Reversals of Fortune
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"Reversals of Fortune" is the 44th episode of the CW television series, Gossip Girl [1] and the third season premiere. The episode was written by Joshua Safran and directed by J. Miller Tobin. It originally aired on Monday, September 14, 2009 on the CW.
"Reversals of Fortune" shows Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) exercise their relationship through unconventional means. Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) returns from her European vacation a celebrity but finds herself facing other troubles when Carter Baizen (Sebastian Stan) follows her. Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) decides to sever ties with his family returns from his travels with Bree Buckley (Joanna Garcia), a member of his family's political rival. Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) finds himself overwhelmed by the sudden change in his lifestyle while Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr) assumes the worst of Dan and brings a long her new friend, Scott Rosson (Chris Riggi) to meet him and Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle).
Plot
Production
Abercrombie and Fitch model, Ashley Hinshaw reportedly earned a role for the third season premiere, portraying herself. "I kind of came in between Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester’s character. I kind of was the wrench that Chuck and Blair threw in their relationship. I gave Chuck somebody to think about but in the end, the joke was on me and the game they were playing. That was something they enjoy doing, so it was kind of funny."[2] DJ Alexandra Richards, daughter of Keith Richards, makes a cameo appearance in a role that would also catch the eye of Chuck Bass.[3] Richards also filmed her scenes at the Greenwich Polo Club with polo player, Nacho Figueras.[3][4] When approached for the role, Figueras accepted the offer. "Amazing, that’s great. But I will only do it if I’m Nacho the polo player and I can wear my Black Watch shirt.” And they agreed to let me do that."[5]
Reception
"Reversals of Fortune" was watched by 2.55 million viewers and received mixed reviews.[6]
New York Magazine hailed the return of the third season and praised the premiere's theme of change as "Last night's episode was all about new beginnings. About taking on new roles — or shaking off old ones." and "a fresh start, a chance to do something, to be something different."[7] With the Humphrey clan moving into the world of the Upper East Side, New York Magazine examined the altercation that occured between Dan and Vanessa. "When Vanessa confronts Dan at the polo match, he presents a list of totally valid and sympathetic reasons he's not the same old Dan, which includes an illness in the family and major life changes, and brings up the very valid and obvious point that Vanessa is a shrew with class issues."[7] Michelle Graham from Film School Rejects reviewed the episode unfavorably, noting a lack of interesting storylines."For a season premiere, this episode lacked a lot of the punch designed to motivate viewers to stick with the show. Blair and Chuck’s opening game was beyond predictable, with the whole set up screaming, well, set up." but considered Dan’s speech to Vanessa explaining the reason for so many changes in his life as the high point of the episode. Graham hoped that the next episode would be promising and judged the premiere as a "calm before the storm lull" further stating that "Of course, with college just around the corner, things are soon going to change for everyone, so perhaps more of the fire will return to GG then."[8]
Serena's storyline was heavily panned with Graham calling it a "side plot" but found Serena fleeing from Carter interesting. "Serena’s wild child summer didn’t have the meat to hold up the bulk of the episode, which the writers attempted to have it do."[8] In contrast, Jacob from Television Without Pity praised Serena for using Gossip Girl's blog for her personal ends and her motive for using it. "She's used GG and the tabs against Bart, she's used it against Rufus and Lily, she's even used it against Blair; she's been victimized by it more than any of them [...] And then Graduation, when she called GG's bluff sixteen times in an episode, bringing the world crashing down around her. So maybe it's just the wording, coincidentally: Maybe this is the strongest, smartest choice Serena could have made, and the lies are just about protecting Dan and Lily from how far she's willing to go."[9] New York Magazine elaborated on Serena's motives, calling it "so ludicrous it's actually realistic, in the way that teenagers love to conceive of elaborate revenge fantasies that don't actually have any hope of working in the way that they imagine they will."[7]
References
- ^ "Gossip Girl Episode Listings". thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Hinshaw Interview -- Meet Miley's On-Screen BFF!". LiveJournal. 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ a b Mandato, Sandra (2009-09-15). "Alexandra Richards Heats Up The Season Premiere Of Gossip Girl". Guest of a Guest. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
- ^ Fitzsimons, Amanda (2009-07-15). "Nacho Figueras, Gossip Guy". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ Brant, Peter M. "Nacho Figueras". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help); More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help) - ^ Calabria, Rosario (September 22, 2009). "Broadcast TV Ratings for Monday, September 21, 2009". Your Entertainment Now. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
- ^ a b c Rovzar, Chris (2009-09-15). "Wild Gossip Girls Can't Be Broken". New York Magazine. New York Magazine. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
{{cite web}}: Check|archiveurl=value (help); More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Graham, Michelle (2009-09-20). "Gossip Girl 3.1 Review: Reversals of Fortune". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
- ^ Jacob (2009-10-12). "A Rider Like My Father". Television Without Pity. Television Without Pity. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
