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S4E15 "It-Girl Happened One Night"
Episode 15 • 15th December 2025 • Non Judging Breakfast Pod • Mithril Chain Network
00:00:00 01:02:32

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☕️ The coffee is strong, the waffles are fresh, and the Gossip Girl discourse is heated.

This week, Leif and Steve recap Season 4, Episode 15 of Gossip Girl, originally aired on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2011. Loosely inspired by the classic film It Happened One Night, the episode sends Serena and Ben on the road, Blair into full social-climbing overdrive, and the rest of the Upper East Side into various states of romantic confusion.


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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.

Transcripts

Steve:

No, no. I have to sabotage this before she blows

Steve:

up her whole career. I hate these people.

Leif:

Hey, Upper east siders, and all you scandal loving

Leif:

listeners out there, you just tuned into the non

Leif:

judging breakfast pod where the coffee is strong,

Leif:

the waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter

Leif:

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

Leif:

Gossip Girl veteran.

Steve:

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

Steve:

rookie, the. What do we call me now? Leaf.

Leif:

I'm still trying to figure that out. But do you

Leif:

know how many gloves I've lost on the subway?

Steve:

You know, you do seem cursed.

Leif:

I do, don't I?

Steve:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

in for the first time. And together, we're your

Steve:

dynamic duo for 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 fan of moments too,

Leif:

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

Steve:

And since we are all about inclusivity here at the

Steve:

non judging breakfast pod, there is always a seat

Steve:

for you at the non judging breakfast table. So go

Steve:

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

Steve:

something up from Nate's stash and let's go ahead

Steve:

and get into this.

Leif:

Let's get into this. We are here to talk about

Leif:

season four, episode 15, It Girl Happened One

Leif:

Night. Original air date was on Valentine's Day.

Leif:

February 14, 2011?

Steve:

Sure was. Sure was a Valentine's Day episode. This

Steve:

sure was an episode of Gossip Girl, wasn't it?

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

Very, average.

Steve:

That's generous.

Leif:

I thought it was much better than last week.

Steve:

I did not. I actually liked it less than last.

Leif:

Week, but it was based on the movie It Happened

Leif:

One Night in which a rogue reporter trailing a

Leif:

runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus

Leif:

heading from Florida to New York. And they end up

Leif:

stuck with each other when the bus leaves them

Leif:

behind at, one of the stops along the way.

Leif:

Directed by Frank Capra and starring Clark Gable

Leif:

and Claudette Colbert.

Steve:

It's funny because, like, I feel like there's been

Steve:

a remake of that. I feel like that almost feels

Steve:

like a more current. Not current, but it feels

Steve:

like something from more like 80s 90s sort of

Steve:

stuff.

Leif:

This movie came out 1934.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, I figured it was definitely not with

Steve:

Clark Gable in it.

Leif:

This episode was written by Alex McNally. she did

Leif:

two episodes in season two. New, Haven can Wait

Leif:

and Carnal Knowledge.

Steve:

Remind me of Carnal Knowledge.

Leif:

It was not a great episode, but I don't think it

Leif:

was necessarily her fault or maybe his fault.

Leif:

their fault.

Leif:

It was the episode before the play where Dan and

Leif:

Ms. Carr hook up. Because it's cardinal odds. Two

Leif:

R's.

Steve:

Right, right, right.

Leif:

So I don't necessarily blame, like, I hate that

Leif:

storyline. I mean.

Steve:

Who needs to fuck a.

Steve:

Teacher on this writing staff?

Leif:

Like, this is every teenager's dream, pretty much.

Leif:

But it shouldn't be the teacher's dream.

Steve:

yes, the teachers should be like, no, I'm a

Steve:

teacher, and I shouldn't take you across state

Steve:

lines to a library. But we'll get into that more.

Leif:

But, yeah, it's scandalous. That's why they have

Leif:

them so often on these types of shows.

Steve:

Yeah, I know. And, you know, Pretty, Little Liars

Steve:

has it. You'll be very proud of me. I started

Steve:

Gilmore Girls over the weekend.

Leif:

You never seen it?

Steve:

No, I've never seen Gilmore Girls. And Emily kept

Steve:

bringing it up and bringing it up, and then

Steve:

finally on Friday, we were like, what should we

Steve:

watch? And Emily's like, gilmore Girls. Put it on

Steve:

right now.

Leif:

Definitely a fall show.

Steve:

Yeah. Oh, I can totally feel that. It's wonderful.

Steve:

So far, we're about five, six episodes in and no

Steve:

notes. It's very different from a lot of the other

Steve:

sort of teen drama.

Leif:

Well, I don't really consider it a teen drama.

Steve:

That's the thing. It's not. It's this family show.

Steve:

Yeah. It's like this slice of life show. And I

Steve:

love the way that they make m this town a

Steve:

character in the show. I know to. You know, I'll

Steve:

get sick if I go to Al's, but I can go to the

Steve:

hardware store to get good food and good coffee.

Steve:

Like, I, Like, I love all of these quirky people

Steve:

that live in the town. The dance instructor who's

Steve:

flirting with everybody. The feral couple that

Steve:

lives next door that I'm always saying, like,

Steve:

that's us. Babette and Maury. I'm always like,

Steve:

that's us. I'm the one playing piano. We're the

Steve:

ones that are just disgusting all the time. So,

Steve:

anyway, we're here to talk about Gossip Girl, but

Steve:

I've been really loving Gilmore Girl.

Leif:

It Goes seven seasons, so it's not always quite as

Leif:

good, but.

Steve:

No, I mean, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

This episode was directed by Bart Wendrich. He's

Leif:

more of a producer. which. He produced 78 episodes

Leif:

of gossip Girl. This is his first shot at

Leif:

directing an actual episode. But he also did the

Leif:

Chasing Dorota shorts.

Steve:

Prior producer for 78 episodes. We're on episode

Steve:

82. So that means there's only. What?

Leif:

81.

Steve:

81. So that means there's only three episodes he

Steve:

wasn't a producer for.

Leif:

Well, well, that includes the whole series.

Steve:

Oh, that's the whole series. Okay. Okay, then that

Steve:

drags. Yeah. I mean, it does feel like this was

Steve:

one of those. Oh, we needed a director. It didn't

Steve:

really feel directed in many places. Like, it

Steve:

really felt like, here's your blocking. Now go do

Steve:

Chuck stuff. Go do.

Leif:

I blame that more on the writing because the

Leif:

writing was just so recycled. Yeah, I mean,

Leif:

everything is recycled. Plot lines now.

Steve:

Everything. And not only, like, not only recycled.

Leif:

But, like, recycled within this season.

Steve:

Right. Recycled within this season. And not even

Steve:

as good. Not even with a no, twist. It's just this

Steve:

was such a nothing episode with, like, where they

Steve:

wanted to have consequential things, but it's just

Steve:

rehashing all of the same stuff.

Leif:

Why don't you give us that vulture recap?

Steve:

All right. Raina Thorpe is all about family

Steve:

values, and at the end of last night's episode,

Steve:

she thought that Chuck Bass had exactly none. But

Steve:

that's just because she's from Chicago and doesn't

Steve:

quite understand that on the Upper east side,

Steve:

people show love to those close to them in a

Steve:

different way. For instance, yes, Chuck will have

Steve:

Lily, who adopted him after his father died,

Steve:

kicked off the board of his company while spitting

Steve:

insults about her slutty past in front of his new

Steve:

girlfriend. But he does so knowing they'll get

Steve:

past it. Even Lily is kind of blase about the

Steve:

whole thing. And she should be. After all, this is

Steve:

a woman who in recent years concealed from her

Steve:

husband the fact that she gave birth to his child,

Steve:

hid that she was flying to Florida to be treated

Steve:

for cancer by her ex husband, and falsely put a

Steve:

man in prison. And yet he still gets indignant

Steve:

when the board accuses her of ethics violations.

