Leif and Steve dive into Gossip Girl Season 4, Episode 11, “The Townie,” where Serena and Blair go full detective mode in search of Juliet. From boarding school mysteries and shady family secrets to Chuck’s questionable schemes and Dan’s unexpected hero moments, the boys break down every chaotic twist in this mid-season thriller. Buckle up, Upper East Siders — this one is messy.
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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.
And I love Blair's little woo as they pull out.
Steve:Yeah, what's with. What's with the can opener when
Steve:they get to the car too?
Leif:Hey, upper, east siders and all you scandal loving
Leif:listeners out there, you just tuned into the not
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 Leaf, and I'm your seasoned
Leif:Gossip Girl veteran.
Steve:And I'm Steve. The newbie, the greenhorn, the
Steve:rookie, the. What am I now? Leaf? the new guy for
Steve:season four.
Leif:Well, at this point, you can't show up at a masked
Leif:ball and not expect at least one social climbing
Leif:doppelganger to try and impersonate you.
Steve:Yeah, as long as they keep the ether out of my
Steve:mask, I think I'll be okay.
Leif:Fair enough.
Steve:So here's the deal, folks. Leif has 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, bringing you all of 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. I
Leif:cover those sneaky little Easter eggs, and of
Leif:course, serve up some piping hot behind the scenes
Leif:tea. And expect some iconic fan 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's always a seat
Steve:for you at the non judging breakfast table. So go
Steve:ahead and grab your mimosa, a cup of coffee, or
Steve:roll up something from Chuck's stash, and let's
Steve:get into this episode.
Leif:Yes, we are here to Talk about Season 4, Episode
Leif:11, the Townie original air date was December 6,
Leif:2010 and it was the mid season finale.
Steve:It's funny. it's one of those things where
Steve:whenever I hear a movie title that seems like it
Steve:should be older, like the town feels like it
Steve:should be older than.
Leif:Well, it came out the same year that this episode
Leif:is in.
Steve:Yeah, yeah, it just. It strikes me as funny
Steve:because I don't think of that. I feel like that
Steve:movie is much more recent. But.
Leif:But. And as we said, this is, another movie that
Leif:one of the cast was actually in.
Steve:That's right.
Leif:Blake Lively.
Steve:Blake Lively was in this. Yeah.
Leif:And, yeah, it was a movie directed and starring
Leif:Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall, a
Leif:proficient group of Thieves rob a bank and hold
Leif:the manager hostage. Things begin to get
Leif:complicated when one of the crew members falls in
Leif:love with her.
Steve:have you seen it?
Leif:Parts.
Steve:I have not watched this movie, although I have
Steve:heard it's decent. I heard that Ben Affleck did a
Steve:good directing job.
Leif:Ben Affleck is solid, I'll give him that.
Steve:Yeah. Honestly, I like Ben Affleck a lot more than
Steve:people give him shit for. I in general.
Leif:This episode was written by Amanda Lasher and co
Leif:written by Stephanie Savage. Previous episodes
Leif:from Amanda Lasher are in season two, Predator J,
Leif:Gone with the Will Sat or anything. Season three,
Leif:the Freshman. They shoot Humphreys, don't they?
Leif:And the lady Vanished. And also it's a dad, dad,
Leif:dad, dad World. And this is also her second
Leif:episode of this season. She already did episode
Leif:three, the Undergraduates.
Steve:Yeah, she's pretty solid. Yeah, for the most part.
Steve:funny, because a lot of these episodes have some
Steve:really funny moments in it. And this one had some
Steve:laugh out loud moments. Goodbye, my friends.
Leif:Dan.
Steve:Dan.
Leif:Episode was directed by Joe Lazarev. As we said in
Leif:the past, he is mainly a producer, but has also
Leif:directed quite a few episodes. Oh, brother. Where
Leif:Barthel, how to Succeed in Basness, the Empire
Leif:Strikes Jack and War at the Roses.
Steve:And if, I remember correctly, he's the one that
Steve:filled in for much I do about nothing.
Leif:Correct.
Steve:When Norman Buckley broke his nose.
Leif:Yes.
Steve:He needs a behind the scenes book. We can do it
Steve:ourselves.
Leif:Yeah, well, they came out the OC behind the scenes
Leif:book 20 years after the start of the show. So
Leif:we're coming up on that in a couple years here.
Steve:Yeah, about two more years.
Leif:Yeah, well, almost. We're already almost 20. 26.
Steve:Oh, wow. Well, geez, you're right. We're like,
Steve:November is the end of this Saturday.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:Why don't you go ahead and read.
Leif:Us that vulture recap?
Steve:Last night, confessions spilled forth from the lip
Steve:glossed mouths of the characters on Gossip Girl.
Steve:Juliet confessed to Serena that she had drugged
Steve:her. Lily, confronted by Serena, admitted that she
Steve:forged her daughter's signature on an affidavit,
Steve:falsely accusing her teacher of rape and that she
Steve:was planning on selling Bass Industries behind
Steve:Chuck's back. Ann, Nate's mother, admitted
Steve:something that all Upper East Siders know but
Steve:would ordinarily never admit. The Bardies are way
Steve:more important than family. But despite his urging
Steve:everyone else to, get everything on the table,
Steve:Rufus stayed mute about the origins of his
Steve:deepening tan mystic or tanning bed. We guess they
Steve:had to save something for the rest of the season.
Leif:I didn't really notice the tan, but I'll take
Leif:their word for it.
Steve:Thinking back, I can kind of see it, but I didn't
Steve:think much of it.
Leif:Well, we go into Act 1 with a gossip Girl
Leif:monologue. Spotted Dan and Blair exiting St.
Leif:Ambrose with espresso doppio for two. We hear it's
Leif:not the caffeine that got them talking a mile a
Leif:minute. It's a mission.
Steve:I was so excited from the start of this episode to
Steve:have a Blair Dan team up.
Leif:As we see at the beginning here, Blair and Dan are
Leif:walking the Manhattan streets, reviewing what they
Leif:know about Juliet's plan. And after they and the
Leif:audience are fully caught up, the two enter the
Leif:Ostrov Center.
