- 2 years ago
His arc had problems, but maybe we can fix it. Nate Archibald, this one’s for you.
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00:00 Hey, Ms. Mojo fans, have we got a scoop for you.
00:09 Spotted.
00:10 Poor little rich boy.
00:11 Once the biggest catch on the Upper East Side, these days, it seems like no one even remembers
00:16 N is around.
00:17 Until they need his help, anyway.
00:19 How did the consummate insider find himself out in the cold?
00:23 Compared to the rest of his social circle, it just doesn't feel like just desserts.
00:26 But maybe we serve up the sweet spoonful of vindication.
00:30 Nate Archibald, this one's for you.
00:33 XOXO, Ms. Mojo.
00:34 "Thanks, man.
00:35 I mean, this could change my life."
00:39 The character you know.
00:40 In terms of impact on a story, you might say that Nate Archibald started out as the most
00:45 important character in Gossip Girl.
00:47 In love with Golden Girl Serena Vanderwoods and since childhood, but perpetually coupled
00:51 up with her best friend Blair Waldorf instead, Nate was the cornerstone of the story's
00:56 foundational love triangle.
00:58 When he and Serena shared a booze-soaked hookup prior to Season 1, it caused her to leave
01:02 New York for boarding school without a word to anyone, fracturing their friend group,
01:07 and setting the stage for her dramatic return a year later.
01:10 "Blair, it's Serena!"
01:11 "Serena?"
01:12 "Serena's at school.
01:13 Kiss me."
01:14 "No, I just heard your mom say she's here."
01:18 Okay, yes, there was a brief and bizarre subplot about an overdose and a guilty conscience
01:24 being the real motivation for Serena's disappearance.
01:26 Regardless, the romantic tension of the Nate-Serena-Blair triangle played a huge part in shaping the
01:32 plot and character dynamics of the first season.
01:34 "Look, Blair, I'm really trying to make an effort here.
01:36 I thought everything was good between us."
01:38 "It was.
01:39 Before I found out you had sex with my boyfriend."
01:42 This was also the through-line that kept Nate looped into the story.
01:45 Because the truth is, Nate always had way more on his plate than whatever high school
01:50 soap opera his friends were embroiled in.
01:52 "I saw your father get arrested.
01:54 Why didn't you come to me?
01:56 I would have listened."
01:57 "I've tried, Blair.
01:59 But every time I try, something's got your attention.
02:01 A dinner party, you know, a mass paw."
02:04 As the son of a Vanderbilt socialite and a powerful banker, handsome, athletic Nate grew
02:09 up as a Park Avenue prince.
02:11 However, the older he got, the more his privileged existence started to close in on him.
02:16 "You're not only entitled to choose, just to be happy."
02:18 "Look, easy, Socrates.
02:19 What we're entitled to is a trust fund.
02:21 Maybe a house in the Hamptons.
02:23 A prescription drug problem."
02:24 "But happiness does not seem to be on the menu."
02:27 Pressured by his parents to choose the approved college and date the approved girl, Nate was
02:32 already struggling with feeling as though he had no control over his life.
02:36 And then his entire world spirals out of control when his father's misdeeds come to light.
02:40 "I'm guilty, Nate.
02:41 I'm facing 25 years.
02:42 I saw all this stuff about things looking good and working out, huh?"
02:49 Financially ruined, his parents flee the country, and Nate is left on his own to piece his life
02:54 back together, often with the interference of his Vanderbilt grandfather.
02:58 No matter what he was going through, though, Nate remained the most decent person in his
03:03 peer group.
03:04 Forgiving, to a fault, he was always the first to step up and try to help a friend, or even
03:09 frenemy in need, while mostly managing to keep his own reputation out of the mud.
03:13 "You're such a good guy, Nate Archibald.
03:15 Can I kiss you before I kill you?"
03:18 Of all the main characters on the show, Nate is the only one that never sent a tip to Gossip
03:23 Girl, and rarely did he find himself spotlighted by the infamous blogger.
03:27 Maybe that's a sign that we're supposed to consider him boring, but honestly, it just
03:31 makes Nate one of the only people on the show we'd actually want to hang out with.
