#if gg gets picked up do the thing and let monet take the lead

[raredye]

Savannah Lee Smith for Flaunt Magazine July 2021

By Jasmine Rodriguez

[alaffy]

Gossip Girl, Ep. 2x08 - Y Lu’s Mama Tambien (spoilers)

Wow an episode where, not only did all the storylines not converge in the same location, but some of them will continue into the next episode.  Maybe the writers are learning. Maybe.  Also, I want to apologize for the length of the post; I have quite a few thoughts on some of the events of this episode.

It seems like Kate wants to play both sides of the field now.  Well, what she wants to do is take on the parents.  However, she needs time to get her pieces in place and so she needs to keep posting about the teens for now.  Still, it’s also becoming quite clear that she’s enjoying creating her own narrative a bit too much.  And just to get the majority of her story out of the way.  Jordan is concerned about her behavior and calls the other teachers in for an intervention.  But it doesn’t go the way he planned as Kate is able to convince the teachers to give her a month to get everything in place and they’ll see what she’s doing is right (it also helps that she agrees that, if this goes south, Kate will take the fall). Anyway, this all leads to Kate and Jordan sleeping together.  But let’s face it, nobody cares so let’s move on.

Julien is tired of GG interfering in people’s lives and tries to convince people to stop paying attention to GG.  But more people are interested in the dress reveal, which actually made Julien more popular again.  Monet, on the other hand, is facing the consequences for her post last episode.  Pretty much the entire student population has turned against her; which, fair.  

Shan is back and apologizes for ditching Zoya at the party.  She then convinces Zoya that they need to stop GG.  However, they’re going to do so by finding someone famous at the film festival (one of the events of this episode) and telling them about GG, with the hopes that the celebrity speaks out against the bullying.  This plan fails and, in the end, they get caught by security and held until Julien picks them up.

Obie, of course, is trying to work with Gossip Girl to take his mother down.  However, that means getting her back in the country.  Good thing GG just so happens to be Obie’s teacher. Kate tells Obie that Harvard wants to meet with him and his parents.  Obie uses this to get his mother back into the country.  And, at first, it looks like it’s going to work. But, at the last minute, Obie’s mother says she can’t come back.

Now there are two big storylines…well, no, there are three big storylines, although two are very much intertwined.  First off, you have the continuing feud between Audrey and Julien; which is made worse by Jessica and Gossip Girl.  Jessica is opening a pop-up shop and she announces that Julien is going to be there to help Jessica sell her new design; the Julien.  Of course, this makes Audrey angry; even though Julien makes it clear that she never agreed to this shit.  Audrey tells Julien the best way she can help is to stay away from Jessica. Of course, Julien doesn’t stay away from Jessica and Audrey’s dad take a picture of the two of them.  He then sends the picture to GG, who posts it. Audrey gets angry again.  

At the same time, Audrey is trying desperately to get her mother to get out of bed and fight for herself. She also is trying to make sure her mother doesn’t fall back into dangerous habits.  Max is also helping Audrey as he has found someone who thinks that they can possibly file an in juncture against Jessica, so they can have a chance to prove Kiki is the creator of those designs.

To add to the drama, there’s also this big film festival going on that Aki goes to/helps out at every year. And, apparently, he and Audrey usually go to some of the premiers; a tradition that he hopes will continue this year and with the addition of Max.  Aki also runs into a girl that he’s know for awhile.  She’s a couple of years older then him and in film school. She’s also a part of the film festival in, what seems, to be more of a managerial position.   At the very least, she seems to be giving Aki some choice work (perhaps to help him in his own film endeavors?).  So, we have this close friend who is actively helping Aki with his passion in filmmaking and Aki’s partners wrapped up in their own issues.  Yeah, this won’t go well.

But going back to Audrey and Julien; Obie is able to convince Audrey to hear Julien out. Julien talks to Audrey and says she will do anything to help her stop Jessica and the pop up store.  Audrey tells Julien she will allow Julien to do whatever she thinks will stop Jessica.  Julien leaves, thinking she’s on the road to forgiveness.  She also calls Kiki and asks her to meet her at the store the next day.

At the same time, we find out that Audrey is just playing Julien.  As far as she’s concerned, it’s time for her to teach Julien a lesson.  Aki, who has just been told he will be moderating a panel, hopes that Audrey and Max will still make it to the event. Given Audrey’s response, I wouldn’t hope too hard there.

