Gossip Girl

The secret’s out! Serena’s no cold-blooded murderer, but she does have a knack for getting herself into some troubling situations. Shortly after a drunk Serena slept with a drunk Nate on the night of the Shepard wedding, she joined Georgina and some guy named Pete at another hotel. Pete overdosed, and the ever-compassionate Georgie wanted to cut and run. Serena, though still out of it, knew this was wrong and called for help. They didn’t wait in the room for help to arrive, but Serena did wait across the street and saw the body bag coming out of the hotel. And she held this secret and carried the guilt with her ever since.

And then last night, after she hit rock bottom, she finally let people in. First, she told only the "non-judgmental breakfast club": her best friends Blair, Nate and Chuck. "None of us are saints," Nate explained. They all chimed in listing past indiscretions, but the topper was Chuck’s simple declaration, "I’m Chuck Bass." Enough said. Personally, the scenes among these exclusive club members were my favorite of the night – even the ones where they said nothing, such as Chuck and Nate uncomfortably sharing an elevator. The four of them have such a layered history together, and we got to learn some fun details of this history, such as the fact that Chuck lost his virginity to Georgina way back in the sixth grade. He now refers to her as a "psycho."

Serena’s best buds were truly there for her all evening, whether it meant forming a human blockade in an attempt to prevent Dan from seeing a hungover Serena or trying to track Georgina down at the 90s reunion concert (is it weird that I found Chuck’s line of "Let’s get the bitch" to be the sweetest line of the night?). Blair was perhaps the most helpful, pleading with Lily not to send Serena to reform school and telling her how much Serena needed her right now. Tipped off by Dorota, Lily went searching through Serena’s things and found the video, which had to be so hard for her to watch. Initially she thought it was a recent occurrence and didn’t watch the whole thing. But ultimately, she prioritized and put being a mother before socializing at her own rehearsal dinner. It was thanks to her that Serena was able to get some closure with this whole incident. Together they went to Pete’s parents’ house to talk to them, and Pete’s parents told Serena that they didn’t blame her. The actual conversation with them was done off-camera, which felt appropriate since it was such a private moment.

After this catharsis, Serena now felt ready to tell Dan the truth. Only, it’s been awhile since she’s done that. Before she shared her secret with her friends, Dan finally tracked her down at Blair’s and she told him yet another lie: He was suspicious that she cheated on him and she said yes. It was so obvious that she was lying, but Dan, weary from her recent evasiveness, couldn’t see this, and he broke up with her on the spot. So why did Serena lie? Because as bad as this lie was, she thought it was better than the truth. As she admitted to her friends, Dan puts her on a pedestal, and no one can live up to those expectations. And as Rufus pointed out to Dan, "You can be a pretty judgmental guy."

So Dan’s so pure and good and has these lofty expectations of others...all of which seem to form a recipe for a big downfall for him. I wonder: Would Dan have been so quick to break up with Serena if he didn’t have "Sarah" waiting in the wings? Although Dan is always suspicious that Chuck and Blair are lying, he’s gullible enough to believe Serena’s cheating lie, as well as Georgina’s abusive boyfriend lie. How will he react when Serena does finally tell him the truth? Tonight, he was ripe for a rebound, and before the night was through he was ditching Rufus’ performance and walking right into Georgina’s trap, sealed with a kiss.

Speaking of kisses, after yet another long, meaningful glance, bride-to-be Lily found herself sharing a long, passionate kiss with Rufus. (I loved Rufus’ oh-so-appropriate "Come back to me" lyrics – loved seeing Lisa Loeb and all the VH1 "classics" comments about the 90s too.) Lily was visibly uncomfortable when the Rolling Stone reporter was asking her very personal questions while interviewing her about Lincoln Hawk, and it was revealed that she had been a photographer back in her groupie days. (Had they ever mentioned that before on the show? I don’t remember that bit of info about her.) Anyway, this kiss, along with next week’s preview, put an interesting twist on her impending nuptials with Chuck’s – excuse me, I mean Charles’ father.

So it looks like next week Mama van der Woodsen will be deciding between two men, while her daughter will have to put up a fight for her man. Dan’s being used by Georgina, but I can’t completely feel bad for him after the way he’s been treating Serena lately. Looks like he’s not so perfect after all. But with the way Georgina plays, I’m sure he’s not the only one who’s going to get hurt. And as we now know, Georgie has no problem leaving people behind suffering, as long as she escapes unscathed.

Next week, the season finale!

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So many secrets: Eric’s, Asher’s, Jenny’s, Serena’s. And they all came spilling out in one episode.

Let’s start with the biggest OMG moment of the night, which was the very last line Serena uttered: "I killed someone." How and why we don’t know yet. In that video Georgina was blackmailing her with we only got to hear bits and pieces of what went on, and we saw none of it. We know that S didn’t know she was being taped, and we heard Serena’s voice, Georgie’s voice and a guy’s voice (I couldn’t tell if there was a third female voice or not). I’m sure Serena was wasted, and it was something that got out of hand. Way out of hand. And while I’m not glad that Serena helped commit a heinous crime, I am glad that this show followed through when they said Serena did something really bad. Because a threesome, a lesbian affair or something really kinky just wouldn’t have cut it at this point. The old Serena had a reputation for being really wild, so none of those three things are really out of character for the old her. (And none of those are things she couldn’t have told Chuck about.) But an actual crime that resulted in a death – yeah, that’s bad even for the old Serena.

In her time of need, Serena turned to the one person she could: Blair. I love how their friendship has become a cornerstone of this show. It’s so deep and genuine at this point that it’s hard to believe it was in shambles when this show started. It was touching how Serena didn’t want to involve Blair, and how Blair insisted, telling her she loved her and that they were sisters at heart. Serena helped Blair in her time of need a few weeks ago, and though this is a more dire situation, I have no doubt that B will return the favor and do all she can for S.

Blair was actually a good friend to several people last night. After all, she was the one who gave Dan the helpful advice that Gossip Girl was one of the few things of meaning in Jenny’s life. Though Dan refused to eventually team up with Blair, he did get the ball rolling to out Jenny’s new boyfriend Asher. This sounds mean, but Asher was being a jerk to Dan and a liar to Jenny. (And it was good to see Dan play dirty and finally do something that wasn’t one hundred percent moralistic, even if Jenny totally called him out on it.)

So Asher isn’t the perfect boyfriend that Jenny thought he was. Instead, he’s kind of a snobby creep who used Jenny as his cover, and he only told her about this when he was cornered by her and her aggressiveness with him on the couch. As he explained to her, she’s Jenny Humphrey from Brooklyn: "Do you really think someone like me would date someone like you?" And so he was giving her "status, access and resources," in return for her loving girlfriend cover. Oh, and then he instructed her to up the game tell everyone she lost her virginity to him, in order to make the story good. And so then Jenny had some secrets...but they wouldn’t remain secrets for long.

Asher isn’t a character we’ve known that long, so news of him coming out isn’t really news. As many fans predicted, Eric is the character who came of the closet tonight. Not by choice, but thanks to Georgina outing him at his family dinner. And actually, Eric was pretty relieved when all was said and done. He even let Blair send the pictures of him and Asher kissing to Gossip Girl. (Not sending them until she got that permission showed an impressive amount of restraint on Blair’s part. Again, she was being a good friend – this time to Eric.) Perhaps this revelation will lead to more character development for Eric, who up to this point has only been known as Serena’s quiet little brother who once tried to commit suicide.

