return to Chuck. And here I was thinking that this would be the last episode of the season, but alas, there are five more to go!

Gossip Girl 4x15

It’s a Valentine’s Day Massacre on the Upper East Side! Serena decides not to have a romantic date with her new squeeze Ben, while Blair doesn’t have a new date to squeeze, but that doesn’t mean she can’t scheme to ruin her friends’ V-Day. Her new position at W Magazine offers the perfect opportunity. Chuck still hopes to wow Raina and her father Thorpe in order to save Bass Industries from being dismantled and sold on the cheap. So he throws another grandiosely decadent party as only he knows how. He proves not to be the businessman he thinks he is, as Thorpe outsmarts him at every move. Nor was he aware that Lily had an affair with Thorpe before she married Bass. (Strange we didn’t hear of that before!) In the end, Dan and Blair spend the night talking on the phone in each their own bed while watching Rosemary’s Baby. And Eric? After volunteering for some “meals on wheels” charity, he’s practically abducted by Damien, who threatens he will spill the beans on Lily’s schemes against Ben. Just one more episode of this nonsense, Cricketeers, so bear with me! xo xo

Gossip Girl 4x14

Rufus defies his wife Lily and offers Ben a room in his Dumbo loft. Dan is none too pleased with his new roommate. Never mind that Ben may or may not be stalking Serena and may or may not have statutorily raped her in boarding school, he spent the last six months plotting her downfall. So, Dan doesn’t trust this guy one bit, and is obviously jealous that Serena is all puppy eyes for Ben. When he hears from Eric that Ben threatened that dapper drug dealing Damien, Dan goes into protective mode. Meanwhile Blair schemes to get her boss at W Magazine laid before she herself gets laid off, and enlists Chuck and Nate in her plot. For his part, Chuck continues conspiring against Russell Thorpe hoping to prevent his takeover of Bass Industries by shagging up with Thorpe’s daughter Raina, but finds that mixing business and pleasure is a dangerous game. When they all end up at another party, Ben blurts out in disbelieve: “So you go to things like this every week?” Damien confronts Ben, Dan calls Ben’s parole officer, Ben gets arrested, and somehow this is supposed to bring Dan and Ben closer together. Dan and Nate then have a little word with Damien’s Belgian Ambassador father about his son’s drug dealings, and Blair gets promoted to her boss’s position. All in a day’s life for the Upper East Side elite.

Gossip Girl 4x13

So, what are the big shockers this week on Gossip Girl? Serena hooks up with Ben; Blair and Dan both end up interning at W magazine; Chuck is clean in business but dirty between the sheets with Raina Thorpe; Captain Archibald is offered a job at Russell Thorpe’s company; Eric is dating dope pushing Damien; Lily tries bribing Ben to stay away from her family; and Rufus keeps defending his wife! Yes, indeed, this show is running on empty asleep behind the wheel. It all makes very little sense. Serena is all puppy-dog eyed over her boarding school teacher, who until recently had been instructing his Flatchester sister to ruin her life for getting him into prison on account of statutory rape. Lily stubbornly maintains the façade that she always had the best intentions for her family, though by now she has alienated almost everyone. There is yet another party that just about everyone attends. And in the end Williamsburg weasel Humphrey loses his internship when he tries sabotaging Blair, who actually believed they were becoming fast friends despite her open remonstrations. Yawn...

Gossip Girl 4x12

Gossip Girl is back from winter break, and my dear god, do I have trouble keeping up with what is going on! Serena was unsuccessful finding the judge who signed the affidavit that got Juliet’s brother Ben into jail. Chuck returns from New Zealand with two busty ladies in his limo – similarly unsuccessful in finding his uncle Jack. To prevent the take-over of Bass Industries (which Lily has put on sale), Chuck recruits Serena, so she can meek out her own vengeance by getting Ben out of jail. Then it transpires that perhaps selling the company now, with the real estate and hotel business in recession, to Bass’s old partner Thorpe (Michael Boatman) who will maintain the company’s integrity will be better than going bankrupt or selling it to the highest bidder. Seems like Lily isn’t such a Wicked Witch of the Upper Eastside after all.

