Speaker 1: Welcome back, listeners to your one and only source into
Speaker 1: all things gossip Crow. You know you'll love it. XO
Speaker 1: x Oh, Hello everyone, and welcome back to XO XO.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica's Or. Today we'll be getting into
Speaker 1: season two episode Valley Girls. This is pretty special. We
Speaker 1: have a flashback to Lily's life growing up in l A,
Speaker 1: which actually was a backdrop pilot for a Gossip Girl spinoff.
Speaker 1: That's crazy, right, And of course the Upper east Side
Speaker 1: has its own drama, including prom night and one of
Speaker 1: the sweetest Chuck and Blair moments in the show. And
Speaker 1: for my guest, you know her, you love her. I'm
Speaker 1: so excited to announce my partner in crime, Susanna Shatkowsky,
Speaker 1: is joining me again this week. Susanna always brings the
Speaker 1: best stories and honestly, I just love talking to her. Plus,
Speaker 1: De Rhoda has some great moments in this episode that
Speaker 1: Susannah can give her expertise on. I'm so excited. So
Speaker 1: without further ado, here's Bally Girls. What's going on? Girl? Hey,
Speaker 1: what's going Yeah? Every time we start talking, we have
Speaker 1: a countdown and it sounds and to me, it's like
Speaker 1: forgot to take off of the Space Shuttle. We're going
Speaker 1: to space the girl. Um, that's actually funny you say that.
Speaker 1: Last night we have two friends in town and we're
Speaker 1: up in flag stuff and like at night, the stars
Speaker 1: are so beyond like there's so many and that you
Speaker 1: see like shooting stars and all the things. We were
Speaker 1: literally took blankets and laid on the driveway. Amazing and beautiful.
Speaker 1: So but you have to appreciate that. It's like in
Speaker 1: New York you can't see the stars and not staying
Speaker 1: out one star. I guess there are some stars walking around, right,
Speaker 1: But No, it's funny because Flagstaff it's like the only
Speaker 1: thing I know about Flagstaff is uh, the climate is uh,
Speaker 1: you know, not what you would typically think of. No.
Speaker 1: In Arizona, Sona. Yeah, and so because essentially desert beautiful. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's so beautiful the tree and right now with fall,
Speaker 1: it's like all the colors, all the fall vibes, and
Speaker 1: that this is my favorite time of the year. That's
Speaker 1: why I like living in l A. Is hard for
Speaker 1: me because I'm like, I need fall. I need that
Speaker 1: New York fall. Today is a good example. Today is
Speaker 1: that kind of fault still sunny, but it has like
Speaker 1: the temps are down where you can have like a
Speaker 1: little bit of a light jacket. It's like brisk, yes,
Speaker 1: and it has that feeling of people have wood burning fireplaces.
Speaker 1: So this time of the year when you're walking the dog,
Speaker 1: smell the fireplace is and it's like crunchy leaves and
Speaker 1: it's like crisp air. Yeah, and is yea does really
Speaker 1: well in spring and fall because the small amount of
Speaker 1: foliage that we do have, it's like all of a
Speaker 1: sudden you kind of start noticing it because it's like
Speaker 1: beautiful colors. And yeah, fall is definitely, let's romantic New
Speaker 1: York time. This is magic time. It really does feel magical.
Speaker 1: Brief little window. So the countdown comes on. We're going
Speaker 1: to gossip Girl World. We're in a like in a spaceship. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: here we are. It does feel like that. And here
Speaker 1: we are talking about fall in New York. Okay, So
Speaker 1: we're rewatching season two, episode twenty four, Valley Girls, which
Speaker 1: is based on the movie Valley Girl, three rom com
Speaker 1: with Deborah Foreman and Nicholas Cage. I don't know that movie.
Speaker 1: That's when I've never heard of. I don't either and
Speaker 1: I like Nicholas Cage. He like cracks me up in
Speaker 1: a way. Yeah, and so this is that crazy episode
Speaker 1: where we have a flashback to Lily's youth. This only
Speaker 1: happens once some gossip roll and we like leave the
Speaker 1: sort of universe of this show and go into another.
Speaker 1: We leave the planet of Gossip Girl and go go
Speaker 1: to the planet of l A. I guess, yeah, yepree,
Speaker 1: I think is what it said in the opening. And
Speaker 1: we see like Malibu and it's Brittany Snow playing the
Speaker 1: younger Lily driving on PCH Pacific Coast Highway. I have
Speaker 1: a friend that's from Malbo and she's like, people always
Speaker 1: say the pH when you're not from there. She's like,
Speaker 1: when you're from there, you just say pc H. That's
Speaker 1: a good hint. That's like insider knowledge. Yea Pacific Highway.
Speaker 1: And Brittney Snow, who I'm a big fan of. I
Speaker 1: think she's such a sweetheart in life and then her
Speaker 1: as an actor, I think she's just she has like
Speaker 1: always this undertone thing of like this comedic thing that
Speaker 1: she brings to a lot of her roles. I feel,
Speaker 1: all in all, I'm a big fan of her. No,
Speaker 1: I agree. She has a really magical charismatic quality. And
Speaker 1: in this particular show, it's like, because she is playing
Speaker 1: a young Lily and we know Lily so well, it's
Speaker 1: like she really did an incredible job of finding the
Speaker 1: sort of essence of that actor and then playing the
Speaker 1: young version of her, Like it was masterful. I thought,
Speaker 1: So I'm a big Brittany fan now, especially after what
Speaker 1: I thought. She was really really really great, and I
Speaker 1: love Christian Ritter, and I thought that was like a
Speaker 1: good match and their chemistry was great. Yeah, oh that's
Speaker 1: a good chemistry. And it's funny because like we had
Speaker 1: that that pair in this episode, we see the Brittany
Speaker 1: and Britney Christian River chemistry and then we see the
Speaker 1: Layton Blake chemistry and those two sort of blonde brunettes,
Speaker 1: you know, but really really fun to watch those two
Speaker 1: different friendships and the different kind of colors of them.
Speaker 1: But then also they have essential like core that they
Speaker 1: share almost totally very true. And it's also funny because
Speaker 1: you would never put those two sisters. So I also
Speaker 1: thought that was kind of like interesting but cool, and
Speaker 1: I loved how they plugged that right away, like the
Speaker 1: Shiloh his character at the diner is like, I don't
Speaker 1: see the resemblance. I'm like, okay, totally different looking, different vibes.
Speaker 1: But I thought that that was what was neat about it. Okay,
Speaker 1: can we talk about this before we get into it. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: this was a spinoff, and it was essentially supposed to
Speaker 1: be the pilot for a spinoff of Gossip Girl, which
Speaker 1: was would have been Valley Valley Girls, right, right. So
Speaker 1: it's like they conceived of the idea that the Gossip
Speaker 1: Girl was at this point in its second season well received, right,
Speaker 1: and they were considering spin off ideas. I mean, I'm assuming,
Speaker 1: and then they came up with this plan that, you
Speaker 1: know what would be nice to to explore the high
Speaker 1: school life of Lily vander Woodson. So I guess that
Speaker 1: rather than make a separate pilot, they kind of folded
Speaker 1: it into the Gossip Girl story here. So it's like
Speaker 1: we're getting a pilot within an episode, right, So it's
Speaker 1: like unique Dommy like yeah, and it's like I can't
Speaker 1: think of another show where that's happened, but I'm sure
Speaker 1: it has, but it's an interesting way to do it,
Speaker 1: it is, and I think the idea is like actually
Speaker 1: really cool when you think about it. But I'm watching it,
Speaker 1: and to me, when it was done, I'm like, wait,
Speaker 1: I want to see what's going on with Lily and Carroll.
Speaker 1: Even though we know where Lily ends up, there's still
Speaker 1: like years that go on and this in that relationship,
Speaker 1: And we get teased on so many things in this
Speaker 1: episode because like we know that you know, she had
Speaker 1: some kind of you know, she really had a deep
Speaker 1: relationship or connection with this guy that she meets in
Speaker 1: this in l a and that somehow her mom messes
Speaker 1: it up for her. We learned that from the flash forward,
Speaker 1: and but we need to see it go down. And
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, I got really hooked, And it was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I really wanted to see how those characters continue to
Speaker 1: relate tweet and like even dis ship and yeah, her
Speaker 1: on the bus, like how is she going to live
Speaker 1: in this world? Absolutely? And I And here's my thing,
Speaker 1: I don't know what ended up happening. If they just
Speaker 1: decided to just leave at the flashback episode or whatever.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. I don't know the answers are, but
Speaker 1: it didn't continue. But I think that with Gossip Girl,
Speaker 1: we're so dialed in right now with what's going on
Speaker 1: with Blair and Nate and Chuck and then Serena going
Speaker 1: to jail and Georgina coming back and all these things.
