“Gossip Girl” once again proved that there are no such things as happy endings.
The season 3 premiere, “Reversals of Fortune,” reunited the cast of “Gossip Girl” before the start of college. Taylor and Dan are now full-fledged members of the van der Woodsen lifestyle. A new wallet, new threads, and a new limo ride have taken Dan above middle class living. Unfortunately, changes in economic class also means changes in social class.
Vanessa, whose season 2 happy-European-backpack ending with Nate apparently ended with another breakup, feels ostracized by Dan’s new attitude. Dan’s move up to a “deluxe apartment in the sky” has come with a fraudulent ability to lie. Instead of telling Vanessa that he’s taking a limo home, Dan instead opts to tell her that he’s riding the 6 Train. Shame on you Dan Humphrey, Gossip Girl is watching. Well, Gossip Girl and Scott Ronsson (Chris Riggi) that is. Rufus and Lily’s bastard son is creeping his way into the social fold, and he’s using Vanessa as the conduit. Needless to say, Scott’s little ruse may garner the attention of his birth father, but when Vanessa realizes she’s been used Scott will have a lot of explaining to do. I give him 5 episodes before the shit hits the proverbial fan.
Nate is back and season 3 has Nate further exploring his rift with Grandpa Archibald. Nate has met a new girl, on his way home, that just happens to be one of the daughters of the Archibald family’s biggest rivals – the Buckleys. It’s Archibald Vs. the Buckleys this season, as Nate tries to use his budding romance to piss off his uncle and his uncle instead uses their relationship as a means to turn the tide on the Buckleys. How long will it be before Nate is once again on the outs with the Archibalds and squatting?
Blair and Chuck are back to their old games, except this time the couple is gaming innocent bystanders. Blair picks out a “mark” for Chuck to ask out; then, Chuck brings the girl home so that Blair can embarrass the unfortunate model or actress and spearhead the couple into a round of makeup sex. It’s sick and twisted, but games are the only way these two can express their emotions. At some point these two are going to have to grow up. Blair’s games just won’t cut it in college as the pecking order shifts from the in-crowd to the intellectual crowd.
Serena and Dan even more awkward as brother and sister. Serena’s European tour ended with bare-chested splash across multiple tabloid magazines. Rufus, ever the doting father and caretaker, tries to buy off the photographers by purchasing the rights to the photos. Unfortunately, Serena has other plans. She’s paying the photographers to publish the photos, so that she can get her birth father’s attention. Is Serena one step away from turning her Brown dreams into a dropout future?
In “Gossip Girl” Season 3 episode 2, “The Freshmen,” Blair (Leighton Meester) is determined to maintain her Queen status in college; she embarks on her first day at NYU, along with Dan (Penn Badgley) and Vanessa (Jessica Szohr). Unfortunately, Georgina (guest star Michelle Trachtenberg) turns up as Blair’s roommate in the dorms, determined to make Blair a social outcast. As Serena (Blake Lively) prepares to depart for Brown, she and Chuck (Ed Westwick) have a major falling out, so she recruits Chuck’s enemy, Carter (guest star Sebastian Stan), to help her get even.
Nate (Chace Crawford) and Bree (guest star JoAnna Garcia) decide to explore their relationship further, knowing full well it could cause tension between their families who are political rivals. Taylor Momsen and Matthew Settle also star. Norman Buckley directed the episode written by Amanda Lasher.
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