Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured – ****

This week on Life Unexpected, women’s health recipe Cate, Lux and Baze go on a road trip to track down Cate’s long-absent father.

You go, show. Watching this episode, you just validated my vote I made earlier today for Save One Show at EOnline. This and Vampire Diaries are my favorite shows of the ’09-’10 season. I highly recommend both.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds – ****

This week on Gossip Girl, Chuck and Blair face a challenging decision and Dan and Vanessa’s relationship hits a snag. Meanwhile, Serena arranges a surprise party for Nate, but Jenny attempts to wreck those plans.

Wow, we’re 2 for 2 tonight in episodes. This is how Gossip Girl should be every week.

Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured

Previously: Ryan and Cate are engaged to be married in two weeks. But Baze has just rediscovered his feelings for Cate.

Cate and Lux are looking through Cate’s mother’s attic when Lux finds some old birthday cards Cate’s dad sent her and Abby when they were growing up. Only problem is Cate never received them. She’d always thought her dad had left them and never looked back, because that’s what her mom had always told them. She then decides to take a road trip with Lux to meet her father, while Ryan stays behind to do last minute wedding stuff, and ask him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

Cate: My own father doesn’t even know that I’m getting married. If Lux was getting married, and I didn’t know, I’d kill myself.
Lux: I will be sure to send you an invitation.

Cate: Every girl pictures her father walking her down the isle. I can barely even picture my father.

Meanwhile, Bug gets in trouble with some guys from his past and in retaliation they trash Baze’s bar. Bug is worried about getting fired, so he asks Lux to get Baze to close down the bar for a couple days until he can get it all cleaned up. You can see where this is going right?

Lux amusingly convinces both her mom and Baze, who after talking with Bug has decided to avoid Cate at all costs because of his newfound feelings, to take a family road trip. Road trip! The three of them are too cute. Baze and Lux are the cutest father-daughter duo. And I can’t decide between Cate/Ryan or Cate/Baze in the ‘ship department. I love both of them, you guys. Can’t we just squish them together and call it a day? Decisions, decisions.

Unfortunately, it turns out Cate’s dad is a dud and never wanted to be a husband or a father. He married her mother when she got pregnant, but refused to be trapped into a life he didn’t want, and so he left. Baze tries to tell Cate his suspicions about her father, but of course she doesn’t want to hear it. They get into an argument and Baze leaves to go back home. Plus, another stab in the heart for him when Lux admits she only asked him along to cover for Bug. Ouch.

Cate later learns the truth for herself just as Baze comes back. Turns out he never left his girls and simply slept in his truck overnight. Could Baze finally be growing as a person? And I totally cried guys when Cate cried in Baze’s arms and the camera panned to Lux. You see Lux realize her mother is just as broken and fragile as she when it comes to feeling unwanted. That’s the third time this show has made me cry.

Cate: Thank you for being there.
Baze: Always.

We’ve seen so many episodes showing us how bad Cate and Baze are at being parents, or even adults, that this episode puts things back into perspective. We realize even worse than having a father who doesn’t know how to be one, is to have a father who doesn’t want to be one.

Cate: All this time I’ve been blaming Baze, like he’s the only one who has left me. I thought he was the one that wrecked me – you were.

But on a good note, Cate has finally gotten over and forgiven Baze for being ‘that guy’ and blaming him for the mistakes of her father. And Lux has allowed Cate and Baze to fully adopt her.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds

Previously: Dan and Vanessa are dating. Jenny is drugged and Nate to the rescue. Chuck is tricked by his mom.

Jenny vs. Nate vs. Serena: It’s Nate’s birthday and Serena is planning him a surprise party. Only catch, Nate can’t know about the party and so Serena pretends she doesn’t have anything planned at all. Jenny finds out about the whole thing through Gossip Girl, finally to Gossip Girl being included again in a matter relevant to the story, and thinks, “Bohoo, poor Nate.” Really, she’s thinking, “Yipee, this is my chance.”

She invites Nate to lunch, which he quickly takes once Jenny plays the sympathy card with him about almost getting date raped. Now, I actually like Nate and Jenny together, but scheming her way into his heart isn’t the way to do it. But on the other hand, if Nate didn’t actually return her feelings, it wouldn’t have been so easy to do, right?

Later, they actually make it to Nate’s surprise party, and an upset Serena who wonders what he’s been doing with Jenny all day and why he’s late. They play an intriguing game of Assassins, you steal a person’s photo from them and they die, and Jenny wins in both love and war as she steals a kiss in a battle between the last two, her and Nate.

Dan vs. Vanessa: We also get a somewhat interesting story between Dan and Vanessa as they finally get past their simple problem of friends vs. relationship. They exchange writings for each other to critique, which sets off a chain reaction of lies and deceit. Dan doesn’t want to tell Vanessa he didn’t like her piece, but when she says she liked his story, he agrees he liked hers as well.

Then, Dan finds his story all marked up in her bag while getting a camera and Vanessa finally admits it wasn’t his best work. We later learn Dan’s story is for his application to Tisch, and Vanessa is also secretly applying to Tisch. So is she getting Dan’s help? Is she setting Dan up to fail? It’s a bit more interesting than their usual, but it does feel like it came out of nowhere.

Etc. Etc. Eric is finally back and looks like he’s getting a love interest. Oh, and Dorota gets engaged.

Chuck vs. Blair: But the best part of the episode, as usual, has to go to Chuck and Blair. Chuck’s storylines and character arcs are usually a force unto themselves.