As for the third part of this Eric-Asher-Jenny triangle: Little J was once again hurt, but she once again had it coming. She was full of herself when talking to Eric, she was again mean to Blair by not inviting her to the party, and then she had the audacity to call Dan jealous when he was just looking out for her (and she dissed his LL Bean pants – that was totally uncalled for.) But she saved her truly obnoxious behavior for Rufus, whom she lied to (again) and completely defied by walking out the door to go to her party. Loved when he said this to her: "You’ve already lost my trust. You want to lose my respect too?" Of course, she really didn’t seem to care about any of that until she got caught lying to her friends, and as one of them explained to her, "Dating a gay guy is an honest mistake. But lying to your girlfriends about sex is unforgivable...You’re branded now. With the L word. Liar." And so J must now go around not with a scarlet A, but a scarlet L.

This led to Jenny going to Blair and admitting defeat. Blair seemed a bit disappointed to lose her feuding partner, but that didn’t stop her from being just as smug as ever, reminding Jenny that she had warned her there would be a price to pay for her ticket to the in crowd. She complimented her on putting up "a good fight...for a freshman," and then followed it up with, "Hope you don’t expect a hug." Love that. Pure Blair.

There was no Jenny-Blair hug, but there was a Jenny-Rufus hug as an utterly defeated Jenny came home and fell apart. And of course, her dad was there for, thanks to Lily’s parenting advice. In turn, Lily called Rufus when she didn’t handle the news of Eric coming out so well. So now they’re pals who give each other advice about child rearing. Only, they’re so much more than that, as evidenced by that scene in which Rufus looked longingly at Lily as she stood in front of the mirror in her wedding gown, and she returned his gaze.

Will Rufus and Lily rekindle things yet again? Is Jenny truly done trying to fit in? And just what are the details of Serena’s murderous crime? Until we find out more next week, remember what’s important in life – the four Gs: Guys, girlfriends and Gossip Girl.

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"If I go down, you go down with me." These shocking words were spoken by reformed bad girl Serena van der Woodsen. But I’ll get back to Serena vs. Georgina in a few moments.

Let’s start with the next round of in the great Blair-Jenny War of '08, which looks like a silly high-school game compared to Serena’s troubles. Silly, but still fun. As the stress of SATs loomed in the air for the juniors, lasagna and flash cards in the Humphrey loft went up against the upperclassmen-only Blair Waldorf SAT Prep and Spa. Really, there was no contest there. Just like in politics, it’s hard to compete without necessary funds. Though Blair easily won that battle, she had an additional foe to deal with tonight: class brain Nelly Yuki, who could jeopardize Blair’s chances of getting into Yale. Blair’s lost none of her edge, easily using Nelly’s ex-boyfriend to get the girl emotionally distraught on the eve of ths SATs (and removing her calculator batteries for extra insurance). Blair’s mean for setting up such a trap, but brainiac Nelly should have been smart enough to catch on.

Boyfriend troubles were also plaguing little J. Specifically, the fact that she doesn’t have one. And what’s her main reason for wanting one (a rich one, per her list of qualifications)? To increase her social standing of course. As she explained to Elise, "If I want to make it to queen, I’m going to need a king." (So for those wondering if Jenny had acquired Blair’s throne, clearly she has not – she simply officially entered the in crowd upon Blair’s dethroning.) To even hope to make it to queen as a freshman is quite a lofty ambition. But as we know, this girl is nothing if not bold. Though she does have a problem with timing: It’s not a good idea to ask Daddy for permission to do something new, like date, while you’re grounded. And props to Rufus for playing hardball and not taking any of Jenny’s crap. Making her call and cancel her date with Asher showed her he wasn’t relenting. Although adorable Asher (Broadway’s Jesse Swenson) is quite the smooth talker, and his your-dad’s-right approach, coupled with bringing the date to the loft resulted in Rufus easing up a little (well, the huge supply of free hot dogs helped a little too).

Jenny and Asher were not the night’s only new couple. Vanessa and Nate made quite an unlikely pair – and quite a steamy connection in the doorway of the diner where she works! So what do you all think of this new twosome? I can’t say I’ve ever pictured them together, but that didn’t stop me from liking them as a couple. It’s like a twist on Dan and Serena’s relationship. Here we have a rich guy and a poor girl, but Vanessa is even less impressed by wealth than Dan is, if that’s possible. And she’s not into being a charity case: She was appalled that Dan graciously accepted Nate’s used SAT prep books. (As for Dan’s standards, accepting an expensive watch from Serena at Christmas is too much, but free books are just fine for him.) However, Vanessa was definitely taken in by Nate’s charms, and it was good to see her finally melt a little and let him help her by giving her a push to take the SATs last-minute (don’t you have to register for those quite awhile in advance? But I’ll let this go, as it worked well for the story). And these opposites do have some similarities: They both want different things for themselves than what their parents want, and...they both have pretty eyes. Of course, actually seeing them together proved quite a shock for both Dan and Blair, neither of whom looked too pleased (especially Blair).

Serena saw none of this, as she wasn’t at Hunter taking the SATs. Instead, a replacement was taking the test for her, sent courtesy of Chuck (Side note: Tonight Chuck was sporting an array brightly-colored raincoats. As was Blair. I’m just saying, they matched. I’m a Blair-Chuck fan, I look for connections wherever I can find them, even when they’re not speaking to one another.) Anyway, Chuck’s heart was in the right place helping Serena, but his cheating scams make him such an idiot sometimes. Meanwhile, Serena was busy trying to piece together where she was and what she was doing after her second night of reluctantly partying with her old pal Georgina Sparks (a well-cast Michelle Trachtenberg, after much news was made surrounding the casting of this role). From the sound of things, Serena and Georgina made quite a wild pair back in the day. And then something bad happened and they agreed to go their separate ways and never speak of it again. Georgie was supposedly in Switzerland, dating a prince, but suddenly she was back in New York, insisting that Serena hang out with her again.

And that’s when the lying started. Apparently everyone who knows G can’t stand her, including Lily, Blair and Chuck, so Serena doesn’t want Dan to know that Georgina even exists. After B and G’s first reunion ended abruptly with a call from G’s drug dealer, a drunk Serena got Chuck to lie to Dan for her, and this is how "the killer food poisoning migraine" story came about. (The way Serena is depending on Chuck for help in their developing sibling bond is kind of sweet.) But the reformed Serena is a very forgiving person who wants to see the possible good in everyone, and this could lead to her downfall. It certainly makes her a little naive, to the point where she totally bought into Georgina’s "maybe if you can change I can change too" ploy. This then led to the second night of partying, the missed SAT fiasco and the cryptic talk about "that night" over a year ago in which Serena and Georgina were involved in something that sounds very shady. Something that Serena doesn't want to talk about.

So actually, I guess the lying started way back then, over a year again. Georgina said, "You were there too, Serena, it was just as much you if not more...," and that it wasn’t like Serena was "just an innocent bystander who walked in on..." Holy crap, what the hell happened?! Huge mistakes, fault, bystander...are we talking about something as big as an actual crime? Like an accidental murder or something? (I know, I’m jumping to worst-case scenario here, but I’ve seen lots of soaps so I tend to do that.) We know that both Serena and Georgina used to like to party hard and take on fake personas to pick up guys. Serena blacking out and having no recollection of things that happened the night before is not a new occurrence according to Georgina, and Georgina admitted that she herself is known for getting "out of control." Whatever happened, apparently it’s something that Serena fears will change the way Dan looks at her, hence the great lengths she’s gone to in order to hide Georgina from him. But that by no means stopped Georgina, who in the last scene "accidentally bumped into" Dan and introduced herself as Sarah. All part of some elaborate trick to get to Serena, I’m sure. But what I'm still wondering is the same thing that was on Chuck's mind when he asked Serena, "What’s Georgina got on you?....What’s so bad you can’t even tell me?" Whatever it is, is has to be big. Really big.

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OMG – Gossip Girl is back! And I’m not the least bit embarrassed to say that I’m almost giddy about it. It’s been a long spring break, and I’m not just referring to the three weeks the gang had off from school, but the more than three months we’ve had to wait since the last new episode. Finally we got to see the first of five post-strike episodes – and the start of Blair’s merciless revenge.

