Pret-a-Poor-J

Even a Jenny-centric episode can’t overshadow the Blair and Chuck “relationship.” As Jenny’s internship at Eleanor’s crumbled, Blair and Chuck came to an understanding about what those “three words, eight letters” would mean for their relationship.

The show began with another Blair fantasy dream (beginning a trend?). This time she was in the back of the limo making out with a mystery man (most likely Chuck Bass). She’s woken up by her live-in housekeeper, Dorata, who warns Blair about her fantasies. “Don’t forget God always watching Ms. Blair.”

In Brooklyn, Jenny’s running around the house while on the phone trying to make sure Eleanor will be prepared for her meeting with Bloomingdale’s later that morning. Jenny’s doesn’t have time to chat but manages to catch to house-guest Nate coming out the bathroom in his towel. Jenny looked extremely embarrassed but Nate played it very cool.

At work, Jenny’s fitting a young model for Eleanor’s line. The model, Agnes (such an old woman’s name), recognizes Jenny by the top of her head and Jenny replies to recognizes Agnes by her feet. Awkward but the girls form a little bond. Jenny’s excited to see the execs from Bloomingdale’s walk in because Eleanor promised her she could sit in on the meeting. Eleanor puts the brakes on that plan for the moment but Jenny takes the news professionally and goes back to work. Leaving her sketch book at home that morning Nate just happens to find and brings it to her at work. A friendly gesture or does someone really want to see our little J?

Blair strolls to school in the rain under her umbrella. A limo pulls up alongside her and the window rolls down to reveal Chuck. He offers her a ride and after first refusing she decides to accept (with a little nudging by Chuck’s puppy face that I didn’t know existed). It’s still Chuck’s little game though as he won’t let Blair in the car unless she says those three magic words. Blair says no and Chuck drives off.

Fed up with his antics, Blair goes to best friend and step-sister to her nemesis for help to ruin Chuck’s life. Blair interrupts Serena and Dan’s friendly conversation but wanting to make hers and Dan’s new friendship work Serena asks Dan for a man’s point of view on the situation. They first ask Blair if she loves Chuck which she adamantly denies. Dan than gives Blair what she deems good advice: She needs to wear Chuck down by being at his side at all times. Chuck can only take so much admiration.

After her meeting with Bloomingdale’s, Eleanor apologizes to Jenny about keeping her out of the meeting. She informs her that the executives loved Jenny’s dress and Eleanor asks her to create another one just like it to show to Bendel’s and Barney’s tomorrow. Jenny hesitates at creating a new dress in one night but with the promise of being included in the next day’s meetings she’s gung-ho.

New girl, Agnes, has other nightly plans for Jenny and takes her out to a club. Agnes loves the dress Jenny’s wearing (the one Eleanor wants duplicated) and asks if they can trade clothes. They slip into the bathroom and switch dresses. Outside they meet Agnes’ photographer friend Max who, every time was in a scene, couldn’t keep his finger off the shutter button.

Max takes millions of fun photos of the girls dancing in the club but soon Jenny needs to get back to work. Agnes tries to get her to stay out longer but Jenny knows she has to pull an all-nighter to finish the dress for Eleanor by morning. Agnes leaves with Max but the girls forget to switch-back dresses and Jenny’s left on the curb watching Agnes’ cab speed off down the dark city street. As Gossip Girl said, in the real world you can’t bring a note to the principal saying the drunk girl ran off with your homework.

Taking Dan’s advice (for the first time ever!), Blair waits for Chuck by his limo and asks him to go out for a drink, a normal Upper East Side teenager tradition. Chuck calls her bluff but Blair counters by saying he’s scared to have a simple drink. The two drive off to the nearest club and Blair tries to seduce then humiliate the young Bass. After Blair “accidentally” spills her drink in his lap and gets up to leave saying, “I’m bored and you ruined my pants.”

Blair calls Dan at the gallery, a surprise to Vanessa, to tell her his plan failed but Dan says she needs to keep forcing his hand. Later, while Dan and Serena try to have a conversation about Nate, Blair obsessively texts Serena about her plans for Chuck later that night.

In the next scene we see Blair’s plan in action. She’s taken over Serena’s room for the night to lure Chuck in from the hallway. She places candles all over the room and dresses in a small teddy to seduce her man. Her temptations work and Chuck tells her that he doesn’t need to hear those three little words. He takes her into his arms but before they can go any further the phone interrupts them and their plans are put on hold.

The next morning back at Eleanor’s, Agnes finds Jenny frantically working away at her station trying to complete the dress for the meeting in a few hours. Agnes tries to convince Jenny to create her own line and stop Eleanor from using anymore of her designs. Agnes leaves but Jenny looks convinced.

It definitely appears so once Eleanor shows up. Jenny finishes the dress but Eleanor finds the work insufficient for her meeting with the Bendel’s and Barney’s. Eleanor also calls out Jenny on her photo shoot from the night before and lectures her on the responsibilities of a real world job. Jenny’s heard enough. She takes her dresses and walks out. She better be confident in creating her own line because Eleanor did not look pleased as Jenny turned her back and departed the premises.

At the gallery, Serena brings Blair to talk to Dan again as she prances off to flirt with the new artist boy (more on him later). Dan asks Blair if she really loves Chuck. Blair implies a yes answer and Dan urges her to take the risk of actually telling him. He recounts how he told Serena he loved her and it was obvious he still does. Blair again takes Dan’s advice and texts Chuck to meet her that night.

Everyone who’s anyone attends the big art showing at Rufus’ gallery, a surprise to both him and Dan. Serena brings Blair and Blair invites Chuck to meet her later. Vanessa’s not thrilled to see her nemesis, Blair, at the party after the events that took place. It seems Vanessa forgot to tell best friend Dan about that little story and Dan’s not too surprised even after seeing a new side of Blair the past few days.

Blair receives a text from Chuck to meet her on the roof but before making her way upstairs Dan stops her. He tells her to not be so trustful of Chuck. Once on the roof, she keeps Dan’s words in the back of her mind and can’t go through with telling Chuck that she really does love him.

With no job and no school, Jenny finds the time to stop by the gallery. She’s not their long as new friends Agnes and Max intercept her. Agnes tells her about a magazine editor that wants to do a piece on the up-and-coming designer and asks Jenny come with them to meet him. Before walking out the door Nate grabs Jenny to ask her to hang out. Jenny says she has other plans and gets irritated when she thinks Nate becomes too overprotected for not being her father or brother. That’s right Jenny he wants to be your protector.

Nate finds the artist of the night, Aaron, who is friends with Jenny’s friend Max. Aaron warns him about Max and Nate sets out to rescue Jenny. He’s almost too late as he find Jenny and Agnes in only their bras as Max continues to flash photos of the girls. Either there was no editor or they ditched the meeting but Nate drags Jenny out of the apartment building. Jenny wants to know why he cares so much and he answers with a kiss, a long kiss with no fight from Jenny. The living situation just became either extremely interesting or extremely awkward.

Blair and Chuck’s night isn’t over as Chuck shows up at Blair’s house later. He tells her that they may love each other but admitting so would ruin their relationship. He says he may be able to tell her one day but he doesn’t want to mess up what they have (or don’t have at the moment).

As for Serena, she may have found herself a new man and although Dan’s putting on a happy face he doesn’t seem too thrilled. Serena chatted up the young new artist, Aaron, from Rufus’ gallery throughout the episode but when she figured out his riddle for her (it seems Aaron and Serena were “married” at an European summer camp), she was too late. She caught Aaron just in time to see him riding off with another girl on the back of his motorcycle.

Will Aaron and/or Agnes be back? Check the tabloids for those scandalous pictures of Jenny and Agnes and be back next week to find out how long Blair and Chuck’s new journey apart will last.

Chuck in Real Life

Welcome home Papa Bass! Bart finally made his long-awaited arrival back to his new family. Although he and Lilly did spend time together on his last layover (he revealed the “Lilly File” that had one little secret she doesn’t want anyone to know about), he announced at the breakfast table that his return would be for the long haul. With his homecoming, Bart comes bearing gifts for all his children (a suit for Serena, a watch for Eric and money for one of Chuck’s offshore accounts) and new set of guidelines for his family. A 1 a.m. curfew and family dinner every Friday night (reminds me of Friday night dinners at the Gilmore’s) are only a few of the rules in place for the Bart and Lilly’s children. We’ll have to see how long the children apply to their parents’ wishes.

To welcome home Bart, he and Lilly are throwing a dinner party for their friends. The kids can also invite their friends to the event. Keep this in mind.

Over in Brooklyn, Vanessa’s trying to enlist Dan to help her save a historic bar and apply it for landmark status. Dan’s busy with the soccer to team to help out at the moment. That’s right, lonely boy Dan Humphrey has been recruited by new friend Nate to sub in for an injured player. It looks like this friendship is progressing.

