Gossip Girl Episode Recap S2Ep3: The Dark Night

Gossip Girl Episode Recaps

The Dark Night? Really? They couldn't think of a more original title?
(Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers. You are duly warned.)

Gossip Girl Season 2 Episode 3 Recap
The Dark Night

Love is in the air in Upper East Side Manhattan. Or should I say lust? It seems that D and S still haven’t talked like two mundane thinking people should. Seems that their mouths are too busy for anything remotely rational. Unlike Blair and her Lord Marcus. We see that our half-royal couple aren’t having any trouble at dousing the flames of passion. At all. As in the sparks are barely there. As in the sparks are almost non-existent. As in there are no frickin sparks. I suppose Lord Marcus’ sweet respect for her purity doesn’t absolve Blair’s craving for some spice.

Meanwhile, while talking to Little J, Vanessa proves to us all that she is a whiny-should-I-call-him girl, and an endearing one at that. And, really Jenny Humphrey? I am not amused by your futile attempts at being cute.

And the object of their whiny-should-I-call-him debate: Nate, is on a shopping spree with his sugar-momma. Still having financial problems, Nate implores the Duchess to loan him some more money. Of course, this is just the moment that Vanessa picks to decide to call Nate. After a little white lie from Nate, Duchess Catherine bestows us with her soap opera-ish little glare of jealousy and suspicion.
Serena and Dan talk about their relationship’s public status and decide that slow was good. Until one of Gossip Girls’ fans decide to take a picture of them mid-liplock. Of course that means that the whole of Upper East Side Manhattan’s young socialites know of their “relationship.”

Meanwhile, Nate and Vanessa finally get to hang out together, and make plans to keep hanging out together. Of course Duchess Catherine, who just happens to be in her limo inconspicuously glaring at the happy not-quite couple from afar, is not happy. To say the least.

Our favorite besties S and B are busy planning for Blair’s before school party. Blair does not approve of S and Lonely Boy’s relationship. Even while showing her support for Blair’s exploits with her Lord, Serena gets none in return. And with good reason. And, exactly who is Blair trying to convince of how “wonderful” Marcus is? Serena? Or herself? After S leaves, B receives a call from the Duchess and finds out about Nate and Vanessa’s hang out time.

On to our second favorite pair of besties. Nate visits Chuck to apologize for being mad that Chuck tried to help him, and tries to ask for the money back. Duh. Too late though, because Chuck already set up the money as financial bonds and cannot be used for a length of time. Apparently, Chuck has been having some personal problems. Personal male problems. And he’s been hiring specialists to accommodate his needs. Of course in Gossip Girl land, nothing cures an illness like imported Asian prostitutes.

Seeing as I abhor both the Humphrey siblings, I’ll just quickly tell a story about the not-so important escapades of Little J.

Little J is fitting a dress for a model.
Little J doesn’t like the dress. The dress made by a multi-million dollar clothing fashion franchise.
Little J forms an opinion. Little J tells Laurel (her boss) this opinion.
Laurel shuts her up using the Cinderella story.
(to be continued 3 scenes later…)

We see S and Lonely Boy strolling around, almost talking about their relationship. Young gossip girl fans see the pair and walk up to spew some of their-oh so important advice and opinion. Shockingly, 2 out of 3 people are on Dan’s side. Is the world ending? After exchanging some awkward words, the couple split up and agree to talk “later” when they meet for Blair’s party.

Meanwhile, Nate and Vanessa are hanging out, but poor Nate is understandably distracted by his family problems and his wicked Duchess. Vanessa offers a nicer kind of distraction, but Queen B herself decides to bestow the couple her presence. Unconvinced by her (obviously fake) pleasantries, Nate accuses Blair of an ulterior motive. After a quietly heated argument, wherein Blair states that she is not about to let Nate cheat on her boyfriend’s mother, Nate (was forced to) agree that he and Vanessa will attend Blair’s party. We see as she leaves that Blair is in cahoots with the Duchess, who wants Vanessa to attend the party. Question is, why?

A cute little scene with the Van Der Woodsen/Bass siblings proves that Chuck’s “illness” is really because he’s not over Blair.

(…continued from 3 scenes before…)
Little J insults the dress while fitting the model when she thinks no one will hear her.
Eleanor Waldorf hears her.
Little J is fired.
Aw.
(continued 5 scenes later…)

After a run in with Marcus, Nate finds out that the Duchess Catherine is planning to come to Blair’s party. He immediately calls Vanessa to cancel on her so that his two girls won’t meet each other. But Rufus, with his infinite amount of wisdom, advices Vanessa to go anyway. And, yes Dan, everyone thinks you’re an ass. So glad you finally found out.

At the party, Chuck and Blair have a heated moment together. In every sense.
Dan and Serena however, are having trouble finding middle ground when the heat is turned off. All they can share is polite small talk and meaningless jabber.

As Nate arrives at the party, he finally confronts the Duchess Catherine on her power play with Vanessa and Blair. Catherine merely says that she doesn’t like sharing her toys, especially if she’s paid for them. Ouch.

And here starts the Dark Night.

What? The title isn’t completely useless.

A blackout encompasses the whole of Manhattan, and of course, the plot thickens and unravels in Gossip Girl land.

Nate corners Vanessa and convinces her to hear him out. She complies and asks him to tell her the whole story. Yay! Nice acting in this scene by the way. Pleasantly surprised by Jessica Szohr’s performance.
Meanwhile, still stuck in the elevator, Dan and Serena argue over the simple calling of a hotel personnel. Here we see the disparity between their worlds, and the little debate escalates until they finally acknowledge the big white elephant that has been tailing them wherever they go. In the end, they agree that they are still unable to change.

(…continued from 5 scenes before…)
Little J is about to leave during the blackout.
Eleanor Waldorf isn’t completely heartless and asks her to stay.
They talk about the dress.
Little J carefully insults it.
Eleanor agrees.
They try to fix the dress.
Little J is rehired.
Rufus unexpectedly arrives. With a date.
Cue cute father-daughter scene.
End. Yay.

Blair, fed up with being ignored by her Lord, asks that they meet in her bedroom. A man shows up, and the accent could have been convincing, but it’s obvious that Marcus could never get that kind of reaction from Blair. Under the silhouette of the dark night, Blair is free to be with Chuck.

But when the lights go back on, Marcus finds them together and asks his Queen B to make up her mind. Sorry Chuck, but Blair still chooses royalty.

When Nate left Vanessa for a little while, the wicked Duchess Catherine swooped in and blackmailed her. Since Vanessa is kind and sane (a rarity in Gossip Girl land), she complies with the Duchess request to stay away from Nate. Otherwise Catherine will go to the authorities and tell them where Nate's father is hiding. Nate tries to talk to Vanessa, but she rebuffs him for his own good. Aw.

And there you have it folks. Episode 3 of Gossip Girl.

Hm.

Not much to say. Although I do like how Dan and Serena's argument in the elevator was played out. I'm glad that Dan finally (somewhat) admitted that he has his own faults because of the fact that he is unable to change.

Overall, a good episode to continue the story, but I've seen better.

More episode recaps next week from your non-Gossip Girl gossip girl.