Shocking confession: Finding my own inner 'Gossip Girl'

I've been working on a project that will take a couple of months to realize, and it involves a lot of busywork -- hours of mindless data entry, migrating data and formatting a new system.  It will all be worth it, as it will revolutionize the business I work for.  But working from home, this kind of work tends to go far more quickly with a little company.

So to my own bewilderment, I found myself working through Gossip Girl on Netflix.  I never watched the show when it was new, and wasn't really interested. But when vapid entertainment can possibly increase productivity, I figured a couple of episodes wouldn't rob my brain of too many IQ points.

But Gossip Girl, while certainly not either great art or even great television, is, at the very least, quite surprising.

The show is alarmingly addictive, with characters more fully realized than expected, and even my feeble inner fashionista is dazzled by the costuming.  This is one very stylish pageant, sporting even of-the-moment directors, with several episodes helmed by erstwhile Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy.

Before I go on about the attributes which have unexpectedly positive, let's get this straight:  I will not be raving on this page about the so-called talents of Blake Lively, who plays Serena, the main character. She's beautiful, and warm, and it's clear that she's no dummy. But her acting is stiff and duo-chromatic (alternating sunny yellow and lethargic blue).  And while she had charm in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the buzz is that The Shallows is worthwhile, The Age of Adaline couldn't even be saved by the the likes of modern legend Harrison Ford, or even the very hunky Michiel Huisman.  Blrrrrgh...  (And now I'm consciously avoiding a dive into the horrors of The Green Lantern.  That disaster couldn't possibly have been her fault.)

But other actors on this show have done a creditable job with difficult scenes, lending depth to characters that could have been wafer-thin.  Pretty boy Chace Crawford is better than expected, Connor Paolo's dramatic skills show promise beyond mere likability, and mostly one-note Leighton Meester has her moments of pathos.  Kelly Rutherford is an elegant mama bear with considerable subtext.  But there are two actors who, on their own and in ensemble work, repeatedly make this series worth a look:

Zuzanna Szadkowski, as Blair's maid, Dorota, is (hands-down!) the best part of the show.  As the seasons ensued, the producers seem to have realized the treasure they had in their midst, as they start giving her more to do in later episodes.  She's funny, she's wise, she's irresistible -- very much like her doppelganger, the other McCarthy (starts with M!). Pay attention, H-wood: we need to see more of this woman.

But the award for Most Riveting starts with three little words, eleven letters:  "I'm Chuck Bass." English actor Ed Westwick is more than just husky voice, perma-sneer and swagger.  He's handsome, but other than the jawline that could cut glass, not in a conventional way. His character is the reigning devil of the Upper East, but he has a big heart, a wounded soul and the real relationships Chuck develops with Lily, Eva, Eric and even his dog, Monkey, show a far greater capacity for love and respect than we're led to expect.  Rarely does a TV character, even one as maligned and downtrodden as Chuck, show the realities of real depression and conflict so convincingly.  Westwick has had little chance to show this kind of range elsewhere:  ABC's disastrous Wicked City, in spite of its period fascination and rather gimmicky "edge", seems like a dumbed-down, homicidal version of the same role -- the worst of Chuck, but without the soul, wounded or otherwise. Other roles have been largely in the same Bassian vein, e.g. Margin Call and J. Edgar:  named roles that would work equally well as "Guy Who Looks Good in Suits". There are likely more watchable examples, and we'll be waiting for other offerings that show off his skills, perchance his portrayal of Tybalt in the 2013 Julian Fellowes-penned adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.  There's also the hope that Snatch, the new series currently in production and slated for next year, will take hold and give us something juicy to sink our teeth into. With Rupert Grint and Dougray Scott also attached, there may be very good things to come.