Gossip Girl Episode Recap: "Gone with the Will"
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This week on Gossip Girl, Chuck and Uncle Jack looked toward the future as they gathered for the reading of Bart's will, which naturally contained some surprises and lead to complications. Meanwhile, Lily and Rufus tried to deal with their past as they went to a Boston adoption agency, hoping to contact their long-lost son.
As an excited Jack and an uncertain Chuck (sweetly wearing his dad's tie) headed to hear Bart's will read, Chuck's buddies Blair and Nate (so nice of you to finally show up, Nate!) tagged along for moral support. Lily was represented by her lawyer, and she made out OK, with 20 percent of the company. Jack was named Chuck's legal guardian, which was fine with Chuck as soon as Jack passed his simple two-question test (Curfew?: "None"; Girls sleeping over?: "Yes, please" — these two are so alike in some ways that they even bonded over gonorrhea medications ). Chuck received Bart's billions, as well as a letter from Bart that Chuck was reluctant to read. Chuck was sure it would mention something him being a disappointment and embarrassment and wearing too much purple, but it did not. Instead, it revealed that Chuck inherited Bart's controlling 51 shares of Bass Industries. A shocked Chuck, mad at his father's inconsistency in life and death, said he didn't want the shares and tha t Jack could have them, which pleased Jack immensely.
But Blair ran after Chuck (I miss his messed-up hair of previous weeks) and convinced him that this was what his father wanted — that he did have faith in him after all. Chuck was suspicious there were no strings attached, as was I — I really thought Bart would have stipulated that Chuck would have to graduate college before gaining control of the company. But he did no such thing. Chuck also suggested that this was Bart's way of "setting me up to fail from beyond the grave." With the way things worked out, that may be true.
A blindsided Jack felt that he paid his dues by working hard for his brother's company in far-away Australia. It was hard for him to comprehend that a 17-year-old kid would be running this multi-billion dollar company, and he cautioned Chuck, "This isn't an after-school job." As unlikable as he can be, he raised a valid point. How was Chuck going to run Bass Industries and finish high school? Even once he graduated, wouldn't something like a business degree be helpful? But an impetuous Chuck was suddenly gung ho about proving he could live up to his deceased father's wishes, and he wanted to sit in the big-boy chair right away.
And so, devious Uncle Jack (who's fond of winking) set his manipulative plan in motion. And really, it wasn't all that complicated a plan: Tempt Chuck with some women, get him laid, stoned and wasted, throw a surprise party for him the next day and let the chips fall where they may as the shareholders (and Blair) saw what a mess he made of things. He neglected to tell Chuck about the morality clause attached to his inheritance, which allowed the shareholders to appoint his guardian in his place should he behave inappropriately. Yes, it was mean, and it showed shades of Bart (who always was ready to see Chuck fail, and who helped sabotage his relationship with Blair last summer). And yes, Chuck is only 17 and easily tempted. Still, if master manipulator Chuck wasn't sharp enough to see he was being played, then he pretty much deserved exactly what he got.
The look of hurt on Blair's face when she saw Chuck with the scantily clad women was devastating. Then, to make matters worse, as Chuck adjusted his pants while entering his surprise party, he barked at Blair for even throwing this celebration in his honor and yelled, "I don't need your help, stop trying to play the wife!" (so similar to his "You're not my girlfriend!" line back on the day of the funeral). While Blair can be a bit too mother hen-ish sometimes, she was only following Jack's wishes and trying to being nice to Chuck. And so, when Chuck went to apologize to Blair (yet again), I can't blame her at all for not accepting his apology and throwing his flowers back at him. That action makes it sound harsh when really, she wasn't mean to him at all. She simply explained to him that it was too late: "Today you called me your wife and made it sound like the ugliest word in the world." He hurt her again and again and she was done. Really Chuck, you've put Blair through eno ugh. A nd like she said, he can't blame anyone for his downfall but himself. Uncle Jack set a trap, but Chuck stupidly took the bait. He's not ready to run the company, and he's not ready for a relationship with Blair. To underscore that point, there was something about him that made them look so young in this scene.
As for the night's other big plotline, Rufus and Lily also found themselves victims of a scam, only they don't know it yet. At first they were told by the adoption agency that their 19-year-old son has made no effort to look for them, and after checking with his adoptive parents, they didn't want Rufus and Lily attempting to make any contact with him, ever.
Soon Lily and Rufus were sparring in their hotel room, and contrary to what Rufus thought, Lily admitted to thinking about their son every day since he was born. Then she told Rufus she was still in love with him, and next thing you know, they were hooking up just as Jenny predicted.
And then came the phone call: The adoptive dad would meet with them, secretly, without his wife's knowledge. I really didn't see the news that the boy was dead coming until the dad said he had sad news, and it was a creative twist. For a brief moment, I wondered if maybe he was lying, to get them off his back — but no, that would be such an awful lie. And he had proof: a newspaper article about Andrew's tragic, deadly sailing accident. Soon Lily and Rufus were on their way home, and the adoptive parents were convincing themselves they did the right thing by lying to these rich people with expensive lawyers: They couldn't lose another son. And so they did lose a son in a sailing accident, only it wasn't Lily and Rufus' offspring, who is apparently very much alive. I can understand them being nervous about the idea of sharing their son, but I doubt they'd lose him. Going so far as to pretend that he's dead is going too far I think.
Lily and Rufus, convincing themselves they "weren't meant to be a family," arrived home and found a happy foursome: Serena, Dan, Eric and Jenny, all busy bonding in a quasi-family way. By now, they had all heard about the shared sibling thanks to Gossip Girl (Dan confided in Vanessa, Vanessa sent Dan a text message about it after Nelly stole Dan's phone, and the damage was done). Dan was in a very awkward position at first, being the only one who knew about the situation, and the fault for that lies with Rufus and Lily. As soon as Rufus discovered Dan knew, he and Lily should have immediately told the other three kids before trekking up to Boston. Instead, we had the whole school thinking that Dan, the guy with questionable lunch choices, was cheating on Serena. We even saw a return of the mini Gossip Girls, who weighed in with their opinion on this subject.
After finally finding out the truth, Serena needed some alone time, but then she made peace with things (thanks to Eric and his sage advice). And Jenny and Eric, fighting over Jenny's third-wheel behavior with regards to him and Jonathan, made amends as well. They were all ready to welcome a new shared sibling. Too bad now they're going to have to hear the (fake) bad news about him.
As the episode came to a close, one lingering story line remained a complete mystery: What did happen between Blair and Uncle Jack on New Year's? The subject was again briefly mentioned this week, but no details were shared. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will come to light when things start looking up for Chuck and Blair: This will be yet another thing to keep them apart.
In the meantime, who do you think should be running Bass Industries: Uncle Jack or Chuck? And do you agree with the adoptive parents who will do anything to keep Lily and Rufus from contacting their son, or do you feel they went too far by lying about his death?
