With one notable exception, Gossip Girl came full circle in its fifth season finale tonight.
Lily and Bart are married, with a spurned Rufus pining for the girl of his dreams. Dan, too, is back on the outside looking in, with no idealized visions of the Upper East Side or its denizens clouding his worldview.
Georgina is just waiting to stir up drama. Blair has her sights set on world domination. Chuck is reeling, desperate to escape from his father's shadow. Serena had barstool sex with Blair's boyfriend, then left town.
Nate is ... well, Nate. It feels like 2007 again, people!
Fortunately, for Chuck and Blair, "The Return of the Ring" was not just a return of previous near-misses. Cheesy gambling metaphors aside, when she showed up and told him she's all in, Chuck's face said it all.
Chair finally turned that corner, pointed squarely toward an epic endgame next season.
A quick review of Chuck, Blair and prior Gossip Girl season finales:
Chuck ditches his new love last-minute in "Much I Do About Nothing."
The couple gets together after graduation in "The Goodbye Gossip Girl."
They were thisclose to getting engaged in "Last Tango, Then Paris."
They reunited, only to part ways again in "The Wrong Goodbye."
Yeah, it's been a long, often painful road to get this far, with some aspects feeling repetitive. There's plenty of work left to be done, too. We can't forget that Chuck rejected Blair again at 8:50 EST tonight.
Realistically, though, everything up until this point had to happen. Even his rejection of Blair's advances before the buzzed-about, season-ending casino scene injected fresh life into the romance once more.
Chuck's past mistakes and misdeeds are well-documented, but that doesn't mean he's wrong about Blair. Nor was Bart, despite the callousness with which he cut Chuck loose. He deserved better than this.
She needed to be all in, too, and now she is. It'll be interesting to see how they get there, but it's hard to imagine Chair not getting together for real, and for good, as the series draws to a close next year.
The fairy tale ending Blair, and so many fans, have been dreaming about for so long is now within sight. More amazingly, tonight's crucial events felt somewhat organic ... well at least by Gossip Girl standards.
No one here's defending Bart for his lack of compassion, respect, empathy or truthfulness (guess he didn't change too much in hiding), but his actions did lead Chuck to make a decision of his own, for the right reasons.
Bart also gifted us with the prospect of Chuck and Jack Bass on the same side to take him down, and for that we are forever grateful. But most significantly, he cleared the way for a new, honest and equal Chair.
Dair fans, please remove your belt and shoelaces and give them to loved ones ASAP.
Their love was real, and Blair and Dan's relationship brought us so many great scenes. But there's probably no coming back from this one. Hold out hope if you like, but Blair made her choice, then she doubled down.
It has nothing to do with his cheating, which she presumably isn't even aware of (it was also a bit unclear, given all the scheming going on, if Blair even told Dan, or tried to tell him, that they were done).
If she really didn't tell Dan, after all he's done for her? Not cool. Plain and simple. I'd like to give B the benefit of the doubt here, but even if it did take place off screen, the fans would've liked more closure.
Regardless, her choice was irrespective of Dan and Serena's surprising sex romp. He's right when he says using her to forget his pain is different than the manipulative act of destruction she tried to initiate.
That was just wrong, and you can't help but feel a little bad for Dan in all this. He became collateral damage as Serena's Gossip Girl exploits unraveled so rapidly that her feud with Blair reached critical mass.
Is (or was) Serena really in love with Dan, as she claims? Or purely using his body and Blair's minions to ruin her now-former BFF? Somewhere in between? In any case, the extent of the fallout was dramatic.
Give Dan credit for not taking Serena back after realizing how he got played. Doing so would've been beyond pathetic, even if his kiss-off line to her was harsh. The maligned muppet has a backbone, who knew!
Where do any of them go from here? The writing was uneven this season, but the producers did a nice job of making the story arcs that concluded tonight matter with heightened emotional stakes and lasting repercussions.
Adrift and alone, Serena is riding the rails in more ways than one. Ironically, Blair's diary was leaked online, but it's S who burned just about every bridge known to humankind, while Queen B is off to rule Paris.
Their friendship may never recover, and clearly Bart's resurrection carried lasting repercussions. Chuck has been ostracized and left to fight for what's his. Rufus' marriage was annulled, just like that.
Much as certain thematic elements felt like deja vu, there's no hitting the reset button after this. Well, except maybe for Nate. He's pretty much back at square one, only wearing more suits. Bless his heart.
Clearly, opinions on the season finale and season overall will vary depending on how you feel about particular couples or relationships, but from a directorial standpoint, "The Return of the Ring" was a pretty good payoff.
