Nate vs Marcus vs Chuck
I've noticed that there are a lot of parallels between Blair's relationships with these three guys, mostly between Nate and Chuck. I find that pretty odd since Chuck and Blair's relationship was earlier in the show portrayed differently, and gave me and a lot of other fans the impression that it would be better for Blair. So, I'm not really happy about some of the parallels that I've discovered and I'll bring up in the commentary the reasons why. Although some parallels here are just for fun.
Just a little warning: There's complaining! Not exactly bashing, but I'm not completely positive here. So, if you don't feel in the mood to read then maybe you can just enjoy the creepy parallel pics instead? :P
Also I'm not really a big Nate and Blair fan. I'm not trying to bash them here, because I did enjoy some parts of their relationship and I don't hate them. But there are reasons why I didn't ship them and I don't like that the writers have been using the same storylines for Chuck and Blair who I did ship.
I'll also try to stay as on topic as possible. I do realize that there are more issues with CB than the ones I'll bring up here, but those are for another discussion. Unless there are any more parallels that I haven't thought of.
"It's like Roman Holiday, except I'm Gregory Peck and he's Audrey Hepburn."
They're the leading men in her movie life. There wasn't a dream sequence with Marcus but that quote above, and the way she acted around him, clearly showed that she saw him that way too. What I don't like about Chuck being in that dream is that he basically had the same role as Nate (also same as in 2x21). They were just there smiling while Blair was upset. But this wouldn't have bothered me that much if Chuck hadn't changed so much as a character in the third season. For the majority of it he was presented as a good guy, which actually makes him fit more into the prince charming role. Let's just say that he was more of a white knight than a dark prince. I wish that the writers could've balanced it out more. He obviously had to change him in some ways, but not as extremely as he did. Also the fact that he had that role in her dream feels a little bit like Blair actually saw him like that too. And here I thought that they were supposed to be themselves when they were together.
“I was wandering the Bassian desert and now I’ve reached the Van der bilt promise land.”
"Well, the ancestral home is next to Balmoral. Marcus tells the funniest story about Harry running naked across their lawn."
“Now, who wants to hear how I got the great Chuck Bass to tell me he loved me?”
She was very proud to be with them and bragged about them too others. This is a minor thing, but it doesn't make sense that high school girls would be awing over Blair getting together with Chuck. I can understand why Jenny (in the pilot) and Emma would find him interesting, but not even they acted like this about him. So, the girls would probably be curious to find out, but I don't see why they'd see it as something cute. Maybe not until they heard the ending of the story.
Also Marcus knows Prince Harry and apparently Chuck knows prince William? Hmm...........
They rejected her when she wanted to spend some quality time with them. I don't think it's that bad that Chuck turns her down, but what I don't like here is that it follows the same pattern. And that it happens many times. Blair wants sex but her boyfriend doesn't. We don't get to see him try the same with her, and she comes off as a little desperate. Although she does get it later but only when the guys feel like it. Other examples are her dressing up in that Anna Karenina outfit in 3x13 and faking sex in 3x14 (also with Nate in 2x20). The way it was written made it seem like she was more interested and that's weird considering what a perv Chuck used to be. I would've expected him to take initiatives too, but he rarely did. We saw a little bit of it in 3x09 but other than that not so much.
And rejection was usually followed by a forehead kiss, which I'm glad never happened with Chuck. Not that there's anything wrong with forehead kisses, but please not after he's turned her down is some way. There are already too many parallels in this picspam and that would've just been creepy.
One thing that I found pretty amusing is that while she has been in a relationship with Nate or Chuck, and wanted their attention, the other one seemed to show more interest in her. Like they've kinda switched places. Not completely of course. But while watching the Nate and Blair scene I felt that it was a little ironic how he was checking her out.
They were not sexy. Chuck continueously pointed out to Blair that she was bored with Nate and Marcus and that the two of them were more interesting together. And yes, most of us agreed that they were hotter when we actually got to see those fireworks he was talking about. But once they got together there weren't any hot or even that naughty interactions between them. In fact, the writers/directors seem to have some rule that they can only kiss for a few seconds. The only thing they do is talk about it, but it's kinda pointless when we don't get to see anything. So yeah, that didn't convince me that they were that much sexier together. They could've been, but they weren't. I think that the chemistry between Ed and Leighton is still there, but it's not really shown in the same way anymore.
When I was choosing caps for this part I was looking for pecks for all three couples. With Chuck it was easy. With Nate it was a little harder and with Marcus I found none.
Although I found caps of them kissing like this.
"Was she blonde? Tall? Stunning? Every man's fantasy?"
They were busy with other women. There's a parallel with Nate and Marcus cheating. The Elle storyline was different though, since CB weren't together then. But it's a sore subject for most fans, since Chuck seemed to actually have feelings for Elle (even though it was very unrealistic) at a time when people felt like he should be trying to fix things with Blair. So, I'm basically comparing how the guys showed more interested in the other women when most people felt like they shouldn't.
