only I can't see where Chuck fits into the picture.
I don't think Chuck really fits into the picture THIS season. Gossip Girl refers to him as Blair's "Dark Prince" in 4x09, and when Blair says "not a king yet but maybe someday," the show is clearly talking about Chuck because they named him after Prince Hal who becomes King Henry in the season premiere. They also put Blair and Chuck on individual paths to assuming their respective thrones this season. Bass Industries CEO = King of the UES. Powerful Woman is basically code for Queen, which Blair hasn't been since S2 and doesn't want to be just because she's on Chuck's arm. This all ties into the chess metaphor from last season (the real reason Blair had that NYU chess club flyer on her door all year) where Chuck and Blair were the black king and black queen (and Blair said it was the queen's duty to protect her king, but he sacrificed her to stay king, and then he replaced her with the other black queen). So the show is really pushing the idea that Chuck and Blair are each other's inevitable and logical partners. Chuck and Louis are the princes Blair will probably (barring some structural shift I am missing?) choose Dan over *this season*, but eventually Chuck will be King and Blair will be Queen, so Dan is fucked.
It's hard to believe that Blair would have three guys after her at the same time, but the show *did* have three guys after Serena earlier this season at the same time, and they do love their parallels.
hi caitie. glad to see you on my side of the internets.
i know that this is the "intelligent" theory in terms of how endgame will play out, but i will rebel against it at all costs. because we have at least 2 more seasons to go. maybe season 5 is the DAir season. and maybe season 6 is the endgame season and everyone goes back to where they "belong". maybe all the actors rebel before season 5 filming starts and they all do the Friends thing and tell JS/SS - no this is the last season PERIOD. and then we get the best season EVER. and then it will be no holds barred and full on ship war and endgame is thrown out the window and we're all making the ratings go sky high because the mean girls are at war!
Okay, I absolutely HATE making so many assumptions.... (I barely dare to hope that Dan and Blair could possibly be for serious, much less end the season together, much less be a couple next season, much much much less have ANY shot at ~engame... it seems so jinxy) But the idea of Chuck and Blair being King and Queen could work in our favor. Because it would mean Chuck has officially stepped into a heightened version of Nate's S1 role. Chuck is Blair's logical partner in a bunch of ways that don't actually matter (not only ways that don't matter, but still), he's her destiny, he's the one she sees when she envisions her future. Which means Dan is stepping into a heightened version of Chuck's S1 role, the role of spoiler.
Or for all I know, Dan/Blair is to make Chuck/Blair less inevitable and to bring back the magic of S1 Chuck/Blair (good luck with that, show). Who knooows.
i think that' pretty much what is going on here - they are trying to rekindle the good ol' season 1 days. and yes i'm scared of jinxing the whole thing too by hoping, but without hope we have nothing.
Ooh, the Indecent Proposal makes better sense when you look at it in terms of your lovely chess metaphor.
And while I generally think Gossip Girl would be better off not referencing The Wire, as they did this week, The Wire is one show that has used the chess metaphor *beautifully*.
I suppose Dan is a white knight.
It's hard to believe that Blair would have three guys after her at the same time
I realise Stephanie Savage interviews are not to be trusted (!), but Katherine Hepburn's character in The Philadelphia Story has 3 suitors. The one who's not really in the running is the guy she's engaged to. (G'night!)
Yeah, I think Nate and Dan are (were?) both knights. They both play white knight to Blair after the IP, anyway. But I don't even know if the writers were that invested in the metaphor; I think they mostly used it to set up Blair and Chuck's trust vs. games arc, thus both of them being hurt/angry when the other treated them like a pawn (Chuck literally said that in 3x06 IIRC) and neither of them being able to escape their roles in the larger game of the IP.
I realise Stephanie Savage interviews are not to be trusted
SHE IS SO FRUSTRATING. She actually said some smart things in that interview, so you might be on to something. (Isn't the face grabbing thing that Blair does to Dan at the party from The Philadelpha Story, btw?) And then there are other times where the stuff she says makes NO sense at all, like her take on Blair/Dan/Serena is that Serena has always been torn between Dan and Blair's worlds... and I'm like, since when?
Isn't the face grabbing thing that Blair does to Dan at the party from The Philadelpha Story, btw?
Well, I wouldn't have thought of it, but I saw the screencap someone posted. This is the scene. It's a few years since I've seen the film but I think that's the very beginning of the movie.
it's a question now as to who is Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart in this case. in my head Louis is the guy she becomes "engaged" to. I was already resigned to the idea that Dan was the Jimmy and Chuck was the Cary since Kathy and Cary are the people with history. And of course we know how that movie ended. But lately, I've been hopeful considering that Blair and Dan seem to be doing the Kathy/Cary dynamic these past episodes (as has been pointed out by others).
