TV Crush of the Week: Chuck Bass

Longtime readers may already know of my love for Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass, and it's only grown since he started being the best boyfriend ever to Blair Waldorf this season. But last night Chuck soared even higher in my heart when he a) kissed a dude and b) was nonplussed as ever.

Okay, maybe the premise isn't entirely gay-powered. Blair's angling to give a toast at the freshman dinner (don't ask me why) and needs to get a gay school administrator, Mr. Ellis, under her thumb. She promises Mr. Ellis he can kiss her BF if he'll let her do the toast, but keeps that part of the plan a secret from Chuck.

Chuck expects to be seducing some woman to help Blair get revenge (it's a thing they do), but doesn't flinch when he sees that the target is a man. In fact, he rises to the occasion. (Cut to an American flag flying high over the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, Gossip Girl. C'est pourquoi je t'aime.) When Mr. Ellis moves in for the kiss. Chuck clearly doesn't mind. Afterward, when Blair asks, "Are you upset because you kissed a guy?" Chuck replies, "I'm upset because I kissed somebody that wasn't you. Do you really think I've never kissed a guy before?"

And that's why I love it: Chuck has long been presented as a man who's only interested in women for sex, and only interested in sex with women. But when male partners are in the mix, the whole thing becomes less fraught and more interesting. Chuck isn't a "womanizer," he's a connoisseur of all things pleasurable. His character has officially moved on from stale-old philandering to unblinkingly subversive sexuality. It's nice to see Gossip Girl live up to its own hype as a show that scandalizes parents and sparks the teenage imagination. XOXO!