REACTION: Gossip Girl Spinoff Episodes 10, 11, & 12
REACTION: Gossip Girl Spinoff Episodes 10, 11, & 12
The first season of the “Gossip Girl” spinoff came to an end on Thursday with the final three episodes.
Episode 10 is called “Final Cancellation.” The official description says: “In her efforts to save Julien from a vicious smear campaign, Zoya puts her own future at risk. Kate and Jordan hatch a last-ditch plan to reclaim Gossip Girl. Audrey and Aki rope an increasingly resentful Max into both of their schemes.” It was written by Ryan Koehn and directed by Craig Johnson.
Episode 11 is titled “You Can’t Take It With Jules.” The official description states: “A Christmas visitor threatens to upend Julien’s life, while a new friend pushes Zoya to chart her own path. Ahead of a bombshell drop, Kate, Jordan, and Wendy clamor for control of Gossip Girl.” It was written by JaNeika and JaSheika James, whom I interviewed back in February, and directed by Erica Watson.
Episode 12, the season finale, is named “Gossip Gone, Girl.” The official description reads: “As the crew heads upstate for their annual New Year’s bash, Julien holds tight to tradition despite everything changing around her. Meanwhile, Zoya questions her place in her sister’s group — and Kate questions the future of Gossip Girl.” Kelli Breslin wrote it and Darren Grant directed it.
Without further ado, here my thoughts…
Gossip Girl Spinoff Episode 10, “Final Cancellation”
So before we had Alisyn Camerota in episode 8 and now Brianna Keilar, who replaced her on “New Day,” in this one. I’m an Alisyn girl.
How much time has passed? There’s references to “since you’ve been gone,” but how long has that been?
The Shawn and Camilla reference was bad timing. The Sondheim reference was timeless.
Sure, Katherine isn’t Jewish, but Eleanor isn’t either.
I’m confused on what team Scott was coaching. Doesn’t he work at Constance / St. Jude’s? But he was wearing the uniform of the team playing against St. Jude’s.
Woah, that “Emily in Paris” diss! As a reminder, that show stars Lily Collins (Phoebe, 90210) and was created by Darren Star (creator, Beverly Hills, 90210).
So we got career updates on Blair and Aaron, and Blair is apparently in Paris, which is a convenient explanation for why we haven’t seen her.
And Eleanor renovating her home is a convenient explanation for why the Hanukkah party wasn’t at the Waldorf home we know.
The show is once again using a Jewish holiday as a device and making jokes at the religion’s expense. See: Being a Jewish Teen Drama Fan.
I love Wicked. Saw it twice.
I figured Dorota would be one of the original characters we’d see this season.
Here’s my 2009 interview with Zuzanna Szadkowski.
Matt Lauer is not back at work. Pretty weird they said he was.
Julien isn’t wrong — Obie’s timing is bad.
Woah, that “Riverdale” diss! As a reminder, Luke Perry (Dylan, Beverly Hills, 90210) starred on the show prior to his death.
I still don’t understand Roy’s turnaround. He didn’t want to be with Gideon anymore but now he desperately does?
Zoya and Julien both had points as they yelled at each other… as did Audrey when she went off on Julien.
Audrey dropped truth bombs on Julien and then got some dropped on her by Max.
Gossip Girl Spinoff Episode 11, “You Can’t Take It With Jules”
Davis gave up most of his assets and disappeared. So how long until he “surprisingly” returns?
Spoiler: The very next episode!
Gossip Girl was never affecting positive change. It’s delusional for Kate and Jordan to think it was.
Between Shan and Sharon, this episode is leaning hard on outsized humor.
And who thought it was a good idea to have two somewhat similar names?
Between Heidi and Grams, this episode is leaning hard on relatives coming to town.
Heidi is played by Kathryn Gallagher, daughter of Peter Gallagher (Sandy, The O.C.).
“Grams,” of course, will always remind us TeenDramaWhores of “Dawson’s Creek.”