Speaker 1: I think when it pulled away and we did go
Speaker 1: back to the flashbacks, you're still like so caught up
Speaker 1: on what's going on on the Upper east Side that
Speaker 1: I feel like it was I feel like they would
Speaker 1: have just done it on its own. It would have
Speaker 1: maybe had a different outcome. Does that make sense, Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1: And I think it's like it's like your attention is
Speaker 1: kind of split. So it's like that the feeling that,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm so invested in these characters in this
Speaker 1: story and this these are like my buddies that I'm watching,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like my gos girl that I know.
Speaker 1: And then it's like, yeah, when you would get taken
Speaker 1: away to the other story, it's like your brain almost
Speaker 1: has a reset, and then as soon as you get
Speaker 1: engaged in the other world, like when you start to
Speaker 1: really kind of get the you know, you're in the
Speaker 1: vibe of it, then you flashback again. So it is
Speaker 1: a harder way to do it, and they did a
Speaker 1: great job in the sense of beaut wanting us to
Speaker 1: watch both, but it was to me, I'm like, if
Speaker 1: they would have just maybe done it on its own.
Speaker 1: Then all of a sudden, Derroota brings her her problemdress
Speaker 1: and I can't get over the prom dress. I can't
Speaker 1: get over how like sweet you are that you did that.
Speaker 1: I'm so pumped for Blair. And then it cuts to
Speaker 1: the other thing and I'm like still dandreaming about Blair's
Speaker 1: beautiful prince dress. Yeah, and it's fun because I feel
Speaker 1: like the juicy sort of flashback to you know, kind
Speaker 1: of really getting into the Lily's relationship their own mother,
Speaker 1: and like going back in Lily's life is one thing,
Speaker 1: but if it's a pilot for a standalone show, it's like,
Speaker 1: I feel like you and I are both you know,
Speaker 1: we're kind of in love with those characters in that story.
Speaker 1: We wouldn't want to want to see it, you know,
Speaker 1: as its own show too. But it's like, uh so,
Speaker 1: I feel like this episode works beautifully the way that
Speaker 1: it is, but it's almost like I wish they had
Speaker 1: had then a second kind of standalone pilot on its own,
Speaker 1: so that we could really invest in that other world
Speaker 1: and then see it take off because it's such a
Speaker 1: cool kind of spinoff because because there's so much to
Speaker 1: dig into, right, you kind of have an idea of
Speaker 1: where we end up with this character, but it's a
Speaker 1: whole other world to explore, and so we have the
Speaker 1: sensibilities of the same kind of creative team flashing it out.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of fun and you look for the echoes,
Speaker 1: but you can go into a whole other story and
Speaker 1: invest in a whole other group of characters and it's
Speaker 1: never going to bump up against the other one because
Speaker 1: you know, it's not like the eighties, there of a
Speaker 1: to catch up to the you know whatever year. So
Speaker 1: I think it was so cool. So I wish I
Speaker 1: wish it had been different, but you know, the world
Speaker 1: of who and what, Yeah, you never know what TV
Speaker 1: and or maybe someone else book the pilot and couldn't
Speaker 1: do it, Like there's so many things that could have
Speaker 1: went on. But yeah, more or less, we both really
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. Yeah, I think it was a fun It
Speaker 1: was a fun jaunt. Yeah, And it's like when you're
Speaker 1: an actor and you're working on the show, it's almost
Speaker 1: you can't even let yourself think about how many things
Speaker 1: have to go into making it. You just got to
Speaker 1: try to make it and make it keep going. And
Speaker 1: you know, so the idea that the pilot or an
Speaker 1: idea turns into a series is already so you know,
Speaker 1: beyond comprehension, beyond for sure, So who knows. But but
Speaker 1: it was a really fun thing to explore, and I
Speaker 1: think that we certainly got a lot out of it
Speaker 1: in this episode as far as like, to me, this
Speaker 1: stuff that we learned about Lily is priceless. And then
Speaker 1: also the sort of mother daughter relationships that are set up,
Speaker 1: you know, with Clates to Serena. I feel like it
Speaker 1: really gave us a lot of a lot of insight
Speaker 1: and a lot of For me, it was very relatable
Speaker 1: and so I think, you know, that kind of layered
Speaker 1: storyline here really worked. And there was so much, like
Speaker 1: you said, so much exciting stuff happening in the sort
Speaker 1: of contemporary story. But the prom, I mean the prom
Speaker 1: that's a big deal. Oh god, we need to get
Speaker 1: into all of this right now. Okay, So this is
Speaker 1: here's where we left off, because now we we'll dive in.
Speaker 1: But Chuck brought your Gina back to the city to
Speaker 1: help him and Serena catch a scammer, while Blair had
Speaker 1: to choose between Chuck and Nate. Rufus prepared to propose
Speaker 1: to Lily but realized he didn't recognize her anymore, and
Speaker 1: Serena's planned to expose Poppy ended with her winding up
Speaker 1: in jail. Her mother put in j which I'm still
Speaker 1: not over. Yeah, was like put her in jail and
Speaker 1: then and then her plan us to drop the charges eventually.
Speaker 1: But when we left her, she was just hanging out
Speaker 1: and everybody was hanging out in the waiting room. Um
Speaker 1: So in this episode, we have a flashback to the
Speaker 1: early eighties, as we said, So it's some seven teen
Speaker 1: year old Lily Rhodes that's who we're with, and she
Speaker 1: gets kicked out of boarding school and runs away to
Speaker 1: Santa Barbara, where she reconnected her parents Rick and Cecy
Speaker 1: and goes to find her rebellious sister Carol. And back
Speaker 1: in the present day, Blair and Nate are going to
Speaker 1: prompt together, but the evening doesn't turn out exactly as planned,
Speaker 1: and meanwhile Serena and Lily do not see eye to
Speaker 1: eye over Serena's recent running with the law. So a
Speaker 1: lot of things are happening, and incidentally, Andrew McCarthy plays
Speaker 1: the dad, which is amazing. Yeah, because first of all,
Speaker 1: he's an icon of that time. I mean he's like original,
Speaker 1: like Brett Pack guy. So yeah, and like the older viewers,
Speaker 1: I mean the older but you know the viewers that
Speaker 1: we're not, you know, teens and twenties of the show. Um,
Speaker 1: that says something to them because he was in a
Speaker 1: ton of back to the eighties. Yeah, and we're getting
Speaker 1: and he's like, you know, that's sort of the generation
Speaker 1: that he was like this cool kid in and then
Speaker 1: so that's cool. And then also the fact is like
Speaker 1: I know he you know, he worked on Gossip or
Speaker 1: so much as a director, directed some episodes and I
Speaker 1: loved him as a director, So I forgot that he
Speaker 1: was on it as an actor in this episode, and
Speaker 1: it was kind of I didn't even know about, Like yeah,
Speaker 1: I felt like a real like I was like, what
Speaker 1: is that him? And so fun because then he would
Speaker 1: have been on both sides of the same camera. Is
Speaker 1: kind of cool because like, yeah, if he got to
Speaker 1: new the crew and he's I liked him as a
Speaker 1: director because he was like an actor's director. Obviously he
Speaker 1: was real like confident and easy and really knew how
Speaker 1: to speak, you know, like he would give one quick
Speaker 1: line or one quick note and you just got it.
Speaker 1: But yes, when he popped on the screen. After Lily
Speaker 1: gets out of the car and Malibu, she stops at
Speaker 1: a pay phone because obviously there's not cell phones then,
Speaker 1: which is also again so like fun to watch because
Speaker 1: you can't just text, you can't just go on, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like she could pull over, like
Speaker 1: put change into the pay phone, like you know, probably
Speaker 1: look up the number in her date book. Especially. I
Speaker 1: was thinking about this too that like for us watching
Speaker 1: it now, it's like the original Gossip or like modern
Speaker 1: day I mean the one with Blair and Serena in
Speaker 1: that world old were for us as viewers now those
Speaker 1: phones and the technology has already dated, and then here
Speaker 1: you have, you know, another level of different. So we're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: three jumps away from this world of connectivity that we
Speaker 1: have now. So it's fun to see that. It is
Speaker 1: like my sister who's twenty years old, doesn't understand that,
Speaker 1: like there wasn't navigation at one point. I mean, she
Speaker 1: understands it, but like she doesn't know a world in
Speaker 1: that so she's like, well, what how did you get
Speaker 1: to places? Or so like you had to like literally
Speaker 1: right down and be like, okay, I gotta take exit
Speaker 1: seven B and take the second right. Sometimes you wouldn't
Speaker 1: know the street names, so you literally had to print
Speaker 1: out the actually from map quest. They had that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but but I mean in the eighties, I don't in
Speaker 1: the actual map and or an atlas or you know
Speaker 1: roads that they would say very stressful. Yeah, we yeah,
Speaker 1: see a little bit of which is fun, I think
Speaker 1: when I mean, it has to be so fun as
Speaker 1: you're creating a show too, uh evelve into all those
Speaker 1: details in the world build you know, for the eighties,
Speaker 1: and I think they've definitely had a fun time, for sure.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they did. But you know what, I also
Speaker 1: think it's probably a bit of a challenge nowadays. You
Speaker 1: can't really have a scene in a show or in
Speaker 1: a movie that's you know, present day without a cell phone.