The next day, Julien arrives at the store and it seems like her plan is to expose everything on her “Stop the Story.”  However, nothing goes to plan as it seems like Audrey and Max have done quite a bit of work behind the scenes.  First, they are somehow able to switch the price tags so that the dresses price seems outrageous.

Then, the are able to get all the dresses that are over size 8.  Another influencer, after going through the store, confronts Julien and demands to know why she’s promoting a product that is not inclusive for all body sizes.  Of course, she’s doing this confrontation live.  Julien doesn’t have a chance to defend herself as a group of protestors march into the shop.  It seems like Max and Audrey spread a rumor that the dresses were made in a Cambodian Sweat Shop. The protesters throw paint all over Julien and Jessica.  It’s at this point, Julien notices Harris (?) filming the whole event for Audrey and Max to watch live (they happen to be in an ice cream shop next door).      

The thing is, while this is going on, Aki is hosting the panel; something Audrey and Max said they would attend.  Of course, they don’t show up.  Aki’s friend isn’t happy about this and tries to let Aki know that he is special, that his talent is special.  Then, she kisses him.  Afterwards, she apologizes as she knows he’s dating someone and, well, she didn’t really give him a chance to agree to the kiss.  It’s just too bad Zoya happened to see Aki and his friend kiss.  Now, she thinks Aki may be cheating.  

Back to Julien and Audrey. Julien realizes that Audrey is nearby and they have another fight.  Also, Kiki comes by and sees the chaos at the store.  Someone takes Kiki’s picture and sends to GG; who makes it seem like this may be Kiki’s work.  

Back to the film festival (after some time has passed).  Zoya is picked up by Julien and tells her about the kiss.  Julien decides the best thing to do is not get involved. Meanwhile, Max and Audrey meet up with Aki.  They promise to spend the rest of the festival with him; but it too late as the festival is over.  

They go to Audrey’s house, only to see Kiki has a bunch of suitcases.  It seems like Kiki has gone back to drinking (she hid it well from Audrey), but the chaos of the day made her realize that she needs help.  So, she’s going to rehab and she leaves.  Audrey, thinking she’s failed her mother, breaks down.  Max hugs her and tells her that he and Aki are there for her. Aki hugs her to, but the look on his face makes it clear that he’s got some doubts.  

As for Audrey and Aki, I kind of feel sorry for both of them.  It’s not a situation that’s clear cut; there isn’t one person who’s completely right here. Let’s put it this way.  Let’s say Audrey just wanted to teach Julien a lesson; that Kiki’s mental health didn’t play any factor in this.  Or, even better, Kiki isn’t involved at all.  If this had just been an issue of Audrey wanting to teach Julien a lesson vs. Audrey and Max supporting Aki in an endeavor that was special to him; then Audrey and Max would absolutely have been in the wrong. And I would be furious at the two.  

On the other hand, if none of this had been about Julien; if Audrey was only dealing with her mother’s mental health and trying to stop Jessica from stealing her mother’s work…I wouldn’t say that Aki should drop everything to come help Audrey (after all, the festival could be important to his future), but I would be upset that he didn’t seem to understand that Kiki’s mental health comes first.  And it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Max spent his time supporting Audrey, in a case like that.

But, in the end, what we have is this sort of weird middle ground.  In the beginning, I was more on Audrey’s side as I felt like Aki should understand that, with Kiki’s mental health issues, maybe this year Audrey needed to skip the event?  After all, she had gone with him in pervious years.  But then Audrey started focusing more on teaching Julien a lesson and Aki got to moderate a panel and…yeah, there’s no reason they had to be at the ice cream parlor to watch what was going on instead of Aki’s event.  At the very least, Max should have gone to show support.  

But what I do appreciate is that, at the end of the episode, we don’t have Aki just walking out of the relationship nor do we have Aki just accepting he’s a doormat.  Yes, there were special circumstances in what was happening in Audrey’s life during this period that Aki needs to consider.  However, if it seems like (and let’s face it, it does seem like) Aki’s wants and needs are constantly overlooked by his partners in moments that don’t involve crisis; then he might just have to let them go.  

Finally, we get to Luna’s story; which is tragic.  Luna gets the opportunity to style an, let’s say, up and coming starlet for the film festival.  She’s really excited about it and she asks Monet to be her assistant.  And one thing about this episode is that we see that, when Monet isn’t trying to live up to her mother, she can be a really good person. Monet suggests that they find out who else is starring in the film because they want to get a sense of what their style is to, you know, make sure there isn’t any awkward moments.  They find out that the star is Luna’s mother; which comes to a surprise to Luna as she didn’t even know her mother was in town.