Blair is planning (or should I say “plotting”?) an internship with Indra Nooyi, for which she is obviously employing her minions. In other gossip, she is adamant no one hears of the movie she and Dan saw together. All her plans backfire, and her mother resents her for her childish games. Nate’s father is out on parole, enjoying the hell out of freedom, which worries Nate. Thorpe throws a party, where naturally everything comes to a head. Actually, he is not the intended buyer at all – if he’d known it was for sale he’s buy it on the cheap and hosted a fire sale to dismantle it. Serena learns that her mother persuaded the judge to release Ben. Blair realizes Dan sometimes has his advantages. He scoffingly called her an “evil dictator of taste,” which made her realize she should become an editrix of a fashion magazine. She makes her mother proud – and once more joins Dan to watch a comedy. Unsure about his future, Chuck drinks alone at Riverpark Bar, until Thorpe’s daughter Raina picks him up. What in the name of all that’s unholy is this devil’s daughter scheming at, sleeping with the enemy?

Gossip Girl 4x11

Oh, my freakin’ Gossip Girl, the plot is spinning out of control! Paraphrasing Blair, the Juliet Express went off the rails and headed straight to Crazy Town. How much longer can this Cricket bear this drivel? Dan and Blair are trying to figure out what kind of sick retribution motivates that stalking Flatchester. But who to turn to for help in bringing her down? What about Gossip Girl herself? Juliet is merely an outsider to the Upper Eastside elite. Plus she posted that fake photo posing as Serena snorting up. Does GG even know it’s fake? Will she reply? Well, she does point them to Cornwall, Connecticut, where Serena went to boarding school after her previous bender. There they meet Damien (Jenny’s one time dope-pushing fling), who admits he sold a big batch of various drugs to Juliet recently. She’s a townie. And right when they walk out of the sorority house, she’s driving by and spots Dan and Blair talking to Damien. Anyway, Damien brings Dan and Blair to Juliet’s mother, who tells them about Juliet’s brother, Ben Donovan (her first husband’s last name), who taught at S’s boarding school. Oooohhh! Now we get it. She fell in love with him and he got into the slammer for misdemeanors with a minor! So, jealous Juliet is upset that S first had an affair with her brother Ben and then she was about to start another with her cousin Collin. The irony! There you have your retribution.

Meanwhile, Serena is still committed into the Rostroff Center. Lily and Eric are proud how strong she is. Jeez, wake up and smell the coffee: that dumb blonde got set up! She opens up to her therapist, providing us with some background information about her time in boarding school, how she fell in love with her teacher, while playing party hardy with the sorority girls. For his part, Damien fills us in with his recollections about his time there. Lovely how his flashbacks slide into those of Serena and back in the same over-saturated purple and golden hues. S never slept with her teacher, because Mr. Donovan was an honorable man who understood it wasn’t right – or at least understood the repercussions if he did. Try paying attention now, because your mind may wonder off to better and brighter places: Juliet decides to confront Serena with the truth; Ben warns Nate, who happens to be visiting his father in prison, that Serena is in danger; Juliet is able to sneak into the Rostroff Center, even though S is supposed not to have any visitors for three days; she tells S that Ben was accused of statutory rape and transporting a minor across state lines; an affidavit was signed in Serena’s name (that she has no knowledge of) detailing the crime; so brother Ben is serving time for a crime he did not commit; it was Lily who was behind it; but don’t try to understand how Lily thought it was all in their best interest to put an innocent man behind bars... It comes as no surprise that everything comes to blows again at another party. S walks into a Christmas cocktail at the van der Woodsen’s, with Juliet in tow. Dan and Blair are there, with Damien in tow. Nate, Eric and Rufus, too. Serena just blurts out in front of everyone that her mother is a selfish liar, who will destroy anyone who stands in her way – and then runs off. Who’s the dumb blonde now, Lily?

Gossip Girl 4x10

There’s another party on the Upper East Side, Thanksgiving, and as the Macy’s parade is winding down Manhattan, and the scent of traditions hangs heavy in the autumnal air, people are preparing for dinner at the van der Woodsen-Humphreys. Not seen since the Chuck’s Saints & Sinners Masquerade Ball is Serena and no one knows where she’s been. Well, Juliet Flatchester sure knows where S is – she’s up in a cheap motel in Queens, practically overdosed on drugs and booze. When she finally comes to, S dials 911 and ends up in the emergency room. Once again it’s the Brooklynites who realize this does not sound like something Serena would do, that’s something is off, but Blair and Lily assume it’s business as usual, just Serena acting out. Apparently that’s what you do when you’re blowing off steam, you take painkillers, sleeping pill, anti-depressants and you wash them down with a bottle of vodka. Lily decides to send Serena into rehab.

