The Senior Year of high school for the Upper East Siders at Constance Billard private school, is full of scandals, triumphs, big deals, schemes and of course romance and fashion.
When do these kids have the time to go to class, or study and much less make the grades that are going to get them into the Ivy League colleges of their choice?
Even back in Grandma’s day high school as one was going through it seemed to be the most important time of life. Gossip Girl’s second season does nothing to change that point of view. Watching the trials and tribulations of these privileged youngsters, it might be easy to forget that they are just kids.
They are carted around in fully equipped limousines and battle out differences with plots and practices so sophisticated in detail they would put corporate sharks to shame. Then the kids do something so immaturely outlandish, we catch our collective breaths and say “yes these are children.”
The second season of the show is dramatic, wistful, colorful, outrageous, and with the exception of one outfit Blair Waldorf wears which looks like fiberglass curtains doubling as a cape, fashionably beautiful.
The great appeal of the show lies in the fantasy. Most young people who watch it are aware that this is not real, and unquestionably not correct behavior. They see that Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and her classmates are operating in a world where money is not an issue, and there appears to be very little or no adult supervision. As a result of no restrictions, hormones reign supreme and behavior is generally bad.
In other words it is a teen fantasy world, and these characters are acting out scenes one might like to perform at one time or another, but instinctively knows that they are impossibly wrong. In some ways Gossip Girl is like the old legends and fairy tales with lessons hidden within the stories.
As we once learned to respect other’s property from Goldilock’s adventures, and not talk to strangers as mother said to Little Red Riding Hood, we can also see from Chuck Bass’s revenge plots that there are serious repercussions for actions.
We can also see where mistakes can be made by jumping to conclusions and no matter how clever you think you are, or how much money you have to back your actions, your sins will find you out and Gossip Girl will broadcast them to the world.
Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season is presented on seven discs with 25 episodes, and a number of special features that will delight fans. The episodes are in widescreen format and have a running time of 1063 minutes. An insert contains synopses of the episodes, illustrated with stills from the shows.
Unaired scenes are available for selected episodes, and there are the Chasing Dorota webisodes. A gag reel reveals that these are really nice relatively normal kids, having a blast playing at being stinkers and cut-throat snobs.
“5th Avenue Meets Gossip Girl” allows the viewer to visit the favorite spots of the group, and “Faces Behind the Design” shows the people and the work behind the fashion conscious look of the series.
A pre-publication peek at the new novel by author Cecily von Ziegesar “Gossip Girl: I Will Always Love You” explores the reunion of the seniors after their first few months of college, and is included as a sixteen page insert.
As a final treat, there is a downloadable audio book of the original novel “Gossip Girl: You Know You Love Me” read by actress Christina Ricci.
Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Sept. 28th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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