Steve:Gossip Girl's really good at this. At these catch
Steve:up moments where you, you. They don't always feel
Steve:like recap exposition. They do feel like natural
Steve:conversations between two people. And I feel like
Steve:they do this a lot, which especially the nature of
Steve:network television at the time when you had to
Steve:catch it week by week. And so I understand why
Steve:that happened, why that trope happens throughout
Steve:that style of tv. I feel like they do a really
Steve:good catch up when they have to. Yeah.
Leif:And they usually make it witty and bantery.
Steve:Exactly, exactly.
Leif:Eric is with Serena and explains that Lily is with
Leif:Chuck, Meeting with reporters to talk about Bass
Leif:Industries. Before the scene cuts, a doctor enters
Leif:and asks Serena if she has made a decision.
Steve:And Serena's reaction to, you know, I guess that's
Steve:why mom isn't here to tell me herself that she's
Steve:proud. I like that she was feeling some sort of
Steve:way. it really sets up the rest of this episode.
Leif:At the front desk, Dan and Blair are struggling to
Leif:gain entry to see Serena. Eric comes downstairs
Leif:and lets them know that the doctor has advised
Leif:that Serena go no contact for 72 hours and that
Leif:whatever they're up to, they need to do it without
Leif:Serena's help.
Steve:Yeah, I, I.
Leif:Great.
Steve:Yeah. You know, as they as therapists will do,
Steve:tell you not to contact any of your loved ones for
Steve:72 hours.
Leif:Well, I think that's common in rehab.
Steve:Well, I guess. Oh yeah, I guess for rehab it would
Steve:be. Yeah, I'm thinking of it more of the. Of a
Steve:suicide attempt where that, that it was kind of
Steve:treated like earlier. But yeah, for rehab, that's
Steve:a little different.
Leif:Nate and Ann have a conversation about how she is
Leif:being excluded from her social circle since taking
Leif:Howie back. Nate lets Ann know that Howie is
Leif:planning on leasing A house outside the city when
Leif:he gets out.
Steve:Nate, you couldn't have talked to your dad about
Steve:this first? You're m. Just gonna get the info and
Steve:run it straight to your mom.
Leif:Nate, can't keep secret.
Steve:Nate cannot keep a secret. And if he was on, if he
Steve:would have seen Howie first, everything would have
Steve:been fine.
Leif:Yeah, but he was already suspicious of his dad
Leif:anyways from that. From what the guard said last
Leif:night, right?
Steve:Yes.
Leif:So he went digging, and then. Yeah, he found
Leif:something.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Back at the Waldorf penthouse, Dan and Blair
Leif:continue to brainstorm. Blair shuts down Dan's
Leif:suggestion of parents and police. Dan then
Leif:suggests asking Gossip Girl.
Steve:Smart. Smart Dan. I I. Yeah, I thought it was a
Steve:clever thing. Also, I like when they utilize that
Steve:character because they don't. you forget sometimes
Steve:that Gossip Girl is a character on the show
Steve:because it's all the narration and the blurbs. So
Steve:when they actually use her as a character, I find
Steve:that fun.
Leif:And speaking of Gossip Girls, she takes us to the
Leif:first act break with. Oh, sorry. We got one more
Leif:scene first. we get a shot of Juliet getting off
Leif:the bus in her hometown before switching back to
Leif:Dan and Blair or waiting for a response from
Leif:Gossip Girl. When she finally does, it's an
Leif:address located in Connecticut.
Steve:I love that the mailman knows who Juliet is.
Leif:That that.
Steve:You know a better way to establish small town than
Steve:the mailman? Hey, Juliet. M. It's good to have you
Steve:back in town.
Leif:And Gossip Girl takes us to the first act break
Leif:with. Buckle up, kids. Looks like this unholy
Leif:alliance is hitting the road.
Steve:I was so excited.
Leif:We go into Act 2. Serena is in a therapy session
Leif:with the worst therapist ever. Serena recalls back
Leif:to the show's inciting incidents of her sleeping
Leif:with Nate and Pete Fairman overdosing afterwards.
Steve:Yeah, and it's funny because it's the first time
Steve:that we've actually seen these things back to
Steve:back. We knew that they both happened on the same
Steve:night, but we never really saw the series of
Steve:events play out like this.
Leif:Yeah, I'm not an expert on therapy, but I don't
Leif:think you're supposed to judge your patient.
Steve:No, you're really not. I would never do that.
Steve:You're really not supposed to do that.
Leif:At least not openly.
Steve:Yeah, yeah. Keep it to yourself. So when you were
Steve:banging these dudes all the time.
Leif:Dan and Blair are in Rufus's classic car,
Leif:bickering like an old married couple on their way
Leif:to Cornwall.
Steve:I loved it so much. And is the pedal to the metal.
Leif:Let me just consult the gps. Oh, wait. That's me.
Steve:That's me. I could have gotten us a car. Well, we
Steve:might need to speed. We might need to tail
Steve:somebody. Or speed.
Leif:Lily and Chuck share a post interview drink at the
Leif:penthouse after the reporter leaves. There was
Leif:apparently a sticking point when the reporter
Leif:asked when Lily would be giving up her seat on the
Leif:board of Bass Industries, but she was able to
Leif:smooth it over with Chuck.
Steve:Yeah, right there. It's like, oh, what the are you
Steve:up to Lily?
Leif:Well, then Rufus comes down and judges Lily for
Leif:having a drink in the middle of the day as well.
Steve:Yeah, which he was so harsh about it, too, that he
Steve:was like, it's a bit early for that, don't you
Steve:think?
Leif:Okay, dad.
Steve:No, I was just having a drink with my underage
Steve:stepson. you know, from the guy that died.
Leif:Dan and Blair are somewhat shocked to find the
Leif:address Gossip Girl led them to is a very upscale
Leif:house. When Juliet is supposed to be poor, they
Leif:enter into the middle of a bunch of rich high
Leif:schoolers having a party. Once inside, they find
Leif:Damien Dalgard.
