Something to be Said for Structural Integrity
Discussed: Jacques Derrida, ‘The Illiad’, School Grounds As Baghdad, Hillary Clinton, ‘The Crucible’, Dependence on Steadycams, National Campaign To Bring Back Becks, Containing Yourself
After C’s shrewd deconstruction of the intricacies and repercussions of last nights episode, I felt compelled to step in and speak, while not necessarily in defense of, but towards the over-all remarkable structural genius of Episode 4.
Using Chuck Bass as our entre, it should be noted that while much ado’s elsewhere in regards to the great Homerian battle of Serena vs Dan with Blair’s David Petraeus-ing of it all, really Chuck Bass, in addition to lurking in the shadows waiting to deploy the best lines of the episode, is the actual architect of it all. Bookending it, wittily starting the episode off with not only the classic, “Bring the OJ, there’s champagne in the limo” to annoying little Eric van der Woodsen, but with the miraculous delivering of new girl Amanda’s file to the steps of Blair McCarthy and her Witch Trials, then ending the episode with the slow Steadycam push-in revealing it all to be a vast Bass-wing conspiracy.
And we always believe the show’s infinitely better when the adult story lines exist to temper the juvenile proceedings. Which brings us to three words: Harry. Dean. Stanton. Modern (Repo) Man! Proving that ding-bat-emotionally-confused-running-around-CrazyTown antics are a woman-van-der-Woodson genetic pre-disposition, Lilly made her triumphant return, finally, baring the shocking news that being married to boring Bart is a bore, seeking refuge in the exciting arms of newly-in-touch with his man-slut Rufus. (SIDE NOTE TO RUFUS: in addition to Becks being WAY hotter, she would have really gotten Lilly’s gold haired goat, exponentially upping the gossip by you getting Francis Bacon kinky with her art advisor! Missed opportunity, missed opportunity) As usual, this storyline was responsible for some of last night’s best scenes and provided a strong structural backbone.
Thankfully, our prayers were answered, and the Duchess and her 40 year old son/concubine are g-o-n-e in another twist of Shakespearian/Days of Our Lives grandeur that had C launched from the couch screaming around the room leading neighbors to believe we were in fact watching Monday Night Football. Also, driving home our point all along – Vanessa is in way over her head, insanely and idiotically thinking she can out-bitch the inimitable Blair Waldorf and forgetting all the lessons learned last year about open-communication and the like. Vanessa = lame. And Nate, played again by another woman.
So while Dark Days may lie ahead, we loudly call on the Gossip Girl creators to maintain this level of exceptional engineering. And Chuck Bass centered amazingness.
