What’s With HBO’s Grossest Obsession?

HBO has all the time been identified for pushing the envelope, and there’s one grotesque fascination that, although we want they might, they simply can’t appear to withstand. No, I don’t imply greenlighting reveals from David E. Kelley; we’re speaking about incest.

Get the pearl-clutching out of the best way now, as a result of we’re about to go full tilt into the premium cable’s obsession with the forbidden fornication. That’s, in case your hand even strikes towards your pearls anymore—incest may be thought-about one of many final taboos, however you wouldn’t understand it by its prevalence as a subplot on tv dramas.

Living proof: this week’s episode of Gossip Girl, which joins an extended record of HBO collection fascinated with family-on-family fucking with its plotline a couple of sister and brother going at it at a New York resort. It’s definitely juicy. It’s positively gross. And, let’s face it, it’s a weird obsession. How is that this nonetheless so prevalent?

If you happen to had been a fan of Game of Thrones—or, hell, even only a informal watcher—through the 62 years that it aired, you had been definitely aware of a great little bit of incest. It was teased repeatedly over the course of the present, making certain followers of George R.R. Martin’s books that their favourite prohibited plotlines would, like winter, be coming. And it wasn’t simply the Tarkaenians and Dunsdorfs (effective, these aren’t actual Thrones characters, however they might be) doin’ it. Incestuous relationships had been plots on other HBO shows like Boardwalk Empire and Bored to Dying—although weren’t handed off with such romantic aptitude.

This 12 months, HBO hasn’t a lot as dipped its proverbial toe again into the chilly waters of incest plotlines, however cannonballed again into it.

Ollie Upton/HBO

It hasn’t been restricted simply to the anticipated gamers, just like the Sport of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, which has seen the wedding of uncle Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) to his niece Rhaenyra (Emma D’arcy) in its first season.

Who can overlook once we had been strung alongside for 2 episodes of The White Lotus Season 2 pondering that we simply witnessed a glimpse of a graphic sex scene between uncle (Tom Hollander) and nephew (Leo Woodall)? That, after all, turned out to be a ruse, however HBO is not going to cease till we’ve been incest-pilled as soon as and for all.

That brings us to the community’s newest cease on the Oedipal Specific, HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot. The second season’s fourth episode, which is now streaming, incorporates a stunning, twisted sibling plot flip. On reflection, perhaps this isn’t such a shock in spite of everything. It was solely a matter of time earlier than the continuation of a present as soon as known as “mind-blowingly inappropriate” by the Dad and mom Tv Council flirted with household fucking.

What’s most stunning is how casually the bomb was dropped within the final 10 minutes of the episode, with barely any fallout apart from a broken-up relationship. Actually, the incest reveal isn’t even portrayed as probably the most stunning twist of the episode! Have we began to turn out to be desensitized to this, what must be probably the most controversial societal prohibition? If you happen to take Gossip Woman’s phrase for it, the reply would possibly simply be sure.

Fabio Lovino/HBO

In “One Flew Over the Cuck’s Nest,” (an admittedly genius episode title), the ultra-wooden Grace (Anna Van Patten) has been sneaking round on her equally boring boyfriend, Obie (Eli Brown). However regardless of Grace’s squeaky-clean, Daughters of the American Revolution-approved picture, she’s caught by Julien (Jordan Alexander) in a tryst with Matias (Javier Reyes Sanchez), an outspoken activist rallying in opposition to her Republican mom’s political marketing campaign.

In signature Gossip Woman vogue, a sting operation is organized on the most public occasion attainable. This time, the massive climax occurs on the annual Kiss on the Lips celebration, the place Julien and her loyal minion Luna (Zión Moreno) have invited Grace’s mom and brother to bear witness to their unveiling of Grace’s affairs. However, after all, Grace’s transgressions go somewhat additional than secretly relationship two boys without delay.

Whereas exposing Grace’s machinations, Julien and Luna nail her for staying at SoHo’s Crosby Lodge with whom they assume was Matias. However when Matias tells the group that Grace stated she was along with her mother, Charlotte, and Charlotte thought Grace was with Obie, issues begin to unravel. Charlotte begins to place issues collectively, telling the group that Grace’s brother, Jake, stayed on the Crosby when he was in New York for a university interview—a keep she paid for. “Jake, you stated this wouldn’t occur once more,” Charlotte scolds her youngest baby. Abruptly, all the group turns into scandalized by what they’ve unintentionally uncovered.

When all three members of the Boring Byron dynasty storm off—and, we are able to assume, off of the present—for good, Luna echoes the viewers’s practice of thought: “Even I didn’t see that twincest coming.”

Name it a hunch, however with all of the generations of household cash and clung-to standing floating round New York’s Higher East Facet society, it’s not precisely stunning that incest might be a conceivable plotline in an episode of Gossip Woman. Whereas the unique collection dallied with harmful liaisons right here and there, it by no means went full Freud till the present moved to a premium cable streamer. And it’s simply the newest in a string of HBO’s incest plotlines. Together with The White Lotus and Home of the Dragon, Gossip Woman joins Rick and Morty, another show that may be streamed on HBO Max that had an incest episode this 12 months.

At this level, it could be much more stunning if an HBO present didn’t embody a storyline about railing a relative. What may be scandalous in actual life has turn out to be nearly pastiche on premium cable tv—which I acknowledge is a wild factor to say about one thing like incest, however it’s true. And Gossip Woman appears to understand it, too. A personality screwing her brother in a resort room ought to shake the Higher East Facet like a level-eight quake on the Richter scale, however as an alternative, it barely rattled a chandelier earlier than truly fizzling out into the following factor.

Who ever thought that we’d get to some extent in tv historical past when incest feels performed out? A plotline that was as soon as probably the most controversial route for writers to take has begun to really feel like an uninspired play for some much-needed shock worth. How wild is it that incest is in its flop period?

Much more unforgivable, this was a wasted alternative to get Kristen Bell within the voiceover sales space and have her say some outrageously snarky line about incest. I used to be shocked to not hear the disembodied voice of Gossip Woman say one thing about brother-banging to cap off the episode. We, the folks, deserve a worthy successor to the unique collection’ first season line, “The solar will come out tomorrow, though your boyfriend did immediately.” At the very least Mike White was gracious sufficient to provide us Jennifer Coolidge saying, “He was form of…fuckin’ his uncle.” If we’ve to take a seat via the millionth incest plotline of the 12 months, not less than make it meme-worthy.