After their morning announcements, Serena and Eric ditched the limo ride to walk to school on the beautiful fall day in New York. Serena’s not sure about her mother’s new husband and the control she thinks Bart has over Lilly. Eric’s not convinced and is willing to give their mother a chance. Surprising for Eric since it was Lilly that locked him up in the nut house just two years ago.

Walking through the hallways, Dan and Nate run into Chuck. A quick exchange of unpleasantries before Nate blows off Chuck with Dan in tow. Blair swoops in to kick Chuck when he’s down. He tries to rebound by telling her that she’ll be crawling back to him one of these days. Blair informs him she’ll never sleep with him again. Don’t speak too soon Blair; you never know when you’ll need your partner in crime.

Speaking of crime, Vanessa’s looking for Blair’s services to help her save the historical bar and she has the ammunition to make Blair submit to her wishes. Vanessa still has those pictures of Blair’s ex, Lord Marcus, and his step-mother Duchess to blackmail Blair with. Blair’s posse may know that she broke up with the Lord but no one knows why except for Vanessa. It looks like Vanessa’s taking a page out of Blair’s book.

First night under the Bart Bass establishment and Serena’s choosing to live by the rules by staying in for the night. No surprise, Chuck takes this opportunity to outright defy his father and make a house visit to a female caller. He says the rules don’t apply to him and the family values set forth by Bart and Lilly are only a front for a Mid-West client Bart is shopping right now. Coming from a Mid-West town, I can honestly say we can be just as devious and sinful as the big city folk.

Serena takes Chuck’s advice and puts on a skimpy red dress to hit the town with. Heading to the elevator, she passes Bart who’s shocked to see her apparel and Serena tells him she’s looking to put on a show for the paparazzi. Bart can do nothing but stand there and let his step-daughter walk out the door.

The female caller for Chuck wasn’t looking for a good time but for her partner in crime. Blair invites Chuck over to acquire his services in helping her get rid of her Vanessa problem. She wants Chuck to seduce Vanessa in order for Blair to gain control back from her. The incentive for Chuck is to get back at Vanessa best friend, Dan, for stealing his best friend, Nate. Chuck accepts the offer and takes the flyer for the bar Vanessa’s trying to save. B and C are back in action and on the case.

The next morning, S and B get together for breakfast. Serena tells Blair about how she snuck out after Chuck told her he was leaving the house for the night. At the mention of Chuck’s name, a slight smile comes across the face of Blair and Serena picks up on it. Blair denies it and nothing more is said when Eric shows up with new boyfriend Jonathan. Excited for her little brother, Serena invites the two to join them and to tell her and Blair how they met. I really like the relationship between Serena and Eric. Serena looks after him as much as possible and really cares about him. Both Serena and Dan really look out for their younger siblings.

Speaking of Dan and Jenny, she tries to convince Dan that he’s never really had guy friends (and father Rufus doesn’t count) and his best friends have always been girls (Vanessa and Serena). Dan brushes her off and calls up Nate to play soccer in the park. After a stereotypical male conversation (what’s up bro?), Dan heads to Nate’s.

Finally, we see the historical site that Vanessa is trying to safe. Chuck pulls up in his limo acting like a knight on his high horse coming to save the day. Chuck sees buying the bar as a good business opportunity for Bass Industries. He promises to keep the bar vintage but before he and Vanessa can go over the details, another member trying to save the bar throws coffee in his face. Chuck departs but Vanessa realizes he may be her only hope to save the establishment.

Hearing about her daughter’s rendezvous last night, Lilly sits Serena down to talk about her relationship with Bart. Lilly wants to give her daughter structure and by her behavior, she should have put in place more structure before. Serena replies, “You mean the three husbands before?” Ouch.

When Dan arrives at Nate’s front door he sees a flyer for the seizure of the house. He looks to see locks on the doors but walks down to the stairs to another door to see that lock’s been broken. He enters the door and walks into the house. He flips the light switch to see the power’s off. He finds a mattress lying in the middle of the living room floor and Nate’s clothes scattered around. Young Mr. Archibald looks to be a squatter in his own home.

After facing rejection from Vanessa, Chuck returns to Blair to tell her the deals off. The revenge against Dan Humphrey is not enough for him to continue with Blair’s little scheme. She ups his incentive by offering to sleep with him if completes the deal and puts Vanessa to shame. Chuck, still longing for Blair after their split in the Hamptons, agrees to her terms. He obviously wants Blair back (seeing as he has no real friends right now) but are we seeing a Blair that also misses Chuck Bass?

Chuck goes back to Vanessa to say he’s spoken with his lawyer. All that’s needed is the Bass signature (not sure if that’s Chuck or Bart) and the bar manager’s signature. It may be hard for Vanessa to decline since she really wants to save this building.

A good thing these two made up last week because Serena needs Blair to lean on right now. She’s still not content with her family situation and doesn’t trust Bart’s family friendly system he’s put in place. Blair’s not exactly listening to every word as she’s trying on a new dress, a dress Chuck bought her before their planned trip to Europe. An outfit to tease Chuck perhaps?

Dan meets up with Nate in the park after his stop at the deserted house. Dan doesn’t mention he’s already been to Nate’s home but does question him on his living situation. Nate says his mom’s living in their Hamptons home and he decided to stay in the city. Nate avoids anymore of the question as he runs off to get the two boys a drink.

In the meantime, Chuck goes to the store to meet the manager. Apparently they both know a famous womanizer Joe Kennedy, a man Chuck admires (speaking of womanizer, I loved the music video of Britney Spears’ new song set to scenes of the infamous Chuck Bass). The manager gives Chuck a tour of the place and it appears that Chuck’s actually taking an interest in the place.

Back in the park, Dan calls Jenny and tells her about Nate’s situation. She tells him that Rufus is making his famous chili tonight and that Dan should invite Nate over. Is Humphrey making Nate charity case of the month?

Serena arrives home to see Eric’s boyfriend leaving. She asks if he’ll be attending and he says Eric did not invite him. Serena immediately assumes that Bart had a hand in this and told Eric he didn’t want Jonathan to be invited.

Chuck’s beginning to take a real interest in his new business opportunity. He also looks to be taking an interest in Vanessa and not in the deceiving way he was instructed by Blair to do. Chuck invites her to the Bass dinner part that evening and this could be a genuine invitation or the next step in his revengeful plan.

The dinner party doesn’t appear to be a small gathering of friends and family as a large group of press has gathered inside. Maybe Chuck was right and this is just a front for one of Bart’s business deals. Bart sees Serena enter in the suit he bought her and goes over to complement her. She thanks him but half-heartedly and grills him about not allowing Eric to bring Jonathan. He says she was misinformed and Eric chose not to invite Jonathan on his own.

Chuck’s going to buy the establishment and his courteousness towards Vanessa shows a change of heart from our bad boy. He escorts Vanessa around the party as Blair looks own wondering what her partner’s doing.

Dinner at the Humphrey household is a smaller gathering of Rufus, Jenny, Dan and guest Nate. Rufus asks Nate how he’s holding up after the tough year with his family. Nate tells him his mother’s still living in their Hamptons home (I wondering if that’s really where she is) and he didn’t want to miss any school by leaving the city. Dan tries to change the subject by talking about the soccer tricks Nate’s been teaching Dan. Nate returns to the original conversation so as to not show any signs of weakness for his real situation.

At the Bass dinner party, Bart confronts Chuck about his new business adventure. Bart’s not too fond of his son’s choices and doesn’t want to put his money into the bar. Vanessa spies the confrontation from behind a pillar and sees her and Chuck’s dreams fading quickly.

Cleaning up after their meal, Dan tells Nate he knows about his living situation. Nate immediately goes on the defensive and says he doesn’t want to be the next charity case. He excuses himself leaving Dan wondering if he did the right thing.

Vanessa finds Chuck to discuss what happened with his father. She starts to take pity on him. Chuck senses that but doesn’t exploit it. He does ask for her company. She looks hesitant at first but decides to stay with him.

Serena talks to Eric about Jonathan not being in attendance. Eric confirms Bart’s words that he did tell Eric he could invite Jonathan. Eric chose not to because he didn’t want to come out in front of all the press at the party. Before they can continue their conversation, a reporter interrupts the two and asks them about their favorite family memories. Serena lets loose and her emotions flow over. She tells the reporter about her mother’s many suitors and Lilly rushes over to try and stop her daughter. It’s too late as Serena goes on to talk about German Klaus with a “K” and Danish Claus with a “C”. She gives her Christmas story about a white Christmas with her mother’s coke head boyfriend. Lilly looks devastated but the damage has already been done and Serena walks out of the party.

Blair suddenly has a change of heart and tells Chuck she won’t go through with their deal. She may see Chuck’s relationship with Vanessa (if one exists) as a threat and will try to take down both of them.

