GG 1X02 SHE’S HAVING A MAYBE

After the events of the pilot episode, Julien and Zoya are at odds and unsure how to proceed with their lives at Constance Billard in Gossip Girl season 1, episode 2. However, while Nick (Zoya's father) may have discovered Zoya and Julien's genuine relationship, Davis (Julien's father) remains unaware... until the school fundraiser, that is.

In the meantime, the pupils are fighting back against GG, Kate and the other professors are now scrambling to regain their credibility before the end of Gossip Girl.

Some elements, such as the competition between Julien and Zoya and Max Wolfe as a whole, aren't functioning, but the characters are wonderfully fleshed out. We have a clear notion of who several of these characters are even after two episodes, which makes their behavior more difficult to comprehend.

The fact that Zoya and Julien's fathers kept them apart their entire lives due to a petty competition and their attitude of the mother as property that could have been "taken" is very pathetic and heartbreaking for these young women.

The already sporadic antagonism between Zoya and Julien, on the other hand, is annoying. Allow these two sisters to be sisters and have a healthy connection. Julien has a father who appears to be almost completely absent and two friends who appear to be more concerned with the business than with Julien, thus the counsel she receives from any of them is neither useful nor truly supportive.

In the meantime, Zoya is completely alone. She has no friends, her favorite teacher enjoys tearing her down on social media, and her father is too preoccupied with his disdain of Davis to allow Zoya to be open about her feelings for Julien. She is in desperate need of a nice person in her life.

This episode has me seriously considering whether Audrey and Aki are indeed compatible as a relationship. There's no chemistry between them, and it's difficult to care about them since they started the show with their eyes on someone else. Audrey and Aki each have something they need to investigate, but do they really need to do it together?

Their relationship is on the verge of becoming polyamorous, however the writers didn't do anything to establish Audrey and Aki as the main characters. They're both entertaining as individuals, but it seems like they should just break up to do what they want... rather than cheating with the same man on separate occasions. The Max Wolfe situation reminds me of a modern-day Chuck Bass issue. (By updated, I don't mean straight.)

Max isn't much better, and he clearly follows Chuck's lead in refusing to take no for an answer. At the very least, Max hasn't tried to force himself on anyone, but the way he's stalking his teacher and attempting to wear him down is completely improper and disgusting.

Nevertheless, it is not entirely one-sided. The teacher could be doing more if he didn't talk about fucking his students or mutter indecent things. He's the authority around here, and he has the power to turn everything off. But, like Max, he's getting a kick out of it. It's wrong on all sides, and it's not something we should be paying attention to.

Not to mention the weird dynamic between Zoya and Julien, who can forgive a treason like that? With that said, see you onto the next review!

XOXO LEGALLY POLYMATH