Steve:We're not looking for Juliet. We're looking for
Steve:clues. Or someone who has one. And, yeah, good
Steve:throwback makes so much.
Leif:Sense because there's only one drug dealer in nyc.
Steve:Yes, yes, and Connecticut. He's got very busy
Steve:territory.
Leif:Nate confronts Howie about the house, but Howie
Leif:has a quick response that it was Anne's dream
Leif:house and it was meant as a romantic gesture, not
Leif:an attempt to get away.
Steve:And then when Nate's like, I'll talk to mom. You
Steve:already did. That's what. But also, Nate, it's not
Steve:your response. Like Dan told you last week, this
Steve:isn't your responsibility. Stop being the go
Steve:between. Let them talk to each other so that you
Steve:can stop screwing things up worse.
Leif:Now, outside the party, Damian asks how Jenny is
Leif:doing before Blair and Dan can begin interrogating
Leif:him. at first, Damian doesn't want to get
Leif:involved, but when he hears Serena was
Leif:hospitalized, he admits that he sold Juliet the
Leif:drugs. And Damien then suggests finding Juliet's
Leif:address to discover the connection with Serena,
Leif:Juliet, and the nightly boarding school.
Steve:What dealer sells ether? Yeah, I just sold her
Steve:some drugs and some ether. What? It's like, It's
Steve:like a roofie. What? That's all I sold her.
Leif:I mean, they got to get it somewhere, right?
Steve:We.
Leif:We know Damien doesn't have a lot of scruples.
Steve:No, no, no. I feel like the last scruple he had
Steve:was not sleeping with Jenny. And then he ran out
Steve:and then insulted her on the way out the door. And
Steve:then. Scruples gone.
Leif:Juliet sees Dan, Blair, and Damien getting into a
Leif:car and realizes she's about to be found out.
Steve:Yeah. Busted.
Leif:And Gossip Girl has this to say. Better step on
Leif:it, Juliet, because your clean getaway just got
Leif:very messy. And I love Blair's little woo as they
Leif:pull out.
Steve:Yeah. What's with the can opener? When they get to
Steve:the car too.
Leif:Which isn't he supposed to be European? He should
Leif:recognize it.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:We get into Act 3, and there's a flashback to
Leif:Serena as a sophomore at boarding school,
Leif:explaining to her classmates how to drink
Leif:absinthe. Serena then gets up and does a white
Leif:girl party dance to Soulja Boy. We see Damian with
Leif:a very bad haircut sitting on the floor doing
Leif:Serena's homework.
Steve:I don't know if I've ever brought up. I feel like
Steve:I brought this up once before. The I love this
Steve:song trope that you see in teen dramas. When a
Steve:girl. It's almost always a girl. Oh, I love this
Steve:song. Cordelia does it all the time. And I think
Steve:Jenny did it in season two when she and Agnes were
Steve:hanging out with the guy. The one thing that I'll
Steve:say that Gossip Girl does a little better is that
Steve:it's actually cool, recognizable songs and not,
Steve:like, bronze core that you get from Buffy. That
Steve:it's like, oh, Oh, I love this song. Really? What
Steve:is it?
Leif:Who. Who's singing right now from Joss Whedon's
Leif:personal deep track?
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Blair, Dan, and Damien arrive at Juliet's house
Leif:and are greeted by her mother, who lets them know
Leif:that Juliet is out running errands. Blair
Leif:convinces her to let them come in to wait. They
Leif:quickly learn about the Juliet Ben connection. And
Leif:Damien recalls that there was a rumor that. That
Leif:Ben slept with Serena.
Steve:Yeah. yeah. Oh, he just recalled, but he. Oh, I
Steve:guess we haven't seen any of the other stuff yet.
Steve:And did we know that he was, like, the nerdy guy
Steve:doing her homework?
Leif:no. We just knew that she went to school. He went
Leif:to school with her.
Steve:Okay.
Leif:He said he always had a crush on her.
Steve:Yeah, I remember that, but I couldn't remember if
Steve:we knew that he was, like, doing her homework,
Steve:too.
Leif:I don't believe we did. Back at therapy, Serena
Leif:begins to explain that despite the partying at
Leif:Nightly, there was one person that treated her
Leif:differently. We see a flashback of Serena and Ben
Leif:being flirty outside of school.
Steve:Yeah. And I'm going to have more to say about this
Steve:as we go on this one right here. Oh, you're into
Steve:this. You want more information on this? Cool.
Steve:Here's my office hours. Now, would I, in that
Steve:situation, sit and have a chat with a student?
Steve:Maybe, maybe. But not with that level of
Steve:friendliness. There's something established. I was
Steve:actually just talking to my kids about this
Steve:because they're both studying to be teachers, that
Steve:the second someone's in my classroom, I have this
Steve:wall, that it is the we're not friends wall.
Steve:Because you can't be friends with. Can't be
Steve:friends with teenagers when you're in your 30s.
Steve:It's weird. And you definitely can't be friends
Steve:with your students because you have to fail
Steve:students and you can't put friendship in the way.
Leif:And I, I, really feel bad for Serena because like,
Leif:any teacher that pays attention to her either
Leif:wants to fuck her or fuck her boyfriend.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Leif:At the end of the flashback, we get Damian seeing
Leif:Serena and Ben together. And then we come back to
Leif:the present with Damian explaining how Serena went
Leif:from party girl to good student seemingly
Leif:overnight. Damian goes on to explain that he
Leif:started to believe the rumors when he saw Ben
Leif:Serena at a BNB across state lines.
Steve:Right. And we see the flash that's coming up
Steve:still. Okay, so I'll have more to say. Yeah.
Leif:We get another flashback and we learn that Ben was
Leif:taking Serena to see the Vassar library and got a
Leif:flat tire.
Steve:You should be fired.
Leif:Since there is a bad storm outside, Serena
Leif:suggests they get a room for the night. Ben
Leif:doesn't deny having feelings for his 16 year old
Leif:student, but he does quote unquote the noble thing
Leif:and says he will go out and fix a tire and take
Leif:her home.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah, you deserve to be fired.