Steve:

Stand up for yourself. Rufus slurs at his wife,

Steve:

possibly through a haze of valium soaked waffles.

Steve:

Don't let them get away with that. And yes, Chuck

Steve:

might have sold Blair to his uncle for a one night

Steve:

stand that one time. And ok, possibly he would do

Steve:

the same to Reyna if she did something he didn't

Steve:

like. But in the time, she'd love him again. Look

Steve:

at Blaire, who, by the way, has no problem selling

Steve:

out her best friend for an online web video in

Steve:

order to make a point. A few chocolates, some

Steve:

hugs, and they'll be right as rain. Reyna's

Steve:

startling incomprehension of all this is just

Steve:

further evidence these out of towners won't be

Steve:

able to hack the big city. If you ask us. We'll

Steve:

see what happens to them next week.

Leif:

Pretty accurate.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And we get into Act 1 with a gossip Girl

Leif:

monologue. It's cold out there, but on the Upper

Leif:

east side, things are heating up because

Leif:

Valentine's Day is around the corner. We open with

Leif:

a classic Serena Blair catch up scene. Blair has

Leif:

been incredibly busy with work and school, and

Leif:

Serena thinks she is distracting herself from a

Leif:

Chuck less Valentine's Day. Sarita and Ben are

Leif:

also skipping V Day because they only just started

Leif:

dating.

Steve:

We've been over the Chuck and Blair thing for

Steve:

weeks now. And for I get like a mention of it on

Steve:

Valentine's Day, but right away I was like, okay,

Steve:

Blair, get over it. He's with someone else. And is

Steve:

this where she drops the whole he's in a fake

Steve:

relationship thing? So right then I'm also like,

Steve:

blair, you fix that relationship. And yeah, I get

Steve:

the whole like, oh, everything's always a game.

Steve:

But then just forcing the. The. The chair of it

Steve:

all back to the forefront to have Blair thinking

Steve:

this whole thing's a big scam. Just stop already,

Steve:

Blair. You're better than this.

Leif:

it's very much a reaction to the Ava storyline

Leif:

earlier in the season.

Steve:

Yeah, very much.

Leif:

Russell and Reyna are riding the elevator up to

Leif:

the penthouse for brunch with the Basses. Reyna

Leif:

wants her father to keep an open mind, but he

Leif:

doesn't see them as a real family.

Steve:

Yeah, it's more of that. I keep thinking of the

Steve:

Vulture report now of like, these out of towners

Steve:

just walking in here and expecting everything to.

Steve:

I don't know.

Leif:

Chuck and Lily are also doing some pregame prep,

Leif:

and Lily doesn't trust Russell any more than he

Leif:

trusts her.

Steve:

Right, and why would she? I mean, we know they

Steve:

have a history and they're all shady business

Steve:

people at the loft.

Leif:

Dan and Ben are getting along despite the

Leif:

awkwardness of Ben dating Dan's ex. Dan offers to

Leif:

help Ben get a job as a waiter, and Ben gives Dan

Leif:

some career advice.

Steve:

I like that Dan isn't friendly. He does something

Steve:

kind. Right. He's being kind. But there's a wall

Steve:

there. He's not comfortable with any of it. Still.

Steve:

Much like we find out that Blair is not

Steve:

comfortable with this. Many people aren't for

Steve:

probably because it's gross. I do like that Dan is

Steve:

like hey, I'll help you get a job. But not really

Steve:

trying to be friends with this guy. I also right

Steve:

away when again this just forcing this whole

Steve:

storyline in here of Dan going and stalking Blair

Steve:

for a night to get this story to an editor is

Steve:

already annoying. Right here. Oh yeah. Epperly is

Steve:

gone so I better go. So I'm going to try to send

Steve:

an email to the new Epperly. We'll just go down

Steve:

there and find the new Epperly. And it's.

Leif:

That's like the one part of the apps I like.

Steve:

I. Yeah I was, I think I was just annoyed that.

Leif:

I think you're annoyed that they're trying to show

Leif:

that Ben actually is a good teacher despite him

Leif:

being a gross.

Steve:

Yeah, I do.

Steve:

maybe you, you might be right about it.

Leif:

I think that's what they are showing that he is

Leif:

genuinely a good teacher.

Steve:

What they're showing is that he has. Because

Steve:

there's two sides of this. Right. He has the

Steve:

temperament to deal with kids and their bullshit.

Leif:

He should have been teaching it at all boys

Leif:

school.

Steve:

Right? Yeah. Yes.

Leif:

Yes.

Steve:

And he does the way he talks with Eric that first

Steve:

time. You're supposed to get that sense. And he

Steve:

does a lot of these coachy sort of teacherly

Steve:

things. And yes, I believe that they want us to

Steve:

believe Ben was a good teacher and he probably was

Steve:

good at teaching. And I get that angle and a huge

Steve:

part of it. I've written papers on how the rapport

Steve:

a teacher has with their student is one of the

Steve:

most important things in teaching. I've always had

Steve:

excellent relationships with my students but it's

Steve:

also a very fine line and a very big wall you have

Steve:

to put up.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

And I believe almost all of the people I have ever

Steve:

taught are now in their 30s and I look at them and

Steve:

I see babies. So I just can't get past that.

Leif:

At W we learned that Stefano wants to do a feature

Leif:

on how an IT girl celebrates V day. When the

Leif:

assistant suggests Serena, Blair points out that

Leif:

Reyna might be the bigger get. We also learned

Leif:

that Blair's new job is still on a trial basis.

Steve:

Yeah. Which it should be.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

I mean you're brand new at this. It also tells and

Steve:

you're in college. Yeah.

Leif:

You're also a full time student.

Steve:

And you're a full time student. I, I feel, I

Steve:

remember you saying that they're going to start

Steve:

weaning college out altogether and I'm really

Steve:

feeling that.

Leif:

But they don't get rid of it. They just don't talk

Leif:

about it anymore.

Steve:

Right. That's what I mean. You're starting to see

Steve:

them barely talk about it and not show it anymore.

Steve:

They don't show anyone in college. In fact, the

Steve:

only which it's finally a decent plot line for

Steve:

Vanessa. She's at nyu.

Leif:

Blair calls Serena and asked Slash assigns her to

Leif:

task of recruiting Reina for the profile.

Steve:

This would make sense. Can you stop by your mom's

Steve:

place, ask Raina to do this profile, one.

Leif:

It girl to another.

Leif:

After brunch, Lily and Russell are trading a few

Leif:

awkward pleasantries when Chuck enters and begins

Leif:

his pitch, which is pretty much the same pitch he

Leif:

always makes. Russell agrees to put his plans on

Leif:

hold for 36 hours to see how Chuck's party goes.

Leif:

As Russell leaves, Serena arrives and asks Reina

Leif:

to call Blair to talk about the profile. Chuck and

Leif:

Serena are left alone and Serena realizes that

Leif:

Chuck's feelings for Reina might be real after

Leif:

all.

