Ever since the trailer for Gossip Girl‘s current season dropped, I have been patiently awaiting the return of Georgina Sparks (Michelle Tratchenberg), one of my favorite characters from the original series. Now, in Gossip Girl Season 2 Episode 6, she’s finally back – and though I am still very unsure as to her motives, I am excited to see my favorite chaos agent onscreen once again.
Now that Shubin (Pico Alexander) has revealed Gossip Girl’s identity to his benefactor, Kate (Tavi Gevinson), Jordan (Adam Chanler-Berat), and Wendy (Megan Ferguson) are waiting for the other shoe to drop. It comes in the form of Kate being kidnapped while Jordan once again confesses his feelings for her over the phone, just to make sure she knows he wasn’t bluffing. Unfortunately, Kate doesn’t hear any of this, as a bag is put over her head and she’s driven off to an undisclosed location.
When Kate wakes up, she is confronted by Georgina Sparks, who it turns out is Shubin’s mysterious benefactor. Unlike Shubin, though, Georgina is too smart to believe that Jordan was acting alone, and she deduces that Kate is the true mastermind behind the new iteration of the blog. Georgina tells Kate all this inside Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) and Serena Van der Woodsen’s (Blake Lively) home, explaining that she’s been secretly messing with them for years and employing psychological warfare to mess with their heads (though it’s never made clear why). This little tidbit left me about as confused as the fact that, in this world Dan and Serena are still together; I am of the opinion that they absolutely would have gotten a divorce by now. Anyway, what Georgina seems to want is control over Gossip Girl, and she makes Kate prove her loyalty by ruining Max’s (Thomas Doherty) dads’ vow renewal.
Reluctantly, Kate follows through on every task. It’s not like she has much of a choice: Georgina threatened to turn her into the police if she doesn’t. And Georgina has plans for Gossip Girl, though it’s still not clear what those plans are by the end of this episode. I’m interested to see how this storyline will continue, because I do love Georgina. I just want there to be some sort of bigger purpose besides the delight she takes in mayhem. At the moment, she has no stake in the drama of these new people, so I wonder why she’s going to such great lengths when she could just continue whatever games she’s playing in Dan and Serena’s beautiful penthouse when they’re not there?
Meanwhile, Zoya’s (Whitney Peak) problems from the last episode only worsen in this one. She spends much of Episode 6 trying to have a sisterly conversation with Julien (Jordan Alexander), but Julien is too wrapped up in her own world to listen. When Monet (Savannah Lee Smith) receives an Instagram DM from someone she doesn’t know asking about her participation in a sex tape that was filmed in Philly, Zoya realizes she has more problems than she originally thought. When Zoya was in Philly, she and Shan (Grace Duah) used fake names, and Zoya told everyone she met that night – including Drew (J.J. Wynder-Wilkins), the boy she slept with – that she was Monet de Haan. As it turns out, Drew recorded them in bed together, which means it’s Zoya in the video, not Monet. Zoya volunteers her services to help Monet find the video and delete it.
Of course, Monet is quick to realize that it’s Zoya in the video, but doesn’t do much to help track it down. Zoya calls in a favor from Georgina’s son Milo (Azhy Robertson), who helps her hatch a plan: they’ll invite Drew to Max’s dads’ vow renewal so they can steal his phone and delete the video personally. The plan seems to be working…until Milo says he can’t find the video anywhere on Drew’s phone. Then, Drew admits that he deleted it already. In a strange attempt to justify his actions, he tells Zoya that the other boys bullied him at school, and he thought that if he had a video of him losing his virginity, they might stop. His explanation garners no sympathy with Zoya.
Monet overhears this conversation and later on calls Zoya to let her know that she tipped Drew’s school off to his illegal activities and got him expelled. It’s a nice moment, especially after earlier in Episode 6, when it seemed like Monet didn’t care at all about Zoya’s situation. When Zoya attempts to get mushy and thank Monet, though, she is quick to hang up, since she doesn’t do feelings.
And now for some other Gossip Girl Season 2 Episode 6 highlights!
–Although Kate and Georgina did their best to sabotage Gideon (Todd Almond) and Roy’s (John Benjamin Hickey) vow renewal, Max is able to make it into a day they’ll never forget, with a more intimate ceremony at their house.
–Julien and Luna (Zión Moreno) catch Graham (Jarvis Tomdio) in a lie. Luna sees Graham interacting with a pregnant woman who she assumes is Graham’s wife, meaning that he’s lying to Julien about things being over between them. As it turns out, Ashley (Zephani Idoko) is Graham’s sister, and Graham never had a wife in the first place. He wanted to get to know Julien as an act of revenge on his sister’s behalf, as she was one of the woman who Julien’s dad took advantage of. He admits that he did fall for Julien, but it’s clear this relationship can’t continue.
–Obie (Eli Brown) attempts to speak to Nelly Yuki (Yin Chang) in order to expose his parents and their lies, but a woman named Daniela Sommer (Sandra Maren Schneider) takes the fall instead, making Obie’s claims look completely false. He now has no one to back up his story, especially after Sommer commits suicide.
The past few Gossip Girl episodes have given us quite a mess to untangle by the time this season ends. Hopefully, we’ll get answers to at least a few of these many questions, as we’re already in the latter half of the season.
Rating: 8/10
