In a decadent event brimming with social ramifications, the Upper East Side hosted its annual Cotollion last night. As things changed, they also stayed the same in an exciting new episode of Gossip Girl on the CW.
Sitting on top of the social ladder at Constance, Jenny Humphrey is forced to confront her worst fears as the arrival of Cotillion finds her without a suitable escort. Unable to earn the hand of Upper East prince, Graham Collins, she is relieved as a suddenly forgiving step-brother, Eric van der Woodsen, volunteers his boyfriend, Jonathan Whitney, to be her escort. While it appears that Eric has Jenny's best interests at heart, the plot thickens as Kyra, a school mate--and admirer--of Jenny's, talks Graham into inviting Jenny to Cotillion via text message. Eric ultimately intercepts the message, however, and in a shocking twist, conceals it and informs Graham that she is already spoken for.
With Cotillion just days away, the van der Woodsens host a party at their Manhattan condo for the Upper East Side's current set of debutantes. Matching past-participantes to this year's crop of privileged elite, the party aims to prepare the girls by assigning each a temporary mentor. On Chuck Bass's advice, Blair ultimately attends the party in the hopes of making up with Serena van der Woodsen, but is sorely disappointed as the only concession Serena is willing to make involves mentoring Little J. Rolling with the punches, Blair begins counseling Jenny, but is interrupted as Little J learns of Eric's betrayal. Taking control of the reins, Jenny pledges to invite Graham, and consequently spurns Eric, Jonathan, and Blair.
Humiliated, Eric and Blair join forces in the hopes of taking down Jenny. While Blair takes Kyra under her wing in the hopes of installing a new Queen Bee, Eric uses a childhood relationship with Graham to blackmail him into quietly dumping Jenny, and escorting Blair's protege. In the end, they succeed in embarrassing Jenny, but to their surprise an escort-less Little J calls Nate Archibald to reverse her fortune. Agreeing to be announced as her escort, Nate gives Jenny vindication, while Eric is indirectly punished as his collaboration with Blair causes the end of his relationship with Jonathan.
Serena, meanwhile takes a job in Tripp Van Der Bilt's office as his newest assistant. Occurring as a result of last week's reconnection between the pair, the position is soon complicated as the Tripp and Serena begin to develop feelings for one another. Devastated by the stress of temptation, Serena is soon forced to turn to Blair for advice, as Chuck Bass hatches a plan to trap the feuding friends in an elevator. In a long conversation that goes well above and beyond Serena's dilemma, Blair advises Serena to quit her job, and avoid Tripp altogether. The plan backfires, however, as Serena finds herself unable to quit, and as a result continues to put herself in harm's way with the married Tripp.
Dan Humphrey also faces a surprising situation this week, as girlfriend Olivia Burke reveals plans to begin filming her next movie. Teaming with Vanessa Abrams, Dan tries to sway Olivia's decision to stay in college by exposing her to many of the fun activities enjoyed by the average student. As the trio romps through fourteen of the fifteen most popular aspects of college life, Olivia is forced to concede that she has no other choice but to film the movie, but as her last request, asks that they complete the final most popular activity. To her surprise, it involves an intimate encounter between the three friends, and in a split second the trio kick off their own raunchy experiment. The next morning, however, brings notification of the movie's cancellation, leaving Olivia, Dan, and Vanessa to face their actions in the light of day.
Also, in a final surprising note, Lily Humphrey intercepts a letter from the mysterious Dr. van der Woodsen to his daughter, Serena.
Next Monday's episode, entitled "The Last Days of the Disco Stick," features Blair, as she tries to impress students at NYU with a private Lady Gaga concert, Serena, as she turns to Nate for support during a difficult situation, and Jenny, as she agrees to do a favor for Chuck.
WIll Serena ever see the letter from her father? What of the friendship between Olivia, Dan and Vanessa? Furthermore, will Serena and Blair remain friends, or is this truce simply an illusion?
To find out, stay tuned and stay fashionable,
--Alaythia
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