January 27, 2025 • 51 mins
Hey there, Upper East Siders and Gossip Girl lovers! This week on the Non Judging Breakfast Pod, Leif and Steve are back at it, diving headfirst into the juicy drama of Gossip Girl Season 2, Episode 22, "Southern Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Get ready as Serena tries to untangle her messy relationship with Gabriel while Chuck and Blair cook up some scheming that could shake things up. And let’s not forget Rufus, whose questionable life choices are leading him straight to financial doom, plus Vanessa’s antics that are raising a few eyebrows. Join our dynamic duo as they unravel the tangled web of lies, love, and the kind of tension that only the elite of Manhattan can create. Expect plenty of laughs, some eye-rolls, and a few moments that’ll leave you scratching your head as they dissect the latest escapades of our favorite socialites!
0:00 - Introduction and Episode Overview
5:30 - Rufus and Vanessa's Awkward Conversations
12:45 - Serena and Gabriel's Complicated Love Story
20:00 - Chuck and Blair's Devious Plans
30:15 - Gossip Girl Closing Narration
35:00 - Fandom Reactions and Episode Ratings
45:30 - Best Outfits and Final Thoughts
Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion.
Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.
The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leif (00:00):
Rufus and Vanessa are once again having a way too
intimate of a conversation for what the relationship should
be. I guess Kelly Rutherford was busy having a kid or
something, but she's in the episode.
As the scene ends, Rufus tells Vanessa, let's get out of
here. God damn it, Rufus. Where are you taking this girl
to the same age as your child?
Steve (00:19):
That was. Okay, so
there's a couple things to break down here, right? Like,
Kelly Rutherford was available. And in this episode,
at the same time, I. I believe
that one of the things that they're really establishing
is that Rufus doesn't want to talk to Lily about money
things and about money troubles
(00:40):
because she always offers to bail him out every
single time, and he doesn't like that. Why
are you opening up to this child?
And again, and even more, the child that
just said to you, hey, I'm just trying to spend as much time here
as I can before you sell it, because I really
like it here. And then you're like,
(01:00):
let's get out of here. Where are you going?
Leif (01:10):
Hey, Upper east siders and all you scandal loving listeners out
there, you just tuned into the non judging breakfast
pod where the coffee is strong, the
waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than
ever. My name is Leif, and I'm your seasoned Gossip
Girl veteran.
Steve (01:25):
And I'm Steve, the newbie, the greenhorn, the, I
don't know, Leif. What do we call this season 2 kid
on gossip Girl?
Leif (01:33):
I'm not sure. But today's lesson is the subways for more
people and middle class professionals.
Steve (01:38):
All right, well, as long as you're going to triple my investment, you can
just take all of my money.
Leif (01:42):
Sounds good.
Steve (01:43):
So here's the deal, folks. Leaf has been watching
Gossip Girl since it first aired, and I'm diving in for the
first time. And together, we're your dynamic
duo, bringing you all the drama, romance, and
sometimes questionable fashion choices of this
iconic 2007 series.
Leif (01:59):
That's right. Each week we'll be taking a deep dive into the
show. One episode at a time. We analyze the
hidden parallels and obscure references. Plus, we'll
also be touching on all the behind the scenes gossip and some
stories from fandom.
Steve (02:12):
And, since we're all about inclusivity here at the non judging
breakfast pod, there is always room for you at our
non judging breakfast table. So go ahead and grab a
mimosa, some coffee, or maybe some of
Chuck's special medicine. And let's go ahead and get this
started. Although Nate's the one who who knows
where all the dealers in Manhattan are?
Apparently.
Leif (02:33):
Yes. Well, you gotta be able
to pick up wherever you're at, you know, you never know. You never
know when you're gonna need it.
Steve (02:40):
Oh, yeah, I understand.
Leif (02:42):
So, more news on the Blake
Lively Justin Baldoni. Baldoni has now
filed a lawsuit against, I believe it's the New York Times for
defamation of character. So either way we're going to, we're going to have at
least, probably two, at least two court cases about this and
find out what happened.
Steve (02:57):
Yeah. Because where did this start? I thought
it did it start from Blake
promoting it and they weren't happy with
how she was promoting the film. Where
is that? Where like the tension, the
post movie tension started?
Leif (03:15):
I mean, if you're going by the Baldoni
side of the story, it's
that Ryan Reynolds uses pool
to like buddy buddy up to the author who had originally
sold the rights to Baldoni, but
then the author gave final cut to Blake
Lively. All right,
and then, and then, and then during the
(03:38):
press tour, everyone basically
ignored Baldoni. Everyone else on the
movie ignored him and did not mention him at all. Unfriended
him on social media.
Steve (03:48):
Wow.
Leif (03:49):
And there was, there was
some swirling at the beginning about, about,
you know, was it sexual assault? But then the whole
groundswell came up against Blake and now
they're saying that that was a, ah, whole like
coordinated smear campaign. that's what Blake
Lively's lawsuits about.
Steve (04:07):
Right.
Leif (04:08):
So we're going to find out that. But now
tabloids and a couple of, I saw a couple
of YouTube videos as well are trying to rope Penn
Badgley into the situation. Oh, no, since he, he,
apparently he knows. He definitely does know both of them.
Steve (04:23):
Yeah.
Leif (04:24):
Data Blake. And he's, you know,
sort of, you know, friends. He's met Baldoni a
few times and Paladini was on his podcast like over
two years ago.
Steve (04:33):
Yeah.
Leif (04:34):
But there's uncredited quotes from
Pedenbagley and like tabloids
saying that, you know, he stands with
Baldoni. So now Pam Bagley is going to have to make an
official statement about this appearance.
Steve (04:48):
Yeah. Oh, wow. And yeah, and
that's funny because Penn Badgley
often also comes across as very
anti toxic masculinity. You were talking all, before
we started about how Justin Baldoni really,
that was his brand. Yeah. That's how he
established himself. And so that's
(05:09):
really interesting because I've always
kind of gotten that impression. I found Penn
Badgley also to be pretty pretentious,
but I don't think that that takes away from the fact that I feel
like he's very much one to listen to
women, you know?
Leif (05:27):
So enough about that. We're here to talk about
Gossip Girl, Season 2, Episode
22, Southern Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes Original Air Date April
27, 2009 and of course, that's, based on
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1953
musical comedy film starring Marilyn
Monroe. Also a stage play and a
(05:49):
book. Probably best known for the number.
Diamonds are a girl's best friend.
Steve (05:53):
Yeah. Yes.
Leif (05:54):
Carried a lot of places.
Steve (05:56):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Leif (05:59):
Wonderful. See us show up on Gossip Girl.
Be a great thing for 100. Episode
Episode written by Leela
Gernstein. This is her first of seven episodes
of Gossip Girl. She was in the writer's room for three years,
going from here till 2011.
also previously worked on the OC
(06:19):
and a show that I liked but not a lot of people watched
was Eli Stone. She, followed up
this with a few other writing gigs, including,
Harlow, Dixie, and, most recently credited as
a creator of a hulu show called
Saint X that released in 2023.
Steve (06:37):
All right.
Leif (06:39):
Episode was directed by Patrick R.
Norris, back for his fifth episode in the
chair. First season did Bad News Blair
and High Society. Second season did the
Serena Also Rises and It's a
Wonderful Life. A, pretty good, well directed
episodes.
Steve (06:55):
Yeah, yeah, this was. This. Yeah,
the. The directing was. It was
good.
Leif (07:03):
Why m don't you give us the Vulture recap?
Steve (07:06):
All right, here you go. The characters on
Gossip Girl are steeped in problems of, a
decidedly 2009 nature
problems most New York residents will sympathize
with. The real estate bubble, the
recession, the actions of a certain imbecile
former president, as Dan puts it, are
taking a toll on their wallets and their psyches.
(07:28):
But these outside forces have not changed their
essential nature. Like a variety of magnets
stuck in the same force field, these creatures
are forced to perform a constant dance of
attraction and are repulsed by one another
to varying degrees.
Ferromagnetic ex lovers Blair and Chuck,
for instance, find themselves suctioned
(07:50):
together at every opportunity. And though
both also feel the pull of Nate
Archibald, their connection with each other is
decidedly stronger. Georgina Sparks
is sucked away from Jesus to lock horns with her
arch enemy, Blair. Meanwhile, Vanessa,
opts to stay off the force field that
is in Brooklyn this episode.
(08:13):
So repulsed is she by her encounters
with Chuck Bass. Dan does,
too, which is a good thing for the writers,
as if young Mr. Humphrey were to set foot in
Manhattan he would no doubt be propelled towards
Serena, thereby disrupting the plot for
everyone else and making it their
sucky. another sucky episode wherein the real
(08:35):
life couple spends the whole hour
mooring at one another. And it
wasn't a sucky episode.
I keep forgetting that they're. They're still together then.
Leif (08:47):
Who?
Steve (08:48):
Pen and Blake.
Leif (08:49):
Yes.
Steve (08:50):
Yeah. So he knows her. He knows her
pretty well.
Leif (08:53):
Yes. We get into
Act 1 with the gossip Girl
narration. Eventually,
every queen finds herself in unfamiliar
territory outside the castle walls. In Blair
Waldorf's case, the Village.
Nate and Blair are walking on the streets of the East Village
home, of Blair's future school, nyu. Blair
(09:15):
is a bit squeamish about subways and being out of the
Upper east side.
Steve (09:20):
Yeah. This is when Nate's trying to show
her around.
Leif (09:26):
And so they decide to time
jump over Blair's final interview.
A chance to give us one more college interview.
Steve (09:34):
Yeah, I. I thought that was an interesting choice. That she's just
in now. Yeah, that. That. That Cyrus just pulled
the string and she's in.
Leif (09:42):
Pardon me. Would have been nice to see Cyrus again, because it's
always nice to see Cyrus. But, yeah, I would have
liked to see Blair have a composed
college interview.
Steve (09:52):
Yeah. And. And m. Get it done. And be impressive.
Leif (09:55):
Yes. Rufus is taking Dan and
Jenny shopping with his real estate money.
Rufus is in an ultra happy mood, and Dan
spies him checking out an antique engagement
ring.
Steve (10:07):
So he's got this real estate money that he doesn't
have.
Leif (10:11):
You get a truck. You get a truck.
Steve (10:14):
Because. Because I listed my
gallery at more than I thought I could list it
at. You didn't sell
it yet. You just listed it.
Leif (10:25):
Such a dumbass.
Steve (10:26):
He's. So that's why
you're only somewhere in the millions, Rufus.
Leif (10:31):
Yeah. Blair and Serena are discussing their
respective love lives. Blair calls out Gabriel as a.
As a foreigner and wants to spy on him with Serena.
Steve (10:40):
There is zero indication of Gabriel
being Southern.
Leif (10:45):
You know, he definitely has a southern accent.
Steve (10:47):
I. I didn't pick up on it at all. I didn't feel
like.
Leif (10:51):
It's not an exaggerated one, but I think he. It's
definitely there.
Steve (10:54):
Yeah, I never. I never picked up on
it. I feel like he does a southern accent about as well
as Ed does an American accent.
Leif (11:05):
Nate and Chuck are, shooting hoops and discussing Blair.
Chuck urges Nate to talk to him about her
like they used to before everything went down in season one.
Steve (11:14):
Yeah. And this is where I'm kind of like, are you working
things out, Chuck, or are you making another
play or stewing another scheme?
Leif (11:22):
I think he was actually genuine at the
beginning, but as soon as Nate pushed
him about it, he kind of. He's like,
okay, yeah, we're going to do this.
Steve (11:33):
Yeah, I kind of felt that, too.
And I get. I got it from Nate. Like, I
understood why Nate was doing that.
I don't think he had to. And I think it only
made things more uncomfortable.