Chuck is attempting to make a deal with Jack for his hotel back, but his uncle will only sign it back over under one condition, an unspoken proposal which Chuck later tells Blair he refused. Meanwhile, Blair receives a proposal of her own from Jack while dress shopping, sleep with him or watch Chuck go under. Oh, and by the way, wear this lovely dress when you come by later.

Blair: Serena, you’ve done some unforgivable things, like sleeping with Nate when we were saving ourselves for each other or killing Pete Fairman. How far is too far?

Blair feels helpless as she watches Chuck get more and more frustrated with losing his hotel, until a final breakdown when he kind of yells at her, and she decides to help out her man by finally giving into Jack’s indecent proposal.

Gossip Girl: When all other weapons fail, there’s always human sacrifice.

She shows up at Jack’s place, and just when they’re about to do the deed, they don’t. Jack tells her it was all a lie, and the plan was not for Blair to give it up to him, but for Chuck to give her up to him. Turns out Chuck planned the whole thing as a way of getting back his hotel. He told Jack where she’d be. He bought the dress. He gave up his own girlfriend like a lamb to the slaughter. When Blair sobbed at the realization, I teared up too:

Blair: I never thought the worst thing you’d ever do would be to me.

And then, he has the audacity to tell Blair that she said she’d stand by him and do “anything” for him. But really, was the unspoken agreement for her to do anything for him, or him to do anything to her? So, instead of asking her upfront, which he says Jack would have realized what was going on, he used the trust and knowledge she gave him in their relationship to trick her into it. She was just a pawn in the game. She slaps him, good riddance, and leaves.

Later Chuck has a talk with his uncle right before he boots him out, and sadly, Chuck thinks Blair and him will be able to work this out. I’m not so optimistic.

Jack: Blair has seen the real you now. It’s over. She could never love that. No one could.

Last questions: But what I want to know most of all is, what is up with the CW and Bing? First Vampire Diaries and now Gossip Girl are using that site.

Gossip Girl (3×21): Ex-Husbands and Wives – ***
This week on Gossip Girl, order Serena makes it clear her loyalties lie with her father, this causing Rufus to feel like an outsider; and Jenny tells Will something that puts Rufus’ marriage in jeopardy.

Glee (s1ep18): Laryngitis – ***
This week on Glee, Rachel is alarmed when she gets a sore throat. Meanwhile, Kurt makes a personality adjustment to please his dad; and Puck looks to climb in social ranking by making a calculated move.

V (2009) (s1ep11): Fruition – ***
This week on V, Erica seeks out a scientist who may have created a weapon that allegedly worries the Visitors; Anna announces that the Vs may be departing.

The Vampire Diaries (s1ep22): Founder’s Day – ***
On the season finale of The Vampire Diaries, the first season concludes with a Founder’s Day celebration that ends in destruction and death.

FlashForward (s1ep19): The Negotiation – ***
This week on FlashForward, On the day before the blackout, Mark does everything he can to protect Gabriel (James Callis).

Fringe (s2ep22): Over There, Part 1 – ***
This week on Fringe, in part one of this two-part finale, Olivia journeys to the alternate universe with Walter who is preparing for a showdown with William Bell.

Despite wrapping up a storyline in quick style and not being that pivotal for the one before the finale, this episode was actually fun and it was nice to see the gang cooperating in a sleuthing capacity. Blair was definitely in top form and I loved how everyone was coming to her for help with different matters, even though it turned out to be the same problem. Even though I’m all for Chuck and Blair getting back together, I’m not ready for her to forgive him yet and he hasn’t done anything to deserve her forgiveness. On the other hand, I’m more than ready for Serena to go back to Dan.

Nate: Last year, Georgina pretended to be this rich Canadian to get Poppy, but things got all messed up when she turned her back on Jesus.

Blair: Like every great general, I have contingency plans.

I’ve been pretty hard on Glee all season as personally I think the show’s plotting and pacing leaves much to be desired. I understand why it’s a fan darling and the show is pretty unique, but I fail to understand why it’s winning awards when even the critics think it still needs work. All that said, I think the show is slightly getting better each week, and this episode was actually pretty well plotted and the music wasn’t the sole focus. This is what it should be about. Now, while the episode alone was well plotted, we can’t say the same for how it fit into season long storyarcs as it seemed to disregard any continuity.

Even though his storyline was kind of secondary to Rachel and Puck’s, I think Kurt stole the show this week with his portrayal of a macho heterosexual guy. He’s clearly trying to be someone he’s definitely not. Both of his performances tonight were quite memorable and contrasted very nicely. Kurt’s father Mr. Hummel also steals each scene he’s in and I think is a terrific tv father figure. I know some people are really disliking this Kurt storyline and read for him to move on from his whining, but I actually like where the show is going with this and it’s nice to see this road to discovery on a show as prominent as Glee.

Brittany: You’re pretty much the only guy in this school I haven’t made out with because I thought you were capital G gay. But now that I know you’re not, having a perfect record would mean a lot to me. Let me know if you wanna tap this.

Mr. Hummel: You’re free to be whoever you are. Just let me know when you make up your mind, and I’ll do the best I can. But I’m good either way.

Mr. Hummel: Your job is to be yourself, and my job is to love you no matter what.

Rachel was her usual annoying, yet amusing, self this week as she realizes she can be, and is, more than just her voice. I do think the character contrasts nicely between her mania and normalcy. And really, she has to if we’re to find it believable that Finn would fall for her. (Aaw, he took her to the doctor, guys.) One of my favorite songs of the night was Finn’s “Jessie’s Girl” to Rachel. Well played, show. The one part I didn’t like however were the scenes with Jon. I understood the sentiment, I just feel like it fell flat.

