begins. ('Nuff said.) OK, here's another reason. Tonight features effective cameos by author Jay McInerney and real-life society doyenne Tinsley Mortimer.
CATCHING UP Poor "Lonely Boy" Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) and Serena (Blake Lively) have broken up over his guilt about the affair with Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg) as well as Serena's guilt over her own personal and closeted skeletons. Blair (Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) are on the outs, too.
WHAT HAPPENS TONIGHT It's summer! In the Hamptons! (Episode titled "Summer Kind of Wonderful.") The sun is shining! The sand is warm! But a thrum of anxiety haunts Blair, Serena and Chuck - and not just over what shade of white to wear to the White Party. You know how it is, or the Gossip Girl (Kristen Bell) does anyway: "Tans fade, highlights grow dark and we all get sick of sand in our shoes." In fact, Serena can't get Dan out her head and the same with him - so much so that he effectively flunks his writing apprenticeship with a famed, boozy author (McInerney). In her fashion gig, Jenn Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) has boss issues, too. ("This isn't school," the bigshot snarls when presented with one of Jenn's new dresses. "I don't look at your work.")
In Paris, Blair has accessorized herself with square-jawed, dimwitted James to make Chuck - who mockingly refers to him as "Princeton" - jealous. It works: Chuck wilts, as do the roses he plans to give her, when Blair flocks to her new boy prop. And Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford)? He beds a married cougar, and his conscience is spotless. Best part: Watch what Blair does with her Claddagh ring.
BOTTOM LINE I came late to the realization that "Gossip Girl" - at its best - is a comedy of manners. Someone (probably show head writer and ex-prof Stephanie Savage) knows her Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde cold, and the show, in its 21st century way, is almost an homage to both. "Gossip Girl" is ironic without being self-mocking - a fine line - and sharp without being brittle. Gorgeous and skillful, the cast juggles the razor-edged dialogue to near perfection; when some guy honks the horn of his Camaro while picking up Serena, Blair airily observes, "A honk instead of a knock? Did someone order a townie?" The brilliant patter fills these willfully empty lives, but it also masks a certain sadness. Summer's over. Now what? Sex and booze - the twin controversies from early last season? Not much of either tonight.
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