Of course, before Blair could start plotting to get back her throne back, she had to face everyone at school, which was no easy task. Who can’t relate to a really difficult first day back when you just want to hide from everyone? Thankfully, she had Serena to practically drag her back to the hallowed halls of Constance Billard. But it was truly as hard as Blair anticipated. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but yogurt can turn a good hair day bad. Flinging a dairy product at her in unison – that was evil (though I couldn’t help but smirk because it is Blair’s favorite lunchtime food after all). In addition to making me feel sorry for Blair, that scene also showed me how firmly entrenched Jenny (sporting a new shorter, curlier do) now is with the in crowd, and how she doesn’t feel an ounce of regret for what she did to Blair.

Which brings me to a dilemma this show presents: Whom to root for – Blair or Jenny? They’re both series regulars after all. Blair’s a selfish and whiny spoiled brat; Jenny’s a former good girl who sold her soul to cross over to the dark side. For me, the answer is clear: Blair. She’s a bitch, no question, but she’s just so good at being a bitch, in a way that others can’t emulate. In this current war between the dethroned queen bee and the in crowd’s newest member, I hope B eventually triumphs. But I also like that she has a worthy adversary in Jenny, so it’s good that little J gets to win some of the battles. It keeps things interesting.

Jenny was racking up the wins for awhile there, but setting up Blair to dine all alone at Butter was the final straw. That spurred Blair to come up with a truly inspired way to "celebrate" Jenny’s 15th birthday. The bored girls, the streamers and balloons, the Rice Krispie treats – all good, but the cake with Jenny’s digitized face that Blair was helping hold was a thing of beauty. Initially, I assumed that Blair’s revenge plan would involve her uncovering something Jenny did and finding a way to rat her out to Rufus (yes, I devoted time over the last three months to thinking about Blair’s possible revenge tactics). But going to Rufus as Jenny’s friend and suggesting this birthday bash was an even smarter idea. And things turned out better than Blair anticipated, as Blair didn’t even know about Jenny’s actual crime. No need to for anyone to tattle on Jenny, as everything basically spilled out in an embarrassingly ugly scene in front of everyone, and Jenny was caught red-handed in the stolen red dress.

I’ll admit I took some pity on Jenny during that scene, as well as during her teary-eyed table chat with Rufus. It was hard watching her struggle to keep up with the extravagant lifestyle her new friends lead throughout the episode. The pressure was intense – for anyone, let alone a high-school kid. But while her public humiliation at her party was painful, it’s not like she didn’t deserve it. I mean, the girl has now crossed the line and committed a felony! Plus she was bold enough to ask Nate (who’s still a new, casual pal, not a longtime friend) if she could borrow $8000 from him, and she got an innocent maid in trouble. The fact that she tried to right her wrong when she heard the maid might get fired shows that there’s still some hope for her though. But that doesn’t mean she’s done with trying to fit in with the in crowd, nor is she done with trying to one-up Blair, as evidenced by the post-party scene at Butter in which Jenny brought Nate along as some kind of offering for Penelope. And so the birthday party was a win for Blair, but the post-party was a win for Jenny.

The night’s other big war was between Serena and Chuck. It was less intense, but no less amusing. Chuck is acting like a typical annoying brother to Serena and a bit of a devilish role model for Eric. It makes sense – he’s an only child trying to enjoy some things he missed out on. His bathroom scene with Serena had me laughing, including the fact that she then had go about her day with messy hair, all smelly and unbathed. The funniest moment had to be when Serena got her very special package of handcuffs and porn at the dinner tasting. Though Chuck enjoyed it, I believed him when he said it wasn’t from him. Too bad Bart and Serena didn’t. Chuck seemed to be truly enjoying all of his new family-bonding experiences, so when Bart kicked him out of the house, that really hurt him. OK, it’s not like rich boy is now living on the streets – he’s still at the hotel, back at his luxury solo suite. But the closeness he was feeling when he made his "to family" toast seemed genuine, and the bonding was perhaps even proving to be a good influence on him. For proof, just look as how he was being civil toward Dan.

I hope Bart lets him back in the penthouse soon – not just because the Bass home is funnier when he’s there, but because we now know for sure that he didn’t do all those things to Serena that she accused him of. Nope, "G" was the culprit. Next week, we get to meet Georgina – and hopefully learn even more about Serena’s wild past in the process.

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Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Wow. This Blair-centric installment was great. Not exactly full of happy-go-lucky moments, but it was chock-full of arguments, backstabbing and a some true acts of friendship – Gossip Girl at its best.

Where to start? I guess with the fallen one herself, "maybe I am a total bitch" Blair. From the moment we net her, she sat on a lofty perch at the top of the food chain at school, and she was a perfectionist (just last week she referred to herself as "the perfect one" to Miss Queller and as Nate’s "pure and honest girlfriend" to Chuck; this week Serena commented that Blair acts like she’s in a movie about her "perfect life"). Considering the fact that she’s human, her inevitable fall off of that pedestal was a mighty steep one. However, if Blair had never set herself up to be so perfect, she probably wouldn’t have been judged as harshly as she was. True, she’s often selfish, rude, manipulative and downright mean to some people, but no one deserves to be punished the way she was tonight.

It all started to crumble when she was in denial about possibly being pregnant, and though she eventually dodged that bullet, things only got worse from there. In the end, she was totally alone and had absolutely no one to lean on, until Serena came around. And before she was frozen out, those closest to her kicked her while she was down – and some of them really seemed to enjoy doing so.

I don’t know if I can rank who treated Blair the nastiest, but Nate was certainly one of the top offenders. Which is so disappointing after he was such a good guy last week regarding the whole pool-party incident. Yes, he was surprised and upset when he found out that Chuck and Blair slept together – that’s understandable. But saying he wanted nothing else to do with Blair was an overly rash, over-the-top reaction. Nate did exactly what Blair did when he slept with Serena last year, so he needs to get off of his high horse. Isn’t Blair allowed to make mistakes too? OK, Nate may have not slept with Blair and Serena in the same week, but he kept going after Serena for weeks after she got back into town – while he was still going out with Blair. And, not to get all Ross Geller-like, but Blair and Nate technically were broken up when she and Chuck hooked up.

As for Chuck...you really don’t want to get him on your bad side, as Blair found out the hard way. Sex basically ruined their friendship – after their brief affair ended, Blair had been nothing but cruel to him, and he returned this favor by blackmailing her. But Blair calling him one of her biggest "mistakes" to his face really set him off. His text to Gossip Girl set in motion Blair’s public dethroning and ended her relationship with Nate – the two things that could hurt Blair most. I can understand him no longer offering to be there for her during their scene at the bar, because clearly she was just using him at that point, turning to him as a last resort. But he went beyond cruel with the things he said to her at the bar (the horse comparison – ouch!).

Like Chuck, Jenny had also been treated badly by Blair lately. And like Chuck, Jenny retaliated. Apparently, you don’t want to mess with her either. Armed with privileged knowledge (thanks to eavesdropping) that she had no business sharing, Jenny spilled the secret to Nate that Chuck was the other guy in Blair’s bed, in effect twisting the knife that Chuck had stabbed Blair in the back with. (As an added bonus, her news ended Nate and Chuck’s friendship as well.) And just like that, B was out of the in crowd and Little J was in. Jenny once told Dan that she knew who she was and that wasn’t going to change by hanging out with Blair’s crowd, but Jenny has become just as cruel and manipulative as the masters, Blair and Chuck.

