Gossip Girl: "The Serena Also Rises"

       

An early fall storm is nothing without electricity, and as the winds of change have pushed aside the calming breeze of summer, a series of stunning shocks have left the powerful Manhattan Elite in shambles. What does Constance Billard hold in store for Manhattan's once most popular figure... Just ask Gossip Girl.

Airing last night on the CW, "The Serena Also Rises," begins on the heels of last week's drama involving Serena van der Woodsen and Dan Humphrey. After a dramatic confrontation between the ex-couple, Serena finds herself stronger than ever, and suddenly in control of Queen B, Blair Waldorf's popular clique. With Fashion Week just days away, Blair goes on the offensive by organizing a runway guest list to Eleanor Waldorf's show that seats all of her old friends. The plan backfires, however, as the girls seem more interested in gossiping over Serena's appearance in Women's Wear Daily with celebrity socialite Poppy Lifton.

Furious, Blair vows to eliminate the girls from the show altogether, but is stunned when she realizes that someone has changed her seating chart. That person, she finds out, is little Jenny Humphrey, who is quickly becoming the go-to design assistant for Eleanor. Most of all, she is outraged by a change that puts Serena, Poppy, and Poppy's "It" girl friends in the front row of her mother's show. According to childhood tradition, Serena and Blair always stand together backstage. Vowing revenge on Jenny, Blair rushes to Rufus Humphrey's doorstep to announce that Jenny has been cutting school for weeks.

Outraged, Rufus rushes to Eleanor's design studio and drags Jenny out kicking and screaming. He demands that she apologize to her school's headmistress, and that she beg for a second chance to attend Constance. "It's a Saturday!" she complains, but she ends up going to school anyhow. Blair and Serena, meanwhile, get in a huge fight over Jenny's seating change which Serena appears to agree to. Hurt, Blair is frustrated by her bff's here-today, gone-tommorrow attitude. Serena's further wounds Blair by insinuating that she naturally "outshines" her, and that she will no longer respect her feelings. If she can't deal with it, she says, their relationship is over.

Following the argument and the loss of Jenny, Blair utilizes her newfound independence to place Serena in the back row of runway seating. The plan backfires, however, as Jenny suddenly appears, and defends Serena's claim that she is supposed to be in the front row. Eleanor, in turn, catches wind of the dispute, and scorns Blair for the switch. Undeterred, Blair finds out that Jenny is charge of organizing the show's models. In a gutsy act of sabotage, she decides to send them all home, explaining that they've all been replaced. Realizing the move just minutes before the show, Jenny recommends dressing all of the celebrity special guests in Eleanor's pieces.

While the plan works, Blair commits a second act of sabotage, and gives Serena--who is one of the models--Jenny's dress to wear in the runway finale. A Jenny-original, Eleanor is mortified, and accuses Jenny of sneaking her design on the runway. Blair steps in, however, and stands up for Jenny, and convinces her mom to take credit for the crowd pleaser. Her words, it turns out, are the compromise between the two of them, as Jenny admits that all she wanted last year, was to be Blair's friend. Clearly, Blair needs somebody who actually wants to be there.

When the show ends, Jenny spots Rufus and decides to come clean. She admits that she told the headmistress that she does not want to come back to school, and insinuates that she has more artistic talent, and a better opportunity to be successful than her father. As Rufus looks on, she turns and walks away.

While Dan's collegiate plan has always been to attend Dartmouth, his collegiate aspirations change as he learns that many of Dartmouth's English professors have begun teaching at Yale. With little time to prepare for the switch, Dan accepts the advice of a Pulitzer winning professor and author, who claims he will help Dan get in to the Ivy League school. Working with him on his short stories, Dan is immediately challenged, however, as the professor chastises him for overly "safe" writing that reflects his own life story.

To make his writing more interesting, the author encourages Dan to live on the wild side and spend time with someone whose experience could be considered "dangerous." Dan in turn looks to Chuck Bass, who after one night, abandons him with nothing more than a shirt, pants, alcohol, and a head full of drugs. Leaving Dan's stories more interesting but still "sugary" Dan returns to Chuck's side, where the pair spends the night drinking and talking. When Chuck decides to hit on a girl, he accidentally raises the wrath of her boyfriend, who tries to pull Chuck into a fight. Dan in turn, stands up for Chuck, and lands a Brooklyn-style punch on the boyfriend.

Landing the pair in jail, a thankful Chuck finally lets Dan on to some of his secrets. He calmly explains that his father does not love him, and in fact hates him, blaming him for the death of his mother during child birth. When Chuck is released, he promises to get Dan out, but takes it all back when his discovery of Dan's notes show that he is simply using him. Sneering, he tells Dan he lied, and that his mother died in a plane crash when he was six. Dan isn't released until his professor bails him out, but after talking to him about the experience, he decides not to exploit Chuck.

 

Lily van der Woodsen, meanwhile, is excited to learn that a nude photograph of her by Robert Mapplethorpe is for sale at a local auction. While she plans on purchasing it, she is beat by an anonymous buyer who surprisingly turns out to be Bart Bass. Overjoyed, her happiness soon turns into dismay, as she finds out that Bart only bought it so no one else would. In the name of "protecting" their family, Bart admits that his knowledge of the picture is part of a large dossier which he has kept since they started their relationship. Lily protests, but Bart silences her with documented proof of an unknown secret.

   

The episode featured cameos by Tinsley Mortimer, Cristina Greeven Cuomo, and Michael Kors!

Returning Monday, October 13th, for an episode entitled "New Haven Can Wait," we find Serena ditching a plan to visit Brown University, and instead visiting Yale after a physical catfight with Blair. Meanwhile, one of Serena's love interests will hit close to home for Blair, threatening to further cripple their relationship.

Is Serena bound and determined to ruin Blair? Does Queen B have something up her sleeve, or has she finally come to the bottom of her bag of tricks?

To find out, Stay tuned and Stay fashionable,

--Alaythia