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Gossip Girl: The Age Of Dissonance

By fred | March 17, 2009

(S02E18) How long has it been since we last saw the teens of the Upper East Side plotting against each other? Weeks? Months? Years? Well maybe not years, but it sure feels like it, and that’s not a good thing. I have to say that before the episode started, during the usual “previously” clip (that I hate) I suddenly realized how long it’s been since I last watched an episode of GG.

It’s been long enough that I had forgotten all about those people, that I didn’t remember where we left them, Dan sleeping with Rachel and all of that, and also I have to admit that while he might have been featured in that clip, I had no recollection of Carter. Maybe his face was a little familiar, but I honestly didn’t remember him, who he was or what he’d done before.

All that to say, having had the show off the air for so long wasn’t a good idea obviously, and maybe it’s because it was away for so long, because I had time to sit back and look at things from a less involved point of view, but this episode – while having the good idea to involve many of the characters – seemed pretty bad to me. Or, very average, at the very least.

I didn’t see much things that I liked and enjoyed, it just seemed more of the same, again and again, people acting without thinking, jumping to the easiest conclusion right away only so that it could create so fake drama, and while I wouldn’t say I got bored watching it, I was annoyed. Annoyed that they all seemed so stupid and child-like, whether they’re teenagers or adults.

Take Chuck, separated from the rest as he lives in his own word. Our friend Chuck was lucky enough to find her again, the lovely and mysterious girl he met at a party he shouldn’t have been to, and the first thing he does is to put her in the hands of the first guy he can think of, that just so happens to fit perfectly the very description of the members of that group that has been looking for her, and whom she’s running away from. Dude, really??

Of course I’m not sure what was most disappointing, that Chuck didn’t get to think for a minute, or that after all this mystery, the track, the hiding, the evil laugh showing off the tattoo as the car drove away, it all ended with nothing but a signature at the end of a contract, and lots of money of course. Talk about a let down!

Meanwhile, there was a play going on, and Blair wasn’t showing any more brain activity than Chuck – another thing they have in common I guess. So every time something happened to Blair, she went with the first guess she could, assuming that was the truth and going after whoever she thought it was, always being wrong of course. Not once did she even consider the idea of taking a step back, and before jumping on the first puppet put in front of her, looking up to see where those strings were going up to.

It makes you wonder how good of an education those rich kids are getting, if they can’t ever think for a minute. See Serena, as soon as a bad text was sent about her to GG, she assumed it had to be Blair of course. Why? No reason, because she’s Blair and that’s what she does. Yes Blair warned her, but she never said she was going after S herself, but Vanessa. She warned Serena that she might be hurt along the way, not that she would become the one & only target! It made no sense B would do such a thing, but for the record I fail to see why Rachel would have gone after S either, and never believed Rachel was the one who sent that one either - she was out to get Blair, not Serena.

Anyways, showing how brain dead she was, Serena was having her latest crush on a guy that was a major douche, even  worse than Dan (!) and despite it being obvious and Vanessa pointing it to her, she still refused to see it for a long time. Just like she totally missed the guy was gay, even though he was clearly not interested in her, or anyone else as soon as Nate left the table.

Nate who didn’t prove to be any smarter than anyone else. Sure, he might have had more reasons to be suspicious, but to right away jump on the bad conclusions and blame Vanessa without talking to her (and thus not trusting her) and to explode like that on stage, as well-received as it might have been by the critic in the room, was really not his best moment. I’m glad however, as clichéd as that might have been, that in the end they didn’t just break up over nothing (but his insecurities).

Other than that we had Rachel still hooking up with Dan of course, Dan who of course couldn’t wait to talk to her, right now, so he needed Jenny to send her a note. How old fashion of him! Why not just wait and swing by her place at night, or send her a text, or anything that couldn’t involve anyone (read: daddy) finding out about it? Well, how would we have stupid fake drama then! I gotta hand it to him though, not only was did he break up with her, but at least him telling Blair it was Rachel and they did it right in the next room, was just funny.

Not funny was how of course when Chuck decides to go to see Blair and wait for her, she meets with that mysterious Carter kid… bad timing indeed, but after so much fake drama that went nowhere all along, at this point I couldn’t see this as anything else but yet another attempt at creating some fake drama where there shouldn’t be any.

I was really looking forward to the return of the show, and ended up annoyed and disappointed by the play we got this week. But hey, I guess I should be happy that Dan & Serena didn’t get back together, right?

What did everybody else think?

Posted in Reviews
Shows: Gossip Girl