Off in a corner away from the press, Lilly sits down with Eric to talk about Serena’s explosion. Although rude, Eric did agree with what Serena had to say and tells Lilly that Serena raised him more than she did. He informs his mother that Bart and she can’t just say they’re a family. They have to take the necessary steps to actually become a family. Eric has become a voice of reason for his mother and sister in this episode. Hopefully, we’ll get to see the story with his boyfriend play out over this season just to see more of Eric.

Dan comes to Rufus about how Nate blew him off. Dan wants to be Nate’s friend and in so doing help his friend out when he’s in trouble. Rufus tells him to not give up on Nate and get him the help he needs. I’m sure it’s hard to go from the billionaire kid to being a teenage squatter.

Vanessa picks up her jacket and purse from coat check but Blair’s already picked up the purse. She got a hold of Vanessa’s cell phone and deleted the blackmail photos. Blair tells her Chuck never really liked her and Vanessa replies that he never hit on her in the first place. Vanessa walks out but Chuck sees the conversation and comes over to confront Blair. He questions Blair’s intentions and she says that she held up her end of the deal meaning he can sleep with her. We know it’s what Chuck’s been after the whole season but now he doesn’t seem to be as eager.

Dan takes his father’s advice and heads to Nate’s. Waiting on the stoop isn’t Nate but Serena, the first time these two have come into contact since she alienated him from the entire student body.

Chuck blows off Blair for the moment and heads back to the bar. He pleads with manager that he wants to save the place but the manager doesn’t accept his offer. When Chuck walks out the door, Vanessa comes out of the shadows.

The Dan and Serena meeting came as a surprise but it was bound to happen sooner or later. The conversation doesn’t take place between the two exactly. Serena came to talk to Nate about her night but Dan tells her to talk to him like he was Nate, only fair after he used Dan’s name last week at Yale. She tells him about her speech to the reporters and confesses she’s not mad at Bart but at her mom. Serena then apologizes to Dan for all the terrible things she’s done to him over the past few weeks and Dan returns with his own apology. Bart pulls up in a limo to fetch Serena back home. It’s nice to see D and S speaking again and to make it more of a causal meeting then a planned event.

When Serena returns home, she sits down with Lilly. Lilly admits she did put the men in her life before her children. Bart and Eric join the two and Serena apologizes to both Lilly and Bart for her actions. The scene ends with a picture perfect family but no Chuck in attendance.

Dan also returns home but with Nate straggling in behind him. He’ll be taking a spot on the couch for the time being. I can only imagine how this we’ll lead to the kiss between him and Jenny that’s suppose to be happening soon.

Where was Chuck while his family was coming together? He went to Blair’s to claim what was his. The two began to kiss (with some strange film freezes) but Chuck suddenly stops. He wants Blair to say the three words, eight letters that he couldn’t say to her earlier in the year. She refuses and says their even but that’s not enough for Chuck. He turns the tables and says he’s done chasing her. Now it’s Blair’s turn.

New Haven Can Wait

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. Yale degree, please?

This week, the young New York socialites traded their stuffy Upper East Side for the collegiate atmosphere of Yale University. Blair woke up excited to visit the Ivy League school she’s dreamed about forever, Yale. Ex-best friend, Serena, woke up excited to visit the Ivy League school she’s dreamed about forever, Brown University. But, how fun is it if they went on two separate college visits? Definitely none, so the girls, along with the three boys, were off to New Haven.

Speaking of the boys, Dan started his day nervous about his interview with the Yale English Department. With a few encouraging words by his father, he took off for the hour train ride north. Chuck and Nate discussed their trip to Yale and the secret societies associated with the school. Chuck’s evaluating his choice of schools based only on the societies while Nate’s really set on going to the University of Southern California. My guess is because he wants to get away from his family’s problems anyway possible.

Before taking off in their separate limos, Serena breaks the week long silence with Blair. Blair wants no part of it. She insults Brown University as not being as worthy of the Ivy League title as the Holy Trinity made up by Harvard, Yale and Princeton. When Blair walks away, Serena decides to accept her Yale invitation she received a few days before and informs her driver of the shorter ride to Connecticut.

While the older kids frolic among the higher educated for the weekend, little Jenny continues her plans of staying with Eleanor’s company and not returning to school. Of course, Rufus is still not accepting his daughter’s choices even after Jenny and Vanessa inform him about the home-schooling option. They make a deal, however, that Rufus will consider her keeping the internship and doing home-schooling after spending the day with her at Eleanor’s. In return, if Rufus doesn’t agree then Jenny must give up the internship and return to school. I see this going either way.

On campus, Dan finds out he needs another reference for his application. The author he interned with over the summer didn’t send a recommendation of the young writer’s talents. Who can blame him after Dan spent most of the summer getting to know the girls coming into the bookstore then perfecting his writing skills? Dan’s mission, to find a Yale English professor to read his work and give him the good word he needs.

Elsewhere, Chuck and Nate scope out the Yale ladies. Nate’s doing most of the looking as Chuck’s waiting to be captured by Yale’s Skull and Bones. Each gets what they’re looking for. Nate picks a young woman to give him a tour around the campus. The Skulls find Chuck, pull a bag over his head and haul him off to their secret hideout.

We find Blair in the Dean of Admissions office waiting for her interview. She’s quite surprised when she sees Serena walking out with the Dean, both laughing. Serena said everyone likes a surprise but I don’t see Blair enjoying this one.

Nate and his female tour guide are talking on a park bench when they overhear the conversation next to them about Nate being on campus. Turns out, Nate’s father ruined many of Yale’s students’ inheritance. When his guide asks for his name, before continuing their day together, he passes himself off as Dan Humphrey. Why pick a name of real person? Joe Smith, always go with the average Joe name.

Chuck finds himself in a dark room where he’s questioned by top members of the Skulls society. He needs to prove his worthiness to be accepted. He offers them a party that lives up to his reputation of sleeping with more Maxim women than John Mayer.

On paper, Blair’s the perfect student to attend the fine institution of Yale. The Dean wants more insight into Blair though. Serena told the Dean of her quick jump into the modeling world. Blair has nothing and she becomes nervous, going on a tangent that appears to be targeted toward Serena. The Dean sees her out, obviously not impressed, but Blair doesn’t notice giving him a small peck on the cheek as she leaves. Awkward. Blair finds Serena outside and confronts her about moving in on her territory. Serena says she’s really likes Yale and the Dean invited her to his dinner party that evening, a dinner Blair was set on attending. Blair ends the conversation with the threat of taking Serena down by the end of the weekend.

Back in New York, Rufus tags along with Jenny to work. As he watches Jenny perform under the pressure, he sneaks back to Eleanor’s office. I still don’t understand their relationship except for her knowing about him and Lilly. Rufus wants Eleanor to fire Jenny but Eleanor won’t consider it. It looks like he’ll have to tell her “No” himself.

After his release from the Skulls dungeon, Chuck runs into step-sister Serena. Attempting to ruin Blair’s life even more, he gives Serena her answer to the Dean’s famous dinner question: What person real or imaginary, living or dead would you most like to have dinner with? The answer: George Sand, a literary woman who wore men’s clothing and apparently the key answer to finding one self’s on the Dean’s short list.

Nate’s tour ends in his tour guide’s room with an afternoon make-out session. Before continuing, his Yale lady wants Nate’s (Dan’s) impression of her favorite author. Knowing nothing about him, he plays it off as if his work was too boring to read. He’s almost saved by a knock on the door until the person behind the door is the real Dan Humphrey, looking for a recommendation. When the young woman realizes what Nate’s pulling she kicks both of the boys to the curb. Nate mad at getting kicked out and Dan mad about not getting a reference have it out on the stairs of the dormitory and part ways.

Blair needs an invitation to the Dean’s dinner party that night. In order to do so, she bribes the Dean’s secretary for an invitation in exchange for antiques the secretary collects. Oh Blair, so sneaky. Now that Blair has invitation, she gives Serena a surprise of her own showing up at the dinner unexpectedly. Serena’s not threatened, though, and tells Blair she’ll still use her answer to the Dean’s infamous question.

Nate finds himself at Mike’s Bar, alone. He calls up Chuck and leaves him a message that he wants to go home. Chuck’s throwing the Skulls a party with three young foreign girls who don’t speak a word of English. The party’s just the first step for Chuck’s initiation. The Skulls are looking for blood, more specifically Nate Archibald’s. Chuck’s instructed to bring Nate to them as soon as possible. The Skulls seem to make a mistake, though, when Dan’s kidnapped instead.