Leif (11:46):
Yeah. But I got it, because I think
Chuck. He realized that he could lose
Nate this season. He definitely, I think,
learned from that.
Steve (11:55):
Yeah, I think so.
Leif (11:56):
And as we know, he is one of the three things that Chuck actually
loves.
Steve (12:00):
Yeah, four, but one he can't
admit.
Leif (12:04):
And, Chuck's athletic wear continues to impress.
Steve (12:08):
Oh, yeah, we. Yes.
Leif (12:09):
The velour track suit and the fiaschat.
Steve (12:11):
Yep. That was actually. Well,
spoiler alert. That's going to be my pick today.
Leif (12:17):
But I
wasn't pressing a good way.
Steve (12:22):
I loved it. I thought it was the
funniest thing, and I thought it was so chucked
that I had to give it a shout out.
Leif (12:31):
Mr. Charming, aka Gabriel, is wowing
Rufus and Lily with tales of leaving Big Tobacco in
favor of a more altruistic
pursuits. Gabriel ducks out, but promises
Serena that things will be different once this deal
is completed.
Steve (12:47):
So I did not. The My m.
Only complaint in this arc
right now. I don't particularly care
for the dramatic irony. I don't
care to know that this is a
scheme before it turns into
a scheme. I'm watching him talk
to Serena about this, knowing that he's doing this
(13:10):
for the. The Vander Woodsen
money and that he's going to
use Serena to get money for.
For either this investment, but more likely to just
rip her off. Right. I see this
happening. I don't know if I would see
it as clearly if
(13:30):
I didn't know it was a scheme
already. I kind of wish we didn't
know that Gabriel and Poppy are working
together.
Leif (13:39):
Yeah. It just makes Serena look dumb.
Steve (13:41):
Yes, it does. Which,
yeah, looks like.
Leif (13:48):
Blair is outside the building in spyware.
Chuck pulls up and becomes intrigued by the charade.
They spot Gabriel, exit the building, and hop into a car with
Poppy.
Steve (13:58):
You met her in front of
Serena's house. You had Poppy
roll up in front of your girlfriend's
house.
Leif (14:07):
Yeah. You're just looking to get caught.
Steve (14:08):
Yeah.
Leif (14:09):
Also, there was really bad ADR on
the explanation of Poppy.
Like, I'm not even sure if it was actually Leighton Meester saying
it.
Steve (14:19):
Oh, I didn't even catch that.
Leif (14:22):
It's probably like a writer.
Steve (14:23):
That's funny. I wonder if she said the wrong name.
Leif (14:26):
I mean, that was. I mean. Oh, and you mean and then they.
Steve (14:29):
And they dubbed it.
Leif (14:30):
Yeah, but like, the way I could tell is
because the rest of the shot, you could hear the ambience of New York
and then just suddenly like that all cuts out and you hear her
name.
Steve (14:39):
Yeah.
Leif (14:43):
we go to a commercial with another Gossip
Girl blast. And ah.
When a queen discovers her best maiden is with a
dragon disguise, the only thing to do is
pull up the drawbridge and trap it.
And we go into Act 2.
The next day, Blair is telling Serena what she
(15:03):
saw over the phone. Gabriel walks into
Serena's room. However, the scene cuts before
Gabriel can give his explanation.
Steve (15:11):
Yeah, I. I didn't really have much for this. Just
Gabriel. Go away.
Leif (15:17):
We shift back to Blair, who is now explaining
the situation to Nate. Nate finds out about Blair
and Chuck's impromptu spy mission,
Says he's fine, but his space guard is telling a different
story.
Steve (15:30):
It's so funny how often Serena lets Blair get
in her head and then doesn't right away
here that she's not trusting Blair and
Blair's instincts. Despite knowing that
Blair calls these
things a lot of the time. Like, Blair
can sniff out game knows game. So Blair
can sniff out a schemer.
Leif (15:52):
Yeah, but Serena's in love and
dumb.
Steve (15:56):
She's a.
Leif (15:56):
You know, she.
Steve (15:57):
Yeah, she.
Leif (15:58):
I mean, she's shiny object. Shiny object.
Steve (16:00):
Shiny object. Shiny
object. That is inappropriately older than me.
Leif (16:08):
Gabriel is explaining to Serena that he is still pretending
to be with Poppy because her contacts are the ones propping up
his business deal. Serena reluctantly agrees to
go along with the plan for one week
only.
Steve (16:20):
Yeah, and honestly,
sirenishative just said call me in a week.
Boom. Okay, if you're going to do this, go play your
games. Play your games with Poppy
and call me in a week.
Leif (16:32):
Are you really that horny, Serena?
Steve (16:34):
Yeah. Well.
Leif (16:36):
Well, yeah, kind of. Kind
of because you're written by a
man.
Actually, wasn't this episode written by a woman?
Steve (16:48):
It was, but the character
created. Yes, well, created
for television by a man.
Leif (16:57):
Dan is at the coffee shop explaining his cater
waiter job to Vanessa. Vanessa suggests that Dan
and Jenny should let Rufus know they support him proposing to
Lily. However, Rufus walks through the room having
an angry telephone conversation, and the kids
decide now might not be the best time.
Steve (17:14):
Yeah, yeah. Vanessa's right though.
Yeah, she had a good episode.
Leif (17:18):
I did not mind her.
Steve (17:19):
No, I thought she. Yeah, I. There's a scene
coming up that she was a part of that. We'll discuss in more
detail, but she was fine.
Leif (17:29):
Serena is trying on dresses while Blair is trying
to convince her to dump Gabriel.
Steve (17:34):
He's having her cake and eating it and eating yours,
too. So
gross. Oh, Blair.
But this is, again, like, trust Blair, because,
like, just trust her. She can
sniff this shit out.
Leif (17:50):
Rufus and Vanessa are once again having a way too
intimate of a conversation for what the relationship should
be. I guess Kelly Rutherford was busy having a kid or
something, but she's in the episode.
As the scene ends, Rufus tells Vanessa,
let's get out of here. God damn it, Rufus, where are
you taking this girl to the same age as your child?
Steve (18:10):
That was.
Okay, so there's a couple
of things to break down here, right? Like, Kelly Rutherford
was available. And in this episode, at the same
time, I believe that one of
the things that they're really establishing is that
Rufus doesn't want to talk to Lilly about money
things and about money troubles
(18:31):
because she always offers to bail him out every
single time. And he doesn't like that. Why
are you opening up to this child?
And again, and even more, the child that
just said to you, hey, I'm just trying to spend as much time here as
I can before you sell it, because I really like
it here. And then you're like, let's
(18:51):
get out of here. Where are you going? Are you
just kicking her out of the place that she has the keys
to that, or are you taking her somewhere? Are you
going somewhere with her to continue this
inappropriate conversation that you already apologized for
laying on her?
Leif (19:07):
They really needed to cast someone as one of Rufus's
bandmates.
Steve (19:10):
Yeah, Rufus needs a friend.
Rufus just needs a
fucking friend.
Leif (19:17):
Or, like, a neighbor. Anyone of, age
appropriate.
Steve (19:20):
Yeah, like Lily has. Lily has
Bex, you know, Lilia.
Yes, but somebody that she can but bounce
things off of. You know, she has a
foil that. That Rufus doesn't have, and it
always ends up being Vanessa. And it's so
weird because there's this
(19:41):
part of him that it's almost
fatherly to Venessa but
lays on her that you don't lay on your
kids.
Leif (19:50):
Well, I think that's what the actor is trying to get across. But the
writing is not helping him out at all.
Steve (19:55):
No, never.
It never helps when you have a
Rufus. Vanessa.
Leif (20:01):
The actor chemistry is not romantic, at all. It's just.
It's the situations the writers keep putting them in.
Steve (20:07):
Yeah.
Leif (20:09):
Nate is showing Chuck the apartment he is leasing
enough in the fall, which is halfway between NYU and
Columbia, sort of. Nate tells Chuck to back
off, flare. And then proceeds to pee all over the
walls.
Steve (20:22):
I. I can't blame Nate
here. But also.
Leif (20:26):
Oh, I can't.
Steve (20:28):
I. I get him Being a
jealous teenage boy.
Right. But also. Calm down, Nate.
Leif (20:36):
I mean, jealous is a feeling. Controlling is an
action.
Steve (20:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Leif (20:43):
You can't help how you feel, but you control how you act.
Steve (20:46):
Yeah, you're right.
Leif (20:47):
Chuck steps outside to take a call from Blair.
Blair recruits him to help with a takedown of
Gabriel.
Steve (20:54):
Yeah. And I mean, Chuck and Blair team ups are
really the lifeblood of the non judging breakfast
club. And those two need to
scheme together. They don't all. Even though
they can do it platonically. We've seen them do it platonically.
But they need to scheme together.
Leif (21:11):
And we go to a commercial break. Queen of
hearts or queen of heartache? Careful, Bee.
Cut off the head of one love triangle and one of your
own might grow back in its place.
At, Lily's co op meeting slash party, Blair
pulls Gabriel aside to bond with him. At the
same time, we see Chuck leading Poppy into the building to
(21:33):
reconcile with Serena.
Steve (21:35):
Yeah. And then they meet and they.
Yeah, you can go to the next one. Ah.
Leif (21:41):
Yeah. Poppy enters with Chuck and blows up.
And she blows up at, Gabriel, who makes a big show
of siding with Serena.
Steve (21:49):
Yeah.
Leif (21:49):
And they made that work for them. Pretty.
Steve (21:51):
They. They really did. They. They were right on
top of it.
Leif (21:55):
And really, they definitely outplayed Chuck and Blair there
completely.
Steve (21:59):
Completely.
Leif (21:59):
And impromptu.
Steve (22:01):
Yeah. Seemingly. Unless they had a,
if we ever get busted, this is what we do plan.
But they. But it also had to happen right
there. The Poppy investors
before that week had to pull out
so that he could go to Serena.
So I. They basically sped up their
(22:23):
timeline.
Leif (22:24):
It seems Dan comes home
to find Vanessa waiting for him with his six pack and a bottle
of vodka. Vanessa reveals her hookup with Chuck.
It sounds like she was also going to drop the bomb
about Rufus's financial status.
Steve (22:38):
Yeah. And she should, because you don't lay that on your
kid's best friend. And
I had another. I had another. I hope they're not going to bang.
And they still haven't. And I'm really glad that they really are just
being friends.
Leif (22:51):
Yeah.
Steve (22:51):
And I really want that to continue.
Leif (22:53):
Yes. The. The head to head.
Steve (22:55):
Yeah.
Leif (22:55):
Laying down. Head to head.
Steve (22:56):
Yep.
Leif (22:57):
It was very, very friendly. Very friendly.
Steve (22:59):
Friendly. And yeah,
again, I thought Vanessa was good in this
episode.
Leif (23:05):
So there's more signs of Vanessa banking Rufus Than. Than
Dan at this point.
Steve (23:13):
Like, reluctantly, like, he's my boss.
Leif (23:19):
Jenny and Rufus are walking down the street. Jenny is
parenting Rufus now.
Steve (23:24):
And also Jenny. When was
Rufus ever
supportive of you? You're like, oh, you told
me if I ever want my dreams, I've got.
To go get them.
No, he told you, stop getting your dreams and come live at
home.
Leif (23:38):
That was when she was eight.
Steve (23:40):
Yeah, when she was eight. Yeah, you can definitely live
your dreams as long as it's on my timeline.
I was baffled by that
interaction.
Leif (23:52):
Serena is talking to Gabriel about his future and
insists on helping him find new investors.
Steve (23:58):
She's such an easy mark.
Leif (24:01):
Yeah, the. The tag team. You know, two episodes with
Poppy manipulating her to go to Spain, and then.
Steve (24:07):
Yeah, she just.