There were twists, turns, consequences that matched the urgency of the building storylines and despite some eye-rolling moments - Blair listing off Dan and Chuck's respective traits to Eleanor; too many iPhone blasts, lies, gimmicks and convoluted ploys to even keep straight - it ended up being pretty darn entertaining.
This installment essentially blew up the nucleus of the show. Now, with 11 episodes to go before we close the book on the CW drama for good, we get to see it come together again. Bring it on.
Other side developments and burning questions from the Season 5 finale:
William got Carol's half of Cece's estate transferred to Lola ... who give it all back to Ivy when she learned Lily was sabotaging Carol's defense, ordering her former impostor to take Lily down.
Lola turned down the chance to live with Nate, but it was amicable at least. Guy was serious about her, too, but it looks like she's gone the way of vintage GG vanishing love interests past.
Diana sent Nate a surveillance tape of their near-rendezvous with Gossip Girl two weeks back, and ... is Gossip Girl actually a dude? In a black hoodie? Shockingly, we didn't see his/her face.
Will Dan channel his rage into the next work of literary brilliance? Or at least cutting his hair? Is Georgina really the best muse? Does he have any friends left on the UES except Nate?
Does this mean Rufus will resume his music career?
Any chance J (or V) makes a comeback next fall?
Do people really throw divorce parties?
Time to turn it over to you. What did you think of the finale? Everything you thought it could be? A miserable failure? How do you see things playing out in the (unfortunately shortened) sixth and final season?
Share your comments with us below!Read more tv spoilers at: http://www.tvfanatic.com
Last week's Gossip Girl was one of the best episodes of the fifth season, mostly because it featured the gang urgently but humorously scheming together like old times, but also due to the bombshell in the closing moments.
The question was whether "The Fugitives" would build upon "Raiders of the Lost Art" and generate serious momentum heading into the season finale, or sweep everything under the rug in 2-3 lines of dialogue.
With Gossip Girl, you never know anymore, but despite a couple of plot holes bigger than the ones on Serena's top, tonight was by and large a success, keeping us on our toes and setting the stage for next Monday.
The biggest difference between tonight and the aftermath of the 100th episode, when Georgina was revealed as Gossip Girl, only to later unmasked as a mere stand-in, is the far-reaching consequences for the characters.
Bart Bass was not only redeemed somewhat - at least to the extent a person who fakes his own death and abandons his own family can be - he is returning to face the music now. That alone deserves due credit.
Staging his own demise to protect Lily and Chuck from his business rival, whose hatchet man was none other than Chuck's PI Andrew Tyler? Logistically implausible and haphazardly written. Yet it still worked.
Bart was and is not an ideal father figure by any stretch of the imagination, but he's all Chuck has ... and before last Monday he had nothing. There's still a chance for a relationship now, which counts for something.
Dying/undying relatives seem to bring out Ed Westwick's acting chops, perhaps even more than Chuck's hilarious lost weekends and periods of unabashed hedonism. He was particularly good this evening.
Life works in mysterious ways, and perhaps Chuck stepping up to save his old man will be the catalyst for the old man finally appreciating his only son. As for breaking the news to Lily, good luck on that one Bart.
The elder Bass is right that he and Lily were on the outs at the time of his "death," but the interesting thing is that she and Rufus happen to be in a similarly rocky place right now. So all bets are off.
In addition to reuniting the Basses, Bart's resurrection also brought Ivy and Lola back into the fold. Wow. A threesome featuring those two leggy blondes would've felt incestuous, even if genetically ...
Never mind. Awkwardness aside, it would've been fun to see if the faux and real Rhodes could tag-team this seduce-and-destroy mission, especially since the way the storyline actually unraveled was a copout.
What's next for each of these would-be call girls open question, but as B said, in order to be back in the gang, you would've had to be in the gang at some point. So don't hold your breath, Ivy.
Lola may have a better shot at permanent scheme team membership, given her strengthening relationship with Nate ... who Chuck really should've told about Bart and Diana at the onset, honestly.
Once Chuck discovered Diana's connection to Bart and made the "deal" to ship her out of town in exchange for incredibly valuable information, wouldn't you think he'd tell Nate, vendetta or not?
A minor criticism, really, in an episode that did much more right than wrong. Nate also did the right thing, eventually, by letting Diana walk and hopefully closing this chapter of Gossip Girl for good.
Perhaps most significantly, the second coming of Bart brought Chuck closer to Blair, who enlisted Serena's help as she continued to be there (and struggle with her feelings for) Dan, who invited her to Rome.
