As fans gather in our Gossip Girl forum to sound off on last night's episode and what's coming up next, the Gossip Girl Insider staff comes together every Tuesday to analyze burning questions, classic quotes and memorable moments.
Welcome to the Gossip Girl Round Table!
Topics from "Seder Anything" include memorable lines, curious plot holes, Jewish humor, Nate's future, the changing Blair and the mysterious Gabriel ...
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1. What was your favorite Gossip Girl quote from the episode?
DANdy: Blair's "I'm one of the Chosen Ones. I was wandering the Bassian desert, and I've reached the Vanderbilt Promised Land." Great for yet another use of Chuck's name, and also for the episode's (and Passover's) theme of redemption.
Gossip Guy: In a rare first move, I want to give it to Jenny for standing up to Chuck so much this episode. Especially when she told him that "The only human contact that you don't pay for is the people in this house." Harsh and true!
Mister Meester: I loved how, when he Nate was breaking up with Blair, he recounted aloud the events of the past hour. All of the twists, turns, lies and schemes do get a bit confusing, even for the characters themselves. Vintage Gossip Girl.
2. In honor of Josh Schwartz and two-thirds of our panel, what was the best Jewish humor-related part of the episode?
DANdy: The "Schmutz Happens" apron. 'Nuff said.
Mister Meester: Pretty much any line by Cyrus. He is hilarious. They need to put Wallace Shawn on retainer. With Cyrus and Dorota, Gossip Girl has a couple of great random, supporting characters to inject comic relief once in awhile.
Gossip Guy: Well thank you for this great honor. Really, the whole seder and its many interruptions was fantastic. I think my favorite part was everyone going for the sip of the wine before the blessing. Been there, done that. Though, technically they couldn't have even poured it before the seder begins since pouring of the glass is part of it. Where was your Jewish consultant? I'm available for free if you fly me out to the set.
3. Should Nate go to Yale or Columbia?
Mister Meester: Probably Yale, although I love the assertion that Columbia is somehow slumming it (or that Nate could get in there on his own merit but not Yale). U.S. News & World Report ranks both in its top 10 nationally!
DANdy: Columbia, but not because of the grandfather. The last time he visited Yale, if you recall, Nate pretended to be Dan, hooked up with some girl, and had a group of goons trying to kick his ass. Time for a fresh start.
Gossip Guy: Definitely Yale. I want grandpa Vanderbilt on my side. Oh no, poor Nate has to go to the school he didn't get into on his own merits. Wah. Personally, I'd mooch every opportunity I could. Want to adopt me gramps?
4. Strangest plot hole: Jenny having her Monopoly date at the van der Woodsen's and not in Brooklyn, Nate staying at the rehearsal dinner after his kiss-off toast, or Serena actually thinking she's married?
Gossip Guy: By far Jenny playing Monopoly at the van der Woodsen's. She hasn't moved in yet. What the hell is she doing there? Trying to get late-night raped by Chuck? Honestly, Nate may be pretty, but he's not smart enough to take a hint. And Serena? Can you blame her for kind of wanting to be married to that beef cake?
DANdy: All interesting questions, but Nate all the way. How did he not simply walk out of the rehearsal after dissing his grandfather like that? If nothing else, one would think he'd be worried that Maureen might try to poison him.
Mister Meester: I think Serena secretly wished the marriage was legit, and you can't apply logic to anything Nate does. But Jenny and Wes hanging out at the VDW's was the best. She doesn't live there, first of all - and wouldn't new, anti-UES Little J embrace her middle-class Brooklyn roots? Makes no sense.
Serena van der Woodsen with boyfriends past and present.
5. Gabriel: Intriguing or boring?
Mister Meester: He seems like he's kind of a stiff, but clearly there's something beneath the surface. I'm curious to see what he does that gets Serena arrested.
Gossip Guy: Maybe I just love this guy from his stint as the Devil's son on Reaper, but Armie Hammer seems to play the good looking, subtly evil bastard so well. I was very happy to find out he wasn't all good when he talked to Poppy at the end. Can't wait to see where this handsome devil's plot line is going.
DANdy: Zzzzz. What's so dashing about this guy? This episode proved how great Serena and Dan are together ... even when just pretending to be together.
BONUS QUESTION: Has Blair really changed - and is being with Nate stifling the feisty, confident B we know and love?
DANdy: Meek, submissive, floundering Blair 2.0 is not doing it for me (although Leighton Meester is terrific in selling it). The old B would have played hardball with the grandfather and taken down Tripp's finacee so hard after that snarky comment. Hopefully N and C fighting over her in the next few weeks will restore the queen!
Mister Meester: Chuck said it best, and simplest: Blair is changing, having chosen Nate over him. It may be foolish to want her to be anything but herself, but hopefully for us, her Season One and early Season Two self returns ASAP.
Gossip Guy: I always want to believe the worst in people and think they can't change. In this case, the worst would be the best thing ever. I need my Queen B.
