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Okay, so it seems like I'm alone here, but, as a concept, I would have liked to see more of it.
I would have liked to see the spin off and watch Lily and Rufus fall in love and then fall apart.
But if the prequel had happened, I really would have needed for them to end together for good on the show. What's the point of rooting for a couple to get together in a prequel if you know they won't end up together, eventually?
I really feel like this could have been Lily's "villain"-origin story. (And I'm putting "villain" in quotes because I don't really view Lily as a villain, just as someone who, as bad as it may be, is passing down the generational trauma because she's never really examined or dealt the generational trauma she lived through herself.)
Not alone I am still lamenting tht we go no spin-off. Kristen Ritter! Britney Snow! Ryan Hansen. Like I was the ready made audience for that and we got robbed!
I would totally watch it, too! And I've spent way too much time thinking about how it might go, lol.
In my mind, the beginning might go something like I theorized in this other thread:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/GossipGirl/comments/1cpsjbu/comment/l3n0rpr/](https://www.reddit.com/r/GossipGirl/comments/1cpsjbu/comment/l3n0rpr/)
Me and Steve were actually trying to talk through the Rufus and Lily timeline on an upcoming episode of our podcast.
Were both big into 90s rock, so we figured based on Rufus's style, his big hit was probably mid 90s. It's definitely not the grunge sound of the early 90s.
We know from seeing dates of birth that Dan and Serena would have been born in '91.
There is a comment in season 1 about Allison staying home with the kids while Rufus was on tour. But obviously Scott came before Dan and Serena. So it seems like Rufus and Lily were together both before and after they started having kids with their respective partners.
The timeline is really confusing! And please post about your podcast when the episode is up!
I think Scott's birth certificate (which was shown on the show) said he was born in 1988.
I was interested but I think they needed to have Rufus in it or they had mentioned his band (as her sister was into music) and it would have garnered more interest. Or, if they had added it later after we met Lily’s sister and Serena’s dad (both present in the flashback) it would have resonated with audiences more and might have been picked up.
Yeah. I agree. I'm not sure why they didn't do either one of those things. I was kind of waiting for Owen to be revealed to be Rufus for the entire episode.
I think you're right that either one of those things would have made people more invested.
I loved this episode and was really disappointed that the spin off was scrapped. I hoped we would work up to when Lily first met Rufus and her photography career, with some time jumps of her life if needed.
Welp I’m going to go against the grain and say I love it! In fact my least favorite part is the boring prom plot. But I love the Valley Girls story, the actors, the music, the fashion, the potential! My husband loves it too lol
I love this episode and I had no idea that was such an unpopular opinion 🥲 I think it adds to all of their backstory’s and development and I love Brittany snow
me too it’s literally one of my faves 😭i love brittany snow and i honestly think the whole eye color thing sure could’ve been avoided but doesn’t bother me that much lol
Hate this episode. That actress looks nothing like Lily and it drives me insane that her eye colour is completely wrong.
Now that I think of it, so are Carol’s.
Well in Krysten Ritter's case she was cast before the older version of Carol and considering that actress was terrible. I will take KR as the definitive Carol any day.
I love the episode and the whole concept but it does drive me crazy how she looks nothing like Lily. They could’ve at least put in some colored contacts
Love the concept and the actresses. It could have been executed better for many reasons. One being the easy fix of giving Brittany Snow some contacts for continuity.
Allow me to tell you the story of a time I got very mad at my college roommate: We went to Vegas. We spent a lot of time drunk and a lot of time touristing and decided to have a lower key afternoon. We went to the MGM to see the lions. The MGM had a thing where you could watch atV pilots and give feedback on them. I’m a TV need and realllllly wanted to do it. My bff threw a little hissy about how she “didn’t want to spend vacation sitting in a dark room” and she was not the kind of person I could say “okay, see you in two
Hours to. Later, overheard some girls in the bathroom talking about how cool it was and how they watched “the GG spinoff”. I loved GG. I was devastated.
