Gossip Girl - It-Girl Happened One Night recap

Oh, Gossip Girl. The last couple of weeks left us bored and ready to give up the show for good. Then one of us caved and was pleasantly surprised. This week, all of the dancing around with the Thorpes and Damian finally came to a head and we got to see a glimpse of some endgames and reasons for, at least, Damian’s existence.

What happened? Chuck and Raina are over, because Chuck betrayed Lily, and Raina doesn’t think that reflects well on his character. Blair found out that Chuck has real feelings for Raina (which even we find hard to believe, so no wonder she missed it for so long). Blair is thriving at work, and her friendship with Dan is closer than ever. Blair gave one of Dan’s short stories to Vanity Fair. Blair thought Serena screwed her over, so she screwed Serena over with Ben, but that got patched up by the end of the episode. Russell Thorpe led Chuck on and then tossed him on his rear end. Thorpe fired Nate’s dad, but the Captain managed to secure a bunch of Thorpe’s office passwords for Chuck to use to get information. Damian has some master plan that involves Eric. Eric has to do what he says, or Damian will tell everyone about Lily’s perjury, possibly sending her to jail.

The fashion was great, the music was good, the party of the week was fun. There were twists, cliffhangers galore, and enough darkness to make any Valentine’s Day episode palatable. Dan and Blair aren’t moving too fast and feeling like a gimmick. They have enough in common that they might make a good couple, if Chuck and Blair weren’t meant to be (and they are). For now, we are enjoying “Dair.” But we are NOT enjoying Serena and Ben. He is not hot, the two have no chemistry, he’s pathetic, and now that all of his secrets are unearthed, he’s boring as well. She passed on Dan for NO REASON for this? Nate needs a storyline right now. How about having him steal Serena away from Ben for a while?

Anyway, we are going to keep watching. There are only two episodes left until a hiatus anyway. Then the show will return in April. So we can hang on for two more weeks and pretend that good business skills means the ability to throw a dimly lit party or follow your best friend around with a camera. We can continue to pretend that Chuck would whisper everything he says in real life or that Serena never, ever does anything wrong, or that cute, rich, gay little Eric would ever be alone in New York City. We will also pretend that this show will make all its lagging/time-wasting up to us by delivering in the finale. Gossip Girl finales are usually eventful.

Episode Grade: A-