The Dean’s questioning has begun at the dinner party. First up, Serena with the answer of Pete Fairman. Serena stands frozen. Waiting for the Dean to announce George Sand as her answer, she’s shocked to hear the name of the guy she accidentally killed with a drug overdose that night in the hotel with Georgina. This can only be the handy work of Blair Waldorf. Serena pulls herself together and politely explains to the Dean the situation behind Pete. Serena then grabs Blair by the arm and pulls her out to the front porch. Serena’s words for Blair are not enough. As Serena goes to walk back inside, Blair throws her purse at Serena hitting her smack upside the head. Serena swings around, tells her she should not have done that and the two girls get into the first major catfight of Gossip Girl history.

It looks like Jenny’s dream of being a young designer is coming to end. Rufus still wants his little girl to finish school and Jenny, unwillingly, agrees to her part of the deal. They have one last stop to make before heading home for the day, a trip to the Bass household. Rufus has no interest in seeing Mrs. Lilly Bass but Jenny informs him she’s not home. We see Lilly is home trying on Serena’s dress and comes out to find Jenny and Rufus standing in the foyer. Jenny needs to pick up a pair of shoes for the dress and runs upstairs to fetch them, leaving Rufus and Lilly alone. Lilly tells Rufus how talented she thinks Jenny is and how lucky she is to know what she wants to do at such a young age. It looks like her words resonate with Rufus and he might be having second thoughts.

The Skulls come into Mike’s Bar bragging about conquering their nemesis Nate Archibald. Nate overhears the conversation and throws a punch at the bandleader of the group. Nate walks out of the bar and finds Dan on campus tied to a statue in only his boxers. Nate and Dan forget their earlier standoff and Nate attempts to help Dan out of his jam. He can’t untie the tight knot but not to fear, Nate’s tour guide arrives on the scene with the Navy intelligence to release Dan.

Sitting on opposite ends of the porch exhausted from their physical feud, Serena lets Blair know she can’t keep up with their ongoing war. She wants to break off their friendship for good. She calls a cease-fire and the two girls part ways for the night.

The next morning, Jenny wakes up to Rufus and Vanessa having breakfast. Rufus changed his mind (surprise, surprise) and called Vanessa over to tell Jenny about home-schooling. Jenny can also keep her internship at Eleanor’s. Rufus says he and his parents had a rocky relationship after they wouldn’t let him pursue his music career and he didn’t want that relationship with his daughter. Hopefully this won’t cut down on Jenny’s already limited screen time.

As the sun rises over Yale University, Serena’s making her way to the Dean’s office to tell him that Blair really deserves to attend the elite school. Serena runs into Blair on the way and Blair says she already did the same for Serena. The two realize they don’t want to lose their friendship and agree for their feud to be over.

A new friendship is blooming between Dan and Nate. We see the boys spending their last day with their new Yale gal pal. With a recommendation from her, Dan’s dream of Yale has not ended.

Chuck informs the Skulls and Bones that he won’t be attending Yale and any harm they want to bring to him wouldn’t be in their best interest. Chuck’s girls at the party were really spies and have photos of the future CEO’s of America.

Nate meets up with Chuck at the limo. He knows Chuck had the Skulls kidnap Dan instead of him the night before. He declines the ride back to the city and heads to the train station.

Serena’s phone rings with the Dean on the other end. Serena made early admission but Blair will have to wait. Serena won’t accept the offer and is willing to give up her dreams to keep her friendship with Blair. The question is would Blair have done the same?

I have a few questions at the end of this episode. What’s Chuck’s storyline this season except to ruin the lives of everyone around him? The only real moment we’ve had is him trying to tell Blair he loves her and the intimate conversation with Dan in jail about his mother. It looks like he’s featured in next week’s episode but he’s helping Blair ruin Vanessa’s life.

Another question, how long will Dan and Nate’s friendship last? Once the two return to school, will Nate follow suit with the rest of the student body and abandon Dan?

Last question, can Serena and Blair rule the school together? Blair’s been queen since Serena took a year hiatus and now the two are friends again. Who will the posse follow, the overthrow queen or the young, hot socialite or both?

The Serena Also Rises

After four weeks of back and forth with Dan and Serena, the two finally parted ways episode to discover who they are without each other. In last week’s episode Serena moved to the top of the class, dethroning Blair as queen of the school and her first action as commander was alienating her ex, Dan, from the rest of the student body.

Fashion Week in New York City brings to the city the best designers, the best models and the best competition. Eleanor gave Blair the privilege to set the seating arrangement for her fashion show. Blair reminded her mother that Serena and she would again be backstage with her at the show, as they have traditionally done in the past. We all know traditions change and with last week’s power shift it wouldn’t be long before they did.

Little Jenny Humphrey played a big role this week as her internship at Eleanor’s would finally pay off during this busy and exciting week for fashionistas. But Jenny makes time for her designer dreams by ditching school and lying to big brother Dan about it.

Seems that Bart Bass is still traveling around the world and leaving his lonely wife, Lilly, to attend to the décor of their new home together. Lilly appears in higher spirits compared to last week when we found her on Rufus’ doorstep trying to restart a friendship that Rufus said ended the day she walked down the aisle with Bart. Lilly will be all right though as long as she has a joyful relationship with her children after last year’s shaky reunion.

At school, Chuck tries to take another path back to Blair’s heart by propositioning her to help make her “Queen B” again. Blair turns him down but she’s going to need some kind of reinforcements as her second row seats to Eleanor’s fashion show don’t beat Serena’s new friendship with young, socialite Poppy.

Dan finds himself in trouble with his writing again when he goes to see his editor. Dan’s trying to find material to send with his application to Yale’s English Department. His editor advises him to reach out of his comfort zone, learn something new and find someone not like him. That look in his eye shows Dan knows just who to ask.

You guessed it – Chuck Bass. Dan tells him he needs a little adventure in his life not revealing the urgency for his new story. It’s time to experience the life of Chuck Bass, hope you’re ready Dan.

With only a few days until the show, Eleanor is running around her studio frantically, making sure all her designs are Waldorf standard. She also has to deal with her daughter’s seating chart not being up to par according to Laurel. “Kirsten Dunst. So 2007. Her rehab stint barely made the radar.” Not to worry, Little J knows some girls with clout – Serena and new friend Poppy.

When Blair gets wind of this seating chart change, it only lends fuel to her fire. Already upset with her posse’s infatuation with Serena and Poppy, Blair jumps into revenge mode when her housekeeper tells her Miss Jenny made the switch to put Serena in the front row. Back from the break, Blair confronts Eleanor about the seating change. Blair explains to her mother that Serena wouldn’t approve but apparently she already agreed via a conversation Eleanor had with Lilly. Looks like that backstage tradition just went down the tubes for S and B.

Just why didn’t Jenny learn from her mistakes of last year? Blair quietly reminds her of the past and B’s got leverage when Eleanor informs her Little J supposedly has an independent study. Blair informs her mother that it’s very strange for a 10^th grader to have an independent study. This point brings me back to reality that Jenny is just a lowly sophomore even though her actions this season and the end of last season make her look 20.

To start the night, Chuck takes Dan to a bar and orders three shots for each of them. Dan, hesitant at first, agrees to the drinks and takes that leap “down the rabbit hole.” Pushing Dan’s limits, Chuck encourages washing down a pill of ecstasy with one of his shots. He takes the pill to go all in.

Serena, still not comfortable with her new title, informs her mother that Poppy’s publicist has the two girls seated front row at Eleanor’s show. She realizes how upset Blair will be if she doesn’t watch the show backstage together but Lilly and Poppy do their best to convince her to take the seats. Poppy talks her into it with passes to the Mark Jacobs’ after party with enough for Blair to tag along. Serena seems comforted by this notion but we all know Blair Waldorf doesn’t tag along.

With her leverage, Blair crosses the bridge to make a pit-stop at the Humphrey household. She informs Rufus that his daughter has missed 10 days of school on account of mono. Rufus sees right pass the charade but does know his daughter’s not sick. Time to check in on Little J.

First, we return to Chuck and Dan in the back of the Bass limo. Dan’s feeling very good in his drunken stupor and Chuck satisfied with his entertainment for the night drops Dan off on hooker’s lane nowhere near Brooklyn. With no shoes for the walk home, Dan does have quite a few story ideas now.

Rufus goes to Eleanor’s studio to find Jenny working late. He drags her out of the studio while Blair watches on. The next morning at breakfast, Jenny tries to convince her father she was keeping up with her homework and that the truancy would only last through fashion week. Certainly not a good enough answer for Rufus. He informs her that he called the headmistress and Jenny now has a meeting with her on Saturday afternoon, the day of the fashion show. The meeting could be Little J’s last shot at not being expelled but only fashion is on the mind of the up-and-coming designer.

Serena comes over to Blair’s home to invite her to the after-party but Blair won’t have any of it. Serena’s fear of leaving Blair backstage alone without consulting her came true. The confrontation broke their friendship further as Serena told Blair she would take those front row seats and enjoy them thoroughly (obviously out of spite at that time).

