Gossip Girl returns, and it's here to stay

    Back in December, I lamented that Gossip Girl was taking a far too long break on the CW.  The excruciating wait is finally over, as of 9pm tonight, as the first of ten consecutive episodes premieres.  Ten hours of guilty pleasure drama, wrapped in the riches of Manhattan's upper east side.      Of course, GG being what it is, there will be lots of roller coaster twists before the spring finale.  In fact, it is promised that there will not be one big event built up to for the rest of the season, but many intertwining plots, tightly strung together, brimming with surprise and excitement, culminating in not one, but TWO huge moments!  I know, I know.  Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.  Maybe the show won't live up to that excitement.  However, the only way to find out is to watch.
     Some surprises have already been dropped.  SPOILER ALERT.  Serena's (Blake Lively) missing father is finally found, and he is played by none other than Billy Baldwin!  While it's certainly sad that brother Alec was not available, be glad that it wasn't Stephen.  Billy hopes to not only be a part of this season, but to return next year as well.  Of course, that depends on how he is received by fans.
     There is even bigger news, though.  By the season finale, the b*tch will be back.  That's right, Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg, squeezing it in with her Mercy duties) is returning to star up the trouble.  No Gossip Girl season is complete without a dose of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's little sister gone bad, and thankfully, this one will be no different.  True, we got some of her in the fall, but a little Georgina is never enough.
     In other Gossip Girl news, Leighton Meester, who played Dr. House's teen love temptation for a few episodes a couple of years ago, will be starring in a romantic comedy movie with Hugh Laurie.  Wow!
     Gossip Girl airs the next ten Mondays on the CW at 9pm.