Goodboy Dan believes Serena, who moreover tells him that the last thing she remembers is that she had made up her mind between Nate and him in his favor, and they skip out together. Meanwhile, Juliet makes Vanessa tell off Jenny, so she can take the blame. Plus, she sends a photo to Gossip Girl S snorting a big line of coke – or so it seems. Apparently everyone has forgotten that S supposedly kissed both Nate and Dan at Chuck’s party, even though she wasn’t able to get it. So, when she sees that photo of herself, Serena figures if she can’t remember doing coke, she may have done a whole lot more she can’t remember. So she volunteers to return to rehab. Jenny still is the only one to realize Juliet was behind Serena’s bender, and tells Blair before she returns upstate to stay gone. Also splitting town are Vanessa and Juliet. Now Blair only has Dan to turn to, to save Serena and bring down that stalking Flatchester. Mind you, I still don’t know what has motivated her and her brother to set up Serena. It’s getting so ridiculously over-the-top annoying, I am glad the season is almost over.

Gossip Girl 4x09

There’s another ball. Chuck is throwing a party hoping to get his Empire Hotel back on top. It’s a Black & White, Saints & Sinners masquerade. His business manager, though, advises him that it won’t be good for his image if he’s seen with Blair. Meanwhile Blair is desperate to become spokesperson for a philanthropic organization. And she is told that it won’t be good for her image if she’s seen with Chuck. Columbia Dean Rutherford yet again calls Serena into her office, with Lily in attendance. The whole Colin scandal is costing the university too much. Lily offers an endowment, which the Dean refuses. Then Lily threatens she will send in an article to the NY Times about Columbia professors taking advantage of female students. If that’s not enough drama for Serena, she is still unable to choose between Nate and Dan. Meanwhile, Jenny is back on the block again (remarkably staying off Blair’s radar), intriguing with Juliet and Vanessa. Jenny convinces Lily to talk to Juliet, and then Juliet blackmails Lily to keep her from spreading more ugly gossip about Serena. The trifling trio also intrigues between Serena, Nate and Dan. It all comes to a head, of course, at the ball. Alright, it’s true, the Cricket don’t care no more. Just three more episodes before the season’s over.

Gossip Girl 4x08

Just when Gossip Girl has been nominated for Favorite TV Drama in the 2011 People’s Choice Awards, your one and only Cricket was considering quitting it. “Really?” I hear you wonder, “Only now?” Yes, halfway through the fourth season I am starting to find the trivial trials and tribulations of Manhattan’s Upper East Side elite are getting just a tad tedious. But, what the hey, I’ll finish the season anyway. It’s only a couple more episodes. When it comes to Chuck and Blair, we would have thought peace in the Middle East would happen sooner than peace on the Upper East. But they’ve been making nice – very nice. Still, Blair is embarrassed and decides to have a Blassectomy, to chuck Chuck, rather than have excessive ex sex. Serena is still struggling to stay away from Professor Colin Forrester, the guy she met only a few weeks ago – always scooting different women into cabs – but she hates seeing her life pass her by while waiting for the semester to end.

Stalking Flatchester caught cousin Colin kissing Serena on video, but will she risk his reputation only to bring her down? Dan catches Serena coming out of a cab with Prof. Forrester, while Serena catches Chuck and Blair returning from a quickie in Morningside Park. Nate discovers that Juliet doesn’t live in the building where she claims to live. He confronts her while he recruits Vanessa to find her real address. We are made to believe that she is willing to give up all the lies for Nate, but now Vanessa has the memory stick with the naughty pictures of Colin’s teacher’s pet. As always there’s a party, at the opening of the New York Ballet winter season this time, and everyone is there. Let’s just say it wasn’t a ball. Nate and Serena, Chuck and Blair gang up on Juliet and with the ugly duckling exiled from main street, who else can she turn to than the other exile, Jenny? Yes, her, oh, and Vanessa, too, of course, the other outsider. Will they form a fearsome threesome, or will they turn into tiresome triplets?

Gossip Girl 4x07

By now the only redeeming quality of GG is the game Blair and Chuck keep playing to bury their love underneath geological layers of spiteful intrigue. Serena’s dalliance with her Business Psychology professor is tedious to the extreme. Enough already! Dan’s effort to bring back Jenny for a family celebration of the first anniversary of Rufus’ and Lily’s marriage would have been laughable if he wasn’t so annoying. And I am certainly fed up by that Flatchester girl and her imprisoned brother. At least it turns out Collin is not in on her schemes, he is her cousin helping her get through college. But Ben is still hell-bent on getting Serena expelled, because she is responsible for “everything” ... Oh, the mystery! What in the name of all that is unholy could Serena have done to this boy in his orange suit?

