TV Review: Gossip Girl 5.17 – Carrnal Knowledge
Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 5, 2009
Gossip Girl, The CW, Airs Monday 8/7c
Episode: “Carrnal Knowledge” (Season 2, Episode 17)
Synopsis: Gossip Girl strikes again, as rumors surrounding Ms. Carr’s relationship with a student hit the headlines. Drastic punishment is meted out when Blair’s part in this rumor is discovered, but some new evidence throws the case into a different light. Serena & Dan accept the end of their affair, but is it the right time for one of them to begin a new one? Meanwhile, Chuck awakens after a possible night of drunken debauchery to discover only a stamp on his arm and disjointed memories of a beautiful woman. Digging deeper into the mystery, he discovers a far nastier underbelly to his experiences.
Review: It’s important that we learn to expect the unexpected, and this episode was definitely unexpected. Not because the plot shocked us, because it truly didn’t, This review could have been written 5 minutes into the episode! No, the reason for expecting the unexpected lies in the fact that while the plotline involving Chuck and his lost weekend seemed like it would be the stronger of the two main stories, it ended up being left in the dust as Blair’s world fell apart and was repaired, relationships fizzled out and hot teacher sex occurred.
It seems that both sides of this story are set to have a story arc, with Chuck’s father’s membership to some nasty secret Eyes-Wide-Shut club bound to come back over the next few episodes. Whether it’ll be an interesting story remains to be seen, but if he wants to keep Daddy dearest’s memory in tact and untarnished, perhaps he’d be better off not continuing on down that particular rabbit hole. Meanwhile, Blair seems to have gotten everything she wanted, but at the cost of her image in her Daddy’s eyes. Perhaps that’s not as good a bargain is it seems, Blair’s always been a Daddy’s girl and what’s to keep her on the straight and narrow if her worries over image are lost?
Last, but definitely not least, there’s Dan and Serena. While I want to believe that their relationship is meant to be, the writers keep on kicking it in the teeth. If the pair were honest with each other, they’d have a better shot, but strangely that’s a skill that neither can manage. Now with Serena free to frolic with whomever she wishes, and Dan already in the midst of the dirty deed, it seems that the lid is firmly on their relationship. Is there anything strong enough to pop it open again? The current state of play cannot last for long, that’s for sure.
Up Next Week: “Blair Waldorf’s Day Off” – Not due to air until the 2nd of March, summaries for this episode remain slightly elusive. What we can tell you is that Dan still doesn’t seem to be grieving over the loss of his relationship with Serena, while things don’t seem all that positive for Nate and Vanessa.
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