90210 – “Wide Awake and Dreaming”
Episode 1.5 – September 23, 2008
This whole episode is centered around the school musical finally happening, and what seems like everyone’s virginity or lack thereof. The episode starts with Annie’s dad (the principal) finding her and Ty making out back stage during a rehearsal. He decides that he has to give her another version of “the talk”, only this time about Beverly Hills versus Kansas. He doesn’t want Annie to end up pregnant, because he fathered a child in high school with Naomi’s mother. Of course, Annie gets embarrassed and goes to her mom, who tries to talk to her dad but too has her concerns. Meanwhile, Naomi is telling Annie that Ty “does everyone” and that she is not the only one he has pursued. He later tells Annie he got them a hotel room at the Roosevelt Hotel where the play’s after party is being held, more or less telling her that they will be having sex.
With the play, Brenda Walsh, Kelly Taylor and English teacher Ryan is worried about her lead Adrianna who is showing up late to practice and generally acting weird. It is later revealed her mom is extremely critical on her and even tells her she is bringing agents to the opening night of the play. Adrianna was previously revealed as at least trying drugs, and it comes to a head here when she is found the opening night of the play backstage and obviously out of it by stage manager Silver. Brenda has no choice but to give the role to Annie (as if we didn’t know). Adrianna later gets back at Annie by showing up at Ty’s hotel room and telling him he saw Annie making out and leaving with Ethan after the play, and when Annie shows up being in a towel and saying Ty asked her to show up “too”, and he was currently in the shower, making her leave in tears. In reality, the shower was running but empty, Ty no where to be found.
Silver and Dixon finally act on their feelings for one another and kiss at the end of this episode. They get along better when Dixon helps Silver by running the lights at the play. He gave Annie the condom in his wallet he has had for 4 years because she asked, definitely not looking ready but trying to be prepared to have sex with Ty. She bumps into Ethan right afterwards, getting into an awkward situation with him telling her to save herself for someone who cares about her, not Ty Collins. She says she already tried that, obviously meaning him. He is already back together with Naomi.
Meanwhile, Naomi’s neediness has come to a head, trying to push her parents back together when it is obvious it is not working. Her dad has moved out to the beach house with his mistress Gail, and her mother has been in bed doing nothing for a week. She finally forces to them together to talk, which they do more fighting before ending up all over one another. When it is obvious to everyone but Naomi they are getting a divorce, it is when her mother is throwing out or donating all of her father’s expensive suits. Try as much as she wants, they are not going to end up back together.
Gossip Girl – “The Ex-Files”
Episode 2.4 – September 25, 2008
by Emily Morgan
Did you all feel that? It was a shift in power on the Upper East Side. At the end of Monday night’s episode, the Queen B lost both her title and her royal suitor. Who or what brought her down? Many forces worked against Blair Waldorf tonight to overthrow her from the throne.
No better time to start a revolution than the present and today the present is the first day of senior year. The Bass house started the day with a hearty breakfast and pleasant conversation about Lilly and Bart’s honeymoon (Bart could not attend the family table because he was still on business in Beijing). Serena seemed a little too intrigued with her mother’s rendezvous with her new step-father, for me but Chuck put an end to that conversation. He made the announcement to his new family members that Serena and Dan had officially broken up, again. Lilly wasn’t even aware that they had gotten back together after her wedding last spring.
On the other side of the East River, Rufus and Dan discussed the break-up. Dan avoids the conversation when he confronts Rufus about his girlfriend sneaking out early that morning. Rufus goes silent know his son’s caught him in the act and tells Dan not to discuss it with Jenny. Little J walks into the room just after and informs her father that she does not want him to drop her off at school today. Jenny wants to get through school without being a project for Blair and her posse.
I refer to Blair’s girls as a posse because we don’t really know their names. We just know they’re at B’s beck and call and that’s all that matters.
Speaking of Blair, she’s holding underclassmen interviews on the front stairs of the school for girls who could one day become a part of that posse. Chuck, always nearby, hands off a file to Blair for a new student that may not be on her radar yet. How kind of Chuck? Is he moving on and trying to be Blair’s friend?
Upon arriving at school Serena spots Dan in the hall but avoids making eye-contact with him and makes a quick getaway down another hall before he sees her. I can’t imagine these two playing hide-and-seek from each other all year long.
Nate decides to show up late for the first day of school as he’s off in Brooklyn searching for Vanessa. He’s still stunned she told him to stay with the Duchess Catherine. Vanessa tries to break off their friendship easily by saying they were never friends in the first place. Ouch V! You know you love N, you could be less harsh to him.
Hide-and-seek continues between D and S when Dan, not so smoothly, is hiding behind Jenny’s locker in the underclassmen hallway spying for Serena. On the way back to his side of the building he runs into, literally, the new girl Amanda. The two get to talking just as Blair and Serena are making their way into the courtyard to see them. Dan moving on throws a wrench into Blair’s orders of who ever dates first wins and that should be Serena not Dan Humphrey.
And could our new girl Amanda be Chuck’s new student? It appears so, as Blair keeps her file on top as a “person of interest.” Blair feels Serena should be concerned for D’s new development considering Amanda is “Dan with boobs.”
At the gallery, the Duchess makes a visit to Vanessa to give her the hush money, 5000 dollars exactly. V doesn’t seem to be interested but doesn’t make any motion to throw the check out or tear it up.
The game of hide-and-seek finally comes to end when Dan notices Serena across the courtyard and gives her an awkward wave. The awkwardness continues as the two attempt to have a conversation without it becoming another argument. Dan requests to fast-forward the relationship past the post break-up stage and onto a mutual friend relationship. He starts with an invitation to lunch but has to quickly cancel on account of he offered to have lunch with Amanda that afternoon. Amanda shows up to spoil the small reunion. Dan introduces Amanda to Serena and she acts as politely as possible to Dan’s new friend. Not off to a great start for Dan and you can’t blame Serena as she’s becoming deeply hurt as the episode unfolds.
