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Is it sad that I miss how pretty Kristin used to be? Especially on Laguna. She's always been tiny but the 10-15 pounds she's dropped since then have made a real difference. Her face, in particular, was so much more full. Now she's borderline gaunt. Her neck and arms :/ I just want her to lock her in a room with burgers, ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad, and let home girl go to town. As for the show, I'm struggling to stay engaged. Jay is eh and I can't tell any of the women apart except the redhead. I miss LC, Lo, Stephen, and the gang. Hell, I even miss Heidi at this point. Can they just bring the old crew back and get rid of these chicks?

Rewatch update (I'm in the middle of S4): At the beginning of S4, there's a scene where Dan is taking care of Milo and believes Georgina is at a spa. He reads Gossip Girl and is genuinely shocked to find that she's at St. Bart's. What-the-fucking-fuckery show? Does Dan have blackouts? Does he have a mental illness? Fuckyoushowthatmakesnodamnsense!! Chuck living in Paris and later NYC with Fleur Delacour was so, so bad. I watched GH back in the day and it legit reminded me of when Sonny got shot and was "rescued" and nursed back to health by Angel Boris. Angel and Fleur had nearly the same sugary/insipid personality. I laughed during the scene in which Blair was "mean" to her at the boutique. So hilariously dumb and heavy-handed. Blair in the red dress. In the Oscar de la Renta red fucking dress. Running to stop Chuck from getting on the train. I'm not sure I've ever seen her look more stunning. Speaking of that scene - there's a reason why so many people adored that pairing and it's written all over that moment. Blair tells Chuck, "I don't love you anymore" but her eyes and his both say how deeply and achingly they're still so connected and drawn to each other, and so very, very much in love. Leighton and Ed played all-consuming love so well. I loved Serena, but holy crap, the three-guys-in-love-with-Serena story was just awful. She looked and was horribly fickle throughout that story. She would be confronted by Dan, Nate, and the professor multiple times on who she was "choosing" and she'd stand around gaping. Oh, what shall I do, all the mens want me?! Why, why, why? This was breezed through in the series, but what Georgina did to Dan was beyond fucked up. As critical as I was of Dan throughout, due to his seemingly endless self-righteousness and hypocrisy, he didn't deserve that shit. He believed Milo was his, loved him, helped raise him, Georgina rolls out to "a spa" (messaged via post-it and actually a LIE as she was at St. Bart's as aforementioned) and returns and tells him the kid isn't his? I know most people felt Georgina was a "fun bad girl" but I couldn't stand her after that. This is at the end of S2 but there's a moment where Blair is voted prom queen (due to Chuck's machinations) in which Serena is so genuinely happy for her in the crowd and it's just so beautiful. Serena's unconditional love and support for Blair despite her schemes, jealousy, their fights, etc, was a huge, huge reason why I continued to love her despite her nonsensical stories. The GANG GETS TOGETHER TO TAKE DOWN JULIET at the opening night of the ballet. YES YES YES. This is why I loved this show. No matter what was going on with Nate, Blair, Serena, & Chuck, they would always unite to fight a common enemy. Because they are family. LOVE IT!

I think fans were into Dair for a multitude of reasons. Some of it was due to indifference/dislike of Serena and love of Blair, and all of the justifications you stated. I think a lot of it was due to being way, way over the rigmarole of Dan/Serena (who had lost the charm and appeal they had seasons before) and Chuck/Blair, who had become infuriating and toxic to some. People were tired of Blair begging to be with Chuck and his being an asshole to her in return. I got that. Also, it's always intriguing when two people who find each other despicable find a common ground, become friends, and eventually fall for one another. Dair had good chemistry and common interests, and their scenes were engaging. I enjoyed their friendship. If Dan was a character who had been on the edge of the crowd like Carter or Vanessa and had no involvement with Serena, I wouldn't have had a problem with them. I would have continued to want Chuck and Blair, but I could have dealt with them. My overriding issue with them was the Dan/Serena relationship, and that Serena was still in love with Dan. I could not get past that. I didn't care what happened on Dawson's or 90210; I loved Serena and Blair as best friends and I could NOT see Blair doing that to her. If the tables were turned, and Serena and Chuck fell for one another, Blair would be tearing them to shreds and I'd be right with her. Because HELL NO. No, no, no, no, NO.

