Why one-half of the equation of events didn't bother me ...
while the other did on last night's episode of Gossip Girl.
jenszabo mentioned in in a post in the blair_chuck community: However, I fear what is actually happening is that they are trying to rewrite CB with V in the B role. I swear to god, it's the exact same storyline except FAIL. Chuck in Real Life had Vanessa in the Blair role from Victor/Victrola--supporting him, into his endeavor. Now we have Vanessa being spurned by her bf and turning to Chuck as a coda of the episode--as in Victor/Victrola...
At first, I was like, ah, yeah, I see that, but the more I thought about it, the more I actually found it better for CB. On the surface, the similarity is there, but how it is playing out is key, in my opinion. With Chuck and Blair, it just happened. It wasn't planned, it wasn't a part of a scheme, it wasn't anything either of them expected to happen, or even thought about happening, before it did. Plus, it was presented as the base of the episode beginning with the unknown dancer Chuck was watching, the lead-up and reveal playing out throughout the episode, and then ending with the very stylized fashion of the two in the limo, turning what could have been a trashy, meaningless encounter into something more.
With Vanessa and Chuck, it was presented very differently. For one thing, it wasn't presented. We just saw an aftermath and it was done for the ooh!shock value of it (not that it was very shocking, but still). There was nothing behind it other than a plot point, whereas Blair and Chuck was written/directed/staged as the beginning of something ... an arc. Could something turn out of it? Yeah, if enough people start clamoring for Chuck and Vanessa, and while (as before) I actually found Vanessa more enjoyable with Chuck than otherwise, I certainly am not rooting for them in the slightest. And I highly doubt that the popularity of Chuck/Blair is going to be superceded anytime soon by Chuck and a highly-unpopular character. I actually was amused by the transparency of both of them in their scenes, and honestly most of that was based on the fact that I know that Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr are dating in real life. But not being disgusted by them, and merely amused, is in no way a ringing endorsement.
On the other hand, I was very, very disappointed in the Blair/Nate scenes because I actually thought (stupid, stupid me!) that they were going to keep the friendship route with them which would have been wonderfully original and much more fitting with the type of chemistry these two have. That angle of this storyline I found MUCH more bothersome than the Chuck/Vanessa scenes. For me, the parallel between how meaningful the CB arc in "Victor/Victrola" and how physical and meaningless the CV scenes were in this episode was very telling. Based on the staging, set-up, etc., the show certainly doesn't expect some great Chuck/Vanessa ship to come sailing out of this. With Nate and Blair though, they have history, they have had passion and Blair considered him the great love of her life for most of her young life. I really hate that they had them be friends first, genuinely, and then now they're entering romance (Blair's favorite spot for their "first" kiss), emotional gravity (the bedroom scene) and true fated love into the equation. Ugh!
Chuck/Vanessa is clearly a passing fancy, Blair and Nate are not being presented as such and that bites. All of my annoyance with this latest hurdle for Chuck and Blair resides firmly in the Nate/Blair angle.
jenszabo mentioned in in a post in the blair_chuck community: However, I fear what is actually happening is that they are trying to rewrite CB with V in the B role. I swear to god, it's the exact same storyline except FAIL. Chuck in Real Life had Vanessa in the Blair role from Victor/Victrola--supporting him, into his endeavor. Now we have Vanessa being spurned by her bf and turning to Chuck as a coda of the episode--as in Victor/Victrola...
At first, I was like, ah, yeah, I see that, but the more I thought about it, the more I actually found it better for CB. On the surface, the similarity is there, but how it is playing out is key, in my opinion. With Chuck and Blair, it just happened. It wasn't planned, it wasn't a part of a scheme, it wasn't anything either of them expected to happen, or even thought about happening, before it did. Plus, it was presented as the base of the episode beginning with the unknown dancer Chuck was watching, the lead-up and reveal playing out throughout the episode, and then ending with the very stylized fashion of the two in the limo, turning what could have been a trashy, meaningless encounter into something more.
With Vanessa and Chuck, it was presented very differently. For one thing, it wasn't presented. We just saw an aftermath and it was done for the ooh!shock value of it (not that it was very shocking, but still). There was nothing behind it other than a plot point, whereas Blair and Chuck was written/directed/staged as the beginning of something ... an arc. Could something turn out of it? Yeah, if enough people start clamoring for Chuck and Vanessa, and while (as before) I actually found Vanessa more enjoyable with Chuck than otherwise, I certainly am not rooting for them in the slightest. And I highly doubt that the popularity of Chuck/Blair is going to be superceded anytime soon by Chuck and a highly-unpopular character. I actually was amused by the transparency of both of them in their scenes, and honestly most of that was based on the fact that I know that Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr are dating in real life. But not being disgusted by them, and merely amused, is in no way a ringing endorsement.
On the other hand, I was very, very disappointed in the Blair/Nate scenes because I actually thought (stupid, stupid me!) that they were going to keep the friendship route with them which would have been wonderfully original and much more fitting with the type of chemistry these two have. That angle of this storyline I found MUCH more bothersome than the Chuck/Vanessa scenes. For me, the parallel between how meaningful the CB arc in "Victor/Victrola" and how physical and meaningless the CV scenes were in this episode was very telling. Based on the staging, set-up, etc., the show certainly doesn't expect some great Chuck/Vanessa ship to come sailing out of this. With Nate and Blair though, they have history, they have had passion and Blair considered him the great love of her life for most of her young life. I really hate that they had them be friends first, genuinely, and then now they're entering romance (Blair's favorite spot for their "first" kiss), emotional gravity (the bedroom scene) and true fated love into the equation. Ugh!
Chuck/Vanessa is clearly a passing fancy, Blair and Nate are not being presented as such and that bites. All of my annoyance with this latest hurdle for Chuck and Blair resides firmly in the Nate/Blair angle.