Rachel: I’m like Tinkerbell, Finn. I need applause to live.

It was also nice to see Puck have a main storyline again and his own song. He’s now romanced every girl in the club, yes? His rendition of Sammy Davis Jr.’s “The Lady is a Tramp” was great. I also loved Mercedes and Santana’s duet on “The Boy is Mine.” While the whole Puck storyline was a bit ridiculous, as Glee is prone to doing, I did like the drama it brought on with Mercedes discovering who she really wants to be. And really, that’s what this entire episode is about, finding out who you are inside, despite what you are on the outside.

Brittany [on mohawk-shaven Puck]: Who is that guy?

Puck: Get ready, black girl from Glee whose name I can’t remember right now.

Kudos also for the whole Glee Club singing U2’s “One”.

Oh, V. You were much better this week, but you still have many kinks to work out. The sly grin Anna makes every time she gets the upper hand on the humans, it’s really not keeping her on the down low. Also, could the humans possibly be anymore trusting or stupid? Particularly, Tyler. Oh, and the Vs trying to get rid of Parker couldn’t have pointed the resistance anymore towards him. Just think, if they wouldn’t have targeted him, then perhaps the resistance would never have known. Forgetting all my season long squabbles though, this was probably one of my favorite episodes this season. Mainly because I find Lisa and Joshua and the Vs who are resistant to Anna the most interesting characters on the show. On the other hand, Kyle seems to be betraying the resistance and saving his own hide by giving Marcus their weapon against the Vs. I also love that Erica is playing like double-triple agent by being on the resistance, then being a cop, and now heading the anti-Fifth Column task force. It couldn’t get more convoluted. I wish this show would get better writers and flesh this series out more.

I’m going to miss this show over the summer, but right now we have much to talk about. Everyone’s storyline is so wrapped up tightly within each other, I’m not even sure where to begin this week. This week’s episode was a bit odd in that it actually felt like two episodes, the first half and Founder’s Day, the second half and the resolution. One would think the whole episode would have been Founder’s Day, but that part was actually finished before we even realized it. I would have liked to see the episode as more of a cohesive whole, but the last quarter really made up for the rest.

It’s Founder’s Day and Damon is wasting no time in mocking Stefan’s concerns about Damon’s closeness to Elena. I know we’ve been seeing the looks he’s been giving Damon all season long, but it’s nice to know he’s actually worried these days about history repeating itself. The first shot of Elena in her old dress and looking like Katherine just brings that point home. Bravo, show.

Damon: It’s Founder’s Day. I’m here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl.

Jeremy and Anna really take turns with Matt and Caroline in the cuteness department. I really wasn’t expecting Anna to offer up a vial of her blood for him to drink, even if I sadly was expecting her to die in this episode. Malese Jow’s Team Anna campaign really made me question if the character’s death was near. The question now, however, is she really dead? I’m not sure that’s the last we’ve seen of Anna.

Anna: I know you what it’s like for you… Being alone, always feeling empty inside, no one to understand. But when youe a vampire, you don’t have to feel that way. You can shut it off. I can show you how.

Jeremy isn’t the only one with drama as Elena is running a close second. She’s just more grounded about it all. Her mother is a vampire, she looks like Katherine, and her uncle is really her father. It was nice to see Elena confirm her father as Uncle John, and have him realize she knows as well. It would have been nice to see them have more time to explore their relationship, but alas it wasn’t to be. At the least, we know from his conversation with Isobel and the last scene in the kitchen, that he at least cared about her.

Elena: I’m asking you not to.
John: That doesn’t mean anything to me.
Elena: As my father, it should.

The Bonnie and Elena relationship also had some closure this week. I’m not sure Elena has completely forgiven Bonnie for not destroying the device, but at the least Bonnie has somewhat redeemed herself by helping to save Stefan and Damon. For now. Bonnie is a force to be reckoned with now and this isn’t the last we’ll see of it in relation to Stefan and Damon. It’s only a matter of time before everyone has to choose which side they’re on.

Damon: I don’t take what you did lightly, so thank you…. I owe you.

Bonnie: You saw what I was able to do tonight. I know who I am now. If Damon spills one drop of human blood, I’ll take him down.

My favorites are Stefan and Elena, and I love that each episode really fortifies their relationship more and more. Despite liking Stefan and Elena more than her with Damon, I do enjoy watching the triangle unfold. I feel the writers have created a bit of a problem for themselves though, it’ll have to be really good and believable for Elena to have a relationship with Damon at this point.

Stefan: I try so hard to hate him, I guess it’s just pointless.
Elena: You care about him, so do I. But I love you, Stefan.

Damon will always be Damon, lost and damaged with a chip on his shoulder, yet with each episode he changes and becomes more and more sympathetic. Part of his change comes from being around Stefan and Elena, as they say we are most influenced by those we associate closely with, but a lot of it has also to do with the world around him. This week, seeing Anna killed and seeing the effect it has on Jeremy has made him reconsider himself and his place in other people’s lives. But then he screws it all up by basically telling Jeremy to become a vamp. Bonnie is not going to be happy about this development.

Damon: Life sucks either way, Jeremy. At least if you’re a vampire, you don’t have to feel bad about it if you don’t want to. I did it for a very long time, and life was a lot easier.