Lily and Bart are married, with a spurned Rufus pining for the girl of his dreams. Dan, too, is back on the outside looking in, with no idealized visions of the Upper East Side or its denizens clouding his worldview.
Georgina is just waiting to stir up drama. Blair has her sights set on world domination. Chuck is reeling, desperate to escape from his father's shadow. Serena had barstool sex with Blair's boyfriend, then left town.
Nate is ... well, Nate. It feels like 2007 again, people!
Fortunately, for Chuck and Blair, "The Return of the Ring" was not just a return of previous near-misses. Cheesy gambling metaphors aside, when she showed up and told him she's all in, Chuck's face said it all.
Chair finally turned that corner, pointed squarely toward an epic endgame next season.
A quick review of Chuck, Blair and prior Gossip Girl season finales:
Chuck ditches his new love last-minute in "Much I Do About Nothing."
The couple gets together after graduation in "The Goodbye Gossip Girl."
They were thisclose to getting engaged in "Last Tango, Then Paris."
They reunited, only to part ways again in "The Wrong Goodbye."
Yeah, it's been a long, often painful road to get this far, with some aspects feeling repetitive. There's plenty of work left to be done, too. We can't forget that Chuck rejected Blair again at 8:50 EST tonight.
Realistically, though, everything up until this point had to happen. Even his rejection of Blair's advances before the buzzed-about, season-ending casino scene injected fresh life into the romance once more.
Chuck's past mistakes and misdeeds are well-documented, but that doesn't mean he's wrong about Blair. Nor was Bart, despite the callousness with which he cut Chuck loose. He deserved better than this.
She needed to be all in, too, and now she is. It'll be interesting to see how they get there, but it's hard to imagine Chair not getting together for real, and for good, as the series draws to a close next year.
The fairy tale ending Blair, and so many fans, have been dreaming about for so long is now within sight. More amazingly, tonight's crucial events felt somewhat organic ... well at least by Gossip Girl standards.
No one here's defending Bart for his lack of compassion, respect, empathy or truthfulness (guess he didn't change too much in hiding), but his actions did lead Chuck to make a decision of his own, for the right reasons.
Bart also gifted us with the prospect of Chuck and Jack Bass on the same side to take him down, and for that we are forever grateful. But most significantly, he cleared the way for a new, honest and equal Chair.
Dair fans, please remove your belt and shoelaces and give them to loved ones ASAP.
Their love was real, and Blair and Dan's relationship brought us so many great scenes. But there's probably no coming back from this one. Hold out hope if you like, but Blair made her choice, then she doubled down.
It has nothing to do with his cheating, which she presumably isn't even aware of (it was also a bit unclear, given all the scheming going on, if Blair even told Dan, or tried to tell him, that they were done).
If she really didn't tell Dan, after all he's done for her? Not cool. Plain and simple. I'd like to give B the benefit of the doubt here, but even if it did take place off screen, the fans would've liked more closure.
Regardless, her choice was irrespective of Dan and Serena's surprising sex romp. He's right when he says using her to forget his pain is different than the manipulative act of destruction she tried to initiate.
That was just wrong, and you can't help but feel a little bad for Dan in all this. He became collateral damage as Serena's Gossip Girl exploits unraveled so rapidly that her feud with Blair reached critical mass.
Is (or was) Serena really in love with Dan, as she claims? Or purely using his body and Blair's minions to ruin her now-former BFF? Somewhere in between? In any case, the extent of the fallout was dramatic.
Give Dan credit for not taking Serena back after realizing how he got played. Doing so would've been beyond pathetic, even if his kiss-off line to her was harsh. The maligned muppet has a backbone, who knew!
Where do any of them go from here? The writing was uneven this season, but the producers did a nice job of making the story arcs that concluded tonight matter with heightened emotional stakes and lasting repercussions.
Adrift and alone, Serena is riding the rails in more ways than one. Ironically, Blair's diary was leaked online, but it's S who burned just about every bridge known to humankind, while Queen B is off to rule Paris.
Their friendship may never recover, and clearly Bart's resurrection carried lasting repercussions. Chuck has been ostracized and left to fight for what's his. Rufus' marriage was annulled, just like that.
Much as certain thematic elements felt like deja vu, there's no hitting the reset button after this. Well, except maybe for Nate. He's pretty much back at square one, only wearing more suits. Bless his heart.
Clearly, opinions on the season finale and season overall will vary depending on how you feel about particular couples or relationships, but from a directorial standpoint, "The Return of the Ring" was a pretty good payoff.
