![]() ![]() It’s important to mention that when Audrey relays this information to Julien, Aki, and the rest of their posse that they’re extremely unemotional about this and don’t offer her shelter in any of their giant penthouses. But they get into a Ladybird-level fight that ends with Audrey jumping out of the proverbial Subaru (i.e. Their mother-daughter friction comes to a head when Audrey invites her mother’s old friends over for dinner in the hope that … she’ll miss her past socialite life? It’s not super clear. Meanwhile, Audrey’s home life fully crumbles when her mom reveals they have to go back to Connecticut - which Audrey reminds us only exists to create landmass between Boston and New York - and leave Constance Billard as a result of her financial woes. Wasn’t this already established when we first met Rafa? Isn’t that the only reason Max knew he had a chance with him in the first place? Why do we need one of his ex-flings showing up like the Ghost of Creeps Past to share this with him? Max and Rafa’s relationship ultimately comes to end because Max misses his friends and is suddenly hurt by the “revelation” that Rafa has a thing for fucking his students. And who knows what that even means coming from this man? But Aki is so anxious and naive that he falls for this ridiculous both-sides-ing and, subsequently, has to flee a gay bar, which feels very symoblic of his current predicament. Either way, this poor, pastel-haired child only knows anguish! Rafa ends up scaring Aki out of pressing on this issue any further by threatening to expose that he’s been “harassing” him, as if that’s a tantamount offense to his actions. Watching him navigate his discovery of Max and Rafa’s affair, it’s unclear whether Aki wants Max for himself or Rafa, who he’s apparently been trying to pursue on the low, or whether he’s genuinely concerned about the ethical implications of all this. So far, our secondary cast of teenagers has proven to be much more empathetic and, frankly, human as we watch them deal with the pressing issues of their personal lives as opposed to stressing over their follower counts on Instagram - particularly Aki, who, while extremely soft-spoken, conveys so much confusion and loneliness regarding the ambiguous state of his sexuality and his feelings toward Max. ![]() However, there’s an overarching sense of isolation that comes across clearly in this episode with Max, Audrey, and Aki’s individual storylines. So far, this show has struggled to successfully meditate on its themes and establish a mood. Does Julien strike fear in anyone? Do her peers even notice when she walks into school? I honestly think Luna and Monet, but mostly Monet, are suffering from some sort of Supporting Character Syndrome where they’ve assigned a random person the leading role in the movie of life, although it hasn’t been earned.īut let’s get into this episode, which I found pretty somber but in a good way. It would be helpful if we saw Julien interact with other classmates outside of her inner circle to get a sense of her alleged superiority or lack thereof. We mostly hear Monet and Luna relay information about Julien’s fluctuating prominence as opposed to seeing it. But more importantly-and this speaks to the entire show thus far-we don’t really have a sense of the shifting power dynamics, at their school or online, that constantly have Julien and her minions on edge about her social standing. ![]() The reaction they receive when they step into the “Hulaween” party immediately dispels this. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.Five mentally taxing hours into this Gossip Girl, I’ve decided that no one at Constance Billard, or maybe in the entire world, gives a shit about Zoya and Julien’s public-facing lives, and we’ve been duped this entire time.ĭespite some intriguing subplots in this week’s episode, the main problem with “Hope Sinks” is that we’re led to believe that the sisters nailing a Halloween costume is a truly urgent matter that will make or break Julien’s new kind-vibez image on social media and overall popularity. Who wants to be a follower when you can lead? "What happened in her past to keep her from doing this herself?" In future seasons, of Gossip Girl Savannah hopes Monet starts to wield on her own. There's a reason the mean girl archetype prevails even after all this time in a patriarchal society, there's nothing more terrifying than a woman asserting her power. And sometimes that lends herself to be a little evil and a little mean." The reason why she f*cks over everyone she comes into contact with is because she's trying to get somewhere. "She is very driven, and I can relate to that hunger. ![]() "For those reasons she's very focused on her career." That drive is what propels her to make a few morally questionable decisions. "She doesn't want to work for her mother for reasons we'll find out soon," Savannah says. For Monet, at the root of her duplicity is inherited trauma. ![]()
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