Leif:I. It's also a crime just to take her across
Leif:state.
Steve:Yeah, you, you committed a crime. You took a, you
Steve:took a 16 year old across state lines, then you
Steve:brought her to this hotel and you were like, well,
Steve:hey, I'm totally into you and I totally dig you.
Steve:And I won't say I'm not, but I'm not going to bang
Steve:you because I'm your teacher. That's not okay.
Steve:That's not okay. It is the answer. and the
Steve:brushing hair out of your student's face is not
Steve:okay. you, you absolutely deserve to be fired. Do
Steve:you deserve to be in jail for the amount of time
Steve:that you're seemingly in jail for? Probably not.
Steve:But you definitely should not be working with
Steve:kids. No.
Leif:We shift back to Sarita in Therapy saying Ben was
Leif:the only guy to ever turn her down. She claims to
Leif:have been in love with him.
Steve:Yeah, of course. He was nice to you for five
Steve:minutes, Serena. Of course you're in love with
Steve:him.
Leif:Juliet takes a call from Ben, and she explains
Leif:that Dan and Blair have probably figured
Leif:everything out, but she is going to finish this
Leif:once and for all. Ben begs Juliet not to go after
Leif:Serena again, but she hangs up on him. Ben is
Leif:desperate to make another call to warn Serena when
Leif:he spots Nate exiting the prison and tells him to
Leif:check on Serena.
Steve:Juliet, what are you going to do in your mind
Steve:right now? Juliet, when you get out and you go
Steve:into the building, what is your plan here? Because
Steve:you go in and you talk to her. were you going to
Steve:kill her?
Leif:I mean, from the entrance she made, I would think
Leif:so.
Steve:Yeah. It seemed like she was going in there to
Steve:murder Serena. And that's how you're going to do
Steve:it? Just turn on the light and then ask her a few
Steve:questions first, like, where's your commitment?
Leif:Nate calls Dan and loops him in on what Ben told
Leif:him. They decide that Serena should be safe at the
Leif:Ostrov center, but they all need to meet up at the
Leif:Vander Woodsen penthouse to find Juliet.
Steve:Yeah, I thought this was funny. Juliet's probably
Steve:going to the Ostrov center, so we should meet up
Steve:at the Van Der Woodsens since both of us are out
Steve:of the city. Like, why wouldn't you meet up at the
Steve:Ostroff Center?
Leif:And then Serena returns to her room to find Juliet
Leif:sitting in the dark like a James Bond villain. And
Leif:that's why she was asking the question, because
Leif:she's a James Bond villain.
Steve:She's a j.
Leif:Yes.
Steve:No, Serena. No. I don't expect you to talk. I
Steve:expect you to die.
Leif:And Gossip Girl has this to say.
Leif:Oh, s. You got a surprise visitor, and she's about
Leif:to give you shock therapy. We move into Act 4. On
Leif:the way back to the city with Damian in the
Leif:backseat, Dan and Blair continue to bicker. Blair
Leif:calls Dan out for giving up too much for Serena.
Leif:You jealous, B. Yeah.
Steve:And I loved how he was like, I haven't given
Steve:anything up for her. He's like, oh, yeah, except
Steve:your time, and you're here with me. And, when's
Steve:the last time you've written anything? I love that
Steve:Blair just. It's like she has a mental rolodex of
Steve:anything that can hurt anyone at any time. Like,
Steve:oh, Dan just came at me slightly. I'm going to
Steve:stab him in the writing and just digs. And I love
Steve:it.
Leif:Juliet is explaining her whole plan to Serena. She
Leif:then tells Serena that she is Ben's sister and
Leif:that she. That. That he went to jail because of an
Leif:affidavit signed by Serena saying that Ben and her
Leif:had sex at the bnb. His lawyer advised Ben to take
Leif:the plea bargain that Serena's family pressured
Leif:the DAA into offering. Serena tells Juliet that
Leif:she didn't sign the affidavit, but she has a good
Leif:idea who did.
Steve:Yeah, that's. That's. And when you see the
Steve:signature, when they do that scene, it's like you
Steve:know who it is. Yeah.
Leif:yeah. They immediately cut to. At a party. Lily is
Leif:trying to minimize what Serena is dealing with to
Leif:a Bass Industries board member, but is sorted when
Leif:Eric blurts out that Serena is getting the help
Leif:she needs.
Steve:Yeah. Somewhere between the truth and the Marlins
Steve:jersey lies the truth and an adult. No. Or it lies
Steve:decorum. And an adult can discern the. The
Steve:difference. But also, I love that Eric was not
Steve:giving any fucks for Lily's decorum.
Leif:Mm. Nate finds Anne at Lily's party and admits
Leif:that her social life is more important to her than
Leif:having Howie back in her life. Fair.
Steve:Fair.
Leif:And then steps away to greet real life fashion
Leif:designer and Upper east side native Minnie
Leif:Mortimer.
Steve:She's been on before, hasn't she?
Leif:not that I recall. Okay.
Steve:I thought she looked familiar. Maybe it's from
Steve:somewhere else. And also I thought it might be
Steve:because her name wasn't mentioned. Usually when
Steve:there's a cameo, their entire name gets mentioned
Steve:in it. And Anne didn't say her name.
Leif:She just said we said her first name.
Steve:Did she?
Leif:Oh.
Steve:but then she asked if she made that design, so
Steve:it's like, I knew it was a cameo. I also respect
Steve:that Anne is like, yeah, I need this. I need this.
Steve:I really don't need your.
Leif:And I don't really blame her. Howie's a fucking
Leif:loser.
Steve:Yeah. Howie fucked up. Howie's a loser. Howie.
Steve:Yeah. So, like. Yeah. And I get it.
Leif:She's got family money.
Steve:Mm.
Leif:Nate is shocked when Serena shows up with Juliet.
Leif:She leaves Juliet with Nate to go off and find
Leif:Lily.
Steve:Is this where Eric and Damian. No trade barbs.
