Gossip Girl 1x08



Blair:
Blair's church-outfit cracks me up. You can tell that she just sees her life as a movie. "Succumbed to inebriation, performed in a speakeasy, and surrendered my virtue to a self-absorbed pig." This girl cracks me up.  I wonder why she is so insistent that she needs to be with Nate. So far in the series he's cheated, ignored her, and pretty much existed in a pot-haze. The boy's cute but not *that* cute. Also, it's pretty sad that she actually does know how to be a good girlfriend - she loves him, and worries about him, knows that it's important to communicate - but when it gets to the relationship itself, she's so consumed by the rules of what she should do - make him chase her, plan the whole masqued ball - that they *don't* communicate. And she has such faith in him, and is so utterly desperate for him to love her that it kind of breaks my heart. The look on her face when she asked Chuck if he liked her was (in my mind) a mix of shocked and kind of excited/amazed.  I mean, at the base I feel like she just wants people to like her, even if it's not the guy she had initially hoped for.

Chuck/Blair:
I love how Chuck and Blair are absolutely on the same wavelength. Blair can cut through Chuck's bullshit to realize that he likes her because she knows how he operates. But she can't realize that Nate is acting so unbelievably fishy (or at least she doesn't want to admit it). How much do I adore her wrenching Chuck's head down by the hair while greeting her guests at the party? It cracked me up. And their little exchange, 'you forget who you're talking to'/ 'no, you forget who *you're* talking to!'  (or something like that) And don't even get me started on the butterflies in Chuck's stomach. I love that they have two levels to them - they can keep pace with each other's bickering and conniving, and then be sweet too. Of course, a part of me (the part that's distrustful of Chuck) is worried that Chuck is playing her - 'bad cop' telling her that Nate is using her, 'good cop' giving her the necklace and acting sweet. But I like to think that Blair's got enough walls and levels of fucked-up-ness that she's aware of the possibility, and is just choosing not to go there because she's hurt and wants to be comforted and feel loved. I am really way too fond of Blair's character. Also, the look on Chuck's face when Blair walks off in tears didn't look calculating for once (although it might be my own wishful thinking). And when he kissed her shoulder!  *dies*


Nate and Chuck:
That clip in the hotel room cracked me up. I'm also pretty amused about how Chuck manipulates Nate.  "Don't cave to your parents wishes if they're not your desires." Oh god, he and Blair are made for each other, what with their mutual penchant for overblown statements. But I like how you can see Chuck torn between feeling for Nate, his best friend,  and manipulating him so that he can make a play for Blair. And of course manipulation wins out ><. I was hoping that Chuck would explain that Blair doesn't deserve to be used by Nate this, but I guess Chuck's mind doesn't really run along those lines.

Nate's family:
OK, seriously, they *still* think that if the Nate/Blair arranged marriage goes through, then Blair's mom will let a fraudulent, embezzling, cokehead handle her company? I think the whole family must be on crack. Except for Nate, who is the only adult in the whole family, which is screwed up in and of itself.

In other news:
The Humphreys did stuff...Serena had a whole Guitar Hero montage that cracked me up, and Nate stomped all over my Eric/Jenny hopes.