Gossip Girl: The Wild Bunch

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 9PM ON THE CW

Even though this episode was better than the series premiere I'm sticking to my guns and going with the label "Guilty Pleasure." In the last review I said that "Gossip Girl" was at best a guilty pleasure and nothing more. While this episode definitely stepped it up from last week I still think this holds true.

The episode starts almost where it left off last week with Dan and Serena's date. Apparently, Dan waved goodbye to her at the end of the night rather than walking her to the door and giving her a kiss. It was even worse seeing him wave after the awkward start-and-stop of the cab. I get that the guy is challenged in the suave department but he needs to kick it up a notch. Forget getting Serena, he won't get too many girls if he keeps waving at the end of dates. I do have to give Dan props for going back to the Palace to apologize and ask her out on a second date. This took guts. Too bad it all worked out so horribly when they ended up having to go to the brunch hosted by Chuck's father. The biggest problem for them right now is that Serena can't be honest. If she could tell him the truth, or at least part of it, about why she left then they could be together. Instead by hiding the truth she remains wrapped up in the drama surrounding it and I understand why he just can't be a part of that right now. Despite this though, I think Dan should have turned around at the end of the episode when Serena was opening herself up to him a bit. She deserved at least that much. He really can't hold her past against her; it had absolutely nothing to do with him. If Dan is in love with her as much as her seems he has got to give her the chance to show she changed.

Speaking of guys, Nate needs to chill. The guy already has Blair, one of the hottest girls ever and still can't stop going back to Serena. The problem is that he does it without breaking up with Blair. Pick one or the other. My biggest problem with Nate (Chace Crawford) is the acting. Chace so far is one of the most stoic actors ever and in a show centered around outrageousness he needs to speak up a bit. He's barely made an impression on me except for the fact that I remember he stands around a lot. When he does speak it seems like there's no emotion behind the words.

As for Blair, I can't decide if she is a good or a bad person. She clearly plays the bad person very well and knows how to control people. But at the same time it seems that she is very sensitive and when no one is looking it shows. The only person who can get to her is Serena but after learning about the affair not even Serena can reach her. Leighton Meester (Blair) has done a great job so far and hopefully can keep it up. Without her the only good acting in the show has come from Dan and Serena.

So Rufus and Lily dated? This I'm pretty sure everyone knew but they admitted it this week. My problem with this storyline is that it's been done before (Kirsten-Jimmy, The O.C., for example). To this point its a basic plot line with nothing very exciting about it. Even if they got together I don't think it would be all that great. The writer's also messed up big time with Lily's involvement with Chuck's dad. When Dan walked in on the two of them talking about their relationship Lily made it into a big secret. Except after watching the first two episodes the reason why its such a big deal is a mystery to anyone watching when it shouldn't be. The writer's should have given us some inside info on why the two of them getting together would be a bad idea while keeping their relationship a secret to everyone else.

I'm a bit concerned about Taylor's obsession with being in the "In-Crowd." It's kind of creepy how much she wants to be a part of their lives. It was terrible the way she sold out her brother with the cabbage patch info. She's way to trusting and is going to get stabbed in the back at some point. We'll just have to see how far it goes as the season moves on.

Keep watching and let me know what you think!