Steve:Okay.
Leif:Lily is giving a speech about how much she cares
Leif:about her family. Eric rolls his eyes. Rufus looks
Leif:on with adoration. Lily is shocked when Serena
Leif:walks up, but quickly rolls with the punch and
Leif:pulls Serena and Chuck in for a photo op.
Steve:The photo op thing was so weird. And especially
Steve:because there's Eric, who's not in any of these
Steve:photos, too. Oh, let's get a family photo of my 2.
Leif:Blair, Dan, and Damien arrive at the party and ask
Leif:Eric what's going on. Eric is disgusted to see
Leif:Damian there and thanks Dan and Blair for the ride
Leif:and announces he's out of here. Why? Did he come
Leif:up to the bed house at all?
Steve:Yeah, yeah, they do this a lot. But I did like the
Steve:barbs. I did like the. What, are you here to
Steve:recruit more virgins? He goes, well, if I was, I'd
Steve:check if you're available. Like, the back and
Steve:forth, that history.
Leif:Serena stands up in front of the room and
Leif:announces to everyone that Lily is a liar and her
Leif:pants are on fire.
Steve:Yep. And burning fire. Yeah. And, Lily, your night
Steve:is only starting to go bad.
Leif:But this is what Gossip Girl has to say. Time to
Leif:turn on the charm, Lily, because your perfect
Leif:party just turned into the perfect storm. We move
Leif:into Act 5. We see Lily doing some quick damage
Leif:control with her guests before discreetly asking
Leif:Eric to find out what is wrong with Serena. Yeah.
Steve:Which again, Serena came in clearly upset with
Steve:you, and you're sending Eric to go find out what's
Steve:going on. So, once again, Lily, you're only making
Steve:this worse and only proving Serena's point.
Leif:The board member that asked about Serena earlier.
Leif:Now let's slip to Rufus that Bass Industries is
Leif:going to be sold.
Steve:Yeah, I liked how Rufus reacted to it. And, yeah,
Steve:we'll just let this play out.
Leif:Blair, Dan, and Nate follow Juliet into Serena's
Leif:room, who is there talking with Eric. Blair jumps
Leif:in front of Juliet and threatens to call the
Leif:police if she takes another step, but Serena tells
Leif:her to call off the hounds. Blair, Dan, and Nate
Leif:are furious when Serena just lets Juliet go free.
Steve:Yeah, she did drug and kidnap you, Serena, like,
Steve:and all that other stuff, too. Yeah, and all of
Steve:the other stuff.
Leif:Too, this whole season so far.
Steve:Yeah. And where Serena's like, well, it was a
Steve:misunderstanding, and just like with her dad that
Steve:tried to, like, kill her mom, and she's like, oh,
Steve:but he's my dad. Oh, but I forgive him. Now,
Steve:Serena, she tried to. She turned your whole life
Steve:upside down for the past three months, and you're
Steve:just like, okay, Deuces, have a good one.
Leif:I like how Blair, she turns to dances. Dan, list
Leif:all the drugs that Damian sold to her, and then
Leif:she looks at NASA and you identify which ones can
Leif:make you believe.
Steve:Keep believing. The same thing over Keep
Steve:believing. Sociopaths.
Leif:Lily, Apologized to Chuck for Serena making a
Leif:scene. Serena, however, interrupts to confront
Leif:Lily about Ben. Rufus also enters the conversation
Leif:curious about what's going on. It's revealed that
Leif:Lily falsely accused Ben of statutory rape.
Leif:Although I disagree that he was completely
Leif:innocent. Rufus then lets Chuck know that Lily is
Leif:selling Bass Industries. When Chuck demands the
Leif:company back, Lily says she couldn't even if she
Leif:wanted to. Lily begs Serena for forgiveness, but
Leif:Serena says she doesn't have to do anything for
Leif:her ever again before storming off. Dan and Nate
Leif:follower. Lily then tries to explain herself to
Leif:Rufus, but he doesn't want to hear it right now.
Steve:Yeah, yeah.
Leif:really fun scene. It was a good scene.
Steve:It was great. It was fantastic.
Leif:One of those rapid fire scenes.
Steve:Yeah. That you start off with Serena and Lily and
Steve:then when Chuck tries to defend and be like, hey,
Steve:we've all done stuff that we're not proud of. And
Steve:then Rufus is like, hey, Chuck.
Leif:Which. Why does he care about fucking Chuck all of
Leif:a sudden?
Steve:Right? He hated Chuck nine episodes ago, but now
Steve:he's But to. I don't think just about.
Leif:Yeah, just being petty.
Steve:Well, yeah, I don't think it's about Chuck. I
Steve:think it's about Lily doing this type of shit and
Steve:Lily not telling him that he was selling the. The
Steve:selling Bass Industries. Like, yes, I think Rufus
Steve:is partially being petty, but also I think he's
Steve:just, you know, this is classic Lily shit. All of
Steve:it is classic Lily shit.
Leif:You should have known what you're getting into.
Leif:Rukus.
Steve:Yeah, Yeah. I do love that he went upstairs, which
Steve:indicates that, he's basically sending Lily to a
Steve:hotel because, you know, they're not going to be
Steve:talking tonight. And he went to the bedroom where
Steve:usually in this situation he leaves and goes to
Steve:the loft. But I love that he was like, nah, I'm
Steve:gonna go sleep in my bed, you asshole. You figure
Steve:your shit out.
Leif:And this is what Gossip Girl has to say about it.
Leif:They say, you reap what you sow. Better get out
Leif:your gardening gloves, Lily. Looks like you're
Leif:going to have a bumper crop. This. And we move
Leif:into the epilogue. The non judging Breakfast Club,
Leif:which now includes Dan, are finishing a home
Leif:cooked meal at the Empire, debating on who is
Leif:going to clean up. We find out that Rufus and Lily
Leif:are separately traveling to visit Cece in
Leif:California. Serena invites Dan to go upstate to
Leif:help her on a mission to get Ben out of prison,
Leif:but he hesitates. We also learn that Serena was
Leif:reinstated at Columbia. Blair is paying close
Leif:attention to that conversation and When Chuck
Leif:reenters, bags packed and off to New Zealand, Nate
Leif:says he will walk him out.
