I make no secret of the fact that I love Gossip Girl. Sure, the show’s first season had a somewhat rocky start, but I’ve been an unabashed fan for quite some time now, and it is with difficulty that I attempt an objective review of the show’s second season. Let’s face it — we don’t watch this show for its artistic quality. Still, it is my blogging duty to make the attempt, and so today I grade Gossip Girl’s return.
1. Compared to previous season: Considering that the first season began with such heavy-handed subplots as Eric’s attempted suicide and the Humpreys’ broken family woes, it actually had lots of room for improvement, and season one saw the show come into its own. Basically, it decided to stop attempting anything that could be vaguely viewed as real life drama and embraced its soapy nature instead, complete with manipulative villains and enthusiastic bed-hopping. Season two has more than continued this trend, without inflicting a single realistic plot upon us — and that’s the way I like it. Grade: A.
2. Returning characters: Again, season two is simply continuing the good work begun in the first season, with one advantage. Now that the show has had the chance to define the characters and their pasts a bit more, we’re not stuck with any transparently expository episodes (such as finding out that Serena slept with Nate for no reason that made any sense. At all. Ever). The characters themselves are a bit more interesting — Serena is being allowed to act more like a fierce she-bitch than a lost beagle, Blair continues to walk her tightrope of neuroses and power, and Chuck is the most magnificent bastard seen on TV in the last ten years. Even Vanessa has a bit more to do this year than pine over Dan. The weak link remains Nate. There has been a vapid pretty boy on every soap since the beginning of time, and I have no idea why. The poor thing doesn’t stand a chance of keeping up with Blair or Chuck. Hell, even Jenny out-thinks him on a daily basis. And we’re supposed to believe he’s going to Dartmouth? Grade: A-
3. New characters: Thankfully, there’s not a lot to talk about here. The show’s got a long ways to go before it needs to bring in new, younger, naughtier blood, and the main cast has remained stable in its second season. However, the guest stars have been hit and miss so far. Madchen Amick’s dastardly duchess was a bit one-note, all teeth and claws, but it was an admittedly fun note. Blair’s English lord boyfriend was nothing more than a pawn in the unending battle royale between Blair and Chuck, and the trouble-making new girl wasn’t even on the show long enough for me to remember her name. Basically, everyone who’s not in the main credits has been little more than a prop, only there to further develop the relationships between the leads. There’s no point in becoming invested in characters that won’t be around in two weeks’ time, so I’d rather see the leads interact on their own, or with secondary characters that are actually given the time to find a personality. Grade: C+
4. Current plots. I am a shallow, shallow person, and so of course I like the current plots, which are all shiny and superficial. Because this is a teen soap, we all knew that Serena and Dan were bound to break up, but the show has actually used the inevitable heartbreak to mix it up a bit, returning Serena to her Queen S ways. The Chuck and Blair Show continues, and if ever the CW wants to do a spin-off, I’d happily watch a half-hour comedy starring those two (of course, if they left, it would kill GG dead, so there would be a downside). Granted, I couldn’t care less about anything Nate does, and Jenny’s rebellion is rather pointless, so it’s not all puppies, rainbows and hot limo sex, but overall, it’s pretty solid. And, for all that I mock the show as being a glorious soap, it still manages to infuse genuine emotion into its preposterous plot, putting it miles ahead of every other teen show currently on the air. Grade: B+
Overall grade: B+
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