Gossip Girl Episode Recap: "In the Realm of the Basses"
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As the Upper East Siders got settled into the new year, many of them tried to move on — to new clubs, new starts at old schools or new starts with old relationships. But some were left tying up the many lose ends left lingering from before the holidays.
Let's start with those who moved on. Jenny finally went back to school, making Rufus very pleased. Her dark eye makeup has given way to her dark roots, but style was the least of her concerns as she returned to the hallowed halls of Constance Billard. Instead, she was preoccupied with taking on the mean girls. Not for revenge and not because she wanted to be queen, but because she couldn't stand seeing them treat Nelly Yuki so badly. It's nice to see how much she's grown by witnessing how she's willing to stand up to them. And she's very lucky to have such a good friend in Eric. Jenny, Eric and Nelly made quite a powerful threesome, and thanks to the threat of blackmail (a staple weapon from the Blair arsenal), they won a battle with Penelope (the best part of this subplot was learning Penelope and Hazel's dirty deeds — and discovering that Isabelle's was to bad to utter aloud). Yet Nelly ultimately defected back to Queen Penelope, so Jenny didn't really save her — but perhaps she saved herself by winning some respect from them.
Also moving on was Serena, who dumped Aaron a mere three hours after they left New York! The brooding artist with questionable facial hair is out of the picture, at least for now (he is Blair's new step brother, so he'll probably resurface at some point). As soon as Lily told Serena that she and Rufus were no longer getting together, Serena made up her mind to give Dan another shot. She partied in Buenos Aires for several weeks, then gave Dan the good news. For a few seconds, he protested about her slow delivery with this news, but then all was forgiven and they started making out in the school hallway.
They carried on with this joyous reunion back at Dan's loft, only to be interrupted by Rufus, who basically threw Serena out (albeit in a nice way). Dan's no dummy, and he quickly picked up on the fact that Rufus was projecting his own hurt feelings about himself and Lily onto Dan and Lily's daughter. Ever since Rufus found out about his long-lost child, he started looking for him or her in Boston, but just turned up a lot of dead ends. Lily then finally revealed to him that it was a boy, but also told him to stop searching, saying the child (well, now technically an adult) deserved a life without interference from Rufus.
The really good scene between them came when Rufus warned Lily that investigative reporter Dan was about to find out their secret and would surly tell Serena. For the first time, Lily shared a bit of the confusion and turmoil she felt during her first pregnancy. And with tears in his eyes, Rufus told her, "I understand why you gave him up, but it's that you didn't tell me. I don't hate you Lil. As much as I want to." That was definitely a scene to rewind.
Lily expressed concern that her kids would hate her for this, and Rufus called Dan just in the nick of time, cautioning Dan from telling Serena. Like Rufus said, this is Lily's secret to share, not Dan's. And he's right, I don't think her kids will hate her — but they will probably need time to digest this, as Rufus does. Chuck also brought up a good point to Dan: As soon as Serena knows they share a sibling, their third try at romance may be over before it really begins.
Ah, Chuck. Yes, he did divulge Lily's secret that he sincerely planned to keep. But I'm not going to fault him for that, because Dan was going to find out one way or another, and he did owe Dan one for burying the story about Bart. I'm actually going to give Chuck a free pass for just about every single crappy thing he did in this episode, because he's still so deeply in mourning.
Chuck had been missing since his father's funeral, and Uncle Jackass — oops, I mean Uncle Jack Bass — finally found his wayward nephew in Bangkok. Blair and Dorota immediately rushed to greet Chuck on his return, only to find him totally incoherent as Jack dragged him out of the limo. Jack's plan was for him was to recoup at home, but Chuck decided to show up at school and smoke some hash on school grounds (he prefers it to marijuana). Why? I guess he figures while he's down, why not climb even further down into that dark abyss? He of course got caught by Miss Queller, and both Blair and Uncle Jack were present in a meeting, acting as his sort of substitute parents. Blair passionately pleaded his case (wouldn't she make a great lawyer?), and it worked — up until the moment where Chuck lit up again, right there in front of the headmistress.
Blair's concern for Chuck was evident throughout the episode, and as she explained to Serena, she could see in Chuck's eyes how lost he was (as we all could — again, another fine performance by Ed Westwick). Blair kept taking Chuck's bad attitude and verbal abuse, up until the moment he threw her declaration of love back in her face. At that point, she had enough. She started to break down in front of a mirror (Leighton Meester doing some great acting here too), but instead composed herself and resigned to move on, without him. She focused on getting into an exclusive ladies' society called the Colony Club — until Serena reminded her not to give up on Chuck, and gave her a stern disapproving look. (Um Serena, Chuck's your friend too — why weren't you trying to help him? And where the hell was his best buddy Nate? Off with Vanessa I suppose...)
As bad as Penelope and her crew are, I think the adult women of the Colony Club were much worse. After Blair lied about feeding the ducks in Central Park and reading to the blind in her spare time, they focused on Blair's social circle and tore into Serena, Lily, Bart and Chuck, going so far as to say that Bart's death was a good thing. What cold, evil women! Thankfully, Blair soon woke up to this fact, defended her friends and told off these snooty ladies, comparing them to high-school girls. (Dorota beamed with pride when Blair did this.)
Blair arrived at Victrola in time to talk Chuck off the roof. He was actually on the roof (a place he's fond of being, as only Blair knows), already wasted and still drinking as he walked unsteadily along the ledge, lamenting how his father didn't want him and how, "I'm Chuck Bass!...No one cares." It was his party, and not a sole besides Blair realized he wasn't around. Uncle Jack (who was partying with the high-school kids) didn't really notice until Blair asked him where Chuck was. And as much as Chuck hurt her, Blair once again put her heart on the line and told him that she cared, and she'd always be there for him, no matter what. She asked not to hurt himself, because if he did, he would be hurting her. And it worked. She put her hand out for him, and he took it, and apologized. A powerful scene, making me wish it lasted longer.
Soon Chuck was back in Uncle Jack's care, despite Blair's protests to this. And then, she said something to Jack that I had to rewind to fully comprehend: "He can't know what happened. On New Years." What?! Granted, Uncle Jack (played by Dexter's Desmond Harrington) is rather young and attractive. Though he has a bit of a slimy vibe — and Blair does have a weakness for bad boys. I guess that applies to her taste in older men as well (Blair is now 18, and Uncle Jack is what? 28? 35? Something like that). Still, Blair — what did you and Uncle Jack do on New Year's?!
So, how far do you think things went between Blair and Uncle Jack? Does it seem like Rufus and Lily can truly get past the lies and move on as they search for their son together? And will this older shared sibling spell doom for Dan and Serena's rekindled romance?