I still like the show (I think) or I could be hanging on for the characters I love. I'm not even sure at this point. I've loved every incarnation of Avery - from the snarky, fame-crazed dude who shit on his band to lost-it-all/self-aware Avery to Juliette's roadie and best friend (I LOVED THAT PERIOD SO MUCH) to Juliette/Avery as a pairing. I shipped that couple so hard but I'm not sure there's anything left of them to ship. Last season was blah in general but I sooo loved seeing them together and happy as a pairing (rando ep of Juliette being jealous of gospel singer chick notwithstanding). But the shit this season? With Juliette rolling out on her family to Bolivia for that cult? I just feel wiped out. What I'm saying is that I actually kinda like Avery with Alannah. They have some chemistry and it's nice to see Avery smile and laugh a little. I think the Gunnar aspect is fucked up but I chalk it up to Avery being vulnerable and sad and lonely. It's not right, but it's understandable. He's been left by Juliette so many times; I'm legit shocked that poor Cadence doesn't think Emily and Avery are her parents at this point. I really can't blame him for reaching out to someone who is there for him right now. I wish I could drum up more of an interest in the other stories. Scarlett and the PTSD singer barely register for me. Will's steroid story is a blip. Maddie Kardashian is blech and I'm just tapping my foot, waiting for her to dump CountryBieber for the best friend. Daphne is a sweetie and I love her voice, so that's something. The family stuff with Deacon, I like. Jessie and Deacon should split so she can keep her kid. But I just don't care. I watched this show largely for Avery/Juliette, Avery/Gunnar/Will bromance, Jeff's craziness (RIP Jeff), and Rayna with Deacon and the girls. I feel like I'm barely hanging on at this point.

I watched GG in real time but I've lately started to re-watch the series. High points: Chuck & Blair, with a particular emphasis on S1-3. I spent a lot of time cursing Chuck on Blair's behalf, but I loved them as a pairing and never truly stopped wanting them together. Carter Baizen, i.e., the guy Serena had the most chemistry with by far. If only the show had kept him around longer, he was so pretty to look at and I really enjoyed his (unfortunately) brief pairing with Serena. Serena/Blair - loved their friendship, especially early on in the series Dan/Serena - S1 & the very beginning of S2, only. Whatever made them appealing evaporated after that, mostly due to Dan becoming more and more self-righteous and judgmental, as well as hypocritical (not to mention, falling for her best friend and being mean asf.) Juliet/Nate - this was pretty much the only Nate pairing I liked, sad to say. He actually had good chemistry with Jenny but I couldn't get into that pairing. Nate just looked way too old for her back then (I think CC was 21 at the time and TM was 14, and it showed.) Nate as a friend to all. Again, Nate in a romance never did much for me, but I loved him as a friend to everyone, especially to Chuck and Dan. Lily's relationship with Chuck - I thought she was actually more maternal to him than she was toward Serena at times Chuck/Blair feuding during S4 (I actually really loved this period, felt very much in character for both and was fun to watch) The UES (+ sometimes Dan) crew's annual "Let's all get together to save [insert character/usually Serena]" couple of episodes. I just generally loved how they all had each other's backs regardless. It was always so much better when they would unite against a common enemy rather than sniping at each other. The friendships of the series were perhaps the best thing about the show, aside from Chuck & Blair as a pairing. Low points: Jenny, disliked her almost from the start and was incredibly happy to see her go. She was a whiny, power-hungry bitch of a wannabe, and was enormously full of shit in S3 when she became "queen". She fucked over everybody who was nice to her (usually Eric), and always made excuses for her behavior. Someone "forced" her to be the way she was (usually Blair). She never owned her shit and was just as awful as Blair (who ALWAYS got her comeuppance when she went too far), as opposed to Jenny, who always got saved, usually by Dan or Nate. The good girl act with her was bullshit - she wasn't good, she was a raging bitch and I was always, ALWAYS happy whenever Blair smacked her down. IVY and everything about that horrible story Vanessa - other than being very, very pretty, she brought nothing to the table to me. Was basically a female Dan - sanctimonious and judgmental. They were actually perfect for each other. Rufus/Lily - ALWAYS found them to be a dull, drippy snoozefest. They were fine when they were strictly supporting/side characters but I never really cared for any of their drama as a pairing. Bart back from the grave/Chuck's mom story Chuck/Blair/Jack/hotel Dan/Blair becoming romantic - liked their friendship but hated, hated when it went romantic and found it to be such a betrayal of Serena. Actually tuned out for a while because of this pairing. Dan/Serena reuniting. Hated this after Dan/Blair. Derena were absolutely destroyed by then, I saw no chemistry, no desire from Dan to be with Serena, nothing. Awful, awful reunion, should have never happened. But, #1 with a bullet was Dan as Gossip Girl. Unless Dan had serious mental problems, including some sort of dissociative disorder, this made zero sense whatsoever. Many times, Dan would sit in front of his computer, shocked over a GG post. Again, unless Dan has blackouts or some sort of mental issue, that shit is not explainable.

