Leighton Meester is amazing, but this comes as no surprise now that we're in Gossip Girl's second season.  Upon viewing the unimpressive guest list that Dorota has put together for the faux-annual Back to the City Party, B explains to her, "I have to present myself as the crown jewel surrounded by other smaller, slightly flawed gems, but quality stones nonetheless."  I love her.  S arrives and B tells her to invite Dan to the party.  Apparently, Dan knows a thing or two about soccer – or football, as the Brits say – which may impress the Lord.

Chuck is liquidating his shares in the burlesque club, which is a venue I always wanted to see more of.  I guess it's never going to happen.  He tells Nate that he's selling the club to present a classier image to Blair, but he's actually doing it to loan Nate's mom some cash.

Dan and Serena realize that they can't possibly keep their hands off each other, so Dan suggests they spend some time apart.  That would be a swell idea, but unfortunately B needs Lonely Boy at the party.  The hands-off plan will have to wait a day.  Meanwhile, Nate heads to the coffee shop to bond with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr), who's apparently a fan of Mexican food cooked by lesbians.  Or maybe it's a restaurant called Lesbian Mexican, which I would visit in a heartbeat.  N gets a call from his mom, who tells him that the money situation is all taken care of.  Nate quickly figures out that Chuck is responsible for the financial donation, and he's less than thrilled about it.

Chuck meets up with the Duchess, and is surprised to find that she looks like Madchen Amick and not Helen Mirren.  While they whip up an evil ploy, Blair's classy party kicks off.  In an attempt to impress the Lord, she's hired people to play classical music on harps, which isn't quite as exciting as last week's Vitamin Water White Party.  Dan arrives a moment later and flirts some more with Serena, which leads me to believe their hands-off policy won't last long.

A party is nothing without at least one uninvited guest, so it's fitting for Chuck to arrive as Cougar Catherine's plus one.  Blair is horrified to see her lust object / loathed enemy with another woman, but quickly comes to regret commenting on Catherine's Botox injections when she discovers that she's actually the Duchess.  Whoops!  She tries to apologize by saying, "Your work is flawless," but she only digs herself a deeper hole.  The Duchess tells her that Marcus will never end up with "a lowly Waldorf," but the scandal really hits the fan when Nate shows up at the party.  S tries to cover for the fact that Nate is Blair's ex and is now dating the cougar, but it's still extremely awkward for all.

<<PREVIOUS  1  2  3  4  NEXT>>