Damon: You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen? I’m not a hero, Elena. I don’t do good. It’s not in me.
“Elena”: Maybe it is.
Damon: No. It’s reserved for my brother, and you, and Bonnie — even though she has a reason to hate me still helped Stefan save me.
“Elena”: Why do you sound so surprised?
Damon: ‘Cause she did it for you. Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided that I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you for that.
“Elena”: You’re welcome.

How long before Tyler really becomes a werewolf after displaying his trademark eyes this week? What will happen to Caroine? Questions, questions.

Then, there’s the kiss with Elena that seems to make everything Damon said null and void. Stefan has already said he cares about his brother and basically vowed to protect him against Bonnie when the time comes, and now Damon kisses his girl. This is not going to be good, at all. How will everyone find out? Questions, questions.

Jeremy has decided to drink Anna’s blood and kill himself by taking a bunch of pills. Will he be successful? Is there something we don’t know about blood of a vampire who is already dead? Questions, questions.

Will anyone find out it was really Katherine that Damon kissed? Is Uncle John dead? What will happen to Elena when she comes across him and/or Katherine in the kitchen? Questions, questions.

I’m really loving seeing James Callis on the show. It’s amazing how he becomes Gabriel. I also like seeing Annabeth Gish back in the fold, but she’s looking really thin or sick these days. I think the show has the greatest list of guest stars for this season, and has still managed to not do well. Granted, the show wasn’t able to take it’s great premise and characters to that required level, so it kind of damned itself. I’ll be sad to see it go, but I’m not sure there’s anything in particular I’ll miss that will stand out for years to come. I still refuse to believe in this fate that says Mark and Olivia are not allowed to be together and Demetri has to die for the world to be all right.

I loved the awesome trailer we got for this two part finale and I’ve been excited to see Leonard Nimoy again and the other side, but I think I might be the only person who actually thought this episode was underwhelming. I enjoyed seeing Alt!Olivia, Alt!Walter, and William Bell, but on the other hand I’m not sure how I feel about some other things: the blatant use of special powers by the Cortexiphan patients so they seemed like X-Men going on a mission was weird. Also, if the Peter bringing about the end of the world plot had been stated before the finale in some way, it would have felt more cohesive than Olivia just saying one of the Observers left it on her desk.
Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured – ****

This week on Life Unexpected, sildenafil Cate, Lux and Baze go on a road trip to track down Cate’s long-absent father.

You go, show. Watching this episode, you just validated my vote I made earlier today for Save One Show at EOnline. This and Vampire Diaries are my favorite shows of the ’09-’10 season. I highly recommend both.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds – ****

This week on Gossip Girl, Chuck and Blair face a challenging decision and Dan and Vanessa’s relationship hits a snag. Meanwhile, Serena arranges a surprise party for Nate, but Jenny attempts to wreck those plans.

Wow, we’re 2 for 2 tonight in episodes. This is how Gossip Girl should be every week.

Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured

Previously: Ryan and Cate are engaged to be married in two weeks. But Baze has just rediscovered his feelings for Cate.

Cate and Lux are looking through Cate’s mother’s attic when Lux finds some old birthday cards Cate’s dad sent her and Abby when they were growing up. Only problem is Cate never received them. She’d always thought her dad had left them and never looked back, because that’s what her mom had always told them. She then decides to take a road trip with Lux to meet her father, while Ryan stays behind to do last minute wedding stuff, and ask him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

Cate: My own father doesn’t even know that I’m getting married. If Lux was getting married, and I didn’t know, I’d kill myself.
Lux: I will be sure to send you an invitation.

Cate: Every girl pictures her father walking her down the isle. I can barely even picture my father.

Meanwhile, Bug gets in trouble with some guys from his past and in retaliation they trash Baze’s bar. Bug is worried about getting fired, so he asks Lux to get Baze to close down the bar for a couple days until he can get it all cleaned up. You can see where this is going right?

Lux amusingly convinces both her mom and Baze, who after talking with Bug has decided to avoid Cate at all costs because of his newfound feelings, to take a family road trip. Road trip! The three of them are too cute. Baze and Lux are the cutest father-daughter duo. And I can’t decide between Cate/Ryan or Cate/Baze in the ‘ship department. I love both of them, you guys. Can’t we just squish them together and call it a day? Decisions, decisions.

Unfortunately, it turns out Cate’s dad is a dud and never wanted to be a husband or a father. He married her mother when she got pregnant, but refused to be trapped into a life he didn’t want, and so he left. Baze tries to tell Cate his suspicions about her father, but of course she doesn’t want to hear it. They get into an argument and Baze leaves to go back home. Plus, another stab in the heart for him when Lux admits she only asked him along to cover for Bug. Ouch.

Cate later learns the truth for herself just as Baze comes back. Turns out he never left his girls and simply slept in his truck overnight. Could Baze finally be growing as a person? And I totally cried guys when Cate cried in Baze’s arms and the camera panned to Lux. You see Lux realize her mother is just as broken and fragile as she when it comes to feeling unwanted. That’s the third time this show has made me cry.

Cate: Thank you for being there.
Baze: Always.

We’ve seen so many episodes showing us how bad Cate and Baze are at being parents, or even adults, that this episode puts things back into perspective. We realize even worse than having a father who doesn’t know how to be one, is to have a father who doesn’t want to be one.

Cate: All this time I’ve been blaming Baze, like he’s the only one who has left me. I thought he was the one that wrecked me – you were.

But on a good note, Cate has finally gotten over and forgiven Baze for being ‘that guy’ and blaming him for the mistakes of her father. And Lux has allowed Cate and Baze to fully adopt her.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds

Previously: Dan and Vanessa are dating. Jenny is drugged and Nate to the rescue. Chuck is tricked by his mom.