Jenny seemed to recognize her old self in little Elyse, the newest wannabe taking Jenny’s place as she graduates to the inner circle – the eager library-book-toting E even had a hat similar to one Jenny wore, while Jenny was now sporting a Blair-like headband. The question is, does Jenny recognize how much like Blair she was willing to become to get into that inner circle? Clearly, all she wanted was the popularity, she never really wanted to be Blair’s friend – if she had, she wouldn’t have turned her back on her on the steps at the Met. I was torn during that scene: partly proud of Jenny for recognizing that Blair’s threat of ruining her was empty and giving Blair a dose of her own medicine, and partly disappointed because she was being so cold.

Downright chilly is the only way to describe the response Blair’s so-called friends gave her. I wasn’t quite sure why they were so upset by Blair’s actions, because what she did didn’t affect any of them directly. But then again, we’ve never really gotten to hear the details of Blair’s conversations with them. Based on what they said while telling her off, she’s self-righteous and very judgmental with them. So, if the situation were reversed and one of them had been involved in a scandal like hers, I guess she would have turned her back on them as well.

Luckily, Blair Waldorf has one true friend: Serena van der Woodsen. And Serena is a damn good friend to have (excluding the sleeping-with-Nate thing). Like Dan said, she never gives up on Blair. She initially took a public bullet for Blair with the pregnancy-test photos; she pressured Blair to take the test (loved the "My First Response would be that the sky is a Clear Blue, Easy" line regarding the weather); she forgave Blair for her nasty tirade regarding her "low-rent" boyfriend and bad reputation; and she went after Blair and convinced her not to run away. That final scene at the airport between the two of them was truly touching...the teary eyes, the hug, the song that was playing – it all came together so well.

I thought maybe they were going to leave us with a cliffhanger, not knowing if Blair got on the plane to France or stayed. Thankfully, we know she stays, but it is a bit of cliffhanger in that we have no idea how’s she going to get revenge and start her climb back up to the top.

Were there any subplots? Oh yeah, Rufus and his many B-named women. I know he asked Dan and Jenny if they were ready for him to date yet, but he didn’t ask me, and my answer is no. I’m still getting over the whole Lily thing – it’s too soon. Maybe give him a band reunion story line instead. And Dan said those three important words to Serena, to which she responded "OK." That response was kind of funny. It reminded me of another show that once had a similar plot – I think it might have been The O.C., where Ryan responded with "Thank you" when Marissa told him she loved him – it was something like that. "Thank you" is a little better than "OK," but thanks to Eric’s insight Serena was able to eventually work through her issues and respond with a sincere "I love you" too.

And so my fellow Gossip fiends, that brings us to the last pre-strike episode of this terrific new show. When I first read about this series, I thought I was going to like it, and that’s why I volunteered to blog it. But I had no idea I was going to like it this much! And now I’m going to miss it so much. Well, at least we have the repeats. And there’s also always clips from Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide to help get us through this long no-new-episodes dry spell.

"This Skull and Bones stuff is a bit much, don’t you think?" Um, no Dan, I don’t. Clearly "Humphrey-Dumpty" (love that) is not a fan of films set at prep-schools or Ivy-league colleges in which rich kids do bad things and then cover them up with ancient codes of secrecy. But I am, so I relished this episode.

It was so nice seeing the gang (minus freshman Jenny, who was MIA this week) all bonding in this episode. After all, they all got into trouble for attending the illegal pool party on school grounds, so they were all in the same boat. Only, not really.

Just like in the Ivy League reps episode, class lines came into play. Dan was right about a double standard existing, and being a partial-scholarship student, he was in a much more precarious position than the rest of the party attendees (and he never really even got to enjoy the party – he was there for less than 30 seconds before the fun abruptly ended). And Dan’s do-the-right-thing approach is usually one of his more appealing qualities. But nobody likes a rat, Dan. Especially one who doesn’t know all the facts. He was ready to tell on Chuck based on circumstantial evidence. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think Dan was ever going to feed Serena to the wolves (or in this case, stern new headmistress Miss Queller). Once he learned the truth, he did lie for her and say he knew nothing about who broke in. But under a couple more minutes of grilling he probably would have started stammering and made it so obvious he was lying. I know his dad advised him to look out for himself, but his openness to tattling when he didn’t know the whole story was not one of his finest moments.

The same can’t be said for Nate, whom I’m liking more and more. He was the first one to jump into the water when classmate Andrew Collins hit his head and nearly drowned. And then he stepped up to take the fall when he mistakenly thought his beloved Blair was the guilty party. Unfortunately, he proved to be a bad liar, but his heart was in the right place. And how ironic that his punishment for lying was way more severe than Serena’s was for breaking and entering and not confessing right away (which technically equals lying). It seems that Nate, too, was a victim of the double standard, as the disgraced Archibalds are still recovering from their recent scandal. Meanwhile, Serena, the girl with "a file that reads more like a rap sheet," (please, more flashbacks in the future of the old Serena!) unknowingly had the all-powerful Bart Bass going to bat for her behind the scenes, thanks to Chuck. I guess you could look at that as Chuck ratting her out to his dad, but he didn’t do it to save himself, so much as to make sure Serena got a reduced sentence thanks to a backroom deal.

How 'bout that Bass-van der Woodsen union? Couldn’t you just feel the love in the room at that engagement dinner? I was pleasantly surprised when Lily briefly had a Rose-from-Titanic moment and was ready to throw caution to the wind, listen to her heart and run away with the "poor" guy for a weekend. But it now seems like the timing’s never going to be right for these star-crossed lovers. I loved how they intercut the scenes of Lily telling Rufus good-bye with the scenes from the engagement party. Last time, Lily let Rufus go because she was young and scared and she listened to her mother; this time, she let him go out of love for her daughter. It was a big sacrifice that Serena asked her to make, yet it was understandable. The thought of potential step-incest between her and Dan was too much for Serena to bear. To the point where she admitted, "I’d rather be Chuck’s stepsister than Dan’s." So now it looks like you’ll be getting your wish, Serena.

Chuck’s certainly enjoying his new Brady Bunch scenario. (And much like the Bradys, Chuck’s quite the fashion risk-taker with his choice of bold prints. His athletic wardrobe is the best: The yellow basketball outfit was great, but tonight’s swimwear ensemble of a bright red-striped top paired with a busy print bottom – it was so loud and retro! His clothes never fail to entertain me, and I appreciate that.) Anyway, Serena’s soon-to-be stepbrother is so looking forward to his new blended family that he’s actually making step-incest propositions every chance he gets. So has Chuck moved on from Blair to Serena? I hardly think so. This is just Chuck tapping into his offensive jerk mode. At least he got some comeuppance when Vanessa played him: Losing $10,000 for a blank tape means nothing to him, but that money being used to set up a medical grant for teen herpes in his name? Priceless.

Vanessa: I’m a little confused by her suddenly pressing rent problems. Isn’t she a minor, who goes to school and lives with her older sister? They never mentioned that she was an emancipated minor. Why aren’t her parents in Vermont paying her share of the rent? Instead, Vanessa’s forced to be extremely annoying, videotaping parties and private conversations for her documentary. I was shocked Blair didn’t throw her out of her "study party" as soon as she got there. Instead, Vanessa got juicy info about Blair on tape, then eventually gave it back to her free of charge. And thanks to an, um "appreciative" Blair, Vanessa can now continue living in her "Ikea-furnished closet" for another year without worry. And Blair did like what Vanessa did with Chuck’s money. You know, I think Blair and Vanessa could have hit it off as friends – if they met under very different circumstances of course.

But in the present circumstances, Blair’s now back with Nate. Despite Chuck’s attempt at blackmail, she finally admitted to Nate that she loves him, and she was so touched by his self-sacrifice ("the most romantic thing that anyone has ever done for me"). The two of them were rather sweet together in this episode...yet still, I see no chemistry between them. Nevertheless, there may be trouble in paradise next week, based on the preview. All I’ll say is that next week’s episode looks to be can’t miss.

