Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl

Episode 14: The Backup Dan

By: Carlos Uribe

Gossip Girl is a show about some wealthy college kids living their lives.

Spoiler Alert!

This episode is all about Blair. She has run off with Dan. This is because of what Louis told her. That the marriage is going to be a scam. It was all going to be for show but with no actual depth. He doesn't love her and he never will. She will act her role as princess but she will not have the prince's heart. This scared her. It essentially meant that she would be entrapped in a life without any happiness. She would be stuck in a life with a man who doesn't even love her. She won't be with Chuck. She runs away with Dan because she's scared. She wants to go to the Dominican Republic to get a divorce. She wants to leave this prison before it traps her forever. She isn't able to. She is forced to stay in the marriage and she is forced to live this life.

There's a good reason she doesn't leave. It turns out that the pre-nuptial agreement has it set so that if Blair violates it then the Waldorfs have to pay the extravagant dowry. This dowry is so expensive that it would literally ruin the Waldorf family. This is probably the only thing in Gossip Girl history that puts Blair's financial status in jeopardy. She realizes that if she leaves, then she'll be bringing her mother to ruin. She wouldn't just be ruining her own life but her own flesh and blood as well. When Chuck offers to pay the dowry, she also denies it. She doesn't want Chuck to buy her freedom. She doesn't want to have anything over her head if they ever get together. She wants to be his equal and this would create inequality between the two. She goes along with the marriage, sacrificing her happiness for the sake of her family.

This situation finally creates some tension between Dan and Blair. Even though he's been there for her completely, she still treats him like he's being taken advantage of. This actually leads to them having a short fight. Blair eventually realizes that without Dan, she would have been completely lost. He's been her rock and she has grown dependent on him. She decides to finally give Dan the acknowledgment that she needs him. That everything he has done for her has been important for her. This is good enough to make Dan happy. Of course, if she knew that Dan was really the one who sent the video that ruined her marriage she probably wouldn't be so happy. She is stuck thinking it was Serena for now but it was good drama. He may have been there to be her knight in shining honor but this time he created the situation that created the necessity for him to be that knight. Well done, Gossip Girl. Well done.

There's also some sub-plots. Serena finally gets it in her thick skull that Dan isn't in love with her. She's realizing that he is now in love with Blair. Nate is getting closer to Lola but he doesn't discover her true identity. Georgina is indeed a new Gossip Girl. The old one ditched her post after Blair's accident and she has taken over since. I guess this means that Georgina helped solve Nate's attempted murder! She also has some nefarious scandal planned for Dan. There really was no other storyline this episode as it focused almost entirely on Blair. This is what made it such a great episode, in my opinion. It had a primary story that it managed to easily develop.

This episode only had one weak link. Lola still remains rather uninteresting so except for her this episode was simply great. I wonder where the show is going to go now. The preview seems to indicate Blair and Dan finally getting to kiss, but that could be very misleading. Whatever happens, I can't wait to see it!