In the latest episode of Gossip Girl, Audrey ends her friendship with Julien because she holds her partly responsible for what happened to her mother, Kiki. Laura Benanti plays Kiki.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that in Gossip Girl, almost every character has a complicated relationship with their parents. Audrey’s relationship with her mother also has its own problems.
Katherine Hope, popularly known as Kiki, is a talented designer, but she struggles in her personal life after her husband leaves her for her assistant, Jessica.
Kiki’s lowest point
In one of the episodes, Kiki talks to Julien’s followers about how she knew that something was going on between her husband and her assistant, but she never confronted them because she wanted them in her life. However, that did not work, and she lost both of them.
After her messy divorce, she stops making an effort to be there for her daughter, and the one time that she does attend a social event at her daughter’s insistence, she gets drunk and embarrasses her.
She then tells Audrey that her business is not doing so well either, and her company has to file for bankruptcy. Things get so bad financially that Kiki has to think about leaving their home and moving to Cornwall.
In order to remind her mother of the things that she loves about New York and convince her to stay, Audrey invites her mother’s friends to their house. This does not help Kiki at all, as her friends just remind her of all her failures.
Audrey does not want to leave their house and move. She blames Kiki for everything that is happening to them and takes her father’s side. Their argument ends with Audrey telling her that she hates her, which results in Kiki’s overdose.
Audrey takes care of Kiki when she is in the hospital and does not leave her side. The two reconcile after Kiki apologizes to Audrey and admits that she needs help. Audrey promises to help her recover and is there for her mother whenever she needs her.
Starting to get her life together
To help her mother get her career back on track, Audrey convinces Max to ask his father to take Kiki to Eleanor Waldorf’s dinner party. Eleanor might be able to help her, as she is giving grants to designers on behalf of the CFDA.
The same day, Julien shows up to her own party wearing one of Kiki’s dresses without asking her. Eleanor disapproves of the design, but Kiki does not give up and shows her some other designs. Eleanor likes her work but asks her to fully recover and then come to her.
A major setback
Kiki plans to debut her new pieces. However, to keep her focused, Audrey does not tell her that her ex-husband and his girlfriend are in town and are planning to get married.
Kiki finds out about the same in the worst way possible. Jessica uses Julien and spreads lies about Kiki stealing her designs just before her debut. To make things right, Julien makes an appearance at the debut wearing one of Kiki’s new designs.
However, Jessica, who knew all of Kiki’s passwords, steals her design and shows up wearing the same dress as Julien. Jessica steals the attention and takes full credit for Kiki’s work, leaving her heartbroken.
Kiki spirals once again. Audrey tries to convince her to sue Jessica or take some kind of action, but Kiki pushes her away. Audrey, who gives all of her attention to her mother, takes matters into her own hands; she publicly humiliates Jessica and Julien.
Kiki, who was called there by Julien, watches Jessica’s pop-up fail miserably and smiles from a distance. Somebody takes a picture of her and sends it to Gossip Girl, who, in her Instagram post, implies that Kiki deliberately sabotaged Jessica’s pop-up.
This serves as a wake-up call for Kiki, who decides to go to rehab. When Audrey blames herself again, Kiki assures her that it is not her fault. In fact, she admits to Audrey that this is a good thing, as she knows she needs help, and unlike last time, she is ready to get it.
Kiki has left Audrey temporarily to seek help. However, Audrey has distanced herself from Julien due to what happened to Kiki. She no longer wishes to be her friend because she believes that Julien selfishly causes problems wherever she goes.
It is to be seen how far the writers will take Audrey and Julien’s rivalry in the upcoming episodes and if the two friends will ever forgive each other.
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