Until then, check out clips from Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide.

Daddy’s home! And his mere presence in New York was really gift enough for Blair. If only he had come alone. But no, he had to bring his boy toy with him and ruin everything. I have to agree with Eleanor: It was insensitive of Harold to bring Roman along, giving her and Blair no warning about this. Of course Blair wanted to spend some quality father-daughter alone time with her absentee dad (eating their giant candy canes). So it was no surprise when Blair resorted to her scheming ways (and how very astute of Eleanor to observe that "Blair learned scheming from her mother...and unrealistic dreaming from her father"). Tripping Roman on the ice rink was amateur-level retaliation. But tracking down Roman’s ex, Freddie, through a modeling agency; inviting him to her mother’s Christmas party (brought to you by Victoria’s Secret – blatant product placement kind of works for this show); and then getting him to lie and say Roman invited him? Now that was a devious plan worthy of the name Blair Waldorf.

Of course the plan didn’t work, but for a few moments there, she did have Harold believing Freddie and getting pissed at Roman. I found myself empathizing for the show’s bad girl once again – she looked so wounded the more she felt her dad slipping away (though she did look fabulous in that plaid skating getup). So I was glad when it sort of worked out for her in the end. No, she didn’t get her dad to move back to Manhattan, but she did realize that he’s carving out room for her in his new life in France. And thanks to an unexpected snowstorm, she got her whole family – which now includes Roman, whom she was finally being nice too – to spend Christmas day together.

However, Blair did have to give up on the dream of her family living all together as a family again. And Jenny had to give up on this dream too. From the moment Alison arrive on the scene, her stay on this show seemed temporary. She was never really painted as a sympathetic character, and it seemed like only a matter of time before her mysterious lover would reenter the picture. He did just that last night, leading Alison to tell Rufus, "Maybe other people aren’t the problem" (that’s the first good line she’s had). Timing-wise, it’s a shame this had to happen right at Christmas. But it’s good it finally did happen, because like Dan told Jenny, "Whatever happens now, at least we’re not living in a fantasy." Now they can all stop pretending and move on.

But poor Rufus. Hurt and all alone on Christmas morning, in the snow without a coat. Looking so sad and oh-so cute, like a wounded puppy. Yet there was a glimmer of hope in him: Since he’ll no longer be traveling down Allison Road (that’s my nod to ‘90s music for Rufus), he reached out and called his old "friend" Lily. Wanting to reconnect and tell her, "I miss you...and I have been missing you for awhile." Leaving that message made him happy. Too bad that at that very moment, Bart Bass was down on one knee, proposing to Lily. Again, bad timing for Rufus.

Why didn’t Lily answer her phone?! And we have no idea what answer she gave Bart. I can’t say I don’t like Bart Bass, because we don’t really know him that well. Serena and Eric made good points acknowledging that he has only one facial expression and that he raised bad seed Chuck. But other than being business-minded, he and Chuck don’t seem all that alike. Bart appears to be much more responsible, and much less rash and emotional than Chuck. OK, overall he seems a little boring, and I can’t say that I’ve seem him ignite a spark in Lily. But his fast proposal was perhaps the most shocking plot development of the night – I did not see that coming! Up until the night prior to the proposal they were carrying on a clandestine relationship that their kids weren’t even aware of (I guess Chuck is still in the dark about it).

Chuck...absent once again, except for his text messages to Blair. By the end of the episode, we learned that he was no longer vacationing alone: His best bud Nate had joined him. Leaving a worried Blair to wonder just how much he would reveal to her on-again boyfriend. I don’t think he’ll tell Nate a thing – not like this, while away from Blair. I think he just wants to make Blair sweat it out.

Meanwhile, Serena was really sweating out what to give dear Dan for Christmas. An expensive watch? That didn’t go over so well. Then their $50 spending limit and Blair’s unhelpful suggestions ("a new outfit for Cedric") made things even worse. What could one give for under $50...sex? How 'bout fake snow? (The sex was just a bonus.) Actually, both Dan and Serena’s gifts for one another (a Christmas tree and Christmas snow) were very sweet, as was their love scene. It was done in a kind of understated way, and the real snow seen through the skylight on Christmas morning made it even more perfect. My only question is, Where were they? It looked like some kind of warehouse room filled with crates – was it in Serena’s hotel? Rufus’ art gallery?

Of course, Serena never could have pulled this gift off without help from her Christmas "elf" Vanessa. It was nice to see these two girls getting along. But Blair was definitely onto something when she told Vanessa, "I think you like Dan a little too much." There’s a lingering look Vanessa gives to Dan, or even just when his name is mentioned...it seems like she’s genuinely trying to be "just friends" with him, but it’s not really working for her. Vanessa’s present of getting Dan’s short story published was indeed a great gift for him, and I was a little worried when he initially wouldn’t tell Serena what the story was about. I feared it might be about Vanessa, so I was happy to learn it was actually about the first time Serena spoke to him. I know some people simply adore Dan and Serena together while others find them yawn-inducing. I’m in the former camp – I’ll acknowledge there could be some boredom down the road, but I think the writers can still get plenty of mileage out of their inherent cuteness and their opposite-sides-of-the-track storyline.

Nevertheless, we have to wait until next year to find out what lies ahead for Dan and Serena...as well as to find out Lily’s answer, and discover what if anything Chuck told Nate. But next year is only two weeks away! (And that next episode looks really good – there are rare in-school scenes.) If you can’t wait until then, there’s a repeat of the "Poison Ivy" episode next week, and there’s always clips from Gossip Girl to check out in our Online Video Guide.

***Update***The CW is now repeating this holiday episode on 12/26, instead of "Poison Ivy." So if you missed it or want to see it again, tune in.

Ah, the debutante ball...brings back memories of my own high-society cotillion. Kidding. All I know of debutante balls is what I see of them on TV, and they look to be very beautiful and extravagant events. And also archaic and stuffy. But so much fun to watch, especially when there’s a ball brawl! (I guess as a rule, all TV parties are more exciting when a punch is thrown.)

Let’s start with CeCe, who was such a big part of this episode. At first, she was very personable and seemed like a lot of fun. I could see why Serena adored her grandmother, and with the way grandma liked to keep the refills coming, I was thinking this must be the relative that Serena resembles the most. But by the end of the night, it became clear that Serena is truly her mother’s daughter in so many ways: Both are blue-blood rebels attracted to earthy guys beneath their elevated social standing. (Attracted to the same type of guy since Dan is basically Rufus minus the music.) The one big difference is that Lily could be bought, and I don’t think Serena can be.

Lately each week has provided another piece of the Rufus-Lily puzzle. Last night we learned that CeCe tried to buy Rufus off so many years ago, and that didn’t work. But it did work with Lily when she threatened to take away her trust fund. Apparently there was another guy whom Lily only pretended was the reason for the breakup. And Rufus just now found this out – you could truly hear the regret in his voice when he told Lily, "I never should have let you...let me go." This show has done a good job in making us care about this long-ago relationship we never got to see, and I do feel bad that it didn’t work out for these two way back when. Of course, had it worked out, there would have been no Dan and Jenny or Serena and Eric. Lily’s accepting smile at the end said it all, as she somewhat vicariously watched a very happy Serena and Dan. Seeing them was bittersweet for her, but at least she’s not making the same mistakes her mom made, and she’s letting Serena be herself, as she asked.