03:34 "I judged the cover, but now that I've read the book, I figured you were owed some apologetic
03:39 Tsubaki at the very least."
03:42 Where it went wrong
03:43 Unfortunately, Nate belongs to a club of fictional characters who are defined by their love lives.
03:48 And even more unfortunately, it was a hard trap to slip, because from his genesis in
03:53 the mind of novelist Cecily von Zagazer, a love triangle was the entire basis for Nate's
03:58 character.
03:59 "Does this have anything to do with why you were waiting for Serena this morning?"
04:00 "You were what?"
04:01 "Here I thought you were waiting for me."
04:03 "I know exactly what this situation needs."
04:06 "Chuck, now what is going on?"
04:08 The first season of the show translates this element faithfully.
04:11 We're introduced to a Nate torn between his unrequited feelings for Serena and his relationship
04:16 with Blair.
04:17 However, the series started to peel away from the book plotlines pretty quickly.
04:21 And where Nate was the ultimate love interest of both girls on the page, things rapidly
04:26 shifted on TV.
04:27 "I'm just gonna step out for a while, Nate's gonna wait for Serena."
04:30 "Great, he can get in line behind that guy."
04:38 Dan Humphrey was elevated from a brief fling to a primary love interest for Serena.
04:42 Meanwhile, the chemistry between Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick morphed Blair and
04:46 Chuck's friendship of convenience into the marquee love story of the entire series.
04:51 The flagship, if you will.
04:53 "It's funny."
04:54 "So, you guys wanna sit together at lunch?"
04:58 These changes left Nate adrift.
05:01 Not only was he without an obvious partner in a show where the relationship drama was
05:04 a huge piece of the individual arcs, but he was now completely detached from his original
05:09 narrative purpose.
05:10 "Easy come, easy go."
05:12 The upshot is that Nate would go on to appear in the fewest number of episodes of any main
05:16 cast member, and that he frequently felt like an afterthought tacked on in whatever way
05:20 was the most useful for the plotlines of his friends.
05:23 Nate's own story beat centered almost entirely on his dating escapades, with an array of
05:28 short-lived relationships most notable for the fact that he was frequently paired with
05:32 ladies who were introduced as antagonists to Blair or Serena.
05:36 Don't even get us started on the show's disturbing habit of putting him in manipulative situations
05:41 with older women.
05:42 "When the best version of the situation is that I'm gonna become Blair's father-in-law,
05:47 I think it's just time to move on, Catherine."
05:49 Occasionally, Nate got to be more than convenient arm candy.
05:53 In a few arcs that felt like they came from another series entirely, his Vanderbilt relatives
05:57 would get him swept up in their political aspirations, often ending with a disenchanted
06:01 Nate taking a step back for a while.
06:04 "I discovered he was the one who had my father investigated by the authorities.
06:08 And if he cares so much about family, then why did he destroy mine?"
06:14 In the later seasons, he took over running the publication The Spectator, which should
06:18 have been a chance to let the character evolve.
06:20 However, it soon became just another set piece to service the needs of the other plots.
06:24 "We were very excited about Dan Humphrey's inaugural serial.
06:27 We knew it would draw a lot of eyeballs."
06:29 "And it has.
06:30 And I know Dan's piece next week will garner even more attention."
06:34 By series end, we're led to believe Nate has become a media mogul of some kind.
06:38 It's also hinted that he's finally ready to bow to his grandfather's wishes and jump
06:42 into politics.
06:43 "You'll be the youngest mayor ever in the history of the city."
06:45 "Only if I win."
06:46 "I haven't even said if I'm running."
06:47 "Polls already have you out in front."
06:49 Considering that one of Nate's most defining traits across the series was his desire to
06:53 make his own path, it feels like a cop-out.
06:56 Maybe even more so because it was one of the few definitions the writing ever let him have.
07:00 "Where do you think you're going?"
07:02 "Home."
07:03 "I don't think so."
07:04 "Now you get back out there and you finish what you started."
07:06 "What do you mean, what you started?"
07:07 How we fix it.
07:08 Nate is Gossip Girl.
07:09 "You have got to be kidding me."
07:12 No, pitchforks away please.
07:13 We're kidding.
07:14 He was one of the characters once considered for the job, though.
