It’s senior year for the well-to-do of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Serena (Blake Lively) learns her popularity as a socialite might open doors – like Yale’s – that she originally thought were closed to her, while Blair’s (Leighton Meester) dealings with a feisty new teacher puts her own Bulldog dreams in serious jeopardy. Chuck (Ed Westwick) is having trouble coming to grips with the fact his feelings for a certain Queen Bee are deeper than he cares to admit, his best friend Nate (Chace Crawford) dealing with his own problems as the FBI starts breathing down he and his mother’s backs.

As for Humphrey’s, little Jenny (Taylor Momsen) is showing real promise as a fashion designer, so much so she’s ready to call it quits on High School altogether. As for her older brother Dan (Penn Badgley), he’s scrambling to find another author to write him a college recommendation, his chances of getting into Yale riding squarely on his efforts.

Still covering it all is Gossip Girl, her anonymous internet voice making sure none of their secrets stay hidden for long.

CRITIQUE

Season two of “Gossip Girl” is pretty darn addicting. As the 25 episodes progress (that’s four more than usual, a thing you can probably thank the writer’s strike for), all the characters go on the requisite teenage soap opera rollercoaster ride. Thankfully, even though much of the twists and turns are familiar, they’re presented with such zest and zeal it doesn’t matter that the majority of them aren’t exactly a surprise.

Like last season, the coup for series’ creators was casting Meester and Westwick. I really love these two in this show, and as silly and as superficial as they can be I find myself drawn to their complex nuances more and more. Better, this season they actually have things happen to them that are weightier than the opening of a burlesque club or whether or not they remain queen of the high school.

Thanks to her mom Eleanor’s (Margaret Colin) romance with a schlumpy lawyer (beautifully underplayed by Wallace Shawn) and misdirected tiff with a young English teacher (Laura Breckenridge) she gets to look beyond her petty wants and begin to focus on a life that doesn’t revolve around the immaterial. Because of his father Bart’s (Robert John Burke) voracious untrusting nature, a surprise tragedy putting him at odds with his Uncle Jack (Desmond Harrington) bringing him closer to his despised stepmother Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), the combination getting him to at least ponder the toll his amoral lifestyle is having on him.

Meester and Westwick continually rise to the occasion. Their performances are complex and multifaceted, shifting emotions at the drop of the hat and moving to extremes on so many points of the spectrum keeping track isn’t remotely possible. Episode after episode they knock it out of the park, their own twisted relationship itself so highly charming wondering if they’re ever going to say three little words (eight letters, three syllables) to one another is a surprisingly delicious delight.

The big surprise this season has to be the emergence of Momsen. Little J’s character is arc is easily the most annoying and petulant. There are times I found myself wanting to slap the young lady, so much of what she says and does beyond selfish. Yet, thanks to the actress, Jenny becomes something of a fascinating star, and the more I wanted to see her father Rufus (Matthew Settle) ground the silly girl the more I also wanted to see the youngster rise above it all and flash that captivating smile.

I will say I’m kind of over (after only two seasons!) Serena and Dan’s on again, off again, on again, off again, on again, whatever again relationship. They hook up and break up so often this season I almost wanted to scream. It’s almost as if every time the writers get lost on what to do next they fall back on throwing these two back in one another’s arms, and if creators are intent on keeping this up for a few more years they’re going to have to do a much better job than this.

It doesn’t help that some of the plot twists are almost lazily silly (a certain death happens out of left field and serves no purpose than that it allows two parents to rekindle a relationship), and how one Page Six socialite can go from being a much talked about it-girl to conniving con artist in all of about an episode and a half is a bit too incredulous even for me. I also thought Blair’s early season love affair with a British Lord, whose stepmother is sleeping with Nate, is highly idiotic, almost as if the whole subplot was a writer’s room afterthought no one working for the show actually cared about.

Who am I kidding. From Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) showing a Blair-like willingness for subterfuge, to Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) working at a Christian summer camp, to Jenny getting universal love for crashing a major philanthropic event to showcase her fashion line, I can’t really say I did not enjoy a single second of this season. Heck, I watched the whole thing in a little over a day, the show so addictive I couldn’t wait to pop in the next DVD.

In fact, as strong as season two is, I might not be able to wait until next August for third’s debut on disc, my DVR likely to get a year-long workout when UPN’s fall schedule starts getting broadcast.

THE VIDEO

“Gossip Girl” is presented in its original 1.78:1 anamorphic Widescreen. Looks great, but I do have to ask, where the heck is the Blu-ray? This show is so cinematic in how it has been shot I imagine it would like perfectly divine in 1080p, the fact it isn’t being released that way a major letdown.

THE AUDIO

“Gossip Girl” is presented in English (Dolby Digital 5.1) and French audio with optional English, French, Chinese, Thai and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Like last season, there are no audio commentaries, so don’t ask about them. There is also not an entire season retrospective featurette so don’t start throwing me questions about that, either.

What there is are a ton of Deleted Scenes for almost every episode of the show, a downloadable audio book of one of Cecily von Ziegesar’s novels read by Christina Ricci, the bizarrely lame Chasing Dorota Webisodes, a way too long Gag Reel and the surprisingly thorough and entertaining featurette “Forces Behind the Design: Creative Forces Behind the Show’s Art and Fashion”. There is also the great “5th Ave. Meets Gossip Girl”, a wonderful interactive feature leading to a bunch of short featurettes on the show’s numerous New York locations.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Season two of “Gossip Girl” is amazingly addictive. Even when it gets so silly you can’t help but laugh out loud, I almost guarantee fans will be virtually falling over themselves to find out what’s going to happen next. For 25 episodes I was completely drawn into this wicked and stylish world of teenage excess, and even almost two decades removed from my own adolescent shenanigans this clever and engaging program had me almost wishing I could go back to High School and do that crazily messed up journey all over again.