Leif (24:08):
They just worked her good.
Steve (24:10):
It worked her good.
Leif (24:12):
Chuck, clearly spying on the previous conversation,
approaches Gabriel. Chuck is fishing for info on the
first night Gabriel met Serena.
Steve (24:20):
And, good for Chuck for getting his hands dirty and
going in for in the most Chuck way
possible. Give me the details.
Leif (24:29):
Nate surprises Blair by coming to the party. He
invites Blair to move in with him, to which she happily
agrees. However, Chuck approaches the pair and entices
Blair with continued scheming. Gossip Girl
quips, sometimes a queen
has to make a choice. A castle with the white knight
or a quest with a dark prince. So
(24:50):
be. What'll it be? Netflix night
with Nate or battling a beast with
bass?
Steve (24:57):
Nate needs to realize this isn't
about Chuck and Blair. It's about
Serena. And Nate should get
involved because Nate does usually get protective
of Serena.
And he's so in his head about Blair
and Chuck that he's now.
And like you said before, and he's trying to control
(25:18):
this situation and trying to control
Blair, and it's leading him
to not do what he would ordinarily
do, which is rally to help the
friend.
Leif (25:30):
One track mind. We move
into Act 3. We come back from a commercial
to see Gabriel once again charming Lillian.
Rufus, it looks like Gabriel has at least one new
investor.
Steve (25:42):
Yeah. And, at least Lily has the sense
to say I need to look it
over first. Send me
the papers. Send it to my assistant.
Let me look over it. But yeah, I'm interested.
Leif (25:57):
Yes, but you get the sense that Lily is going to do
this regardless because she wants the guy that
her daughter's dating to be seen as successful.
Steve (26:06):
Yeah, I. I totally see
that too.
Leif (26:10):
She. She couldn't give a. About the actual company.
Steve (26:13):
No, no. Or the money she's giving
to him.
Leif (26:17):
I liked what river said in the earlier scene, what do you say? It's
like, like, doing well by.
Steve (26:23):
Doing good or something?
Leif (26:28):
yeah, I'm sure Bass really cares about that. Bass Industries.
Steve (26:31):
Yeah. Yeah, they're gonna, they, they,
they'll build a hotel using the WI
fi. Like in the. Using the WI fi
money.
Leif (26:41):
Serena and Gabriel's celebration is interrupted by
Blair, who pulls Serena off to her room. Chuck
and Blair fail to convince Serena of Gabriel's
deceit. After Serena goes back to the party, Chuck points
out that there is only one person that truly
knows what happened that night.
I think they did a much better job of bringing her in this time.
Steve (27:02):
You're absolutely 100% right. But my
first watch through at that moment, I'm
like, oh, God, no, no, please, no,
please do not do this to me again. That's the
last time I'm going to say anything bad about her in this
episode because I actually agree
they did a, far better job this
time.
Leif (27:22):
Vanessa and Dan are having a pity
party. Dubya catches the stray.
Steve (27:30):
Former president.
Dan is really being a grown up about this, though.
Leif (27:37):
Yeah.
Steve (27:38):
Especially when Vanessa says, do you blame
your dad? And he goes through his list
of who he's blaming and he's like, not my dad.
My dad's probably the only person more upset than I
am. So really kudos to Dan
for how he's handling it.
Leif (27:53):
He should drink more. It takes that, takes the edge off.
Steve (27:55):
Yeah.
Leif (27:59):
Back at the party, Rufus pulls Gabriel aside and
demands to be let in on the investment.
Steve (28:05):
Rufus, stop fighting so hard
to pay for a scam.
He's so offended. And,
I felt like Gabriel really was like.
Leif (28:16):
He felt bad about it.
Steve (28:17):
Yeah, I felt like Gabriel, which is.
Leif (28:19):
Interesting, interesting kind of wrinkle.
Steve (28:21):
Well, I think Gabriel and Poppy are trying
to rip off a bunch of people who can
afford to be ripped off, who will never miss the money
and never think anything of it. And now here's
Rufus handing over his life savings and his
life's work. And Gabriel actually is
like, oh,
dude, you don't want in on this.
(28:43):
And he's like, stop looking down on me. This is how life
works. He's like, fuck, if I don't take
his money, I'm going to look like a huge
asshole and I'm going to screw this up.
yeah. So I did feel there was a moment of
conscience.
Leif (28:57):
Yes.
Steve (28:58):
From Gabriel, that it is a matter of we're going to just
rip off a bunch of rich fucks who will never know this
money's gone.
Leif (29:04):
Which is which is nice. He's not just a cartoon villain.
Steve (29:07):
Yes. And he's, to an
extent. What's the word I'm looking for? He's
almost. If any of this
scheme is true, it's almost Robin Hood,
like, you know, to take it from
taking these. This money from these rich people to
invest into something else. But I don't think there's an
(29:27):
investment.
Leif (29:28):
They're clearly just taking the run.
Steve (29:30):
They're just going to take the money and run.
Leif (29:31):
Yeah. And he's. It's not like he was poor or anything.
Steve (29:34):
No, no.
Leif (29:36):
Nate reluctantly agrees for Blair to go on another
mission with Chuck instead of going to look at the new apartment,
which is, of course, code for taking a ride to
pound town.
Steve (29:46):
I liked Blair here asking for
his trust and being like, look,
you. You can't control this all the time.
You're going to have to trust me. And he gave her
that. He gave her that trust.
Leif (29:59):
And now I want to see Doretto wearing a Mets hat.
Steve (30:02):
Facts. Also,
I. It's funny because in an earlier
episode, the captain was talking about taking him to a Yankees
game, so I've always assumed it was
a Yankees fan. Now we're learning he's a Mets fan.
Leif (30:16):
I think he's just a sports fan.
Steve (30:18):
That's. I, would, I would agree. But the fact that
it's that the Mets play almost every day,
almost three, you know, three days a week, usually
at home. So if he goes to games that
regularly, I'd think that that'd be more his team.
But you're right. I do believe that he is just an all around sports
fan. He likes sock.
Leif (30:38):
It looks like Chuck and Blair off to talk to Georgina
Sparks. We go to the commercial with
another Gossip Girl narration.
Get off your brooms, kids. We're off to see the wicked
witch of the Upper east side.
The next morning, Chuck and Blair wake up in the back of a
limo, which is parked out in the woods. Oh, look,
(30:58):
they're holding hands. We've got bullets flying
everywhere this episode. And Nancy Pelozzi catches
one. As Chuck explains, he didn't really need Blair to
be there at all.
Steve (31:08):
Nancy Pelosi air.
Leif (31:09):
I like how they both have their, like, little kits.
Steve (31:12):
Yeah.
Leif (31:12):
For cleaning up Blair.
Steve (31:15):
You can't ask for trust and then fall
asleep cuddled up in a limo. And then
when Chuck gives you his whole
speech at the end, you can't fall for
his because you were falling for his shit
in. In that moment. Her reaction of being frustrated
when he left. Yeah, Blair, you asked
(31:36):
to Be.
To.
For trust. So be.
Leif (31:38):
Be worthy of it.
Steve (31:39):
yeah. Be trustworthy.
Leif (31:41):
Chuck finds that Georgina has traded in boot camp
for Jesus camp. Omjc. M.
Steve (31:48):
I. I'm gonna say I liked Michelle
Trachtenberg a lot more this
episode. I like Georgina Sparks
more the. This scene. Initially it was
like when she. Chuck Bass. I was about to be
like, oh, no, no, no. And then
instantly, like when she started, like where
this episode takes her and her character
(32:11):
right now, where it. Where we're seeing her
at.
I really liked it. I really like it.
Leif (32:16):
They're leaning into the zany.
Steve (32:18):
Yes.
Leif (32:21):
Serena and Gabriel are lying in bed, basking in
the afterglow. Serena catches Gabriel in a lie
about the night at, butter and immediately peaces
out. She's got to go.
Steve (32:32):
Yeah. maybe next time catch him
in a lie before you bang just your
post coital. Maybe I shouldn't trust him.
Leif (32:42):
It's such a weird situation because, like, he is with Poppy
still and she's like, totally cool with this, I guess.
Steve (32:48):
Oh, yeah, because he's. Yeah, I guess
she is. Yeah, that. Sorry,
babe. I'm gonna have to bang Serena just to keep
this thing up. I, won't. I won't be able to keep it up. Well, you know,
because they were banging in Spain, so. She already
knows.
Leif (33:04):
Yeah, she knows from the. I think it was planned from
the start.
Steve (33:07):
Yeah, she left on purpose, I believe. I think
that that's why she.
Leif (33:11):
Yeah, the whole. Yeah, the whole thing was to seduce him.
Steve (33:14):
Yeah, she's. She kind of knew he'd have to
be banging Serena as part of this plan.
She's cool with it.
Leif (33:21):
Yeah.
Steve (33:22):
Poppy open.
Leif (33:24):
She likes that money.
Steve (33:25):
She likes the money more. Yeah. More than. More than
the, loyalty.
Leif (33:29):
Back at the camp, Georgina explains to Chuck how
she found Jesus. She also confirms that Serena
and her were not Butter. That the night before the SATs,
I.
Steve (33:39):
Found her to be more likable and believable.
And I. I liked the. I liked
Chuck calling our. On the. You're here
so that your parents don't send you back to
boot camp, essentially, which, I really do
believe is the case. But I
again thought that she was at least likable that
(33:59):
she puts on this front.
Leif (34:01):
Well, they're making her a new character for the
TV show Down before. In the first season.
They try to go with the book version, which was like a cross
between Serena and Blair. It's like the charisma of Serena
with the scheming of Blair.
Steve (34:14):
Yeah.
Leif (34:14):
And she just doesn't have that charisma of Serena.
Steve (34:17):
No, she does not.
Leif (34:18):
But she could be the crazy friend that just does
crazy stuff.
Steve (34:22):
Yeah, she can be the wild card.
Leif (34:24):
Yeah, she's the joker.
Steve (34:25):
Yeah. Yeah.
And again, already I like her more.
Leif (34:31):
Now that Serena's gone. Poppy busts in and
hops on top of Gabriel. It was a scheme all
along.
Steve (34:38):
Wha. Again, I wish we didn't
already know. Because we knew.
Yeah. Surprise.
Leif (34:46):
Serena calls Chuck and lets him know that he and Blair
were right about Gabriel lying, but she doesn't know
why. Chuck discovers that Blair took his limo.
Huh? And Gossip Girl has this to say.
And eventually a queen realizes that a
dark prince only has one thing on his mind,
and it ain't slaying dragons.
So she takes her pumpkin carriage and
(35:09):
goes back to the castle.
Steve (35:12):
Respect Blair for. For seeing
through the scheme at that point and then leaving, being
like, nope, I'm not dealing with this shit. Take me out of here.
Leif (35:21):
And we go into the epilogue. At
Gabriel's hotel. He and Poppy realize Serena is on to
them by. When listening to a voicemail from Serena,
who says she is coming back.
Steve (35:32):
She's a idiot.
Leif (35:34):
Rufus, not Serena, knocks on Gabriel's door
to drop off his check for the investment.
Steve (35:40):
You idiot. I wanted to come here and give it to
you in person. Go.
All right.
Leif (35:49):
Will, er go to Nate's apartment to apologize for going
off with Chuck.
Steve (35:53):
I felt like Nate was pretty adult here in
a lot of it. I felt like his. I. What
I liked is that he came clean and was like,
Look, I was jealous. I was trying to
control the situation. Trying to control you. I'm
sorry. I. I thought that he was
maybe not adult, but he was being self aware in
that moment.
Leif (36:14):
Fair. But yeah. Yeah. it was already done.
Steve (36:17):
No. Well, I mean, yeah.