As for CeCe – all these years later and she’s still making the same mistakes. She tried to get rid of the improper suitor/temporary distraction Dan by having a heart-to-heart chat with him, telling him that he’d always feel out of Serena’s league and that he was destined to become a "cocktail party anecdote." Grandmas say the sweetest things sometimes. I loved it that Dan had enough self-confidence not to buy into any of her bull and instead make her worst nightmare come true by suddenly announcing that he’d be Serena’s escort. Checkmate! Then CeCe repeated herself and tried to buy off Rufus once again, in the hope that he would keep Dan away from Serena. This of course didn’t work (those Humphrey men have so much integrity). Dan told Serena the truth about this, but the truth hurt, so much so that Serena chose denial. I was a little surprised by Serena’s actions here, but I guess she was blinded by her deep love for her grandmother.

At least Carter wasn’t completely useless as her escort, as his rewrite of her presentation statement was quite amusing: "Ms. van der Woodsen hopes to bed as many billionaires as she can, before settling down to..." The look on CeCe’s face was priceless. But I guess I should have some compassion for the woman because she is ill – oh wait, that was all a lie! (I was suspicious as soon as she first mentioned the illness.) Yes, she would stoop that low, as the woman is a manipulation queen.

Speaking of manipulations tactics, Chuck had a pretty good one: Convince Nate that Carter was the mysterious guy seeing Blair; then at the right time at the ball, set Nate up to go off on Carter. It would be a win-win situation: Carter, whom Chuck hates, would get punched, and Nate would disappoint Blair by causing a scene. As Blair had just explained to Chuck, she doesn’t like people causing scenes. But Blair is a fickle person, and Nate punching Carter out turned her on. As a fellow manipulator, Blair figured out Chuck’s little plan, and his scheming ways pissed her off, to the point where she exclaimed, "You make me sick!. This thing between us – it’s over. For good."

So whom does Blair truly like? She’s a hard one to figure out. At the beginning of the episode, she was once again with Chuck, and really enjoying his company. She was playful and less stiff with him, and all giggley while receiving his text messages. I don’t think she’s using him anymore, because there’s no longer a need for that. The secrecy of their relationship also seemed to be a major turn-on for her. But the second Nate stepped into the picture and asked her to go to the cotillion, it’s like she was putty in his hands, dumping her escort the prince and valuing her past with Nate. Their conversation about his green sweater that she gave him and how she sewed her heart on his sleeve – that was in the first few pages of the first book. (I still mean to finish the first book at least...anyway, I do remember reading that.) However, Blair was ignoring Nate while Chuck was texting her, so what does that mean? Well, after last night she can compare them in even more ways, but sorry, her love scene with Nate was nowhere near as hot as the limo ride with Chuck, in my opinion at least – feel free to disagree.

As for Nate, he’s also hard to read (glad to hear that his dad is finally in rehab though). So he’s suddenly over Serena now? And he couldn’t bring himself to even attend Blair’s party, but now he’s in love with her again? Or is Nate on of those people who only wants what he can’t have (Serena; Blair when he suspects she’s seeing another guy)? Whatever the case is with him, the Blair-Nate-Serena triangle has taken a back burner as the Nate-Blair-Chuck triangle moves to the forefront.

Chuck – it looks like it sucks to be Chuck right now, as he accidentally helped his best friend and had his heart broken in the process. And when Chuck gets hurt, he apparently runs away and hides (in a place that requires an airplane to get to). But he could take comfort in the fact that Jenny’s life pretty much sucks now too. She defied her parents, got grounded and hurt her mother’s feelings. Then there was the guilt trip Alison laid on her. Honestly, if her parents send her to a school filled with brand-name loving elitists, how can they expect some of that not to rub off on her? On the plus side, she is back in Blair’s good graces. So, glass half full, right?

Gossip Girl viewing schedule: No episode next Wednesday (not even a repeat). But on December 19, the holiday episode! If you need something to hold you over until then, check out clips from Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide.

As Blair, Serena and their circle of family and friends celebrated Thanksgiving in the Big Apple, we Gossip Girl fans had a lot to be thankful for: flashbacks, fights and reconciliations. Though not yet Christmas, we got the ghost of a holiday past sprinkled in between scenes of the present. And before I get too deeply into discussing the plot, let me complement how well this show handles details: I loved how the flashback scenes were shot with a slightly grainy look. And the slightly changed, but not drastically different hairstyles in the scenes of the past were a nice, realistic touch. Plus, these scenes let us see things we probably could never witness otherwise: Serena, Nate and Blair clowning around as good friends; the three Waldorfs together as a happy clan.

Now on to Thanksgiving past, where so much was confirmed, such as the fact that Serena was not merely a wild party girl, but a pretty serious drunk. The kind of drunk who almost gets killed walking absentmindedly in traffic (thankfully "Dave" was there to save her). We also learned some new info about Blair: She was bulimic. I don’t think this had been alluded to on the show yet (though I do remember Eleanor once told her to eat some low-fat yogurt instead of a pastry), but I believe some of you book fans have mentioned this eating disorder in your comments.

Also revealed: Blair was a daddy’s girl who was very close with her father, so his absence at Thanksgiving this year was especially painful to her. The notion of a poor little rich girl is such a cliche, yet out of all the characters on this show, Blair is the one I find myself feeling bad for the most. First, there was the argument with her mother at the dinner table about Eleanor disinviting Blair’s dad – and then giving away his pie! (I think it’s obvious where Blair gets her controlling nature and bossiness from – and for a minute there, I thought Blair was going to throw that other pie in Eleanor's face). Following that, there was the scene of Blair alone in that big kitchen, thinking about Nate and her dad and realizing that her Thanksgivings were never going to be like they were in the good `ol days...when she starting tearing into that pie, it was really heart wrenching.

I was glad she was able to call Serena for help, even after their nasty fight. (And what a good fight that was! "Nothing hurts more than sleeping with the best friend, right S.?...Are you jealous? You didn’t get to sleep with him first? There had to be somebody left on the Upper East Side." – I love Blair and her knack for cutting deep with her words.) As much fun as their catfight was, I was worried that it would put another end to their recently renewed friendship, but thankfully their bond is too strong for that.

Actually, a lot of bonds proved to be strong last night, including that of the Archibald family. The Captain had a non-accidental overdose, but Nate found him in time to get him to the hospital. Here we learned the Captain married into money (perhaps that’s why he married her?), but then over time he resented his wife for this safety net. As Nate’s mom explained, "All he had to do was put on a suit, sit behind a desk and not get arrested, and he couldn’t manage to do that." No, he couldn’t. It seems that getting things too easily over the years emasculated the Captain. He needed to feel worthy of something, to see that he was more than a mere placeholder, and Nate’s words on his hospital bed were exactly what he needed to hear: "It may not always seem like it, but we need you."

It was a rough Thanksgiving for fathers all over town, as one of Rufus’ worst nightmares came true: His old flame Lily attended his family dinner, just as he and his wife were starting to reconcile. While we got no flashbacks to the ancient `90s, we did learn that "She [Lily] was a groupie, and he [Rufus] was almost famous." Oh, and she was his first great love. And he named a song after her horse Rosewood (uncovering the true origin of that name make me think of rosebud from Citizen Cane). But to summarize, dinner at the Humphrey's did not go well. Their kids all now know about their past together and as expected, they found this information icky. (You know what I find icky? Any scene between Alison and Dan – I just cannot buy her as his mother. She looks too young, and he acts way more mature than her. It’s at the point where I find their scenes distracting.) Anyway, this parental triangle culminated with insecure Alison making a juvenile ultimatum: It’s her or me, specifying that Rufus would have to cut Lily out of his life completely if he wants to save his marriage. Is a person who left her family and cheated on her spouse really in a position to be making this kind of demand? Maybe not, but it worked in her favor.

Actually, despite some pretty dramatic Thanksgiving dinners, everything seemed to work out for everyone in the end. The Humphreys were playing football; the van der Woodsens were chowing down on French fries; the Waldorfs (minus gay dad in Europe – can’t wait to see more of him!) made up and chatted over tea; and the Archibalds survived a near-fatal tragedy, all while music with lyrics about fairy tales played in the background. It was all rather sweet...while it lasts.