Speaker 1: But that also it's got to be challenging because of
Speaker 1: like conflicts that you need in a script or in
Speaker 1: a story, or the problems or the lessons that you're
Speaker 1: learning in these storylines and things like that. Because it's
Speaker 1: so easy to just send a text or call. So
Speaker 1: I feel like it's got to be a bit of
Speaker 1: a challenge to like navigate why you don't just pick
Speaker 1: up the phone when you're in a you know, in
Speaker 1: a situation, you know what I mean, Like like Serena
Speaker 1: and Jail, she couldn't just pick up the phone or
Speaker 1: she wasn't getting dance text because she didn't have it.
Speaker 1: That worked in that scene. But the majority of the time,
Speaker 1: everyone has a phone in their pocket in their hand.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's a very different different thing than movies
Speaker 1: in the eighties and nineties because or any time before,
Speaker 1: because you you you would literally have to show up
Speaker 1: or I don't know, I would think as a writer
Speaker 1: that would be right. I mean I was. I was
Speaker 1: in graduate school, um in the you know, mid mid auts,
Speaker 1: I guess, and I went for three months to Moscow
Speaker 1: to the Moscow Art Theater. We studied there. It was
Speaker 1: like part of my grad program in America. And when
Speaker 1: we went there, we didn't have you know, even though
Speaker 1: we had cell phones back then, and I mean they
Speaker 1: weren't as cool as they were today. But when we
Speaker 1: went to the other you know, overseas, we couldn't use
Speaker 1: them at all because it was before you know, smartphones
Speaker 1: and all that. So I remember for three months living
Speaker 1: in a flashback world to like the eighties and nineties
Speaker 1: where you actually had to make plans show up. If
Speaker 1: you didn't, people were concerned or they felt, you know,
Speaker 1: stood up. But you couldn't even be late. That was
Speaker 1: anything you couldn't say, like, hey, running ten minutes late,
Speaker 1: because you know, you'd like hope that a person is
Speaker 1: still sitting there, you know. So it was it's such
Speaker 1: a different kind of accountability, like human to human. I
Speaker 1: think that's one of the things you know that's so
Speaker 1: different too. So yeah, I think we flashed back in time.
Speaker 1: We have to. Even relationships are different because of communicate different. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I kind of in a way wish it was a
Speaker 1: little bit still like that in the sense of like, hey,
Speaker 1: I meet you here, and I'm doing that no matter
Speaker 1: what it is, whether you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 1: nothing that way though. Not even to sit down and
Speaker 1: watch your show anymore, any show that you watch, you
Speaker 1: can you can wait three weeks, you can wait for
Speaker 1: the whole season at count and then watch it like
Speaker 1: you used to have to sit down on a Monday
Speaker 1: night at seven o'clock and watch Gossip Girl Fell on
Speaker 1: a Thursday or whatever it was, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Also nothing, I mean speaking of watching TV, like when
Speaker 1: I'm watching these episodes, you know, because we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about them, and you know, I'm really paying attention.
Speaker 1: And it makes me realize that I so rarely watch
Speaker 1: television without my phone in my hand. So even shows
Speaker 1: I love, I find myself just like scrolling and social
Speaker 1: media and like, yeah, recently I've taken up TikTok from everything.
Speaker 1: I don't always it's so weird because like I'm kind
Speaker 1: of a grandma with stuff, and you know, so it's
Speaker 1: it's tick. Talk thing is such a thing, and I
Speaker 1: haven't dove into it, and I don't know that I
Speaker 1: will or ken because I just I'm like, it's just
Speaker 1: another thing, but so many people love it. Just tell
Speaker 1: me what freaks me out? I mean, for me, the
Speaker 1: thing wasn't I didn't really understand how it worked, and
Speaker 1: so then I kind of I logged in and took
Speaker 1: a look, and then I realized, you know, you kind
Speaker 1: of just start the scroll and because you don't have
Speaker 1: to follow people or have friends, or you don't have
Speaker 1: to make any choices before you start scrolling. Um, it
Speaker 1: kind of just like feeds you. So then it starts
Speaker 1: to learn about you, I guess because like whatever you're
Speaker 1: paying more attention to, it starts sending you more of that.
Speaker 1: So it's a real I mean, it's kind of dangerous
Speaker 1: because like the first time I looked at I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't get it. By the second time, I was
Speaker 1: like two hours later, I'm like watching like hours of
Speaker 1: like croc pot videos. But it's like and also the
Speaker 1: things things I like now, I mean it's sending me
Speaker 1: all these you know, animal rescues and and then you know,
Speaker 1: weird like one pot recipes. I'm like, oh, this is
Speaker 1: so I'm starting to get it. I'm like, oh, this
Speaker 1: is what TikTok, this is who TikTok thinks I am,
Speaker 1: which is kind of a funny. It's like a funny
Speaker 1: mirror to your own personality. But I have yet to
Speaker 1: venture into actually making any of my own content or videos,
Speaker 1: which is slightly overwhelming. So I'm gonna try it. We're
Speaker 1: gonna promising here and now to try I'm gonna make
Speaker 1: Mike al TikTok video. I'll let you know, and I
Speaker 1: want to know all the things. Let me ask you this.
Speaker 1: So now we're jumping back from the eighties, from the
Speaker 1: rewatch to the Gossip Girl we were on what are
Speaker 1: we calling it that the original? Is that what we
Speaker 1: don't know? To the one that's on now? Do they
Speaker 1: on the new one talk about TikTok and Instagram and
Speaker 1: snapchat like those things in the dialogue because that is
Speaker 1: such a part of today's world, or do they stay
Speaker 1: away from that and just let Gossip Girl be the
Speaker 1: platform that now they definitely do. The Gospels is an
Speaker 1: Instagram handle, but they're in the whole new show, and
Speaker 1: so you find out right away anything Gossip Girl is
Speaker 1: versus the way that you know the original series it was.
Speaker 1: But you know what, they probably had to do that otherwise,
Speaker 1: are you just trying to recreate the same show? And
Speaker 1: sometimes that is not what you can do, I think,
Speaker 1: not what you can do, not what people want to see,
Speaker 1: because you did it and you know what I mean, right, No,
Speaker 1: they definitely, like I feel like they did a brilliant
Speaker 1: job of moving forward in time with us, you know,
Speaker 1: as a society. Um, so all of that social media,
Speaker 1: like exactly what you're saying, like it's I think it's
Speaker 1: really the kind of uh tent pole of the show,
Speaker 1: Like it's like a crux of it is this understanding
Speaker 1: of how people communicate today. So it's really integrated and
Speaker 1: so I think similar to the original show, it's like
Speaker 1: kind of cutting edge and time appropriate and really realistic
Speaker 1: in a way in terms of how people use media.
Speaker 1: So even though Gossip or all the original the one
Speaker 1: we're watching seems dated, it's like they were very that
Speaker 1: use of social media and media in general was really
Speaker 1: advanced in that moment, right, So it's like the fact
Speaker 1: that people were looking at a blog and texting each
Speaker 1: other and snapping photos of each other, like that was
Speaker 1: cutting edge stuff back in the day. Right, amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a wild it is. It's interesting because that, um yeah,
Speaker 1: the like in Gossip Girl, the original to Rode, I
Speaker 1: had a scene where she was on Facebook, like doing
Speaker 1: some Facebook stocking. So like Facebook was very you know,
Speaker 1: was the thing. And you know, one of the other things,
Speaker 1: as I've told you before, I have certain like TV
Speaker 1: watching pet Peeves, which um comes to bear in this episode,
Speaker 1: which I have I'll get to in a second, but
Speaker 1: one of them is when I watched television today and
Speaker 1: people are texting on phones and how you know if
Speaker 1: it's like you're texting your boyfriend. But then they show
Speaker 1: the phone and there's no previous text messages like that,
Speaker 1: they didn't create start and I'm like, yeah, nobody's And
Speaker 1: so it's funny because I that's why biggest pet peeve.
Speaker 1: But I watched like like technology on television now, But
Speaker 1: they nail that in the New Gossip Girl and then
Speaker 1: in this gossipel it's not even applicable because the way
Speaker 1: those phones were because the screen takes up the whole screen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Like in this episode, we see Serena finally at the
Speaker 1: end text silly and says, I'm sorry, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: on my way home, and it's like text takes up
Speaker 1: the whole screen. It's so funny. It's like such big letters.
Speaker 1: But yeah, okay, so we have the flashback she meets
Speaker 1: her dad. It's Andrew McCarthy, who we love, and then
Speaker 1: c C, who I always love when CEC comes on
Speaker 1: because just even the tone of her voice and like
Speaker 1: she's nucleus from which everything comes on the Upper East Side,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Somehow she's like the classic
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, she's like wicked and wild, but like
Speaker 1: she has this like accent, but it's I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just she's also cool and like really, she's such
Speaker 1: a like a beautiful woman. And it's funny because I
Speaker 1: end this episode at one point that that's either Jenny
Speaker 1: or Eric. I think he says like, oh, Grandma moves
Speaker 1: fast or something, and I was like, of course she does.