Lurking in the shadows of this uncomfortable situation is the always shady Chuck. As Serena exits, Chuck pulls out his cell to send a picture of the new couple, Dan and Amanda, to Gossip Girl. Quite a coming out party for the couple.
Lily, without her new husband, shows up at Rufus’ gallery. Lilly wants to catch up with old flame and appears desperate to do so. She agrees to go to Repo-man with Rufus an act she hated when they were dating long ago. Just how lonely is Mrs. Lilly Bass?
Looking to put things back in order, Blair offers a lunch invitation to new girl Amanda in order to break off the lunch with her and Dan. B warns Amanda that boyfriends are not reliable and she should stick with her girlfriends for constant support. Serena’s still not cool with Blair’s idea but B tells S it’s for her own good. We all know where lunch can lead for a young girl and boy: “Lunch, as in the meal before dating.”
Well, Vanessa didn’t tear up that check or throw it away. Instead she brought it back to the source. A good thing too, because when Vanessa waits for the Duchess she peaks into a bedroom to find the Duchess and her step-son Marcus (Blair’s royal boyfriend) making out. Perfect opportunity for V and she’s takes full advantage whipping out her phone to capture the two in the act. Now she has ammunition to get Nate off the hook and perhaps back into her life.
Chuck, continuing his “kindness” streak, alerts Dan that Amanda will not be joining him for lunch. Before he can confront Serena, Blair and the posse luncheon with Amanda, Vanessa calls on him for guidance about what she just witnessed.
Enjoying a light sushi lunch, Blair explains the ground rules to Amanda about dating. According to B, Amanda is not allowed to date Dan because Serena dated Dan. The old, you don’t date your friend’s ex. Not sure if that rule applies here but for Blair to look after her friend Serena it does. Serena doesn’t feel s uneasy with the situation Blair is creating and goes to look for Dan to apologize.
Not knowing the plot Blair is planning to sabotage him innocent Dan recommends Vanessa call Blair to deal with the Lord and Duchess problem. B does have a stake in this affair and we all know she took care of Georgina pretty well last season (although I’m still waiting for G to claw her way back into the City from boot camp).
Serena catches up with Dan later to apologize for pulling Amanda away from their lunch earlier. S informs him that it was all Blair’s doing but Dan doesn’t believe her. It’s no wonder this relationship keeps breaking since the trust is not strong with these two, especially young Mr. Humphrey.
Amanda finds Dan later and makes up for missing their lunch by asking him out. Looks like Amanda works quickly and knows what she wants and when.
Vanessa takes Dan’s advice and goes to see Blair about the photo she captured. Blair’s obviously distraught over her boyfriend having a physical relationship with his step-mother. Blair tells Vanessa not to let anyone find out about this affair and promises she’ll take care of it.
A good first date in high school is usually a movie or the local coffee shop. Amanda takes Dan to a hot nightclub where the likes of Chuck and Blair’s posse usually dine. The posse spots Dan on his little date and the phones come out again as pictures are sent to Gossip Girl.
Jenny, apparently waking up to the news on Gossip Girl, slams a pillow on Dan’s bed to wake him up the next morning. Little J pleads with her brother that he needs to apologize to Serena for jumping into this relationship so quickly. Chuck wakes his step-sister up to show her the footage of Dan’s date on Gossip Girl. This only feeds the fire that is growing in Serena.
That morning at school, Dan waits for Serena so he can apologize. Serena doesn’t have time for apologies as Dan has embarrassed her too much in the past 24 hours. She realizes the two are going to date other people. She thinks the only way to preserve any part of their dwindling friendship is to go on a date with him and Amanda. In the words of Dan, “This shouldn’t be awkward at all.” Of course not.
At another not so awkward date, Lord Marcus and Blair sit down at a local café for morning breakfast. Blair quickly makes Marcus aware that she knows about his fling with the Duchess. Right then, the Duchess also joins them for breakfast after Blair called her to discuss an exit strategy. The book has shut on this storybook couple about a Lord and his maiden but I’m sure she’ll find someone else to tease Chuck with. But wait, who was that peeking in the window before the Duchess showed up? Vanessa doesn’t seem to trust Blair with the Duchess “Destruction Plan.” V, we know Blair can’t always be trusted with being a friend but when it comes to destroying a common enemy she’s game. Vanessa takes off to speak to the Duke with her own plan.
The date begins with some intelligent conversation on Dan and Amanda’s favorite authors, something Serena has no comment on. Serena excuses herself and goes to the bar for something to take the edge off this unpleasant evening. Once again, Blair’s posse is there to “save the day” as they bring Serena in reinforcements for the date, to be more specific one very hot lacrosse player. S is back in the game and “ready to play.”
After having a couple drinks with her new friend, S invites the lacrosse player back to the date with Dan and Amanda. Dan sees what Serena’s doing and pulls her aside to talk about what’s happening. Serena lets Dan know that asking Amanda out really hurt her. Dan counters with the fact they were already broken up but Serena needed Dan to suffer through the break-up a little longer than he planned. The two finally decide to stay away from each other for awhile but awhile is never long for these two.
Does Chuck have a twin because he seemed to be everywhere tonight? After Serena tells Dan he better leave the restaurant, Chuck advises Dan to stay and get a look at the “real” Serena.
Blair continues to damage control when she informs Nate that he’s off the hook with the Duchess. She reveals the Lord and Catherine’s affair and tells him she’ll keep quiet if Catherine pays the restitution for Nate’s father. All appears well again until Blair’s phone rings with Catherine on the other end. Vanessa talked to the Duke and completely ruined Blair’s agreement with the Duchess. Vanessa is just not the scheming type and should leave it to the pros.
