
Aug 28 from The Boston Herald:
From the Boston Herald:
Juicy ‘Gossip’ by Mark A. Perigard
CW series about rich NYC teens is scandalously addictive
The queen of mean is back.
CW’s delicious teen soap “Gossip Girl” returns for a second season Monday at 8 p.m. on
WLVI
Teen vixen Blair Waldorf, played by the delightfully snarky Leighton Meester, is poised to become the greatest beeyatch in television history.
Yes, there are those media watchdogs who would have you believe “Gossip Girl” is the most dangerous program in the free world.
This is a comedy, an outrageous spoof of teenage fantasies of glamour. It has about as much relation to reality as “WallE.”
For those (like this viewer) who forgot where everyone ended up at the end of last season, no worries. The ever-omniscient Gossip Girl (the crisp voice of Kristen Bell, “Heroes”) updates us on the messy breakups of these rich New York high school students.
What follows here are truly minor spoilers.
The premiere opens with one couple getting hot and sweaty. It takes a moment for the camera to step back to reveal the identities of the two. It’s a coupling that promises to cause much havoc for a chunk of the season.
At the Hamptons, Serena (Blake Lively) still mopes for her Hobbit love Dan (Penn Badgley). She and Nate (Chace Crawford) are pretending to be a couple, each for different reasons.
Dan has spent the summer working out his pain by being quite the man-tramp.
Blair is still ticked off at Chuck (Ed Westwick) for dumping her weeks earlier.
Chuck greets Blair with roses, but she’s got a new guy. Chuck smells a rat.
“I wasn’t aware that robots got jealous,” Blair snipes at him. “Did they update your software while I was away?”
Chuck decides to get the goods on the man he deems the “untalented Mr. Ripley.” That leads to one of the more audacious swerves of the night.
Dithering Dan and Serena may be the couple we’re supposed to root for, but Blair and Chuck are endlessly more fascinating.
Chuck has the strangest sartorial tastes, pastels and bow ties, and the kind of squinty glare you expect on a serial killer.
Blair has a mouth that runs on a separate motor. Why bother to let people down gently when it’s so much easier to rip them to shreds?
They’re just so perfect for each other. As Chuck says to her, “You really know how to hurt people. I admire you for it.”
Everyone collides at a summer party that reveals secrets, lies and unexpected couples.
“Gossip Girl” is not a picture-perfect show. Any scene with middle-aged rocker Rufus (Matthew Settle) is a snooze. Eh. That’s forgivable. Sophomore slump? Unlikely.
This “Girl” has lots more dish in her.
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Aug 27 from OK mag:
Gossip Girl: Steamy on Set!
The new season of
Gossip Girl is going to be off the charts scandalous!
First off, Blair Waldorf faces a tug-of-war between Chuck and a handsome newcomer called James, played by
Patrick Heusinger,
OK! can reveal.
Blair, a.k.a.
Leighton Meester, 22, calls the new season "Steamier and more scandalous than the last!"
"Chuck and Blair fight and make up," she told
OK! at a YSL/Henri Bendel event in NYC on August 24.
"She's harder because Chuck hurt her before she left, so she wants to punish him, even though inside she's sad."
And what's next for Chuck? "
My character is trying to figure out if he loves or if he can love," Ed Westwick, 21, said at a Coca-Cola event on August 21.
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Aug 24: The CW released a detailed description of Season 2 and I'm happy to present it to you. This one is exclusive and so far you can only find it on gg-media So this does contain SPOILERS!
Season two continues with Serena's rising social status, as she becomes a New York City It Girl. Taking Manhattan by storm seems a fun distraction, but when elements of her bad-girl personality begin to emerge, will Serena's newfound status fuel bad habits? Plus, as Serena and Dan struggle to come to terms with their breakup, Dan unwittingly crosses Serena, and he sees what she is really capable of. Dan also acquires a mentor — a literary lion who urges him to explore his grittier side. But will he lose his moral compass?
Blair dates someone out of her league and is dealt a severe betrayal. This won't be the only betrayal Blair will face, as someone close to her threatens her queen bee status. But Blair will dish up ill will of her own — no one leaves her in Tuscany, certainly not Chuck Bass … Meanwhile, Chuck demonstrates how truly Machiavellian he can be, as he helps facilitate the fall of one queen bee and the rise of another. Chuck and Blair's love-hate relationship rises to new levels; he regrets his decision to leave her, and tries to make everyone — including Blair — pay for his mistake.
Nate shocks everyone with a scandalous new relationship with a sexy older woman, all the while trying to deal with the consequences of his father jumping bail. How will Nate handle these newfound financial woes? What schemes or dreams will he come up with to make money?
Jenny continues her Cinderella story, substituting Blair for her mother, Eleanor, and a job at Eleanor's atelier. Jenny also develops a friendship with a model who gets her in over her head in the dark, adult world of fashion. This girl is the fun, wild friend who pulls Jenny away from family and school and into the night … something Rufus is not happy about.
Vanessa's life gets turned around by the return of her unstable sister, a force whose wrongs Vanessa is always trying to right. Plus, she gets pulled back into Nate's drama, and, though she tries to be a good friend to him, it is hard on her. Vanessa opens the door a bit more to her life and why she is the way she is. She also gets a job that brings her closer to the world of Rufus.
Rufus, meanwhile, has returned from tour with the realization that the dreams he gave up haven't left his mind. He'll have to choose which path he wants to follow. Rufus starts to date again, something that brings him into conflict with Lily. He is also in conflict with Jenny, over her future, and with Dan, and Dan's new attitude to live more and take bigger risks.
Lily returns from a three-month globetrotting honeymoon as Mrs. Bart Bass to find herself thrust into a new level of Manhattan society — and all the privileges and pressures that come with it. The public unveiling of the new apartment — palace or gilded cage? — lends incredible stress and Lily starts to question the choices she's made. She also finds out that her new husband knows more about her than she thought, as he attempts to clean up and contain her past. Lily's attempts to maintain some type of relationship with Rufus and escape from the mundane duties of a society wife force Rufus to draw the line, and, for the first time in their history, Lily finds that she's the one rebuffed.
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From the ausiellofiles on EW (Aug 19)
Leighton: "She is very hurt by what he did...she has alot of feelings for him"
"She's willing to go as far as she needs to get back at Chuck even if it means hurting herself"
Ed: "I feel there is something solid there"
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From the CW11 Morning News Web blog Cast interviews (Aug 18):
Leighton said:
"I don't think she really wants to not be with Chuck"
"She already knows in her heart that she is right with him"
"I want her to be with Chuck"
"She really does want to be with Chuck."
Leighton loves Chair
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From Kristin at eonline:
The crazy-good news, though? Bluck or Chair or whatever you want to call them are so on. Apparently, the producers have noticed the crazy-good chemistry that lies within that naughty-by-nature duo, and there'll be much more of them ahead. I'm actually told they will be "the couple" moving forward.
"Chuck and Blair are the IT couple for Season 2"
'Chuck and Blair are the Super Couple for Season 2'
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