Steve:

Chuck Bass needs to get, needs to impress someone.

Leif:

Aren't they a real estate company?

Steve:

right. But anytime he needs to impress someone,

Steve:

I'm going to throw a big party at a place where

Steve:

people are going to have sex with each other.

Leif:

It's this fantasy sex party.

Steve:

Yeah. And yeah, that is what is always going to

Steve:

save every business opportunity I have. And what's

Steve:

really funny is that we know that Russell is

Steve:

sitting there like k all right, I'll go to your

Steve:

party and then I'll eat your company alive. Like

Steve:

we know. I know we don't know. Watching now the

Steve:

how it ends up with Russell. But I like just

Steve:

knowing that Russell is sitting here like sure,

Steve:

I'll give you 36 hours to throw a big party that I

Steve:

don't give a shit about, but I'll go to it.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl has this to say. oh, Bea's in for

Leif:

a shock. What she finds out when she thought was a

Leif:

fake as a CZ is actually as real as Harry Winston.

Steve:

I want to comment on this one because I really

Steve:

like that they're talking about Chuck doing

Steve:

something special on Valentine's Day and then make

Steve:

diamond references, which I thought was really

Steve:

cool. Which I at no point was like he's not

Steve:

proposing to Reyna on day One or day three of

Steve:

wherever they are right now, starting over,

Steve:

whatever. So I didn't think that, but I liked that

Steve:

engagement reference. That something big.

Leif:

We move into Act 2. Serena and Ben are on the

Leif:

phone and pretending to be happy about skipping V

Leif:

Day. Ben says he finally found a job, but then

Leif:

lies to Serena about what the job is. Serena is

Leif:

once again out of touch with reality.

Steve:

yep. Lying about the job that we have. Because

Steve:

also because Serena just let somebody fucking

Steve:

talk.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

Instead of putting all these expectations on them

Steve:

for what they're going to have to do. But also,

Steve:

Ben, No, I couldn't get anything like that yet.

Steve:

But I'm going to start catering. Yeah. Be a big

Steve:

boy. And also, at any point, Lily could have got

Steve:

him a bullshit job anywhere in Bass Industries to

Steve:

also make up for the horrible things she's done to

Steve:

him.

Leif:

But it's implied that he wouldn't accept that

Leif:

because he also didn't accept the $30,000.

Steve:

Yes, but I think a, job. Especially if it was

Steve:

framed from M. Serena and Rufus, if it was a job

Steve:

that was like, here's something doing English, far

Steve:

from kids. A copy editor, a proofreader for a

Steve:

technical writer, you know.

Leif:

But once again, Serena's nativity. Just whether

Leif:

you agree if he was guilty or not, he is a, ah,

Leif:

convicted felon for statutory rape.

Steve:

Yes.

Leif:

And he's not going to be allowed to work with

Leif:

kids.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. He's not going to be a teacher. She

Steve:

mentioned a research fellow. Like, yeah, okay,

Steve:

maybe you can get a job as a research assistant,

Steve:

but at a grad school. Like, they're not even. Then

Steve:

they're not going to fucking hire you. like nobody

Steve:

is hiring you to do that.

Leif:

Nate and Howie show up at the Empire Suite to tell

Leif:

Chuck that Howie got some intel on Thorpe. He's

Leif:

still planning on dismantling Bass Industries for

Leif:

parts, despite Thorpe's accountants reporting that

Leif:

Bass Industries is more profitable if kept whole.

Steve:

Oh, Howie, I'm not working on that stuff anymore.

Steve:

But I got an email I shouldn't get, and I'm going

Steve:

to give you all the information from it. Howie,

Steve:

you've been set up, you simple, simple man. God

Steve:

damn it. Now he just.

Leif:

Serena is helping Reyna dress shop for her date

Leif:

with Chuck. Reyna reveals her feelings for Chuck

Leif:

have become real as well. Serena then encourages

Leif:

Raina to cancel the profile because Blair will be

Leif:

hurt if she has to follow Reina and Chuck around

Leif:

on Valentine's Day.

Steve:

Serena, you dumb, interfering asshole. First of

Steve:

all, call Blair immediately.

Leif:

Well, she already tried that. I think this was a

Leif:

great move by Serena. This is totally a best

Leif:

friend move to do.

Steve:

I honestly think let her follow Rainer around and

Steve:

see for herself. If she's not going to listen to

Steve:

you. If you say to her, hey, Chuck really seems to

Steve:

have feelings for her, and she really seems to

Steve:

have feelings for Chuck. And Blair is like, no,

Steve:

it's all an act. And you're like, okay, follow

Steve:

them around. I don't think that going behind her

Steve:

back and canceling her thing. I think that Blair

Steve:

should have. I don't know. I didn't. I didn't

Steve:

think that she should have canceled it.

Leif:

I agree with raped. her best friend would do the

Leif:

same for her.

Steve:

Yeah, I guess. I also just feel like Serena always

Steve:

wants to be the one that solves everybody's

Steve:

problems without ever talking to the people whose

Steve:

problems they are.

Leif:

They all do the same thing.

Steve:

Yes. But I get annoyed more with Serena because I

Steve:

liked her so much in season one, and now I can't

Steve:

stand her.

Leif:

Dan shows up at W and learns Blair is in fact the

Leif:

new Epperly. Despite his pleas for her help in

Leif:

getting his article published, they appear to fall

Leif:

on deaf ears. Then Blair starts smiling when radio

Leif:

calls to cancel the profile.

Steve:

And, you know, it was nice to see Dan and Blair

Steve:

together. I always enjoy that. I just didn't think

Steve:

that this storyline. I don't know, I felt like

Steve:

everything in this could have been better. Like,

Steve:

I've been waiting for this sort of story, for this

Steve:

story to happen, and I just felt like it was not

Steve:

well put together, just not well executed.

Leif:

Fair enough. Chuck calls Rena to see if she knows

Leif:

why Russell hated Bart so much. She doesn't know

Leif:

the details, but does reveal that Lily left

Leif:

Russell to start dating Bart.

Steve:

Yeah, it's so funny that Raina knows that in and

Steve:

Chuck doesn't. So now we're to believe that Thorpe

Steve:

wants to dismantle Chuck or dismantle Bass

Steve:

Industries?

Leif:

Are, ah, we.

Steve:

Are we supposed to believe that he wants to.

Leif:

I don't. I don't. I think he was just leading. He

Leif:

never confirmed that at all. He was totally

Leif:

leading Chuck on that whole conversation.

Steve:

At the end, though, at the end, he says, nothing's

Steve:

in my way from dismantling.

Leif:

Yeah, yeah, he wanted Lily out of the way, but I

Leif:

don't think her leaving him was the reason.

Steve:

Right. Well, and that's what I'm saying is that it

Steve:

felt that. Okay, so I felt like that's what they

Steve:

were pointing at. That. No, he doesn't want to

Steve:

dismantle Chuck or he doesn't want to dismantle

Steve:

Bass Industries for profit because he thinks it's

Steve:

the right thing to do for profit. He wants to do

Steve:

it because he's bitter about Lily leaving.

Leif:

Well, I think there is another reason, but I don't

Leif:

think it has anything to do with Lily.

Steve:

Right. I felt like they were trying to make me

Steve:

believe that they were trying.

Leif:

To make Chuck believe that.

Steve:

Okay, if you go back and watch.

Leif:

The conversation where Chuck goes to Russell's

Leif:

office, he never confirms. He just lets Chuck spin

Leif:

his wheel.