Confrontation time. Just like with the previous image I'm not saying that they did the same thing. This is mainly because the scenes are alike and I wanted to bring up the game they were playing in 3x01. It doesn't really feel right that Blair who has been cheated on before would enjoy playing a game of being the scorned woman (would anyone really?). I can see them doing a scheme like this at some point but not that she would willingly do this all summer and not be bothered by it until Serena said something. I know that this is tv but can't the writers at least be a little realistic? Or maybe they thought that she would get something out of yelling at those women? But I still can't imagine how she could feel comfortable doing this. I didn't feel that while watching it.
She cried over them. :(
But she wasn't so innocent herself and was willing to use them when she needed something. Here it's the scheming. Marcus was a stranger so I didn't care that much. With Nate it didn't feel quite right, but I didn't make a big deal out of it. But when she's scheming against Chuck I have a problem. Sure Blair schemes a lot, but I don't like it when she randomly does it to people who she's supposed to care about. The storylines in 3x06 and 3x07 didn't make sense to me and the fact that she went behind his back and lied to him like that actually taints CB in my eyes. It didn't really feel like she valued or respected him that much. And that's not true considering how great she was to him for the rest of the season. Oh and you can only imagine how I felt about 3x17.
And then she put on that fake smile and pretended like everything was alright. And they just bought it. Oh, how I miss when Chuck and Blair could totally tell when the other one was lying. It doesn't mean that they can never lie to each other, but it was fun when they knew each other so well that they usually caught on when the other one was hiding something. Another example is when Chuck lied to her in 3x09 and took her phone, and she didn't notice his fake smile either (at least I thought it was). She has also been using that whiny and overdramatic voice around him that fans used to complain about when she was with Nate and Marcus.
And then they found out what she did and confronted her.
But then they forgave her pretty quickly. I didn't like the scheming at all but couldn't the storyline with Chuck (and maybe even Nate) at least have been resolved better? Like having her realize that she shouldn't have done it? Because I didn't get the feeling that she realized how bad it was. Sometimes she seemed more sincere, but she also acted pretty insensitive too. Just like with a lot of other situations, it's always the same thing. They just forgive her and everything is ok. I'm guessing that the writers do this so that they can just use the same plotline another time when they've run out of ideas?
Moving on to only Nate & Chuck parallels.....
"Do you love me?"
"3 words, 8 letters. Say it and I'm yours."
She asked them for an "I love you", but they couldn't say it.
They hooked up with other women, which were revealed in blurry flashbacks.
Serena: "You're her boyfriend and she loves you. That's the way things are supposed to be."
Elle: "You have a good heart. You should give it to somebody who cares."
And pursued them but got rejected.
"The futher we get away from the break-up, the more self-involved I see he was.
Always so brooding, so tortured. Ugh. A girl wants Romeo, not Hamlet."
Chuck didn't start out as the most complex character. He had issues, but they weren't as exagerated back then. But as the show goes on he becomes more and more tortured (I'm not talking in past tense here because I don't think it's gonna stop anytime soon). He even broods more than Nate these days. There's actually an article discussing how he's become a modern Hamlet.
So, they both brooded.........
.......but it's ok since they have second choice Blair!
Fans of both ships would probably like to think that that wasn't the case, but that's how it was shown.
But Blair had found herself a new guy (Chuck vs Carter parallel!) and both Nate and Chuck teamed up with a friend to get him out of the way. The difference is that Carter was the threat to Chuck, while Nate only thought he was while it was actually Chuck. (lol if someone who doesn't watch the show would read this they'd probably be confused)
Other methods to get with her was to try to seduce her.
And when that didn't work they followed her to up to her room.
Although this one shows more how different they are. Or were since Nate started having threesomes in the finale, while Chuck got shot which will probably result in even more brooding.
She really did want them, but still pushed them away.
They've also both done romantic gestures (Chuck more than once), which is not surprising since Josh Schwartz apparently seems to think that a noble gesture will just erase any kind of bad behaviour.
They also made a gesture by surprising her and giving her a romantic reunion. These scenes felt like movie endings, which is of course what Blair loves.
( Full picspam of this parallel)
While she felt hurt and rejected by one of the them, she got comforted by the other one who she was just friends with at the time. And that soon led to more than just friendship.
"Just hold me until the songs over."
"This thing between us, it's over."
But eventually she broke up with them, which just happened to be while they were dancing during a big event. The break-ups weren't because of the other guy though, but throughout the storylines she had stronger feelings for the other one.
N: "I love you."
C: "I love you too."
And then they finally said those three words that she wanted to hear so much.
C: "If he knew how much I enjoyed the removal of a certain chastity belt in the back of this very limo?"
B: “He can't know what happened on New Years."
However, during the time they were apart she had hooked up with someone else (Chuck vs Jack parallel!). It wasn't cheating but it was Nate's bestfriend and Chuck's uncle so it was obviously a big deal. But she was determined to keep what happened a secret. I really didn't like that she kept it from Chuck and was trying to get back together with him anyway.
But then the truth came out in a Gossip Girl blast. She still thought that they could work things out, but they were done with her.