Jenny vs. Nate vs. Serena: It’s Nate’s birthday and Serena is planning him a surprise party. Only catch, Nate can’t know about the party and so Serena pretends she doesn’t have anything planned at all. Jenny finds out about the whole thing through Gossip Girl, finally to Gossip Girl being included again in a matter relevant to the story, and thinks, “Bohoo, poor Nate.” Really, she’s thinking, “Yipee, this is my chance.”

She invites Nate to lunch, which he quickly takes once Jenny plays the sympathy card with him about almost getting date raped. Now, I actually like Nate and Jenny together, but scheming her way into his heart isn’t the way to do it. But on the other hand, if Nate didn’t actually return her feelings, it wouldn’t have been so easy to do, right?

Later, they actually make it to Nate’s surprise party, and an upset Serena who wonders what he’s been doing with Jenny all day and why he’s late. They play an intriguing game of Assassins, you steal a person’s photo from them and they die, and Jenny wins in both love and war as she steals a kiss in a battle between the last two, her and Nate.

Dan vs. Vanessa: We also get a somewhat interesting story between Dan and Vanessa as they finally get past their simple problem of friends vs. relationship. They exchange writings for each other to critique, which sets off a chain reaction of lies and deceit. Dan doesn’t want to tell Vanessa he didn’t like her piece, but when she says she liked his story, he agrees he liked hers as well.

Then, Dan finds his story all marked up in her bag while getting a camera and Vanessa finally admits it wasn’t his best work. We later learn Dan’s story is for his application to Tisch, and Vanessa is also secretly applying to Tisch. So is she getting Dan’s help? Is she setting Dan up to fail? It’s a bit more interesting than their usual, but it does feel like it came out of nowhere.

Etc. Etc. Eric is finally back and looks like he’s getting a love interest. Oh, and Dorota gets engaged.

Chuck vs. Blair: But the best part of the episode, as usual, has to go to Chuck and Blair. Chuck’s storylines and character arcs are usually a force unto themselves.

Chuck is attempting to make a deal with Jack for his hotel back, but his uncle will only sign it back over under one condition, an unspoken proposal which Chuck later tells Blair he refused. Meanwhile, Blair receives a proposal of her own from Jack while dress shopping, sleep with him or watch Chuck go under. Oh, and by the way, wear this lovely dress when you come by later.

Blair: Serena, you’ve done some unforgivable things, like sleeping with Nate when we were saving ourselves for each other or killing Pete Fairman. How far is too far?

Blair feels helpless as she watches Chuck get more and more frustrated with losing his hotel, until a final breakdown when he kind of yells at her, and she decides to help out her man by finally giving into Jack’s indecent proposal.

Gossip Girl: When all other weapons fail, there’s always human sacrifice.

She shows up at Jack’s place, and just when they’re about to do the deed, they don’t. Jack tells her it was all a lie, and the plan was not for Blair to give it up to him, but for Chuck to give her up to him. Turns out Chuck planned the whole thing as a way of getting back his hotel. He told Jack where she’d be. He bought the dress. He gave up his own girlfriend like a lamb to the slaughter. When Blair sobbed at the realization, I teared up too:

Blair: I never thought the worst thing you’d ever do would be to me.

And then, he has the audacity to tell Blair that she said she’d stand by him and do “anything” for him. But really, was the unspoken agreement for her to do anything for him, or him to do anything to her? So, instead of asking her upfront, which he says Jack would have realized what was going on, he used the trust and knowledge she gave him in their relationship to trick her into it. She was just a pawn in the game. She slaps him, good riddance, and leaves.

Later Chuck has a talk with his uncle right before he boots him out, and sadly, Chuck thinks Blair and him will be able to work this out. I’m not so optimistic.

Jack: Blair has seen the real you now. It’s over. She could never love that. No one could.

Last questions: But what I want to know most of all is, what is up with the CW and Bing? First Vampire Diaries and now Gossip Girl are using that site.
Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured – ****

This week on Life Unexpected, sildenafil Cate, erectile Lux and Baze go on a road trip to track down Cate’s long-absent father.

You go, price show. Watching this episode, you just validated my vote I made earlier today for Save One Show at EOnline. This and Vampire Diaries are my favorite shows of the ’09-’10 season. I highly recommend both.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds – ****

This week on Gossip Girl, Chuck and Blair face a challenging decision and Dan and Vanessa’s relationship hits a snag. Meanwhile, Serena arranges a surprise party for Nate, but Jenny attempts to wreck those plans.

Wow, we’re 2 for 2 tonight in episodes. This is how Gossip Girl should be every week.

Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured

Previously: Ryan and Cate are engaged to be married in two weeks. But Baze has just rediscovered his feelings for Cate.

Cate and Lux are looking through Cate’s mother’s attic when Lux finds some old birthday cards Cate’s dad sent her and Abby when they were growing up. Only problem is Cate never received them. She’d always thought her dad had left them and never looked back, because that’s what her mom had always told them. She then decides to take a road trip with Lux to meet her father, while Ryan stays behind to do last minute wedding stuff, and ask him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

Cate: My own father doesn’t even know that I’m getting married. If Lux was getting married, and I didn’t know, I’d kill myself.
Lux: I will be sure to send you an invitation.

Cate: Every girl pictures her father walking her down the isle. I can barely even picture my father.

Meanwhile, Bug gets in trouble with some guys from his past and in retaliation they trash Baze’s bar. Bug is worried about getting fired, so he asks Lux to get Baze to close down the bar for a couple days until he can get it all cleaned up. You can see where this is going right?

