Our favorite anonymous blogger better keep her promise in the coming episodes of the final season. Considering that this might be Gossip Girl’s last season, I’m pretty disappointed that it didn’t start with a bang. (Not counting, of course, the steamy Chuck & Blair sex scene in Monte Carlo which opened the episode).
True to Gossip Girl fashion, the Season 6 premiere incorporates aspects of scheming, old flames, new couples, mysteries to be uncovered, recurring nemeses and a shocking ending. Nonetheless, watching the previous five seasons always keeps one wondering how all these characters can still remain cordial with one another when they’ve been intimate with almost everyone else. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
The episode starts with all the main characters in different parts of the world – Blair Waldorf in Paris, preparing to launch her mother’s fashion line; Chuck Bass in Dubai, trying to uncover one of his (newly-resurrected) father’s secrets; Nate Archibald in New York, obsessing over unmasking the real Gossip Girl in a big exposé (using clues from the previous season); Dan Humphrey and Georgina Sparks (yes, she’s back!) in Italy working on Dan’s tell-all about the Upper East Side; and Lily and Bart Bass returning to New York from a summer trip. (For those who haven’t seen Season 5, Bart Bass turned out to be alive after he fake-died from a car crash in Season 2, and Lily chose to stay married to him instead of Rufus.) As for Serena Van Der Woodsen? She’s nowhere to be found, and no one has heard from her all summer which reunites all of our lovely characters back at the Upper East Side.
S is later found by the gang hosting a party with her new boyfriend in a beautiful home in the suburbs (and not on drugs as everyone expected). Serena has taken the identity of ‘Sabrina from Wisconsin, who’d gone to school at Vassar,’ wanting to start a new life away from her friends who wanted nothing to do with her by the end of the last season. Following the public humiliation (of revealing Serena’s true identity), we get bitter quips from Dan Humphrey (who gets slapped twice by Blair and Serena, respectively) and we witness yet another Blair-Serena BFF break-up.
On the manipulation front, we find out that Ivy Dickens (we all love to hate this character) has been staying at Rufus’ loft, and working with Lola for some vengeful scheme. Her antics have apparently worked because the episode’s shocking ending finds Ivy in bed with Rufus, much to Dan’s (and the viewers’) horror.
I’m guessing most of Gossip Girl’s viewers (me included) have outgrown the storyline for quite sometime already, and just stick around for the fashion, the beautiful cast, the witty one-liner comebacks, and to see how the tragic Blair-Chuck love story will turn out. This episode reveals that Blair and Chuck made a pact to get their lives in order before getting together for good. Blair keeps Chuck’s engagement ring on a necklace, so I’m guessing the two are engaged to be engaged? Well, there’s one season left so this crazy love story’s resolution should come soon. At least that’s one thing to look forward to.
I must admit, I had wished Diana Payne (played by Elizabeth Hurley) returned for the final season. But with Gossip Girl, nothing’s ever certain, right? And after all, our anonymous blogger has promised that the best is yet to come. Props for bringing Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) back into the fold, though!
Conclusion
This season premiere’s biggest shocker was probably Rufus sleeping with Ivy, but I’m hoping the coming episodes will reveal (and resolve) more scandalous issues in the Upper East Side.
AKDS Rating
C