‘Gossip Girl’: Season 2 starts with sex, lies and scandal

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OMG, OMG, OMG. I love summer, but I’ve never been so excited to see Labor Day. ‘Gossip Girl’ is back, and our favorite mystery blogger best summed up last night’s episode: Sex, lies and scandal never take a vacation.

Without missing a beat, we are welcomed back with a glimpse of Nate Archibald in the middle of a hot and heavy make-out session with a new lady. Played by Madchen Amick, his new love interest is Catherine Mason, a married woman who seems to have captured more than just his attention. While I understand it’s difficult to resist any guy that looks like Chace Crawford, he’s also in high school. The whole affair is so wrong -- yet so right! The Nate character needed something exciting like this to erase the awful memory of him traipsing around Brooklyn and hooking up with Vanessa. I can’t wait to see where this relationship goes (the preview for next week’s episode does reveal that she is a duchess...and the mother of Blair’s latest conquest. More about that later.)

While Nate has been busy sneaking around, Serena has spent the entire summer sulking after her break-up with Dan. Contrary to the hints left after Season 1’s finale, she does not hook up with Nate (darn), though they choose not to dispel rumors of their coupling out of convenience. Nate obviously doesn’t want anyone to find out about his indiscretions with Catherine, while Serena surely doesn’t want anyone to know she’s been eating take-out and wallowing over Lonely Boy these last three months. Lonely no more, Dan has capitalized on his hot nerd appeal. Not only has he spent his days interning for his favorite author, Jeremiah Harris (played by real New York writer Jay McInerney), and writing a new short story, he’s also been cruising book readings for hot girls and double-booking dates. But just when we think Dan has completely moved on, he chokes on his story, loses the internship, a chance to be published in the Paris Review and his mojo. Poor guy hightails it to East Hampton to redeem his love life and fill his empty Moleskine notebook. A little part of me enjoyed watching Dan evolve into a literary playboy, but a larger part relished in his lack of finesse at juggling it all. Come on, no one was ever that smooth in high school.

Dan and Serena eventually kiss and make up at the White Party, but not without acknowledging that their relationship is now fraught with complexities. He can’t understand why every situation has to be accompanied by drama, and she can’t completely let him into her life. Their reluctant yet yearning looks at each other in the end said it all -- bumpy roads are still ahead for these two.

Turbulence is also inevitable for Chuck and Blair. The jilted Queen B returns stateside with a new man on her arm, the tall, blond and boring James, with whom she’s positioned to make Chuck jealous. It works, of course, and we are treated to an entertaining tango of uncomfortable tea parties (who wants to play How Well Do You Know Blair Waldorf?) and emotional confrontations. The argyle-clad lothario expressed genuine feelings this time, including his admittance that he ditched Blair because he was afraid she’d get to know his real self in Europe. His furrowed brows and crestfallen looks, however, were not enough. Blair ached for Chuck to utter those three simple words to her, and he simply couldn’t do it. Meanwhile, James confessed his own secret: He’s not the boring Ivy League prepster Blair was ready to dump. He’s a British lord named Marcus! Chuck is going to have to bring his ‘A’ game if he’s to compete with that accent.

Sex, lies and scandal aside, the most memorable aspect of the episode was its overall look. Shot entirely in the Hamptons, each scene, from the sweeping views of beachside mansions to the choreographed White Party, was beautifully framed and skillfully styled in lush, gasp-inducing color palettes. The show really took it to the next level, and the visuals were just as satisfying as the juicy plotlines and sassy one-liners.

Now that Season 2’s first episode has made its gorgeous debut, the show has set the stage for what looks to be a complicated yet glamorous year. What’s the real story behind Lord Marcus, and will he truly come between Chuck and Blair? How long will Nate and Catherine be able to keep up their torrid affair? What other new characters will pop up when school starts?

It’s good to be back.

xoxo

--Enid Portuguez