Dan is one step closer to writing the perfect story for Yale. Only problem, he is going to have to write it from his nemesis’ point of view, Charlie Trout (very creative with the fishy last names). Dan needs to find the humanity in Charlie (Chuck) and that comes with finding his most kept secret. Cutting up this Bass could get messy.

Little J goes to the school for her meeting but Laurel is calling her non-stop to get to the fashion show immediately. Jenny makes a choice and appears to ditch the headmistress for the show. Wait until Rufus finds out.

At the show Serena finds her seats have been moved to the back row. It looks like Blair’s been playing a little musical chairs but Jenny sees the commotion and comes over to the defense of Serena. Eleanor walks up to solve the problem moving Serena’s seats back to the front, shooing Blair backstage and moving Jenny up as her helper for the show. Blair taking a backseat to Miss Jenny with her mother won’t sit well with B.

I think we’ve found the human side of Chuck. He sits alone in the club, on the phone with his father who’s just gotten back into town. He wants to have a drink with his father but Bart isn’t interested, blowing off his son to take another call. Dan shows up just as Chuck hangs up and challenges him to show the true-life of Chuck Bass. Round 2 – DING!

Just before show time, Blair’s planning her next attack on Jenny. She slyly tricks one of Eleanor’s assistants into giving up Jenny’s job orders – shuffling the models up to the runway. What could Blair have in mind?

Back at the club, Dan asks about Chuck’s childhood. Why does he find himself at the bar alone every night and not with spending quality time with dear old dad? Chuck avoids the question and walks up to the bar to pick up, what he thinks is, a hooker. Turns out the girl’s boyfriend was in the bathroom and doesn’t like what Chuck was insinuating by giving his girl cash up-front. Just as the boyfriend is about to punch out Chuck, Dan steps up and clocks the boyfriend.

Rufus returns home to see Jenny’s not there and sees a message on the answering machine. It looks like Jenny did take that meeting but her situation is out of control. He looks down to see the advertisement for Fashion Week and we all know where he’s heading next.

Rufus might have more to worry about as we find Chuck and Dan in jail. Dan knows his chances of getting into Yale probably ended tonight with an arrest on his record. Chuck has a more positive outlook on the situation taking pride in the fact that his father will have to call the lawyers to get Chuck out of this mess. Then the humanity starts to seep out of Chuck’s closed exterior. He reveals to Dan that Bart’s always hated him mainly because he thinks Chuck killed his beloved wife. Chuck’s mother, Bart’s wife, died in childbirth and Bart never got over it. Are Chuck and Dan forming an unlikely friendship?

We find Bart home again, his first appearance this fall, with his new wife welcoming him home. He says he has a gift for her and Lilly thinks it’s a piece of artwork that she was trying to get a hold of. It’s only another piece of fine jewelry but Bart does know where the artwork is. It seems he found it when he had a private investigator look into Lilly’s past. Not a very trusting man.

Emergency! Emergency! The models go missing, no thanks to Blair, and Jenny has to find replacements for Eleanor’s show. Jenny keeps her cool after she finds out Blair sent them home after she told them they had been overbooked (B’s right on one thing, no one said models’ were the brightest in the bunch). Little J walks out to the front of the runway to enlist Serena and her socialite friends to don Eleanor’s designs for the fashion show.

Backstage, Serena again finds a reason to try and back out of a situation that could further deteriorate her relationship with Blair. Poppy tells her that she’s more beautiful than Blair and she needs to stop holding herself back. Well that’s really laying it all out on the table. Serena still doesn’t want to hurt Blair but Poppy assures her Blair will be supportive. I think we all know Blair won’t be supportive and switches the dress Serena’s suppose to wear with Jenny’s after-party dress. Not only will this mess up her mother’s show but also get Jenny in trouble with Eleanor for slipping her own designs into the show.

As Serena struts her stuff down the catwalk (no need for Tyra’s confirmation here), Jenny asks why Blair is still trying to ruin her life and why she just doesn’t take her throne back. Blair tells her she can’t and J realizes this whole setup is about Serena. Another character’s true humanity starting to show, as Jenny tells Blair that she’s earned everything she’s achieved when Serena simply breezes through life.

Collecting his possessions from the officer, Chuck mistakenly gets Dan’s items but doesn’t return them back immediately when he sees Dan’s notes on him. He sees Dan’s been writing down what he thought would be kept in confidence.

Bart turns over the secret file to Lilly. Lilly tells him she’s not ashamed of her past anymore and wants her children to know who she really is. Only one item in the file does seem to shake up Lilly as she questions Bart where he got it.

Eleanor finds Jenny backstage and rips into her about switching the dress. Laurel runs up to tell Eleanor that Jenny’s dress was a smash hit. Jenny tells Eleanor she can take credit for the dress as an apology and although tentative at first, she accepts the offer. In the end, Blair stands up for Jenny telling her mom that it was Jenny who saved the show in the first place.

Jenny finds out a “crazy man” is outside trying to get into see her, says he’s her father. Jenny knows that it is Rufus but tells the woman to send the man away. Jenny’s definitely not getting brownie points at home tonight.

Busy with Jenny (so it appears later), Dan doesn’t call Rufus but his editor to come bail him out of jail. Luckily the charges against Dan were dropped but Dan’s tells the editor he’s not going to use Chuck’s secret. The editor is quite disappointed in the young writer but Dan has another story idea – to write about his nasty and inconsiderate editor.

At the after-party, Eleanor lifts a glass to Jenny for her heroics of the night. Rufus shows up just in time to witness the toast and Jenny sees him out of the corner of her eye.

Blair looks in the back to talk to Serena and apologize for the dirty trick she pulled. Serena’s mad about Blair’s attempted sabotage and admits that she’s been holding herself back to not outshine Blair. Blair’s taken aback and can’t believe the words coming out of S’s mouth. It’s only one more step on Serena taking on full power of her crown.

Rufus pulls Jenny out of the party and updates her on her new life consisting only of bread, water and school. Jenny wants to focus on fashion like Rufus did with his music when he was young. Jenny makes the mistake of almost upstaging her father on their talents and Rufus catches her before she says it a loud. Jenny then tells him that she told the headmistress that not only does she want to focus on design but that she’s not coming back to school at all.

The night closes on Lilly accepting Bart’s necklace, a sign that she’ll submit to his power. Last, we see Blair watching Serena and Poppy pose for the paparazzi before getting into their limo. Two women, used to asserting their independence and power, now find themselves lost among the crowd.

Next week’s a repeat so see you in two weeks.

Gossip Girl – “The Ex-Files”

Episode 2.4 – September 25, 2008

by Emily Morgan

Did you all feel that? It was a shift in power on the Upper East Side. At the end of Monday night’s episode, the Queen B lost both her title and her royal suitor. Who or what brought her down? Many forces worked against Blair Waldorf tonight to overthrow her from the throne.

No better time to start a revolution than the present and today the present is the first day of senior year. The Bass house started the day with a hearty breakfast and pleasant conversation about Lilly and Bart’s honeymoon (Bart could not attend the family table because he was still on business in Beijing). Serena seemed a little too intrigued with her mother’s rendezvous with her new step-father, for me but Chuck put an end to that conversation. He made the announcement to his new family members that Serena and Dan had officially broken up, again. Lilly wasn’t even aware that they had gotten back together after her wedding last spring.

On the other side of the East River, Rufus and Dan discussed the break-up. Dan avoids the conversation when he confronts Rufus about his girlfriend sneaking out early that morning. Rufus goes silent know his son’s caught him in the act and tells Dan not to discuss it with Jenny. Little J walks into the room just after and informs her father that she does not want him to drop her off at school today. Jenny wants to get through school without being a project for Blair and her posse.

I refer to Blair’s girls as a posse because we don’t really know their names. We just know they’re at B’s beck and call and that’s all that matters.

Speaking of Blair, she’s holding underclassmen interviews on the front stairs of the school for girls who could one day become a part of that posse. Chuck, always nearby, hands off a file to Blair for a new student that may not be on her radar yet. How kind of Chuck? Is he moving on and trying to be Blair’s friend?

Upon arriving at school Serena spots Dan in the hall but avoids making eye-contact with him and makes a quick getaway down another hall before he sees her. I can’t imagine these two playing hide-and-seek from each other all year long.

Nate decides to show up late for the first day of school as he’s off in Brooklyn searching for Vanessa. He’s still stunned she told him to stay with the Duchess Catherine. Vanessa tries to break off their friendship easily by saying they were never friends in the first place. Ouch V! You know you love N, you could be less harsh to him.