So, Luna finds out where her mother is.  And from the get-go the whole situation is….weird.  The mother doesn’t want Luna to call her mother in public.  When she finds out Luna is going to dress her costar, she tells Luna she wants her to dress her instead. However, when Luna goes to dress her mother, she finds out she’s only going to be an assistant to another person. And, well, the mother clearly did this so that Luna wouldn’t dress her costar and be out in the spotlight.  She doesn’t want her daughter to shine.  And Luna just kind of accepts this; she just kind of walks away.

Or she would have, if not for Monet.  And there’s this very powerful moment between the two where Monet is letting Luna know that she can’t let her mother keep doing this to her.  The Luna needs to stand up to her and show her that she’s really good at what she does.  And the whole time Monet is saying this, all I kept thinking (besides I’m glad Monet is telling Luna this) is please, please at some point let Luna or someone else give Monet that same speech because she needs to hear it too.    

So, Luna decides to show her mother.  At the premiere of her mother’s movie.  As her mother walks the carpet, Monet announces Luna. Specifically, she announces that Luna is the daughter and makes a crack about being younger and prettier.  This pisses the mother off and she makes sure that Luna is not allowed in the after party.

And then we have another moment that is quite interesting.  Earlier in the episode, we are introduced to an older woman that Luna tells everyone is her maid.  But it’s not her maid, it’s her grandmother (at least, Luna calls her grandmother and I’m guessing the maid wouldn’t be trying to see the mother at a movie premiere.) So, here we have Luna who is clearly being rejected by her mother because of her beauty and it hurts her to be constantly rejected this way.  At the same time, Luna seems to be doing a similar thing to her grandmother in that she doesn’t seem to want people to know they are related.  Hopefully, Luna works on that.  Unless, wait, is the grandmother the mother of the movie star?  If so, it is possible Luna is told to call her the maid so people don’t find out the mother’s secret (not that this will matter soon).  I admit, I’m a little confused on this whole grandmother thing.  

Luna finds out from her grandmother that Luna’s mother made a deal with the father.  Basically, Luna was sent to live with him because the mother wasn’t comfortable with her being around anymore.  Not because Luna is trans, but because she is beautiful.  This woman is so vein that the very idea that her daughter might one day surpass her, fills her with jealous rage.  So, she makes sure that Luna stay out of the limelight while the mother is able to promote her own crafted story.

Yeah, about that. See, for years the mother has been selling this story that her family is from Mexico, that she’s Latina.  Her family is from Madrid.  And Luna, well, Luna has decided not to allow her mother to use this fabricated story any longer.  So, she texts GG the truth and GG sends it out unto the world.  And everyone learns the truth with Luna and Monet watching.

After this, Monet goes home. As she starts to walk past her mother (Who, for some reason, looks like she’s working at a desk in the hallway), Monet stops and hugs her.  Monet says to Camille that she loves her and that she knows that her mother is hard on her because she loves her too.  Now, in my last post, I said that Camille’s behavior toward Monet is abusive; a statement that I stand by.  However, I also believe that Monet is correct in her statement.  Both statements can be true and it comes down to the cycle of abuse. It would not surprise me at all if we were to find out that Camille treats her daughter the same way Camille was treated by her own mother growing up.  In many cases, those who are abused grow up to be abusers simply because they don’t know that what they are doing is abuse. Still, so long as Monet sees the way her mother treats her as normal, Monet is in danger of continuing the cycle.  Also, and this cannot be said enough, no one deserves to be treated the way Monet is treated.  That being said, between the choice of Camille and Luna’s mother…well, again, at least Camille does love her child.

Speaking of which, let’s get to the final moments of the episode.  Camille stops by Kate’s apartment with a proposition.  While Camille hasn’t figured out that Kate is GG, she does know that teachers are sending in tips to GG.  And Camille, who does not know anything about what happened at the festival, assumes that Monet’s statement to her came from the fact that GG had humiliated Monet in her recent post.  Camille feels that GG could do the same for all the students and, so, she wants the teachers to continue to send in messages and, it seems, she is willing to help them get the information they need.  Again, normal parents would not do this.  I mean, you know Kiki or Gideon wouldn’t do this to their children.