07:17 And it certainly would be interesting.
07:19 Seeing Nate turn out to be the Upper East Side's omnipresent mean girl-in-chief would
07:23 be quite the switch-up.
07:25 But while a part of us is drawn to that chaos, ultimately we can't stand to lose one of the
07:30 few good ones the show gave us.
07:32 "I understand you, uh, recently went to jail yourself.
07:35 Mr. Archibald?
07:36 I hate to see you back there."
07:41 So for real this time, how do we fix it?
07:43 As someone trying to make their own way, maybe it makes sense that Nate is the only character
07:47 on the show reliably in possession of a compass.
07:50 A moral compass, that is.
07:51 "I can't believe you told her."
07:52 "You just expected me to keep it a secret."
07:53 "Yes, Nate.
07:54 There's nothing wrong with keeping a secret if the truth is gonna hurt someone."
07:55 "That's a hell of a way to look at things."
08:01 As much as he obviously cares for his friends and family, he has always stood a bit apart
08:06 from them.
08:07 Not blinded by ambition, and only rarely swept up in his emotions, more than anyone around
08:11 him Nate can be counted on to do the right thing.
08:15 His priority seems to be finding the truth in any situation, regardless of the agendas
08:19 at play.
08:20 "That does get pretty exhausting, though."
08:21 "Hey, don't get me started on exhausted."
08:23 "Hey, what you're really tired of is keeping everything a big secret."
08:26 Maybe that's why Nate is Gossip Girl's go-to man whenever sleuthing becomes necessary.
08:31 With the number of investigations he was involved in over the seasons, we're shocked that the
08:35 CW never took Kristen Bell out of the narrator's corner and put her on screen for a Veronica
08:39 Mars crossover special.
08:41 "Come on, you were always on that thing.
08:43 This audition's really important to me.
08:44 Plus, the book is a bestseller and it has a built-in movie audience."
08:48 With that in mind, we think that Season 4 is the perfect place to start tweaking Nate's
08:53 storyline.
08:54 When he was dumped by Serena at the end of the previous season, it severed his last remaining
08:58 link to his original book persona.
09:00 So it's an organic place to try something different.
09:02 "Oh, so I didn't realize you and Serena were actually over."
09:05 "Yeah, well, I'm not gonna spend the entire summer waiting for her to figure things out."
09:08 "Right, yeah, that, uh, that makes sense."
09:12 Season 4 already brought several new elements into play.
09:15 When Howard Archibald is paroled from prison, he moves in with Nate, and the steps he takes
09:19 to restart his financial career brought Russell Thorpe into the story.
09:23 "Forget your usual suspects, Upper East Siders."
09:26 "I look forward to facing you all."
09:27 "There's a new family in town."
09:31 Russell, who has a long and bitter history with the late Bart Bass, comes to New York
09:36 intent on destroying Bass Industries.
09:39 Nate becomes a key player in all the drama that follows, not only because of the implications
09:43 for his best friend Chuck, and for Howard, but also as a result of a connection he sparks
09:48 with Russell's daughter, Raina.
09:50 "Wanna go catch the game highlights somewhere?
09:55 I just need to not talk about this for a while."
09:59 "Yeah, that'd be great."
10:01 Disappointingly, the Thorpe storyline eventually boils down to a dead-end tangent with little
10:06 impact on any longer plotlines.
10:08 It could be more, though.
10:09 "Smarter than you look, Archibald."
10:10 "You get that a lot."
10:14 Nate has his suspicions about Howard's new job at Thorpe Enterprises from the start,
10:18 but mostly because of all the complications of the situation.
10:21 "Chuck, his family, I would never do anything to jeopardize things for him."
10:25 "You do realize that's a total contradiction, though, being Chuck's family and then working
10:28 for the Thorpes."
10:29 "Word around the office is that he's banging Thorpe's daughter.
10:32 Talk about sleeping with the enemy."
10:34 "But that's Chuck's decision, okay?
10:35 And whatever happens with Raina is on him and him alone.
10:38 You need the second chance."
10:40 Sure, there's plenty of reason for Nate to be concerned, but what if he found something
10:44 that raised a red flag in a more tangible sense?