Lonely Lily shows up at Rufus’ house this night for a movie night. She’s brought his favorite wine but even that won’t coax Rufus into bringing Lilly back into his life. Rufus can’t be friends with Lilly right now because it’s too easy to fall into their old patterns. He informs her that she made the choice to walk down the aisle with Bart and she’ll have to live with that choice. At least until she inevitably files for divorce and comes running back to Rufus.
Vanessa tries to calls Nate but Blair finds her first. B notifies her that she had everything handled until Vanessa talked to the Duke. Does this mean Nate has to continue doing “favors” for Catherine?
The date from hell continues at the restaurant. Chuck’s gathered B’s posse together and a few moments they’ve thrown some type of chemical in Amanda’s hair that makes it fall out. Dan runs over to help her. Serena also sees the dramatics and rushes over. Of course, Dan believes Serena is guilty of these shananigans and Serena denies her involvement. Dan tells S that she needs to take a look in the mirror to see who she really is. With this statement, Serena declares power over the posse with a tongue slashing. “Never again. From now on everything goes through me.”
Mission accomplished . . . Chuck.
That’s right the plan from the beginning was a Bass concoction. The new girl arrives, small talks with Dan, asks Dan out, belittles Serena and then gets her hair burned off. Apparently that last one wasn’t part of the plan but Chuck compensates her with a hearty payment as she’s off to a beautiful girl’s academy upstate.
It’s finally Nate’s turn to be mad tonight (did he go to school over these two days?). He confronts Vanessa about not coming to him in the first place and shoots back the line she used earlier on him, “We were never really friends in the first place.”
An emotionally exhausting episode for Blair as she lost her boyfriend and behind the scenes lost her place as number one in the school. Serena’s leading the pack now and Blair realizes this was all Chuck’s plan in the first place.
At least people are still talking to Blair, as Dan’s been completely alienated from his peers. Queen S is in power and now no one’s safe.
One Tree Hill – “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Episode 6.4 – September 22, 2008
by Barbara Ghilardi
Lucas opens this week’s One Tree Hill with the following: “The hardest part of saying goodbye is having to do it every single day.”
This quote seems to carry over into each of the character’s lives. Nathan, Lucas, Skills, and Haley all find themselves picturing Q in the places where he would normally be. Haley and Jamie go to the cemetery to put flowers on Q’s grave. The viewer is informed it’s been 8 days and it’s obvious this last week has not helped to heal anyone.
While walking out of the graveyard, Jamie see’s Dan’s gravestone and is confused. Haley explains to him that Dan had it made in preparation for the day he would pass away. Jamie seems to understand, but again brings up the fact that he wishes he could visit his grandpa Dan. Haley gives in and they go to Dan’s house, only to find the door open and a stack of newspapers in front of Dan’s house. Haley seems to sense something is going on, and she asks Jamie to return to the car. Later she makes a phone call to the hospital and leaves a message asking if Dan is there.
Nathan, who in the last episode found out Skills and Deb are together, remains angry at his mother and tells her he wants her to move out. Brooke visits a therapist. When the therapist asks her who she thinks is behind the attack, and Brooke of course answers her mother Victoria.
A mysterious artist pops into Peyton’s recording studio, which turns out to be an idol of Peyton’s. He says he’s just stopping by to jam and really doesn’t have any material to write about. He tells Peyton he heard about her place from the CD she produced and…he knew her mother Ellie. He claims however that he does not know who her father is.
Nanny Carrie and Deb have a conversation on the playground, as Deb is confused about her relationship with Skills and what moving out might do to her relationship with Jamie. Nanny Carrie says if it were her, she’d do anything to stay in Jamie’s life and some people just don’t appreciate devotion. The real question is…why doesn’t Deb know what her grandson’s abductor looks like? Deb tells Skills she was kicked out of Nathan’s home and Skills asks her to move in with him. Deb decides that she needs to be with Jamie and tells Skills that their relationship has to end.
Brooke’s therapy session continues and we learn she went into business with her mother because she thought maybe it was the way to win her mother’s love. Finally the reason for the gun is revealed. Brooke says she doesn’t actually want to hurt her mother, but she has had thoughts of it. She says if her mother died, she wouldn’t miss her.
Haley breaks up a fight between two girls at school, one girl is Sam, the girl who stole from Brooke’s store. Haley tries to reach out to the girl but is rebuffed. Even when she brings clothes from Brooke as a gift to Sam, she rejects the gift, and it becomes clear that there’s more to this troubled girl than we are aware of.
Luke visits Q’s family and Q’s younger brother wants to know if he can be a Tree Hill Raven someday. It’s a cute moment and as Lucas embraces Q’s mom, Q’s death has created a relationship with his family.
Jamie asks Nathan why Deb isn’t around so much anymore, and says he saw Skills and Deb kissing. He tells Nathan he doesn’t mind them together and Nathan gives no response, just a look of frustration. Later, Skills tells Nathan Deb makes him happy and he hopes Nathan can learn to accept the two of them together.
The Ravens are back on the court and dedicate the game to Q. His jersey is displayed on the wall, and Lucas and Q’s mom give an emotional speech. Lucas tells the players to “let basketball heal you” because playing the game is what Q would have wanted them to do. Each member of the team has #44 near their heart in memory of Q. In a risky move, Lucas decides only 4 guys will play during the game, one of the spots being “reserved” for Q. The team does end up loosing the game, but it was a tough fight and they all decide to play with only four players for the remainder of the season.
Nanny Carrie somehow breaks into Nathan and Haley’s home while they are at the game and takes some of Jamie’s things so he will be “comfortable” when he comes to live with her. At one point, she picks up Chester, Jamie’s bunny, and talks to him saying she’d glad he won’t give her away, because if he could, she’d have to eat him to keep him quiet. Why haven’t the police taken this woman in yet?