Hide-and-seek continues between D and S when Dan, not so smoothly, is hiding behind Jenny’s locker in the underclassmen hallway spying for Serena. On the way back to his side of the building he runs into, literally, the new girl Amanda. The two get to talking just as Blair and Serena are making their way into the courtyard to see them. Dan moving on throws a wrench into Blair’s orders of who ever dates first wins and that should be Serena not Dan Humphrey.

And could our new girl Amanda be Chuck’s new student? It appears so, as Blair keeps her file on top as a “person of interest.” Blair feels Serena should be concerned for D’s new development considering Amanda is “Dan with boobs.”

At the gallery, the Duchess makes a visit to Vanessa to give her the hush money, 5000 dollars exactly. V doesn’t seem to be interested but doesn’t make any motion to throw the check out or tear it up.

The game of hide-and-seek finally comes to end when Dan notices Serena across the courtyard and gives her an awkward wave. The awkwardness continues as the two attempt to have a conversation without it becoming another argument. Dan requests to fast-forward the relationship past the post break-up stage and onto a mutual friend relationship. He starts with an invitation to lunch but has to quickly cancel on account of he offered to have lunch with Amanda that afternoon. Amanda shows up to spoil the small reunion. Dan introduces Amanda to Serena and she acts as politely as possible to Dan’s new friend. Not off to a great start for Dan and you can’t blame Serena as she’s becoming deeply hurt as the episode unfolds.

Lurking in the shadows of this uncomfortable situation is the always shady Chuck. As Serena exits, Chuck pulls out his cell to send a picture of the new couple, Dan and Amanda, to Gossip Girl. Quite a coming out party for the couple.

Lily, without her new husband, shows up at Rufus’ gallery. Lilly wants to catch up with old flame and appears desperate to do so. She agrees to go to Repo-man with Rufus an act she hated when they were dating long ago. Just how lonely is Mrs. Lilly Bass?

Looking to put things back in order, Blair offers a lunch invitation to new girl Amanda in order to break off the lunch with her and Dan. B warns Amanda that boyfriends are not reliable and she should stick with her girlfriends for constant support. Serena’s still not cool with Blair’s idea but B tells S it’s for her own good. We all know where lunch can lead for a young girl and boy: “Lunch, as in the meal before dating.”

Well, Vanessa didn’t tear up that check or throw it away. Instead she brought it back to the source. A good thing too, because when Vanessa waits for the Duchess she peaks into a bedroom to find the Duchess and her step-son Marcus (Blair’s royal boyfriend) making out. Perfect opportunity for V and she’s takes full advantage whipping out her phone to capture the two in the act. Now she has ammunition to get Nate off the hook and perhaps back into her life.

Chuck, continuing his “kindness” streak, alerts Dan that Amanda will not be joining him for lunch. Before he can confront Serena, Blair and the posse luncheon with Amanda, Vanessa calls on him for guidance about what she just witnessed.

Enjoying a light sushi lunch, Blair explains the ground rules to Amanda about dating. According to B, Amanda is not allowed to date Dan because Serena dated Dan. The old, you don’t date your friend’s ex. Not sure if that rule applies here but for Blair to look after her friend Serena it does. Serena doesn’t feel s uneasy with the situation Blair is creating and goes to look for Dan to apologize.

Not knowing the plot Blair is planning to sabotage him innocent Dan recommends Vanessa call Blair to deal with the Lord and Duchess problem. B does have a stake in this affair and we all know she took care of Georgina pretty well last season (although I’m still waiting for G to claw her way back into the City from boot camp).

Serena catches up with Dan later to apologize for pulling Amanda away from their lunch earlier. S informs him that it was all Blair’s doing but Dan doesn’t believe her. It’s no wonder this relationship keeps breaking since the trust is not strong with these two, especially young Mr. Humphrey.

Amanda finds Dan later and makes up for missing their lunch by asking him out. Looks like Amanda works quickly and knows what she wants and when.

Vanessa takes Dan’s advice and goes to see Blair about the photo she captured. Blair’s obviously distraught over her boyfriend having a physical relationship with his step-mother. Blair tells Vanessa not to let anyone find out about this affair and promises she’ll take care of it.

A good first date in high school is usually a movie or the local coffee shop. Amanda takes Dan to a hot nightclub where the likes of Chuck and Blair’s posse usually dine. The posse spots Dan on his little date and the phones come out again as pictures are sent to Gossip Girl.

Jenny, apparently waking up to the news on Gossip Girl, slams a pillow on Dan’s bed to wake him up the next morning. Little J pleads with her brother that he needs to apologize to Serena for jumping into this relationship so quickly. Chuck wakes his step-sister up to show her the footage of Dan’s date on Gossip Girl. This only feeds the fire that is growing in Serena.

That morning at school, Dan waits for Serena so he can apologize. Serena doesn’t have time for apologies as Dan has embarrassed her too much in the past 24 hours. She realizes the two are going to date other people. She thinks the only way to preserve any part of their dwindling friendship is to go on a date with him and Amanda. In the words of Dan, “This shouldn’t be awkward at all.” Of course not.

At another not so awkward date, Lord Marcus and Blair sit down at a local café for morning breakfast. Blair quickly makes Marcus aware that she knows about his fling with the Duchess. Right then, the Duchess also joins them for breakfast after Blair called her to discuss an exit strategy. The book has shut on this storybook couple about a Lord and his maiden but I’m sure she’ll find someone else to tease Chuck with. But wait, who was that peeking in the window before the Duchess showed up? Vanessa doesn’t seem to trust Blair with the Duchess “Destruction Plan.” V, we know Blair can’t always be trusted with being a friend but when it comes to destroying a common enemy she’s game. Vanessa takes off to speak to the Duke with her own plan.

The date begins with some intelligent conversation on Dan and Amanda’s favorite authors, something Serena has no comment on. Serena excuses herself and goes to the bar for something to take the edge off this unpleasant evening. Once again, Blair’s posse is there to “save the day” as they bring Serena in reinforcements for the date, to be more specific one very hot lacrosse player. S is back in the game and “ready to play.”

After having a couple drinks with her new friend, S invites the lacrosse player back to the date with Dan and Amanda. Dan sees what Serena’s doing and pulls her aside to talk about what’s happening. Serena lets Dan know that asking Amanda out really hurt her. Dan counters with the fact they were already broken up but Serena needed Dan to suffer through the break-up a little longer than he planned. The two finally decide to stay away from each other for awhile but awhile is never long for these two.

Does Chuck have a twin because he seemed to be everywhere tonight? After Serena tells Dan he better leave the restaurant, Chuck advises Dan to stay and get a look at the “real” Serena.

Blair continues to damage control when she informs Nate that he’s off the hook with the Duchess. She reveals the Lord and Catherine’s affair and tells him she’ll keep quiet if Catherine pays the restitution for Nate’s father. All appears well again until Blair’s phone rings with Catherine on the other end. Vanessa talked to the Duke and completely ruined Blair’s agreement with the Duchess. Vanessa is just not the scheming type and should leave it to the pros.

Lonely Lily shows up at Rufus’ house this night for a movie night. She’s brought his favorite wine but even that won’t coax Rufus into bringing Lilly back into his life. Rufus can’t be friends with Lilly right now because it’s too easy to fall into their old patterns. He informs her that she made the choice to walk down the aisle with Bart and she’ll have to live with that choice. At least until she inevitably files for divorce and comes running back to Rufus.

Vanessa tries to calls Nate but Blair finds her first. B notifies her that she had everything handled until Vanessa talked to the Duke. Does this mean Nate has to continue doing “favors” for Catherine?

The date from hell continues at the restaurant. Chuck’s gathered B’s posse together and a few moments they’ve thrown some type of chemical in Amanda’s hair that makes it fall out. Dan runs over to help her. Serena also sees the dramatics and rushes over. Of course, Dan believes Serena is guilty of these shananigans and Serena denies her involvement. Dan tells S that she needs to take a look in the mirror to see who she really is. With this statement, Serena declares power over the posse with a tongue slashing. “Never again. From now on everything goes through me.”

Mission accomplished . . . Chuck.

That’s right the plan from the beginning was a Bass concoction. The new girl arrives, small talks with Dan, asks Dan out, belittles Serena and then gets her hair burned off. Apparently that last one wasn’t part of the plan but Chuck compensates her with a hearty payment as she’s off to a beautiful girl’s academy upstate.

It’s finally Nate’s turn to be mad tonight (did he go to school over these two days?). He confronts Vanessa about not coming to him in the first place and shoots back the line she used earlier on him, “We were never really friends in the first place.”

An emotionally exhausting episode for Blair as she lost her boyfriend and behind the scenes lost her place as number one in the school. Serena’s leading the pack now and Blair realizes this was all Chuck’s plan in the first place.

At least people are still talking to Blair, as Dan’s been completely alienated from his peers. Queen S is in power and now no one’s safe.