While this is going on, Julien and Obie arrive back at his apartment.  Julien sees the message about Kiki and she’s had enough.  Julien decides that the only way this will end is if she exposes the person behind GG.  Of course, Obie needs GG in order to stop his mother.  Obie pretends that he needs to pop out and pick up something from the store. Outside, he starts to text GG that Julien is going to try to find out who she is.  Only he is attacked by a group of men.  Now, it could be a simple mugging; but why do I have a feeling mommy dearest is behind this?

Just a quick note.  Yes, I have heard that Gossip Girl has been cancelled.  Not too surprised with the way Max has been going lately.  I still plan on posting for the last couple of episodes.  I hate the fact that it will probably end on a cliffhanger.  But if someone else were to pick it up, I don’t know if I’m invested enough in the show to follow it to a new network.  

[clandestine-j]

Gossip Girl Reboot, Ep. 2 Reaction / Review

This was posted on reddit first, crossing posting it here since I’ve chosen to review the ep’s and post on tumblr as well. So, this post is geared more towards reddit as a whole, this was posted a day after ep 2 aired.

i don't have a favorite character rating but #teamaki, yeah, the acting is awkward but it's getting better and it's not like it's the only bad acting in the show. i like the character either way.

now

people are so extra with zoya and obie and are looking at julien with the rose colored classes. yeah, obie shouldn't be dating zoya but let's not act like julien gave her all and everything to him. from the conversation with zoya in ep 1, his general feelings, audrey calls it out (maybe because she always feels that way)

She admits it at the end, she wouldn’t do the things he wanted when it came to his interest, he’d want to do random and fun things and she’d blow him off...how is this mart of someone fully invested in their other, no, she was invested what he did for her and how he made her feel. She misses him because in their other breaks he’d always come back. We saw a dying relationship and ppl can assume a lot about him but make 0 assumptions when it comes to her.

And then y’all expect Zoya to turn down the one person who’s actually nice, doesn’t ice her out and shares interest? What I want more than anything is for Zoya to find her own friends & her romantic interest, just one episode where her life isn’t an extension of Julien's. Idk wut, maybe she can go off on a find out gossip girl adventure. Idk something.

Then this talk about sisters and sister hood. Yeah, they’re blood related but what sisterhood is there? You say that’s is wrong for Zoya to do that to her sister but what about what her sister did to her? Even in this ep, she wants Obie so instead of idk driving Zoya away from him, she attacks her lil ‘sis’ over her long time boyfriend. She continues to let her friends talk bad about the girl. We can talk sister hood when she gives the mean team a good “learn me or leave me” when it comes to Zoya

At the of ep 1 Zoya says, she’s not playing the game. She’s grounded in fear of losing her scholarship, has already lost her dads trust. So she does that, she keeps her head down and doesn’t bother anyone but it’s the mean team to prompt Julien to after Zoya and she does. She’s minding her business at the even and Julien is the one to storm over and cause a scene. And it’s all about her, she’s scared of her dad finding out without any care that Zoya has lost and what she has left to lose. Of course she doesn’t care about Julien personal problems? When did Julien care really about hers? Then, she wants to sneak away and have fun and because she’s mad Zoya won’t run off and hide like a hood little girl, she once again collabs with GG, brings in the dads and fucks her sisters life up, AGAIN. Yeah, she changed her mind at the end but too little too late. Her come to jesus moment was great but the relationship she wanted/wants it very much damaged.

So yeah, Zoya dating the one person who has empathy for her is not as bad as the older sister who consistently let her be talked down, about and two, plotted with GG and didn’t even ask her if she was okay because, she didn’t mean it, it’ll blow over. Even in the very last apology when Zoya was about to leave, you could see that she had 0 faith in Julien, not only as a sister but as a person.

Which leads me to saying that Julien is probs the most interesting character of the show. She’s lovable and flawed and she is good but she as of right now, she’s mean at worst and horribly complicit at best because right now her career is a bit more important but her 14 year old sister doesn’t deserve the headache of navigating her with her. But I do love Julien because she has layers and I think by the end, she’ll be able to have her influencer career without compromising herself. That does lead us to the the chairmen and co-chair of the mean team.

Monet and Luna weren’t around as much but I do think...I do think...that if Julien goes nice, they’re gonna go super nasty. They have access to her life which mean access to that video if Julien didn’t out right delete it or they find out about it and snooping. They’re her friends but unlike her, they don’t have a much of a Conscious so far of right and wrong and they’ll strike anyone down. I think if we have wild cards, they’re it. If Julien really does go down a new path, learns more to fight for what matters and understand the real her is just as likable, the mean duo will not accept and will try and bring her down. They have their own meaning of friends with benefits.