In one of the best scenes of the episode, Brooke comes to her mother’s home and confronts her about the robbery and attack. Victoria claims she would never physically harm her daughter and says Brooke is just paranoid. Then Victoria begins to explain apart of the her own story we’ve never heard: Victoria never wanted children, instead wanted to have her own clothing line and company but Brooke’s father always wanted a son. When she became pregnant, Brooke’s father cheated on her. So when she had a girl instead of a boy, Victoria made sure Brooke’s father’s dream of a son never came true, just like hers. Now knowing nothing is her fault, Brooke, in one of her strongest moments, tells Victoria she’s giving her Clothes over Bros because she does not want to become her mother and so in turn is giving Victoria her the dream she always wanted.
Haley calls the hospital to find out about Dan, and is told he does have a heart but he has not answered any of the hospital’s pages. Nathan gives Skills the ok to date Deb and allows Deb to move back in with him. Brooke reunites with her real “family”, her friends and Peyton’s mysterious artist friend decides to stick around in Tree Hill, saying he’s become inspired to write some new music. Nanny Carrie kisses the photo of Jamie and says “see you soon baby” and Skills joins Nathan on the court to help him practice because Q no longer can. Will Brooke really lose her company to her mom and will Nanny Carrie successfully abduct Jamie? And by the way, where’s Dan? Until next week…
90210 – “The Bubble”
Episode 1.4 – September 16, 2008
by Caitlin Downer
Naomi’s problems with her father and his affair come to a head when she finds out the “other woman” Gail is moving to Beverly Hills, more specifically, her family’s beach house. She only finds this out after confronting Gail and finding out the other woman loves her father and it seems to be mutual. She also tells her mother which is not good for either of them, after they had to act like a family for the annual Christmas card photo shoot.
Meanwhile, she uses this hardship to at least apologize to Silver and ask her not to put it in her blog. In 8th grade, Silver’s parents were going through an affair and eventual divorce, and Naomi told everyone, the reason why they were no longer friends. While it mended fences, the jury is still out on whether those two will become friendly again. Silver seems to be doing better living with half-sister Kelly, even flirting enough with Dixon to ask him the question everyone wants to hear, “when are you going to ask me out?”
Speaking of Dixon, he got into a mess of his own this week. He borrowed his dad’s car to go to school and in doing so knocked off the side view mirror of an expensive German-made car of a fellow student. Instead of wanting to go through insurance, he gets a job at the Peach Pit to cover the repairs, eventually telling his father and getting the money, using his earnings at the job to pay back his father for the loan. He also gets to sit courtside at a Lakers game with the guy whose car he hit, so it all works out for him.
Dixon’s sister Annie has many of her own problems. She finally gets asked out by Ethan, only to ten minutes later get asked out by Ty after he bailed on her, to which she has to say no and possibly lose Ty. When Ethan is late (and eventually bails) on their date, Silver gives her the news that it is never over between Ethan and Naomi, and she should end the triangle and choose Ty. She does, but Ty at first spurns her advances since he has tried before. When she kisses him, it seems firmly settled on Annie and Ty. Good thing, because Naomi and Ethan end up getting back together at the end of the episode.
In news of the adults around West Beverly High, Annie and Dixon’s grandmother Tabitha Wilson, a former actress and current alcoholic, offers to take over directing the school musical Spring Awakening. She doesn’t stay long, because once Brenda Walsh comes on to help, she sees how negative she is being towards Annie and passes the reins to Brenda, a current stage actress in London and now doing a play in California. Brenda also speaks to Ryan, the cute English teacher, in his quest to get to know Kelly. He still likes her and wants to date her, but Kelly is unsure, using her son’s welfare as an excuse. At the end of the episode, Brenda says she is still hung up on Sammy’s father, revealed to be (stop reading if you don’t want to be spoiled) former high school boyfriend Dylan McKay.
One Tree Hill – “Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.”
Episode 6.3 – September 15, 2008
by Barbara Ghilardi
Last night, for the first time, One Tree Hill had me crying.
As last week’s episode ended with Q’s fatal gun shot, this week’s began with a conformation from Lucas to Skills that Q has passed away. The scene cuts to the basketball court where Nathan is confused as to why Q hasn’t met him and Haley shows up, frazzled and red eyed with the news. Lucas and Skills break the news to the team, while Haley and Nathan struggle to let their young son Jamie know that his friend Q isn’t coming back. “So he won’t even be at practice?” Jamie asks. His small yet powerful expression upon hearing no shows even Jamie is going to have a tough time dealing with Q’s death.
Meanwhile, Brooke is having trouble dealing with the aftermath of her assault and story robbery. She begins to throw her clothing out of Clothes over Bros and when Peyton tries to give the clothes back to Brooke, she lashes out at her.
Haley can’t seem to find the words to address her class on the subject of Q’s death, and is met with the response “what is the point?’ from one of her students. Haley cannot think of a better answer than, “I don’t know.” Nathan goes through Q’s locker, Jamie looks at a board with plays, and we see Q’s name written with a blue expo marker all over the board. Jamie’s expression shows he’s slowly realizing Q would no longer be apart of these plays. As Nathan takes out Q’s jersey, Jamie asks if he can have it, and Nathan simply replies “I think he’d like that.” Even though it’s too big, it looks perfect on Jamie.
Dan is still under the wrath of Nanny Carrie, who claims to have an even better plan to steal away Jamie. She tells Dan that she is going to lure Jamie to Dan’s bedside when it becomes known that Dan is dying. Nanny Carrie pulls out Jamie’s handmade card to Dan, grinning as she explains she’ll have no getting Jamie to come see his grandfather. Next, she gets her hands on Dan’s gun because whoever brings Jamie will be killed by Dan, which actually means they’ll be killed by Nanny Carrie. All Dan really asks is why Nanny Carrie cannot have children and she gives no real response. At this point everyone’s probably thinking, because she’s crazy!
The episode continues its little side stories: we watch as Brooke looks into a mirror with words like revenge covering it and pointing to the places where her bruises are; Brooke’s retaliation is not yet complete. Deb comes to talk to Skills and tries to comfort him, but he seems to brush off her help. Dan tries to escape Nanny Carrie’s house and does get himself free and outside, but falls onto a grave and as Nanny Carrie screams “Get off my son”, she inflicts more pain on him. Later she puts flowers on her son’s grave, and we begin to understand the motive Nanny Carrie has to abduct Jamie: she wants to replace her son.