10:47 Like, for example, if he accidentally stumbled upon something in the family banking that
10:51 didn't add up?
10:52 "Hey, Tom.
10:53 Thanks for getting back to me so quickly."
10:54 "Your message said it was important."
10:56 "Um, yeah, I was checking my accounts and I came across what I assumed to be an error."
10:59 The Archibalds never technically lost their position in society, but Howard's antics severely
11:04 handicapped their net worth.
11:06 Yet suddenly, their debts are paid and their accounts are flush, all as a result of transfers
11:11 from a mysterious offshore source.
11:13 "Why worry?
11:14 Mysterious financial transactions.
11:16 Worrying parents?
11:17 Welcome to the Upper East Side."
11:19 Chuck's game with Russell can continue to unfold pretty much the way it already does
11:23 on the show, but now, in addition to helping his friend, Nate will also be trying to figure
11:28 out his father's motives.
11:30 And when Howard turns company intel over to Chuck that will rule out Russell as a factor
11:34 in the Archibald family's windfall.
11:36 "This is the Thorpe's office.
11:41 And this, all the passwords you need."
11:44 As Chuck, Nate, and Raina close in on the increasingly unhinged Russell, Nate's investigation
11:49 will yield the revelation that those offshore payments were being approved by a small financial
11:54 firm in New York, a tiny subsidiary of Bass Industries.
11:59 When the Thorpe arc comes to its resolution, the trio make their way to the office for
12:03 answers, only to discover a ghost from the past awaiting them.
12:07 "Oh my God."
12:09 Yes, bonkers as it is, we're going to keep the resurrection of Chuck's Machiavellian
12:14 father Bart Bass.
12:16 We will learn that not only did he settle the Archibald family's financial matters,
12:20 but he pulled strings to arrange Howard's parole all in order to enlist him as a pawn
12:24 against Russell.
12:25 "We thought they might be using you just to get information."
12:27 "I'm a grown man, Nate.
12:29 And I'm actually good at what I do."
12:31 It's not merely because of the longstanding feud, or because of Russell's intentions against
12:35 Bass Industries, but because Russell's ambitions have seen him approaching lucrative opportunities
12:40 with some dubious partners, potentially threatening Bart Bass's interests on a deeper level.
12:46 But a pin in that, we'll circle back.
12:47 "What is this?
12:48 You're kicking me out?"
12:51 After years under the thumb of Gossip Girl, Nate's tolerance for secrets and shadow networks
12:56 is already pretty low.
12:58 While confiding in Raina, he expresses his frustration that everything in his life seems
13:02 to lead back to a scheme or plot.
13:05 She challenges him to do something about it.
13:07 "What would you be doing if I wasn't here?"
13:09 "Probably just studying."
13:11 "What subjects?"
13:12 After pointing out that turbulence in the media industry, Raina will suggest acquiring
13:16 a failing magazine or paper, and using it as a means to platform investigative work.
13:21 Nate is reluctant to use any of the funds provided by Bart Bass, but luckily, Raina
13:25 is willing to partner with him.
13:27 "That's awesome."
13:28 "Mm-hmm."
13:29 "We need to call Ben and Jerry."
13:31 "No.
13:32 We should start our own company."
13:33 "Yes."
13:34 This neatly solves another Gossip Girl misstep, and keeps savvy, morally conscious Raina in
13:40 the story rather than exiling her back to Chicago.
13:42 It also excises the messy, predatory plot involving Diana Payne.
13:46 "I know you don't understand, but you need to trust me."
13:50 "No, you know what I need to do is rethink this whole relationship."
13:53 With the start of Season 5, Nate and Raina launch The Spectator, helped along by a few
13:58 silent partners.
14:00 Gossip coverage helps to pay the bills, but the paper's real work is in digging down
14:04 into the dubious dealings hidden by the shine of high society.
14:07 "This would do way more harm than good."
14:09 "But it's our smoking gun."
14:11 "That's gonna shoot you, me, and all of our friends in the foot."
14:15 As Mark Bass enters his supervillain era, Nate and Raina are quietly working on finally
14:20 figuring out just what his real deal is.
14:22 Rather than Chuck discovering his father's illicit business dealings, it should have
14:26 been Nate.