Steve:Yeah, I thought the meal thing was a little out of
Steve:nowhere, like a little weird that it's. Oh, yeah.
Steve:Now they're all. Now Dan's cooking for everyone,
Steve:sort of. And the whole experiment in middle class
Steve:and not wanting to clean up after themselves, I
Steve:thought was funny. But I was also like, where did
Steve:this come from? Mostly because Dan was there.
Leif:Yeah. Well, I mean, assuming those are holiday
Leif:dinner, because they're all going to be going off
Leif:on other things.
Steve:Yeah. right. I guess more just the fact that, like
Steve:I said, Dan being there, but then also they needed
Steve:someone. They just wanted someone to cook for him,
Steve:I guess.
Leif:But it was Dan's idea to have home cooking. They
Leif:could have just ordered a. Oh, yeah, that's true.
Steve:From the hotel that they're in.
Leif:But I think it's a signal that Dan is kind of
Leif:officially part of the gag now.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah, I kind of felt that, too. That Dan is
Steve:now one of them.
Leif:Yeah. Blair follows Chuck to the door and
Leif:questions why he's vacationing so close to Jack
Leif:and warns him about making a deal with the devil.
Leif:Chuck replies that shared enemies makes for
Leif:unlikely friends.
Steve:Yeah, that's. You're playing with fire, Chuck.
Steve:You're playing with fire.
Leif:Serena finds Dan cleaning and apologizes for
Leif:spraying the trip on, him. Dan says he would love
Leif:to go away with her, but he thinks the trip is
Leif:something she needs to do on her own. They share
Leif:another chaste kiss.
Steve:Yeah, and I feel like Dan was right flashing back
Steve:to something way earlier in the episode where Eric
Steve:was like, hey, Juliet may have been full of shit,
Steve:but that doesn't mean that Serena doesn't need the
Steve:help she's getting now. And I think that that is
Steve:important. So when Dan does say, I think you need
Steve:to make this trip, I think that makes a lot of
Steve:sense.
Leif:Nate is on the phone with his dad, who is telling
Leif:him about the halfway houses. Nate offers to let
Leif:Howie stay at the Empire with him and Chuck.
Steve:Interesting. I think it is the Natest thing to do
Steve:to get his dad out of prison and invite him to
Steve:come live with him.
Leif:And why not? No.
Steve:Yeah, I'm nervous about it because he's doing it,
Steve:which means it's gonna have plot points, which
Steve:means that Howie's gonna do something to be an
Steve:asshole at some point, like, Howie has to fuck
Steve:this up.
Leif:Dan and Blair discovered that they are going to be
Leif:the only ones left in the city for the Howie and
Leif:that they Both have plans to see the same French
Leif:documentary at Film forum.
Steve:Nanette. I'm going to see Nanette. I squealed this
Steve:whole time. Because if you've listened to this
Steve:show at all, you know that I am, dying for the
Steve:Blair, Dan for the dare team up for the dare
Steve:relationship. Whatever comes of it. I loved this
Steve:whole scene and I loved him. Please don't go
Steve:through the list. I guarantee it is you and me. I
Steve:won't call. I'm just going to be doing some
Steve:writing and that's it.
Leif:And getting rid of Vanessa's bedroom.
Steve:Yeah, and turning Vanessa's bedroom into an
Steve:office.
Leif:Serena visits Ben at the prison and lets him know
Leif:that she is going to get him out.
Steve:We can bang now. I'm old enough. Like, she walks
Steve:in there and sees him and all I. And he's like,
Steve:Serena. And all I can think is that. And she's
Steve:like, oh, he's going to be nice to me. Like, he's
Steve:gonna be nice to her. So now she's gonna fall back
Steve:in love with him.
Leif:Oh, yeah.
Steve:Especially because she was already in love with
Steve:him. So there's that.
Leif:And Gossip Girl ends the episode with this
Leif:monologue. Whenever we give up something we really
Leif:care about, we hope that the universe will reward
Leif:our selfless choices. However, it's not always
Leif:fate that gives us a gift. Sometimes it's someone
Leif:closer to home. If you love someone, set them
Leif:free. X.O.X.O. gossip Girl. and what is coming
Leif:next?
Steve:Well, I. Okay, my first prediction is that when we
Steve:come back, we're going to see awkwardness between
Steve:Dan and Blair and we're going to get a flashback
Steve:that they banged. That's kind of what my. That,
Steve:that was kind of. I feel like that's very Gossip
Steve:Girl of them to, like, show them being weird about
Steve:something. I think that Serena, is going to start
Steve:getting conjugal visits for Ben. I. I definitely
Steve:think that Ben's going to be nice to Serena. She's
Steve:going to fall back in love with him. She has a
Steve:pattern. She does that kind of thing. I will say
Steve:if Ben graduated from college and started teaching
Steve:right away, because I got the impression new
Steve:teacher, Right. So maybe, maybe 22, 23 when he
Steve:started teaching. So maybe 26, 27 now to a 20 year
Steve:old, maybe the most appropriate relationship.
Leif:If, they had just met now.
Steve:Yes. No, no, no, no. Yes.
Leif:If they had just met now, I'd be fine with it.
Steve:Yes. Because the 22 to 16 was fucking wrong.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:And yes.
Leif:That just taints the relationship from entirely.
Steve:Yeah. Absolutely. It is still Gossip Girl. And
Steve:they're gonna want us to forget some shit. They're
Steve:gonna want us to not do math and forget shit. Oh,
Steve:and Lily. Lily is fucked. So I'm worried that
Steve:we're gonna get another Lily Rufus storyline,
Steve:which they've been so good this season at letting
Steve:Rufus and Lily be parents, and now they're
Steve:flipping that upside down. Might still be a cool
Steve:storyline, but I'm worried about it.