Nathan, Haley, Jamie, Peyton, Lucas, and Skills all go to Q’s house to visit with his family. Jamie has a touching moment with Q’s brother about the loss, both commenting on the fact that they want to be basketball players someday. When he’s about to leave, Jamie runs back to the boy and gives him Q’s jersey. Inside, Q’s mother expresses her thanks to the adults for helping her son, especially Haley who gave him motivation beyond the basketball court and into his studies.
Haley, in order to help her student’s grief, tells her students to write about Q, even if they did not know him very well. He eyes follow to Q’s desk where someone wrote “I miss you Q”. She grabs the marker and writes a quote from Les Miserables and encourages her students to write a message as well. A brooding girl in the back, who looks just like Brooke’s young shoplifter two episodes back, shies away from the project, but we come to find out she’s the one narrating the episode. Haley also notices the shirt she stole and makes a comment.
Brooke, who did not know Q personally, does make a stop at the Scott residence where Jamie hears Brooke say “life sucks then you die”. She quickly leaves the room and Haley comes outside to see her. Haley tells Brooke that she should go to a therapist if she needs help resolving some of her issues. Later, in probably one of the more touching scenes of the episode, Nathan comes to Brooke and tells her that if she needs help to work through her problems, she shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. The always apparent similarities between Nathan and Brooke’s life are laid on the table and one can only hope Brooke will take him up on the offer.
The funeral closes out the episode – here comes the waterworks. Jamie, who originally was not allowed to come to the funeral, tells his parents he wants to go. It was adorable the way he held the box given to him by Q and the noticeable problem he had putting on his tie. Haley helps him straighten the tie and realizes that he should be allowed to say goodbye. At the funeral, the basketball team makes an entrance in their jerseys and Q’s brother, grabs Q’s old jersey, puts it on, and stands in the line up proudly. Deb grabs Skills hand, signifying their relationship and the look on Nathan’s face isn’t necessary a happy one. When the procession begins to break up, Jamie comes to the coffin and pulls out the cape he made for Q. Brooke comes to stand beside him, and once Jamie drapes the cape over the coffin, Brooke begins to cry. Jamie silently grabs Brooke’s hand in comfort; probably one of the most heart trenching moments of One Tree Hill.
Although Q was only on the show for a short period of time, he definitely grew on OTH fans. His character will definitely be missed. Until next week!
Gossip Girl – “The Dark Night”
Episode 2.3 – September 15, 2008
by Emily Morgan
Maybe I was out of it tonight (loads of homework!), but the first half of this show seemed dead to me. Chuck’s drowning his sorrow with a scotch on the rocks, Jenny’s running around with loads of fabrics in hand, Serena and Dan are still making out (which they’ve been doing since the end of the premiere) and Marcus shot down Blair to have sex. Not until the city went dark did the sparks really start fly.
I liked seeing more of Jenny and Vanessa this week. At the top of the show we saw Jenny giving Vanessa advice on whether to call back Nate after he stood her up the other night. Jenny seems to be making a comeback to reality in these first few episodes, concentrating on her internship, mending her friendship with Eric and being supportive of her brother as he “gets back together” with Serena (more on that later). The good times don’t last long for Little J, though, as Eleanor Waldorf returns to see Jenny critiquing one of her designs. Definite no-no with Blair’s momma. Jenny has to clean out her locker but she’s not down and out as she’ll be the only person tonight saved by the blackout.
Somebody, please, get a therapist for Gossip Girl’s most straining couple, Dan and Serena. We should talk, let’s just make out, no we should really talk, no let’s just keep making out. At the beginning of the episode these two were planning to tell people they were back together. They didn’t get the chance to do that themselves when some random girl walks by, flips out the cell, clicks a pic and it’s off to Gossip Girl. This girl will probably never be seen again but she let a big cat out of the bag.
Both Serena and Dan got reminders that if they don’t talk over their issues, their relationship will not move forward together. Blair told Serena that if she and Dan stay together without working out their issues they’re fooling themselves thinking they’re happy. Dan’s reminded unconventionally by three up-and-coming socialites of why he broke up with Serena in the first place. Their arguments also gave a nice summary for those in the audience still trying to catch up with what happened at the end of last season with Georgina.
Now to the lonely boy, young Bass. We didn’t see him much this evening except when he made his move on Blair at the party. He did partake in one of the funniest conversations of the night with Serena. She takes notice as Chuck comes out of his room following a young Asian girl. Serena assumes Chuck’s back in the game but he says nothing’s happening. And it seems a lot is not happening between Chuck and the girls and Chuck in bed. Then came the best line of the night, the honors going to Blake Lively, as Serena tells Chuck, “You are not using Blair as sexual Drano.”
I said we saw more of Vanessa tonight and we did either by herself or with Nate. Vanessa still carries a torch for the young Archibald and Nate in turn, as he digs himself a hole with Catherine. Nate did find time to spend with Vanessa but Catherine was nearby watching. Nate starts to make promises we all know he can’t keep and even Vanessa is skeptical but takes his word. Nate calls a day after he invites V to Blair’s party to tell her he has to cancel (Nate gets the heads up from Marcus that the Duchess will be attending Blair’s party) but V, with the encouragement of Rufus, decides to go anyways.
Side note: I was very afraid that the writers would add some awkward sexual tension between Rufus and Vanessa but so far they’ve steered clear, thank goodness.