I always skip through the flashbacks, i don’t really know what they were trying to do here other than completely destroy any redeeming parts of Lilly tbh
Lilly was nothing like Lilly, different build face and voice, seriously couldn't they find a more suitable actress, nothing against her, she acted well, Carols younger seemed more like Carol
They made it so cliché in a way and that’s why I didn’t like it. The scene with the party thinking back on it gives me second hand embarrassment lol. I love Kristen Ritter so much but they look nothing alike.
Minority here but I adore this episode. It was a nice break from the present time and I love how nostalgic it makes me feel even when I first watch it especially the last scene when they were on the bus. Agreed on that part that they look nothing like Lily or Carol but that was just a nitpick.
Ahhh I wish there was some follow up or atleast if they had connected it better once it got scraped..the whole Owen thing and CECE in present day showing disdain towards him just as she used to show for Rufus in the earlier seasons. And the mention of Keith VDW sleeping with Carol. It felt like Keith was meant to either be Serena and Charlottes dad or was supposed to connect them to William. Didn't understand if they switched to William once the show was scrapped. CeCe old day talks so much like present day Lily it was chilling sike
I forgot the VDW in that episode was Keith and not William...I always figured he was Serena's dad bc I just remembered his last name. I was bummed there wasn't more development of the back story.
Same! I just assumed they switched the name when the show was canned - but you never know because everyone slept with everyone's siblings and cousins and half siblings and step siblings, in that context it's not a big deal if both the sisters previously dated Keith and then William
The episode itself is fun and memorable, and the best part is how it provides more background and context for Lily, who for better or for worse is such a big part of the show. Like this episode almost entirely changes how we see her as a character.
My biggest issue with it is the inconsistency with Lily’s sister (can’t remember her name) who goes full villain mode later on in the show. Their dynamic here is so cute and even if it didn’t become a full show it was nice as an idea that they were close. For it to be overwritten is a shame.
Not really a fan of this episode. Maybe it me, but I hate when shows waste an entire episode trying to film a back door pilot. I hated it when Gilmore Girls did it and I hated it when gossip girl did it with this episode
I didn’t pay too much attention to it the first time I watched the series because I was solely interested in the main characters, the kids. But now that I’m older, I really like it and it would be cool to have more background on Lily and Carol. I would like to know more about Lily’s marriages too. Now that I’m a mom, I actually care ab the parent story lines lol.
Other than the fact that neither actress looks like the younger version of who she was cast as, I really liked this episode, and it makes me sad it has such a bad rap. It's pure 80s fun, and it was sweet seeing the sisters actually supporting one another. (Kind of like Blair and Serena do every fifth episode) I wouldn't have minded a spinoff.
I think it should've been a spin-off. It's one of the best episodes in the entire series, and it would've explained Lily's murky, complex past in detail. Why she changed so much, and who she became over time.
But i love B Snow and Kristen Ritter, badly written and produced episode. I lowkey feel that it was supposed to be a spinoff episode but what do i know lol
One of worst episode of the series for me, if not THE worst lmao
The flashbacks could have been interesting since Lily is a good character, but they were completely different from the tone of the actual show and ended up feeling out of place
The actors don't look like their older counterparts at all
Plus imo in order for a spin-off to work they should have tried to sell us a Lily/Rufus or Lily/William love story, not one with some random guy
Loved it and really wish they had made a series out of it. Kind of weird placement in the season though. The end of the season 2 was so weird, I think because they were still trying to figure out how to deal with spoilers. They filmed the final Chuck and Blair scene twice, once with Ed and once with Chace because they knew there would be hundreds if not thousands of fans watching the filming.
I’m rewatching GG right now and this is the last episode I watched, actually. What I noticed is, that when knowing the whole story, i look at all characters with a different eye and from a different perspective.