“I love you but I really don’t like you” is such a cliche line.
Shan as the new friend who’s a bad (or at least questionable) influence is also such a cliche.
Kate took semi-responsibility for baiting people into sending tips to Gossip Girl, but she’s still falsely claiming the moral high ground and acting like what she was doing wasn’t wrong.
It’s great of Nick to embrace Julien like he has and to do so more and more.
Kate is wrong to act like releasing all of the Gossip Girl tips is noble just because people sent them in. That doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for the damage caused by releasing them.
Gossip Girl Spinoff Episode 12, “Gossip Gone, Girl”
So it’s been 10 days since the last episode ended. I appreciate time references.
I was surprised there wasn’t more fallout from the tip release among the core group.
At least Kate admitted her experiment failed.
Mona and Luna suggesting Julien go after Aki and break up him and Audrey… wow.
Maybe Julien has it backward. Maybe she’s Camilla and Grace is Diana.
The ex getting a new girlfriend who is perfect is a cliche. Also cliche to discover that perfect new girlfriend has a serious imperfection.
But I was glad Obie was already aware of that imperfection and cared for Grace anyway.
Thought this in an earlier episode too: I love Audrey with straight hair.
I like Luna and Max’s friendship. That’s been a nice thread throughout the season and was really great in this episode.
Glad they addressed how / why the bar serves them despite being underage. I was wondering.
Does Rob know how evil Luna is? And how could they think they could have a relationship based on seeing each other once a year? They obviously hardly know each other.
Who knew Coldplay could get a whole bar to dance?
I love the Bradley Cooper version of A Star Is Born.
That pool! That is the first location on the show that I’ve been envious of.
Is a “triad” really so different from a “throuple”? Seems like a matter of semantics to me.
Aki and Audrey did work before Max, no? Sure, when the show started they were having issues, but presumably they were in a successful relationship before that.
Zoya again gave Julien some real talk. But the wake-up calls never seem to stick. This repetiviness of one step forward and then two steps back is tiresome.
They never it made it clear that that was Monet’s mom Kate was dealing with.
Amanda Warren was also on an episode of the original “Gossip Girl” (as a different character, obvs).
Obie has flip-flopped quite a bit. He went from not wanting to be with Julien anymore to wanting to be with her again and now back to not wanting to be with her, despite seemingly being desperately in love with her just two episodes ago.
Nick telling Kate off! Yes! I mean, I understand Kate’s points. But I also understand Nick doing what seems best for Zoya and Julien with his limited options. And someone needed to knock Kate off her high horse.
Zoya really seems to take on the aesthetic of the people she hangs out with. She seemed to have a big glam-up when she started hanging out with Julien and company and now she’s dressing like Shan’s twin.
I don’t get what Julien is doing. She’s going to tell Gossip Girl everything she knows… but then wants to stop Gossip Girl from posting it?
And what is Kate’s one condition? That’s our cliffhanger?
My final verdict on the “Gossip Girl” spinoff at the conclusion of season 1: I don’t love it, but I also don’t hate it. As I recently said, I think I just feel used to it. It feels familiar at this point. It’s not comfort food. It’s not a guilty pleasure. But I know the characters and I’m mildly curious to see where the storylines go. Would I still prefer the show didn’t exist, though, and the legacy of the original “Gossip Girl” was left alone? Yes.
And while Laura Benanti is still the best actor the show has, with Thomas Doherty close behind, the others’ acting has at least improved across the season. Ostensibly, they should only get better in season 2. We can hope the rest of the show does too.
Of course, when season 2 will air is, well, up in the air. Filming begins in January and is expected to go until the start of summer. So will we have another summer premiere? I wouldn’t be surprised by that or if it was held til the fall. There will no doubt be plenty to discuss until then, including a jam-packed “Teen Drama Links” on Tuesday.
In the meantime, comment with any and all of your own “Gossip Girl” spinoff thoughts below!