Gossip Girl: Caught in a Bad Romance

Things are getting awkward and dramatic in New York City for the characters of Gossip Girl , and even though this was only my third episode, it is pretty clear that this happens a lot. For instance, this week saw Dan and Olivia’s threesome with non-stranger Vanessa lead to mountains of awkwardness, and Serena’s growing crush on Congressman Tripp exploded before he could make his escape to relatively sane D.C. life.  Everyone attempts to sort their issues out with a variety of methods and just when things couldn’t get weirder, Lady Gaga shows up and puts on one of her trademark, bizarre performances.

Dan begins this episode, titled “The Last Days of Discostick,” feeling pretty good about himself. We get to see a couple details of the threesome via his memory and goofy edited shots of him strutting down the street like he’s the king of New York. However, Nate quickly sets him straight and scolds him for not using a stranger as the third person in the threesome. Nate’s warning is then proven correct when Olivia sabotages a traditional and friendly night out between Dan and Vanessa. The three of them end up with Blair in planning and performing a cabaret act with some NYU theatre club where things take a turn for the bitchy and Olivia walks out during their performance. The end of a relationship is never easy or happy, but if it means Hilary Duff will be off the show from here on out, this is one breakup that I can totally get behind.

Meanwhile at Tripp’s office, Serena and the young congressman can barely look at each other without wanting to rip their clothes off and it all starts to look pretty predictable when Tripp’s wife has to leave early for DC and asks Serena to help him pack his home office for the move. This plot point was apparently even obvious to the daft Serena so she tried to avoid Tripp until he was to leave the next day by getting drunk with Nate instead. During their booze session, Nate professed his love for Serena just as Tripp magically arrived and announced that he found out his wife was behind the Hudson drowning incident as seen in the election night episode. He is naturally upset and asks Serena to take a walk with him. You can probably see where this is going, but they end back at his place and I’d like to say one thing leads to another but they pretty much just skip right to the “another” part. I fully expect this storyline to be causing drama for a majority of upcoming episodes.

And finally, this week’s show found spoiled brat Jenny taking a walk on the bad side by entertaining an ambassador’s son for the day (guest star Kevin Zegers), only to find that he is selling drugs in Central Park using the remote control boats. Jenny agrees to help him get another stash through a deal in a club, but they are promptly busted by Squints (Chuck Bass) who gives a pompous lecture in an effort to turn Jenny away from a life of crime. Why anyone would take advice from him remains unclear to me, and it looks like Jenny and I actually see eye-to-eye on something because as the episode ends, she is texting the no-hint-of-an-accent-European that they should do it again sometime. I’m not saying she’s the next Scarface or anything, but I think it is safe to assume some illegal activity on her part is in the very near future.

Despite some spotty writing in parts, this was a fairly well-packaged episode that moved along or created new storylines efficiently. I’m particularly enjoying the Serena/Tripp/Nate triangle that is developing. It might just be because I think Tripp is a total dreamboat, but it works and to that I say, “Kudos to the casting team of Gossip Girl! You all deserve a raise for him.”

For another take on this episode, check out GaGa for Do-Overs? by Trisha Huntsman.

Season 3, Episode 10: The Last Days of Disco Stick (originally aired November 16, 2009)

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Mondays at 8/7C, The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW, Giovanni Rufino