Leif (36:18):
In Brooklyn, Rufus wakes up Dan
with a couple of mugs of coffee and a dad
talk. However, Jenny comes in with the ring
Rubus had been eyeing previously.
Steve (36:28):
This was sweet. But he offers to pay them
back. And with what? Rufus, you
just got schemed of all your money.
Leif (36:36):
Well, he doesn't know that yet.
Steve (36:37):
He's so confident right now.
Leif (36:41):
Things are gonna be great, man. Trip. Triple
that money. And what money? What money is he
tripling?
Steve (36:48):
the. I.
Leif (36:48):
He sold the record.
Steve (36:49):
Sold the. Yeah. Which also
go on tour, release a new album.
Go on tour. There's a market.
Leif (36:57):
I mean, releasing a new album's easier said than done, but
there's clearly a.
Steve (37:00):
Market for Lincoln Hawk. Right? So he could
go on tour, boost the value of his
catalog again. And you're right that doing an
album is hard. More than it. Harder than it sounds. But it can
be done. You know, go on the road. Go on.
Leif (37:15):
Took him 17 years to write one song.
Steve (37:17):
Okay, well,
yeah.
Leif (37:20):
he also makes chili.
Steve (37:22):
He also makes chili
and waffles, but Jenny's sick of the
waffles.
Leif (37:29):
When Georgina finds out Blair was at the camp earlier,
she decides to join Chuck for his cab ride back to the
city. A dope beat drops as Gossip Girl
closes out the episode.
Steve (37:40):
Yeah, I like that. I like oh, Blair.
And again, the. The needle
drops.
Leif (37:46):
The song. No, it's the same song from
when they did I killed someone.
Steve (37:52):
Oh.
Leif (37:53):
the kills. You are a fever.
Steve (37:55):
Yes. Yeah, I remember now. Good
throwback. Yeah.
Leif (38:00):
We close with a Gossip Girl monologue.
Oh, dear queen, heed the words of a
king. Look like an angel, talks like an
angel. The devil in disguise.
Of course, reference to the Elvis song.
Steve (38:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Leif (38:15):
So what's coming next?
Steve (38:17):
I mean, Georgina's about to go head to head
with Blair. Blair's trying to
figure, you know, they're going to. Man, there's
so much about to happen because the scheme's going to come
unfolded. I think we may have skipped the part where
Poppy comes running back in and
says to Serena, oh, my God,
like, I'm, I can't believe that Gabriel
(38:40):
just packed up everything and left. So there is the question
of is this again part of the
scheme, or is Poppy now
getting double cross. Getting. Doing a double cross,
or did she get double crossed? So, like.
So there is that bubble up
in the air. I just know one thing's for sure. Rufus broke.
Leif (39:00):
At least he's got a rich girlfriend. Rub is.
Steve (39:03):
Yep. His rich girlfriend is gonna.
Leif (39:05):
And his kids already bought him a ring.
Steve (39:06):
Yeah. The thing that he can't pay
back that he's gonna need to borrow money from his
rub. His fiance, to pay it back to his kids.
Leif (39:15):
He said he's gonna give him a check. It's gonna bounce.
Steve (39:19):
From my dad.
Leif (39:23):
Go ahead and get into some segments.
This week in fandom. we jumped into the wayback
machine to check out the television without pity forums from
2009. Hello there,
Peabody here. And this is the wayback machine
for traveling through time. And this is my boy
Sherman. Speak, Sherman.
Steve (39:42):
Hello.
Leif (39:43):
Good boy. The biggest sentiment,
Rufus.
Steve (39:47):
Bless your heart,
but that's your heart. Oh.
Oh, sweetie, you fought so hard for
this.
Leif (39:58):
They like the Serena's taking an active role in her
defense this season.
Steve (40:02):
Yeah.
Leif (40:02):
Sorry. I mean, at the end.
Steve (40:04):
At the end.
Leif (40:04):
Yeah. Ah. I think they might also. They also, they
have seen the promo for next week, so they, they. I think they have
some insight what's happening next week. I have
not weirdly rooting against Rufus and
Lily and hoping the money situation will blow them up for
good.
Steve (40:19):
I mean, that tracks for the fandom. They're ruthless.
Leif (40:22):
Before Nate was just dull. Now he's a creepy
asshole in addition to still being dull.
Steve (40:27):
Yeah. I'm hoping that Nate learns from this
and is less creepy and controlling
in the future. I'm hoping that this is just a knee
jerk reaction to a situation and that
he gets over this.
Leif (40:40):
So you think Nate and Blair are going to last then?
Steve (40:43):
I don't care if they do. I just,
I didn't. I got the sense she was upset. I
don't get the sense that she's necessarily ready
to leave, but I think that it just kind of makes her
torn a little more.
Leif (40:57):
Multiple people pointed out that Columbia has a requirement
for freshmen to live in the dorms.
Steve (41:01):
Most colleges do,
of course. Yeah, Here's m.
here's my dorm that I am paying for
and then here's the apartment I'm living in.
Leif (41:13):
Also, Murray Hill doesn't exactly
make sense geographically.
Steve (41:17):
I don't know where Murray Hill is in relation to the two.
Leif (41:20):
So I did look at the map. Murray Hill is like
midtown east of Bryant Park.
NYU is, like southwest of the
island, and Harlem is
northwest. Or I mean Columbia is just south of
Harlem. Northwest. The island.
Steve (41:36):
Yeah.
Leif (41:37):
So they're both on the west side, but Murray Hill's on the east side.
Steve (41:40):
Yeah. And Blair hates Murray Hill.
Leif (41:42):
Yes. Georgina's
entry was better than, the season last. People are
excited to find out what she does when she gets back to nyc.
Steve (41:50):
Yeah, I'm, I'm actually intrigued about
her right now.
Leif (41:58):
Let's move on over to episode
grades. I thought this was a
pretty good episode. They got
almost everyone of the main cast
into the same room at the party. The only ones not there
were Dan, Vanessa, and Jenny.
Steve (42:14):
Yeah.
Leif (42:15):
And that, that's. So that's the only thing keeping it from an
A. I just gave it an A minus because they couldn't
get Dan involved.
Steve (42:22):
Yeah, I, I gave it a B plus.
And I think the thing that really hurt it for
me, as I mentioned way earlier, is
the. Is the use of dramatic
irony to let me know this was a scheme
before it was unfolded as a scheme.
I didn't want to know it was a scheme.
Leif (42:40):
I mean, A minus, B plus. Pretty close. So.
Steve (42:43):
Yeah. Yeah.
Leif (42:46):
On over to stockwatch. Going up.
I had Gabriel and Poppy because their
scheme seems to be working. Dan
because, he was just,
Steve (42:55):
Was a good brother.
Leif (42:56):
Good, good, son. Jenny, for the same
reason she was, you know, good, good sister and a good
child. Severfus daughter. And
also Chuck is, he definitely out schemed Nate
on this one.
Steve (43:09):
Yeah. so I also had Gabriel and
Poppy for. For the same reason that their scheme seems to be
working. I also had Chuck
because he outmaneuvered
Nate in this and he
just sort of kept his cool the entire
time. I had Georgina going up for not
sucking the way she did the last time she was
(43:30):
on. I also had Jenny going up for
being a sweet daughter. I did not have Dan going up because
he also found out he's not going to Yale.
Fair enough.
Leif (43:40):
Going down, I had Serena.
Steve (43:43):
Yep. Rufus.
Leif (43:46):
Obvious reasons we've already talked about. Lily because
she also is getting played. And Nate for being
a creepy, controlling.
Steve (43:53):
Yeah, I had Rupus and Serena
both going down. I didn't. I did not have
Lily because I don't think
that, any investment she makes will be anything that
she misses. I don't think this is
gonna. I think she just bought it. She'll buy a sandwich with
the money, so I don't think it'll affect her as much as it will
(44:14):
Rufus.
Leif (44:14):
And, she also basically gave the endorsement
for all those other people that are going to lose money as well.
Steve (44:19):
Oh, that's true.
Okay, send her down. Yeah, because that's
like, that is her stock is how. Oh,
Lily. Fuck. Yeah. That's
all I had going down. I left Nate in the middle.
He was a controlling asshole. But I'm a Nate.
Stan.
Leif (44:39):
Moving over, to best outfits.
Steve (44:41):
But here's the best outfits from M.
The last episode we
seen.
Leif (44:49):
For me, it was Chuck's purple suit with the purple
bow tie and a pink shirt.
Steve (44:53):
And I also had a Chuck outfit. Mine was
the velour tracksuit that he wore to play
basketball. with the ascot to
match. I loved that athletic wear.
Leif (45:05):
Anything to plug this week?
Steve (45:07):
Well, mostly just you can find me if it's
still around. You can find my TikTok at Steve
Marshon. that is also my Instagram.
M A R C H I O N. And then you can find
me at the Weed wizard on Blue
Sky. And I don't really have
much else that I'm promoting at this
(45:27):
very time.
Leif (45:28):
For me, I am going to recommend the new Dexter
original sin series. the casting is
phenomenal.
Steve (45:35):
I've heard that It's.
Leif (45:36):
And you still, you still got Michael C. Hall, doing
the. The inner monologues.
So that. That's great. And
the prologue of the first episode
picks up right as new, blood was
ending.
Steve (45:52):
Oh, and I haven't seen new blood either. Oh,
yeah.
Leif (45:55):
Do you know what happened?
Steve (45:56):
No, really, it's all Paramount. I
don't have.
Leif (46:00):
Anyways, if you want to follow me on social media, you can find me
on Instagram and on Blue Sky. I'm at
Hot Capicola. That's H O T C A
P I C O L A. And
if you want to follow the podcast, we're on
Instagram TikTok threads at Non
judging Breakfast Pod. And if you want to check out
our Patreon, our Discord server, just Visit our
(46:22):
webpage www.nonjudging
breakfastpod.com.
Steve (46:27):
And if you'd like to send us an email and get in touch
with us, we'd love to hear your thoughts and read them on air.
Our email is non
judgingbreakfastpodmail.com
please. Also, while you're listening, give us a
like, give us a follow or subscribe
or leave a comment. All of those things really
boost our visibility, especially in Apple
(46:49):
podcasts. And
tell a friend what you're listening to get other people
listening. Tell people about the Non judging breakfast
podcast. Make us the water cooler talk every
week.
Leif (47:01):
And we will be back next week to Talk about Season
2, Episode 23, the Wrath
of Con, spelled C O N.
That's clever. Yes. The Max
episode description reads Blair Pressures
Georgina.
Steve (47:17):
All right. Yeah, I'm here for it. I'm here to see those two
go toe to toe with, Georgina
2.0.
Leif (47:23):
Well, until then, you know you love us.
Steve (47:26):
Xoxo.
Every time you walk away run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away M you take a
piece of m me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
(47:46):
oh, it seems I'm walking right to
your door.
My heart's.
Still resting looking for something
more.
Are.
You ever gonna see everything you mean to me?
I'm trying really hard to believe
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
(48:08):
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Never feels right when I'm out here on
my own
(48:31):
I left last night and it feels like
way too long
Are you ever gonna see everything you mean
to me? I'm trying really hard to believe
Every time you walk away or run away you take a piece
of meat with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away, you take a
(48:53):
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Come back to me
smile and you'll make my life
complete?
(49:16):
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
(49:38):
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away and run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
(50:01):
Every time you walk away or run away, you take a
piece of me with you there.
Leif (50:08):
Anything exciting happen this week?
Steve (50:12):
Go Birds. The Eagles are
going on to the, to the playoffs
next week.
Leif (50:19):
Playing the Packers.
Steve (50:21):
Yeah.
Leif (50:21):
Rematch of week one.