Nate and Serena force Chuck and Blair to sign a peace treaty to commit them to their ceasefire, under the threat of ex-communication. They are willing to play along, but are they going their separate ways as disgruntled enemies? It’s Blair’s twentieth birthday. Naturally the party is going to be all glamor and sophistication. Everyone who’s anyone is there. Dan is still pining that his family didn’t have a celebration of their own – with Jenny – and hopes to sabotage the festivities by showing an embarrassing video of Blair karaokeing. For shame! One of the guests falls flat on her ass and knocks over a bowl of chocolate sauce. Blair blames Chuck, who denies, Dan confesses, his father is horrified, Lily just finds it amusing. Party’s over. After they’ve sworn their mutual undying hatred, Chuck grabs Blair’s neck, they kiss, he lifts her atop the grand piano, and they start making passionate love. ’Bout time.

Gossip Girl 4x06

There have been quite a few new faces on Gossip Girl – to avoid running around in circles who’s dating who. Chuck’s Parisian girlfriend, Eva, was a nice addition for as long as it lasted, but ultimately she had to go, because we want our Chuck mean and nasty, not tame and boring. I’m bothered, though, by this guy relentlessly pursuing Serena, Colin Forrester (Sam Page, who I also can’t appreciate as Joan’s husband Greg on Mad Men). And what do you know, he turns out to be her new Columbia professor. She has to chose between love and career. Her mother Lily is none too pleased, but uses some nice reverse psychology by encouraging to go for it. A beautiful girl like her, she reasons, can essentially marry whomever she wants, so why worry about studying. It helps – for now, at least. When Nate stops by to visit his father in penitentiary (imprisoned for fraud and embezzlement), guess who’s waiting in line to get in too? Yup, Juliet Flatchester! While he comes clean about his father, she lies flat to his face that she’s volunteering for the inmate literacy program. That same day his father is used as a punching bag. Things are going too far for Juliet. She is truly starting to fall for Nate, while he just about had it with her behavior.

Meanwhile, Blair is having nightmares about Chuck and a girl she can’t quite figure out who she is. It’s like Wait Until Dark. (Blair likes to dream she’s Audrey Hepburn.) When she visits the Vander Woodsens suddenly it’s déjà-vu. She opens the door – and Jenny’s back on the block! Now, remember that Blair swore to ruin Jenny if she ever set foot in Manhattan again after she slept with Chuck the day he was supposed to propose to Blair. Who wouldn’t be vengeful? Obviously Chuck is behind Jenny’s interview at Parsons – and just as naturally Blair is behind sabotaging her dresses spelling out W.H.O.R.E. on the models. Chuck arranges a second chance at some New York Observer party, where Jenny apologizes for the embarrassing situation to Tim Gunn (Project Runway). Then she tells Chuck and Blair, “goodbye, good riddance and good luck.” Confronted with their inevitable demise, Chuck offers Blair a truce, which she reluctantly accept – emotional as it makes her hoping they may get back together again. Rihanna sings “Love the Way You Lie” on the soundtrack. And then at the closing scene Colin pays Juliet a check for all her trouble... Oh, the drama!

Gossip Girl 4x05

Best moment so far on Gossip Girl: Chuck declares war on Blair! Of course he decides to audit a few classes at Columbia, preferably the ones she’s attending – and gets himself the student assistantship she was dying to get for herself. Petty rivalry ends up in the professor quitting to avoid the psychotic idiocy Chuck and Blair got themselves into. Blair wonders why Chuck’s still around instead of celebrating his little victory. He tells her he’s just warming up and won’t stop until he’s taken away everything that means anything to her. Meanwhile, stalking Juliet tells her “brother” Ben in prison that she’s isolated Serena from Nate and Dan, but she’ll need more time to distract Blair. For whatever reason, because he was left with nothing, he wants to take everything away from Serena, too, and get her expelled from Columbia. So, Juliet passes on a blast on GG that SVW has STDs. The backlash is inane beyond believe. Ultimately Juliet resorts to stealing Serena’s iPhone to e-mail a professor offering sex in exchange for a good grade. Yet it’s Vanessa who gets blamed for the naughty e-mail, and Serena is off with only a warning from the dean. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what are we getting ourselves into, girls? Pretty low, even for this show.

