Tonight’s Gossip Girl had all the elements for a great hour of my favorite guilty pleasure: more Jenny/Eric feuding, tons of Chuck and Blair moments, near-death drama, big reveals, and scandalous secrets. It could have been the perfect episode but things sort of went limp toward the end.
The interesting aspect is that the thing I absolutely loved about this episode also lead to what I absolutely hated. After a tense argument with the untrustworthy Trip, the duo almost run into some wolves (?) and get in a pretty nasty car wreck. In a distasteful throwback to Ted Kennedy, our Senator Van Der Bilt decides to call an ambulance but otherwise leave Serena on the verge of death. He even goes as far as moving her to the position of driver so it appears she was alone. But this brings us to one of the best moments this episode had to offer: everyone dropping their lives and rushing to the hospital. There’s always something reassuring about the fact that even though these characters fight constantly and that some generally hate each other, they still truly care about one another. The tears almost started pouring when Chuck and Vanessa were two among the men to rush to her side, especially considering pne has had her qualms with Serena and the other is a quasi-soulless individual. This show can clearly be melodramatic and far too gossipy (for lack of a better word) so it’s reassuring to have the writers bring it back to reality and show some general human kindness.
But then something horrible happened, and as is the case with most Gossip Girl episodes, the kindness was really just a ploy to solve or create more problems. The show is clearly heading on break for a few weeks as made evident but the quick reconciliations of story lines (see Jenny and Eric make up even though Jenny is still a raging bitch and Eric is much better, see Dan confess his love for Vanessa but her blowing it off as post traumatic craziness, see Serena smile at the adorable Nate in realization that he is the better man than his nasty cousin, and see Chuck and Blair make-up and Chuck finally deal with father’s death). Not to mention, this episode also set up several overly dramatic plots for the spring season (see Rufus contemplating leaving Lily after discovering the mysterious letter from Serena’s dad, see Jenny get knee-deep in drug dealing, see Chuck’s MOM?!?!?!…well maybe).
On second thought, this is why Gossip Girl is amazing. Regardless of the melodramatic plots and ridiculously hasty reconciliations, it’s still one of the most entertaining hours of television.
Most adorable moment of the night: Nate punching Trip in the face to the sounds of Gossip Girls wonderful quote, “Spotted: the fall of a politician and the rise of a hero.”
Most annoying moment of the night: Chuck’s hallucinations/visions/remembrances of his father. Really? I belive Chuck is mourning but I don’t want to question his sanity, thank you.