My dude Obie, I can’t say much. I don’t think he’s as Malicious as y’all make him out to be but he is a bit callous and naïve...which could be worse tbh. I think he does want to do good but he only knows Performative good to counter-act his parents. I do want him to get with someone else but I do hope he learns what true activism means through Zoya and understand how much of a difference he could make if he really put his mind to it. I also want him to learn get out quick, because he wasn’t just looking for a reason to end things but one to stay and Julien didn’t give him that.

Audrey, I like the stuff with her mom. I like the little bit more depth we got, she slept with Max maybe but Aki made out with him, who am I to judge? I hope her mon can step up in the future but I don’t think it’ll be easy and hopefully they explore it more. Not just tease us. Her mom needs therapy but I think I'm a bit invested in her too.

Max, I love max but the dude is Pretentious ~ above earthly love ~ low key a shitty friend and talks in metaphors whenever he has the chance BUT he does it well. I don’t see him with Aki but I want it! I do see him going harder after Audrey but I think he was a bit shocked for all his flirting that he was into the kids with Aki. I think he lives to play with people. I don't know if he really likes Audrey but he does want to bang her, a lot, a lot a lot. I don't think he really wanted to sleep with Aki but he did like playing with him and he could pick up the fact that Aki might be feeling him. I don't think the interest was really, real until Aki kissed him at the pool, home boy was shocked and was like oooo maybe something is there but his focus is on the teacher. And I also think the not in a million years thing had his gears turning too. You tell him it can't or won't happen and now he wants to make it happen.

Aki, my baby, my voice of reason. What makes him great as a person, makes him not great for Audrey when it comes to emotional stuff. He means well and I get where he's coming from with wanting Audrey to understand her mom but she did need a partner. The thing she loves about him is the thing that makes it hard. I don't know how Aki was brought up but I feel like this plays into it, she's always comparing him to a therapist. I wonder if his parents a bit more emotionally cold or curt or just very analytical people. But, like he's been lovely since ep one, the only one of the group to sort of defend Zoya or Julien wanting to know her / keep her secret. (What secrets does he have?) And in ep 2, he really was like 'ya'll fucked in the head' to the mean team. I know some consider him boring because he doesn't speak up often but when he does speak up, he got something to say. I want the show to use him in a way to stir drama just by being friends, his character doesn't have to have a dramatic effect and he could get his own little subplot that's tied into the show but like, my can't become some douche. (If he does, only for a bit.) Now, I don't see Max being endgame for him AT ALL. If it's between the two, Max would go for Audrey for sure while leading my boi on in ways, he could even really start to like him but endgame no. I'd love to see a scene with Max does get jealous of Aki with another dude, in a romantic way or the dude could be hitting on him, I think Aki would be able to humble him just a bit because no one really seems to know what he's thinking. In the end, idk who he ends up with but I want him to find someone who will do my dude right and he should get some non-shitty friends who'll listen to his problems. (Still not over that Max)

The teachers while being shown more, don't have much of a presence. It's mainly Kate and the goofy one for extended scenes. KATE MY GOOD SIS. NO. Please, I want this to be the point where she loses GG somehow and someone takes over or maybe another GG pops up, can market better and isn't willing to have a faltering moments. I want it to spiral. Spiral hard. Also, sexy teach said not on my watch ezra! I stan him. Teachers are still fun for me, they make me want to never teach at a dumb rich private school.

Also, fuck the dads within reason. Esp, Julien's dad but only because we got to see Zoya's more and he is kinda in the right about most of the stuff but not the sister stuff. You can tell he's doing his best to instill morals in his daughter esp when he knows she can fall to outside influences.

Overall, I'm still enjoying it, I'm invested. I see room for growth for all of the characters (maybe not the teachers) and I want to see it play out. It does feel a little rushed but I think they're finding their footing and they have some big things to pull. But's not horrible and if they just play the drama bit longer and then conclude, it wouldn't feel that way. Maybe one more episode or half an episode could've been added to the Zoya-Obie-Julien story line to fully flush it out but I like the ending. Not sisters, not friends but cool with each and possibly re-build, at worst they just don't interact. I noticed some cool things with the promos but I need to confirm when I can find the one for 3.

Sorry if it went from all lower case to proper-ish, I had to switch to my phone and it auto-does it.