The Goodbye Gossip Girl

"The Goodbye Gossip Girl" is the 43rd episode of the CW television series, Gossip Girl.^[1] It was also the twenty-fifth and final episode of the show's second season. The episode was written by Joshua Safran and directed by Norman Buckley. It originally aired on Monday, May 18, 2009 on the CW.

"The Goodbye Gossip Girl" opens with graduation at Constance Billard and St. Jude's. Everything seems to be going smoothly until Gossip Girl sends a devastating e-mail blast that humiliates the majority of the senior class, prompting Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) to seek out the identity of Gossip Girl. Unfortunately, Gossip Girl further wreaks havoc on the senior class during a party just when Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) decide to confess their feelings for one another, interrupting them, causing previous issues to resurface between them. Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), and Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr) are caught in the crossfire of Serena's war with Gossip girl and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) faces the prospect of becoming Queen when Blair's minions rebel against her make a bidding war on who will be the next Queen Bee.

Plot

Serena is excited that, come her high school graduation later that day, she will no longer have to deal with "Gossip Girl", an anonymous blogger who revealed the sensational details of her and her classmates' lives throughout high school. She and Blair recall that Gossip Girl does not report on college happenings and that her first blast was about Serena, back in the ninth grade. Nate apologizes to Vanessa for how poorly he had handled breaking up with her, and informs her that he and Blair have broken up—news Blair has held from her on-and-off boyfriend Chuck. Meanwhile, Dan discovers he has been left off the graduation program.

In the midst of the ceremony, Gossip Girl sends out a blast with unflattering labels for each of the main characters: "Nate: class whore; Dan: the ultimate insider; Chuck: coward; Blair: weakling; and Serena: "After today, you are officially irrelevant." Although Dan is unperturbed, the others are furious and seek revenge by trying to uncover Gossip Girl's identity. After they deduce that she is most likely one of the graduates, and Serena sends a text to Gossip Girl's tip line. Jonathon's cellphone rings, but he proves that he is not Gossip Girl and has merely hacked into her storage of tips. The attempted outing angers Gossip Girl so much that she unleashes her entire stockpile of tips, which concern events that have happened throughout the series but have thus far remained secret. Tempers flare as the secrets are revealed and everyone confronts each other. Chuck and Blair turn their anger onto Serena, who had set the trap that had provoked Gossip Girl's wrath. Upset, Serena texts Gossip Girl to meet her alone face-to-face at a bar, threatening to reveal her true identity to everyone. Gossip Girl calls her bluff and arranges for the whole class to meet Serena in the bar. Via e-mail, Gossip Girl then points out that she had given them all the perfect graduation present: a clean slate, as all their secrets were now out. She also reminds them that without their tips and their thirst for gossip and sordid drama, she would be nothing. She reveals that she will be following them to college, and her identity remains a mystery.

In the meanwhile, the underclassmen carry out a contest to determine the next queen bee. The title is given to the girl who brings the juiciest piece of gossip to the current reigning clique, whose current ruler is Blair. Although at first uninterested, Jenny decides to enter in hopes of dismantling the high school's hierarchy after winning. Blair initially makes things especially difficult for Jenny, even after Jenny hesitates to reveal a certain winner about Blair. Following the revelatory Gossip Girl blast, which ruins Jenny's secret, a softened Blair approaches Jenny in the bathroom and offers her a new winning secret about the clique. Jenny refuses, but Blair tells her that queens must be cold, mentioning Queen Elizabeth I and explaining that you can't make people love you, but you can make them fear you. Later that night, she convinces Jenny to share the secret with Gossip Girl and then crowns Jenny queen.

The characters turn their attention to the coming seasons. Nate turns down his summer internship at the mayor's office and begs Vanessa to go backpacking with him, as they had planned to do before breaking up. Carter Baizen tells Serena that he has found the information she requested about her father, whom she has secretly been searching for. Georgina tells Dan that she has recovered the money he needs to attend Yale, but Dan tells her he is set to attend NYU. Georgina reveals that she is as well before hanging up to request Blair as her roommate. Also revealed to be attending NYU is Scott, Lily and Rufus's lovechild, who appears to know about his birth parents. Meanwhile, Lily and Rufus spend the evening reminiscing before deciding to marry. Blair pours out her heart to Chuck, saying "I love you so much it consumes me." Chucks leaves on a trip to Europe. At the close of the episode, Chuck returns with gifts from each stop he made in Europe; he tells her that he did not set out to buy the gifts, but saw her everywhere he went. Chuck finally tells Blair that he loves her, the words Blair has been hoping for all season long.

Reception

"The Goodbye Gossip Girl" was watched by 2.23 million of viewers.^[2]

Michelle Graham of Film School Rejects praised the finale and reviewed the entirety of the second season. "“The West Wing” once called the swearing in of a certain Vice President “a triumph of the middling” and that’s definitely what this season has felt like." Graham commended the writer's usage of the characters searching for the identity of Gossip Girl, stating "The idea of discovering the identity of Gossip Girl was tantalizing, especially as it really does have to be someone featured on the show’s peripheries. Of course, we were never going to really find out who it was, as it’d spell the end of a lucrative series for The CW. However, the chase was fun and the consequences of going head to head with the big G were far reaching." Graham also commended the cliffhanger involving Rufus and Lily's lovechild^[3]

Graham heavily praised the relationship between Chuck and Blair and hailed the well-received kiss between them, calling Chuck's declaration of love one of the high points for the season finale. "It did seem as though Gossip Girl had managed to finally destroy Blair and Chuck’s chances as her all-out assault hit them mid-seduction. The couple that had gone through hell over the last two seasons seemed about to be happy together, only to have past affairs used to ruin it. However, the writers realised that another trip around the block for Dan and Serena just yet would throw the fans into a revolutionary frenzy, and so rescued the damsel and her black knight." Graham opined on the direction of their relationship following Chuck's declaration. "How will Blair and Chuck fare with an honest to goodness grown-up relationship, now that the games are at an end and they have both declared their feelings?"^[3]

Graham welcomed Georgina's return following her previous arc that began during the episode, Southern Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. "Of course, to balance the cute we need something evil and no character manages that better than good old Georgina Sparks. Her mere moments in the episode rank as my other high point as not only do we discover that the Poppy Lifton issue has been resolved. (The only problem with this scene: HOW did she resolve the issue?) but also that she will be back!"With the return of Georgina in the finale, Graham expressed high hopes for her character for the next season, stating "Perhaps this will be the spark (no pun intended) required to shake Blair’s cobwebs off and get her back to her queen bee fighting weight."^[3]

Entertainment Weekly listed Chuck and Blair's final scene in their "25 Great 'I Love You's".^[4]

References

External links

• Full Cast & Crew on IMDb
• Recap from Official Website
• The Official Gossip Girl website