Steve:

Oh, no, no, no. I agree with you with that. I 100%

Steve:

agree with you on that. What I'm saying is when.

Steve:

When she tells Chuck that, about Lily leaving

Steve:

Russell for Bart, where. Where that was. Where.

Steve:

There's this implication there. because they say

Steve:

it's not business. It's something personal. It's

Steve:

got to be something personal. And then they give

Steve:

us this something personal for it to be. Is why I

Steve:

felt like they were trying to lead the audience to

Steve:

believe that he is ready to buy out and dismantle

Steve:

this company because of Lilly. Which I was really.

Steve:

Which I found dumb.

Leif:

Well, that's because I don't think that's the

Leif:

reason. And you can't really fully trust Gossip

Leif:

Girl timelines. But we know Reina grew up in

Leif:

Chicago, but they. But Thorpe used to be in New

Leif:

York, but she dated Thorpe right before Bart. So

Leif:

that means Barton Thorpe already had issues prior

Leif:

to the Lily coming into the picture. Right,

Leif:

because in his first episode, he said he pushed

Leif:

him out of town and cut him out of all the

Leif:

business deals.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leif:

So I don't think they're trying to tell the

Leif:

audience that it's because of Lily. I think

Leif:

they're just. That was just a, little ruse for

Leif:

Chuck, Okay. To get him to get rid of Lily, who

Leif:

could help Chuck.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl takes us to the break with. Looks

Leif:

like this was one love letter Lily didn't want

Leif:

anyone else to read. And we move into Act 3. Eric

Leif:

Buys Dan lunch as an apology for lying about

Leif:

Damien and Ben last week. Dan suggests Eric make a

Leif:

romantic gesture to win Jonathan back. And Dan is

Leif:

going to make a gesture of his own to try to win

Leif:

Blair's help.

Steve:

Dan specifically saying he's looking for Blair to

Steve:

get. Get her and Eric having that moment of, like,

Steve:

why are you looking to spend your Valentine's Day

Steve:

with Blair? I thought was really appropriate. And

Steve:

also, Eric, Jonathan still. Come on, sweetie.

Steve:

Branch out. Find somebody new.

Leif:

Well, I mean, Jonathan was there last Week. And

Leif:

Errik blew him off for Damian.

Steve:

A couple weeks ago. Yeah, at ah, the thing.

Leif:

Blair finds Serena at the Waldorf apartment. She

Leif:

tries to recruit Serena for some research on how

Leif:

to convince Rena to come back on board. Serena

Leif:

once again suggests a friend's Valentine's Day.

Leif:

Serena walks away from with a package that she

Leif:

says is from Lily, but leaves a note that it was

Leif:

from Reyna and for why.

Steve:

Yeah, so also Serena, you got Rainey to, back out.

Steve:

You didn't tell Blair still that you did that. So

Steve:

I get Blair being mad at that for sure.

Leif:

Also, what does Boardwalk Empire, a show about

Leif:

gangsters from Atlantic City, have to do with

Leif:

business people from Chicago.

Steve:

Yeah, didn't get that at all. No, no.

Leif:

Chuck goes to Russell's office to confront him

Leif:

about his prior affair with Lily. Chuck tells him

Leif:

his loyalty is to the company and not to Lily. And

Leif:

he is perfectly willing to throw her under the bus

Leif:

to protect the company's legacy.

Steve:

Just like that. With everything Lily has done to

Steve:

fight for Chuck. But he just finds out one thing

Steve:

and it's like, nope, get her out and I'll show

Steve:

you. Like, I'm super loyal to you, Russell. I'll

Steve:

get rid of Lily. At first, what I really hoped is

Steve:

that he had something planned with Lily. You know,

Steve:

I thought there was some kind of like. And then

Steve:

Lily can buy out the company or some other thing.

Steve:

No, just fucking over Lily just to fuck her over

Steve:

on a whim. And like you said, with hanging himself

Steve:

on all of like Russell not having to say much of

Steve:

anything.

Leif:

Blair finds Serena prepping for her massage and

Leif:

suggests that she go to Chuck's party to support

Leif:

her family. Serena agrees, but thanks to the

Leif:

information Blair got from Dan earlier, she

Leif:

quickly realizes that Ben lied to Serena about

Leif:

what his job was.

Steve:

Now Ben's caught in a lie and I'm not mad at all

Steve:

for Blair for outing him. This guy is already

Steve:

doing something super inappropriate. But when

Steve:

you're lying to your best friend, she has every

Steve:

right to let her know that she's being lied to.

Steve:

She of course went about it the most Blair way

Steve:

possible. But also, what do you expect if you. You

Steve:

have been friend, you're still friends with her.

Steve:

Yeah, you're still friends with her. So you can't

Steve:

not see this coming in some fashion.

Leif:

Rufus's romantic evening with Lily gets put on

Leif:

hold when she reveals she has to go to the

Leif:

emergency board meeting and that Chuck is playing

Leif:

dirty. Yeah, Rufus is so useless at this point.

Steve:

yeah, the kid that needs Parenting you chased away

Steve:

by being a horrible parent. And Lily, the way he's

Steve:

like you, an ethics violation. Wha. Come on,

Steve:

Rufus. Go on tour.

Leif:

Blair calls the catering company and makes sure

Leif:

Ben will be working at Chuck's party rather than

Leif:

Martha Stewart's.

Steve:

Not mad at her for this. In the morality of Gossip

Steve:

Girl, this is Blair 101. And I'm not mad at it. I

Steve:

think it's shitty to do, but I think that people

Steve:

accept Blair as being a shitty person.

Leif:

And we move into Act 4. At the party, Russell

Leif:

tells Chuck that, he is impressed. Chuck, thanks

Leif:

Rena for inspiring him.

Steve:

Yeah, you've thrown another giant sex party,

Steve:

Chuck. Good job.

Leif:

Blair spots Ben serving drinks and tells her

Leif:

photographer to get some discreet photos of the

Leif:

food and drink. And Dan shows up and asks Blair if

Leif:

she read his article. Blair continues to be

Leif:

dismissive.

Steve:

My second watch made this so much better. Again,

Steve:

like, I didn't love this whole plot line. I didn't

Steve:

love the way this story was told of him needing to

Steve:

hunt her down at this party, that he's going to

Steve:

the party just to harass her about this thing. It

Steve:

just felt like we need Dan at this party too. And

Steve:

at the party, Dan doesn't really do much of

Steve:

anything other than, like, these Blair scenes.

Steve:

What I do really like about it is that the dynamic

Steve:

of Dan and Blair versus Chuck and Blair, where Dan

Steve:

needs something from Blair, he could get it from

Steve:

other people. He doesn't need it from Blair, but

Steve:

because he knows Blair, it's an easy avenue. But

Steve:

in the short run, he needs something from Blair.

Steve:

Where there was always that power dynamic with

Steve:

Chuck, where he never needed anything. Where he

Steve:

never needed anything from Blair. And Blair would

Steve:

occasionally need something from Chuck. And now we

Steve:

have that switched in that I like that reversal.

Steve:

And I did like, as always, their chemistry in this

Steve:

scene. And like I said, watching back a second

Steve:

time, knowing that she read it and liked it. Yeah,

Steve:

yeah, I liked it.

Leif:

Blair walks off to continue her revenge scheme

Leif:

against Serena. She points Serena out to her film

Leif:

crew. Serena reluctantly agrees to a brief

Leif:

interview.

