Hey Upper East siders, with Thanksgiving approaching, I decided to rewatch the Thanksgiving episodes from CW’s Gossip Girl (2007-2012). While the show has so many iconic moments, it’s the season’s Thanksgiving episodes that hold a special place in the show. Especially during the holiday season. Here is my ranking of each season’s Thanksgiving episode, filled with secrets, family, and drama. Spoilers ahead!
6. Season five
It is pretty easy to put this season last. Out of all 6 seasons, Season 5 is the only one that does not feature a Thanksgiving episode. Now, this may or may not (in my opinion) prove that this season is the worst in Gossip Girl.
5. Season two
When I was originally rewatching, I thought that season 2’s episode would rank higher for me. However, I was surprised by how boring it is in comparison to the other seasons. This episode, The Magnificent Archibalds, starts with families fractured. Blair is trying to evade her mother’s boyfriend, Cyrus, as he is imposing on her holiday traditions. Blair ends up trying to skip her family dinner, thinking her mom would not notice. Jenny Humphrey is staking out at the Van Der Woodsens’ (Bass) house. She and her father, Rufus, are not on good terms. Lily tries to broker peace between the two for the entire episode. At the end, Blair helps her realize her father cares about her. And Jenny helps show Blair that her mother does care about her.
On the other end, we have Eric and Chuck, who go through Bart’s safe and discover files on Eric, Serena, and Lily. Serena is trying to navigate hiding the truth about her past and her drinking history from her new boyfriend after he and Dan run into each other at the store. The Archibalds are facing trouble of their own. Nate’s father is a fugitive with the FBI on his tail. He has a plan to bring Nate and his mother to a new island and hold them for ransom. Vanessa and Chuck lead Nate to talk to the FBI, where his dad ultimately turns himself in.
Now here are my thoughts: This is the season that Jenny starts to irritate me; however, I do appreciate how she comes home in the end. I enjoy the dynamic of Eric and Chuck in this episode, and it’s something I wish we got more of in the show. I love how Jenny and Blair help each other out in some way, which is not a common occurrence. The theme of family was strong in this episode, with everyone making up in the end, apart from Bart and Lily. Jenny comes home, Blair goes home, and Chuck and Nate make up, and I was happy to see Blair’s dad make an appearance.
4. season four
In this season’s episode, Gaslit, the drama starts right away. Serena is missing, with no one able to get a hold of her. She ends up waking up in a hotel room filled with drugs and no memory of how she got there. Blair, who is going to leave for Paris, and the rest of Serena’s family—the Humphreys and Chuck included—rush to the hospital to make sure she’s okay. Vanessa tries to frame Jenny for what Juliet did to Serena (although all three of them played a part). Juliet makes her escape from New York, which leads to Jenny sharing their secret and telling Blair how to take Juliet down. On the other end, we have Nate, whose entire plot line is about rebuilding his family by trying to stop his mom from divorcing his dad while he is in prison.
While this is a Thanksgiving episode, one of my biggest qualms about this episode is that we barely see Thanksgiving. In the beginning, we see Lily setting up for dinner, and Blair talking about Thanksgiving in Paris. Nate and his mom also visit the Captain in prison for Thanksgiving dinner. But other than that, it’s hardly mentioned. This is why it is ranked low on this list. I do enjoy how entertaining this episode is, and how Jenny steps up and realizes what she did was wrong, and tries to help, unlike Vanessa. It is a bit of a frustrating watch though because nobody ever believes each other when they are telling the truth, but they all believe the person when they are lying!!
3. Season six
The final season of Gossip Girl is a short one, but the drama is still hot. In this season’s Thanksgiving episode, It’s Really Complicated, Dan and Serena are back together, and not in a cute way this time. But, they decide to throw their first Thanksgiving as a couple, seeing as Bart and Lily are supposed to be on vacation. Serena invites their friends, with Chuck reluctant to come because he fears his father will be there. She also invites her ex and his daughter (who wants to get back with Nate Archibald), after running into them at the grocery store.
Dan is grappling with which Serena story he wants to publish, the scathing exposé or the doting love letter. He ultimately ends up choosing the negative piece, which gets published in the middle of dinner, leading to an exploding finale. During the dinner, Chuck is trying to find murder evidence to put his father away, while trying to sway Lily to his side. Which he does when Bart physically harms Lily.
This is the first time in two seasons we get an explosive dinner scene, which I eat up. This dinner is almost as awkward, if not more than season 3 (which we’ll get to), with so many different past relationships, and Chuck actively hating on his father during the meal. Nate punching Dan as he gets kicked out of the Van Der Woodsens for posting that story about Serena, and Chuck getting Lily on his side, are the highlights of the episode for me.
2. Season one
Blair Waldorf Must Pie! is such a nostalgic episode. It switches back and forth between present day and the year prior. In the past we see Dan save a drunk Serena from getting hit by a car. We also see the old dynamics of the grouo with Nate and Blair still being together, and Serena not having gone away yet. The three of them have dinner at the Waldorfs, with Blairs father being present before he leaves them.
During the present-day Thanksgiving, Blair is actively waiting for the return of her father, who was supposed to come back to the States to celebrate. She gets upset when she learns that he will not be coming and that it is her mother’s fault. Dan invites Serena and her family to his for Thanksgiving, unaware that his father and Serena’s mom had a history (while his mom is in town after leaving). The dinner gets awkward, and the Van Der Woodsens end up eating in a diner.
This episode really encapsulates the holiday vibe. It has baby Dan and Serena before everything gets messed up. It touches on serious topics, such as Blair’s eating disorder. This is only brought up a couple of times after this episode. My favorite moment is when the kids—Dan, Eric, Jenny, and Serena—find out about Rufus and Lily’s past (and current-ish) romantic relationship, making everything awkward. Blair’s iconic Thanksgiving outfit is also worn in this episode.
1. Season three
For anyone who has seen Gossip Girl, season three’s episode, The Treasure of Serena Madre, being number one should not come as a surprise. This episode is full of secrets, which boil over at a giant Thanksgiving feast. Rufus and Lily host a Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone who comes has something they want to achieve. Blair suspects her mother is pregnant and spends the day trying to get her mother to reveal it. Vanessa has a fight with her mom, who Dan (who is struggling with his feelings for Vanessa) ends up inviting her to dinner to try and get the two to make up. Rufus invites CeCe, Lily’s mother, without her knowledge, and Jenny finds out about Eric’s sabotage at the cotillon. To top it all off, Serena and Nate’s cousin Tripp are having an affair. All of this comes to a head during almost the entirety of Jason Derulo’s Watcha Say. As the secrets are revealed, most of the characters dramatically get up from the table with a one-liner.
While there is drama throughout the entire episode, the dinner party scene is one of the most memorable in all of the series. It even became a trend on TikTok, where people would recreate the dramatics of leaving the table with a one-liner, Watcha Say playing in the back. Personally, this episode and the song have become a Thanksgiving staple, and it can’t be beat.