That was seriously intense. Of course the dragon Daenerys named after her abusive, dickwad brother was the first to go. Poor thing, tho. Now the NK has an ice-fucking-dragon. What a horribly stupid plan with disastrous results. I did really, really love Jon and Daenerys at the end. His refusal to let go of her hand was adorable. Wtf are they doing to Arya? Why did she hand that dagger to Sansa at the end, is she expecting her to cut off her face? I don't get this Winterfell story AT ALL. Seems completely out of place in the midst of the real dangers beyond the Wall. I'm hoping it's a fakeout, intended to draw in LF to his demise. If not, Arya looks like a complete psycho.

I loved the Mallory/Jeff arc. From his being her shy French tutor to their breakup at Princeton with Mallory in hysterics and Alex walking out on his interview to take care of her. SOMUCHLOVE for all of those episodes. Loved the Alex/Ellen 2 parter; the early Nick/Mallory eps in S4, including the one in which he transforms himself into an Alex-clone; the ep where River Phoenix is a child genius who crushes on Jennifer; Jennifer-as-Valley-girl; and the ep in which Alex won't let the Russian Chess player throw their chess match. "There was a kangaroo in my living room," is one of the funniest lines ever. Michael Gross rocked that ep.

I, too, come to this thread to begrudgingly admit how tender, sexy, and smoking hot I found the Cole/Allison love scene. Allison is an absolute shit show - wtf was that with the peanut butter?? - but I find her scenes with Cole compelling and interesting. They truly do have awesome chemistry. That said, the chick AT BEST seriously contemplated hurting his wife with the peanut butter (at worst, she went ahead and put it in the frosting - who knows??), and is still really fucking messed up. Not to mention the fact that she cheated on him with the biggest douchebag in the world and married him, passing off Cole's child as his for two years. She is a truly horrifying mess and I feel badly for Luisa that she has been pulled into all of this crap, and that Cole just fucked her over. (Still love Cole, tho. But I have a huge JJ bias.)

Peter is Peter so his nom does not surprise me. What I don't get is what Emilia is doing to get noms every year. I don't think she's terrible, but I've not seen anything noteworthy that she's done dramatically. Meanwhile Sophie continues to be overlooked. Ah well. Congrats to everyone else, especially Kit, who is often seen as a pretty face/sex symbol, and not given credit for the work he does.

I find Rafe Spall pretty charming and I rather like his chemistry with the actress who plays Kelly Ann. That's...about it. Would be surprised if this show lasted long. It's not very good and I think I'm only watching it to fill the Game of Thrones Sunday void.

*sits next to you* Love, LOVE their scenes and the actors have a ridiculous amount of chemistry together.

I still love Jaime/Brienne even though Jaime is a continual disappointment. Brienne is in love with the man she believes he can be, and I believe he cares for her. Her opinion of him matters. I actually believe he may even love her but is way, way too screwed up over his obsession with Cersei to see it. Unfortunately, it's that obsession with Cersei which dictates his actions and won't allow him any lasting growth. I hated who Jaime was in S1, and thought I would always hate him after what he did to Bran. But I saw self-awareness, complexity, and honor within him during his time with Brienne and after he lost his hand, and I did come to like him. Now I'm just disappointed. I can't even hate. He's just too pathetic for it. Tobias Menzies is awesome, glad GOT gave him a little something to chew on this episode. I'm THRILLED Arya's time in Braavos is over. Hoping she arrives in Winterfell in time to drive Needle through Ramsey's...well...whatever he is using that passes for a heart.

