Monday was a particularly shocking night for Gossip Girl’s devoted Chuck/Blair worshippers. The 100th episode of the CW series had Blair (Leighton Meester) getting married to, and then running away with, two different guys, none of whom go by the last name Bass.
And according to Gossip Girl’s producers, this is just the beginning of the end for the former lovebirds … at least for a few episodes.
Stephanie Savage and Joshua Safran told Entertainment Weekly that the ending twist was something that has been a long time coming and will continue to develop as this season progresses.
That twist, if you didn’t see it, featured Blair leaving her new husband, Prince Louis (Hugo Becker), for Dan (Penn Badgley) – who is Chuck’s (Ed Westwick) BFF and the former boyfriend of her own best friend, Serena.
“We definitely are going with [Dan and Blair’s] story,” Safran revealed at an advance screening of Monday’s episode.
“From the beginning, we always felt there was a really strong connection between the two of them. We always knew they were going to become friends, there was a question of whether it was ever going to be more than that,” Savage explained.
“These two people – one is the queen bee, and one is the lonely boy – actually have a lot in common compared to their other friends. This sense of intellectual curiosity, and interest in things outside their own world.”
In the next episode, which will pick up directly where the 100th episode left off, the twosome will address this connection, jetting off to some mysterious location and giving fans “the best comedy [the show has] ever done.” Says Safran,“They go someplace we’ve never shot before. It’s was a really complicated, but super-fun, great set piece.”
But the faux honeymoon period won’t last for long. Apparently, Dan will call Blair out on her tendency to use men as nothing more than broad shoulders to cry on. According to Safran, “At a certain point … [Dan will] force Blair to not treat him that way, or not treat him at all.”
Episode 101 will also see Serena and Chuck coping with Blair and Dan’s newfound more-than-friendship … together! And they’re not as freaked out as you might imagine, but perhaps that’s just because, like most Gossip Girl viewers, they’re still in shock.
“Obviously, it’s going to wrangle Serena when she discovers what’s happening between Blair and Dan,” Safran says. “But I think these characters are growing up. You don’t necessarily go to Def-Con 4 when you find these things out. You try to deal with them in a rational, direct, honest manner. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t go to Def-Con 4 after that.”
Chuck won’t go back to partying as you might imagine, not wanting to “slide back” into his old ways. He will “continue to be tested,” by Blair and Dan and possibly, Safran and Savage say, another mystery party. And yet, through all this pain, he won’t say XOXO to Blair or their relationship.
“Chuck and Blair are never over,” Safran says, cueing the epic fangirl sighs.
What did you think of Monday’s episode? Comment below.
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