Gossip Girl 4x04

“The guys are easy, but the girls are presenting a little bit more of a challenge,” pretty Juliet said last week to some guy in an orange prison suit. Apparently mysterious Eva has turned Chuck from a billionaire basshole into a genuine philanthropist. Blair quips that Eva clearly has an agenda (ooh, that rhymes) and guesses it’s his money (which, of course she didn’t know about when she rescued him off the streets of Prague). Clearly, Blair, you have a jealous heart. Meanwhile, Blair’s new Columbia roommate and renewed BFF Serena is checking out all the latest gossip about Nate – not to mention Humphrey and Dumpty. Mean scheming Blair is making nice with Eva, to get her life story and hopefully find a clue to something scandalous. Serena and Dan are searching every bit of input online. Then Eva mentions Perlovka, Prague’s red light district, where she found Chuck. Chuck being Chuck, he obviously already knew (or at least that’s what he tells Nate), which kinda takes the sting out of Blair’s childish vendetta. But when he is led to believe Eva knew all along who he really was, he’s ruined. Why is it that they always believe the lies they’re told? Chuck knows better than anyone that Blair would do anything to ruin his relationship with Eva. He rushes back to the guardian angel who saved his life when he realizes Blair’s lied, but it’s too late, Eva is set to leave – seeing how much Blair can still affect him. He confronts Blair, asks her if her despicable deceit means she still loves him. She denies and he declares war. For her part, Juliet claims that the man she’s visiting when she’s not with Nate is her troubled brother Ben. We’ll see about that, you flat-chested stalker!

Gossip Girl 4x03

OMƒGG! Gossip Girl, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite in “under construction”! Could it be that Gossip Girl is preparing something big for Serena’s and Blair’s first day at Columbia? Well, there is a lot of gossiping to be done, of course. Now that her Parisian dalliance with the Monégasque Prince has come to an end, Blair receives the key to Columbia’s most exclusive social club, Hamilton House – from none other than that remarkably flat-chested stalker, Juliet – and what’s more, Serena doesn’t! Rufus has done a little paternity testing of his own and discovered that Dan’s blood type doesn’t match Georgina’s baby – and baby mama is hanging out on the beach at St. Bart’s! Goody-two-shoes Vanessa says, “If Ted Danson and Tom Selleck can do it, so can we, right?” Then Georgina returns with some crazy ass story about someone trying to kill her! And, oh, yeah, Chuck is back in town with Eva! Eric is back to spoil everyone’s party! The cat fight is on, obviously, between Blair and Eva – and it’s going to be ugly! But the showdown at Fashion Night is truly awesome! You go, girls! Give that Juliet a taste of her own medicine! In the end Juliet is talking to some convict about the girls proving a teeny bit more troublesome than the boys! What a teaser! Talk about gossip, girl, am I sad I don’t live on the Upper East Side! Notice that every sentence has an exclamation mark! OMƒGG!

Gossip Girl 4x02

“The life of Serena van der Woodsen is like the most complicated Jane Austen novel,” sighs Juliet, Nate’s new blonde, 24-hour life coach and Gossip Girl stalker. (A nice little self-referential chuckle from the writing team can be heard across the Upper East Side.) Soon Juliet is setting up Vanessa with Dan, allegedly to help Nate win Serena back. Meanwhile, Serena and Blair are enjoying their last fairy-tale moments in Paris. Just when Blair is taking off to her date with Prince Louis Grimaldi of Monaco, Lily calls Serena to identify a body found in the Seine with Chuck’s wallet. Chuck is actually very much alive. He has moved to Paris with his savior Eva, where he is beginning a new life as Henry Prince. (Oh, how ironic! That Henry with the many wives and countless lovers, he?) On her way to her Monégasque Prince, Blair’s taxi cab almost knocks Chuck off his feet. Serena picks up on the lead and is able to trace him, but he shuts the door in her face. Confronted with Blair and Serena in Paris, Chuck boldly signs over his Empire Hotel to Lily and dashes of with Eva to London. Then Serena comes back to New York only to find Dan and Vanessa all chummy in the Humphrey’s Dumbo loft, Nate and Juliet holding hands, her mother and Rufus in the nursery, plus Milo, Georgina’s baby. In just one summer everything has changed. For her part, that devious Juliet is talking on the phone with someone about some plan, apparently involving Chuck. So far, the guest stars are a nice distraction from the usual soap drama, and of course Katie Cassidy (Juliet) and Clémence Poésy (Eva) are pretty eye candy. As glorious as the Parisian backdrop has been these first two episodes this season, though, New York is still the Big Apple of my eye!