I think the key to the Kathy/Cary dynamic is that he knows her inside-out. Isn't that how it goes in those screwball comedies of re-marriage? The idea that he knows her better than she knows herself. And Dan will certainly have that over Louis, as you pointed out. But not over Chuck. Honestly, I just can't see Chuck in either of the other roles. He's more like Kathy's cheating father who blames her (in a stroke of mindboggling sexism that the movie endorses!) for his affairs, than he's like her other suitors.
If you leave Chuck out of it, then Dan could absolutely play the role of unwanted ex whose presence is spoiling Kathy's perfect wedding plans/Blair's royal fantasy romance. Man, would't that be great?!
uh, the thing is he's not an EX just yet. And Chuck well... I can't imagine them leaving him out completely, given the fanbase composition. I want Dan to be Cary though...
But I always saw them as more like Spencer and Kathy. Maybe some of her other movies then, like Woman of the Year. With Dan at W, they could have gone that route... but now he's gone. :(
only I can't see where Chuck fits into the picture.
I don't think Chuck really fits into the picture THIS season. Gossip Girl refers to him as Blair's "Dark Prince" in 4x09, and when Blair says "not a king yet but maybe someday," the show is clearly talking about Chuck because they named him after Prince Hal who becomes King Henry in the season premiere. They also put Blair and Chuck on individual paths to assuming their respective thrones this season. Bass Industries CEO = King of the UES. Powerful Woman is basically code for Queen, which Blair hasn't been since S2 and doesn't want to be just because she's on Chuck's arm. This all ties into the chess metaphor from last season (the real reason Blair had that NYU chess club flyer on her door all year) where Chuck and Blair were the black king and black queen (and Blair said it was the queen's duty to protect her king, but he sacrificed her to stay king, and then he replaced her with the other black queen). So the show is really pushing the idea that Chuck and Blair are each other's inevitable and logical partners. Chuck and Louis are the princes Blair will probably (barring some structural shift I am missing?) choose Dan over *this season*, but eventually Chuck will be King and Blair will be Queen, so Dan is fucked.
It's hard to believe that Blair would have three guys after her at the same time, but the show *did* have three guys after Serena earlier this season at the same time, and they do love their parallels.
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i know that this is the "intelligent" theory in terms of how endgame will play out, but i will rebel against it at all costs. because we have at least 2 more seasons to go. maybe season 5 is the DAir season. and maybe season 6 is the endgame season and everyone goes back to where they "belong". maybe all the actors rebel before season 5 filming starts and they all do the Friends thing and tell JS/SS - no this is the last season PERIOD. and then we get the best season EVER. and then it will be no holds barred and full on ship war and endgame is thrown out the window and we're all making the ratings go sky high because the mean girls are at war!
maybe i just need a coffee.
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Or for all I know, Dan/Blair is to make Chuck/Blair less inevitable and to bring back the magic of S1 Chuck/Blair (good luck with that, show). Who knooows.
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And while I generally think Gossip Girl would be better off not referencing The Wire, as they did this week, The Wire is one show that has used the chess metaphor *beautifully*.
I suppose Dan is a white knight.
It's hard to believe that Blair would have three guys after her at the same time
I realise Stephanie Savage interviews are not to be trusted (!), but Katherine Hepburn's character in The Philadelphia Story has 3 suitors. The one who's not really in the running is the guy she's engaged to. (G'night!)
Reply
Yeah, I think Nate and Dan are (were?) both knights. They both play white knight to Blair after the IP, anyway. But I don't even know if the writers were that invested in the metaphor; I think they mostly used it to set up Blair and Chuck's trust vs. games arc, thus both of them being hurt/angry when the other treated them like a pawn (Chuck literally said that in 3x06 IIRC) and neither of them being able to escape their roles in the larger game of the IP.
I realise Stephanie Savage interviews are not to be trusted
SHE IS SO FRUSTRATING. She actually said some smart things in that interview, so you might be on to something. (Isn't the face grabbing thing that Blair does to Dan at the party from The Philadelpha Story, btw?) And then there are other times where the stuff she says makes NO sense at all, like her take on Blair/Dan/Serena is that Serena has always been torn between Dan and Blair's worlds... and I'm like, since when?
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Well, I wouldn't have thought of it, but I saw the screencap someone posted. This is the scene. It's a few years since I've seen the film but I think that's the very beginning of the movie.
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I think the key to the Kathy/Cary dynamic is that he knows her inside-out. Isn't that how it goes in those screwball comedies of re-marriage? The idea that he knows her better than she knows herself. And Dan will certainly have that over Louis, as you pointed out. But not over Chuck. Honestly, I just can't see Chuck in either of the other roles. He's more like Kathy's cheating father who blames her (in a stroke of mindboggling sexism that the movie endorses!) for his affairs, than he's like her other suitors.
If you leave Chuck out of it, then Dan could absolutely play the role of unwanted ex whose presence is spoiling Kathy's perfect wedding plans/Blair's royal fantasy romance. Man, would't that be great?!
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But I always saw them as more like Spencer and Kathy. Maybe some of her other movies then, like Woman of the Year. With Dan at W, they could have gone that route... but now he's gone. :(
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