Lux amusingly convinces both her mom and Baze, who after talking with Bug has decided to avoid Cate at all costs because of his newfound feelings, to take a family road trip. Road trip! The three of them are too cute. Baze and Lux are the cutest father-daughter duo. And I can’t decide between Cate/Ryan or Cate/Baze in the ‘ship department. I love both of them, you guys. Can’t we just squish them together and call it a day? Decisions, decisions.

Unfortunately, it turns out Cate’s dad is a dud and never wanted to be a husband or a father. He married her mother when she got pregnant, but refused to be trapped into a life he didn’t want, and so he left. Baze tries to tell Cate his suspicions about her father, but of course she doesn’t want to hear it. They get into an argument and Baze leaves to go back home. Plus, another stab in the heart for him when Lux admits she only asked him along to cover for Bug. Ouch.

Cate later learns the truth for herself just as Baze comes back. Turns out he never left his girls and simply slept in his truck overnight. Could Baze finally be growing as a person? And I totally cried guys when Cate cried in Baze’s arms and the camera panned to Lux. You see Lux realize her mother is just as broken and fragile as she when it comes to feeling unwanted. That’s the third time this show has made me cry.

Cate: Thank you for being there.
Baze: Always.

We’ve seen so many episodes showing us how bad Cate and Baze are at being parents, or even adults, that this episode puts things back into perspective. We realize even worse than having a father who doesn’t know how to be one, is to have a father who doesn’t want to be one.

Cate: All this time I’ve been blaming Baze, like he’s the only one who has left me. I thought he was the one that wrecked me – you were.

But on a good note, Cate has finally gotten over and forgiven Baze for being ‘that guy’ and blaming him for the mistakes of her father. And Lux has allowed Cate and Baze to fully adopt her.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds

Previously: Dan and Vanessa are dating. Jenny is drugged and Nate to the rescue. Chuck is tricked by his mom.

Jenny vs. Nate vs. Serena: It’s Nate’s birthday and Serena is planning him a surprise party. Only catch, Nate can’t know about the party and so Serena pretends she doesn’t have anything planned at all. Jenny finds out about the whole thing through Gossip Girl, finally to Gossip Girl being included again in a matter relevant to the story, and thinks, “Bohoo, poor Nate.” Really, she’s thinking, “Yipee, this is my chance.”

She invites Nate to lunch, which he quickly takes once Jenny plays the sympathy card with him about almost getting date raped. Now, I actually like Nate and Jenny together, but scheming her way into his heart isn’t the way to do it. But on the other hand, if Nate didn’t actually return her feelings, it wouldn’t have been so easy to do, right?

Later, they actually make it to Nate’s surprise party, and an upset Serena who wonders what he’s been doing with Jenny all day and why he’s late. They play an intriguing game of Assassins, you steal a person’s photo from them and they die, and Jenny wins in both love and war as she steals a kiss in a battle between the last two, her and Nate.

Dan vs. Vanessa: We also get a somewhat interesting story between Dan and Vanessa as they finally get past their simple problem of friends vs. relationship. They exchange writings for each other to critique, which sets off a chain reaction of lies and deceit. Dan doesn’t want to tell Vanessa he didn’t like her piece, but when she says she liked his story, he agrees he liked hers as well.

Then, Dan finds his story all marked up in her bag while getting a camera and Vanessa finally admits it wasn’t his best work. We later learn Dan’s story is for his application to Tisch, and Vanessa is also secretly applying to Tisch. So is she getting Dan’s help? Is she setting Dan up to fail? It’s a bit more interesting than their usual, but it does feel like it came out of nowhere.

Etc. Etc. Eric is finally back and looks like he’s getting a love interest. Oh, and Dorota gets engaged.

Chuck vs. Blair: But the best part of the episode, as usual, has to go to Chuck and Blair. Chuck’s storylines and character arcs are usually a force unto themselves.

Chuck is attempting to make a deal with Jack for his hotel back, but his uncle will only sign it back over under one condition, an unspoken proposal which Chuck later tells Blair he refused. Meanwhile, Blair receives a proposal of her own from Jack while dress shopping, sleep with him or watch Chuck go under. Oh, and by the way, wear this lovely dress when you come by later.

Blair: Serena, you’ve done some unforgivable things, like sleeping with Nate when we were saving ourselves for each other or killing Pete Fairman. How far is too far?

Blair feels helpless as she watches Chuck get more and more frustrated with losing his hotel, until a final breakdown when he kind of yells at her, and she decides to help out her man by finally giving into Jack’s indecent proposal.

Gossip Girl: When all other weapons fail, there’s always human sacrifice.

She shows up at Jack’s place, and just when they’re about to do the deed, they don’t. Jack tells her it was all a lie, and the plan was not for Blair to give it up to him, but for Chuck to give her up to him. Turns out Chuck planned the whole thing as a way of getting back his hotel. He told Jack where she’d be. He bought the dress. He gave up his own girlfriend like a lamb to the slaughter. When Blair sobbed at the realization, I teared up too:

Blair: I never thought the worst thing you’d ever do would be to me.

And then, he has the audacity to tell Blair that she said she’d stand by him and do “anything” for him. But really, was the unspoken agreement for her to do anything for him, or him to do anything to her? So, instead of asking her upfront, which he says Jack would have realized what was going on, he used the trust and knowledge she gave him in their relationship to trick her into it. She was just a pawn in the game. She slaps him, good riddance, and leaves.

