High Schoolers Love Opera; Jack Buries Freckles

Stuck at work with no TV to watch the Inauguration? Don't worry! Just about every relevant site has a live stream of the event. Here's a few to choose from:

Hulu
CNN
NBC
MSNBC

So far, it looks a little bit like New Year's Eve, with a whole lot of people standing around waiting for something to happen. While waiting for Obama's speech, how bout a little of last night's TV?

It was a week for comings and goings on Gossip Girl, as Uncle Jack said goodbye and Teenage Teacher said hello. Jack's dismissal seemed a bit sudden, with little of his build-up having paid off. What the hell was the point of his tryst with Blair on New Year's Eve if it would never be mentioned again or have any impact on anything? Was it just to put that icky image in our minds? It almost makes me wonder if this was a case of premature Aaron Rose syndrome, when the producers realized a character wasn't working and kicked him off. But they did try a little too hard to make him evil, what with trying to rape Lily. An older Chuck Bass could have been fun. Oh well.

As for Teenage Teacher, the fact that she looks younger than most of the cast should make it less creepy when she and Dan inevitably start hooking up. How is it that Dan and Serena went instantly from back together to seriously dramatic fights? This whole Yale divide seems a bit overdone. Is it a rule that Dan must ignore Serena's call in every episode?

So now that Lily's adopted Chuck, I think it's only a matter of time before Rufus and Lily get married, Nate gets adopted too, and every single character on the show is in one big happy family. It seemed like everyone was related on The OC, but on Gossip Girl they really are. Brady Bunch 2, perhaps? And how many high schoolers really like opera that much? I guarantee they all fell asleep halfway through the overture.

24 had a bit of an off week, taking in the excitement of the last 2 hours while setting up stuff to come. I know it seems weird to say nothing much happened in an episode where the First Husband got drugged and Agent Freckles got buried alive, but what can I say, it's 24. And no Chloe and Buchanan automatically makes for a weak episode. But I will give credit to the super creepy ending, with all those shots of Freckles from behind the tarp looking around scared at Jack and Tony burying her alive. Seeing Freckles' POV as the last dirt went down heading into a silent clock makes up for any inactivity beforehand.

Ok, Obama's gonna speak any moment now, so enough with last night's TV. Time to watch history.