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40 Comments
April 21st, 2009 12:47 PM
1. What was your favorite Gossip Girl quote from the episode?
Have to give it to Dan tonight: "Yes you are the wife of the land of gentry and I am a cater waiter at a seder."
Laughed my ass off...
2. In honor of Josh Schwartz and two-thirds of our panel, what was the best Jewish humor-related part of the episode?
When Dan sat down at the table and Cyrus said "Oh well, thats were we just moved Elijah" ..... Cyrus is FAB!!!
3. Should Nate go to Yale or Columbia?
Who cares........ No way did he get into Columbia on his own merits. The whole things is so far fetched.
4. Strangest plot hole: Jenny having her Monopoly date at the van der Woodsen's and not in Brooklyn, Nate staying at the rehearsal dinner after his kiss-off toast, or Serena actually thinking she's married?
Serena thinking shes married. I mean come on. Not a big surprise about Jenny she may have been trying to impress her new guy. Which by the way.... could they not have found a cuter boy for her, I think it is Aaron's long lost brother.
5. Gabriel: Intriguing or boring?
Boring but I loved Blair to Serena. "Who was that tall snack you were devouring earlier?" So cute. Love those two when they are on.
BONUS QUESTION: Has Blair really changed - and is being with Nate stifling the feisty, confident B we know and love?
I have said this before.... B is whiney and needy when she is with Nate and I hate it. I want my strong, vivacous B back. It is almost hard to watch her taking it from everyone and begging Nate.
April 21st, 2009 12:53 PM
All I have to say is............we are finally getting somewhere here in these next few episodes. Of course, I have Chair on the brain most of the time but I like this whole Serena and Gabriel thing. And I am finally in Dan's corner here!
Okay, enough of that. Yes, please God , bring back our Queen B. This just proves that Chuck is the right man for her. He accepts her for who she is and dammit, I want her back again!
Hopefully the next episodes will play out in a battle for B. Of course, I want Chuck Bass as the winner! Always!
April 21st, 2009 12:58 PM
1. What was your favorite Gossip Girl quote from the episode?
Chuck: I never apologized for what happened last year. I deeply regret my actions of that night. If you ever do move in here, I'll make sure I'm not around.
This is definitely my favorite quote because Ed Westwick's amazing acting broke my heart and it shows how much Chuck has changed. Also, I loved how it brought tears to Jenny's eyes.
2. In honor of Josh Schwartz and two-thirds of our panel, what was the best Jewish humor-related part of the episode?
Definitely the "Schmutz happens" apron. Hilarious.
3. Should Nate go to Yale or Columbia?
Well, in the real world, he wouldn't have gotten into either, even with his grandfather's help. They are both great schools but he should go to Columbia because he has a right to be proud that he got in on his own.
4. Strangest plot hole: Jenny having her Monopoly date at the van der Woodsen's and not in Brooklyn, Nate staying at the rehearsal dinner after his kiss-off toast, or Serena actually thinking she's married?
I have to give it to Nate. All the sting from his speech disappeared because he didn't walk off afterwards. As for Jenny's date at the VDWs, I don't remember exactly, but I thought I heard her give an excuse for it...and based on Serena's wild past, her getting married isn't that unbelievable.
5. Gabriel: Intriguing or boring?
I don't see him as attractive at all...especially with the orange spray tan. Gabriel is boring, but the plot line is intriguing because of the mystery with Poppy, bringing Dan and Serena together as friends, AND causing CHAIR to scheme together! YES!
BONUS QUESTION: Has Blair really changed - and is being with Nate stifling the feisty, confident B we know and love?
Of course! When she is with Nate, she thinks being herself is wrong, because he insults her for it. Chuck loves her for who she is. B with N is whiny and weak.
April 21st, 2009 1:01 PM
1. Fave quote: "Stupid of you to want her to change." Finally Chuck said something that I can approve of.
2. The seder: Oh, God. All of it. Can we have Cyrus all the time? I'll happily trade Harold in.
3. Nate should go to community college which is the ONLY place he could get in on his own merits.
4. Nate at the dinner. WTF.
5. I'm enjoying the storyline overall.
Blair question: Oh, to continue with the biblical allusions, Blair has been the Job of GG this year. Now both Nate and Serena have been accepted into Ivies "on their own merits" and top student Blair is going to be a socialite? Chuck cares about everyone BUT her for episode after episode? She pays for everything she does while everyone else skates? Her mental state makes sense in that she is exhausted and her sense of self has been destroyed, and Meester is wonderful as always, but I'm so tired of watching it. It's been a theme on GG this season to destroy the girls with ambition and brains (Jenny also pays), while everyone else goes free.
April 21st, 2009 1:51 PM
1. What was your favorite Gossip Girl quote from the episode?
for humor i have to give it to dan "i'm a cater waiter at a seder." dan in general has been hilarious. for poignancy i have to give it to chuck. he was amazing this episode and i see the tide turning for him. “what i meant was, it’s stupid for you to want her to change” showed that although in many ways he is not ready to be with blair (dealing with rejection by sleeping around) in a lot of ways he deserves her MORE than nate because he obviously loves and accepts her true self and knows that is important.