Finally the party came and along with it a New York City blackout. The location of everybody goes like this: Jenny’s stuck in Eleanor’s studio, with Eleanor; Dan and Serena are trapped in the elevator; Nate, Catherine and Vanessa are all lurking around; and Chuck’s on the prowl for Blair to . . . solve his problem. Nate intercepts Vanessa and takes her into a separate room to talk it out (finally a couple that can talk out their issues). Serena and Dan continue to try the silent treatment as a way to move through their problems. Chuck puts the moves on Blair but she turns him down although her grasping hand on Chuck’s hand tells another story. Chuck finds an in later when Blair invites Marcus upstairs for a romp in the sack.
Back at the Waldorf studio, it seems Eleanor is warming up to Ms. Humphrey as she admits that what Jenny said earlier about her designs was true and she needed to hear them. She realizes the need for a new look in her line.
At the party, Catherine searches for Nate and doesn’t find him but instead Vanessa. The two talk (not seen by the audience) but V later tells Dan that Catherine will turn in Nate’s dad if Nate doesn’t continue their relationship. V breaks up with Nate because she does love him. Upstairs in Blair’s room, Chuck “fakes” a British accent to dupe Blair into thinking Marcus has come for their date. I’d think that Blair would notice it was Chuck as she started to make out with him. Marcus thinks the same thing but gets Blair to admit that she did know. All she wants is for Marcus to “want her” and it looks like all is made up when he kisses her in front of all the party attendees.
Finally the lights go back on and when the dust settles: Dan and Serena are officially broken-up; the Duchess still has Nate under her thumb; Blair still has Marcus and Chuck has lost another round; Jenny is the only one coming out fresh as a daisy, as Eleanor hires her back after finding out who her father was (remember that awkward meeting last year when Rufus was kissing Lilly).
That’s it for tonight. Looks like Serena will go back to being a queen bee of the school and treat Dan as a second-class, Brooklyn citizen. We’ll see if she’s sincere about her threats.
90210 – “Lucky Strike”
Episode 1.3 – September 9, 2008
by Caitlin Downer
Mom (l.), Silver (c.), Kelly (r.)
Annie makes plans with Ty to go to see a new band at the pier for the following night (Friday). At the same time, Dixon makes plans with the rest of the lacrosse team to view the new James Bond film at Navid’s house since his dad “knows someone who did a little something on it.” Both of their nights come to a halt when they get home that night and their parents drop a bombshell of their own: they want to have family night by going bowling. The kids try to weasel their way out of it by saying no one does family night in Beverly Hills, but instead invite their friends along to come rescue them. Annie is meant to go out with Ty, but he ditches her. Dixon gets the boys of the lacrosse team to come and they end up all going to see the Bond movie anyway, with Silver and Annie in tow. At the end, the kids make their parents breakfast and prepare for the next family night. Maybe they can still have a little bit of Kansas in Beverly Hills.
Silver is shown as coming late to school and even going to a woman’s shelter and asking to stay. Dixon later finds her asleep in her car parked in front of their house. Turns out her mother is back in her battle with drugs and alcohol and ends up taking it out on her. Kelly later confronts her mother about the battle (Silver and Kelly are half-sisters) and takes Silver with her. The episode ends with them joining in on some ice cream with Kelly’s four-year-old.
Speaking of Kelly, she finally goes on a date with cute English teacher Ryan. After many blunders made by him, they eventually kiss and he even asks “are we dating” and the answer is, yeah looks like they are. Kelly is still shy about having her son meet new men, since the only one he has ever met is his father, a former boyfriend of Kelly’s from high school that she met up with and “had a night with” four years earlier and still wants to try to get back into his son’s life (Brandon or Dylan?)
Annie and Ethan
Naomi is pumped to go on her annual trip to Las Vegas with her father’s company. Instead, he gives her (and her mother) brand new cars but cancels the trip. When she goes to thank him and bring him food for “working late” she sees him kissing another woman. She tells her mother about it and finds out he has been seeing her for two years and she lives out of town and the mom is okay with it (she really doesn’t want to lose her lifestyle). Ethan comforts her in her time of need and even leaves the bowling alley with her, strengthening the love triangle between Naomi, Ethan and Annie.
One Tree Hill – “One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on Sunday Morning”
Episode 6.2 – September 8, 2008
by Barbara Ghilardi
Part 1
Bruises and Bullets on this week’s One Tree Hill
The drama continues to unfold on this week’s One Tree Hill. When Peyton and Luke decide to have their wedding back home with close family and friends, Peyton decides to tell Brooke first. As the conversation ends, the camera cuts to a badly black and blue Brooke, who looks as though the life has been sucked out of her, quite out of character for her.
When Peyton comes home, Brooke decides to lie to Peyton and tell her she fell while getting her laundry. Surprisingly Peyton believes her and Brooke decides to let someone else help – Deb. Brooke’s instructions to Deb however are not what one might expect – she doesn’t want Deb to let anyone else know she was robbed and assaulted including the police. In fact, she asks Deb specifically to teach her how to shoot a gun.
Part 2
Deb, who is still seeing Skills, gets caught kissing Skills by her grandson Jamie when Skills came over for breakfast. Jamie’s curiosity gets the better of him later in a car ride with Deb, asking her if she likes Uncle Skills. Deb denies everything, but Jamie assures her if she does its ok. He’d like calling him “Grandpa Skills”. The last shot of the scene shows Deb with a secret smile on her face.
Just because Jamie wouldn’t mind a “Grandpa Skills” doesn’t mean that he’s forgotten about his “Grandpa Dan.” One day after school, Jamie notices Dan’s black SUV in the parking lot and comments on it to Haley. Later, Haley tells Nathan she’s seen the car for the last few days and is worried Dan is once again trying to find a way back into their lives. However what she doesn’t know is Nanny Carrie is the one who is driving the car in order to lay down her plan of kidnapping Jamie. Nanny Carrie continues to torment Dan by force feeding him cockroaches.
Part 3
Nathan and Jamie continue to help out at basketball practices for the Tree Hill Ravens after school, and this week Jamie adorns his outfit with a red cape. Quentin, better known as Q, complements Jamie in a playful way, which gives Jamie the idea to make Q a cape of his own. Meanwhile, Q continues to excel at turning his academic life around, gaining an A+ from Haley and for the first time we see Q open up about what he really wants in life – a family.
