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FINALLY we got a new Gossip Girl episode tonight! Even better, there’s a new one next week too! Can’t wait!
On "Seder Anything,” 2.21 we learn Serena (Blake Lively) may or may not be married to Gabriel (Armie Hammer) and Nate (Chace Crawford) learns that his grandfather had something to do with his father’s arrest.
The episode starts with one of Blair’s famous "My Fair Lady" dreams. In the dream, Blair the pauper is selling flowers to the rich and elite so she can have her dream of going to Yale, and runs into Nate with the socialite version of Blair. Socialite Blair tells pauper Blair that going to Yale is a silly dream and she needs to wake up. Nate’s grandfather in her dream is dressed as a waiter or maitre’d and escorts Blair out of the restaurant while pauper Blair yells "This is my dream." Blair wakes upsets, but looks over seeing her invitation to Tripp and Maurine’s wedding (Nate’s cousin and his fiancee).
Going downstairs for breakfast, Blair shows new stepfather Cyrus (Wallace Shawn) her scrapbook of her last few weeks or so with Nate. But Cyrus is busy planning a Passover Seder dinner. Blair’s mom Eleanor (Margaret Colin) walks in as Blair makes plans to skip the Passover Seder for the rehearsal dinner for Nate’s cousin Tripp Vanderbilt (Aaron Tevit). Eleanor can’t believe Blair isn’t preparing for her future – instead content with becoming a socialite on Nate’s coat tails. Blair tells her Tripp’s fiancee Maureen (Holley Fain) is already on the board of four charities and two museums, and if being a socialite was good enough for Jackie O, it should be good enough for her too.
Cyrus throws in that he has a connection that could help her get into NYU, but Blair scoffs, saying just because she lost Yale doesn’t mean she wants to get into a non-Ivy League school and experiment in lesbianism (or something like that). Plus, Nate texted her saying he had something important to tell her and Blair thinks Maureen is going to get her in as a bridesmaid. Eleanor is disgusted and as Blair walks off, she declares "Waldorf women are not socialites!"
Meanwhile, Serena returns home from Spain, seeming pretty upset about something. Chuck (Ed Westwick) comes in to greet the "prodigal" daughter. Serena says she just spent time with Poppy Lifton (Tamara Feldman) and her boyfriend Gabriel – reading and swimming but Chuck doesn’t believe it. He says he saw Poppy last week, so he knows she wasn’t in Spain as long as Serena was. Chuck, on the other hand, has been occupying his time with a variety of women. The one leaving as he and Serena talk is a synchronized swimmer and he’s looking forward to his date with a ballerina. Serena says he must be over Blair, and Chuck says he did have a detour until he realized he’s a "17-year-old billionaire with tremendous stamina." Chuck will always be Chuck I guess.
In front of the church where the wedding rehearsal is taking place, Nate and Blair kiss. This is from the photos we’ve seen where Blair is wearing dark yellow outfit and holding blue and yellow flowers Nate brought her. Reading to hear his good news, Nate says he’s been accepted at Columbia University on his own, without his grandfather’s help. He’s torn though between which offer to accept – Yale or Columbia. He’s supposed to meet his cousin Tripp for lunch for something important.
Inside the church, Blair is disappointed to learn that’s she’s not good enough for The Whitney junior committee, according to Maureen, who tells her "it takes a while to matter." But then things change when Blair has a conversation with Nate’s grandfather Mr. Vanderbilt, who makes a deal with her: Get Nate to accept his Yale University offer and he’ll help her. Blair agrees if she can be a bridesmaid in the wedding (in order to climb the social ladder), along with is offer to get her on The Whitney junior committee.
At the loft, Jenny (Taylor Momsen) is working on a school thing with new guy Wes as Dan (Penn Badgley) walks in. Wes leaves saying he will call her later. Dan asks her about him and she says she’s working on a relationship with him. Rufus (Matthew Settle) walks in, upset over a phone call. No one is buying art right now, which isn’t good since he’s trying to come up with the money to pay Dan’s college tuition. Dan asks if he could get a job to help out, but Rufus wants him to focus on his studies.