Leif:Let's get into segments. Hello there. Peabody
Leif:here. And this is the Wayback Machine for
Leif:traveling through time. And this is my boy,
Leif:Sherman. Speak, Sherman.
Steve:Hello.
Leif:Good boy. This week in fandom, we traveled in the
Leif:Wayback Machine to the Television without pity
Leif:forums from 2010. They're back just in time for
Leif:dare. Oh. Overall reaction, back to back. Great
Leif:episodes. Feels very season one.
Steve:Yeah, I really like this episode. And, the
Steve:previous one, Lilia.
Leif:Stone Cold.
Steve:Yes.
Leif:All about the Blair and Humphrey adventures. Joey
Leif:Pacey and Mulder Scully vibes coming. But there
Leif:were a few people that are ardently against them
Leif:going romantic.
Steve:One of those people, many years later is my wife.
Steve:For some reason, she's so dead set against it. And
Steve:I keep saying, those babies. Just imagine those
Steve:adorable, beautiful babies.
Leif:Show her the AI pictures of the babies.
Steve:Oh, right. Yeah. I'll need to find that.
Leif:They're on the drive.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:They also said, fuck Rufus for being judgy. Also,
Leif:why is he helping Chuck? Doesn't he hate him?
Steve:I wasn't mad at Rufus. I actually was kind of glad
Steve:because I think that Rufus, like, I get that Rufus
Steve:hates Chuck. I think Rufus hates when Lily is
Steve:slimy more and that he was just mad that she was
Steve:being slimy.
Leif:Well, they don't marry her. But he was also being
Leif:judgy about her drinking in the middle of the day.
Steve:Oh, well, there's that. Yeah, that. That one was
Steve:funny. Yes, that. Okay, fuck you for that one,
Steve:Rufus.
Leif:For some reason, they are actually excited about
Leif:Ben and Serita hooking up.
Steve:Because they're all. They're all sickos, just like
Steve:my wife who is like, oh, by the way. By the way,
Steve:fuck you, Colin. Fuck you, Colin. Because Colin
Steve:cut off his brother or his cousin for doing the
Steve:same fucking thing with the same fucking girl that
Steve:he was trying to do.
Leif:Yeah. Not a good buck.
Steve:No, like, it was when, It was funny because it was
Steve:when I was listening to our most recent episode
Steve:when they mentioned Colin being the teacher, and I
Steve:was like, wait a second. He cut off his cousin for
Steve:going to jail for sleeping with a student. Which
Steve:granted I completely get. Yes, it's wrong that.
Steve:For what he did, what he was in prison for. But
Steve:you went and tried to do the same thing with the
Steve:same girl, even though you didn't know that. And
Steve:to cut off your family for that. M is what I think
Steve:is a little like, wow, that's really fucked up
Steve:family. You really, And I guess maybe I'm being a
Steve:hypocrite because I kind of have a. I have a
Steve:cousin whose wife is. I think I showed you that a
Steve:while ago. That my cousin's wife is currently
Steve:going through this. But that's my cousin's wife
Steve:and I never liked her.
Leif:They like seeing everyone friendly at the end.
Steve:Yeah. Goodbye, my friends and Dan. That was maybe
Steve:my favorite line in the movie. In the entire
Steve:episode.
Leif:And finally, Nate's mom is a bad actress.
Steve:Oh, yeah. She always has been. I mean, she's never
Steve:really carried anything she's been in. I mean. And
Steve:I'll go so far as to say Anne is just always Anne.
Steve:I don't know if it's good acting or bad acting
Steve:because it's kind of hard to judge someone off of
Steve:what little she has. But it's not great. It's not
Steve:winning awards, apparently.
Leif:She was also on Damages and, what was the other
Leif:one they mentioned? The Good Wife. Oh, that's
Leif:around the same time.
Steve:I thought that was a little later, but I think.
Steve:But that's Juliana Margulies, right?
Leif:The Good Wife. Yes. On to episode grades. What do
Leif:you got this week?
Steve:Yes, I'm gonna. I didn't quite like it as much as
Steve:last week, but I felt like there was so much to it
Steve:that I'm gonna go with an A minus on it. I felt
Steve:like the storyline kept going through. I felt like
Steve:it was funny. It was non stop. The episode went
Steve:kind of quick. So, yeah, a minus.
Leif:I really like this episode. The acting, especially
Leif:Penn and Leighton was great. They are just
Leif:hilarious. Great vibes. Hope to see more of that.
Leif:So I actually gave this an A again.
Steve:Yeah.
Leif:Back to back.
Steve:Yeah. It's funny because we talked earlier about
Steve:season four being the place where everyone jumps
Steve:off and. Or that, you know, takes a hit. And I'm
Steve:just bracing myself because it's been really good
Steve:for the most part this season. So I'm just waiting
Steve:for the train wreck to happen.
Leif:So I will say this is the last time we see Juliet.
Steve:Oh, it is. I was kind of wondering if she was
Steve:going to become full cast, so.
Leif:So now we have her brother. Yeah. It just ends
Leif:with a Wet fart of her being set free.
Steve:Oh, my God, that's so annoying. I wonder how much
Steve:of this is from the books. This feels very book.
Leif:I don't think any of this is from.
Steve:Oh, really?
Leif:Moving on to Stockwatch, who do you got going up?
Steve:I'm going to start with Juliet for getting out and
Steve:getting free and like with Scott free on all of
Steve:her scamming. I'm going to give Blair and Dan and
Steve:up for having a great episode, having a lot of fun
Steve:and having time alone together. Going into the
Steve:break here. I'm going to give Nate an up for being
Steve:a good son and taking in how even though he kind
Steve:of fucked up, but he's going to take in Howie. And
Steve:I like that I have Serena going up because she's
Steve:not crazy. Well, she's not in. You know what I
Steve:mean?
Leif:And.
Steve:Oh, and, I'm going to give Rufus going up for
Steve:calling out Lily at the end. I was team Rufus when
Steve:he did that. I think that's it. Oh, I'm sorry. And
Steve:Eric for being a good brother for me.
Leif:I had Dan, Blair for having their fun adventure.