Haley expresses concern about her own family after discovering a mostly empty bottle of pills. Her automatic response is to blame Deb, who once used to be a pill junkie. Deb, claims innocence, and when Haley asks why she’s been sleeping so much and keeping odd hours outside of the house, Deb simply says “I’m having sex”. When Haley confronts the only other suspect, Nathan, one couldn’t help but laugh at his cringing face when Haley mention’s Deb’s sex life. Nathan admits to taking all the pills, but claims it’s a prescribed amount. After a visit to the doctors, Haley’s initial fears are calmed, but the doctor does explain that if Nathan doesn’t take it easy with basketball, he risks another injury and the possibility of being in a wheel chair for life.
Part 4
Meanwhile, Nanny Carrie is still scheming and informs Dan that he will be the one to “take” Jamie and once she kills him, she will take Jamie for herself. She comments on how she loves that no one is looking for him, only one message on his beeper. Dan, who hasn’t been able to speak, all of a sudden manages to get out a few words, “your plan sucks.” For the first time this season, viewers see the Dan they’re used to as he laughs at Nanny Carrie. She of course does not understand, but it all becomes clear after she calls the number on his pager, and Dan explains he’s going to die if he doesn’t get a heart soon. As he continues to laugh, Nanny Carrie grabs a knife and threatens him. His response? Only more laughter and simply, “Go ahead and kill me, I’m already dead.”
Touching moments enter throughout the episode. Lucas asks Peyton to move in with him; a major plus for Leyton fans. Deb is able to share a moment with Skills when she is conflicted about telling Brooke’s problem to others. Nathan, who viewers know lives for basketball, informs Haley he’ll stop because he loves his family more than the game.
Part 5
Tragedy overshadows in the end of the episode as Q enters a convenience store. The suspense runs high as his eyes follow to a dead body in the back of the store. When Q turns around, the man at the counter pulls out a gun. As the trigger is pulled the shot goes to Brooke learning how to use a gun with Deb’s help. Q’s bullet brings his death, but what will Brooke’s gun do?
Until next week!
Gossip Girl – “Never Been Marcused”
Episode 2.2 – September 8, 2008
by Emily Morgan
This is one messed up little love triangle, or should I say pentagon. We found out that Nate’s cougar girlfriend, Catherine, is actually a Duchess. As Duchess she plays step-mommy to our new Lord Marcus. Marcus is dating Blair, Nate’s ex-girlfriend, and Chuck remains on the sidelines as he tries every deceitful way to win back Blair’s heart. I think Nate put it best when he shot down the idea of being Blair’s father-in-law if he were to marry Catherine and Blair to marry Marcus. It seemed that Blair and Nate would have nothing to reconnect about this season but leave it to the royal family to shake things up in America.
Why didn’t Chuck just get on that plane to Tuscany? It sure would have made his life easier but the quest for Blair’s heart back will make their reunion that much more special. Chuck tries every in to break off Blair and Marcus’ blooming relationship. He slyly befriends Marcus by inviting him to play squash (handball with rackets) and calling the Duchess herself to come with him as a date to Blair’s party (which we’ll come to later).
Nate has more problems than just Catherine on his hands. After his father fled the country to avoid prosecution, the federal prosecutor found his “vacation” out of the country an admission of guilt. Nate’s mom needs to find a way to keep their money and property from being repossessed by the government. Nate talks to old friend Vanessa (that’s right, V is back from wherever she spent her summer after I’m guessing Dan went on his binge of women) about his problems and looks for friendly advice. Nate’s problems seem solved though when his mother calls and says she’s borrowed money from a family friend. Nate figures out through process of elimination (it’s not a member of the book club) though that it’s Chuck who’s actually loaning the money out to the Archibald’s (no Nate, he’s not selling the Victrola as a ploy to win Blair’s heart back).
As for our other coupling on the show, their back together, not back together seems much less confusing compared to the mess above. After getting back together (in every sense of the word) on the Hampton beaches, Serena woke up to second thoughts. Before, she and Dan officially became boyfriend and girlfriend again she needed them to talk about their problems. Trying to separate herself from him at the bus stop, the two didn’t stay apart long when Serena dragged Dan to the back of the bus and into the restroom. Later on, Dan said they should spend some time apart for a couple of days to collect their thoughts. Two seconds later, Serena informed Dan that his services were needed at Blair’s impromptu “Back in the City” party.
Speaking of Blair’s not so fabulous party, it started out slow but heated up extremely in the end. Blair needed a way to impress her Lord by throwing a party, after he was hesitant about her meeting the Duke and Duchess (Catherine). Never underestimate Blair’s skill to put together a party with 100 guests (total strangers, most of them), a harpist and violinist, and Dan (to chat up Marcus about football (that’s European)), all in a matter of 24 hours. When the party begins we see Blair and Marcus “enjoying” the live music. “I just love Mozart,” Blair says but as Marcus tries to inform her that it wasn’t Mozart, she rushes Marcus off to meet Serena. Uninvited guest Chuck then walks in with the Duchess Catherine on his arm. Blair not realizing who Catherine is (but Serena immediately recognizes Nate’s mistress) insults her, thinking she’s another one of Chuck’s skanky arm candy. Strike one for Blair impressing Marcus’ family. Serena pushes Blair to apologize to the Duchess for her comment. As Blair says sorry she also confesses that Chuck has probably told her all the horrible things she did with Chuck (cheating on Nate, sleeping with Chuck in the back of the limo). Duchess Catherine reveals Chuck told her nothing but Blair will never be good enough for Marcus. Strike two for Blair. This leads to the best quote of the night from Blair to Serena about Catherine’s comments. “She got Waldorf to rhyme with Spears. I might as well as went commando,” (Leighton Meester has certainly been given the best quotes so far this season).