Steve:

Yes. And, this is where she asks. No. Okay, so.

Steve:

Oh, right. They. She agrees to the interview, and

Steve:

then they go and set up for it. Okay. All right.

Leif:

Lily arrives at the party and is immediately

Leif:

approached by Russell. Lily quickly excuses

Leif:

herself to go find Chuck.

Steve:

And Russell seemed pretty pleased with himself.

Leif:

Howie blocks Nate to let him know he's resigning

Leif:

from Thorpe. Enters prizes tonight.

Steve:

Oh, Howie couldn't have waited five minutes.

Leif:

To tell him that.

Steve:

Yeah, I know you are the worst wingman.

Leif:

Chuck shows Reyna a private room with a large bed

Leif:

and dinner from her favorite restaurant in Venice.

Leif:

Before Chuck closes the door, Dan observes them

Leif:

kissing passionately. After the door is closed,

Leif:

Lily walks up to Dan and asks if he has seen Chuck

Leif:

again.

Steve:

Dan just being at this party, they just needed

Steve:

stuff for him to do. And oh yeah, I watched Chuck

Steve:

walk into a room, a private room with a woman

Steve:

right there. And he doesn't even point. He just

Steve:

kind of looks at the room when she asks.

Leif:

Well, see, it kind of just cuts.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah. He glances at the room and it cuts.

Leif:

Sarita, already annoyed at how long the interview

Leif:

is taking, gets ambushed by Blair's question about

Leif:

who her valentine is. She then reveals that Ben

Leif:

just happens to be standing right behind her and

Leif:

serving drinks. Ben comes over to talk to Sarita,

Leif:

but Blair reveals to the cabarets that Ben is out

Leif:

on parole. And then Ben walks away.

Steve:

Went from serving time to serving drinks. The

Steve:

ambush is so Blair like that. It makes me not mad

Steve:

at her. Like it's a shitty thing to do to your

Steve:

friend, but you know your friend's gonna get over

Steve:

it. And you know what? You were lied to. What

Steve:

really, what really made me mad about this is how

Steve:

Serena was like, oh, he's never going to talk to

Steve:

me again. What did you do? You just went to a

Steve:

party and you go to parties all the time and yeah,

Steve:

you told him you were going to stay home, but then

Steve:

you just went to this party with your friends. you

Steve:

didn't lie about it. You changed your mind. He

Steve:

lied to you.

Leif:

Well, it is kind of a sex party.

Steve:

It is kind of a sex party. But he lied to you.

Leif:

Yeah. Lily barges in on Chuck and Reyna to ask him

Leif:

why he had her fired. Chuck says he was worried

Leif:

about her personal relationship with Russell

Leif:

affecting her judgment. Lily states that all she

Leif:

has ever done was try to protect the company for

Leif:

Chuck. However, Chuck goes into attack mode and

Leif:

begins tearing Lily and their relationship down.

Leif:

This disgusts Raina, who is all about family. And

Leif:

she dumps Chuck again.

Steve:

Again. Another recycled storyline of the Chuck

Steve:

Lilly battle here, which just happened a couple

Steve:

weeks ago, like you said. And first of all, no

Steve:

lies in what Chuck says. Right? Lilly is more of a

Steve:

socialite than a business person. Lily has traded

Steve:

tour buses for corporate jets. There's really not

Steve:

a lot that he's lying about here. At the same

Steve:

time, you're just being really fucking shitty to

Steve:

the only person in this world that actually loves

Steve:

you. And yes, it's weird. Lily Love that nobody

Steve:

really knows what to do with. But she probably

Steve:

loves you more than half of her own kids.

Steve:

Definitely loves you more than a third of her own

Steve:

kids. And I don't know which third.

Leif:

This is what Gossip Girl has to say as we go to

Leif:

break.

Steve:

One.

Leif:

Lonely bass adrift at sea. Looks like Venice isn't

Leif:

the only thing that's sinking. We move into Act 5.

Leif:

Serena asks Blaire why she ambushed her at the

Leif:

party. Blair's response is, because Serena

Leif:

sabotaged her profile with Rena out of jealousy.

Leif:

Serena reveals that it was actually to protect

Leif:

Blair from seeing Chuck and Rena together. Blair,

Leif:

still in denial, says she is going to find Chuck

Leif:

so she could tell Serena that the relationship is

Leif:

fake. Dan sees Blair and follows after her.

Steve:

I hated this whole thing. Like, Blair, get over

Steve:

it. The whole, oh, no, it's not. I'm not believing

Steve:

anybody, and just stop. Move on from this. It's

Steve:

really not. I don't know. I like her more when she

Steve:

doesn't give a shit about these things. And it

Steve:

just was really bothersome to me. Me.

Leif:

I get that. But I. I think it does make sense in

Leif:

the grand scheme of where they are right now. A

Leif:

few episodes ago, they decided they're. They still

Leif:

love each other. They got to do some. Their

Leif:

separate things, and Blair was helping him set up

Leif:

this thing so he can. I'm, trying to make her fall

Leif:

in love with me for business reasons, of course.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

And so, yes, I can see why Blair is kind of

Leif:

blindsided by this, because she's really busy

Leif:

right now. She's a strat.

Steve:

No, that's true.

Steve:

But also, once again, it's why Serena should have

Steve:

made more of an effort to let her know all of this

Steve:

prior to this moment right here.

Leif:

I feel like she did make a fair effort, but Blair

Leif:

just was. Blair's natural instinct is to go into

Leif:

denial.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

And Sarita knows that.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

So she's trying to protect Blair for himself.

Leif:

Yeah, because it could have gone really bad if she

Leif:

found out during the profile. It blew up and

Leif:

ruined her job.

Steve:

Yeah, well, okay, you know. You know, when you put

Steve:

it that.

Leif:

Way, I think Serena made the right move.

Steve:

Yeah. I mean, Serena knows Blair better than

Steve:

anybody. Yeah. No, no. I have to sabotage this

Steve:

before she blows up her whole career. Jesus

Steve:

Christ. I hate these people.

Leif:

Howie goes over to Russell to quit, but is fired

Leif:

before he gets the chance. Russell set Howie up

Leif:

with a leaked document.

Steve:

Oh, Howie. Hey, Russell, you're fired.

Leif:

What? I mean, I was going to quit, but on what

Leif:

grounds?

Steve:

Leaking documents. I wanted. I wanted you to leak

Steve:

it, but I still have to fire you for doing it.

Steve:

Fucking idiot.

Leif:

Dan finds Blair looking around the room that Chuck

Leif:

prepared for Reyna. However, they are forced to

Leif:

hide behind a curtain when they hear Chuck and

Leif:

Rena coming back. Chuck seems to be all out of

Leif:

chance with Reyna, but Blair sees him beg for

Leif:

another one. While referring to Reyna as sacred.

Leif:

Dan attempts to comfort a distraught Blair.

Steve:

It was super sweet the way that Dan reaches out

Steve:

and just holds the hand and Blair gives it a

Steve:

second before she pulls away. She accepts his

Steve:

comfort for just a second. I'm over Reina and

Steve:

Chuck. I really like Reina. Reyna is currently one

Steve:

of my favorite characters on the show.

Leif:

She's who Blair thinks she is.