Speaker 1: Look at her, she's like a model, and he's like,
Speaker 1: I mean, she doesn't look like a grannybody's grandma, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. And it's so great because we're like,
Speaker 1: of course that's how Lily is gonna look too, down
Speaker 1: the line, because it's like beautiful, sophisticated, you know, easy
Speaker 1: elegance that they have totally And how about the woman
Speaker 1: who plays c C and the flashbacks, like even her
Speaker 1: tone of voice, I'm like, wow, she's like really, yeah,
Speaker 1: she's fantastic. Yeah. I feel like both she and Brittany
Speaker 1: Snow definitely studied those characterizations and they honored them, and
Speaker 1: you know, you can see those characters in their work,
Speaker 1: which is so cool. And it's like, so in the
Speaker 1: beginning of that, will you clarify one thing for me?
Speaker 1: So we see, uh, the young Lily at lunch with
Speaker 1: her dad. So she's been kicked out of school and
Speaker 1: she wants to live with her dad in l A.
Speaker 1: But he because he has this whole new or not
Speaker 1: not new life, but this life that she wants to
Speaker 1: be a part of it. She wants to just she
Speaker 1: wants to reconnect and yeah, come there, but he some
Speaker 1: but he's too busy and he's like some kind of
Speaker 1: record executive or big shot or something. Right, basically he's not,
Speaker 1: you know, there for her in that moment. It's kind
Speaker 1: of disappointing. But CC is there. So do they all
Speaker 1: live in l A. Or is she living in New
Speaker 1: York with Cecy? I don't know. That's a part of it.
Speaker 1: Was confused. I don't know. That's why we need another episode. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they live, they lived in Malibu in West Hollywood. Did
Speaker 1: they live in the valley? Because the feeling that her
Speaker 1: and her mom stayed on the East coast and that
Speaker 1: the dad and the others than the sister were on
Speaker 1: the West coast and then now they were kind of
Speaker 1: all coming together. That's kind of what I thought was
Speaker 1: going on, but then the details got away from But
Speaker 1: I guess it doesn't matter. I mean fundamentally, what matters
Speaker 1: is that it was like Lily, yeah the question even
Speaker 1: back then though, she has like an Upper east Side vibe,
Speaker 1: which you know, and there's a scene in this episode
Speaker 1: where the where the young younger CC says to her,
Speaker 1: I want you to live on the Upper east Side
Speaker 1: and so it's like already in definitely in the rational life, right,
Speaker 1: so it makes sense to go in her style because
Speaker 1: she's so I feel like that was so interesting to
Speaker 1: me was the feeling the vibe of l A. You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're like surfboards and the sun and like very yeah,
Speaker 1: and how she did or did not stick out there,
Speaker 1: you know, like her hair and her pearls and you
Speaker 1: know she was So that was a fun way to
Speaker 1: like explore that character, I think by like contrasting her
Speaker 1: so much with that kind of I guess that laid
Speaker 1: back energy of l A and especially in the eighties
Speaker 1: totally how about why And they're literally speaking of that
Speaker 1: when they're in the car and they're talking about how
Speaker 1: she she sold her car to invest Carol sold her
Speaker 1: card to invest in something, and she's like it's like
Speaker 1: a purse that you wear around your waist. Oh, yes,
Speaker 1: she's talking about a Fannie Pack. I love that. I
Speaker 1: feel like there's a couple of moments in this episode
Speaker 1: where you get that really And I think this episode
Speaker 1: was actually written by Josh and Stephanie, so I feel
Speaker 1: like you really get a lot of their very particular
Speaker 1: wit here, you know, And like that is one of
Speaker 1: those things, like inserting the fact that she's frivolously invested
Speaker 1: in a Fannie Pack. It's so good. I love that.
Speaker 1: I loved it. I was like, wait, I had to
Speaker 1: rewind it. I'm like, wait, is that what she's like
Speaker 1: explaining that she invested in a Fannie Pack? You're so right,
Speaker 1: that's very like good. Yeah, And it's just so funny
Speaker 1: because it's like for the people who kind of catch
Speaker 1: that or for whom that's humorous, it's like that's the
Speaker 1: kind of detail that makes the show really palatable and
Speaker 1: juicy and like something that people really and it's so subtle,
Speaker 1: like they're just talking about it in the car, like okay,
Speaker 1: so that that happens. And then we go to Blair's
Speaker 1: where you bring her the dress. What does de Rota say?
Speaker 1: I have some good news and bad news. Yeah, she says,
Speaker 1: so basically, it's like the address her dress was ruined,
Speaker 1: I guess in the dry cleaner. And then but Dorotea
Speaker 1: is holding it and it's like in the arment bag
Speaker 1: and Blair wants to see it. She's like, no, this
Speaker 1: is a body bag. It's just like you know that
Speaker 1: she address, so that it's like, you know, a mutilated corpse,
Speaker 1: and she won't allow her to see it, which was
Speaker 1: so funny. And you know, I haven't seen in a
Speaker 1: few episode so that we've we've been rewatching together Toroda
Speaker 1: hasn't been physically present, and so having um the scene
Speaker 1: when she pops on the screen, I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's so exciting to see. And it made me laugh
Speaker 1: because to me, like the move like with the body
Speaker 1: bag and then there was like a couple of eye
Speaker 1: rolls and so kind of seeing the how almost over
Speaker 1: the top comedic it was. But it still seemed okay
Speaker 1: because I feel like somehow I buy it that like
Speaker 1: they're that's almost silly together. Yeah, so it didn't make
Speaker 1: me laugh and I was like, oh wow, it was
Speaker 1: really like there was like a lot of broad moves
Speaker 1: in there. And then also once Stoda shows her, she
Speaker 1: has a prom dress from Paris and that dress box,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it was like mongous um. And so
Speaker 1: it's like it was how was how was late? And
Speaker 1: even walking in that that felt just and she did
Speaker 1: it so gracefully and it looked like it almost looked
Speaker 1: like it was comfy, but it just seems so thick
Speaker 1: and big, but it was so beautiful. She looked insane
Speaker 1: that kind of box. Yeah, just such a big box.
Speaker 1: And Dorota sets it down and then they both look
Speaker 1: at it. It's like they're both like throwing it and
Speaker 1: Blair both have the biggest smiles. And it's so funny
Speaker 1: because I was watching it. I remember I don't remember
Speaker 1: doing the scene at all, but I remember that vibe
Speaker 1: of like it was always so easy to have the
Speaker 1: sort of excitement moments because we just had so much fun,
Speaker 1: you know. And so it's like when we opened when
Speaker 1: I opened the box, as Dorota throat is like almost
Speaker 1: jumping up and down with joy over this Parisian dress.
Speaker 1: And I remember that that was always like really easy
Speaker 1: to play, you know, like it was always just very
Speaker 1: fun to lean into those those happy for Blair moments.
Speaker 1: It was a very typical kind of interaction for us,
Speaker 1: but I don't remember specifically at all. So it felt
Speaker 1: fun to watch it because it was like watching another
Speaker 1: person almost well right, yeah, so that was a fun
Speaker 1: scene to see. I was excited for that, and then
Speaker 1: you showed up in the scene. I don't know what
Speaker 1: the conversation was about. I think about Serena going to jail.
Speaker 1: Why to jail? Right over? And so everybody's sitting around
Speaker 1: and Dan and Jenny and Rufus is there and I think,
Speaker 1: you know they're they're chatting, and then but there you
Speaker 1: guys go eating Chinese food out of the boxes with
Speaker 1: the chopsticks had a plate. Because that stuck out to
Speaker 1: me from what you said that Vanessa did have a plane.
Speaker 1: Oh good, And in my mind, I'm like, maybe Dan
Speaker 1: already had it and he's just going back for a second.
Speaker 1: Because I thought of you when I saw that scene,
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh ship. I was like, in the Upper
Speaker 1: east Side, that freest side, they eat it on fine
Speaker 1: China and in Brooklyn they're just like you know, so
Speaker 1: I feel like you can eat I'll explain it. I
Speaker 1: think you can eat lomaine out of the box, but
Speaker 1: everything else you have to mix it with the rice,
Speaker 1: you know, like that's actually making me want totally want yeah,
Speaker 1: oh man. And yeah. And also I was like, that's
Speaker 1: the where Dan lives. It's not too far from where
Speaker 1: I lives. I was like, I wonder where they would
Speaker 1: have ordered from. Oh my god, Yeah, you're like looking
Speaker 1: it up. Yeah, but so that was funny. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so we get to see. That's another thing we explore
Speaker 1: in this episode is that sort of after a math
Speaker 1: because the last time we saw Rufus and Lily, he
Speaker 1: was about to propose and then he changed his mind
Speaker 1: doesn't But at this point is do we know or
Speaker 1: feel like like, are we getting that he didn't do
Speaker 1: it because of her putting Serena and jail? Because That's
Speaker 1: what I'm getting, That's where I'm at. So it's like
Speaker 1: kind of shocked by that, right that he basically, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: that she she I guess he kind of called her
Speaker 1: out as as behaving, you know, like like her mother.