14:27 However, before he can pull together the full story, he finds The Spectator sinking beneath
14:32 him.
14:33 "No, I get that there's a lot of money going out the door each month, okay?
14:35 But just with a little more time, I know I can turn things around."
14:38 "I understand, thank you."
14:40 "Who let you in here?"
14:41 The silent partners all begin to bail, and Thorpe Enterprises is targeted with a high-profile
14:45 lawsuit from out of left field, crippling the paper's finances.
14:49 Nate, of course, assumes that Bart is seeking vengeance, but as he desperately tries to
14:54 reach his former investors, he makes another unpleasant discovery - that his grandfather,
14:59 William Vanderbilt, had been among them.
15:01 "Can someone please explain to me what's going on here?
15:03 I mean, are you two working together?
15:05 Have you been working together this whole time?"
15:07 This mostly carries over from the existing show where William's financial stake in
15:10 Diana Payne's Spectator is the reason Nate is hired there in the first place.
15:15 Their cyclical relationship throughout the series saw Nate drawn into the Vanderbilt
15:18 orbit longing for family, only to be disillusioned by William's repeated attempts to manipulate
15:23 him onto the "suitable" path.
15:25 "I see you got my delivery."
15:27 "Ah, yes I did, thank you.
15:29 Fits perfectly."
15:30 "Of course it does."
15:31 It's a repeat pattern this time around as well.
15:33 However, this time, William's maneuvering reveals even more sobering realities.
15:37 "That editorial that you published, it made me realize you're the one who has an understanding
15:43 of which direction the Vanderbilt family needs to go in if we're going to continue to be
15:48 leaders."
15:49 You see, William too is in cahoots with Bart Bass, and wants to bring Nate back to heel.
15:53 It turns out the Vanderbilts have been a beneficiary of the illegal deals Bart has been doing behind
15:58 the scenes.
15:59 "So Bart was using the horses to hide the money he was buying illegal oil with?"
16:03 "He had to hide it somehow.
16:05 Sudan is an embargoed country."
16:06 In return, William's political connections have protected Bart, and together they have
16:11 formed a shadowy cabal of business contracts, government agents, and elected officials.
16:16 From day one, Nate's crusade to shine a light on the seamy side of wealth and privilege
16:20 has been tainted by the very forces he was rallying against, and doomed too since William
16:25 and Bart's financial hold on the Spectator would have ensured its failure no matter what.
16:30 "And now that Bart's wise to this guy, the question is, who will he outsmart next?"
16:35 But who acted as his eyes and ears on the ground in Nate's inner circle?
16:39 Insert Emily in Paris, "It's Dan."
16:41 "We watched the entire series to find out it's Dan."
16:46 Yes, what a twist.
16:48 It turns out that Bart bought Dan years ago.
16:51 When the would-be reporter was researching his insurance fraud, Bart was researching
16:55 Dan right back, uncovering his identity as Gossip Girl and using that to hold them in
17:00 a pact of mutually assured destruction.
17:02 "Listen, do you like hockey?"
17:03 "Uh, sure, yeah."
17:04 "Just thinking maybe I could give you a business primer over a ranger game Tuesday night."
17:08 Of course, Dan's secret identity revealed a ruthless and vicious nature that Bart could
17:13 respect, and so he became the emperor to Dan's Anakin Skywalker, guiding his journey through
17:18 the dark side for the love of the pure mayhem it induced in Chuck's world.
17:22 "Unlike my son, it's nice to see someone recognizes my stature in this town.
17:26 You couldn't find a better sponsor than New York Real Estate's Man of the Year."
17:30 Does this actually make more sense than the story that exists?
17:33 Not really.
17:34 Dan being Gossip Girl is always going to be nonsensical, but giving it some connective
17:38 tissue to the shady underbelly of the show at least makes it look like it was an intentional
17:43 choice and not the result of a coin toss.
17:46 "She could have been anywhere in the world."
17:47 "Like at Sarah Lawrence, where Eric Vanderwoodsen goes.
17:50 Or maybe London, where Jenny Humphrey lives."
17:51 "I thought of that."
17:53 All of this is a blow for sure, but, inspired by all of his friends' schemes and games over
17:58 the years, Nate marshals the setup of all setups.