When Rufus leaves, Jenny says Wes’ mom is a caterer and maybe she could get him a job. Plus, if he does, then Jenny can invite Wes over for dinner to thank him for helping her brother. I’m just glad Jenny gets to do something in this episode.
Back at the Waldorfs, Eleanor is mad at herself for giving Dorota the weekend off (now that she’s in love "all she thinks of is herself" Eleanor says) and needs help with the Passover Seder dinner. As Cyrus cooks his brisket, he gets a call from Serena, who says she needs to see a lawyer.
Lily (Kelly Rutherford) and Rufus arrive back at the apartment from shopping where Rufus tells her he didn’t know shopping meant shoe shopping. Lily tells him all shopping always leads to shoe shopping. He complains that he wished people would care about art as they do about shopping, and Lily realizes he is trying to find money for Dan’s tuition.
Serena walks in to face her mom, who asks Rufus to leave so they can have a one-on-one conversation. Lily thinks Serena is back to her old ways and can’t believe she trashed the apartment with the party and then ran off to Spain. Serena says she doesn’t know who she is right now and is trying to figure it out. Lily tells her to "spare me," letting her know she’s grounded.
Serena calls Blair telling her she’s back from Spain, but really Serena is just happy to hear that Blair is not home. She ignores her grounding order from her mom and runs off to meet with Cyrus about her "problem." Dan is with the caterer talking excessively about how he feels bad not telling his father, not realizing that they have arrived at the Waldorf’s and that he will be serving Blair’s family. It seems Cyrus’ mom doesn’t like Eleanor so she wants to make sure everything is perfect for the dinner. When Dan realizes he could possibly be serving Blair, he tries to leave, but Eleanor offers to pay both of the caterers double for staying. Plus, she says Blair won’t be there.
As Blair and Nate prepare for the rehearsal dinner, Blair is happy because she’s now on The Whitney junior committee. Nate’s grandfather has held up his end of the bargain because she’s also a bridesmaid. Trying to do her part, she tells Nate she’s been thinking about his college choice, but Nate abruptly tells her he has picked Columbia. He only got into Yale because of his grandfather and he doesn’t want to owe his family anything. He tells Blair after tonight, they are done with the Vanderbilts. Of course, this ruins all of Blair’s plans….
Back at the Waldorfs, Cyrus tells Serena he will look into getting her a quickie annulment, once he figures out if she’s married after all. He encourages her to tell her mom, but Serena says it wouldn’t be good timing. It seems Serena got drunk and said her vows with Gabriel while in Spain.
Dan, the caterer, walks up overhearing the conversation. Serena tells him the story of how after two days into their trip, Poppy and Gabriel got into a huge fight and Poppy left. She decided to stay with Gabriel for company, and one thing led to another. After quite a bit of drinking, they ended up swimming naked in the ocean and then saying their vows. When Serena woke up the next day, she realized her mistake and took the next flight home. Dan, who is a little jealous, can’t believe Serena married a guy she hardly knew, even if she was drunk. Like he tells her, they were together for almost a year and they didn’t make it to junior prom. But she meets this guy and in less than a month is married. Cyrus is looking into whether or not the wedding is legit, she says, but remembers saying "Si" during the Spanish ceremony.
Dan says he has to get back to work, and Serena realizes he’s serving at Eleanor’s Seder dinner. Dan’s embarrassed.
At the rehearsal dinner, Nate is practically steaming mad but he won’t tell Blair what’s up. He’s just glad she’s there with him. She tells Nate it’s probably not a good idea to tell his grandfather about his plans for Columbia, but Nate says that won’t be a problem because he’s not going to talk to him. As his grandfather approaches, Nate blatantly ignores him, walking off. He asks Blair if there is a problem (with their Yale scenario), and she just says she needs a few more minutes.