As Blair gets insulted by the Duchess, the rest of the love-pentagon shows up when Nate walks into the party. And awkward meeting as Blair wonders why Nate knows Catherine and Nate wants to know why Blair is having a conversation with the woman he’s having an affair with. Before that can be settle, Nate goes to find Chuck to confront him about lending the money to his family. Nate refuses Chuck to give his family the money and says he we’ll take care of it himself. Nate’s solution: Ask his rich cougar girlfriend, of course. Catherine agrees to help but for a price. It looks like the down payment is a “roll in the library.”
Down in the count, 0-2, Blair gets the clutch hit when, while looking for the Duchess for one final apology, she discovers Nate and Catherine making love in the library. This is enough ammunition for Blair to blackmail Catherine if she doesn’t tell Marcus that Blair is perfect for him. Catherine obeys and Marcus announces that Blair is officially his girlfriend. Aww, happy endings!
The loose ends: Rufus is back in town after his summer tour and it Vanessa did a little interior decorating for his gallery, complete with a café. Rufus tells Vanessa that there’s a college tour his band could go on but he has to make a decision to be away from Dan and Jenny for another six months. Luckily, after returning home to pictures of what he missed this summer, he calls his agent and tells her he’s staying in Brooklyn. Vanessa, after her talk with Nate, sets up a dinner with him later but he has to back out (not telling her he’s with Catherine). It looks like Vanessa’s torch for Nate didn’t burn out over the summer.
For those of you who thought these first two episodes packed in too much, I think the writers were setting the stage for the season. Now that we’re back in the city, it’s time to get dirty.
90210 – “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore”
Episode 1.1 – September 2, 2008
by Caitlin Downer
The characters may be new, but the zip code is still the same, not to mention it premiered to the highest ratings ever for the CW. The show Beverly Hills, 90210 was a household name with young adults in the 1990s, and now a spinoff (not a remake) is back on television, simply called 90210.
Courtesy of CW11.com
This new series revolves around the Wilson family and their move from Kansas to California, similar to the Walsh family’s move from Minnesota to California in the first series. A few of the characters from that first show have returned to this one, including Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty), returning from her acting career in London to be the director of the school play and drama teacher, and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth), now a guidance counselor and mother to a four-year-old. Kelly’s mother Jackie Taylr (Ann Gillespie) also returns, as she is also the mother of new character Erin “Silver” Silver, Kelly’s half-sister. She is still suffering her own battle with the bottle, which will be an issue in later episodes it seems. Even the hang out from the original series, the Peach Pit, is back with its owner Nat Bussichio (Joe E. Tata). The Peach Pit has gotten a face lift to be a more upscale coffeehouse/diner, but Nat still exists in the same role of a voice of support for the kids. The last character with a connection to the old series is Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez (Hallee Hirsh). The daughter of Andrea Zuckerman and Jesse Vasquez, she is a following in her parents’ footsteps as host of the school’s “West Beverly Blaze” news show.
Courtesy of CW11.com
The new series focuses on Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) and her brother Dixon (Tristan Wilds), who have to deal with being the new kids in school and their father being the new principal at West Beverly High. Dad Harry (Rob Estes) and mom Debbie (Lori Loughlin) have made the move to keep an eye on Harry’s mother Tabitha (Jessica Walter), a former television star with a love of drinking. The two-hour premiere saw a host of issues of high school issues happening to the siblings all at once. Fitting into a new crowd, cheating on significant others, rivalries, gossip being spread not person to person, but on the Internet, and even theft. Annie has to deal with no longer being the cool, pretty, popular girl and make a new crowd of friends. She starts out with Naomi Clark (AnnaLynne McCord), the Regina George of this high school. In these first two episodes Naomi seems like a huge spoiled brat, using all of a paper Annie offered to her “for help” (as if we knew that wouldn’t happen) instead of writing her own, heading to a club and ordering a drink at the bar before eventually getting ratted out by her English teacher (Ryan Eggold), and having a 16th birthday party to rival all those brats on My Super Sweet Sixteen. She finds out her boyfriend Ethan Ward (Dustin Milligan) the “likeable jock” lacrosse star is cheating on her through a text message, which sets up a future love triangle between the exes and Annie, who knew Ethan when the two were kids.
Courtesy of CW11.com
Annie then befriends Erin Silver (Jessica Stroup), who is commonly referred to as Silver, after a rocky start. Silver made a video about her that was spread online, but got back into Annie’s good graces by getting her a part in the school play Spring Awakening (and a connection to its cute lead male: the “richest boy in school”). She is a quirky kid who moves to her own beat with her own YouTube series, called “The Vicious Circleí”. Meanwhile, Annie’s brother Dixon has problems of his own. He makes the lacrosse team and is better than some of the its current players, including George Evans (Kellan Lutz), who gets retaliation by trying to get Dixon kicked off the team after a fight during practice. When West Beverly High is trashed by a rival school’s lacrosse team, Dixon and Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger), the head of the school’s newscast and the one who gets all the dirt on his classmates, lead a prank back that includes releasing pigs on their field. The team is punished and Dixon takes all of the blame from the principal (and his dad) until Ethan steps up as well, making a connection between the two.
The kids aren’t the only West Beverly residents with problems. Harry Wilson meets up with a former girlfriend Tracy Clark (now Naomi’s mother) at a parent-teacher meeting and later gets the bombshell dropped that the two had a child in high school. English teacher Ryan Matthews has a style that puts him at odds with the other, older teachers and an inability to voice his feelings for Kelly Taylor, even though he finally gets a chance when he goes to her house and gets a little assistance from her friend Brenda. Their future is still unknown as Kelly has a son whose father is still unknown.
High school isn’t an easy time to get through, but it seems a little bit more glamorous for the kids of Beverly Hills. It seems only more issues will come up for all of them in the episodes to come. The show currently has an order for a total of 13 episodes, and more to be picked up if the show goes over well.