Later Chuck has a talk with his uncle right before he boots him out, and sadly, Chuck thinks Blair and him will be able to work this out. I’m not so optimistic.

Jack: Blair has seen the real you now. It’s over. She could never love that. No one could.

Last questions: But what I want to know most of all is, what is up with the CW and Bing? First Vampire Diaries and now Gossip Girl are using that site.
Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured – ****

This week on Life Unexpected, infertility Cate, visit web Lux and Baze go on a road trip to track down Cate’s long-absent father.

You go, show. Watching this episode, you just validated my vote I made earlier today for Save One Show at EOnline. This and Vampire Diaries are my favorite shows of the ’09-’10 season. I highly recommend both.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds – ****

This week on Gossip Girl, Chuck and Blair face a challenging decision and Dan and Vanessa’s relationship hits a snag. Meanwhile, Serena arranges a surprise party for Nate, but Jenny attempts to wreck those plans.

Wow, we’re 2 for 2 tonight in episodes. This is how Gossip Girl should be every week.

Life Unexpected (s1ep12): Father Unfigured

Previously: Ryan and Cate are engaged to be married in two weeks. But Baze has just rediscovered his feelings for Cate.

Cate and Lux are looking through Cate’s mother’s attic when Lux finds some old birthday cards Cate’s dad sent her and Abby when they were growing up. Only problem is Cate never received them. She’d always thought her dad had left them and never looked back, because that’s what her mom had always told them. She then decides to take a road trip with Lux to meet her father, while Ryan stays behind to do last minute wedding stuff, and ask him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

Cate: My own father doesn’t even know that I’m getting married. If Lux was getting married, and I didn’t know, I’d kill myself.
Lux: I will be sure to send you an invitation.

Cate: Every girl pictures her father walking her down the isle. I can barely even picture my father.

Meanwhile, Bug gets in trouble with some guys from his past and in retaliation they trash Baze’s bar. Bug is worried about getting fired, so he asks Lux to get Baze to close down the bar for a couple days until he can get it all cleaned up. You can see where this is going right?

Lux amusingly convinces both her mom and Baze, who after talking with Bug has decided to avoid Cate at all costs because of his newfound feelings, to take a family road trip. Road trip! The three of them are too cute. Baze and Lux are the cutest father-daughter duo. And I can’t decide between Cate/Ryan or Cate/Baze in the ‘ship department. I love both of them, you guys. Can’t we just squish them together and call it a day? Decisions, decisions.

Unfortunately, it turns out Cate’s dad is a dud and never wanted to be a husband or a father. He married her mother when she got pregnant, but refused to be trapped into a life he didn’t want, and so he left. Baze tries to tell Cate his suspicions about her father, but of course she doesn’t want to hear it. They get into an argument and Baze leaves to go back home. Plus, another stab in the heart for him when Lux admits she only asked him along to cover for Bug. Ouch.

Cate later learns the truth for herself just as Baze comes back. Turns out he never left his girls and simply slept in his truck overnight. Could Baze finally be growing as a person? And I totally cried guys when Cate cried in Baze’s arms and the camera panned to Lux. You see Lux realize her mother is just as broken and fragile as she when it comes to feeling unwanted. That’s the third time this show has made me cry.

Cate: Thank you for being there.
Baze: Always.

We’ve seen so many episodes showing us how bad Cate and Baze are at being parents, or even adults, that this episode puts things back into perspective. We realize even worse than having a father who doesn’t know how to be one, is to have a father who doesn’t want to be one.

Cate: All this time I’ve been blaming Baze, like he’s the only one who has left me. I thought he was the one that wrecked me – you were.

But on a good note, Cate has finally gotten over and forgiven Baze for being ‘that guy’ and blaming him for the mistakes of her father. And Lux has allowed Cate and Baze to fully adopt her.

Gossip Girl (s3ep17): Inglourious Bassterds

Previously: Dan and Vanessa are dating. Jenny is drugged and Nate to the rescue. Chuck is tricked by his mom.

Jenny vs. Nate vs. Serena: It’s Nate’s birthday and Serena is planning him a surprise party. Only catch, Nate can’t know about the party and so Serena pretends she doesn’t have anything planned at all. Jenny finds out about the whole thing through Gossip Girl, finally to Gossip Girl being included again in a matter relevant to the story, and thinks, “Bohoo, poor Nate.” Really, she’s thinking, “Yipee, this is my chance.”

She invites Nate to lunch, which he quickly takes once Jenny plays the sympathy card with him about almost getting date raped. Now, I actually like Nate and Jenny together, but scheming her way into his heart isn’t the way to do it. But on the other hand, if Nate didn’t actually return her feelings, it wouldn’t have been so easy to do, right?

Later, they actually make it to Nate’s surprise party, and an upset Serena who wonders what he’s been doing with Jenny all day and why he’s late. They play an intriguing game of Assassins, you steal a person’s photo from them and they die, and Jenny wins in both love and war as she steals a kiss in a battle between the last two, her and Nate.

Dan vs. Vanessa: We also get a somewhat interesting story between Dan and Vanessa as they finally get past their simple problem of friends vs. relationship. They exchange writings for each other to critique, which sets off a chain reaction of lies and deceit. Dan doesn’t want to tell Vanessa he didn’t like her piece, but when she says she liked his story, he agrees he liked hers as well.

Then, Dan finds his story all marked up in her bag while getting a camera and Vanessa finally admits it wasn’t his best work. We later learn Dan’s story is for his application to Tisch, and Vanessa is also secretly applying to Tisch. So is she getting Dan’s help? Is she setting Dan up to fail? It’s a bit more interesting than their usual, but it does feel like it came out of nowhere.