Steve (50:22):
Yeah, I was thinking about that. That someone's. That
someone's season is about to end the way it
began. I'm super
confident because we have a fantastic
team, but I'm not going to be too cocky because Greene Bay also
has a great team.
Leif (50:39):
They got a little banged up today.
Steve (50:40):
Did they? Greene Bay?
Leif (50:42):
Yeah, it's like, the receiver, Christian
Watson's almost definitely done for the year, and
love, hurt his throwing arm as well.
Steve (50:49):
Oh, no way. Although how many times are we going to
hear love hurts between now?
Leif (50:56):
Love hurts,
Love sinks.
Rufus and Vanessa are once again having a way too
intimate of a conversation for what the relationship should
be. I guess Kelly Rutherford was busy having a kid or
something, but she's in the episode.
As the scene ends, Rufus tells Vanessa, let's get out of
here. God damn it, Rufus. Where are you taking this girl
to the same age as your child?
Steve (00:19):
That was. Okay, so
there's a couple things to break down here, right? Like,
Kelly Rutherford was available. And in this episode,
at the same time, I. I believe
that one of the things that they're really establishing
is that Rufus doesn't want to talk to Lily about money
things and about money troubles
(00:40):
because she always offers to bail him out every
single time, and he doesn't like that. Why
are you opening up to this child?
And again, and even more, the child that
just said to you, hey, I'm just trying to spend as much time here
as I can before you sell it, because I really
like it here. And then you're like,
(01:00):
let's get out of here. Where are you going?
Leif (01:10):
Hey, Upper east siders and all you scandal loving listeners out
there, you just tuned into the non judging breakfast
pod where the coffee is strong, the
waffles are fresh, and the gossip is hotter than
ever. My name is Leif, and I'm your seasoned Gossip
Girl veteran.
Steve (01:25):
And I'm Steve, the newbie, the greenhorn, the, I
don't know, Leif. What do we call this season 2 kid
on gossip Girl?
Leif (01:33):
I'm not sure. But today's lesson is the subways for more
people and middle class professionals.
Steve (01:38):
All right, well, as long as you're going to triple my investment, you can
just take all of my money.
Leif (01:42):
Sounds good.
Steve (01:43):
So here's the deal, folks. Leaf has been watching
Gossip Girl since it first aired, and I'm diving in for the
first time. And together, we're your dynamic
duo, bringing you all the drama, romance, and
sometimes questionable fashion choices of this
iconic 2007 series.
Leif (01:59):
That's right. Each week we'll be taking a deep dive into the
show. One episode at a time. We analyze the
hidden parallels and obscure references. Plus, we'll
also be touching on all the behind the scenes gossip and some
stories from fandom.
Steve (02:12):
And, since we're all about inclusivity here at the non judging
breakfast pod, there is always room for you at our
non judging breakfast table. So go ahead and grab a
mimosa, some coffee, or maybe some of
Chuck's special medicine. And let's go ahead and get this
started. Although Nate's the one who who knows
where all the dealers in Manhattan are?
Apparently.
Leif (02:33):
Yes. Well, you gotta be able
to pick up wherever you're at, you know, you never know. You never
know when you're gonna need it.
Steve (02:40):
Oh, yeah, I understand.
Leif (02:42):
So, more news on the Blake
Lively Justin Baldoni. Baldoni has now
filed a lawsuit against, I believe it's the New York Times for
defamation of character. So either way we're going to, we're going to have at
least, probably two, at least two court cases about this and
find out what happened.
Steve (02:57):
Yeah. Because where did this start? I thought
it did it start from Blake
promoting it and they weren't happy with
how she was promoting the film. Where
is that? Where like the tension, the
post movie tension started?
Leif (03:15):
I mean, if you're going by the Baldoni
side of the story, it's
that Ryan Reynolds uses pool
to like buddy buddy up to the author who had originally
sold the rights to Baldoni, but
then the author gave final cut to Blake
Lively. All right,
and then, and then, and then during the
(03:38):
press tour, everyone basically
ignored Baldoni. Everyone else on the
movie ignored him and did not mention him at all. Unfriended
him on social media.
Steve (03:48):
Wow.
Leif (03:49):
And there was, there was
some swirling at the beginning about, about,
you know, was it sexual assault? But then the whole
groundswell came up against Blake and now
they're saying that that was a, ah, whole like
coordinated smear campaign. that's what Blake
Lively's lawsuits about.
Steve (04:07):
Right.
Leif (04:08):
So we're going to find out that. But now
tabloids and a couple of, I saw a couple
of YouTube videos as well are trying to rope Penn
Badgley into the situation. Oh, no, since he, he,
apparently he knows. He definitely does know both of them.
Steve (04:23):
Yeah.
Leif (04:24):
Data Blake. And he's, you know,
sort of, you know, friends. He's met Baldoni a
few times and Paladini was on his podcast like over
two years ago.
Steve (04:33):
Yeah.
Leif (04:34):
But there's uncredited quotes from
Pedenbagley and like tabloids
saying that, you know, he stands with
Baldoni. So now Pam Bagley is going to have to make an
official statement about this appearance.
Steve (04:48):
Yeah. Oh, wow. And yeah, and
that's funny because Penn Badgley
often also comes across as very
anti toxic masculinity. You were talking all, before
we started about how Justin Baldoni really,
that was his brand. Yeah. That's how he
established himself. And so that's
(05:09):
really interesting because I've always
kind of gotten that impression. I found Penn
Badgley also to be pretty pretentious,
but I don't think that that takes away from the fact that I feel
like he's very much one to listen to
women, you know?
Leif (05:27):
So enough about that. We're here to talk about
Gossip Girl, Season 2, Episode
22, Southern Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes Original Air Date April
27, 2009 and of course, that's, based on
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1953
musical comedy film starring Marilyn
Monroe. Also a stage play and a
(05:49):
book. Probably best known for the number.
Diamonds are a girl's best friend.
Steve (05:53):
Yeah. Yes.
Leif (05:54):
Carried a lot of places.
Steve (05:56):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Leif (05:59):
Wonderful. See us show up on Gossip Girl.
Be a great thing for 100. Episode
Episode written by Leela
Gernstein. This is her first of seven episodes
of Gossip Girl. She was in the writer's room for three years,
going from here till 2011.
also previously worked on the OC
(06:19):
and a show that I liked but not a lot of people watched
was Eli Stone. She, followed up
this with a few other writing gigs, including,
Harlow, Dixie, and, most recently credited as
a creator of a hulu show called
Saint X that released in 2023.
Steve (06:37):
All right.
Leif (06:39):
Episode was directed by Patrick R.
Norris, back for his fifth episode in the
chair. First season did Bad News Blair
and High Society. Second season did the
Serena Also Rises and It's a
Wonderful Life. A, pretty good, well directed
episodes.
Steve (06:55):
Yeah, yeah, this was. This. Yeah,
the. The directing was. It was
good.
Leif (07:03):
Why m don't you give us the Vulture recap?
Steve (07:06):
All right, here you go. The characters on
Gossip Girl are steeped in problems of, a
decidedly 2009 nature
problems most New York residents will sympathize
with. The real estate bubble, the
recession, the actions of a certain imbecile
former president, as Dan puts it, are
taking a toll on their wallets and their psyches.
(07:28):
But these outside forces have not changed their
essential nature. Like a variety of magnets
stuck in the same force field, these creatures
are forced to perform a constant dance of
attraction and are repulsed by one another
to varying degrees.
Ferromagnetic ex lovers Blair and Chuck,
for instance, find themselves suctioned
(07:50):
together at every opportunity. And though
both also feel the pull of Nate
Archibald, their connection with each other is
decidedly stronger. Georgina Sparks
is sucked away from Jesus to lock horns with her
arch enemy, Blair. Meanwhile, Vanessa,
opts to stay off the force field that
is in Brooklyn this episode.
(08:13):
So repulsed is she by her encounters
with Chuck Bass. Dan does,
too, which is a good thing for the writers,
as if young Mr. Humphrey were to set foot in
Manhattan he would no doubt be propelled towards
Serena, thereby disrupting the plot for
everyone else and making it their
sucky. another sucky episode wherein the real
(08:35):
life couple spends the whole hour
mooring at one another. And it
wasn't a sucky episode.
I keep forgetting that they're. They're still together then.
Leif (08:47):
Who?
Steve (08:48):
Pen and Blake.
Leif (08:49):
Yes.
Steve (08:50):
Yeah. So he knows her. He knows her
pretty well.
Leif (08:53):
Yes. We get into
Act 1 with the gossip Girl
narration. Eventually,
every queen finds herself in unfamiliar
territory outside the castle walls. In Blair
Waldorf's case, the Village.
Nate and Blair are walking on the streets of the East Village
home, of Blair's future school, nyu. Blair
(09:15):
is a bit squeamish about subways and being out of the
Upper east side.
Steve (09:20):
Yeah. This is when Nate's trying to show
her around.
Leif (09:26):
And so they decide to time
jump over Blair's final interview.
A chance to give us one more college interview.
Steve (09:34):
Yeah, I. I thought that was an interesting choice. That she's just
in now. Yeah, that. That. That Cyrus just pulled
the string and she's in.
Leif (09:42):
Pardon me. Would have been nice to see Cyrus again, because it's
always nice to see Cyrus. But, yeah, I would have
liked to see Blair have a composed
college interview.
Steve (09:52):
Yeah. And. And m. Get it done. And be impressive.
Leif (09:55):
Yes. Rufus is taking Dan and
Jenny shopping with his real estate money.
Rufus is in an ultra happy mood, and Dan
spies him checking out an antique engagement
ring.
Steve (10:07):
So he's got this real estate money that he doesn't
have.
Leif (10:11):
You get a truck. You get a truck.
Steve (10:14):
Because. Because I listed my
gallery at more than I thought I could list it
at. You didn't sell
it yet. You just listed it.
Leif (10:25):
Such a dumbass.
Steve (10:26):
He's. So that's why
you're only somewhere in the millions, Rufus.
Leif (10:31):
Yeah. Blair and Serena are discussing their
respective love lives. Blair calls out Gabriel as a.
As a foreigner and wants to spy on him with Serena.
Steve (10:40):
There is zero indication of Gabriel
being Southern.
Leif (10:45):
You know, he definitely has a southern accent.
Steve (10:47):
I. I didn't pick up on it at all. I didn't feel
like.
Leif (10:51):
It's not an exaggerated one, but I think he. It's
definitely there.
Steve (10:54):
Yeah, I never. I never picked up on
it. I feel like he does a southern accent about as well
as Ed does an American accent.
Leif (11:05):
Nate and Chuck are, shooting hoops and discussing Blair.
Chuck urges Nate to talk to him about her
like they used to before everything went down in season one.
Steve (11:14):
Yeah. And this is where I'm kind of like, are you working
things out, Chuck, or are you making another
play or stewing another scheme?
Leif (11:22):
I think he was actually genuine at the
beginning, but as soon as Nate pushed
him about it, he kind of. He's like,
okay, yeah, we're going to do this.
Steve (11:33):
Yeah, I kind of felt that, too.
And I get. I got it from Nate. Like, I
understood why Nate was doing that.
I don't think he had to. And I think it only
made things more uncomfortable.
Leif (11:46):
Yeah. But I got it, because I think
Chuck. He realized that he could lose
Nate this season. He definitely, I think,
learned from that.
Steve (11:55):
Yeah, I think so.
Leif (11:56):
And as we know, he is one of the three things that Chuck actually
loves.
Steve (12:00):
Yeah, four, but one he can't
admit.
Leif (12:04):
And, Chuck's athletic wear continues to impress.
Steve (12:08):
Oh, yeah, we. Yes.
Leif (12:09):
The velour track suit and the fiaschat.
Steve (12:11):
Yep. That was actually. Well,
spoiler alert. That's going to be my pick today.