Speaker 1: So I think that's it was like almost like that
Speaker 1: comment that he made and breaking the you know, not proposing,
Speaker 1: uh set us up for this whole episode where we
Speaker 1: flash back to her relationship with her mother and you know,
Speaker 1: and then we see and then Cecy comes back, like
Speaker 1: that's another thing. So, so Serena is in jail and
Speaker 1: Lily finally goes to bail her out or to you know,
Speaker 1: get her out, and then turns out that in fact,
Speaker 1: Serena has called Cecy instead of Lily, And now I
Speaker 1: feel like the whole episode becomes about this generation mother
Speaker 1: daughter dynamic that plays out for sure. Yeah, and speaking
Speaker 1: of Serena says something to Lily about like, I don't
Speaker 1: want to be a mom like you, like I'd rather
Speaker 1: give my kids up for adoption and be a mom.
Speaker 1: It's something along those lines. And then she's like, oh wait,
Speaker 1: you did that. I was like, yeah, yeah, I was
Speaker 1: like that was like digging so deep and so gnarly
Speaker 1: and so rough. Yeah yeah. And I feel like here
Speaker 1: it's also that the kind of generational echo to the
Speaker 1: fact that like the same thing happens between the mother
Speaker 1: daughter pairs in a in a family like down the line,
Speaker 1: you know, So that like the fact that we explore
Speaker 1: that here that you know, Lily, she was Serena with CC,
Speaker 1: and now now we's see Serena with Lily and then
Speaker 1: like Lily is now CC, and it's like this whole
Speaker 1: thing where that yeah, and then CC Serena out, our
Speaker 1: veils are out, like it's yeah, and so I have
Speaker 1: web there is crazy. I also think it's so nice
Speaker 1: how they because we go on this path and explore
Speaker 1: like Cecy's childhood. It's like what Gossip Girl does so
Speaker 1: well is that the characters who are like, you know,
Speaker 1: the parental figures and fleshing out all of their emotional
Speaker 1: life and their history and their story. It allows us
Speaker 1: more insight about Serena, who is you know, our kind
Speaker 1: of principal character. And you know, so it's like these
Speaker 1: parents are multidimensional and it makes the story deeper because
Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of shows, like a high
Speaker 1: school show or something, the parents are the you know,
Speaker 1: they become kind of a peripheral or like just there
Speaker 1: to frame the action. And here you have like, you know,
Speaker 1: they're really part of the story and you care about
Speaker 1: them as much as you care about Lareen Serena. It's like,
Speaker 1: I'm really invested in Lily and her life, and it
Speaker 1: makes the whole thing just like deeper and and also
Speaker 1: more relatable, I think for a bigger audience. You know,
Speaker 1: so it's like and I you know I'm similar to you.
Speaker 1: It's like I saw things that I related to from
Speaker 1: you know, my own mom. But I was wondering because
Speaker 1: I was thinking of you as I was watching, and
Speaker 1: I was like, I wonder, it's like a new mom
Speaker 1: with like, you know, such a little little one, like
Speaker 1: are you already like when you watch stuff about mother
Speaker 1: daughter relationships and is it hitting you a different spot now?
Speaker 1: And yeah, like, oh my god, please just always don't
Speaker 1: never if you mean don't never say it that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's so many And here's a thing that's like there's
Speaker 1: a moment when Serena was saying that to Lily and
Speaker 1: she's looking at her. She goes, oh, just wait, trust me.
Speaker 1: Lily says something along those lines, and I'm thinking, like
Speaker 1: as a mom when Serena saying that to her mom,
Speaker 1: as much as maybe Lily has made some mistakes or
Speaker 1: I really think she was always trying to do the
Speaker 1: best she could do. And I do think most parents
Speaker 1: do try to do the best, and sometimes they make
Speaker 1: mistakes and sometimes it's you know, it's not the outcome
Speaker 1: that they want, but it's never their intention. It was
Speaker 1: never to like hurt Serena or make her feel you know,
Speaker 1: nothing but love. So when she's saying that to her,
Speaker 1: it was like, I was like gutted for Lily because
Speaker 1: I'm like, she wasn't trying to do that to you.
Speaker 1: But also, as a seventeen year old kid, you don't
Speaker 1: know the life experiences, you don't know what it's like
Speaker 1: to be a mom yet, so in your mind, it's
Speaker 1: your like just lashing out and telling her she's a
Speaker 1: horrible person. But we know that Lily really was, isn't
Speaker 1: you know? So, And then Serena says, because like at
Speaker 1: the end of the episode, she kind of she has
Speaker 1: that line of somebody asked her about it and she says, oh,
Speaker 1: my mom just did that to me because she loves
Speaker 1: me or whatever. So she kind of resolves it so
Speaker 1: easily almost in her head about the jail thing. But
Speaker 1: she gets, you know, she gets that very thing that
Speaker 1: we're learning in this episode, which is that like every
Speaker 1: mom's just trying her best, right, and it's also like
Speaker 1: the tough love like Lily's trying. She in her mind,
Speaker 1: she's like maybe teaching Serena and everyone else, even Nate
Speaker 1: when they're waiting in the jail in this episode. In
Speaker 1: the beginning, He's like, who does that? It's true, we're
Speaker 1: all like, what the heck? In Lily's mind, she's like
Speaker 1: trying to teach Serena that she can't like that she
Speaker 1: needs to stay in R lane sometimes so that I
Speaker 1: can kind of. I'm not saying I agree with it.
Speaker 1: I still think it's nuts that she did that, but really,
Speaker 1: you know, she's justifying it in in a way to
Speaker 1: try to make Serena grow. Oh yes, no, I think so.
Speaker 1: And I feel like we get to see all of
Speaker 1: that here and it's like, sorree know, Lily cec. That's
Speaker 1: whole family dynamic is so so essential here in this episode.
Speaker 1: And then it's like we have the other side of
Speaker 1: the coin, which is the we also have a lot
Speaker 1: of action happening with Blair and Nate and so let's okay,
Speaker 1: can we just talk about this, Yes, let's talk about
Speaker 1: that for a second. Chuck basically is the reason is
Speaker 1: behind the prom dress. Chuck is behind making sure she
Speaker 1: becomes prom queen. And when he's like standing there and
Speaker 1: Serena asked what he's doing and they're watching Blair get
Speaker 1: crowned queen, here's again where you're you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: with season three coming, this must be like another whole
Speaker 1: roller coaster ride that we're going on, and now it's
Speaker 1: going to be the Blair and Chuck right. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: it's like, essentially in this episode, Blair is preparing for prom.
Speaker 1: She has this fantastical idea of what proms should be,
Speaker 1: like she has been dreaming, dreaming of it since her
Speaker 1: since she was a little girl, and all this and
Speaker 1: everything is just falling apart, like her dress is messed up.
Speaker 1: Then Nate has, you know, all of his plans. He
Speaker 1: has the limo planned, he has the corsage, he has
Speaker 1: the hotel. Everything falls apart, and so it's like somebody's
Speaker 1: sabotaging her prom night, right, So it's like we know
Speaker 1: somebody is, and it's like Chuck kind of gets accused
Speaker 1: of it, and then really it's the minions, right, Like
Speaker 1: the mean girls are trying to displace her and make
Speaker 1: so that she doesn't become prom quet. Right, Am I
Speaker 1: missing something? No? I think that is that is correct?
Speaker 1: And I why are all these girls coming out Blair again? Now?
