S02.E01: Deb Brawl in a Blue Dress

[TeeVee329]

The bitch(-ing about "Gossip Girl") is back!  With a pretty decent premiere, I thought.

It definitely feels like the creative team got a note to soap it up and speed it up.  Having Julien learn of Monet's scheme to go to war with her happened much sooner than I was expecting, and the shoving match between them (with Zoya and Shan jumping in) descending into a sea of debs scrapping with each other was fun.

And I like that they recentered the conflict between Julien and Zoya to be more about their differences - in upbringing, in personality, in ambition - goosed by their new living situation and Zoya's jealousy over Nick's growing paternal bond with Julien (which I found very sweet, btw) versus being about a guy who was definitely not worth it.

Speaking of said guy, I had to laugh when the opening montage cut away from Obie's car without even showing him and then when he was barely seen or even spoken about for the rest of the episode.  It's like they know how much the character/actor doesn't work, just ship him off to boarding school, I say.

At first, I was feeling bad for Max because Audrey and Aki were clearly if perhaps unintentionally bruising his feelings, and for myself because the idea of the storyline being about keeping it a secret versus exploing how a polyamrous relationship works was not what I wanted to see.  But then Max's chats with Luna (I still love their side friendship, btw) helped recontextualize Audrey and Aki's actions for me the same way it did for Max.  I liked that they ended the episode in an okay place.  Also?  That shot of Aki about to, um, finish on his partners was rather racy, yes?

I wasn't sure about Shan being made a regular since we saw her in one and a half episodes last year, but I was into her this episode.  It's smart to give Zoya a friend outside the main social circle (something, for example, Little J never had) and her rapid-fire retorts were fun (i.e. the one about knowing a guy who could kidnap and reprogram Julien).

Kate continues to suck, as a person and as Gossip Girl.  I liked Jordan calling her out on her mission to help the kids or whatever she claims Gossip Girl is about this week being a total crock now that she's all focused on Camille de Haan.  Her using Nick to get into the deb ball while still judging him for his moral failings was crappy.  And while I'm guessing they're going to bone eventually, I liked that new teacher in Camille's pocket being a thorn in her side all episode.

Have we seen that kid Harris before, the one who complimented Jordan's overalls and then was a bitch who loves drama to Audrey at the restaurant she, Aki, and Max were at?  He was fun, keep him in the mix.  I also liked the Serena and Blair analogs from the other school morphing into Monet's minions with the meta toned down.

Finally, no Georgina. :(  I didn't think she would be in the premiere, but I hope she's in the mix soon.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Do you know exactly what time the episodes are uploaded?  They weren't there at midnight last night EST, but they were there when I checked around 11 AM EST this morning.

[Ms Blue Jay]

4 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

And while I'm guessing they're going to bone eventually, I liked that new teacher in Camille's pocket being a thorn in her side all episode.

Pico Alexander!

[Primal Slayer]

I see the writers havent really learned anything from last season. I want to enjoy the show but it still feels really bland with next to nothing being earned. 

Julien vs Monte just has no real meat to it, especially Monet having the power to exorcise ANYONE from school. They made everyone who goes to Constance a bunch of red shirt sheep...are there no seniors in this school with power? Is NYC not filled with anyone else with celeb parents who can easily outshine anyone of them? 

They are sticking everyone with their respective pairs thus far instead of branching out, the throuple having nothing else to do but have throuple drama is  even more annoying than love triangles.

[peachmangosteen]

On 12/1/2022 at 4:08 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Do you know exactly what time the episodes are uploaded?  They weren't there at midnight last night EST, but they were there when I checked around 11 AM EST this morning.

I am assuming it's midnight pst/3 am est.

I swear, I can never understand anything that is happening lol. Like, I can hear what they're all saying but I can not make out what any of it actually means. I was about to just say fuck it and tap out but Davis showing up at the ball and the subsequent chaos reeled me back in. I'll at least watch ep 2.

I think my fave part was actually Obie, after being MIA, randomly walking in and just going 'nope' and walking right back out.

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

I am assuming it's midnight pst/3 am est.

Thank you.  I think you must be right.