Etc. Etc. Eric is finally back and looks like he’s getting a love interest. Oh, and Dorota gets engaged.

Chuck vs. Blair: But the best part of the episode, as usual, has to go to Chuck and Blair. Chuck’s storylines and character arcs are usually a force unto themselves.

Chuck is attempting to make a deal with Jack for his hotel back, but his uncle will only sign it back over under one condition, an unspoken proposal which Chuck later tells Blair he refused. Meanwhile, Blair receives a proposal of her own from Jack while dress shopping, sleep with him or watch Chuck go under. Oh, and by the way, wear this lovely dress when you come by later.

Blair: Serena, you’ve done some unforgivable things, like sleeping with Nate when we were saving ourselves for each other or killing Pete Fairman. How far is too far?

Blair feels helpless as she watches Chuck get more and more frustrated with losing his hotel, until a final breakdown when he kind of yells at her, and she decides to help out her man by finally giving into Jack’s indecent proposal.

Gossip Girl: When all other weapons fail, there’s always human sacrifice.

She shows up at Jack’s place, and just when they’re about to do the deed, they don’t. Jack tells her it was all a lie, and the plan was not for Blair to give it up to him, but for Chuck to give her up to him. Turns out Chuck planned the whole thing as a way of getting back his hotel. He told Jack where she’d be. He bought the dress. He gave up his own girlfriend like a lamb to the slaughter. When Blair sobbed at the realization, I teared up too:

Blair: I never thought the worst thing you’d ever do would be to me.

And then, he has the audacity to tell Blair that she said she’d stand by him and do “anything” for him. But really, was the unspoken agreement for her to do anything for him, or him to do anything to her? So, instead of asking her upfront, which he says Jack would have realized what was going on, he used the trust and knowledge she gave him in their relationship to trick her into it. She was just a pawn in the game. She slaps him, good riddance, and leaves.

Later Chuck has a talk with his uncle right before he boots him out, and sadly, Chuck thinks Blair and him will be able to work this out. I’m not so optimistic.

Jack: Blair has seen the real you now. It’s over. She could never love that. No one could.

Last questions: But what I want to know most of all is, what is up with the CW and Bing? First Vampire Diaries and now Gossip Girl are using that site.
Let’s see what has happened since last we spoke.

In tv-land, sale the last of the casting and development news for Fall 2010 is coming in. AMC’s zombie show Walking Dead finally has a lead star, Andrew Lincoln from Love Actually. Showtime has ordered the family drama Shameless by John Wells (ER, The West Wing) with William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, and Allison Janey to series. This should be interesting. And ABC has released their premiere dates for their summer series The Gates and Scoundrels as well. And it may or may not be spoiler but Caprica‘s Paula Malcolmson (Amanda Graystone) is doing some episodes for Sons of Anarchy. Does this mean her character really died? Also, there was an interesting article on the rise in popularity of showrunners like Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, etc. and the ways they’re connecting with their fans. Very interesting.

Oh, and did everyone see the Battlestar Galactica Easter eggs? Too cute to miss. Also, Fringe has a nifty promotion poster I’d love to have.

Don’t forget to check out which shows are on the bubble for coming back next year and vote in EOnline’s Save One Show campaign.

In Whedonverse, there’s a lovely YouTube video of Neil Patrick Harris’ singing resume, and of course includes Dr. Horrible. And on that note, there’s also a behind the scenes video from the set of Glee, which includes NPH and a 10 sec shot of Joss Whedon. Spot him if you can! And since last time, Joss Whedon being on the director short list for The Avengers has been confirmed by L.A. Times. So, it wasn’t an April Fools prank, guys. Phew. But others are saying he might not want the job anyway. Dollhouse’s ‘Epitaph One’ has been nominated for a Hugo award. Take that, naysayers. Oh, and the cover art for BtVS Season 8 #37 has been released. And if you’ve been following the storyline this season, it’s a doozy. io9 has an article about the biggest tearjerkers in scifi and two Whedonverse events made the list, but I want to know what are your top tearjerker moments?

The premiere for Twilight: Eclipse has been announced for June 24th at Grauman’s in Hollywood. Billy Condon is becoming the frontrunner to direct Twilight: Breaking Dawn. Stephenie Meyer has released a bonus chapter from her novel The Host, which I won’t be reading until I’m completely done with the book. (Not too long from now.) And Rob’s Water for Elephants has gotten Rodrigo Prieto as cinematographer.

In movies, Christopher Nolan’s Inception finally has a plot, brought to you by LATimes. Don’t read if you don’t even want to know the premise behind that awesome trailer. If you were hoping for a third Tron movie, then you’re in luck. Anton Yelchin (Star Trek and Terminator 4) will be starring in the remake of Fright Night about vampires, and it will be written by our very own Marti Noxon. Martin Strong (Sherlock Holmes) has been cast as Sinestro in the Green Lantern movie. Some of you may have seen clips from the movie Kick-Ass, well Hit Girl will be starring in the remake of the Swedish vampire movie, Let Me In. And just because ridiculous scientific plots are all the rage, check out the trailer for Adrien Brody’s Splice.

Bringing things back down to earth, the glorious Netflix Instant Watch is coming to the iPad. Now, I don’t have an iPad, I wish I did, but I can imagine how awesome it would be to watch movies on the road. And word is, Instant Watch is also coming to the iPhone as well. Glorious. And I’m out.