Speaker 1: I thought I was like the ringleader. Yeah I missed
Speaker 1: I missed it. Yeah, I feel like something was to
Speaker 1: happen a few episodes ago or something where they started
Speaker 1: to get crafty on their own or something, but they did,
Speaker 1: and I can't Yeah, I don't know, but it was
Speaker 1: I'm starting to Penelope even though that pink dress is
Speaker 1: super cute and I like it, don't be like rude
Speaker 1: to Blair. Yeah. No, It's funny because when she finds
Speaker 1: out that she is Quean, she's like, well, of course
Speaker 1: we are. I'm like, okay, Blair, right, yeah. So it's
Speaker 1: like it's like we get to the prom finally towards
Speaker 1: the end of the episode, and then Blair mean, basically,
Speaker 1: she discovers that Chuck is holding a bunch of like
Speaker 1: ballots that say Nelly Yuki on them for prom Queen,
Speaker 1: and so she accuses him of being the saboteur of
Speaker 1: her whole right and really mean to have And then
Speaker 1: in the interim we find out that in fact, she
Speaker 1: did win prom Queen, and it turns out that you know, Chuck,
Speaker 1: Chuck overheard the minions scheming and he got went into
Speaker 1: action and he voted. He's like, I voted a hundred
Speaker 1: forty times or something for Blair so that she would
Speaker 1: have the night of her dreams and so like we
Speaker 1: find out that he's really the kind of the hero
Speaker 1: and the savior of the prom night, which is so sweet,
Speaker 1: and he never you know, it's all in the background,
Speaker 1: That's what's so. I think what you're saying is like
Speaker 1: when Serena asked him about it, he's just doing things
Speaker 1: out of love for Blair. At this point with he's like,
Speaker 1: I want her to have the perfect night, and like
Speaker 1: that is so sweet without getting any credit for it,
Speaker 1: and without you know, even making himself known, which is
Speaker 1: like pretty authentic and sweet. Yeah, it's really cool, so
Speaker 1: sweet not getting credit. She's like going off on yelling
Speaker 1: at him. But yeah, so I don't really know why
Speaker 1: the minions were turning on her, but I did love
Speaker 1: to see them. And so like Amanda Satin, who plays Penelope,
Speaker 1: is like one of my best buddies. And I love
Speaker 1: her because when we were working on the show together
Speaker 1: we became friendly and then she ended up doing a
Speaker 1: play with me and we did a play together, so
Speaker 1: we've seen a lot of time together. So I love
Speaker 1: a man. I love her acting, and like, you know,
Speaker 1: I haven't watched the show in so long, so it's
Speaker 1: like seeing her in that Penelope role was like I
Speaker 1: got such a kick out of it, and it was
Speaker 1: just such a great moment because all all of them
Speaker 1: in Dream and you know that, I mean the whole crew.
Speaker 1: And what's so great about those performances too, is that
Speaker 1: like they're so it's like here they're scheming and they're
Speaker 1: like nasty girls, but there's like a vulnerability to it.
Speaker 1: Like when Amanda, when Penelope announces that it's Blair, it's
Speaker 1: like her face acts like yeah, and you kind of
Speaker 1: kind of get the whole thing about high school, right
Speaker 1: and the Yeah. It's like the fact that in high school,
Speaker 1: like all these mean girls and stuff, like they're really
Speaker 1: coming from place of insecurity. So it's like, I feel
Speaker 1: like you get that here. You know, this problem seemed
Speaker 1: very even though so glamorous and above and beyond, like
Speaker 1: it still seemed relatable and like real to me in
Speaker 1: terms of those dynamics. Yeah, because I just feel like
Speaker 1: in high school everyone is still trying to find their place,
Speaker 1: Like I don't. High school is so crazy to me.
Speaker 1: I had some of my best years there and some
Speaker 1: things that I was very hurt by. Some things I
Speaker 1: learned a lot, but like the mean stuff when people
Speaker 1: are mean, it like hits me in a certain way
Speaker 1: because I did have like some bullying in high school
Speaker 1: and it was very hard to get over and very
Speaker 1: like later on years after high school, the girls all apologized.
Speaker 1: We ran into each other back at a local bar,
Speaker 1: and oddly enough, I was on Gossip Girl. They had
Speaker 1: all watched it and all we're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: and a friend was like the fact that you're even
Speaker 1: like saying hi to them or being and I'm like
Speaker 1: that was on them, like they had something going on
Speaker 1: for them to be mean to me or egg my
Speaker 1: dad's car put pictures of me all over the high
Speaker 1: school like as embarrassing and hurtful as it was, and
Speaker 1: at the time, I wanted to change schools and stuff,
Speaker 1: but like like what you said, it was their in
Speaker 1: securities at them in the time, when my mom and
Speaker 1: my sisters and family would be like, they're just they
Speaker 1: have been securities, you don't It didn't. I didn't getting
Speaker 1: help in the moment, Like I would never know, like
Speaker 1: why would you be mean to someone that's like it's
Speaker 1: such a hollow, a hollow thing, because it's like that
Speaker 1: feeling of like grout mentality and like belonging or something.
Speaker 1: But then to do that by hurting someone else, it's
Speaker 1: just that it's a unfortunately doing that, right. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: actually really sad for for them. Yeah. Yeah. Like I
Speaker 1: was in high school in Indiana and uh, Fort Wayne, Indiana,
Speaker 1: which is like, you know, very midwestern, kind of mid
Speaker 1: sized town, and my high school. I was in high
Speaker 1: school in the nineties and I years years later, a
Speaker 1: guy that I was in school with wrote me an
Speaker 1: email or write wrote me like a message on Facebook,
Speaker 1: and he said that he, you know, later in life,
Speaker 1: he came out as gay and that he wanted to
Speaker 1: thank me for being nice to him in high school.
Speaker 1: And in high school he was really really abused and
Speaker 1: U you know, had a very difficult time. And it
Speaker 1: was struck me so much because I was like, I
Speaker 1: don't remember being that nice to him. I think I
Speaker 1: just wasn't mean to him, you know, And it's like
Speaker 1: I could have been such a better person in high
Speaker 1: school because with hindsight, it's like to step in and
Speaker 1: be a hero for somebody who's being hurt, you know.
Speaker 1: Just the fact that I was one of the kids
Speaker 1: who wasn't mean to him met something like his life
Speaker 1: you know, and it's like that's like it's so sad
Speaker 1: to look at it, but you want to take like
Speaker 1: young people and just like yeah, that's why when I
Speaker 1: do see the mean girls in these episodes, like like Penelope,
Speaker 1: you better chill, yeah, and the mean girls in this
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like the Blair is like the
Speaker 1: queen Bee of the mean right in a way she is,
Speaker 1: but it's funny because she she plays it in a
Speaker 1: way where you still roote for her. That's that's what's crazy.
Speaker 1: But that problem, I mean, it's that beautiful other opposite
Speaker 1: side of gossip orl which is like because like part
Speaker 1: of it is relatable and there's so much reality to it,
Speaker 1: but then there's also the fantasy part, you know, and
Speaker 1: like yeah, I mean my problem was in like, you know,
Speaker 1: an auditorium, like like a gymnasium's type auditorium, and it
Speaker 1: was like balloons and stuff and here that I mean
Speaker 1: just the amount of just a decor alone. I was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: it's insane and like like diamond Tiherra's and it was insane.
Speaker 1: What did your dress look like? You know? I went
Speaker 1: to a couple you know problems. We went junior prom
Speaker 1: and senior prom, and I had some friends from other
Speaker 1: high school, so I went a few times. But I
Speaker 1: always had a difficult time picking out a dress because
Speaker 1: my mom, because I was originally from Poland and my
Speaker 1: mom was very Polish, so she was like it was
Speaker 1: a really hard sell to get her to buy me
Speaker 1: like a typical prom dress. Like she just had a
Speaker 1: different fashion sense and so she always wanted to have
Speaker 1: something different, And I was always like, Mom, what the
Speaker 1: problem dress? Because it was all Rick and I had
Speaker 1: the same kind of style, you know. So I remember
Speaker 1: that there was like a little bit of an uphill
Speaker 1: battle getting my parents to like purchase the one that
Speaker 1: I wanted. Um. But I think one of the things
Speaker 1: about growing up in the Midwest and and kind of
Speaker 1: a suburban setting, at least in the nineties, was that
Speaker 1: we went to the mall. We had like a couple
Speaker 1: of department stores where you would go to the fancy
Speaker 1: dress section, like the prom dress section, and so not
Speaker 1: having the same dress as like twenty other girls was
Speaker 1: like almost impossible. And then we didn't have online shopping,
Speaker 1: so you can only buy what you could go see,
Speaker 1: you know. So you know, you live in a sport
Speaker 1: way in Indiana. You're going to glen Brook Mall and
Speaker 1: they're like, you know, and that's you're not You're not
Speaker 1: buying stuffe And I think the options now. I think
Speaker 1: you can live in you know, the most rural part
Speaker 1: of Kansas and get you know anything. You know, you
Speaker 1: can go online and and really do some research and yeah,
Speaker 1: how about you. Do you remember what your I went
Speaker 1: with one of my best friends, do you know, and
Speaker 1: we had the best time we had. We went to
Speaker 1: turn I went, I asked him to turn About. That's
Speaker 1: what I guess backward. Yeah, we just had so much
Speaker 1: fun at Wanted. I can't remember which was first. I
Speaker 1: guess it was turned About first. We had so much fun,
Speaker 1: more like, let's do problem together. But mine was just
Speaker 1: a simple black dress. It was very black. I wore
Speaker 1: my hair straight for the first time ever, I think
Speaker 1: in my life. So I think that was kind of
Speaker 1: shocking to people when I got to the pictures because
Speaker 1: my hair was super super curly. Who are you paper like, shock? Yeah,
Speaker 1: straight hair back. And I just wore a straight ponytail
Speaker 1: and a black dress. And then I went to another
Speaker 1: problem in Chicago and it was just a plain white dress.