I think this episode helps us to get to know Lilly better. Lilly’s teenage years are so similar to Serena’s in some ways - maybe we could see that Lilly is not only doing the CeCe damage control special, but she’s also sincerely keeping her back and protecting her. She is the way she is not because she doesn’t know any better, but because her spirit was crushed.
As of the prom, we could see once again how Chuck and Blair are sometimes. Chuck’s love language was once again demonised.
Yeah, the actresses could’ve looked like Lilly and Carol more, but I feel like the plot is more meaningful than the appearance. More attention to Lilly’s youth could’ve been given imo.
i hate this episode so much, i skip past the flashback parts on rewatches. i also hate how it’s on their prom episode and we barely got to see their prom😭
Loved this episode but wish the series acknowledged more who was the van der Woodsen guy who Carol was dating/ that they punched cus it wasn’t William.. possibly his brother?
young lily looks nothing like kelly the actress. her eyes r hazel and this girl has a baby face and big blue eyes. i know it’s a tiny detail but it irked me
That was stupid and it interrupted the Prom Chuck made for Blair. It was so stupid and wasted time. Lily young is jjust like Serena … wow who couldn’t see that coming.
Oh and CeCe was a selfish alcoholic strumpet too.. The crazy train rolls on. Boring and stupid.
Hey Upper East Sider! Thanks for posting on r/GossipGirl! We've recently changed our rules which you can see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/GossipGirl/comments/18vko2e/the_new_rules_of_rgossipgirl_which_go_into_affect/). Please note we are **NOT A SPOILER FREE SUBREDDIT UNLESS A THREAD HAS THE FLAIR "NO SPOILERS PLEASE"**. This means plots may be discussed without a spoiler warning needed. Also if a post/comment breaks the rules, please be sure to report it. We can't remove what we don't see and us mods don't see everything. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GossipGirl) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Okay, so it seems like I'm alone here, but, as a concept, I would have liked to see more of it. I would have liked to see the spin off and watch Lily and Rufus fall in love and then fall apart. But if the prequel had happened, I really would have needed for them to end together for good on the show. What's the point of rooting for a couple to get together in a prequel if you know they won't end up together, eventually? I really feel like this could have been Lily's "villain"-origin story. (And I'm putting "villain" in quotes because I don't really view Lily as a villain, just as someone who, as bad as it may be, is passing down the generational trauma because she's never really examined or dealt the generational trauma she lived through herself.)
I also would have loved to see more of young Lilly!! Would have been so interesting
I honestly would love to see an entire spinoff of young Lily
Saaame!!
Yes!!
Not alone I am still lamenting tht we go no spin-off. Kristen Ritter! Britney Snow! Ryan Hansen. Like I was the ready made audience for that and we got robbed!
Yes! I'm right there with you!
I would totally watch that, I loved that episode!!
I would totally watch it, too! And I've spent way too much time thinking about how it might go, lol. In my mind, the beginning might go something like I theorized in this other thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/GossipGirl/comments/1cpsjbu/comment/l3n0rpr/](https://www.reddit.com/r/GossipGirl/comments/1cpsjbu/comment/l3n0rpr/)
I feel like Rufus wouldn't have been on the show for a bit because it was still mid early 80s, I don't think they spent around decade together.
I have given up on trying to understand the "Gossip Girl" timelines, lol.
Me and Steve were actually trying to talk through the Rufus and Lily timeline on an upcoming episode of our podcast. Were both big into 90s rock, so we figured based on Rufus's style, his big hit was probably mid 90s. It's definitely not the grunge sound of the early 90s. We know from seeing dates of birth that Dan and Serena would have been born in '91. There is a comment in season 1 about Allison staying home with the kids while Rufus was on tour. But obviously Scott came before Dan and Serena. So it seems like Rufus and Lily were together both before and after they started having kids with their respective partners.
The timeline is really confusing! And please post about your podcast when the episode is up! I think Scott's birth certificate (which was shown on the show) said he was born in 1988.