Steve:

Yes, yes, exactly. She is who Blair thinks she is,

Steve:

100%. And I really love her character so far. I

Steve:

thought that this blow up over Lily and the way he

Steve:

treated Lily was a little much that I understand

Steve:

how important family is to her. I think that she

Steve:

also needs to understand where Chuck is coming

Steve:

from. Where Chuck doesn't have any good family

Steve:

relationships.

Leif:

Well, he pointed it out. Yeah, my father ignored

Leif:

me. my mother abandoned and betrayed me and my

Leif:

uncle is my worst enemy.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. And so like, this is kind of how we

Steve:

show love in my family. I'm sorry. Reyna also has

Steve:

a really good point. You will just chew up and

Steve:

toss out anybody that gets in your way. That

Steve:

doesn't mean he doesn't love you. He's done it to

Steve:

Blair when they loved each other.

Leif:

He doesn't want to deal with that. And I don't

Leif:

blame her.

Steve:

No, I don't blame her at all. I don't blame her.

Steve:

I'm just tired of them breaking up every fucking

Steve:

week. It has literally been like four weeks in a

Steve:

row that they have broken up and I'm just so over

Steve:

it.

Leif:

Well, this time they did not get back together.

Steve:

True.

Leif:

And ah, this is what Gossip Girl has to say about

Leif:

it. rubies are red, hydrangeas are blue. Chuck's

Leif:

giving his heart away. But. But guess what, Blair.

Leif:

Not to you.

Steve:

Not to you.

Leif:

And we get it to the epilogue. Later that night,

Leif:

Blair finds Serena returning home and apologizes

Leif:

for not believing her. Serena gets a text from Ben

Leif:

asking him to meet at the Old Town bar. And Serena

Leif:

checks in with Blair before going back out to meet

Leif:

him.

Steve:

I love that Blair is just like, I'm bringing my

Steve:

apology. I know that I fucked up. I hate that.

Steve:

Once again, Blair is like, oh, well, that the Boy

Steve:

was nice to you, so you should be in this. Relate.

Steve:

So go ahead and go be in this relationship, just

Steve:

like she did with Tripp. Just like she's done with

Steve:

Ben, I think last week or the week before.

Leif:

I don't think she's ever really been against Ben.

Steve:

She hasn't really been for him either, though,

Steve:

right? Like, she. She has been.

Leif:

Well, she points out that it's part of Serena's

Leif:

pattern.

Steve:

Yes. And she, often refers to him in terms of his

Steve:

prison sentence.

Leif:

Yeah, she's, Yeah, that's just because I don't

Leif:

think she really minds him for Serena necessarily.

Steve:

I wish she would. I wish someone would besides Dan

Steve:

who wishes it for the wrong reasons.

Leif:

Blair gets a text from Dan letting her know that

Leif:

he's rewriting the article. She calls him to let

Leif:

him know that she already read it and thought it

Leif:

was a very good and submitted it to Vanity Fair.

Steve:

This was wonderful. I love the whole thing. Like,

Steve:

you can stop pestering me. I didn't submit it to

Steve:

Details. I submitted it to Vanity Fair. I hope

Steve:

that's okay with you. yeah, of course I read it.

Steve:

And, yeah, I loved their whole dialogue. Here.

Leif:

Chuck, Nate, and Howie are sharing a commisery

Leif:

drink when Howie reveals he kept his key card to

Leif:

Thorpe Industries, along with a list of passwords.

Steve:

Hey, guys, I've still got it. You know, felony.

Steve:

Like, I can still commit crime.

Leif:

So you think Howie and Lily are going to be

Leif:

sharing a jail cell?

Steve:

Hey, guys, I've still got it. Parole violations or

Steve:

for an espionage. Yeah, here's a key card. Yeah,

Steve:

you know how I. Hey, I was in for insider trading

Steve:

before, not corporate espionage. I'm leveled. I'm

Steve:

leveling up. Oh, Howie, you fucking idiot. You

Steve:

gave them a, key card and passwords to your former

Steve:

employer? Yeah.

Leif:

Also, it wasn't insider trading. He basically just

Leif:

ran off with a bunch of people's money.

Steve:

Oh, right, right.

Leif:

Because he sucked at investing.

Steve:

Yeah, he sucks at investing. He sucks at advising.

Leif:

He sucks at parenting.

Steve:

He sucks at parenting.

Leif:

He sucks at being a husband.

Steve:

He just kind of sucks. He can run.

Leif:

Serena meets Ben at the bar, and the two make up

Leif:

and make out.

Steve:

Again when Serena is so worried that Ben will

Steve:

never forgive her. And it's like, Ben is the one

Steve:

who lied about. It's just so gross.

Leif:

It's because she thinks he's her dad. Her dad

Leif:

wouldn't forgive her.

Steve:

Right. He just passes out. Yes, he would leave.

Steve:

Even Robin is grossed out by this one. Even Robin

Steve:

is like. She was like, wow. It was Hot. When it

Steve:

was, like, kind of a thought, but ew. Now that

Steve:

they're actually hooking up. This is disgusting.

Leif:

Dan and Blair, are watching Rosemary's Baby over

Leif:

the phone in a direct homage to When Harry Met

Leif:

Sally.

Steve:

It was a different movie in When Harry Met Sally.

Leif:

Yeah, right.

Steve:

Yeah. But, yeah, I clocked that. I recognized it,

Steve:

but I couldn't remember. But now I'm.

Leif:

This is why I said before episode 11, you got to

Leif:

watch that movie, because this is now at least the

Leif:

second time. So this story kind of started in 11

Leif:

with the road trip, which when Harry. But Sally

Leif:

starts.

Steve:

Right, right. Yeah, yeah, No, I remember. Yeah.

Steve:

And then that. With the movie. Yeah. we. I'll talk

Steve:

to. I'll talk to Robin. I need. She may not want

Steve:

to watch it again, but she loves that movie. So do

Steve:

they go to Kat's Deli at some point?

Leif:

I'll see. And Eric is finishing up his volunteer

Leif:

duty when he, his partner reveals a cute boy is

Leif:

waiting for him around the corner. However, it's

Leif:

Damian, not Jonathan, and he's there to blackmail

Leif:

Eric.

Steve:

Eric. Who are they going to believe? This guy

Steve:

who's going to make these accusations? This drug

Steve:

dealer who you could have just locked up or.

Leif:

Oh, you're going to reveal my mom was a felon? how

Leif:

about I reveal you're a felon as well?

Steve:

Yeah, yeah, I'm going to reveal you're a felon.

Steve:

And for Eric to be at all intimidated by this guy,

Steve:

because I was also. So at the end of the episode,

Steve:

the conversation Robin and I had was. And I think

Steve:

I brought it up on here before Lilly throws money

Steve:

at problems and makes problems go away. And Lily

Steve:

doesn't think about what makes that problem go

Steve:

away too much.

Leif:

She provides a separate account specifically for

Leif:

blackmail payoffs.

Steve:

Blackmail payoffs. And when that doesn't work,

Steve:

other ways of intimidation, other ways of

Steve:

blackmailing people. And if that doesn't work, I

Steve:

can't believe that Lilly. I would believe that

Steve:

Lilly has at least turned a blind eye to people

Steve:

being in accidents. Make this person not a problem

Steve:

for me anymore. Here's a pile of money. Never let

Steve:

me hear about this person again. We know that's

Steve:

how she deals with stuff.

Leif:

Yep.

Steve:

And so it just would make so much sense. Like,

Steve:

Damian, why are you going after these people?