Speaker 1: So very simple. Not at all what Vanessa would wear.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that, but um, maybe almost what something
Speaker 1: Serena would wear, not like, yeah, I don't know, very
Speaker 1: simple company. Yeah yeah, listen to me breaking down my problem.
Speaker 1: Like almost made a statement, but did I don't know.
Speaker 1: I liked it. It was, um, we had we had
Speaker 1: a good time. It was great. The music was good,
Speaker 1: the dinner was good. It was it was awesome. It's amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it just reminded me we said music. It's like, that's
Speaker 1: probably one of the biggest things in this episode is
Speaker 1: one Stefani is then it, which is so doubt yeah,
Speaker 1: and so like when they that's in the flashback, So
Speaker 1: basically it's like Serena gets out of jail and they
Speaker 1: all go to prom Right and then that's basically the
Speaker 1: and then you know we're dealing and then Lily is
Speaker 1: dealing with the fallout of issues with raising Serena basically
Speaker 1: and that her relationship with groups. But then in the
Speaker 1: flashback world, it's like the young Lily, I just kind
Speaker 1: of despair your dad lost in l I finds her
Speaker 1: sister and they go on this kind of adventure and
Speaker 1: she kind of finds herself I guess by like rebelling
Speaker 1: in the end against her mom and like the two
Speaker 1: sisters kind of right off into the sunset together, right,
Speaker 1: Like that's kind of essentially what happens, right, And but
Speaker 1: in that process, like the kind of peak moment is
Speaker 1: this evening out where they go, you know, out in
Speaker 1: the town and like out in eighties l l A. Right,
Speaker 1: So they go to that club and it's Seguen Stefani
Speaker 1: and No Doubt or playing like as an eighties ban
Speaker 1: right by the way. When the music came out, I'm like, wow,
Speaker 1: this is like a great like whoever whatever band this is,
Speaker 1: I'm like, they should have made it. She sounds good.
Speaker 1: And then there was like a vibe and then get
Speaker 1: the close up swings in and it's Gwen Stefani. I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's because it's I was like doubt and I was like,
Speaker 1: is that really? And then I was like, of course
Speaker 1: it is. That's what kind of show. It was. Always
Speaker 1: had the coolest people, So yeah, it was awesome. And
Speaker 1: it's funny because like a lot of times when there
Speaker 1: was a musical guest, like it had to kind of
Speaker 1: blend into the episode. So it's like you get a
Speaker 1: good moment with Gwen Stefani, and then the scene kind
Speaker 1: of moves forward, you know, which is fun because you're like,
Speaker 1: this is just the world there is. It was cool, yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's what I love about how they do it.
Speaker 1: But they go to the concert and then they go
Speaker 1: to the house party and they're trying to track down
Speaker 1: this guy who's like wronged the Kristen Rider's character Lily sister,
Speaker 1: and so they end up in this like crazy house party,
Speaker 1: and during that process, the young young Lily has some
Speaker 1: drinks and basically starts really falling for this guy, and
Speaker 1: they're this really cute thing happens where when they first meet,
Speaker 1: he kind of runt walks in on or just trying
Speaker 1: on these outfits, and she says, is this the part
Speaker 1: where you fall in love with me? And then later
Speaker 1: when they're dancing together and they're like looking at each
Speaker 1: other's eye and he says, is this the part where
Speaker 1: you fall in love with me? It's such like a
Speaker 1: cute fun line, and I feel like such a moment
Speaker 1: from that from that story and it was so cute,
Speaker 1: and so I was like getting really into their little
Speaker 1: relationship and you know where it could go. It was
Speaker 1: like lovely pure. But how about when Blaren Nate are
Speaker 1: dancing And that's like such a moment too, and then
Speaker 1: it's like they're breaking up, and you know, I found
Speaker 1: that breakup right, So we're saying goodbye to Nate here
Speaker 1: with Blair. But haven't you had that in your life
Speaker 1: where you just feel something slipping away like that? Like
Speaker 1: I mean maybe you know romantically or but I don't
Speaker 1: know if I'm going to be and flow dancing like
Speaker 1: holding each other in our arms, and then like two
Speaker 1: minutes later, I'm like, we're breaking out. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but babe, that's why it was such a moment because
Speaker 1: it's so the irony of it and all this stuff,
Speaker 1: and and then how he just accepted, like he's just
Speaker 1: realizes it. It's like she never says it in words really,
Speaker 1: and she's like, let's just not think about it for
Speaker 1: this next moment and he's like okay, and then it's
Speaker 1: just over and it's so it just hit me because
Speaker 1: like I'm bad with like goodbyes and transitions, like I've
Speaker 1: always yet really like my heart strings get pulled by
Speaker 1: that sound. I was like, oh, the end of it,
Speaker 1: the end of something is always hard for me to
Speaker 1: take um totally. But that was quite a scene with
Speaker 1: the two of them, and then that scene with them
Speaker 1: Blair and Serena on the steps, and it all kind
Speaker 1: of wraps up with that. Let's talk about this, you
Speaker 1: know how there's certain scenes with the lighting on it,
Speaker 1: their makeup, them sitting on the stairs. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, we know that they're both beautiful and
Speaker 1: pretty and they look good on the show all the time.
Speaker 1: They look good in real life too, Like we all
Speaker 1: know that there was something so special about that moment.
Speaker 1: Both of their skins were glowing, like they looked so beautiful,
Speaker 1: like holy yeah. And you know how sometimes there's just
Speaker 1: even when the dps like oh this lighting, this shot
Speaker 1: like looks you know, sticking out more than other ones.
Speaker 1: That was for sure one of those moments for those
Speaker 1: two sitting on the stairs, and I loved it. They're
Speaker 1: like saying that their sisters for life and they survived
Speaker 1: so much together. Yeah. And then and they also kind
Speaker 1: of wrap up high school in that moment either, like
Speaker 1: like Serena says, it's such a a stooped observation she
Speaker 1: makes when she says, like, you know, Blair's like, you know,
Speaker 1: he was my high school boyfriend. I was wanting to
Speaker 1: go to prom, my high school boyfriend. And she's like,
Speaker 1: and then you did it, and you realize he's your
Speaker 1: high school boyfriend and not your life boyfriend or your
Speaker 1: post high school but you know, so it's like the
Speaker 1: fact that they just kind of sitting on those steps.
Speaker 1: They're almost like letting high school fall away. And it's
Speaker 1: like that transitional moment where it's like, you know, moving
Speaker 1: to that next phase of life. It's kind of insane,
Speaker 1: what is too And I also feel like when you're
Speaker 1: like a senior in high school, I feel like so
Speaker 1: many people are so ready to be done with high school.
Speaker 1: And then I remember adults would always say it goes
Speaker 1: so fast, and then in ten years you're gonna wish
Speaker 1: you were back there, and that is kind of true,
Speaker 1: because it goes so fast. It's like so funny the
Speaker 1: next chapter in your life. And a lot of times
Speaker 1: you're leaving high school and thinking that, like, you know,
Speaker 1: the next thing, and for me at least, and so
Speaker 1: many things changed, right, I mean, like everything I thought
Speaker 1: was it was going to happen in my twenties was
Speaker 1: completely the opposite. I thought I was gonna have four
Speaker 1: kids at like, you know, because living in New York,
Speaker 1: shooting up, shooting gossip in New York different. It was
Speaker 1: not at all in my mind when I was seventeen
Speaker 1: years old, you know what I mean. So it's wild
Speaker 1: when they're sitting in what you saide those big moments
Speaker 1: wrapping up that chapter, and it also kind of reminds
Speaker 1: us to I guess that like love relationships come and go,
Speaker 1: but like friendships and family are kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: always there, because it's like she says, I think Serena
Speaker 1: says something about that, like you know, all the boys
Speaker 1: and boyfriends, but like, you know, we have each other
Speaker 1: or whatever. And then you kind of flashed back to
Speaker 1: Lily and her sister having their sister moment and kind
Speaker 1: of ending with this feeling of like it's us against
Speaker 1: the world, you know, and so that's kind of nice.
Speaker 1: And then we have another yeah that faced up with
Speaker 1: Lily and Cecy, which is like, like I really related
Speaker 1: to that, which is that Willy was like, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: ask her to stay. Lily goes to Cec with an
Speaker 1: open heart, and then Cec does that amazing thing that
Speaker 1: humans do, which is the Lily is coming to her
Speaker 1: with an olive branch and then she like pushes it
Speaker 1: away and you're like no, no, no, and she has
Speaker 1: this super chice like crap on looking and you're like,
Speaker 1: just let it be nice for a minute. And then
Speaker 1: she's like yeah, and then something about the hug. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then she keeps on poking and poking, and then
Speaker 1: but then Lily does that amazing thing where she like
Speaker 1: overrides it. She like let's see C B C C,
Speaker 1: but like forces her into that hug and then at
Speaker 1: the very end like CC kind of let's it in,
Speaker 1: you know, like let's go and and it's such a
Speaker 1: lovely mother. There's like a little bit of a tug
Speaker 1: and more there there and they both play it and
Speaker 1: do it so well. Like yeah, like you said, like
Speaker 1: Lily knows what's going on, but she's like I'm gonna
Speaker 1: like let her feel like she got to me but
Speaker 1: she didn't, but she did. But like there's like so
Speaker 1: many things going on right and sometimes you just have
Speaker 1: to force that for some of the saying it's okay,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be okay, like you know, I love you,
Speaker 1: let's hug it out. Like, you know, begrudgingly and yeah,
Speaker 1: so I feel like that was a nice kind of resolution.