There were twists, turns, consequences that matched the urgency of the building storylines and despite some eye-rolling moments - Blair listing off Dan and Chuck's respective traits to Eleanor; too many iPhone blasts, lies, gimmicks and convoluted ploys to even keep straight - it ended up being pretty darn entertaining.
This installment essentially blew up the nucleus of the show. Now, with 11 episodes to go before we close the book on the CW drama for good, we get to see it come together again. Bring it on.
Other side developments and burning questions from the Season 5 finale:
William got Carol's half of Cece's estate transferred to Lola ... who give it all back to Ivy when she learned Lily was sabotaging Carol's defense, ordering her former impostor to take Lily down.
Lola turned down the chance to live with Nate, but it was amicable at least. Guy was serious about her, too, but it looks like she's gone the way of vintage GG vanishing love interests past.
Diana sent Nate a surveillance tape of their near-rendezvous with Gossip Girl two weeks back, and ... is Gossip Girl actually a dude? In a black hoodie? Shockingly, we didn't see his/her face.
Will Dan channel his rage into the next work of literary brilliance? Or at least cutting his hair? Is Georgina really the best muse? Does he have any friends left on the UES except Nate?
Does this mean Rufus will resume his music career?
Any chance J (or V) makes a comeback next fall?
Do people really throw divorce parties?
Time to turn it over to you. What did you think of the finale? Everything you thought it could be? A miserable failure? How do you see things playing out in the (unfortunately shortened) sixth and final season?
Share your comments with us below!Read more tv spoilers at: http://www.tvfanatic.com
Last week's Gossip Girl was one of the best episodes of the fifth season, mostly because it featured the gang urgently but humorously scheming together like old times, but also due to the bombshell in the closing moments.
The question was whether "The Fugitives" would build upon "Raiders of the Lost Art" and generate serious momentum heading into the season finale, or sweep everything under the rug in 2-3 lines of dialogue.
With Gossip Girl, you never know anymore, but despite a couple of plot holes bigger than the ones on Serena's top, tonight was by and large a success, keeping us on our toes and setting the stage for next Monday.
The biggest difference between tonight and the aftermath of the 100th episode, when Georgina was revealed as Gossip Girl, only to later unmasked as a mere stand-in, is the far-reaching consequences for the characters.
Bart Bass was not only redeemed somewhat - at least to the extent a person who fakes his own death and abandons his own family can be - he is returning to face the music now. That alone deserves due credit.
Staging his own demise to protect Lily and Chuck from his business rival, whose hatchet man was none other than Chuck's PI Andrew Tyler? Logistically implausible and haphazardly written. Yet it still worked.
Bart was and is not an ideal father figure by any stretch of the imagination, but he's all Chuck has ... and before last Monday he had nothing. There's still a chance for a relationship now, which counts for something.
Dying/undying relatives seem to bring out Ed Westwick's acting chops, perhaps even more than Chuck's hilarious lost weekends and periods of unabashed hedonism. He was particularly good this evening.
Life works in mysterious ways, and perhaps Chuck stepping up to save his old man will be the catalyst for the old man finally appreciating his only son. As for breaking the news to Lily, good luck on that one Bart.
The elder Bass is right that he and Lily were on the outs at the time of his "death," but the interesting thing is that she and Rufus happen to be in a similarly rocky place right now. So all bets are off.
In addition to reuniting the Basses, Bart's resurrection also brought Ivy and Lola back into the fold. Wow. A threesome featuring those two leggy blondes would've felt incestuous, even if genetically ...
Never mind. Awkwardness aside, it would've been fun to see if the faux and real Rhodes could tag-team this seduce-and-destroy mission, especially since the way the storyline actually unraveled was a copout.What's next for each of these would-be call girls open question, but as B said, in order to be back in the gang, you would've had to be in the gang at some point. So don't hold your breath, Ivy.
Lola may have a better shot at permanent scheme team membership, given her strengthening relationship with Nate ... who Chuck really should've told about Bart and Diana at the onset, honestly.
Once Chuck discovered Diana's connection to Bart and made the "deal" to ship her out of town in exchange for incredibly valuable information, wouldn't you think he'd tell Nate, vendetta or not?
A minor criticism, really, in an episode that did much more right than wrong. Nate also did the right thing, eventually, by letting Diana walk and hopefully closing this chapter of Gossip Girl for good.
Perhaps most significantly, the second coming of Bart brought Chuck closer to Blair, who enlisted Serena's help as she continued to be there (and struggle with her feelings for) Dan, who invited her to Rome.
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