Gossip Girl – “The Dark Night”

Episode 2.3 – September 15, 2008

by Emily Morgan

| View Show | Create Your Own

Maybe I was out of it tonight (loads of homework!), but the first half of this show seemed dead to me. Chuck’s drowning his sorrow with a scotch on the rocks, Jenny’s running around with loads of fabrics in hand, Serena and Dan are still making out (which they’ve been doing since the end of the premiere) and Marcus shot down Blair to have sex. Not until the city went dark did the sparks really start fly.

I liked seeing more of Jenny and Vanessa this week. At the top of the show we saw Jenny giving Vanessa advice on whether to call back Nate after he stood her up the other night. Jenny seems to be making a comeback to reality in these first few episodes, concentrating on her internship, mending her friendship with Eric and being supportive of her brother as he “gets back together” with Serena (more on that later). The good times don’t last long for Little J, though, as Eleanor Waldorf returns to see Jenny critiquing one of her designs. Definite no-no with Blair’s momma. Jenny has to clean out her locker but she’s not down and out as she’ll be the only person tonight saved by the blackout.

Somebody, please, get a therapist for Gossip Girl’s most straining couple, Dan and Serena. We should talk, let’s just make out, no we should really talk, no let’s just keep making out. At the beginning of the episode these two were planning to tell people they were back together. They didn’t get the chance to do that themselves when some random girl walks by, flips out the cell, clicks a pic and it’s off to Gossip Girl. This girl will probably never be seen again but she let a big cat out of the bag.

Both Serena and Dan got reminders that if they don’t talk over their issues, their relationship will not move forward together. Blair told Serena that if she and Dan stay together without working out their issues they’re fooling themselves thinking they’re happy. Dan’s reminded unconventionally by three up-and-coming socialites of why he broke up with Serena in the first place. Their arguments also gave a nice summary for those in the audience still trying to catch up with what happened at the end of last season with Georgina.

Now to the lonely boy, young Bass. We didn’t see him much this evening except when he made his move on Blair at the party. He did partake in one of the funniest conversations of the night with Serena. She takes notice as Chuck comes out of his room following a young Asian girl. Serena assumes Chuck’s back in the game but he says nothing’s happening. And it seems a lot is not happening between Chuck and the girls and Chuck in bed. Then came the best line of the night, the honors going to Blake Lively, as Serena tells Chuck, “You are not using Blair as sexual Drano.”

I said we saw more of Vanessa tonight and we did either by herself or with Nate. Vanessa still carries a torch for the young Archibald and Nate in turn, as he digs himself a hole with Catherine. Nate did find time to spend with Vanessa but Catherine was nearby watching. Nate starts to make promises we all know he can’t keep and even Vanessa is skeptical but takes his word. Nate calls a day after he invites V to Blair’s party to tell her he has to cancel (Nate gets the heads up from Marcus that the Duchess will be attending Blair’s party) but V, with the encouragement of Rufus, decides to go anyways.

Side note: I was very afraid that the writers would add some awkward sexual tension between Rufus and Vanessa but so far they’ve steered clear, thank goodness.

Finally the party came and along with it a New York City blackout. The location of everybody goes like this: Jenny’s stuck in Eleanor’s studio, with Eleanor; Dan and Serena are trapped in the elevator; Nate, Catherine and Vanessa are all lurking around; and Chuck’s on the prowl for Blair to . . . solve his problem. Nate intercepts Vanessa and takes her into a separate room to talk it out (finally a couple that can talk out their issues). Serena and Dan continue to try the silent treatment as a way to move through their problems. Chuck puts the moves on Blair but she turns him down although her grasping hand on Chuck’s hand tells another story. Chuck finds an in later when Blair invites Marcus upstairs for a romp in the sack.

Back at the Waldorf studio, it seems Eleanor is warming up to Ms. Humphrey as she admits that what Jenny said earlier about her designs was true and she needed to hear them. She realizes the need for a new look in her line.

At the party, Catherine searches for Nate and doesn’t find him but instead Vanessa. The two talk (not seen by the audience) but V later tells Dan that Catherine will turn in Nate’s dad if Nate doesn’t continue their relationship. V breaks up with Nate because she does love him. Upstairs in Blair’s room, Chuck “fakes” a British accent to dupe Blair into thinking Marcus has come for their date. I’d think that Blair would notice it was Chuck as she started to make out with him. Marcus thinks the same thing but gets Blair to admit that she did know. All she wants is for Marcus to “want her” and it looks like all is made up when he kisses her in front of all the party attendees.

Finally the lights go back on and when the dust settles: Dan and Serena are officially broken-up; the Duchess still has Nate under her thumb; Blair still has Marcus and Chuck has lost another round; Jenny is the only one coming out fresh as a daisy, as Eleanor hires her back after finding out who her father was (remember that awkward meeting last year when Rufus was kissing Lilly).

That’s it for tonight. Looks like Serena will go back to being a queen bee of the school and treat Dan as a second-class, Brooklyn citizen. We’ll see if she’s sincere about her threats.

Gossip Girl – “Never Been Marcused”

Episode 2.2 – September 8, 2008

by Emily Morgan

| View Show | Create Your Own

This is one messed up little love triangle, or should I say pentagon. We found out that Nate’s cougar girlfriend, Catherine, is actually a Duchess. As Duchess she plays step-mommy to our new Lord Marcus. Marcus is dating Blair, Nate’s ex-girlfriend, and Chuck remains on the sidelines as he tries every deceitful way to win back Blair’s heart. I think Nate put it best when he shot down the idea of being Blair’s father-in-law if he were to marry Catherine and Blair to marry Marcus. It seemed that Blair and Nate would have nothing to reconnect about this season but leave it to the royal family to shake things up in America.

Why didn’t Chuck just get on that plane to Tuscany? It sure would have made his life easier but the quest for Blair’s heart back will make their reunion that much more special. Chuck tries every in to break off Blair and Marcus’ blooming relationship. He slyly befriends Marcus by inviting him to play squash (handball with rackets) and calling the Duchess herself to come with him as a date to Blair’s party (which we’ll come to later).

Nate has more problems than just Catherine on his hands. After his father fled the country to avoid prosecution, the federal prosecutor found his “vacation” out of the country an admission of guilt. Nate’s mom needs to find a way to keep their money and property from being repossessed by the government. Nate talks to old friend Vanessa (that’s right, V is back from wherever she spent her summer after I’m guessing Dan went on his binge of women) about his problems and looks for friendly advice. Nate’s problems seem solved though when his mother calls and says she’s borrowed money from a family friend. Nate figures out through process of elimination (it’s not a member of the book club) though that it’s Chuck who’s actually loaning the money out to the Archibald’s (no Nate, he’s not selling the Victrola as a ploy to win Blair’s heart back).

As for our other coupling on the show, their back together, not back together seems much less confusing compared to the mess above. After getting back together (in every sense of the word) on the Hampton beaches, Serena woke up to second thoughts. Before, she and Dan officially became boyfriend and girlfriend again she needed them to talk about their problems. Trying to separate herself from him at the bus stop, the two didn’t stay apart long when Serena dragged Dan to the back of the bus and into the restroom. Later on, Dan said they should spend some time apart for a couple of days to collect their thoughts. Two seconds later, Serena informed Dan that his services were needed at Blair’s impromptu “Back in the City” party.

Speaking of Blair’s not so fabulous party, it started out slow but heated up extremely in the end. Blair needed a way to impress her Lord by throwing a party, after he was hesitant about her meeting the Duke and Duchess (Catherine). Never underestimate Blair’s skill to put together a party with 100 guests (total strangers, most of them), a harpist and violinist, and Dan (to chat up Marcus about football (that’s European)), all in a matter of 24 hours. When the party begins we see Blair and Marcus “enjoying” the live music. “I just love Mozart,” Blair says but as Marcus tries to inform her that it wasn’t Mozart, she rushes Marcus off to meet Serena. Uninvited guest Chuck then walks in with the Duchess Catherine on his arm. Blair not realizing who Catherine is (but Serena immediately recognizes Nate’s mistress) insults her, thinking she’s another one of Chuck’s skanky arm candy. Strike one for Blair impressing Marcus’ family. Serena pushes Blair to apologize to the Duchess for her comment. As Blair says sorry she also confesses that Chuck has probably told her all the horrible things she did with Chuck (cheating on Nate, sleeping with Chuck in the back of the limo). Duchess Catherine reveals Chuck told her nothing but Blair will never be good enough for Marcus. Strike two for Blair. This leads to the best quote of the night from Blair to Serena about Catherine’s comments. “She got Waldorf to rhyme with Spears. I might as well as went commando,” (Leighton Meester has certainly been given the best quotes so far this season).

