Gossip Girl season 2 episode 4 recap & review: One Flew Over the Cuck’s Nest

In the fourth episode of the second season of ‘Gossip Girl’, students of Constance celebrate Valentine’s Day, but not everyone gets a happy ending. The episode is now streaming on HBO Max.

Recap

Julien is back on social media, talking about the painful behind-the-scenes moments of pictures that make her life look like a fairytale on social media. She meets Graham Smith, a student at Mannes School of Music, at a coffee shop. 

She tells him that she is trying to be more honest as a person and asks him to come to the “Kiss on the Lips” party with her. However, he tells her that he is already married.

Kate finds out that Greyson de Haan is cheating on Camille, but she wants to do the right thing; instead of exposing this through Gossip Girl, she wants to talk to Camille privately. When she shares this with Camille, she is threatened to keep this to herself.

Grace is cheating on Obie with her ex-boyfriend, Matias. Her mother forbade her from seeing Matias, so she started dating Obie to make her mother believe that she has moved on while still being able to see Matias secretly.

Audrey and Max decide to follow Aki when he starts acting suspicious and refuses their offer to have lunch together. He visits his doctor, goes to the pharmacy, and then buys sex toys with Rick, which makes them think that he is cheating on them.

Zoya has a crush on Terrell, and she, along with Shan, tries to get his contact information from Monet, who flatly refuses.

Although Monet is trying to be nice to people now, nobody sees her as that. Luna tells her that she should invite everyone to her Valentine’s Day party if she wants to change her image. 

Zoya and Nick’s relationship is still stained. Shan comes to their house to have dinner with them and interrogates Nick about his salary and the cost of their house. She then sends Gossip Girl the tip that Nick took money from Davis to buy his house.

After the dinner, Nick and Zoya reconcile, and Zoya tries to look at things from his perspective.

Julien catches Grace kissing Matias. She takes Audrey’s advice and tries to indirectly talk Grace into admitting it to Obie when all the girls go to the spa.

Grace confronts her and tells her that, in the end, it is Julien’s word against Grace’s, and Obie would never believe anything that Julien says.

At the spa, Monet reveals that she thinks her father is cheating on her mother. At the same time, Shan invites Terrell to the party using her phone, Luna sends Monet’s minions to accomplish an impossible task, and Julien uses Grace’s phone to get Matias’ number.

After talking to Gossip Girl, Monet invites her father’s mistress and her parents to her party. It turns out that her father is not cheating on her mother; they are both in a relationship with that woman. Camille is disappointed in Monet and calls her a mess.

Audrey and Max confront Aki about cheating on them. Aki tells them that he was taking Rick’s help to buy those toys for them. Max and Audrey apologize to him for assuming the worst about him.

Shan and Zoya fight at the party when Shan tries to talk to her about Nick. Zoya then catches Shan kissing Terrell, causing their fight to get worse. A furious Shan tells Zoya that Nick bought his apartment with Davis’ money, upsetting her further.

Julien brings Matias to the party to expose Grace, who is asked by Obie to attend Constance. Grace denies knowing Matias, which leads Julien and Matias to dance together in order to make her jealous.

Grace’s lies are exposed when her mother and brother arrive at the party and confirm that Matias is indeed her ex-boyfriend. It is revealed that Grace has been sleeping with not just Obie and Matias but also her brother. Obie gets angry at Julien for exposing Grace.

Meanwhile, Kate realizes, with Mike’s help, that the children are not the only ones at fault, it is their parents as well. Instead of revealing Monet’s parents’ secret relationship, she reveals the truth about Nick’s apartment.

At the end of the episode, Monet and Luna bond, confessing that they both just want to be loved. Zoya goes to stay at Shan’s house and apologizes to her, while Julien meets up with Graham at a bar.

Kate ends up reading Mike’s messages and discovers that he has promised someone that he would expose Gossip Girl’s identity the next day.

Review

• The episode begins with shots that show what is going on with different characters. The transition between shots is interesting as everyday activities, like eating breakfast, are used to connect them.
• It is amusing to see Audrey imparting good advice to Julien throughout the episode, and then doing the exact opposite of it immediately.  
• The show suggests that Julien instantly hit it off with Graham, but it does not seem so to the audience. Julien spilling everything about her life to a stranger and telling him that he was the only person she could think of when she was feeling low does not seem plausible.
• It is understandable that Shan was angry at Zoya. However, after calling Terrell to the party for her best friend, she kisses him, which cannot be justified. Zoya forgives her, but Shan’s character seems petty and vengeful here. 

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Also Read: Who is Zoya Lott? Gossip Girl character explained