I actually really like the Gossip Girl novels, if only because they're a bit "tawdrier" than the show is now. If you enjoyed the darker and sexier parts of Gossip Girl's first season, you should enjoy the books if you can get through YA novels.

I'd agree, the show has been strong since it became great in season one, then incredibly strong from the end of season one forward, without really faltering.

@avclub-69c765b770d7e1ef2d85da5214b4a689:disqus Thanks for the reminder! I'm really intrigued by what the show is going to present as far as vampire afterlives (in regards to Annie) and the whole history of the originals.

I enjoyed the fun demon stuff and spell casting, but now for it to join in the ranks of The Vampire Diaries, it needs to move at a quicker pace. The drama in the house would have happened halfway through an episode of TVD. We also wouldn't have been subjected to half an episode based around the boring Nick/Melissa…

I love Gale and Natasha, but their characters are dullsville. And the whole adults knowing about the magic but not saying anything to the kids and vice-versa is just sort of weird and story stalling. I would prefer if they were better integrated into the story, but baby steps.

I liked this one a bit more than last week, if only because the show is squarely back in regular storytelling mode with all sorts of shit happening in one week instead of focusing on just one plot. All of the complications were exactly what I'd expect from the show, I was even surprised with Katharine getting the…

I think we get the idea of them being on the same side even if Victoria isn't the one who did the correspondence (I thought she was framed too, because of the smirk that Nolan and Emily share when the pregnant woman walks in, though maybe I'm remembering wrong and it was after Kingsly said he wasn't running). If…

It's more a Blair Waldorf headband because while they've been in style longer than Gossip Girl, it's been a pretty big character trait of hers for years so it's a legitimate pop culture reference.

One interesting thing in this episode was Siobhan's past. Bridget was talking about how her sister kept making mistakes, and we were supposed to think she was being Siobhan and talking about Bridget, herself. But maybe Siobhan did some shady shit years earlier too? I doubt Gemma believes her, judging from the preview…

I also loved how thee was the suggestion that she also did the same thing with her superior, only it might have worked, which is the cause of part of the friction between them.

I kind of like Laura, I think her outfits turn out pretty well. But this week seemed to be an absolute mess because she was worried about appealing to Nina. And I'm sorry honey, if Nina hasn't picked you as one of her faves already, it's not going to happen. But I also was dying of laughter during the scene where…

Maybe it's just that we knew how old the Master was, as well as the intro to the pilot was that thing about Slayers appearing all history to defend people from vampires, so there was a hint of things to dive into.

True, but still in The Vampire Diaries or Buffy you could at least see where the show was going. The basic set ups of what episodes would be. I mentioned this over on TVD review, but this show lacks any sort of "history" that belongs in a sci-fi series. We had a long lineage of Slayers and vampires with histories on…

I like Angel a bit more, but I also really enjoy season 7 of Buffy. I will admit that as much as I love season 4 of Angel, the Cordelia stuff is still aggravating on a rewatch.

Hahaha. Actually, a background like THAT could invite some really fun flashbacks for the witches if they decided to do anything with Bonnie. The last cool storyline she had was channeling all of those dead witches way back in season one.

Seriously, this must be a running joke with casting or something. It's not only ridiculous from an "is every black person a witch?!" standpoint, but also from the standpoint of no longer being surprised a character is a witch, because if they're black, they are.

Pretty much agree with what's been said here about the subtlety in this show as opposed to mess that is True Blood. I'll also say that I really loved this episode, when the flashback episodes have always been my least favorites. The very first flashback episode I thought was a bore and every time we cut back to the…

Also, which is why I enjoy players like Rob. People who play hard to get to the top but appreciate when someone else "bests" them.

He tried, but the effect of group mentality is that the outsider players who are being strung along are usually dumb enough to fall for it. I can understand being in a power group as long as you can, but Dawn is sorta dumb for thinking she won't get voted out after Cochran and it's a little disingenuous for Jim to say…

Did we always have the scene where she heard "Bridget is still alive?" in that opening intro? I don't remember it from the previous episodes (I may be wrong), and if it's new, that's a pretty crappy way to let us know explicitly this Siobhan hired the assassin.