Lily and Rufus show up at the Passover Seder, which makes Eleanor happy because Cyrus’ mother doesn’t like her and they will serve as extra buffers. She almost tells Rufus about Dan, but then changes her mind. Rufus spots an high end art collector among the people Eleanor has invited, and discovers that’s why Lily got them invited. The art collector is a friend of Cyrus’. Just then, they run into Dan, but instead of telling him why he’s there, Serena pops up and she says she invited Dan as her guest. Lily is surprised to see her grounded daughter there, but Serena says she was invited by Blair. Lily says she’ll hold it in so she won’t make a scene at Eleanor’s. Eleanor comes up and asks Dan to get the wine, and he plays it off so Rufus won’t think anything of it.
Later, Serena tells Dan that the thing with Gabriel has nothing to do with their relationship, but Dan thinks her relationship with Gabriel is more serious than she realizes.
At Lily’s apartment, Jenny is playing Monopoly with Wes. He asks her if she’s the same girl who used to sit on the steps of the Met, but she tells him people change. About that time Chuck rolls in with his hottie of the day, making out with her in front of Jenny and her date. They head for the bedroom and Chuck tells them not to worry if they hear screaming. Jenny seems peeved that she’s stuck playing Monopoly with a guy who doesn’t seem to be getting the hint that she likes him.
Back at the rehearsal dinner, Blair approaches Tripp and asks him what he said to Nate. He tells her Nate feels lucky that he’s back together with Blair and is hopeful that they have both changed. He asks Blair if she has changed and she says she has.
Nate does the toast as the best man and instead calls his grandfather out for turning in his father (The Captain). "If he cares so much about family, then why did he destroy mine?" Nate says during the toast. He ends the toast warning his cousin Tripp to watch his back. Nate’s grandfather is livid.
Guess who shows up at Eleanor’s? It’s Gabriel, who is determined to see Serena and tells Dan it’s imperative. Dan whispers to Serena during the dinner that she has a guest, irritating the others at the table. Turns out he called Serena’s apartment and smoke with Chuck who told him where Serena was (and asked if he had any hash). Gabriel doesn’t understand why she left Spain without talking to him and demands to hear her explanation. She tells him Dan is her boyfriend and they fought before she left for Spain.
Anotherwords, she’s trying to make Gabriel think that she’s with Dan so he’ll leave her alone. Dan supports her by saying "It’s true. I love Serena no matter what crazy thing she does." Gabriel is surprised since Serena never mentioned his name (which surprises Dan!). Eleanor walks out to find something, and invites Gabriel to stay for the dinner. This isn’t good for Dan and Serena who are trying to put on an act.
Back at the rehearsal dinner, Nate’s grandfather walks up to Blair and demands that she fix things with Nate or she will be sewing buttons on Eleanor’s dresses by next year.
At the Seder dinner, Gabriel wants to know why Dan is serving wine if he’s Serena’s boyfriend. Serena makes Dan sit down in Elijah’s spot, but at this point Eleanor could care less. Serena puts her hand on top of Dan’s as a show of affection, which ticks Lily and Rufus off. Then Lily questions Gabriel if he’s the one that was with Serena and Poppy in Spain. The whole dinner is falling a part. The only good part is the art collector asks if the artwork Rufus represents is worth his time.
Back at the apartment, Chuck is getting busy with his ballerina. When she bites him, he stops, realizing they’ve been together before. I guess Chuck has some weird rule about being with the same person twice (unless it’s Blair) and asks her to leave. This scene, by the way, is the one where we see Chuck in bed with someone. No Vanessa by the way. Remember, they "enjoyed" being together in the last episode?
Chuck comes out to get a drink (and get rid of the girl), and watches as Jenny plays Monopoly with Wes. He pretty much spills the beans that he should have remembered he’d been with her before, when an embarrassed Jenny cuts him off and asks Wes to take a walk with her. While Wes waits in the elevator with her, Jenny puts Chuck in his place. She tells Chuck that just because he’s bored with his life doesn’t mean he should ruin it for everyone else. He reminds her that she doesn’t live in the apartment yet. She tells him that after the Kiss on the Lips party last year when he attacked her, she wouldn’t live there anyway. And she tells him if she would have told her dad, that Lily would choose her family over Chuck. Chuck says he doesn’t care, but Jenny says he does because the only human contact that he has now that Blair is gone dating his best friend is the people living in the apartment with him.
