Ah, Gossip Girl. The show that’s made us laugh, cry, scream and develop a newfound appreciation for Passion Pit celebrated its 100th episode this week, and it did not disappoint die-hard GG fans.
The episode opened with Blake Lively as Serena in a Marilyn Monroe-inspired wig and dress singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” We loved the costume, especially the tuxes Nate and Dan wore, but let’s just say there’s a reason Leighton Meester and Taylor Momsen are the GG stars who began singing careers, not Lively.
Anyone who’s read the Gossip Girl book series was probably thrilled when Blair appeared dressed as Audrey Hepburn at the end of Serena’s song, though we were disappointed we didn’t get to hear Meester sing at least a few lines.
Though we love seeing Blair be as classy as ever, it’s a little disappointing to see how the show’s producers have developed Serena’s character in the last few seasons. When Blair and Serena fought for Constance’s one spot at Yale, Serena knew more about history and literature than Blair did at the dean’s dinner. And when Blair found Serena to apologize, she was reading a book.
But as many critics have noted, Serena’s character really isn’t much more than a pretty face in recent episodes. What happened to the intellectual Serena of yesteryear? We wish she had made an appearance in this special episode instead of the writers just playing on Lively’s gorgeous blond locks and lithe figure.
Between the fitting at Vera Wang for Blair’s wedding dress and the pre-party at Blair and Serena’s apartment, the audience has plenty of time to ponder a question we thought left with season two: Does it not bother Serena that Dan is her brother? Even if he’s only a stepbrother, it’s still a pretty unhealthy pursuit. And Rufus is as unconcerned by that fact as she is, which only makes it worse.
On a more positive note: Cyrus! The idea of too much Wallace Shawn on Gossip Girl is “inconceivable,” so we were super excited to see both him and Harold in the episode, though of course neither would miss Blair’s wedding. “Oh, she’s here, the princess bride!” We all saw this line coming – it’d be a waste of Shawn not to use it – but it still worked.
What about Chuck refusing to join the priest in his plan to stop the wedding? Did you all see this one coming? I guess we should have known better than to think that Georgina and Chuck would work together, but it was still cute to see that he really did have Blair’s interests at heart, even if he didn’t know about her prayer when he was in the hospital.
And the fact that Eleanor was the one to bring Chuck to his senses? That was a twist we didn’t see coming, especially given her and Blair’s strained relationship while the characters were in high school. So we were surprised and happy to see in Gossip Girl’s unreal world what we often see in ours – even though parents make mistakes, they really do want what’s best for us.
The fact that Georgina’s master plan was to seduce Louis was a bit of a letdown given her crazy schemes – lying to Dan about being the father of her child, to name one example – in the past. But on the plus side, she certainly lost the baby weight!
While we weren’t surprised to see Serena tell Chuck about Blair’s prayer, the suspense of whether Chuck or Georgina sent the video to Gossip Girl was an unexpected twist. Though at most weddings we’ve been to, the priest doesn’t wait an extended period of time for objections before moving on with the vows.
Georgina’s lecture to Serena, Nate and Dan about how any of them could have sent the video in was a direct play on the season two finale and its message that “everyone is Gossip Girl.” So the fact that we didn’t find out who actually sent it in was a good reminder of how much they all hurt each other in high school.
The fact that Louis was the one to set Blair straight was a nice twist, because we finally saw him have a backbone, even if his actions were propelled by his mother. But since the video’s out, what blackmail evidence does he have on Blair to keep her from divorcing him and moving back to New York?
Evidently, he doesn’t have any. In an expected but grin-inducing ending, Blair calls Dan to get her out of the reception, seconds before Chuck arrives. Will they end up together, or will Dan help her start a new life with Chuck?
And in the episode’s final seconds, we see Georgina behind the computer screen, posting to GossipGirl.com. While this probably didn’t shock anyone, we did have a pipe dream of seeing Kristen Bell make a physical appearance on the show (sans sloth, of course).
What will happen to Blair now? We’ll have to keep watching … let’s just hope she took off the obnoxious fake eyelashes after getting in the car with Dan.
Sources:
Serena and men (photo): Giovanni Rufino / The CW, http://www.cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl/photos/00643630739
Blair with Cyrus and Harold (photo): Giovanni Rufino / The CW, http://www.cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl/photos/006427308ad
Blair and Louis (photo): Giovanni Rufino / The CW, http://www.cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl/photos/00644960a65