Leif (12:17):
But I
wasn't pressing a good way.
Steve (12:22):
I loved it. I thought it was the
funniest thing, and I thought it was so chucked
that I had to give it a shout out.
Leif (12:31):
Mr. Charming, aka Gabriel, is wowing
Rufus and Lily with tales of leaving Big Tobacco in
favor of a more altruistic
pursuits. Gabriel ducks out, but promises
Serena that things will be different once this deal
is completed.
Steve (12:47):
So I did not. The My m.
Only complaint in this arc
right now. I don't particularly care
for the dramatic irony. I don't
care to know that this is a
scheme before it turns into
a scheme. I'm watching him talk
to Serena about this, knowing that he's doing this
(13:10):
for the. The Vander Woodsen
money and that he's going to
use Serena to get money for.
For either this investment, but more likely to just
rip her off. Right. I see this
happening. I don't know if I would see
it as clearly if
(13:30):
I didn't know it was a scheme
already. I kind of wish we didn't
know that Gabriel and Poppy are working
together.
Leif (13:39):
Yeah. It just makes Serena look dumb.
Steve (13:41):
Yes, it does. Which,
yeah, looks like.
Leif (13:48):
Blair is outside the building in spyware.
Chuck pulls up and becomes intrigued by the charade.
They spot Gabriel, exit the building, and hop into a car with
Poppy.
Steve (13:58):
You met her in front of
Serena's house. You had Poppy
roll up in front of your girlfriend's
house.
Leif (14:07):
Yeah. You're just looking to get caught.
Steve (14:08):
Yeah.
Leif (14:09):
Also, there was really bad ADR on
the explanation of Poppy.
Like, I'm not even sure if it was actually Leighton Meester saying
it.
Steve (14:19):
Oh, I didn't even catch that.
Leif (14:22):
It's probably like a writer.
Steve (14:23):
That's funny. I wonder if she said the wrong name.
Leif (14:26):
I mean, that was. I mean. Oh, and you mean and then they.
Steve (14:29):
And they dubbed it.
Leif (14:30):
Yeah, but like, the way I could tell is
because the rest of the shot, you could hear the ambience of New York
and then just suddenly like that all cuts out and you hear her
name.
Steve (14:39):
Yeah.
Leif (14:43):
we go to a commercial with another Gossip
Girl blast. And ah.
When a queen discovers her best maiden is with a
dragon disguise, the only thing to do is
pull up the drawbridge and trap it.
And we go into Act 2.
The next day, Blair is telling Serena what she
(15:03):
saw over the phone. Gabriel walks into
Serena's room. However, the scene cuts before
Gabriel can give his explanation.
Steve (15:11):
Yeah, I. I didn't really have much for this. Just
Gabriel. Go away.
Leif (15:17):
We shift back to Blair, who is now explaining
the situation to Nate. Nate finds out about Blair
and Chuck's impromptu spy mission,
Says he's fine, but his space guard is telling a different
story.
Steve (15:30):
It's so funny how often Serena lets Blair get
in her head and then doesn't right away
here that she's not trusting Blair and
Blair's instincts. Despite knowing that
Blair calls these
things a lot of the time. Like, Blair
can sniff out game knows game. So Blair
can sniff out a schemer.
Leif (15:52):
Yeah, but Serena's in love and
dumb.
Steve (15:56):
She's a.
Leif (15:56):
You know, she.
Steve (15:57):
Yeah, she.
Leif (15:58):
I mean, she's shiny object. Shiny object.
Steve (16:00):
Shiny object. Shiny
object. That is inappropriately older than me.
Leif (16:08):
Gabriel is explaining to Serena that he is still pretending
to be with Poppy because her contacts are the ones propping up
his business deal. Serena reluctantly agrees to
go along with the plan for one week
only.
Steve (16:20):
Yeah, and honestly,
sirenishative just said call me in a week.
Boom. Okay, if you're going to do this, go play your
games. Play your games with Poppy
and call me in a week.
Leif (16:32):
Are you really that horny, Serena?
Steve (16:34):
Yeah. Well.
Leif (16:36):
Well, yeah, kind of. Kind
of because you're written by a
man.
Actually, wasn't this episode written by a woman?
Steve (16:48):
It was, but the character
created. Yes, well, created
for television by a man.
Leif (16:57):
Dan is at the coffee shop explaining his cater
waiter job to Vanessa. Vanessa suggests that Dan
and Jenny should let Rufus know they support him proposing to
Lily. However, Rufus walks through the room having
an angry telephone conversation, and the kids
decide now might not be the best time.
Steve (17:14):
Yeah, yeah. Vanessa's right though.
Yeah, she had a good episode.
Leif (17:18):
I did not mind her.
Steve (17:19):
No, I thought she. Yeah, I. There's a scene
coming up that she was a part of that. We'll discuss in more
detail, but she was fine.
Leif (17:29):
Serena is trying on dresses while Blair is trying
to convince her to dump Gabriel.
Steve (17:34):
He's having her cake and eating it and eating yours,
too. So
gross. Oh, Blair.
But this is, again, like, trust Blair, because,
like, just trust her. She can
sniff this shit out.
Leif (17:50):
Rufus and Vanessa are once again having a way too
intimate of a conversation for what the relationship should
be. I guess Kelly Rutherford was busy having a kid or
something, but she's in the episode.
As the scene ends, Rufus tells Vanessa,
let's get out of here. God damn it, Rufus, where are
you taking this girl to the same age as your child?
Steve (18:10):
That was.
Okay, so there's a couple
of things to break down here, right? Like, Kelly Rutherford
was available. And in this episode, at the same
time, I believe that one of
the things that they're really establishing is that
Rufus doesn't want to talk to Lilly about money
things and about money troubles
(18:31):
because she always offers to bail him out every
single time. And he doesn't like that. Why
are you opening up to this child?
And again, and even more, the child that
just said to you, hey, I'm just trying to spend as much time here as
I can before you sell it, because I really like
it here. And then you're like, let's
(18:51):
get out of here. Where are you going? Are you
just kicking her out of the place that she has the keys
to that, or are you taking her somewhere? Are you
going somewhere with her to continue this
inappropriate conversation that you already apologized for
laying on her?
Leif (19:07):
They really needed to cast someone as one of Rufus's
bandmates.
Steve (19:10):
Yeah, Rufus needs a friend.
Rufus just needs a
fucking friend.
Leif (19:17):
Or, like, a neighbor. Anyone of, age
appropriate.
Steve (19:20):
Yeah, like Lily has. Lily has
Bex, you know, Lilia.
Yes, but somebody that she can but bounce
things off of. You know, she has a
foil that. That Rufus doesn't have, and it
always ends up being Vanessa. And it's so
weird because there's this
(19:41):
part of him that it's almost
fatherly to Venessa but
lays on her that you don't lay on your
kids.
Leif (19:50):
Well, I think that's what the actor is trying to get across. But the
writing is not helping him out at all.
Steve (19:55):
No, never.
It never helps when you have a
Rufus. Vanessa.
Leif (20:01):
The actor chemistry is not romantic, at all. It's just.
It's the situations the writers keep putting them in.
Steve (20:07):
Yeah.
Leif (20:09):
Nate is showing Chuck the apartment he is leasing
enough in the fall, which is halfway between NYU and
Columbia, sort of. Nate tells Chuck to back
off, flare. And then proceeds to pee all over the
walls.
Steve (20:22):
I. I can't blame Nate
here. But also.
Leif (20:26):
Oh, I can't.
Steve (20:28):
I. I get him Being a
jealous teenage boy.
Right. But also. Calm down, Nate.
Leif (20:36):
I mean, jealous is a feeling. Controlling is an
action.
Steve (20:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Leif (20:43):
You can't help how you feel, but you control how you act.
Steve (20:46):
Yeah, you're right.
Leif (20:47):
Chuck steps outside to take a call from Blair.
Blair recruits him to help with a takedown of
Gabriel.
Steve (20:54):
Yeah. And I mean, Chuck and Blair team ups are
really the lifeblood of the non judging breakfast
club. And those two need to
scheme together. They don't all. Even though
they can do it platonically. We've seen them do it platonically.
But they need to scheme together.
Leif (21:11):
And we go to a commercial break. Queen of
hearts or queen of heartache? Careful, Bee.
Cut off the head of one love triangle and one of your
own might grow back in its place.
At, Lily's co op meeting slash party, Blair
pulls Gabriel aside to bond with him. At the
same time, we see Chuck leading Poppy into the building to
(21:33):
reconcile with Serena.
Steve (21:35):
Yeah. And then they meet and they.
Yeah, you can go to the next one. Ah.
Leif (21:41):
Yeah. Poppy enters with Chuck and blows up.
And she blows up at, Gabriel, who makes a big show
of siding with Serena.
Steve (21:49):
Yeah.
Leif (21:49):
And they made that work for them. Pretty.
Steve (21:51):
They. They really did. They. They were right on
top of it.
Leif (21:55):
And really, they definitely outplayed Chuck and Blair there
completely.
Steve (21:59):
Completely.
Leif (21:59):
And impromptu.
Steve (22:01):
Yeah. Seemingly. Unless they had a,
if we ever get busted, this is what we do plan.
But they. But it also had to happen right
there. The Poppy investors
before that week had to pull out
so that he could go to Serena.
So I. They basically sped up their
(22:23):
timeline.
Leif (22:24):
It seems Dan comes home
to find Vanessa waiting for him with his six pack and a bottle
of vodka. Vanessa reveals her hookup with Chuck.
It sounds like she was also going to drop the bomb
about Rufus's financial status.
Steve (22:38):
Yeah. And she should, because you don't lay that on your
kid's best friend. And
I had another. I had another. I hope they're not going to bang.
And they still haven't. And I'm really glad that they really are just
being friends.
Leif (22:51):
Yeah.
Steve (22:51):
And I really want that to continue.
Leif (22:53):
Yes. The. The head to head.
Steve (22:55):
Yeah.
Leif (22:55):
Laying down. Head to head.
Steve (22:56):
Yep.
Leif (22:57):
It was very, very friendly. Very friendly.
Steve (22:59):
Friendly. And yeah,
again, I thought Vanessa was good in this
episode.
Leif (23:05):
So there's more signs of Vanessa banking Rufus Than. Than
Dan at this point.
Steve (23:13):
Like, reluctantly, like, he's my boss.
Leif (23:19):
Jenny and Rufus are walking down the street. Jenny is
parenting Rufus now.
Steve (23:24):
And also Jenny. When was
Rufus ever
supportive of you? You're like, oh, you told
me if I ever want my dreams, I've got.
To go get them.
No, he told you, stop getting your dreams and come live at
home.
Leif (23:38):
That was when she was eight.
Steve (23:40):
Yeah, when she was eight. Yeah, you can definitely live
your dreams as long as it's on my timeline.
I was baffled by that
interaction.
Leif (23:52):
Serena is talking to Gabriel about his future and
insists on helping him find new investors.
Steve (23:58):
She's such an easy mark.
Leif (24:01):
Yeah, the. The tag team. You know, two episodes with
Poppy manipulating her to go to Spain, and then.
Steve (24:07):
Yeah, she just.
Leif (24:08):
They just worked her good.
Steve (24:10):
It worked her good.
Leif (24:12):
Chuck, clearly spying on the previous conversation,
approaches Gabriel. Chuck is fishing for info on the
first night Gabriel met Serena.
Steve (24:20):
And, good for Chuck for getting his hands dirty and
going in for in the most Chuck way
possible. Give me the details.
Leif (24:29):
Nate surprises Blair by coming to the party. He
invites Blair to move in with him, to which she happily
agrees. However, Chuck approaches the pair and entices
Blair with continued scheming. Gossip Girl
quips, sometimes a queen
has to make a choice. A castle with the white knight
or a quest with a dark prince. So
(24:50):
be. What'll it be? Netflix night
with Nate or battling a beast with
bass?
