Gossip Girl says "The Wrong Goodbye"

     Like almost every season, the CW's Gossip Girl chooses to its major plots a little early so the various characters can scatter for the summer. Also like every year, a few major bombshells must be dropped before they go. In Gossip Girl's finale, "The Wrong Goodbye," Chuck (Ed Westwick) saves Blair (Leighton Meester), and they reconnect. Blair is willing to leave her fiance, Prince Louis Grimaldi (Hugo Becker), for Chuck, but in a rare moment of maturity, Chuck steps aside, giving the couple his blessing so that Blair can be happy. Dan (Penn Badgley), Serena (Blake Lively), and Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) search for Charlie (Kaylee DeFer), who isn't who she says she is. And Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) makes yet another appearance on the Upper East Side, ready to start even more trouble.


     Season four has been a tumultuous one for Blair's love life, as she struggles to move past her long standing, destructive, animalistic attraction for Chuck, but also isn't crazy about settling for her intellectual equal Dan, who sits far below her on the social ladder. Prince Louis, returning from nowhere, seemingly to save her from that choice, and yet, Blair cannot really escape her heart. Sure, she is happy with Louis, but how much of that is because she genuinely cares for him, and how much is because of the status being with him affords her? Blair has always dreamed of being a princess, but as she has matured, especially lately, those dreams are being replaced by real feelings. Which is why she probably won't still be with Louis come next season.

     Which leaves Blair a choice: Chuck or Dan? That decision is made as Blair and Chuck reconnect after he saves her from Russell (Michael Boatman). There have been signs for weeks that the two aren't finished, with Chuck mourning deeply every piece of news he gets about Blair and Louis. But Blair isn't done with Dan, either, as evidenced by the fact that they talk movie queues just before she takes off to spend the summer with Louis. Both men are a part of her life, and neither is going anywhere. Both are able to step aside for Blair's happiness, but that only makes them more worthy for her.

     Of course, while Chuck has eyes only for Blair, Dan has other options. Serena admits that she never made a choice between Dan and Nate (Chace Crawford), and while she still is not ready to think about that decision as she heads off for a season abroad with her grandmother, it is also clear by its mention that she hasn't forgotten either. Serena has to learn about herself before she is ready to be with someone else in a serious fashion, something she never really manages to do. But rest assured, the day will come when Serena will chose either Dan or Nate, likely right when one of them is ready to move on with someone else.

     Poor Nate has no prospectives on the horizon. With the departure of Raina (Tika Sumpter) after her evil, homicidal dad is sent to prison for twenty years, Nate is alone once more. While he never manages to stay by himself for very long, Nate is the most comfortable character with being alone. Perhaps that is what attracts women to him. Well, that and good lucks, genuine sweetness, and money. Nate, more than any other character, embraces who he is. Despite all the drama going on in "The Wrong Goodbye," Nate still shows real friendship to both Chuck and Dan, marking him as a good person. Whoever Nate ends up with had better deserve him.

     Many questions remain about Charlie. She came to town as Serena's long-lost cousin, but viewers now know, even if none of the characters do, that it is merely a plot so that Lily's (Kelly Rutherford) sister, Carol (Sheila Kelley), can get her hands on the real Charlie's trust fund. While Carol despises all of the scheming and drama that comes with life on the Upper East Side, she shows she can resort to some of her own to get money she thinks she deserves. However, does that mean that the real Charlie will inevitably show up on Gossip Girl?

     And what of Ivy, the girl who went by the name Charlie these past months? She obviously really enjoys the life she pretends to have, and armed with Georgina's phone number, it seems like only a matter of time before the devious faux cousin makes her return back into the lives of the popular characters. Will any of them be able to accept her, or will they treat her like a crazy girl? Were Ivy's feelings for Dan the slightest bit real, or all part of the act? It almost feels like when Ivy asks Dan to call her Serena while intimate that that moment is authentic Ivy, and she would do anything to get Serena's life. If so, there will be one wild ride.

     The last big cliffhanger is Vanessa turning in Dan's satirical look at life for the Upper East Side to a publisher. It's a goodbye present of sorts, as Vanessa is moving to Spain, and Szohr (along with Taylor Momsen) will not be returning to the cast next season. Dan's book contains scathing tear downs of many people he considers friends and family, which is why he wants it hidden away. However, enough people are close to Dan that surely his writing will be recognized, even when put out anonymously. Dan has managed to stay in everyone's good graces, more or less, over the years. It looks like it's finally time for him to experience life on the outside.

     All that, and a brief cameo by Gossip Girl book series author Cecily von Ziegesar!

     With so many hanging threads, the fifth season of Gossip Girl promises to maintain the high level of melodrama and juicy guilty pleasure that has made it must-see for the past four seasons. Hearts will be broken, relationships will end and start, and above all, people will scheme, scheme, and keep scheming until no one will be able to forgive anyone anymore. Which is the destiny of anyone who lives like the characters on Gossip Girl do. Should be exciting!


     Gossip Girl has been renewed, and will return to the CW next fall.

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Article first published as TV Review: Gossip Girl - "The Wrong Goodbye" on Blogcritics.