I've been rewatching some season 1 episodes lately, and when I saw the Nate and Blair scene in the pilot I was reminded of the confrontation between her and Chuck in 3x17. It's the worst things that has happened to both couples (at least IMO), and there was something about the way she pushed Nate in 1x01 and slapped Chuck in 3x17 that made me think about including these scenes here too. And then of course when she's crying in her room afterwards. And just to be clear I'm not comparing what they did, because those are two different things. Just that they did something extreme that really hurted Blair.
She chose to stay with them even though she didn't seem so happy about it.
After a while she decided to really forgive and forget.
".....so why do I feel so sad? Like something's ending."
"This is the end, Chuck."
I also had to include these because in both break-ups she was going through something and was realizing that the relationships weren't going to work. The guys didn't really seem to have a clue what was going on though.
Another thing is that the relationships were mostly from Blair's POV. We've seen the guy's too, but most of both love stories were about her trying to work things out with them. I was hoping that Chuck and Blair would be more equal when it came to that.
So, like I said there are a lot of parallels and some storylines play out in almost the same way. Although there are many differences too of course and some parallels aren't necessarily bad. But I think that this has been a problem and it didn't really do Chuck and Blair any good. Couldn't they just let CB be CB and NB be NB? In fact, I once saw a list on fanforum made by Nate and Blair fans of similarities between NB's relationship in the books and CB's on the show:
- "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"-- An NB quote from the GG prequel.
- "You never belonged with Nate. Never have, never will"
-- A direct spin off of "I love you, Nate Archibald. Always have, always will."-From episode 1,12. - Chuck taking Blair's virginity in VV but in 'You're the one that I want',
NB have sex and Blair loses her virginity to NATE. - In 'Gossip Girl', Nate tries to win Blair back because he misses her.
In the show, Nate tries to win Blair back in the beginning because of his Dad.- Episode 1.7. - In 'Nothing can keep us together', Nate questions Lord Marcus about Blair; Turns to Chuck questioning Marcus.
- The 'heart on your sleeve' pin is given to Nate by Blair in the books.
The show completely degrades this when Blair places the same pin on Marcus' sleeve to make Chuck jealous. - Chuck's inability to "get it up" when he's not with Blair and couldn't stop thinking about her. In the books,
Nate had to take viagra because he couldn't "get it up" after breaking up with Blair. - In "New Haven Can Wait", Chuck says a line: "talking about Yale always made her horny," which is quite similar to Nate's in "You're the One That I Want" in the books.
- In GG the series, Blair went out of her way to include candles whenever she wanted to seduce Nate.
Pilot episode, Blair decided to seduce Nate in her bedroom. In episode seven of season 2, Blair decides to do the same with C. - During episode 1x12, Nate hand delivers a love letter to Blair. However in 2x09, he mails Jenny a (love) letter.
- With a span of one episode, the letter Nate sent to Jenny was opened and revealed,
all the while, the one Nate sent has not been disclosed. - In the books where Serena put a letter for Nate to read but Blair tore it up instead.
On the show, Nate sent Jenny a letter and Vanessa opened it before taking it with her. - In book 5 erik says that "Blair is ready but hes not the right guy for her
(referring to nate). In 203, The Dark Night, Chuck says "hes not the right guy for" some random girl (referring to Blair). - In the books, Blair's father gives her a Kitty as a gift. On the show, he rewards her with a bulldog.
- It's an ongoing theme in the books where Blair has this fantasy of going to Yale with Nate and living happily ever after. On the show, Dan is the one that wanted to happily attend Yale with Serena.
- In "Nothing can keep us together", Nate returns the Green sweater to Blair while she dates Marcus (Nate keeps the heart pin). In the season two premiere, it's implied that Blair goes to Nate and asks for the heart pendant back, while she's dating Nate, so she can use it against Chuck (Nate keeps the sweater).
- In the Grandfather, Blair steals a pair of sunglasses in an attempt to rebel. In the books, Blair stole a pair of PJ bottoms for Nate.
- In "Would I lie to you" Nate and Blair fall asleep holding hands at Serena's penthouse. On the show, Chuck and Blair fall asleep holding hands in his limo.
Some of these could just be coincidences but many are a little too alike. Some are also a little off-topic (and some parts seem inaccurate or maybe it's just typos?) but I just copied and pasted the list.
I also got the impression in season 2 that the writers delibirately tried to make Nate look worse so that Chuck would look better for Blair. A method that they actually admitted to doing with Aaron and Dan, since Dan was Serena's main love interest then. I don't know if I really like that since NB isn't just any ship and chould've been written better. And WHY would they then write the CB relationship so similar when they used stuff like that to show NB in a bad light?
Ok, I get that the writers care more about OMG moments (and apparently recycling storylines) these days and I'm not getting my hopes up for next season. If I watch all of it I could probably do a part 2 for this. But I just wanted to get some stuff out of my system. And it's fun to do parallel picspams even if some of them are annoying.
And just to end this in a happy and very cute way.
Even though both couples went through a lot, there were still times when they were better together. :)
Big thanks to thmaymuc for encouraging my lazy ass to finish this. ILU! <33333
Screencaps from:
blairandchuck.com
l-meester.org
gg-media.org
homeofthenutty
For more parallels check out gg_parallels
*goes off to make a picspam like this for Chuck and the girls he hooked up with*
lol jk.....................................................sort of.