Gossip Girl 1x09

[redbrunja]

I really liked the flashback/present day format of this episode. I think it's really interesting and makes a ton of characterization sense that pre-series, Serena was the wild child and Blair was the nicer one. I think the hints that Blair was totally running things in a sweeter way and that Serena felt guilty enough about sleeping with Nate to leave for a year shows that they are both decent people at heart and love each other a lot. (Additionally, it makes Blair's ideas about her and Nate make a lot of sense - because her ideas about True Love are slightly incongruous with her role as Queen Bitch.)

Serena being drunk and disorderly in the past dovetails her brother trying to kill himself.

I am epically unsurprised about Blair having (and still struggling with) an eating disorder. With her mother and her lifestyle, I would be more surprised if she didn't.

Also, I totally expected her to throw that pie in her mother's face. Kind of disappointed that she didn't, but it does say a lot about who Blair is and how she reacts when she'd shoved between a rock and a hard place, emotionally (i.e., she hurts herself).

Surprisingly, I'm actually enjoying Nate - when he's forced to be the adult to while his parents act like children, I can appreciate how perfectly his bangs fall across his forehead.