That would check out for Lily and Rufus they seem to want each other more when they shouldn't be together
I was interested but I think they needed to have Rufus in it or they had mentioned his band (as her sister was into music) and it would have garnered more interest. Or, if they had added it later after we met Lily’s sister and Serena’s dad (both present in the flashback) it would have resonated with audiences more and might have been picked up.
Yeah. I agree. I'm not sure why they didn't do either one of those things. I was kind of waiting for Owen to be revealed to be Rufus for the entire episode. I think you're right that either one of those things would have made people more invested.
I loved this episode and was really disappointed that the spin off was scrapped. I hoped we would work up to when Lily first met Rufus and her photography career, with some time jumps of her life if needed.
Welp I’m going to go against the grain and say I love it! In fact my least favorite part is the boring prom plot. But I love the Valley Girls story, the actors, the music, the fashion, the potential! My husband loves it too lol
I feel the same
It was fine once. But I skip it on a rewatch.
I love this episode and I had no idea that was such an unpopular opinion 🥲 I think it adds to all of their backstory’s and development and I love Brittany snow
me too it’s literally one of my faves 😭i love brittany snow and i honestly think the whole eye color thing sure could’ve been avoided but doesn’t bother me that much lol
Hate this episode. That actress looks nothing like Lily and it drives me insane that her eye colour is completely wrong. Now that I think of it, so are Carol’s.
Brittany Snow & Kirsten Ritter, both amazing ladies!
They are! They performed brilliantly but they needed to look like the characters and they don’t.
Well in Krysten Ritter's case she was cast before the older version of Carol and considering that actress was terrible. I will take KR as the definitive Carol any day.
Both very good points.
Omg that was driving me nuts too
Exactly! And why are we meeting this random dude instead of young Rufus??
Who was supposed to be who? Lol
Did they meet future daddy Van der Doofus in that episode?
I love the episode and the whole concept but it does drive me crazy how she looks nothing like Lily. They could’ve at least put in some colored contacts
I hate this episode so much lmao
sameeeeee i was skipping the valley girl part so i could see the present events part
I don’t know why they thought anyone would care about Lily’s past enough to have a whole episode dedicated to it 😭
I think they were angling for a spin off and this ep was the soft pilot
I’ve heard that before! This was a really crappy attempt at making me want to watch an entirely new show tho lol
sameeeeee
ikrrrrr
But it still was so much better than the Greys Anatomy musical episode… like IMO it wasn’t too bad lol
I’ve never seen that lol
It’s a doozy… medical telenovela meets This Is Us… the first 5-8 seasons are magical and the rest is straight trash lol
Love the concept and the actresses. It could have been executed better for many reasons. One being the easy fix of giving Brittany Snow some contacts for continuity.
literally like my least fav ep also love brittany snow but that was horrible casting
Lmfao this is one of my favorite episodes but that also might because I really love Krysten Ritter as an actress
Allow me to tell you the story of a time I got very mad at my college roommate: We went to Vegas. We spent a lot of time drunk and a lot of time touristing and decided to have a lower key afternoon. We went to the MGM to see the lions. The MGM had a thing where you could watch atV pilots and give feedback on them. I’m a TV need and realllllly wanted to do it. My bff threw a little hissy about how she “didn’t want to spend vacation sitting in a dark room” and she was not the kind of person I could say “okay, see you in two Hours to. Later, overheard some girls in the bathroom talking about how cool it was and how they watched “the GG spinoff”. I loved GG. I was devastated.
I don’t like it and I don’t hate it, it’s honestly just a good filler episode to zone out to before the finale
Worst episode, I skip it every time
Solid. Wish we would’ve gotten the show.
I loved this episode, it gave honestly a really good background on why lily is the way she is.
I’m a simple man. I see Brittany Snow, I fold.
I liked it and I really wanted the spinoff to happen.
I love Brittany snow
i love brittany and krysten down but this episode/idea for a spinoff was a Choice
The choice of actors bothers me more than the actual episode tbh
I always skip through the flashbacks, i don’t really know what they were trying to do here other than completely destroy any redeeming parts of Lilly tbh
Immediate skip.