Steve (24:57):
Nate needs to realize this isn't
about Chuck and Blair. It's about
Serena. And Nate should get
involved because Nate does usually get protective
of Serena.
And he's so in his head about Blair
and Chuck that he's now.
And like you said before, and he's trying to control
(25:18):
this situation and trying to control
Blair, and it's leading him
to not do what he would ordinarily
do, which is rally to help the
friend.
Leif (25:30):
One track mind. We move
into Act 3. We come back from a commercial
to see Gabriel once again charming Lillian.
Rufus, it looks like Gabriel has at least one new
investor.
Steve (25:42):
Yeah. And, at least Lily has the sense
to say I need to look it
over first. Send me
the papers. Send it to my assistant.
Let me look over it. But yeah, I'm interested.
Leif (25:57):
Yes, but you get the sense that Lily is going to do
this regardless because she wants the guy that
her daughter's dating to be seen as successful.
Steve (26:06):
Yeah, I. I totally see
that too.
Leif (26:10):
She. She couldn't give a. About the actual company.
Steve (26:13):
No, no. Or the money she's giving
to him.
Leif (26:17):
I liked what river said in the earlier scene, what do you say? It's
like, like, doing well by.
Steve (26:23):
Doing good or something?
Leif (26:28):
yeah, I'm sure Bass really cares about that. Bass Industries.
Steve (26:31):
Yeah. Yeah, they're gonna, they, they,
they'll build a hotel using the WI
fi. Like in the. Using the WI fi
money.
Leif (26:41):
Serena and Gabriel's celebration is interrupted by
Blair, who pulls Serena off to her room. Chuck
and Blair fail to convince Serena of Gabriel's
deceit. After Serena goes back to the party, Chuck points
out that there is only one person that truly
knows what happened that night.
I think they did a much better job of bringing her in this time.
Steve (27:02):
You're absolutely 100% right. But my
first watch through at that moment, I'm
like, oh, God, no, no, please, no,
please do not do this to me again. That's the
last time I'm going to say anything bad about her in this
episode because I actually agree
they did a, far better job this
time.
Leif (27:22):
Vanessa and Dan are having a pity
party. Dubya catches the stray.
Steve (27:30):
Former president.
Dan is really being a grown up about this, though.
Leif (27:37):
Yeah.
Steve (27:38):
Especially when Vanessa says, do you blame
your dad? And he goes through his list
of who he's blaming and he's like, not my dad.
My dad's probably the only person more upset than I
am. So really kudos to Dan
for how he's handling it.
Leif (27:53):
He should drink more. It takes that, takes the edge off.
Steve (27:55):
Yeah.
Leif (27:59):
Back at the party, Rufus pulls Gabriel aside and
demands to be let in on the investment.
Steve (28:05):
Rufus, stop fighting so hard
to pay for a scam.
He's so offended. And,
I felt like Gabriel really was like.
Leif (28:16):
He felt bad about it.
Steve (28:17):
Yeah, I felt like Gabriel, which is.
Leif (28:19):
Interesting, interesting kind of wrinkle.
Steve (28:21):
Well, I think Gabriel and Poppy are trying
to rip off a bunch of people who can
afford to be ripped off, who will never miss the money
and never think anything of it. And now here's
Rufus handing over his life savings and his
life's work. And Gabriel actually is
like, oh,
dude, you don't want in on this.
(28:43):
And he's like, stop looking down on me. This is how life
works. He's like, fuck, if I don't take
his money, I'm going to look like a huge
asshole and I'm going to screw this up.
yeah. So I did feel there was a moment of
conscience.
Leif (28:57):
Yes.
Steve (28:58):
From Gabriel, that it is a matter of we're going to just
rip off a bunch of rich fucks who will never know this
money's gone.
Leif (29:04):
Which is which is nice. He's not just a cartoon villain.
Steve (29:07):
Yes. And he's, to an
extent. What's the word I'm looking for? He's
almost. If any of this
scheme is true, it's almost Robin Hood,
like, you know, to take it from
taking these. This money from these rich people to
invest into something else. But I don't think there's an
(29:27):
investment.
Leif (29:28):
They're clearly just taking the run.
Steve (29:30):
They're just going to take the money and run.
Leif (29:31):
Yeah. And he's. It's not like he was poor or anything.
Steve (29:34):
No, no.
Leif (29:36):
Nate reluctantly agrees for Blair to go on another
mission with Chuck instead of going to look at the new apartment,
which is, of course, code for taking a ride to
pound town.
Steve (29:46):
I liked Blair here asking for
his trust and being like, look,
you. You can't control this all the time.
You're going to have to trust me. And he gave her
that. He gave her that trust.
Leif (29:59):
And now I want to see Doretto wearing a Mets hat.
Steve (30:02):
Facts. Also,
I. It's funny because in an earlier
episode, the captain was talking about taking him to a Yankees
game, so I've always assumed it was
a Yankees fan. Now we're learning he's a Mets fan.
Leif (30:16):
I think he's just a sports fan.
Steve (30:18):
That's. I, would, I would agree. But the fact that
it's that the Mets play almost every day,
almost three, you know, three days a week, usually
at home. So if he goes to games that
regularly, I'd think that that'd be more his team.
But you're right. I do believe that he is just an all around sports
fan. He likes sock.
Leif (30:38):
It looks like Chuck and Blair off to talk to Georgina
Sparks. We go to the commercial with
another Gossip Girl narration.
Get off your brooms, kids. We're off to see the wicked
witch of the Upper east side.
The next morning, Chuck and Blair wake up in the back of a
limo, which is parked out in the woods. Oh, look,
(30:58):
they're holding hands. We've got bullets flying
everywhere this episode. And Nancy Pelozzi catches
one. As Chuck explains, he didn't really need Blair to
be there at all.
Steve (31:08):
Nancy Pelosi air.
Leif (31:09):
I like how they both have their, like, little kits.
Steve (31:12):
Yeah.
Leif (31:12):
For cleaning up Blair.
Steve (31:15):
You can't ask for trust and then fall
asleep cuddled up in a limo. And then
when Chuck gives you his whole
speech at the end, you can't fall for
his because you were falling for his shit
in. In that moment. Her reaction of being frustrated
when he left. Yeah, Blair, you asked
(31:36):
to Be.
To.
For trust. So be.
Leif (31:38):
Be worthy of it.
Steve (31:39):
yeah. Be trustworthy.
Leif (31:41):
Chuck finds that Georgina has traded in boot camp
for Jesus camp. Omjc. M.
Steve (31:48):
I. I'm gonna say I liked Michelle
Trachtenberg a lot more this
episode. I like Georgina Sparks
more the. This scene. Initially it was
like when she. Chuck Bass. I was about to be
like, oh, no, no, no. And then
instantly, like when she started, like where
this episode takes her and her character
(32:11):
right now, where it. Where we're seeing her
at.
I really liked it. I really like it.
Leif (32:16):
They're leaning into the zany.
Steve (32:18):
Yes.
Leif (32:21):
Serena and Gabriel are lying in bed, basking in
the afterglow. Serena catches Gabriel in a lie
about the night at, butter and immediately peaces
out. She's got to go.
Steve (32:32):
Yeah. maybe next time catch him
in a lie before you bang just your
post coital. Maybe I shouldn't trust him.
Leif (32:42):
It's such a weird situation because, like, he is with Poppy
still and she's like, totally cool with this, I guess.
Steve (32:48):
Oh, yeah, because he's. Yeah, I guess
she is. Yeah, that. Sorry,
babe. I'm gonna have to bang Serena just to keep
this thing up. I, won't. I won't be able to keep it up. Well, you know,
because they were banging in Spain, so. She already
knows.
Leif (33:04):
Yeah, she knows from the. I think it was planned from
the start.
Steve (33:07):
Yeah, she left on purpose, I believe. I think
that that's why she.
Leif (33:11):
Yeah, the whole. Yeah, the whole thing was to seduce him.
Steve (33:14):
Yeah, she's. She kind of knew he'd have to
be banging Serena as part of this plan.
She's cool with it.
Leif (33:21):
Yeah.
Steve (33:22):
Poppy open.
Leif (33:24):
She likes that money.
Steve (33:25):
She likes the money more. Yeah. More than. More than
the, loyalty.
Leif (33:29):
Back at the camp, Georgina explains to Chuck how
she found Jesus. She also confirms that Serena
and her were not Butter. That the night before the SATs,
I.
Steve (33:39):
Found her to be more likable and believable.
And I. I liked the. I liked
Chuck calling our. On the. You're here
so that your parents don't send you back to
boot camp, essentially, which, I really do
believe is the case. But I
again thought that she was at least likable that
(33:59):
she puts on this front.
Leif (34:01):
Well, they're making her a new character for the
TV show Down before. In the first season.
They try to go with the book version, which was like a cross
between Serena and Blair. It's like the charisma of Serena
with the scheming of Blair.
Steve (34:14):
Yeah.
Leif (34:14):
And she just doesn't have that charisma of Serena.
Steve (34:17):
No, she does not.
Leif (34:18):
But she could be the crazy friend that just does
crazy stuff.
Steve (34:22):
Yeah, she can be the wild card.
Leif (34:24):
Yeah, she's the joker.
Steve (34:25):
Yeah. Yeah.
And again, already I like her more.
Leif (34:31):
Now that Serena's gone. Poppy busts in and
hops on top of Gabriel. It was a scheme all
along.
Steve (34:38):
Wha. Again, I wish we didn't
already know. Because we knew.
Yeah. Surprise.
Leif (34:46):
Serena calls Chuck and lets him know that he and Blair
were right about Gabriel lying, but she doesn't know
why. Chuck discovers that Blair took his limo.
Huh? And Gossip Girl has this to say.
And eventually a queen realizes that a
dark prince only has one thing on his mind,
and it ain't slaying dragons.
So she takes her pumpkin carriage and
(35:09):
goes back to the castle.
Steve (35:12):
Respect Blair for. For seeing
through the scheme at that point and then leaving, being
like, nope, I'm not dealing with this shit. Take me out of here.
Leif (35:21):
And we go into the epilogue. At
Gabriel's hotel. He and Poppy realize Serena is on to
them by. When listening to a voicemail from Serena,
who says she is coming back.
Steve (35:32):
She's a idiot.
Leif (35:34):
Rufus, not Serena, knocks on Gabriel's door
to drop off his check for the investment.
Steve (35:40):
You idiot. I wanted to come here and give it to
you in person. Go.
All right.
Leif (35:49):
Will, er go to Nate's apartment to apologize for going
off with Chuck.
Steve (35:53):
I felt like Nate was pretty adult here in
a lot of it. I felt like his. I. What
I liked is that he came clean and was like,
Look, I was jealous. I was trying to
control the situation. Trying to control you. I'm
sorry. I. I thought that he was
maybe not adult, but he was being self aware in
that moment.
Leif (36:14):
Fair. But yeah. Yeah. it was already done.
Steve (36:17):
No. Well, I mean, yeah.
Leif (36:18):
In Brooklyn, Rufus wakes up Dan
with a couple of mugs of coffee and a dad
talk. However, Jenny comes in with the ring
Rubus had been eyeing previously.
Steve (36:28):
This was sweet. But he offers to pay them
back. And with what? Rufus, you
just got schemed of all your money.
Leif (36:36):
Well, he doesn't know that yet.
Steve (36:37):
He's so confident right now.
Leif (36:41):
Things are gonna be great, man. Trip. Triple
that money. And what money? What money is he
tripling?
Steve (36:48):
the. I.
Leif (36:48):
He sold the record.
Steve (36:49):
Sold the. Yeah. Which also
go on tour, release a new album.