18:02 Reyna and Chuck team up to orchestrate a sham attempt at a hostile takeover, misdirecting
18:07 Bart, Serena and Blair distract Dan by pretending to renew their duel for his affections, and
18:12 Anne Archibald returns to finally make up for all her years as a bad mother by entrapping
18:16 William.
18:17 All parties manipulate their targets into big monologue moments where they confess their
18:21 parts in the grand conspiracy, which are caught on hidden cameras and streamed live on the
18:26 Gossip Girl platform commandeered from Dan's control, probably by Georgina, since what
18:31 wild Gossip Girl gotcha moment could go down without the Chaos Queen herself?
18:36 "Did you give this to anyone else?"
18:39 "No.
18:40 Oh, unless you count everybody here."
18:43 It's unlikely that all the players in their vast network will be punished, but the most
18:47 powerful, including Bart and William, will go down.
18:51 Nate is heralded as a hero, and he accepts those laurels graciously, but frankly, he's
18:56 had enough.
18:57 This messy, elitist world where no one is ever what they seem to be was never his preferred
19:02 scene, so with this fight behind him, he packs up his life and makes his exit from the Upper
19:06 East Side.
19:07 "Why not graduate to a lost summer?
19:08 Have a dream.
19:09 Just spin the globe and pick a point."
19:13 The future finds Nate in California, where he always hoped to be.
19:17 He sleeps in, takes his dog for long walks on the beach, and spends his time with a group
19:21 of people who don't know or care what his pedigree is.
19:24 "Doing nothing has given me a lot of time to think, you know, and maybe the last couple
19:27 years are starting to take their toll on me, between my family, Juliet, Reyna, you.
19:32 I mean, sometimes I wish I could just reinvent myself."
19:35 Nate hasn't totally given up on the good fight, though.
19:38 He runs a non-profit organization that's dedicated to fighting for transparency in finance and
19:42 government, which is as close to political office as he wants to get.
19:51 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
19:55 about our latest videos.
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20:01 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
20:06 And as for his love life?
20:08 There's an argument for Reyna Thorpe, another genuinely good person, who had amazing chemistry
20:13 with Nate.
20:14 But given their ideological differences, maybe they decided they were better business partners
20:18 than lovers.
20:19 "My dad and I, we're Notre Dame fans."
20:24 "Oh, no.
20:25 No, you can't be.
20:26 What are you talking about?"
20:27 "Uh-huh.
20:28 I guess kids are out of the question."
20:33 It would be more realistic if he found someone totally unrelated to his past.
20:37 However, there's a part of us that delights in the idea of Nate reconnecting with someone
20:41 else who often went unnoticed.
20:43 Someone with the brains and drive of Blair without her vicious side.
20:47 The outsider's perspective of Vanessa without the hypocrisy.
20:50 The creativity of Jenny without the drama.
20:53 "Nellie Yuki.
20:54 Top in our class.
20:55 Summer schooled at the Sorbonne."
20:56 Yep, we think grown-up Dan and Nellie would be a fun, if unexpected pairing who could
21:01 balance each other well.
21:03 And we can't say we don't love imagining Nate bringing her to Blair and Chuck's annual Thanksgiving
21:07 dinner.
21:08 "Nellie was just telling me you invited her here to meet with her.
21:12 I hope it is to make an official apology."
21:14 "That I'd love to hear."
21:17 Mostly, though, Nate just enjoys living his life in a world where people don't make plans
21:21 grander than where they're all meeting up to watch the sports game.
21:24 Whatever else his old friends may be getting themselves into, Nate is at peace, and we
21:29 love that for him.
21:30 "Well, in case you're wondering, my life's been pretty drama-free these days."
21:34 So what do you think?
21:35 Would it be better if Nate were a gossip girl?
21:37 How would you change the storyline of the sideline St. Jude's Golden Boy?
21:41 Let us know in the comments.
21:42 "You had more fun not being you than you've ever had actually being you, which means you
21:48 now know you need to change."
21:49 Do you agree with our picks?
21:51 Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
21:54 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
21:58 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
21:59 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:00 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:01 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:02 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:03 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:04 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:05 "I'm so excited to be a mom."
22:05 [MUSIC]
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