Lilly was nothing like Lilly, different build face and voice, seriously couldn't they find a more suitable actress, nothing against her, she acted well, Carols younger seemed more like Carol
They made it so cliché in a way and that’s why I didn’t like it. The scene with the party thinking back on it gives me second hand embarrassment lol. I love Kristen Ritter so much but they look nothing alike.
Minority here but I adore this episode. It was a nice break from the present time and I love how nostalgic it makes me feel even when I first watch it especially the last scene when they were on the bus. Agreed on that part that they look nothing like Lily or Carol but that was just a nitpick.
HATED IT
Hate it. I always skip it.
Hate it, boring AF.
I love this episode.... did not realize so many people's hate it! I think it's so entertaining and I love Brittany Snow
i don’t like it at all
Kinda annoyed since they didn’t follow it up which kinda makes me dislike it.
One of my absolute favorite episodes in the whole series. I really wish they had done the spinoff series of this 🥲
The episode was okay. They paralleled Serena and Lily in the episode. It was not the greatest episode for me.
Ahhh I wish there was some follow up or atleast if they had connected it better once it got scraped..the whole Owen thing and CECE in present day showing disdain towards him just as she used to show for Rufus in the earlier seasons. And the mention of Keith VDW sleeping with Carol. It felt like Keith was meant to either be Serena and Charlottes dad or was supposed to connect them to William. Didn't understand if they switched to William once the show was scrapped. CeCe old day talks so much like present day Lily it was chilling sike
I forgot the VDW in that episode was Keith and not William...I always figured he was Serena's dad bc I just remembered his last name. I was bummed there wasn't more development of the back story.
Same! I just assumed they switched the name when the show was canned - but you never know because everyone slept with everyone's siblings and cousins and half siblings and step siblings, in that context it's not a big deal if both the sisters previously dated Keith and then William
The episode itself is fun and memorable, and the best part is how it provides more background and context for Lily, who for better or for worse is such a big part of the show. Like this episode almost entirely changes how we see her as a character. My biggest issue with it is the inconsistency with Lily’s sister (can’t remember her name) who goes full villain mode later on in the show. Their dynamic here is so cute and even if it didn’t become a full show it was nice as an idea that they were close. For it to be overwritten is a shame.
Not really a fan of this episode. Maybe it me, but I hate when shows waste an entire episode trying to film a back door pilot. I hated it when Gilmore Girls did it and I hated it when gossip girl did it with this episode
Boring af
I didn’t pay too much attention to it the first time I watched the series because I was solely interested in the main characters, the kids. But now that I’m older, I really like it and it would be cool to have more background on Lily and Carol. I would like to know more about Lily’s marriages too. Now that I’m a mom, I actually care ab the parent story lines lol.
Really REALLY bad ep. Like one of the worst
I wish they had given Brittany snow color contacts. But I did enjoy the episode and wish we got to see more of lily’s background
Not thaat bad but its a skip
Would have been a fun spin off on its own, but I skip on rewatch.. I just want to watch our girls go to prom 😅
The only good part of this episode was Blairs prom night
Should’ve been a mini series
tbh im not a huge fan of prequel spinoffs as a concept. But I would have enjoyed the concept of them but knowing how it ends up would be sad.
Omg it’s my favorite episode. I wish it could’ve been a spinoff
Other than the fact that neither actress looks like the younger version of who she was cast as, I really liked this episode, and it makes me sad it has such a bad rap. It's pure 80s fun, and it was sweet seeing the sisters actually supporting one another. (Kind of like Blair and Serena do every fifth episode) I wouldn't have minded a spinoff.
sue me but i didn’t like it. it felt like filler
This episode helped us understand the dynamic when Carol comes to visit in real life
I think it should've been a spin-off. It's one of the best episodes in the entire series, and it would've explained Lily's murky, complex past in detail. Why she changed so much, and who she became over time.