2. In honor of Josh Schwartz and two-thirds of our panel, what was the best Jewish humor-related part of the episode?
wallace sean is the best addition to the cast ever. everything he said cracked me up but I particularly loved “that’s where we moved elijah”.
3. Should Nate go to Yale or Columbia?
the idea that nate got into columbia on his own merits is laughable. also, he is supposedly from one of the best known families in new york, as if columbia would have NO IDEA who he is and accept him purely based on… what? his extracurriculars? oh well, send him there, that means more of the characters in nyc next year.
4. Strangest plot hole: Jenny having her Monopoly date at the van der Woodsen's and not in Brooklyn, Nate staying at the rehearsal dinner after his kiss-off toast, or Serena actually thinking she's married?
well jenny did give a reason for having her date there (her dad’s specialty is waffles and embarrassment) although he wasn’t home so… the excuse was funny though so i will let her off the hook. nate giving that toast and going on and on to blair about being “done” with his family but then sticking around after? weak sauce. and serena “i killed a guy” vanderwoodsen mistakenly thinking she got married? not surprising. plus i have a secret suspicion that they DID get married and he is lying to her about it as part of the nefarious scheme he has cooked up with poppy. i give this one to nate.
5. Gabriel: Intriguing or boring?
i haven’t decided. i did like the twist with poppy at the end and i do wonder what he is up to. i also think his “perfect guy” routine is a little transparent but i wouldn’t call serena a brain trust so I can buy her falling for it. If it brings chuck and blair together and georgina back then i am all for it.
BONUS QUESTION: Has Blair really changed - and is being with Nate stifling the feisty, confident B we know and love?
blair is growing but she is trying to change who she is, for nate, that is for sure. nate DOESN’T accept blair. he may care for her or even love her but i don’t think he likes her very much and that strain is evident in a weaker more submissive b. i think she is desperate in general after this year that she has had but i know that her true self is too strong to fade away and, hopefully with chuck’s support, she will find herself again. i think she will be more mature and perhaps considerate but a strong fighter who gets what she wants!
April 21st, 2009 2:50 PM
I really enjoyed this episode, but I do not know if I can forgive the writers for breaking Blair down so much. Out of all the things to do how could Blair not even get into IVY and Nate and Serena do. THAT WAS WICKED. For all her hard work, just to crush her dream. That is purely wicked. Or maybe they just don’t like to see smart ambicous girls succeed.
Jenny was great. I think she brought Chuck down to reality. I am happy he apologized. It shows that he is maturing. I really look forward to seeing next week.
I still do not understand how Serena gets herself into so much trouble and has the ability to look so innocent doing it. If her friend broke up with her boy friend why didn’t she leave with her friend? Lol! The definitely will be fun.
April 21st, 2009 3:59 PM
Gabriel was totally boring in this episode. His looks are boring too.
April 21st, 2009 4:19 PM
I really hated this episode. It was just bad & boring. I think, Southern Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, is going to be perfectly.
April 21st, 2009 5:15 PM
1. What was your favorite Gossip Girl quote from the episode?
I'm stuck between 2:
1- Gossip Girl says "Baruch Atah Adios Mios. This Seder's gonna get it's own Spanish Inquisition."
2- Lily says "It was right out of the Old Serena playbook. You could have thrown in a few boys from the lacrosse team ad it would have been the Constance mother-daughter luncheon all over again.
2. In honor of Josh Schwartz and two-thirds of our panel, what was the best Jewish humor-related part of the episode?
Definitely the "Schmutz happens" apron. Hahha.
3. Should Nate go to Yale or Columbia?
Columbia cause I really want all the characters to stay in New York.
4. Strangest plot hole: Jenny having her Monopoly date at the van der Woodsen's and not in Brooklyn, Nate staying at the rehearsal dinner after his kiss-off toast, or Serena actually thinking she's married?
Jenny for sure. She's such a hypocrite and it annoys me that she's obsessed with bored games
5. Gabriel: Intriguing or boring?
I mean, he's better than Vanessa, but he's not amazing. It's okay, I'll deal.
BONUS QUESTION: Has Blair really changed - and is being with Nate stifling the feisty, confident B we know and love?
I think Blairs kinda changing, but in a bad way. She was better when she was scheming and with Chuck. I'm kinda mad actually. She's becoming like a mix of S and V and it SUX
April 21st, 2009 5:17 PM
just have to say i thought this episode was especially amazing - towards the end definately.
-poor chuck when he finds nate has taken what he said and gone running to get blair back and hw sweet when he apologized to jenny
-jenny for standing up for herself, totally forgot about that, but wtf at the van der woodsen's and at that hair(!)
-didn't think gabriel looked that gd in the pics posted here b4, but he's alright as he matches up with serena. Interested to see what happens next after the ending with poppy.
oh and of course nate should go to columbia, you can't have him all mad at people treating him like a puppett and then play along!