As Blair gets insulted by the Duchess, the rest of the love-pentagon shows up when Nate walks into the party. And awkward meeting as Blair wonders why Nate knows Catherine and Nate wants to know why Blair is having a conversation with the woman he’s having an affair with. Before that can be settle, Nate goes to find Chuck to confront him about lending the money to his family. Nate refuses Chuck to give his family the money and says he we’ll take care of it himself. Nate’s solution: Ask his rich cougar girlfriend, of course. Catherine agrees to help but for a price. It looks like the down payment is a “roll in the library.”

Down in the count, 0-2, Blair gets the clutch hit when, while looking for the Duchess for one final apology, she discovers Nate and Catherine making love in the library. This is enough ammunition for Blair to blackmail Catherine if she doesn’t tell Marcus that Blair is perfect for him. Catherine obeys and Marcus announces that Blair is officially his girlfriend. Aww, happy endings!

The loose ends: Rufus is back in town after his summer tour and it Vanessa did a little interior decorating for his gallery, complete with a café. Rufus tells Vanessa that there’s a college tour his band could go on but he has to make a decision to be away from Dan and Jenny for another six months. Luckily, after returning home to pictures of what he missed this summer, he calls his agent and tells her he’s staying in Brooklyn. Vanessa, after her talk with Nate, sets up a dinner with him later but he has to back out (not telling her he’s with Catherine). It looks like Vanessa’s torch for Nate didn’t burn out over the summer.

For those of you who thought these first two episodes packed in too much, I think the writers were setting the stage for the season. Now that we’re back in the city, it’s time to get dirty.

Gossip Girl – “Summer, Kind of Wonderful”

Episode 2.1 – September 1, 2008

by Emily Morgan

Thanks for joining me on my first recap of the second season of Gossip Girl. When we left our young New York socialites last May, new relationships were beginning (Bart and Lily) and others were ending (Dan and Serena). Some started on new life paths (Rufus) and some put their lives on hold for the Hamptons (Nate and Serena). And that’s where we’ll start our journey, with the kiddies last days of summer.

Small boutiques, big houses, beautiful beaches and … Nate making out with a married woman?! Well it looks like somebody is having a little fun with his summer vacation. Down at the beach, Chuck’s having a little fun of his own with not one girl, but three. Oh yea, and they’re all topless. Last we saw Chuck, he ditched Blair and their vacation to Tuscany to stay home and be, well, Chuck Bass. As Chuck takes pleasure with his women, Serena strolls by alone. According to Gossip Girl, she and Nate have supposedly been “hanging out” all summer. It’s apparent though, with Nate’s other extracurricular activities, that the rumor is untrue. As for Blair, Gossip Girl reports that she’s cutting her trip in Europe short. Chuck, feeling somewhat guilty for not joining her this summer, goes to the bus stop to find her kissing another guy. Let the games begin.

Back in the city, Dan’s making out with some brunette in a bookstore. And as she exits, we find out Dan should be writing a story for an internship (supposedly about a boy’s struggle to get over his ex-girlfriend; sound familiar?). That is, until another girl comes in to distract him and, again, Dan avoids his writing to make out. Little Jenny, well she’s still interning at Eleanor Waldorf Designs and is trying to make a good impression with Eleanor’s right hand lady, but it’s not going well. As for Rufus, he’s still on the road with his band but does make time to call his daughter who needs a way to go to the White Party, the event of the summer in the Hamptons. Rufus suggests asking Eric, but Jenny knows she needs to smooth over their relationship after she ended it rudely last spring.

Poolside, it’s time for best friend chit chat as Blair and Serena catch up. Serena informs Blair she still isn’t over Dan and just as Blair begins her summer story, brother Chuck comes up to the pool deck to ask who was the mystery man at the bus station with Blair. It turns out to be James, a guy she met on the way back from Europe. Chuck doesn’t believe the seriousness of the relationship but invites her and James to lunch later on. A nice gesture or is there a scheming plot coming on?

Blair & Chuck

Remember that heart pin that Blair gave Nate way back to show her love? Well, neither did I, but when Chuck saw it on James’ sleeve he knew what that meant. He gets up from the table and Blair excuses herself to follow him out to the back green. Chuck knows Blair’s playing him but she won’t admit to it. She does however come back to the table and slyly takes the pin off James’ sleeve as if it accidentally hooked on to him.

Serena takes Blair’s advice and goes on the date with the hot lifeguard that asked her out earlier in the day. On their way to dinner they almost hit Nate, only in his boxers and the rest of his clothes in hand, with the car. Serena looks over into the driveway that Nate ran out of to see Nate’s “lover” welcoming home her husband. Not that Serena and Nate are together but all he told her was that he was seeing an older woman. True, she’s older but that little band on her finger makes a world of difference.

Walking down the streets of Southampton, Blair tells Serena that Chuck ruined her summer but he could never know. On the other side of town, Nate asks Chuck if he’ll be attending the White Party. Chuck decides he rather go back to New York City (you know the young tourists are Chuck’s fresh meat) but we know he’d rather avoid Blair. That is until the boys bump into the girls (is Serena trying to hurt Nate by physically colliding into him at every corner?) and Chuck has a change of heart. He needs to get to the bottom of this James character. Serena pulls Nate to the side to tell him she knows his secret but Nate tells her the married woman and he broke it off the night before.

Dan, in the meantime, has lost his job at the bookstore and his chance at the internship because of his writer’s block. After a heart to heart with Rufus (oh, how I’ve missed those father-son talks), he decides he needs to figure out his relationship with Serena and jumps on the LIRR (or so I assume) to the Hamptons.

Chuck, suspicious of this James character, has his new little brother check his background. As my friend said, “When did Eric become evil?” My reply, “He is a Bass now.” He finds out that James never went to Princeton, as Blair said over dinner, and he never went to Georgetown either, as Chuck thought he said. In fact, according to Eric, he hasn’t been enrolled to any of the big schools. The mystery of James continues, stay tuned.

Serena & Nate

Later on, Nate invites Serena to the White Party but only to get revenge on the older woman. At first, Serena doesn’t agree but looking back on her past (of mistakes and bad judgments) agrees to go. So the stage is set for the White Party: Eric forgives Jenny and says he’ll bring her as his guest (after coming out last year, he’ll take all the friends he can get); Blair is taking James, Chuck’s going stag, Nate and Serena will go as friends and Dan should be arriving on time to witness it all.

When Dan does arrive at the van der Woodsen’s summer home, who opens the door but the woman who despised his and Serena’s relationship, her grandmother. Except, this doesn’t appear to be the woman that we met last year, but a woman who sees her granddaughter’s pain without Dan and invites him to the White Party as her date. She sets him up with her husband’s old suit and off they go.

As the party opens, Blair and James play kissy face but James realizes Blair has other intentions for their relationship when he sees her eyes looking over to Chuck. He walks away and when Blair catches up to him, he tells her that she and Chuck are more alike than she realizes. Exactly what Blair didn’t want to hear but now she has to make a decision to be truthful to James or go back to Chuck.

Eric & Jenny

Jenny is making in-roads with the Hampton elite with the help of Eric. He introduces her to Tinsley Mortimer, a good friend of Lily’s and someone who could really help Jenny break into the fashion business. It’s all who you know, as Eleanor’s assistant reminded her earlier.

Serena & Dan

Nate, seeing his older woman socializing with her husband he decides he wants to make her as angry as he feels and starts making out with Serena right in the middle of the party. Surprise, surprise, who should walk up but none other than Dan Humphrey. Serena, busted again? Almost, if not for those two girls we met earlier in the bookstore confronting Dan by throwing red wine on his fine white suit right in front of Serena. Karma, it gets everybody sooner or later. The two realize they’re both going to make mistakes but would rather be together to do so. Finally, a happy moment between two of our characters.

As for Nate’s woman, she’s a little jealous but she forgives him as they go to rendezvous upstairs. Right now, there’s no real substance to this relationship, just a lot of sneaking around and, of course, a lot of sex.

Now, for our most complicated relationship of the night: the Chuck-Blair-James triangle. Turns out the reason James lied about going to Princeton or Georgetown (or wherever), he’s actually not American at all, but British. And this isn’t any regular British gent but a royal one, Lord Marcus to be exact. That doesn’t defer Chuck as he tries one last time to stop Blair from leaving the party with him. Blair only wants to hear one thing from Chuck, though. Actually, three words, eight letters. But all Chuck can manage is the letter “I.” Not enough for Blair, as she jumps into James/Marcus’ convertible.

So as the sun sets on our partygoers, Chuck drowns his sorrows at the bar, and Dan and Serena enjoy the fireworks down at the beach. Dan and Serena make up, Chuck ends up alone, Nate’s hooking up with a cougar, and Eric and Jenny are friends again. But will all stay the same when we’re back on the Upper East Side. Check in with the Gossip Girl to find out.

* all photos courtesy of cw11.com