‘Gossip Girl’ Recap: Sage Stirs Up Trouble Between Blair & Serena

Last week, Nate made plans to publish Dan’s book word-for-word, without any warning to those it may hurt; Nate’s girlfriend Sage was out to get Serena; and Blair was trying to create a new collection within a week. Tonight, all that drama finally unraveled.

While Blair (Leighton Meester) made last-minute preparations for her fashion show on the Oct. 22 episode of Gossip Girl, Steven (Barry Watson) considered taking a break from Serena (Blake Lively) until he could handle things going on with Sage. Serena insists that she speak with Sage and try and get through to her.

Nate took the next step with Dan (Penn Badgley), uploading his second novel to the NY Spectator, which obviously became a huge hit. Within minutes of the book publishing — while Ivy (Kaylee DeFer) and Rufus (Matthew Settle) were still in the middle of DTR-ing — the two found out that Dan knows all about them.

But while things were looking up for Dan, things were going way downhill for Blair. One of B’s models dropped out of her show, so she called S in hopes that she could replace her. While on the phone with S, Sage hopped into a cab and ran off to a bar, where she left a very pricey tab for S to take care of. When S declined B’s offer, B went into panic mode, leaving Prince Charming — aka Chuck (Ed Westwick) — to rescue her by decorating her fashion show himself. (Aww!)

But leave it to Gossip Girl to deliver the bad news: Dan received a text, saying that Rufus planned to sue Lonely Boy and the Spectator, causing Nate to hesitate before publishing the rest of Dan’s book. Little did Nate know that Dan still had a few tricks of his own…

Sage tried to undermine Serena by telling her dad that she got her a spot in Blair’s fashion show, which meant it was up to Serena to make good on that fake promise before Sage ratted her out to her dad. But, let’s be real, did you think Blair wouldn’t do her bestie a favor?

But, of course, it came with a small price: Serena had to sit front row while wearing something from the Eleanor Waldorf collection! Blair forgot to mention to Serena that there would be no room for Steven to sit next to her.

Lights, camera, action! Blair’s fashion show was a meltdown from the start — from the seating chart to the stripping stunt Sage pulled, which of course Nate wasn’t around to see because he found out through a client that Dan went behind his back and pulled his novel from the Spectator so that he could pitch it to Vanity Fair. (Don’t you miss the sweet Dan from season one?)

And like any other day on the UES, the drama just kept rolling in. Dan confronted Rufus about his relationship with Ivy, but apparently, Rufus thinks dating Ivy is doing the right thing. Lawlz.

Nate thinks he’s the luckiest guy in Manhattan because his 17-year-old girldfriend in high school is modeling for his ex-ex-ex girlfriend’s fashion line. (Newsflash, Nate:  you are NOT the luckiest guy in Manhattan. Every girl you’ve dated is trouble or using you to get something or to someone close to you. Such a shame! When will he ever learn?)

Speaking of being totally naïve, Rufus is so whipped. He’s too easy to manipulate, and Ivy has him wrapped around her finger. She even managed to avoid being caught setting up Dan and still got Rufus to want to attend the gallery opening with her. (Oh, I cannot wait to see Lily’s face when she sees this!)

Chuck found Bart’s old bodyguard, who was fired, to find more dirt about what really went down while Bart was in Dubai. In true Chuck fashion — looking good in a suit and bow tie — he threw money in the guard’s way, which earned him another name… and another mystery! Lady Alexander? Who is she? Will Chuck (and Blair, since they are teamed up) be able to find her?

Newbie Sage managed to get between on-and-off besties Blair and Serena by making B think that S sabotaged her show. Although she may have come between them, she wasn’t able to pull Steven away from Serena like she had planned. Steven knew Sage set Serena up, so he forced an apology out of her. She gaves the FAKEST apology ever, and while Steven casually made some tea, Serena sets her straight.

Of course, the real highlight of the night was when Blair’s prince charming came to saves her from her wallowing. Watching “Chair” cuddle was possibly the best ending of a Gossip Girl episode ever.

XOXO!

— Julianna Spence