At the rehearsal dinner, Blair comes up to Nate, who apologizes for not telling her what he was going to do. She says that’s okay and asks him if he’s alright. He wants her reassurance that he did the right thing, and Blair put on the spot chooses the right answer, telling Nate he is wonderful. So instead of taking Nate’s grandfather’s side for her own interests, she is choosing to support Nate. She goes to get her coat. As Blair walks off, Nate’s grandfather approaches and explains that the reason he turned in The Captain was because he knew what he was doing was against the law. He gave Nate’s father a chance to turn himself in, but he refused, so that’s why he had to do it.
Nate tells him he should have told him the truth because he’s tired of being lied to. Nate’s grandfather tells him he’ll tell him the truth in the future and then says he has something to tell him about Blair.
Back at the Seder dinner, Serena and Dan are still trying to pull off their relationship in front of Gabriel. Eleanor’s patience with the long dinner that doesn’t involve food until the very end is ending. As Cyrus starts another prayer, Gabriel breaks in wondering why no one else close to Serena knew about Dan. Serena tells him solemnly, "there’s praying about to happen." It’s pretty funny. Cyrus stands up for Eleanor when his mother calls her out for Serena’s behavior. Of course, within seconds it comes out that Dan is actually a caterer/waiter (not a very good one, Eleanor pipes in) and they are not together, just good friends. Lily wants to talk with Serena privately.
As Nate walks Blair to a car, he tells her he needs some time to himself. She doesn’t know what’s wrong, but he asks her point blank if she made a deal with his grandfather to make Nate choose Yale so she can be a bridesmaid. He feels like Blair sold him out just like his grandfather sold his family out. Blair denies it at first and then admits she did it, noting that at the last minute she realized she was wrong and didn’t do it. Nate tells her she’s the same girl he used to know, but Blair says she’s not.
In private, Serena apologizes for her actions but says she’s wants to go back to feeling "free." She wants the opportunity to make mistakes to find her way. Lily tells her that while she was off in Spain that she got an acceptance letter from Brown. Serena’s happy, though she already has her foot in Yale’s door if she would prefer to go there.
Gabriel has finally had enough and left, but Serena runs after him an apologizes. She tells him she had fun with him but isn’t ready for marriage. He tells Serena they’re not married he’s sure. It probably was a gardener he woke up, not a priest. She believes him and they kiss passionately, especially after he asks who really is her boyfriend. So now they are officially an item.
About that time, Blair is dropped off and runs to Blair for a hug now that her life has fallen apart. Serena, being a good friend, takes care of Blair, telling Gabriel she’ll talk to him later.
Strangely enough, Nate decides he wants to talk to Chuck about his problems. Nate feels stupid for trusting Blair again. But Chuck says the problem is that he doesn’t accept her the way she is. Chuck tells Nate: "She could have had me but she chose you. Now, she just needs someone to believe in her." I guess those words got to Nate. He leaves Chuck and heads to Blair’s house.
Meanwhile, Rufus has come to a decision that he wants to sell the art gallery. He tells Dan and Lily he doesn’t know what he wants to do next, but is excited about what that means for his future. While Serena consoles Blair over Nate (thinking she would be the next Hillary not Jackie O), Eleanor tells her she has someone downstairs she needs to talk to.
Blair thinks she is referring to Cyrus, so she goes downstairs and apologizes to him. Cyrus accepts her apology and tells her he did get her an interview at NYU, but it will be up to her to get in. Blair is now thrilled with the prospect. She then sees Nate, who stepped in when he heard the college part.
Nate and Blair apologize to each other and make up.
Speaking of apologies, when Jenny returns to the apartment, Chuck gives Jenny an apology for his actions the night of the Kiss on the Lips party. He says if she ever decides to move in, he will stay away. Jenny is blown away with his apology.
At home, Serena calls Gabriel and leaves a message, telling him she’s glad he came back for her and she’s looking forward to what will happen between them. But Gabriel is up to something. He’s with Poppy, who tells him "tell me everything."
Gossip Girl will return next Monday at 7 p.m. CST on The CW.
Image: Bauer-Griffin