Leif:Serena for getting some therapy and kind of
Leif:finally moving forward a little bit.
Steve:Hopefully, even if the therapist was garbage.
Leif:Eric for being a good brother. And I gave Ben it
Leif:up because it looks like he's probably going to
Leif:get it out of jail.
Steve:Oh, yeah. I'm not going to give Ben an up yet, but
Steve:I think that one. I think that makes sense.
Leif:Who do you got going down?
Steve:So Lily for getting busted. Chuck, because he's
Steve:about to lose Bass Industries or you know, he
Steve:thinks he's about to Vanessa, because she was
Steve:mentioned in her room, is getting taken, is
Steve:getting done into an office. Oh, and Damien for
Steve:being a snitch and for also just kind of being an
Steve:asshole for me.
Leif:I had Lily, obviously. I also had Rufus going
Leif:down. Yeah, it's fair because he was just judgy.
Steve:That's fair.
Leif:Juliet because yeah, she just didn't amount to
Leif:anything.
Steve:that is also fair.
Leif:And because she's just horrible. Oh, well, Howie,
Leif:because yeah, he's also pretty.
Steve:I. I left. I left out Howie and Anne because I
Steve:actually was closer to giving Howie an up because
Steve:he's getting out. And Anne, I was closer to giving
Steve:it up because of her getting back into high
Steve:society. But I gave them both neutral for sucking.
Leif:And I also gave Nate a doubt because, he's once
Leif:again just being manipulated.
Steve:Yeah. And also just putting himself in the wrong
Steve:place.
Leif:Yes, he's.
Steve:He. It's like, stop manipulating yourself. Stop
Steve:manipulating yourself. He puts himself into these
Steve:situations for people to manipulate him.
Leif:Yeah.
Steve:But here's the best outfits from the last episode
Steve:we've seen.
Leif:Who do you have for best outfit?
Steve:This one was tough because I didn't think for one
Steve:there was not a lot of, there was no party of the
Steve:week for the kids. The party was an adult thing. I
Steve:kind of went between Chuck and Eric with Chuck's
Steve:suit. I thought it was really nice. And then Eric
Steve:having sort of a casual but dressed up thing and
Steve:Eric never gets it. So I'm going to give it to
Steve:Eric.
Leif:I actually really like the outfit Blair was
Leif:wearing the whole, episode with the black and
Leif:white pattern blouse, a black sparkly miniskirt
Leif:and lace tights.
Steve:Yeah, I liked it. I like that outfit.
Leif:That is it. For segments though. Do you have
Leif:anything you would like to plug?
Steve:Yes, I do. I am going to be playing at the
Steve:Christmas Village in Love park in Philadelphia. So
Steve:you can come on out to that. It'll be December 9th
Steve:and December 11th. December 9th at 6:00pm and
Steve:December 11th at, 5:00pm I'm going to be there
Steve:playing some ukulele songs, some Christmas songs
Steve:and some non Christmas songs. So come on out and
Steve:check that out. Also, please follow me on TikTok
Steve:or Instagram @ Steve Marshon M M A R C H I o n or
Steve:you can find me on bluesky Headwizard.
Leif:Nothing for me to plug this week, but if you want
Leif:to follow me on social media, you can find me on
Leif:Instagram and bluesky hotcapicola. That's H o t C
Leif:a P I C o L a And if you want to follow the
Leif:podcast, you can follow us on TikTok, Instagram
Leif:and Threadsnjudging breakfast podcast and you can
Leif:also find links to our subreddit, our Discord
Leif:server and our Patreon at
Leif:nonjudgingbreakfastpod.com and.
Steve:If you would like to get in touch with us, we
Steve:would love to hear what you have to say. So go
Steve:ahead and send us an
Steve:email@nonjudgingbreakfastpodmail.com and we'd love
Steve:to hear your thoughts and read back your email on
Steve:the show here. And while you're at it, why don't
Steve:you also hit that like subscribe or follow button
Steve:and leave us a comment. That really helps with our
Steve:visibility in Spotify and Apple podcasts. And
Steve:finally, why don't you go ahead and tell your
Steve:friends what you're listening to and get them to
Steve:Join in, watch some Gossip Girl. Catch up with us
Steve:every week and make us your new water cooler.
Steve:Talk.
Leif:And we will be back next week to talk about.
Leif:Season 4, Episode 12 the kids are not alright. The
Leif:episode description reads, a former associate of
Leif:Chuck's father, Russell Thorpe, along with his
Leif:daughter Reyna, returns to Manhattan with some
Leif:unfinished business for our upper east sider.
Steve:So finally get rid of Juliet. And now we have a
Steve:new, new villain. A new villain coming in.
Leif:We're actually going to get a person of color on
Leif:the show too. Actually, him and his daughter.
Steve:Oh, so we finally have a villain and it's a person
Steve:of color. Yes. So fantastic. Good job, Gossip
Steve:girl. Yep.
Leif:Until next time. You know you love us.
Steve:XOXO Every time you walk away run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there every time you walk
Steve:away or run away you take a piece of me with you
Steve:there every time you walk away or run away you
Steve:take a piece of me with you there oh, it seems I'm
Steve:walking right to your door my heart's still
Steve:resting looking for something more are you ever
Steve:gonna see everything you mean to me I'm trying
Steve:really hard to believe every time you walk away or
Steve:run away you take a piece of me with you there
Steve:every time you walk away or run away you take a
Steve:piece of me with you there every time you walk
Steve:away or run away you take a piece of me with 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 m with you there every
Steve:time you walk away or run away you take a piece of
Steve:m me with you there come back to me smile and
Steve:you'll make my life complete 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 every time you
Steve:walk away or run away you take a piece of me with
Steve:you there every time you walk away or run away you
Steve:take a piece of me with you there every time you
Steve:walk away or run away you take a piece of me you
Steve:with you there Every time you walk away or run
Steve:away you take a piece of me with you there every
Steve:time you walk away or run away you take a piece of
Steve:me with you there Every time you walk away or run
Steve:away you take a piece of me with you there.