Was anything missing? Oh, right – Gossip Girl herself. She spoke only in the very beginning, explaining she was taking the holiday off. Also MIA: Chuck. Him I missed, Gossip Girl – I like her witty comments, but I have to admit I didn’t really notice her absence until the very end of the episode, when she usually provides a closing comment. Perhaps she’s most effective in small doses.

Next week: The debutante ball, which I’m sure it will make all this Thanksgiving drama look like a relaxing stroll through Central Park.

Until then, check out clips from Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide.

So what was the best part of Blair Waldorf's 17th-birthday party? The fun Asian theme? No. The Guitar Hero smackdown between Serena and Vanessa? Not quite. Any scene between Blair and Chuck? Most definitely yes. As cute as Dan and Serena are, Blair and Chuck are my new favorite couple. And they're not even officially a couple... yet. Or possibly ever.

Now we know for certain what some of you suspected last week: Chuck likes Blair. As in, really likes her. To the point where he can't sleep, he can't stop thinking about her, and for the first time he feels this unfamiliar "fluttering" feeling in his stomach. It was surprising how vulnerable he let himself be in front of her. I loved Blair's reaction to that, when she was finally waking up to the fact that Chuck was acting like a "jealous boyfriend" and she explained, "You know that I adore all of God's creatures and the metaphors that they inspire, but butterflies have got to be murdered." Aww, Blair was showing her sweet side. Their scene on the balcony kept swinging back and forth between mean to adorable – well, as adorable as possible for people like Blair and Chuck. But I still think there's something irresistibly cute about them. If Dan and Serena are all soft and cuddly like Dan's oft-mentioned Cabbage Patch Kid, then Blair and Chuck are more like a couple of Sour Patch Kids — both sweet and tart.

I'm glad this show didn't simply transform Chuck into a good guy overnight – that wouldn't have been believable. He's a newly lovesick teen, but he's still a jerk. When Blair didn’t say she felt butterflies too, he defensively told her the sex wasn't that good. And after giving her some good "face reality" advice regarding Nate, he proposed a wager in which Blair would have to spend the night with him again if she lost. Typical Chuck. Yet Blair and Chuck are pretty much on a level playing ground, and it seems like she may be the only girl who can really handle him – and manhandle him, like when she grabbed his head. One question remains, though: Does Blair have feelings for Chuck, or is she just using him because he’s there? I can't be sure yet. But that last scene where he gave her the diamond necklace she wanted – wow! He really knows how to surprise and impress her. As for their makeout session afterwards – Blair was very vulnerable at that moment, having finally realized her breakup with Nate was real, and Chuck may have been taking advantage of that. But he was also sweetening up what had been a pretty sucky birthday for her up until that point.

As for missing birthday guest Nate, he too had a piece of jewelry for Blair: the family heirloom ring. But he never gave it to her, despite his parents' relentless prodding. Good for him. I like Nate best when he's standing up to his parents, because those two are just ridiculous. Nate was the only one making sense in the family's conversation with the lawyer, and his mom dismissed him by telling him, "This is a conversation for adults." Adults who think banking their financial well-being on their teenage son’s future engagement is a solid plan. It was a great scene when he threw the ring on the table and told the captain, "You better hope for your sake that they don’t call your son to the stand." No doubt Chuck's advice ("If you're done with Blair, be done. Don't cave to your parents' wishes if their not your desires") helped Nate make this bold decision. (And there's no doubt that Chuck's advice, while good, was also a bit self-serving.)

Nate was not the only kid dealing with his parents' problems last night. His new late-night walking buddy Jenny took it upon herself to help patch up her parents' crumbling marriage. After learning of her mother's affair last week, she brought her mom home, so we finally got to meet Alison Humphrey. Apparently, Alison made a lot of sacrifices for Rufus' music career early on in their relationship, and recently she discovered that she needed some "me" time. She probably didn’t have a whole lot of time as a young adult to find herself, because from the looks of things, she and Rufus must have gotten married and starting having their kids at what, 18? (Seriously, Alison and Rufus look like they could be playing Dan and Jenny’s older siblings instead of their parents, and the same could be said about Nate’s mom.) But Alison and Rufus make a pretty couple, so I'll let that go. At first, Rufus seemed rather hurt and unforgiving (as was Dan), but by the end of the night our favorite art dealer/rocker was in a very forgiving mood. So what does this mean for the state of the Humphrey marriage? Will Alison be moving back with her family? I'm not sure. I feel like we still don't know much about Alison yet. She seems a little... flighty. But maybe she's sincere about getting this need to explore out of her system. I guess time will tell. But for the moment, Alison and Rufus seem pretty happy, as does Jenny.

Likewise, Dan, Serena and Vanessa are becoming quite the happy threesome. OK, I'm overstating things a bit. That opening scene with the three of them in the restaurant was the definition of awkward, and Vanessa was getting annoying again, especially when she invited herself to Blair's party. But just as Dan hoped, she and Serena did eventually bond. Yet there's something about Vanessa — she comes off as very mature, always offering some sage observation. And her only flaws are that she's annoying and overly pushy. But this usually works out for her in the end anyway (like at the party she tagged along to last night). Everyone around her appears to be so much more realistically flawed, and that makes her come off as a little too perfect and one-dimensional. Maybe this is because she's a newer character on the show, and, just like Alison, we still need to get to know her better.

Unfortunately, we're not going to get a chance to know any Gossip Girl characters next week, because a repeat is airing (the second episode titled "The Wild Brunch," in which Dan punched Chuck – good stuff). It will be Thanksgiving Eve, a night when a lot of people aren't home or are busy making preparations, so a repeat is understandable. But don't OD on turkey and stuffing to the point where you can’t even think about it anymore, because there will indeed be a Thanksgiving-themed episode of Gossip Girl, airing on Nov. 28. See you then!

Check out clips of Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide.

Wow, last night’s show really had everything: sex, drugs... all that was missing was Rufus’ '90s-style rock and roll. But there was embezzlement and fraud, and that always makes for a good substitute.

In the tale of two virgins, let’s start with nervous Dan. He was so worried that he couldn’t measure up to what experienced Serena was used to (his dream sequences were quite amusing, especially the one with Blair’s sidekicks giving him scores). Then he had to deal with Vanessa interrupting things. OK, now she’s starting to work on my nerves a little. It’s just rude the way she comes over uninvited. To make things worse, she enters through windows and therefore doesn’t knock! At least she gave him some helpful advice to lose the Cabbage Patch Kid and the football sheets, but the way she phrased it ("If it were me, I’d want...") — that was just a little too close for comfort, given their history. Of course, it was funny when his dad gave him the exact same advice.

So after some redecorating and "be safe" warnings from Rufus, things were looking promising for Dan... until Serena surprisingly said "Wait" and admitted she was scared. It seems no one ever looked at her before the way Dan did — more specifically, "they never looked at me at all." That was kind of sad. For the first time, things felt real for Serena, so she didn’t want to rush it, opting for some cuddling instead.

It’s a shame that Nate never created some candlelit romantic scene for Blair, because that kind of thing seems right up her alley. Plus, a planner like herself would have really appreciated all the prep work that went into that. But Nate never did that, because let’s face it, he just doesn’t love Blair. Maybe he did at one time, but no longer. And Blair... I’m not sure if she loves Nate, or just the idea of him. She was as excited as her mother was about the idea of getting that heirloom diamond one day soon. And the way she talks about how she’s had her heart set on Nate since childhood — it’s like she’s built this ideal relationship between him and her up on a pedestal, and it’s never gonna live up to that. I’m glad she didn’t simply dismiss Nate’s latest indiscretion (mistaking Jenny for Serena and kissing her at the ball).

