Gossip Girl: A Turkey Stuffed With Awkwardness

The vapid cast of characters on Gossip Girl took last week off to celebrate Thanksgiving so it was this week that brought us the obligatory Thanksgiving episode and boy did it get awkward. I’m still fairly new to the show and am certain that this isn’t a new phenomenon for the series, but these Manhattanites have such complex relationships that when they’re all put in the same room or around a dinner table together, things are going to get ugly. On this week’s episode that was an understatement.

To explain every ounce of awkwardness in detail would require you to be reading this for a good hour or two so here now (to the best of my ability) is a brief breakdown of everyone’s issues with each other. And keep in mind they all end up around the same Thanksgiving table:

• Trip’s wife, Maureen (Holley Fain) organized a fraudulent scheme to get him elected to Congress and blamed it on his grandfather.
• Trip decided to divorce Maureen and started banging around with Serena.
• Prior to banging around with Trip, Serena almost went doe-eyed for Nate.
• Dan, Olivia, and Vanessa had a threesome causing Olivia to bail on him from thinking that Dan and Vanessa were in love and Dan very well might be.
• Vanessa had a fight with her nosy mother.
• Blair’s mother, Eleanor (Margaret Colin) has a secret.
• Lily (Kelly Rutherford) has a secret involving Serena’s father.
• Lily’s mother, Cece (Caroline Lagerfelt), is a super bitch.
• Eric tried to destroy Jenny’s chance of becoming queen at Cotillion but lost his boyfriend in the process. (Side note: Can these young ones please stop acting so serious?!)

Take my word for it that there are other bits and pieces beyond these larger plot points but by and large it should be obvious that any gathering of the above characters would be nothing less than explosive. But before saying anything else I have to note how absurd and unrealistic it was that these people would even be together on Thanksgiving. I realize that reality certainly isn’t this show’s prerogative but this was almost too hard to believe even for the sake of drama.

No sooner was the turkey carved when everyone started going for the jugular and calling out those around them. Nate showed Maureen stolen security video footage of Serena and Trip making out in the elevator and thus, Maureen becomes a crazy woman (as one would) and challenges Serena from across the table. I was hoping for a food fight but instead Serena just looks heavily medicated, leaves the table, and is scolded by Lily to break it off with Trip.

Every little issue and character got their brief moment in the spotlight on this week’s episode, including a goofy subplot of an unmarried hotel maid being knocked up by the doorman. The whole episode ran the risk of being overstuffed (turkey day pun intended) but the writers and director wisely left a substantial amount of screentime to the Serena/Trip/Nate storyline that now seems to be dominating the series. As the episode came to a close, it managed to create and sustain genuine tension as to what path Serena would choose now that Nate is actively pursuing her too following the advice of his good pal Squints. I don’t want to give it away for those who still have it waiting on their DVRs, but I have to admit I was a little surprised by her choice even though it was the one I was hoping for since I started watching the show a couple months ago. Luckily, things don’t stay long on this show and it looks like things may already come to a head next week when Maureen gets revenge thanks to a little letter accidentally stuffed in her coat pocket by Lily who has been trying to hide it for weeks now. It’s from Serena’s father, but what does it say? Will Maureen bust out some blackmail? It’s hard to speculate but one thing we all know is that it won’t be short on the drama.

For another take on this episode, check out Thanksgiving Drama, In Lieu of Turkey by Trisha Huntsman.

Season 3, Episode 11: The Treasure of Serena Madre (originally aired November 30, 2009)

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Photographs courtesy of The CW, Giovanni Rufino, and Nicole Rivelli