Gossip Girl: Season 2 DVD

Warner Bros.

Aug 24, 2009 Web Exclusive By Jim Scott

Whereas most of the main characters on teen dramas like The O.C. or Beverly Hills, 90210 seem to be pure of heart but, like most real-life teenagers, prone to mistakes, the Gossip Girl group doesn’t have the same set of morals. This is the show’s stroke of genius, and what makes it the most fun to be found in primetime television.

In fact, the group the show centers around, made up of students at a prestigious prep school on New York’s ultra-chic Upper East Side, is completely removed from any and all rules. With their money and subsequent social standing, the kids can get into any club, drink, smoke, snort, screw whatever they want, all with the only possible repercussions being that Gossip Girl, the mystery MC of these events, will spread the news through her website, Twitter, and text updates.

The most glaring examples of this moral abyss are Blair Waldorf (played with admirable bitchiness by Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick, who should win an Emmy—no one in primetime is funnier), who have taken the on-again, off-again couple to wonderful new depths. The second season finds them in fine form, as the death of Chuck’s father completely drops the reins on Chuck’s already low standards, allowing him to run wild. Westwick’s ability to soak every line in boozy, lecherous venom is remarkable.

The second season isn’t as kind to Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Liveley) and her sometime-beau, Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley). Their on-again, off-again relationship has almost no charm, and side plots involving both (including a painful love affair between Serena and an artist) fall a little flat. On the plus side, they each take their turns at evil, undercutting others and seeking revenge when they think it’s justified.

Whether any of these actions are actually justified is never in question. Of course not. One of the reasons Gossip Girl is such a guilty pleasure is the knowledge that no one could ever take this seriously. Or so one hopes.

All of this despicable behavior by deplorable, beautiful people is packaged with a couple of worthwhile DVD extra features (including the collected hilarious/terrible web episodes featuring Blair’s housekeeper, Darota). (www.cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl)

Author rating: 7/10

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