Gossip Girl: A Yale Tale

Gossip Girl:
"New Haven Can Wait"

I'll admit that when I heard that the kids of Gossip Girl were heading to the campus of Yale, I fantasized about a crossover episode between GG 2.0 (Gossip Girl) and GG 1.0 (Gilmore Girls). It's too bad that Rory and her gang have all graduated. Think of the possibilities: Blair and Paris going at it; Chuck hanging out with Logan and his Life and Death brigade; Nate, Dan, and Marty sitting around and being boring (okay, that was a little harsh on Marty); etc.

Even if there was no GG/GG crossover, this episode was still pretty awesome:

• Ha ha ha, the Blair/Serena My Fair Lady dream sequence was hilarious. It must be fun to have Blair's dreams--they're all based on classic movies.
• Wow, if only everyone's hair looked that flat-ironed right when they wake up!
• Marc Jacobs named a handbag after Serena... Her?
• How did Dan get excellent SAT scores? He chokes on tests, and he was too busy worrying about Serena not showing up.
• Chuck: "We're hours away from horny women's studies majors who want to work off all their anger against men in their bunk beds."
• Chuck picks colleges based on the merits of their secret societies.
• Chuck: "Say hello to the characters on public transportation."
• Holy moly! Serena's shirt is very low cut! As in, it plunges lower than her boobs. That's what she's wearing to go on a college visit?!?!
• Ouch for Brown University! Blair just took that institution down a few pegs. If it was good enough for Summer Roberts, it should be good enough for Serena van der Woodsen. Although Blair's point about girls going to Brown and turning into vegans does mesh well with Summer's experiences.
• Blair: "Have fun in Providence. Maybe you can get your hair dreadlocked while you're there!"
• Rufus lets Jenny walk all over him yet again.
• Secretary: "Oh my, the dean hasn't laughed like that in years!"
• I knew Nate was going to use Dan's name instead of his own. It was a better choice than Chuck's, I'd say. But why does no one on TV ever just make up a name?
• Skull and Bones guy (to Chuck): "Rumor has it that you've slept with more Maxim covers than John Mayer."
• Aww, poor Blair. She has plenty of stories she could tell the dean! Like the one about her eating disorder or the one about her dad running away with a male model. Or the one about how she just dated a lord who turned out to be sleeping with his stepmom. There really are a myriad of options here.
• AHHH! Blair kissed the dean on the cheek! Oops, that was embarrassing.
• Wow, Serena really has taken a lot from Blair: Nate, Mrs. Waldorf, the girls at school.
• Chuck: "...and talking to Blair about how she's going to get into Yale gets her really--"
• Ha, Dan ruining Nate's charade in a very unsmooth matter was funny.
• Nate (to Dan): "Do you ever get tired of carrying that chip around on your shoulder? No wonder Serena dumped you!" (Go Nate!)
• Ha ha, Blair bribed the secretary with antique ceramic cats.
• Dude, Blair's right: according to her own wisdom, the parties that are most important to attend are the ones you're not invited to.
• Maybe if Rufus better explained to Jenny why it is so important for her to go to school, she'd accept his decision or at least understand it better.
• I'm beginning to think that Serena's whole strategy to get into college is showing as much of her boobs as possible.
• Blair (on how Serena would answer the "who would you go to dinner with?" question): "No, let me guess: Lauren Conrad." (I guess LC won't be making a cameo on this show.)
• Are they playing a string version of "Mr. Brightside" in the background?
• Who knew that Nate had so many enemies at Yale?
• Serena's finally right about something: Henry Cavill (of The Tudors) is a total babe.
• I didn't think for a second that Chuck was going to turn Nate over to Skull and Bones. It's an added bonus though that he did give them Dan.
• Oh, Blair, you're too much! Putting the name of the dude who overdosed on Serena's answer card! Wow.
• Nice shot, Blair! Conk her right in the head with that purse!
• Best part of the B/S fight was Blair squealing: "My headband!!!!!"
• That dress is way too skimpy for Lily. Although, I guess if her daughter dresses like a tramp, she might as well dress like one too. I have definitely seen more than enough boob from the van der Woodsen ladies tonight!
• Dan tied to the statue is delightfully reminiscent of the flagpole scenes in Veronica Mars. (But, seriously, that's the best Skull and Bones can do? They should watch more Veronica Mars; the secret society at Hearst was so much creepier. They electrocuted people for crying out loud.)
• Nate: "I hope you at least bought the statue a drink first." (Ha ha ha ha ha. One of the funnies things to have ever come out of Nate's mouth.)
• Dan: "I'm not entirely proud of my choice of boxers."
• Blair (to Serena): "Life's too short; you make it feel so long." (Amen. But Serena and Dan together make it feel even longer!)
• I don't think that B and S deciding to take a break from being "friends" is the world's worst idea.
• Oh great, now that Jenny is going to be homeschooled, I guess she'll be hanging around and doing nothing but meddling in other people's business like Vanessa always does...
• I love, love, love Blair's outfit (which is shown in the above picture). Especially the hat!
• And, look, Serena's showing more of her boobs...
• No, I don't think "the reality of being separated next year is just too scary to think about" is really why Serena and Blair had the fight. I think they had the fight because they really just hate each other.
• Chuck: "You may be the future leaders of America, but you're now under the control of Chuck Bass." (That Chuck--taking down Skull and Bones in one weekend...)
• Oh, Yale is just using Serena because she's famous now. Serves her right after she repeatedly shoved her "entitlements" in Dan's face.
• Poor Chuck. He should have guessed that Nate would have no sense of humor about any of this. He is still Nate, after all.
• Next week's preview: Blair wants Chuck to help her take down "that troll" Vanessa. Ok, don't get me wrong, I'm all for taking down Vanessa, but why does Blair suddenly care so much about it?

So, in the beginning of the episode, it seemed like almost everyone wanted to go to Yale. By the end, it appeared that those who wanted to (Blair) wouldn't be able to and those who would be able to (Chuck, Serena) didn't want to. I'm wondering if this is just all laying the groundwork for them all to go to Columbia together (or something similar), so that next season won't suck.

Headband Monday: I wore a fancy blue ribbon-decorated band in honor of the kids' trip to Yale. (Blue is one of Yale's colors, but I'll admit that was coincidental.)

(Gossip Girl photo: cwtv.com)