Steve:

Like, find someone else to go after. Because,

Steve:

honestly, Lily should not should. But, like, I

Steve:

could just see Lily being like, well.

Leif:

Well, I agree with that. And, we're going to get

Leif:

some more information next episode on why he's

Leif:

Specifically targeting Eric right now.

Steve:

Right, right.

Leif:

Eric is a senior.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

So what happens when you're a senior?

Steve:

You. Well, senior trip, senior prom, senior or.

Leif:

Not necessarily related to school, but related to

Leif:

just life in general.

Steve:

Well, graduating, well, you become.

Leif:

You turn 18.

Steve:

You turn it. Yeah.

Leif:

Because he get full access to your trust fund.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And Eric is easy to pull you around.

Steve:

Yeah. See, I was thinking. I. Well, I was actually

Steve:

thinking it was going to be a. Because he's not

Steve:

20. Because he's not 18. Have him deal for him.

Leif:

As we learned, it's Eric's birthday next week.

Steve:

Oh, okay. Well, then my plan wouldn't work.

Leif:

And Gossip Girl ends the episode with this. A

Leif:

Valentine can be a red hot weapon of revenge or a

Leif:

heartfelt apology. Or sometimes there's a way to

Leif:

candy coat the fact that you're all alone. But

Leif:

whatever your Valentine's Day brings, never forget

Leif:

that sub years. It's a massacre. Xoxo. Gossip

Leif:

Girl.

Steve:

Yeah. I hated that ending.

Leif:

What is coming next?

Steve:

So, yeah, well, we're going to see Eric and the

Steve:

Damien stuff play out. I was thinking that Eric

Steve:

was going to be dealing for Damien, but now

Steve:

there's other things afoot. It's interesting that

Steve:

Reina and Chuck have split at the end of this

Steve:

episode. I think in true Chuck fashion, we'll see

Steve:

him pining for Reina and trying to scheme his way

Steve:

back into her heart. I don't know if she's going

Steve:

to be receptive. I think that they have. I think

Steve:

that there's more romance between them to happen

Steve:

at some point, but I'm kind of over it. So I kind

Steve:

of hope that they wrap it up. Not to say that I

Steve:

wouldn't like the Thorpes to be a long term

Steve:

character. I would love for Reina to join the

Steve:

cast. I think that she's my favorite addition

Steve:

since probably Vanessa, who, you know how much I

Steve:

hate Vanessa, but also loved hating Vanessa for so

Steve:

much time. But all of these other villains that

Steve:

come through or, ah, all these other love

Steve:

interests and all these other people, I hate them.

Steve:

They're. They're typically terrible and Reina is

Steve:

awesome. So I really do hope that something more

Steve:

that they find something good for her. I'm really

Steve:

excited of the progress on Dan and Blair and I'm

Steve:

really excited to see where that takes us into the

Steve:

next episode.

Leif:

Robin warming up at all?

Steve:

What's up?

Leif:

Is Robin warming up at all to Dan and Blair?

Steve:

yes.

Leif:

Yeah.

Steve:

By the end of last episode, she definitely liked

Steve:

the hand holding, but she found the rosemary's

Steve:

baby thing to be adorable. She may have clocked

Steve:

the When Harry Met Sally thing, but I'm not sure.

Leif:

Well, let's get into segments. Hello there.

Leif:

Peabody here. And this is the wayback Machine for

Leif:

traveling through time. And this is my boy.

Leif:

German. Speak German.

Steve:

Hello. Goodbye.

Leif:

This week in fandom, we traveled to the forums

Leif:

from 2011. Overall impression better than last

Leif:

episode, but not saying much.

Steve:

Yeah, like I said, I like the last episode. I

Steve:

mean, I think what it is is that I thought the

Steve:

last episode was terrible and this one didn't do

Steve:

anything, so I liked it less. Like it didn't.

Leif:

For me, the big difference was there was no Dan

Leif:

and Blair interaction last week.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah, that. That really is. I was going to

Steve:

say that it really is the one thing, the one

Steve:

bright spot in this.

Leif:

Which was. Is exactly my next point. Dan and Blair

Leif:

are the only watchable thing right now.

Steve:

Yes. Yep. Dan and Blair are the only watchable

Steve:

thing right now. no one else is carrying a

Steve:

storyline that is interesting or believable or

Steve:

that I could care about.

Leif:

They are happy that Eric at least has Dan there to

Leif:

listen to him.

Steve:

Yes. And I like that Eric is getting story time. I

Steve:

like that Eric is getting. Is on the show more and

Steve:

that we're seeing him.

Leif:

They like all the Serena and Blair interactions.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah.

Leif:

it really was classic Blair and Serena.

Steve:

Yeah, it was.

Leif:

And, ah, then this one is a direct quote. Chuck

Leif:

has become a caricature and a buffoon. He adds

Leif:

nothing to the show anymore. His storylines are

Leif:

all tired and recycled.

Steve:

Yeah.

Leif:

And they wish Blair could go off on Chuck the way

Leif:

Raina did.

Steve:

Yeah. But again, like you said it best that Raina

Steve:

is what Blair thinks she is.

Leif:

And finally, they're happy to see Damien isn't

Leif:

gone.

Steve:

Really? I go back and forth on Damian. I kind of

Steve:

like the guy playing him. sometimes stirs things

Steve:

up a little bit. Stirs things up. He's boygina,

Steve:

boygina. Sparks.

Leif:

Let's get into episode grades. what do you have

Leif:

for this episode?

Steve:

The Blair and Dan thing saves it from a D minus to

Steve:

a D. A solid D. The stories were boring.

Leif:

It was recycled, but it wasn't a bad episode. It

Leif:

was just kind of boring. So I gave it a C. Okay.

Steve:

Yeah, fair.

Leif:

Back. Watch who you got going up.

Steve:

Okay. Going up. Dan and Blair, both of them. I

Steve:

feel like Ben is. As much as he sucks, I feel like

Steve:

he got a job and he took Serena out again. I feel

Steve:

like his goes up. I don't think Serena's does,

Steve:

though. I think that slumming it with Ben is the

Steve:

opposite. So I feel like Ben's went up. Russell.

Steve:

Russell stock went up. Reina's stock went up. And

Steve:

I'm giving Raina the up for standing up to Chuck

Steve:

and, you know, having her values that she's not

Steve:

going to compromise. I really like Reyna. I love

Steve:

Reina. So Raina goes up, and I'm not giving Damien

Steve:

an up. Is there anybody else? I can't think of

Steve:

anyone else that I'd send for me.

Leif:

I had Dan, but not Blair, because she kind of got

Leif:

some reality smacked into her face.

Steve:

okay, okay.

Leif:

but I did have Russell and Reina. And I had both

Leif:

Serena and Ben because in the Gossip Girl world,

Leif:

they kind of had a happy ending at the end there.

Leif:

Yeah, I hate it in the Gossip Girl world that,

Leif:

they got what they wanted.

Steve:

I feel like a big part of it is that, Serena, you

Steve:

could do so much better. Like, I just feel like

Steve:

he's such a step down from most of the people

Steve:

he's. She's dated.

Leif:

And I did also give Damien an up.

Steve:

You did? I. I was on the fence, but I'm not doing

Steve:

it because I don't think he's really got the upper

Steve:

hand yet. Just like I didn't give Nate anything.

Leif:

What about down Howie?

Steve:

Howie's going down. Chuck goes down. I have Serena

Steve:

going down. I didn't like it. Lily losing the

Steve:

company. I'm not gonna send Rufus down just for

Steve:

being.