Gossip Girl 4x01

Oh, my freaking Gossip Girl! We are back – and how much have I been pining to find out what has been going on with Serena and Nate, Blair and Chuck, Dan and Vanessa, Jenny and Eric, Lily and Rufus, and Georgina, too! Last we saw the Upper East Side elitists, Jenny was banned from Manhattan, Serena and Blair were off to Paris, and Chuck was shot down in some dingy Czech alleyway. So what’s new? Well, Serena has been enjoying her newly single summer of love in Paris with Vespa boys and bartenders, Blair and Balenciaga. But their rivalry flares back up when Blair is courted by a Grimaldi prince of Monaco and Serena’s accepted at Columbia. Nate has been spending his summer victoriously enjoying endless throngs of sexual conquest, but opens up about his broken heart to an intriguing new woman in his life, Juliet, but things aren’t what they seem – she’s been stalking Nate via Gossip Girl. And when Vanessa shows up at the Humphrey’s Dumbo loft all the baby mama drama bursts in the open. Georgina takes the baby to Lily and Rufus, with a fake paternity test in tow, and makes Dan sign the birth certificate. As for Chuck, he has been M.I.A, since May, hasn’t kept in touch with Lily or his Empire business. Lily gets a call from France that his body has been found shot dead in Paris. Oh, the drama!

Gossip Girl – recap

This is a tough one: Why do I enjoy Gossip Girl? There are a few simple explanations: number one being Blake Lively (she’s worth watching without sound); it’s a guilty pleasure, for sure; I love New York City which is almost like a supporting cast on its own; but I don’t think any of that explains why I’m actually enjoying Gossip Girl, why I feel giddy watching it, why I am eagerly looking forward for another episode. Mind you, we’re talking over 60 episodes since the show started two and a half years ago! What could pass for story lines are mostly the trivial trials and tribulations of New York’s Upper East Side elite, of privileged teenagers and (by now) early twenty-somethings. I’m not usually fascinated by the lives of the rich and famous, I’m not wont to tear up the tabloids for juicy celebrity scandals and paparazzi photos of superstars caught in compromising situations, and I don’t normally enjoy these teenage soap opera melodramas. So, why am I so interested in Serena and Blair? Nate and Chuck? Dan and Jenny? Vanessa and Georgina? Beats me. Admittedly, I found the second half of the past season becoming a tad tedious. So, it doesn’t exactly surprise me that the ratings dropped recently or that they cut two episodes. But I will be there when Gossip Girl returns for the fourth season in September, glued to the screen. Stay tuned for the Cricket’s Chirps!

Gossip Girl 3x22

Awww! It’s the Season Finale of Gossip Girl! And who’s that arriving at Grand Central? It’s Georgina! Back from “Ditch the Bitch” in Belarus, she knocks on Chuck’s hotel for help, but he sends her out cold. Jenny keeps scheming to be with Nate, and gets an opportunity thrown in her lap when she walks in on Dan and Serena sleeping in his bed at the Dumbo loft. But, you know what? I don’t give a hoot about S anymore. Whatever. All her daddy issues and her pouting lips are getting on my nerves. Although Nate’s a little too sensitive about that silly kiss S and Dan shared, he’s had enough, too, and he’s probably waiting for a chance to be with Jenny anyway.

My big question is if Blair will be at the top of the Empire State Building before 7:01PM. Will Chuck close his heart to her forever? She spends all her time resisting to go. Her maidservant Dorota’s water broke, so she has to rush to the hospital. When she does decide to meet Chuck, it’s too late. Lonely and forlorn, the brokenhearted Basstard is kind to Jenny for once... And, smack, the two are kissing! We are meant to believe they slept together, and while Jenny’s still in Chuck’s bedroom, suddenly Blair walks into the hotel!

Chuck takes her on a night out, and just as he is about to propose, Dan punches him in the face for sleeping with little J! Ahahaha! Stellar! Blair is furious and promises to ruin Jenny’s life if she ever again sets foot on Manhattan. In the end, Georgina’s shocking news turns out to be that she’s pregnant: and claims it’s Dan’s ... which, though possible (they dated, only god knows why, earlier in the season) still seems unlikely. The real cliffhanger, however, happens when a drunk Chuck gets shot in Prague by some petty thieves, and is left bleeding on the street! Now I have to wait until season four to find out if he’s going to live! I’m going to miss you Gossip Girl! You know I love you! xo xo