It cracked me up that Edd kept asking Jon if that was really him. That EXACT question has been on my mind since last week. After Jon's mic drop, I was left wondering where he was going, and the only thing I can think is that he's off to find his family. I'm excellent with that; I hope he makes his way to Winterfell and takes out that psychotic POS who now has his little brother. I wonder if the Red Witch will follow him? I'm hoping Davos does. I wasn't as crazy about DoogieHowserNed as I was about LittleNed, but I liked that he seemed to hear/sense Bran. So Bran is not just glimpsing into the past, a part of him is present there as well. Very cool. As much as I wanted to see Lyanna and find out why she was screaming, I like the way all of this is unfolding. (As opposed to Arya's story, which I haven't found interesting since S2, or Daenerys', which hasn't consistently engaged me since S1 - although I did like she and Tyrion together last season). I'm actually happy for Theon, that he made it back to the Iron Islands, i.e., the previews. I was terrified that Umber had found he and Sansa and were bringing them back. But, no, yet another House fucks over the Starks. Poor Rickon. And Shaggydog is gone now, too. :*( Oh, Olly. Smug little pissant til the very end. Deuces! So glad Sansa is back next week.

What I don't understand is how Claire can be okay with Mary marrying BJR, given the psychotic, raping bastard she knows him to be. Mary, who was just assaulted and raped; whom she knows to be in love with his brother. All was gravy when they thought BJR was dead; why have things changed b/c she remembered he married Mary? She ALWAYS knew he was Frank's ancestor; why was BJR's death okay before but not now? Is she thinking that as soon as someone runs a blade through BJR's heart, Frank will collapse and die on the streets of 1945? I feel awful for Alex and Mary. They are sweet and in love, and don't deserve this bullshit.

Having just been introduced to the series (binge-watched this week) these are my perhaps? unpopular opinions: I love Frank, and, what's more, I think it's more difficult to play a character like Frank than it is to be Black Jack Randall. There is a wealth of material in playing the psychotic, twisted BJR; it's the kind of role that is made for award-winning, so deliciously evil and manipulative it is. Frank, otoh, is an everyman scholar who is, very simply, desperately in love with his wife and the idea of a happily ever after. So much of his belief in happiness is tied up in a future with Claire, and it's so awful and heartbreaking to see him hope, to see the light enter his eyes at the thought of them together, when his wife is wanting someone else. I am absolutely amazed by TM's ability to play both characters so extraordinarily well. What I believe may actually be unpopular, is that I love Jamie and Claire as well. I adore all three characters and want things to work out well for all of them. While I find TM the superior actor of the trio, I am completely won over by the way SH portrays Jamie's love for Claire in such a beautifully earnest, innocent way. Even after all that has happened to him, there is still a boyish sweetness to Jamie that I find wonderful and joyous to watch. As for Claire, what I find most fascinating about her are the qualities that get her in trouble - the stubborn nature, fierce independence, the outspoken tongue. I love that she's smart and capable and passionate; I love the spirit of the adventurer, the wanderer that lives within her.

Jon being back and the littleNed flashback was so wonderful that I could just cry. Finally, the Starks get a win for once.

I took the bright light to mean that Quinn's spirit was crossing over to heaven. He could never leave the darkness of being a government assassin and now he's free. sigh... Before that scene, I was thinking Quinn would wake up with no memory of who he was, that he'd be Peter Bourne next season, on the run from everybody and kicking major ass. I would have loved that. *goes back to sobbing on the couch*

I'm still crying. I can't move from the couch. So they torture Quinn all season and then kill him off? WTFFFF?

Welp, I'm done. I'm off somewhere to curl up and sob for the rest of the night. Quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!

I am curious as to what Carrie feels for Quinn at this point. I love the scene of her watching him on TV, her stumbling, ugly-cry slays me. And the scene of Carrie crying by the glass was...lover-ly. But I've never been certain of what she feels for Quinn, perhaps it's just now dawning on her what he means to her? Dar had one of my favorite reactions - I'm genuinely surprised to see that he cared for him beyond being his soldier. I loved F. Murray in that moment. The gang is back together...and all it took was Peter nearly dying. Sigh.

Yeah, I think she pumped the breaks because she didn't want to be an ONS, not because she didn't want to fuck Noah. She showed up at his door and then shifted their interaction into flirtation with, "Where were you all night?" Then after spending quite a long time kissing/dry humping him, she claimed they have a long tour and stopped things. She knows exactly what she's doing, that one. And Noah is just the idiot assmuch to fall for it. I can't believe I saw so much human decency in Noah in Helen's POV, only to have it all negated in Noah's. Helen truly sees the best in him, and Noah sees himself at his most scummy and insecure. Oh, and I hated the critic. Noah is a douche but that critic was an insufferable tool. I actually wish Noah had connected. This was the first episode in which I genuinely liked Whitney. She came across as more of a full-fledged character, instead of the spoiled teen archetype. I also liked Noah's idea of allowing her to defer for a year and pursue a modeling career. Again, the Noah of Helen's POV is a reasonable, decent human being who is not a half bad writer (I was surprised to find that I rather liked the passage he read). Whereas, in his own POV, he is...Bruce Butthole.