Leif:

Yeah, he's just neutral.

Steve:

He was just neutral. Just like Nate. Nate was

Steve:

neutral. Hardly involved in this. Am I missing

Steve:

anyone? I did Din and Blair. Oh, Eric. For getting

Steve:

bullied. God damn it, Eric, you're the right. Eric

Steve:

probably has the highest stock, the highest value

Steve:

of stock of all of the characters. So it hurts me

Steve:

when he takes a hit. I think that's it for me.

Leif:

Chuck, obviously. Lily, obviously. Eric obvious.

Leif:

But I also had Nate going down because the, one

Leif:

thing that affected him in this episode was he got

Leif:

cockbarked by his own dad.

Steve:

I thought about it. I thought about that.

Leif:

It's the only thing that directly affected him in

Leif:

the story. Down. So he's down.

Steve:

Fair. It's fair. But here's the best outfits from

Steve:

the last episode we see.

Leif:

M. Who do you have for best outfit?

Steve:

I think it's three weeks running now. At least two

Steve:

weeks running. It was Raina's dress. It stood out.

Steve:

I did like Blair's, but I didn't like the sleeves.

Steve:

But Raina's party dress she just looked stunning

Steve:

in that.

Leif:

I almost gave it to her, but again, that would

Leif:

have been three weeks in a, row. And I wanted to

Leif:

give it to someone who is always well dressed but

Leif:

rarely wins the award. And I gave it to Lily's

Leif:

purple dress that she had at the party.

Steve:

Oh, yeah, Fair Lily. Yeah, Lily had a really nice

Steve:

dress. And, you're right. Lily is someone who is

Steve:

always dressed to the nines, but isn't one of the

Steve:

rarely.

Leif:

She's rarely the standout of the episode.

Steve:

Yeah, exactly.

Leif:

Well, that is it for segments. Do you have

Leif:

anything you would like to plug this week?

Steve:

December 27th? I will be at Fat Lady Brewing in

Steve:

Manayunk. Come on out. I'll be playing some rock.

Steve:

Some rock music on my ukulele. And, you can come

Steve:

check out some songs. Other than that, you can

Steve:

find me at Steve Marshan M A R C H I O N on

Steve:

Instagram and TikTok. And I think that's all I

Steve:

have going on at this moment for me.

Leif:

they don't really need my plug, but I'm gonna go

Leif:

ahead and plug the first part of season five of

Leif:

Stranger Things. Writing isn't spectacular, but

Leif:

the. The spectacle is great. They put a ton of

Leif:

money into the show.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

And I do like that they're paying off some of the

Leif:

storylines that I thought kind of were dead ends.

Leif:

Like Elle's sister.

Steve:

Yeah, yeah.

Leif:

Coming back. Yes.

Steve:

And, Yeah, yeah. I really enjoyed it, especially

Steve:

toward the end and especially, like, the, you

Steve:

know, the big reveal at the end. I finally liked

Steve:

Will for a minute.

Leif:

Yeah. They're finally giving him something to do.

Steve:

And you know what? I also. I feel like the actor

Steve:

playing Max has gotten so much better. I.

Leif:

Well, she's. She's all, She's pretty blowing up

Leif:

right now.

Steve:

Is she? Because she's fan. She's fantastic in

Steve:

this.

Leif:

She's playing some mystery part of the new next

Leif:

Spider man movie.

Steve:

Oh, very well. Okay, that's interesting. There

Steve:

hasn't been a Mary Jane for this Spider man yet,

Steve:

has there?

Leif:

There is.

Steve:

Oh, that's right. Zendaya is Mary Jane. I was. I

Steve:

was going with the red hair. well, she.

Leif:

She is. She's M. M.J. but not necessarily Mary

Leif:

Jane.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

It's like something else. Some other initials.

Steve:

Right.

Leif:

But, yeah, that she is the Mary Jane.

Steve:

But. But yeah, I just. I noticed because she was

Steve:

also in Fear Street. I don't know if you've seen

Steve:

the Fear street movies. They're awesome. I'm more

Steve:

of the horror guy than you are, though. But

Steve:

they're really good horror R.L. stein horror

Steve:

movies. And that's not a great endorsement.

Steve:

They're.

Leif:

So as someone who probably read like 50,

Leif:

Goosebumps books in elementary school.

Steve:

Yeah, well, I mean, because he wrote the Fear

Steve:

street books too. So, like, so it's a trilogy and

Steve:

then there's another standalone movie. But anyway,

Steve:

she's in that, and I didn't think she was great.

Steve:

And now this season, I just think that she's

Steve:

matured as an actor giant, like, gigantic

Steve:

improvement.

Leif:

If you would like to follow me on social media,

Leif:

you can find me at hotcapicola. That's H o T C A P

Leif:

I C O L A. That's on Blue sky or Instagram. You

Leif:

can follow the podcast, on judging breakfast Pot

Leif:

on Instagram, TikTok and Threads. And if you'd

Leif:

like to subscribe to our Patreon or check out our

Leif:

subreddit or Discord servers and you can find

Leif:

links on our website, nonjudging breakfastpod.com

Leif:

and.

Steve:

If you would like to get in touch with us, we

Steve:

would love to hear what you have to say. So feel

Steve:

free to send us an

Steve:

email@nonjudgingbreakfastpodmail.com and we would

Steve:

love to read what you have back here on our show

Steve:

and hear what you have to say. Also, if you could

Steve:

hit that like subscribe or follow button and go

Steve:

ahead and leave us a comment, that really helps

Steve:

with our visit visibility in Apple podcasts and on

Steve:

Spotify. And finally, if you are enjoying what

Steve:

you're listening to here, why don't you go ahead

Steve:

and tell your friends what you're listening to and

Steve:

make us the water cooler talk at work next week.

Leif:

And next week we'll be back to talk about season

Leif:

four, episode 16. While you weren't sleeping, the

Leif:

episode description reads, it wouldn't be a proper

Leif:

Upper east side party without some major Gossip

Leif:

Girl drama. And for Eric's 18th birthday

Leif:

celebration, there is plenty to go around. Blair

Leif:

decides to speed up the timetable on her career

Leif:

path to becoming a powerful woman, but ultimately

Leif:

stretches herself too thin. Sarita is forced to

Leif:

choose between her family and Ben. Chuck and

Leif:

Lily's relationship remains icy in the aftermath

Leif:

of Lily's betrayal. I think that's a misprint, but

Leif:

yeah.

Steve:

In the aftermath of Lily's betrayal, yes. How dare

Steve:

she be ousted by Chuck.

Leif:

Until next time. You know you love us.

Steve:

Xoxo.

Steve:

Every time you walk away, run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you there. Every time you walk

Steve:

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

Steve:

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

Steve:

own I left last night and it feels like way too

Steve:

long are you ever gonna see everything you mean to

Steve:

me I'm trying really hard to believe every time

Steve:

you walk away run away you take a piece of meat

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 come back to me smile and you'll

Steve:

make my life complete every time you walk away or

Steve:

run away you take a piece of me with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away run away you take a piece

Steve:

of me with you you there Every time you walk away

Steve:

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

Steve:

Every time you walk away or run away take a piece

Steve:

of me with you there Every time you walk away or

Steve:

run away you take a piece of me with you there

Steve:

Every time you walk away or run away you take a

Steve:

piece of me with you 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.

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