Well we saw the end of the episodes that they were able to wrap up before the strike and as much as I can’t say it’s a quality show, I’ll miss this guilty pleasure in my schedule. So what’s been going on? Well we’ve come back to a theme. We started the show with former queen bee Serena returning from boarding school after fleeing her sexual indiscretions. And we end the season (or the seasonette at least) with current bee Blair heading off to school in France slinking away in shame after losing it all. What led to this fall from Grace?

Well Chuck was keeping Blair away from Boring B with threats of exposing their tryst. But Boring B kept trying to woo her back. After they all got caught at an illegal on school pool party, Boring B even turned himself in facing expulsion since he thought Blair let them all in. Blair decided that they could forgive each other,

And Dan was caught up in the cast of characters illegally partying at the school pool. The new head mistress planned to expel the culprit who broke them in, or without a person to pin it on the whole gang would get the heave ho. And of course Dan the charity case (aka scholarship candidate) couldn’t afford to lose his future. This was made all the more difficult when it turns out Serena was the culprit, so she turned herself in to save dear old Dan.

And as Dan’s former flame followed him around with a camera (still pining for him much?) she caught Chuck and Blair arguing about his fessing up. Apparently Blair’s plan to call Chuck a liar won’t work if she’s filmed planning it… But little miss filmster had enough scruples to handover the tape to Blair. Not before Chuck offered her some cash which she traded for the tape that happened to be in the camera. So to balance out the evil she handed off the cash to some sort of herpes fund in Chuck’s name.

So video wasn’t the only problem, camera snapped photos circulated about Serena buying a pregnancy test… of course Dan would be there for her. He loved her and she even eventually admitted that she loved him. Now we all know from the previews that it’s really Blair who might be pregnant. What we don’t know is whether the father is Boring B or What up Chuck. Alas no father at all, though not pregnant Blair’s walls still came tumbling down.

When Chuck got dissed he risked it all to ruin things by emailing GGirl. Oh right that’s the premise of the show, there’s a Gossip Girl who posts all the dirt. So when the school started talking about Blair, her pregnancy, and her two fellas… Boring B checked in with the Littlest Humphrey. Though she’s been laying low these two eps she stepped in just in time. Blair kept her at arm’s length a little too long and after she overheard Serena telling Dan the sordid details she confirmed the Chuckness to Boring B.

So after some public fisticuffs Chuck and Boring B are friends no more. Boring B gave Blair the heave ho. And then Blair called Serena a ho yet again, apparently there are two sets of standards, and Blair blamed her for letting it slip to Little Humphrey. Serena and Dan just escaped a fight about whether he told Little H. And when Blair showed up to school she got dissed by her former snooty posse. Even a final threat to Little H rang hollow. And the snooty mcsnooterson gals adopted Little H back in and hired on a new lackey to treat like crap. So to whom does Blair turn in desperation? She admitted that he won but would you think Chuck would welcome her with open arms? He is a man who’s never seen a high road he didn’t pass up.

Chuck’s now busy hitting on his sister to be. Chuck’s dad won the fight, unbeknownst to him, for Serena’s mom. Serena’s mom was about to run off with the elder Humphrey but Serena pushed the issue… she’d rather be part of Chuck’s family than part of Dan’s because Dan was the most important person to her. Was Dan’s dad the most important thing to mom? Clearly we gathered that Serena was the most important thing to her as she accepted the Chuck family engagement and let Rufus go. This chapter may be closed but we haven’t seen the last of that age old romance.

And Chuck’s dad welcomed Serena to the fold by buying her out of her got-the-key-to-the-pool fiasco, community service in place of expulsion. And I was misleading… Serena who of course believes in second chances, or third, or fourth, talked Blair out of heading to France at the last minute. Wanna bet if Blair’s gonna come back, she’s gonna come back swinging? I wouldn’t bet against me on that. Though we’ll have to wait a while to see…

And for an honorary show close:

– xoxo gossip girl

Well the debutantes are coming to Gossip Girl, or coming out as the case may be… And the Grand Dame Grandma Vanderwoodsen came to town for the occasion. As she threw insinuations of an impending death in order to get Serena to the event, she was throwing barbs at the new beau Dan. Blair of course was in her element but who was her escort of choice? Some prince was thrown aside as Boring B realized what he was missing. Blair had suddenly became more appealing, aka happy, as she’d been hooking up with Chuck. But Chuck is happy playing second fiddle to no man. He gets Boring B to embarrass himself and Blair with some fisticuffs at the ball, have to say we’re repeating some OC themes, but you can’t go wrong with a classic.

And who won out between the mama Humphhrey’s art opening and the young Humphreys desire to attend the gala. Little Humphrey finagled an invite to volunteer but the Humphrey folks were having none of it. So of course she snuck out and got the ‘I’m disappointed in you speech.’ And as for our boy Dan, when Grand Dame tried to convince him that he’d be nothing but an uncouth memory to Serena he decided to go to the ball himself. But when Dan confessed Grand Dame’s attempt to buy him out of the event by buying out Dad’s gallery showing of Mom’s work the truth didn’t ring true with Serena and she sent him packing.

Of course the truth cycle seems to be a quick one in this version of New York. Serena found out it was Grand Dame doing the manipulations and mom stepped in and helped bring Serena and Dan back together. And Blair quickly learned that Chuck was behind the jealous fight manipulations and she finally gave her virginity to Boring B. Well not so much her virginity, since Chuck wasn’t giving that back. So slighted Chuck took off to dad’s island or somewhere, and turns out Boring B took off to visit as well. Now Blair’s left waiting for the truth to come out and ruin her reunion. I should remind those who might have forgotten we first met Chuck trying to force himself on Little Humphrey so his bad boy ways aren’t all sass.

But that wasn’t the only thing Blair was left to worry about. Daddy was coming to town for Christmas, but little did she know he was bringing the man he ran off to France with. And as Blair kept trying to separate Dad for a little quality time Frenchie hooked Blair’s mom up with some financier they met at the ice skating rink. Before Blair caused him to crash and go to the hospital of course. But Dad made up with Blair, and though he won’t be moving back to NYC any time soon, Blair does have a room waiting for her on the new French vineyard.

Did all Christmases work out so well? Serena and Dan ended up trading very sweet gifts under their $50 budget and managed to throw in a little doing it for free. This was all in an attempt to outdo Dan’s former flame. She gave the best present ever, submitting his story to the New Yorker Top 20 Under 20, and having it accepted (ok I have to pause here to remind myself that this is a fictional show and they can say anything they want and remind myself that I didn’t even submit a story to the New Yorker so it’s not like I’m being one upped by a bad television show’s leading man).

But alas all can’t end cheery now can it. The Humphrey’s are giving up the reunion tour and Mama Humphrey’s going back to wherever she was. Maybe she realized she was too young to have actually given birth to Dan, what is he 20 and she’s like 32? But I am mixing up fact with fiction again. So when Papa Humphrey left the chocolate chip pancakes behind so mom could say so long to the kids, whose doorstep did he end up on? Well Mrs. Van of course. But she was too busy getting proposed to by Chuck’s dad whilst Serena and brother Van sat with mouths a gaping. We have two eps left to find even more drama but unfortuantely you’ll have to entertain yourself some other way until the New Year.