Gossip Girl Episode 2 explored several interconnected themes such as the desire to be wanted, appreciated,
and loved. Lies. And most importantly, change. Since Episode 2 was so dense, we are going
to break this episode down by subplots as opposed to just recapping the events chronologically.
Let's start with Audrey. Audrey's mother, Mrs. Katherine Hope or Kiki,
did not show up to the parent student conference, which made Audrey feel unappreciated. Then,
Mrs. Hope showed up late to the fundraiser and she didn't wear the dress that Aubrey
had recommended. On top of that, she got drunk, made a scene, and embarrassed Audrey. But
at the end of the episode, she told Audrey the truth. Mrs. Hope was low on hope, still
struggling with the fact that her man had left her for her assistant, she had to close
some businesses, and would be filing Chapter 11 within the week.
And that wasn't Audrey's only subplot. There's also the Aki, Audrey, and Max love triangle.
Max wants Audrey, Max wants Aki, and Max wants his teacher, Rafa Caparros. But Rafa denied
Max due to their student/teacher relationship, which made Max want him even more.
At the beginning of the episode, Max hit on Aki for the second episode in a row, but Aki
denied him by saying that he would not go to the sauna on men's-only day with Max so
as to spy on their teacher Rafa. But that was a lie. Aki did go there and told Max that
he didn't feel wanted by Audrey anymore. Then he kissed Max in front of Rafa so as to make
Rafa jealous, but for Aki, it was more than just that. Aki wants Max, which is why he
asked if they should follow Rafa and kiss in front of him a second time.
Afterwards, Max kept Aki's secret from Audrey, and after sleeping with Audrey at the end
of the episode, Max vowed to keep Audrey's secret from Aki. But this is a brewing storm.
Max had said that he didn't want to come between Aki and Audrey, at least, not emotionally,
but that is exactly what he has done. Max wants it all, but he may end up burning all
of his bridges. Meanwhile, other bridges are being built,
namely, Kate and Nick. Kick or Nate. They had chemistry from their very first scene,
and that chemistry grew at the fundraiser. And it's great because Zoya likes Kate, and
Kate likes Zoya. These three would be such a cute family.
Kate reassured Zoya that she deserved the scholarship. They bonded as both being outsiders
at Constance Billard, and it turns out, Kate had looked up the meaning of Zoya's name.
Zoya: life. Kate s name means pure, which is ironic, since she has recently chosen to
be so impure. At the beginning of the episode, Kate told
her colleagues that she didn't want to destroy Zoya. But she continues to do just so with
her childish and unethical Gossip Girl posts. So at the end of the day, Kate and Nick would
be very cute together. Kate, Nick, and Zoya as a family would be very cute together. But
just like Max, Kate may lose them both if she continues down this dark, dishonest path.
Because dishonesty inevitably leads to problems. We saw that with Jules and her father. Jules
did not tell her father, Davis, that she and Zoya had been talking for a couple years.
And Jules did not tell him that she had taken advantage of his art scholarship so as to
get Zoya into school. So when Davis saw Nick at the fundraiser, he was shocked. But the
reason that Jules had chosen to keep Zoya a secret from her father was because her father
was now sober. And she didn't want to change that for the worse.
In her defense, Jules had told him that she had wanted to connect with Zoya before he
got sober. So it's a difficult situation, and Jules meant no harm. Now the truth is
out, and only time will tell if the pain of the past resurfaces and causes Davis to revert
back to insobriety, similar to Mrs. Hope. Let's hope not.
That leads us into the main plot. Jules, Zoya, and Obie.
At the beginning of the episode, Jules assumed that if she told Obie that she missed him,
things would go back to normal. But she was mistaken. When she texted him, he lied to
her, telling her that he was hitting bed early. But then he hit up Zoya, met her outside,
and they were happy together. At school, Jules told Obie that she had gotten
his message loud and clear. But she hadn't. And unlike most characters, Obie was honest
with her. They hadn't had fun or made each other laugh in a long time. So this was not
a break. They had officially broken up. Obie then asked Zoya out on a date, but she
had to turn him down since she had promised her father that she would stay out of drama
in regards to her and her sister. But Zoya did agree to a date if they could do it without
anyone knowing. And Obie's plan was brilliant. To her surprise, Obie bought her and her father
tickets to the fundraiser. That was their date. Obie and Zoya were hiding in plain sight.
Until they weren't. Because Obie convinced Zoya to sneak out for an hour. He called a
friend to open up his store after-hours so that he and Zoya could buy school supplies
for less fortunate children. Meanwhile, Jules began to regret bringing
Zoya into her life because she feared that her dad would slip back into his past addiction.
And her Instagram followers cared more about her and Obie as a unit, then her as an individual.
So Jules finally decided that Zoya had to go, which meant, Plan C. Get Zoya grounded.
Gossip Girl told Jules where Zoya and Obie were, and Jules relayed that location to both
of their fathers. But when Jules saw them, happy, she had a change of heart. So she tried
to lie to their fathers, saying that Zoya wasn't there. But it was too late. Zoya came
outside. Just like Max may burn his bridges to both Aki and Audrey just as Kate may burn
her bridges to Nick and Zoya. Jules set several bridges on fire in this episode. Zoya was
upset with her. Obie was upset with her. And her father was upset with her.
But above all else, Jules was upset with herself. She knew in her heart of hearts that a sister
wouldn't, or rather, a sister shouldn't have done what she just did to Zoya. It goes to
show that Jules is really great person. She's made some big mistakes so far, but the skies
the limit for her if she would stop taking the advice of her two sad, little friends.
As the great Drizzt Do'Urden once said, Change is not always growth. But growth is often
rooted in change. Jules knew that it was time to stop being influenced and to start being
an influencer of change. Positive change. And she did just so. When Jules found out
that Zoya was withdrawing from Constance Billard, she rushed to Zoya and brought her into the
women's room the place where they had had their first ever face-to-face chat. Jules
told Zoya that they have a connection, and they, well mainly she, blew it. But she was
not ready to give up. But one of Zoya's preconditions was that she could be who she wants to be.
And do what she wants to do. And that meant openly dating Obie. It's going to be hard
for Jules, so that sucks. But if anyone can do it, Jules can.
And last but not least, as evidenced by the deletion of her latest photos, Kate has also
taken the first step towards positive change. But Kate has Zoya's latest secret about her
old school in her back pocket. So only time will tell how that plays out.
Next up, the episode 3 trailer breakdown.