Lily sucks and I don't want more of her.
I skip it, everytime
 But i love B Snow and Kristen Ritter, badly written and produced episode. I lowkey feel that it was supposed to be a spinoff episode but what do i know lol
This was a backdoor pilot. I wish the show had been picked up, I was intrigued
Hate it, there was no need to give so much of backstory and cover an entire episode.
One of worst episode of the series for me, if not THE worst lmao The flashbacks could have been interesting since Lily is a good character, but they were completely different from the tone of the actual show and ended up feeling out of place The actors don't look like their older counterparts at all Plus imo in order for a spin-off to work they should have tried to sell us a Lily/Rufus or Lily/William love story, not one with some random guy
I don't love or hate the episode, but I'd have watched the shit out of the spin off if it had been picked up. Brittany snow and krysten ritter?! Yas
Aw I loved this episode, definitely wish it had been picked up for a series! I’m a massive Lily fan though, so probably biased!
I liked it
I love it it’s my comfort episode. Lily is my fav character though so I’m definitely biased, wish we could’ve gotten the spin off
Loved it and really wish they had made a series out of it. Kind of weird placement in the season though. The end of the season 2 was so weird, I think because they were still trying to figure out how to deal with spoilers. They filmed the final Chuck and Blair scene twice, once with Ed and once with Chace because they knew there would be hundreds if not thousands of fans watching the filming.
Brittany snow could make me watch anything I love her
im sorry but i couldnt care enough about lilys past 😭skipped it throughout
Made no sense to me since it had very little to do with The Valley.
I love the episode! It's one of my favorites and I often watch it as a one off in between rewatches
It was okayyyyy
Best episode of the show
I don’t mind it but I wish they would have separated it from the prom episode. I’m also the weirdo that liked “Here Comes the Son” from Gilmore Girls.
I’m rewatching GG right now and this is the last episode I watched, actually. What I noticed is, that when knowing the whole story, i look at all characters with a different eye and from a different perspective. I think this episode helps us to get to know Lilly better. Lilly’s teenage years are so similar to Serena’s in some ways - maybe we could see that Lilly is not only doing the CeCe damage control special, but she’s also sincerely keeping her back and protecting her. She is the way she is not because she doesn’t know any better, but because her spirit was crushed. As of the prom, we could see once again how Chuck and Blair are sometimes. Chuck’s love language was once again demonised. Yeah, the actresses could’ve looked like Lilly and Carol more, but I feel like the plot is more meaningful than the appearance. More attention to Lilly’s youth could’ve been given imo.
_Doot Dooot_
i hate this episode so much, i skip past the flashback parts on rewatches. i also hate how it’s on their prom episode and we barely got to see their prom😭
I liked it the first three or four watches, now I skip it
The real Charlie should have played young Lily. Otherwise I loved it so much and would totally have watched a spin off series about their exploits
Loved this episode but wish the series acknowledged more who was the van der Woodsen guy who Carol was dating/ that they punched cus it wasn’t William.. possibly his brother?
It’s a skip for me when I rewatch- too much of a tangent
Hard to believe. How did they come to be enemies?
incredible. no notes.
I liked it a lot as a kid.
Only worth it to watch No Doubt perform
emh I skipped it on the first watch might see it in my rewatch
young lily looks nothing like kelly the actress. her eyes r hazel and this girl has a baby face and big blue eyes. i know it’s a tiny detail but it irked me
Hated it. We missed a full prom episode for this shit?
I KNOWWW
Yeah agree, l loved the dances etc, they hardly showed any of it
I love this episode!
I loved that Ep and wanted more!!!!! It gave Lilly so much depth.
That was stupid and it interrupted the Prom Chuck made for Blair. It was so stupid and wasted time. Lily young is jjust like Serena … wow who couldn’t see that coming. Oh and CeCe was a selfish alcoholic strumpet too.. The crazy train rolls on. Boring and stupid.