Speaker 1: Then we have the resolution with Lily and Serena too,
Speaker 1: so it's like it's like things got wrapped up. But
Speaker 1: then again, it's all new beginning, so it's like totally now,
Speaker 1: it's like what's going to happen and who's you know,
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen with Rufus and the Lily and you know,
Speaker 1: it's like all this fresh start stuff, which is like
Speaker 1: always a little scary. It is because it's like the
Speaker 1: past is the past. Let the past be the past.
Speaker 1: But it's also the past is so present right now,
Speaker 1: so that's like all crazy. Oh yeah, actually, speaking of
Speaker 1: the gossip Girl quote like kind of nails that. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: do you want to do it? Um? Sure, it's a
Speaker 1: long one. That's The other fun fact that we haven't
Speaker 1: mentioned yet about this alisode is that gossip Girl is
Speaker 1: always narrating. In the beginning of that she didn't, and
Speaker 1: she didn't in this one, so it was an unusual
Speaker 1: episode for gossip Girl herself. She basically didn't gossip Girl
Speaker 1: didn't talk until the closing quote, right, and so when
Speaker 1: you heard her voice you're like, oh yeah, which doesn't happen, right,
Speaker 1: So they were closing quote, she says, shoulder pads may
Speaker 1: come and go, but a BFF is forever because even
Speaker 1: when you're not sure where you're headed, it helps to
Speaker 1: know are not going there alone. No one has all
Speaker 1: the answers, and sometimes the best we can do is
Speaker 1: just apologize and let the past be the past. Other
Speaker 1: times we need to look to the future and know
Speaker 1: that even when we think we've seen it all, life
Speaker 1: can still surprise us and we can still surprise ourselves.
Speaker 1: Exo Gossip Girl. Yes, and you know what, so that
Speaker 1: that quote is like really on point. Yeah, that is
Speaker 1: really you're right, that like totally wraps up everything. We're
Speaker 1: just saying, yeah, wow, yeah. Because also even what you
Speaker 1: said when she says and life can still surprise us
Speaker 1: and we can still surprise ourselves. It's like what you
Speaker 1: almost that moment with Lily and her mom, Like she
Speaker 1: knows exactly what her mom is doing, but she kind
Speaker 1: of knows how to handle it right, like it's a
Speaker 1: surprise even though it's not. I don't know. This is
Speaker 1: one of my favorite Gossip Girl quotes that I've that
Speaker 1: I've heard or read since then, it's really not very
Speaker 1: larchy at all. Yeah, no, it's just being real and
Speaker 1: it's just and it also has that feeling of wrapping
Speaker 1: up something and opening the door for something new. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's crazy, but like we're just about to wrap
Speaker 1: season two, which by the way, is crazy. But for
Speaker 1: a show episode the finale, for a high school show,
Speaker 1: to graduate everyone and like have this transitional moment after
Speaker 1: two seasons and then still live on in glory for
Speaker 1: four more seasons. It's kind of cool because they really
Speaker 1: let these characters grow and change, right, and we said
Speaker 1: that before, but totally, yeah, that's well. And then and
Speaker 1: then I'll also I wanted to know. I feel like
Speaker 1: we see Lily's sister in the modern day. I was
Speaker 1: going to ask that earlier. I think what happened? I
Speaker 1: have a feeling like a picture who plays her? I think?
Speaker 1: But mine might be wrong. But I also want to know,
Speaker 1: like did this I want to see that too, But
Speaker 1: I'm so ridiculous in my mind. I'm like, did Kristen
Speaker 1: Rinnter ever come back in season two? Three or four?
Speaker 1: And obviously it would be yeah, no, no, I think,
Speaker 1: but it's like all a big you know soup in
Speaker 1: my brain now, but we're threshing, I'm gonna look it out. Yeah. Also, oh,
Speaker 1: we forgot to mention the one thing too, which is
Speaker 1: that we've got to meet vander Woodson. I guess Serena
Speaker 1: and Eric's dad. We met him at the pool party
Speaker 1: in this episode. Oh yeah, and I can't remember what
Speaker 1: happened the big moment too. Yeah, I can't remember what happened.
Speaker 1: What his deal is like with them? Now? Yeah? Like
Speaker 1: where is he now? Yeah? I forget. I mean there's
Speaker 1: some spec story there, but I can't. It's a bald
Speaker 1: one that plays her dad, right, one of the baldwins. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so, but as he played vander Woodson or
Speaker 1: does he play Like do they find out they have
Speaker 1: a different dad? No, I don't know. I don't remember.
Speaker 1: There's might be a more complications. Honestly, That's why I'm
Speaker 1: glad we're doing it. But I love that bad the answers,
Speaker 1: but I don't know. That's what's so cool about a
Speaker 1: flashback is when they go, hey vander Woodson and you're like,
Speaker 1: oh there is Yeah. I love that. I get a
Speaker 1: kick out of it. I gotta kick out of that
Speaker 1: whole thing, and I feel like, yeah, we definitely appreciated
Speaker 1: going into that, you know, eighties Lily Rhodes want more,
Speaker 1: and it's like, yeah, you never know. Television is such
Speaker 1: that maybe someday, well maybe why not. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: let's send it out into the universe because we have
Speaker 1: We're vibing with us for sure. So yeah, and um,
Speaker 1: I have one little update from what we talked about
Speaker 1: last time we were together. Uh yeah, remember how we
Speaker 1: talked about there was a pop belly pig on. There
Speaker 1: was here and makeup trailer. I remember who it was,
Speaker 1: Kaylee Differ who played Ivy. So okay, how funny is this?
Speaker 1: We used to be roommates, are you serious? Yes, before
Speaker 1: she came on Gossip Girl. I remember when we found
Speaker 1: out they were looking for Charlie and I think it
Speaker 1: was pen in the makeup room. Was like, it's an
Speaker 1: actor named Kaylee de Fer him like what I was like,
Speaker 1: broke as a joke, couldn't afford rent And she rented
Speaker 1: me her room for four hundred dollars a week, I
Speaker 1: mean a month, and I would help Walker dogs. And
Speaker 1: she was on a show on Fox that came on
Speaker 1: after Family Guy and that's how I ended up meeting
Speaker 1: and becoming friends with Seth McFarland because they knew each
Speaker 1: other because they were both on Fox shows. It's just
Speaker 1: a super small world, full circle. But yes, her and
Speaker 1: I were roommates. But you And that's funny because I
Speaker 1: never I don't think I ever knew that that was
Speaker 1: her pig and wait and so wait she played Ivy
Speaker 1: and Charlie though, right, I don't know. I'll find out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll have to do research on that, but you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully I'm I'm right. But either way, it's no. I
Speaker 1: think you totally could be. I wouldn't know. But that's
Speaker 1: that's that's the magic of Gossip Girl. It sure is girl.
Speaker 1: It's a weird little animals running around the air and
Speaker 1: makeup room pigs, dogs, cats. Yes, this was so fun.
Speaker 1: I can't I'm like, I'm excited and also like a
Speaker 1: little like nervous because I'm like, what's what, who's coming on?
Speaker 1: Who's leaving? But this was fun. I can't wait for
Speaker 1: next week. We also have a fun guest coming on
Speaker 1: with us to do the rewatch of the finale. Yeah, fun,
Speaker 1: that's very cool. See where all these folks send up.
Speaker 1: Yeah right, I'm like, uh, good lord, I know a
Speaker 1: lot of shocking moments. Well, thank you for chatting to
Speaker 1: me on this beautiful full day. I know I'm gonna
Speaker 1: literally put a sweater on and go outside right now
Speaker 1: for for the walk me too. I'm gonna I'm going
Speaker 1: out actually, you know what. I'm gonna go out for
Speaker 1: Chinese food tonight. So I love that, Susanna. It is
Speaker 1: always such a treat having you on the podcast. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining me, girl and listeners, thanks
Speaker 1: for being here, and get ready because next week is
Speaker 1: the finale week. I know, I know it went way
Speaker 1: too fast, so make sure to tune in for my
Speaker 1: last season to rewatch. It's a good one. Catch you then.
Speaker 1: XO XO is produced by Propagate Content and Meat Jessica's
Speaker 1: Or Our show is executive produced by Langley. Our producers
Speaker 1: are Diego Tapia, Kristin Vermilia, Emily car and Hannah Harris.
Speaker 1: Original music by Moxie and Lu