Go on tour. There's a market.
Leif (36:57):
I mean, releasing a new album's easier said than done, but
there's clearly a.
Steve (37:00):
Market for Lincoln Hawk. Right? So he could
go on tour, boost the value of his
catalog again. And you're right that doing an
album is hard. More than it. Harder than it sounds. But it can
be done. You know, go on the road. Go on.
Leif (37:15):
Took him 17 years to write one song.
Steve (37:17):
Okay, well,
yeah.
Leif (37:20):
he also makes chili.
Steve (37:22):
He also makes chili
and waffles, but Jenny's sick of the
waffles.
Leif (37:29):
When Georgina finds out Blair was at the camp earlier,
she decides to join Chuck for his cab ride back to the
city. A dope beat drops as Gossip Girl
closes out the episode.
Steve (37:40):
Yeah, I like that. I like oh, Blair.
And again, the. The needle
drops.
Leif (37:46):
The song. No, it's the same song from
when they did I killed someone.
Steve (37:52):
Oh.
Leif (37:53):
the kills. You are a fever.
Steve (37:55):
Yes. Yeah, I remember now. Good
throwback. Yeah.
Leif (38:00):
We close with a Gossip Girl monologue.
Oh, dear queen, heed the words of a
king. Look like an angel, talks like an
angel. The devil in disguise.
Of course, reference to the Elvis song.
Steve (38:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Leif (38:15):
So what's coming next?
Steve (38:17):
I mean, Georgina's about to go head to head
with Blair. Blair's trying to
figure, you know, they're going to. Man, there's
so much about to happen because the scheme's going to come
unfolded. I think we may have skipped the part where
Poppy comes running back in and
says to Serena, oh, my God,
like, I'm, I can't believe that Gabriel
(38:40):
just packed up everything and left. So there is the question
of is this again part of the
scheme, or is Poppy now
getting double cross. Getting. Doing a double cross,
or did she get double crossed? So, like.
So there is that bubble up
in the air. I just know one thing's for sure. Rufus broke.
Leif (39:00):
At least he's got a rich girlfriend. Rub is.
Steve (39:03):
Yep. His rich girlfriend is gonna.
Leif (39:05):
And his kids already bought him a ring.
Steve (39:06):
Yeah. The thing that he can't pay
back that he's gonna need to borrow money from his
rub. His fiance, to pay it back to his kids.
Leif (39:15):
He said he's gonna give him a check. It's gonna bounce.
Steve (39:19):
From my dad.
Leif (39:23):
Go ahead and get into some segments.
This week in fandom. we jumped into the wayback
machine to check out the television without pity forums from
2009. Hello there,
Peabody here. And this is the wayback machine
for traveling through time. And this is my boy
Sherman. Speak, Sherman.
Steve (39:42):
Hello.
Leif (39:43):
Good boy. The biggest sentiment,
Rufus.
Steve (39:47):
Bless your heart,
but that's your heart. Oh.
Oh, sweetie, you fought so hard for
this.
Leif (39:58):
They like the Serena's taking an active role in her
defense this season.
Steve (40:02):
Yeah.
Leif (40:02):
Sorry. I mean, at the end.
Steve (40:04):
At the end.
Leif (40:04):
Yeah. Ah. I think they might also. They also, they
have seen the promo for next week, so they, they. I think they have
some insight what's happening next week. I have
not weirdly rooting against Rufus and
Lily and hoping the money situation will blow them up for
good.
Steve (40:19):
I mean, that tracks for the fandom. They're ruthless.
Leif (40:22):
Before Nate was just dull. Now he's a creepy
asshole in addition to still being dull.
Steve (40:27):
Yeah. I'm hoping that Nate learns from this
and is less creepy and controlling
in the future. I'm hoping that this is just a knee
jerk reaction to a situation and that
he gets over this.
Leif (40:40):
So you think Nate and Blair are going to last then?
Steve (40:43):
I don't care if they do. I just,
I didn't. I got the sense she was upset. I
don't get the sense that she's necessarily ready
to leave, but I think that it just kind of makes her
torn a little more.
Leif (40:57):
Multiple people pointed out that Columbia has a requirement
for freshmen to live in the dorms.
Steve (41:01):
Most colleges do,
of course. Yeah, Here's m.
here's my dorm that I am paying for
and then here's the apartment I'm living in.
Leif (41:13):
Also, Murray Hill doesn't exactly
make sense geographically.
Steve (41:17):
I don't know where Murray Hill is in relation to the two.
Leif (41:20):
So I did look at the map. Murray Hill is like
midtown east of Bryant Park.
NYU is, like southwest of the
island, and Harlem is
northwest. Or I mean Columbia is just south of
Harlem. Northwest. The island.
Steve (41:36):
Yeah.
Leif (41:37):
So they're both on the west side, but Murray Hill's on the east side.
Steve (41:40):
Yeah. And Blair hates Murray Hill.
Leif (41:42):
Yes. Georgina's
entry was better than, the season last. People are
excited to find out what she does when she gets back to nyc.
Steve (41:50):
Yeah, I'm, I'm actually intrigued about
her right now.
Leif (41:58):
Let's move on over to episode
grades. I thought this was a
pretty good episode. They got
almost everyone of the main cast
into the same room at the party. The only ones not there
were Dan, Vanessa, and Jenny.
Steve (42:14):
Yeah.
Leif (42:15):
And that, that's. So that's the only thing keeping it from an
A. I just gave it an A minus because they couldn't
get Dan involved.
Steve (42:22):
Yeah, I, I gave it a B plus.
And I think the thing that really hurt it for
me, as I mentioned way earlier, is
the. Is the use of dramatic
irony to let me know this was a scheme
before it was unfolded as a scheme.
I didn't want to know it was a scheme.
Leif (42:40):
I mean, A minus, B plus. Pretty close. So.
Steve (42:43):
Yeah. Yeah.
Leif (42:46):
On over to stockwatch. Going up.
I had Gabriel and Poppy because their
scheme seems to be working. Dan
because, he was just,
Steve (42:55):
Was a good brother.
Leif (42:56):
Good, good, son. Jenny, for the same
reason she was, you know, good, good sister and a good
child. Severfus daughter. And
also Chuck is, he definitely out schemed Nate
on this one.
Steve (43:09):
Yeah. so I also had Gabriel and
Poppy for. For the same reason that their scheme seems to be
working. I also had Chuck
because he outmaneuvered
Nate in this and he
just sort of kept his cool the entire
time. I had Georgina going up for not
sucking the way she did the last time she was
(43:30):
on. I also had Jenny going up for
being a sweet daughter. I did not have Dan going up because
he also found out he's not going to Yale.
Fair enough.
Leif (43:40):
Going down, I had Serena.
Steve (43:43):
Yep. Rufus.
Leif (43:46):
Obvious reasons we've already talked about. Lily because
she also is getting played. And Nate for being
a creepy, controlling.
Steve (43:53):
Yeah, I had Rupus and Serena
both going down. I didn't. I did not have
Lily because I don't think
that, any investment she makes will be anything that
she misses. I don't think this is
gonna. I think she just bought it. She'll buy a sandwich with
the money, so I don't think it'll affect her as much as it will
(44:14):
Rufus.
Leif (44:14):
And, she also basically gave the endorsement
for all those other people that are going to lose money as well.
Steve (44:19):
Oh, that's true.
Okay, send her down. Yeah, because that's
like, that is her stock is how. Oh,
Lily. Fuck. Yeah. That's
all I had going down. I left Nate in the middle.
He was a controlling asshole. But I'm a Nate.
Stan.
Leif (44:39):
Moving over, to best outfits.
Steve (44:41):
But here's the best outfits from M.
The last episode we
seen.
Leif (44:49):
For me, it was Chuck's purple suit with the purple
bow tie and a pink shirt.
Steve (44:53):
And I also had a Chuck outfit. Mine was
the velour tracksuit that he wore to play
basketball. with the ascot to
match. I loved that athletic wear.
Leif (45:05):
Anything to plug this week?
Steve (45:07):
Well, mostly just you can find me if it's
still around. You can find my TikTok at Steve
Marshon. that is also my Instagram.
M A R C H I O N. And then you can find
me at the Weed wizard on Blue
Sky. And I don't really have
much else that I'm promoting at this
(45:27):
very time.
Leif (45:28):
For me, I am going to recommend the new Dexter
original sin series. the casting is
phenomenal.
Steve (45:35):
I've heard that It's.
Leif (45:36):
And you still, you still got Michael C. Hall, doing
the. The inner monologues.
So that. That's great. And
the prologue of the first episode
picks up right as new, blood was
ending.
Steve (45:52):
Oh, and I haven't seen new blood either. Oh,
yeah.
Leif (45:55):
Do you know what happened?
Steve (45:56):
No, really, it's all Paramount. I
don't have.
Leif (46:00):
Anyways, if you want to follow me on social media, you can find me
on Instagram and on Blue Sky. I'm at
Hot Capicola. That's H O T C A
P I C O L A. And
if you want to follow the podcast, we're on
Instagram TikTok threads at Non
judging Breakfast Pod. And if you want to check out
our Patreon, our Discord server, just Visit our
(46:22):
webpage www.nonjudging
breakfastpod.com.
Steve (46:27):
And if you'd like to send us an email and get in touch
with us, we'd love to hear your thoughts and read them on air.
Our email is non
judgingbreakfastpodmail.com
please. Also, while you're listening, give us a
like, give us a follow or subscribe
or leave a comment. All of those things really
boost our visibility, especially in Apple
(46:49):
podcasts. And
tell a friend what you're listening to get other people
listening. Tell people about the Non judging breakfast
podcast. Make us the water cooler talk every
week.
Leif (47:01):
And we will be back next week to Talk about Season
2, Episode 23, the Wrath
of Con, spelled C O N.
That's clever. Yes. The Max
episode description reads Blair Pressures
Georgina.
Steve (47:17):
All right. Yeah, I'm here for it. I'm here to see those two
go toe to toe with, Georgina
2.0.
Leif (47:23):
Well, until then, you know you love us.
Steve (47:26):
Xoxo.
Every time you walk away run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away M you take a
piece of m me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
(47:46):
oh, it seems I'm walking right to
your door.
My heart's.
Still resting looking for something
more.
Are.
You ever gonna see everything you mean to me?
I'm trying really hard to believe
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
(48:08):
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Never feels right when I'm out here on
my own
(48:31):
I left last night and it feels like
way too long
Are you ever gonna see everything you mean
to me? I'm trying really hard to believe
Every time you walk away or run away you take a piece
of meat with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away, you take a
(48:53):
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Come back to me
smile and you'll make my life
complete?
(49:16):
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
(49:38):
piece of me with you there?
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away and run away you take a
piece of me with you there
Every time you walk away or run away you take a
piece of me with you there
(50:01):
Every time you walk away or run away, you take a
piece of me with you there.
Leif (50:08):
Anything exciting happen this week?
Steve (50:12):
Go Birds. The Eagles are
going on to the, to the playoffs
next week.
Leif (50:19):
Playing the Packers.
Steve (50:21):
Yeah.
Leif (50:21):
Rematch of week one.
Steve (50:22):
Yeah, I was thinking about that. That someone's. That
someone's season is about to end the way it
began. I'm super
confident because we have a fantastic
team, but I'm not going to be too cocky because Greene Bay also
has a great team.
Leif (50:39):
They got a little banged up today.
Steve (50:40):
Did they? Greene Bay?
Leif (50:42):
Yeah, it's like, the receiver, Christian
Watson's almost definitely done for the year, and
love, hurt his throwing arm as well.
Steve (50:49):
Oh, no way. Although how many times are we going to
hear love hurts between now?
Leif (50:56):
Love hurts,
Love sinks.
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