Carrie in the parking lot with During was the best bit of acting Claire Danes has done this season. She was so raw, so heartbroken. Saul not believing in her, not being there for her, knifed her deeply. Add to the fact that as far as she knows, the man who has been unfailingly loyal to her, who has continued to protect her, is probably dead in a ditch somewhere, she just broke. That was such an awesomely well done scene, especially the shots of Carrie half-hidden behind the pillar. It's moments like those that remind me of why I still root for her, despite that fact that she can be a maddeningly difficult heroine at times. So, I suppose Saul was really being played and there's no long con between he and Dar? I guess something happened 30 years ago between Dar and Saul, and as a result, Dar has never fully trusted him? I still don't know that I buy all of that but I'm glad he got the docs and that he's helping Carrie. I love Quinn so much that my Quinn-love totally began to extend to the dude who saved his life and had his back against the jihadists. Only Quinn (and maybe John McClane) could be recovering from a gun shot wound, after just having undergone a blood transfusion, stitches in his side, and, yet, still be so wonderfully bad ass in taking out a jihadist. I just love him. All he wanted was to pass by. He asked so humbly. Yet, dude had to make things so complicated. Ah well.

This was a really awesome Helen episode. I thought she was great in both working out a compromise with Noah regarding custody and the divorce, and finally standing up to her mother. I don't think she can lay the destruction of her marriage at her mother's feet, but, every time she let her mom's bitter diatribes against Noah get inside her head, it chipped away at what she and Noah were trying to build. It was good of Helen to acknowledge this, so that she doesn't continue to make the same mistakes in the future. She needs to step to her dad on this issue as well. The kids weren't horrible spoiled brats this episode! Whitney hugging her mom and getting the cake for Martin was really quite sweet. It is interesting that when things started to turn around between Helen and Noah regarding custody, the kids began behaving better in the eyes of both Noah and Helen. Much of this can probably be attributed to Martin's illness, but still, pretty interesting. I am curious as to why Helen is so determined to get Noah off that she's ready to sell the house to get whatever evidence Oscar says he has. She's willing to shell out 100K? Wow. I had to LMAO at Noah's half. Coming back into Allison's life after being away from her for six weeks, all "Let's get the fuck out of here". Physically yanking her out of her yoga class. He is such a douchebag that I had to laugh at it all. And now she's pregnant. This show has veered into the soap realm...I don't think I mind it, though.

Yeah, I don't get it either. "There's something in the documents they don't want Carrie to see?" Huh? Is there some kind of code enmeshed in the docs that only Carrie in her superspydom can crack? Watching Quinn stagger around the streets with a bullet hole in his side, looking for the best way to kill himself, tore at my heart. I'll go with the idea that the fever and infection brought on by his sepsis led him to this state; I don't think he'd give up on himself so easily, otherwise. But, we get it, show: Quinn loves Carrie. He is deeply, tragically, heart-achingly in love with Carrie. Even Jonas was all, "Er...I don't know that I'd do all that for her...?" But, our Quinn is ready to throw himself off a bridge for Ms. Mathison. Sigh. I sure hope Dar and Saul are playing the long con, because I'm not certain I buy Allison playing Saul this way. They've been intimate, and apparently have a relationship. Surely, he'd have picked up on something by now with her.

This may have been my favorite episode of this series. I am no Helen fan, but she rocked it on the steps of her home. ROCKED IT OUT. Maura Tierney was astonishingly good. I had not been able to truly connect to Helen, but I did tonight. She could not have been more dead on in her appraisal of Noah, and it was all delivered so beautifully, with a sort of controlled vulnerability. Cole is back, and I just couldn't love him more. I love him with Luisa; I loved him being kind of grumpy and morose with her. They were charming together. Hell, I even love him with Alison. For all of his being a mess (as everyone on this show is), there is a warmth and genuine caring to him that I find endearing. Scotty is such an ass; I am mildly curious about who ran him down, although at this point, I'm wondering if the town got together and paid someone to do it. He just sucks.