Hope Sinks: Gossip Girl 1.05 Recap

Happy Halloween, Upper East Siders. It may still be August in our world, but in the GG universe, it’s time to pull out the costumes and put on the masks.

A possible school shooting starts off our episode, and instead of Monet and Luna caring about those who could’ve been hurt or possibly died, they’re more worried about what this will mean for the costume competition. Winning a superficial competition and being on the Vogue cover is more important—at least in their minds.

This competition is a big deal for Julien, and she wants Zoya right by her side. Of course, two sisters being attached at the hip hasn't been good for Obie. He’s beginning to feel distant from Zoya, and he’s not sure what to do about it.

Speaking of distance, Max begins to attempt to reconnect with his friends, but the only one who seems to care is Aki—are we surprised though? Everyone else is going about their lives as if he never existed, but at least Max has Rafa (in his bed every night.)

To make the growing pains of Zoya and Obie’s relationship worse, Zoya meets a boy called Simon on the bus. Apparently, he goes to the school where the gun was found. The two connect over their similar interests, and from there, he pops up everywhere she is. A bit stalkerish, right?

In the household of Kiki and Audrey, a possible move is brewing. Kiki’s in a financial shitshow, and her only solution is to move the two of them back to Connecticut. What would our favorite blonde do in a city without Aki by her side?

But of course, Aki plays the therapist once again in this situation. He tries to look at things from both sides, which drives Audrey nuts—perhaps he’s a libra. He’s more preoccupied with caring about what’s going on with Max, than with Audrey’s impending move.

Zoya runs into Simon while out with Julien and her friends, during which he gives the idea of Zoya and Julien doing a duo costume. The two love it, but Monet, not so much.

Back at school, Aki is trying to get Max and Rafa away from each other. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to rescue Max, even if that means stalking Rafa. I can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t do the same for Audrey. Also, why does stalking seem to be the theme of this episode?

In an attempt to persuade her mother to stay in New York, Audrey invites all of Kiki’s old friends over for dinner. While she may have done so for selfish reasons, this could’ve been good for Kiki. But after all that’s happened to Kiki (the divorce and financial issues), this only makes her feel worse.

At the Halloween event, Zoya and Julien show up in their costumes, as the dynamic sister duo Beyonce and Solange. However, someone must have tipped them off because there are dozens of costumes replicated to theirs. Monet and Luna take them somewhere to hide before they get exposed for their unoriginal idea.

Julien and Zoya end up stealing Aki and Obie’s costumes, which they transfer into dressing up as Dan and Chuck. The idea must have brewed from seeing two mean girls from another school dressed as Blair and Serena on their wedding days. Maybe I’m the only one, but I hated the way they threw that in there. Of course, we all love S & B, but it felt tacky.

Speaking of Blair, one of her past minions makes an appearance in this episode. If we had it my way, it would’ve been Penelope, but it’s none other than Nelly Yuki. Obie has invited her to reveal Simon’s true identity. He’s not a student, but actually a writer, hoping to gain insight into the identity of Gossip Girl. Obie should’ve considered how his actions would affect Zoya, because I’m not sure how he’s going to come back from this one. He’s betrayed Zoya’s trust by going behind her back, instead of being upfront with her about who Simon really is.

That’s not our only betrayal of the evening. Monet has decided to leave Luna and Julien behind to go work for mean girls at another school. She’s sick of the way Julien has been changing, even though it’s for the better. However, we won’t be surprised if Monet is back with the girls next week.

To make things worse, Audrey gets a call that her mom has been admitted to the hospital. We’re not sure what happened, but by any guess, it probably had to do with drinking. On the bright side, Max leaves behind Rafa in order to go support her. Rafa had begun threatening Aki if he released the truth about Max and Rafa’s relationship. Aki also exposed to Max that Rafa lied about having no relationship with his parents. On top of that, we’ve learned that Rafa is a serial sleeper with his seniors. Almost every year, he finds a new senior to make his mark on. How disgusting is that?

This is the first episode I’ve felt not everything has been resolved by the end, and it only makes me more excited for next week. What will the girls do now that Monet is gone? Will the truth about Rafa and Max be released? Is Audrey’s mom okay? Let’s find out next week.

Xoxo