So Blair confronted Nate, and they broke up yet again (I loved when she told him she didn’t need him). And this led to the most intriguing plot twist of the night: A very hurt and drunk Blair blew off some steam at Chuck’s new burlesque club and semi-stripped on stage. And then she cashed in her V-card in the back of a limo. With Chuck. Yes, Chuck, previously known as the almost-rapist man-whore. But on the flip side, he is also one of Blair’s closest longtime friends. And unlike his behavior in the pilot, he did ask Blair, "Are you sure?" before things escalated. Gossip Girl’s resident bad boy and bad girl hooking up? I actually like this idea. Down the road, I think they could make a fun couple (imagine the schemes they could come up with!). But before that can happen, it looks like Blair and Nate have more issues to resolve.

Nate’s a little too busy with family problems to focus too much on Blair right now. He tried to help his dad out and take the fall for his drugs, and next thing you know, his mom was ready to check him into a treatment facility! I was starting to wonder how far Nate was going to carry this lie — through all 12 steps? And did his father hear himself while trying oh-so-pathetically to explain things to Nate?: "This young viper at the office... offered me a pick-me-up. It was stupid. I didn’t even like it... I’ll flush the bag right now." He sounded like a teenager in some bad After School Special. Then he got even worse: "I landed the Waldorf account. And my son has landed the Waldorf." Gross.

I now understand why Nate’s so stupid. Between his mom and his dad, the poor kid didn’t have a chance. He finally manned up and told his mom the truth about whose drugs they were. The woman went from being in denial to making excuses for her husband in 10 seconds flat. Even better was the scene outside the Waldorfs' apartment building when Nate finally didn’t hold back with his dad. He called him "embarrassing" and realized, "You’ve been selling me out!" I think that was Nate’s best scene yet, and one of the few times he wasn’t wimpy. Of course, he did get punched in the face, but turning his dad in to the cops and telling them to "check his pockets" was great payback. And his motivation was more than just revenge — like he said, his dad does need help. Apparently, a lot of help, and not just with his drug problem, but with embezzlement and fraud charges as well. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

While Nate’s dad seems like an all-around loser, Chuck’s dad isn’t so easy to define. Unlike Nate’s father, Bart seems to care about Chuck in a genuinely unselfish way. He certainly talks a good game with his son, telling him he’d prefer that Chuck get good grades or a real part-time job instead of his incessant partying and womanizing. But then it looked like he himself found a new young plaything, while secretly dating Serena’s mom at the same time. OK, so it turned out the plaything was really a business partner. But Chuck made a good point: When he ratted his dad out to Lily, she was quick to believe him, and there has to be a reason for that. Yet in the end, Bart and Chuck patched things up, and Bart seems proud of his son’s new business venture.

However, he might not be pleased with the fact that his son is the type of guy who sleeps with his best friend’s girlfriend (oh wait, they were technically broken up... yeah, like that matters). Who exactly finds out about that last scene in the limo, as well as the fallout from it, all remains to be seen.... I for one can’t wait.

Check out clips from Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide.

Nate, Nate, Nate. I wanna like you – I really do. After all, Blair, Serena and Chuck all see something worthwhile in you. And you’re easy on the eyes. But you can’t seem to shake your inherent boringness. I guess it’s hard finding your niche: Dan manages to make being good an appealing trait. And Chuck serves as the show’s extreme, borderline criminal bad boy. So being somewhere in the middle is never easy.

Nate has been given many character flaws and juicy plotlines, which should be helpful. He’s neither book-smart nor street-smart, and he’s unfaithful. All of this could be messy fun, but it’s yawn-inducing. And the way he’s treating Blair now is just terrible – he ignores her and continues to lust after Serena. Sure, sometimes Blair’s too busy planning parties to answer his phone calls, but even Blair doesn’t deserve to be treated the way Nate is treating her. Staying with her just to please his father is unfair to her.

Blair has tried to have a perfect romantic night with him on several occasions now, using both spontaneous and elaborately planned tactics. And her virginity has remained intact because Nate simply doesn’t care. Last night she made a playful attempt with her scavenger hunt, but it was a wasted game because Nate didn’t play along at all. He was too busy trying to steal a kiss from Serena (and succeeded in mistakenly kissing Jenny). Like Blair said to him at the end of the night: "You didn’t even try." I like that Blair’s no dummy. I hope she dumps him.

But I haven’t completely given up on Nate. His daddy-on-drugs storyline is a classic role reversal. Not only did he find his dad’s drugs, but now his mother found them and thinks they belong to Nate. And his father just sat there, letting her accuse Nate. That was a great scene. It looks like Nate’s going to take the fall for his dad. Don’t let me down Nate: Either lie and then confront your dad later, or accuse him right there on the spot. Just don’t be wishy-washy on this matter, too. It has too much potential for good drama.

So while I want to like Nate but am struggling, I didn’t want to like Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) – but I did. I’m no expert on the Gossip Girl books, but I do know she was a prominent character in them, so it’s good to see her introduced on the show. Of course, her mere presence meant trouble for Dan and Serena, and that’s why I didn’t want to like her. But damn, she’s pretty likable (look at how helpful she was sneaking Jenny into the masquerade ball). So apparently she and Dan were best buds, and then Dan professed his love for her the night before she moved away. One year later, she’s back (hey – just like Serena!), and this time she’s ready to return those affections to Dan. Only, Dan has moved on...to Serena.

Good guy Dan is not without faults, and he got caught lying to both Vanessa and Serena last night. The scene where Vanessa saw Dan kissing Serena was priceless: "Looks like someone’s traded up." (And Dan totally looked like Robin minus a Batman in that mask – glad even he could see that!) The series of mishaps were nerve-racking, but luckily by the end of the episode Dan got everything all sorted out. He made sure Vanessa knows they’re just friends and Serena knows she’s the one for him (and he even passed Serena's little Ice Capades test...awwww).

So while I wasn’t rooting for Vanessa to win back Dan, I couldn’t help but find her character appealing. And I really like Vanessa and Dan togther -- as friends. But I do have a question: How long will she stick around? Supposedly, she’s moved back to the city. She doesn’t go to a ritzy private school like the rest of them, but will she now be hanging out at the Humphrey’s apartment a lot?

Another pair thankfully on the friends-only tract: Rufus and Lily. Rufus’ kiss to make Bart jealous made Lily "nauseous," so I don’t think they’ll be repeating that anytime soon. And it seemed to do the trick with Bart. Like Dan, Rufus is a nice guy, and it’s good seeing him and Lily connect all these years later as friends.

It was also good to see Jenny get revenge on devil-masked Chuck (why be subtle, right Chuck?). However, I didn’t totally buy Chuck not recognizing her in her mask at the ball. Now, I can understand Nate confusing Jenny for Serena at the end, what with the mask and jacket switch they did in the bathroom. Add in Jenny's hair now being down, the two yellow dresses, and the fact that Nate is not too swift, and I can buy that. But Chuck’s pretty observant – Jenny still looked and sounded like Jenny when she pulled her fan away, and she spoke to him quite a bit. Although, Chuck goes through so many girls, it must be hard keeping them all straight. And as a side note, he looked really good with his hair mussed up while leaving the masquerade – he should wear it like that more often.

So Jenny got revenge and she got to go to the ball, even though as a rule, freshmen aren’t invited. After all the work she did for Blair, she deserved to go. Too bad Cinderella had to literally run out of there by midnight though, losing her on-loan diamond bracelet in the process (but no worries – it will get charged to Blair’s bill).

And too bad we have to wait two whole weeks for a new episode of Gossip Girl! Next week’s a repeat of the pilot, so tell your friends who have yet to discover this show that next week will be an excellent chance to acquainted with the Upper East Side and catch up on all the good Gossip they’ve been missing.

Check out clips from Gossip Girl in our Online Video Guide.