Giovanni Rufino/The CWHere comes the bride...and the fan freakouts!
Gossip Girl's 100th episode extravaganza, which centers on Blair's (Leighton Meester) sure-to-be epic Royal Wedding, is one of the most highly-anticipated TV events of the year, so to say we were excited when the CW asked us to attend a special screening of the episode is a bit of an understatement. We've watched the series since day one and it has remained one of our favorite guilty pleasures.
Now that we've seen the episode (and cried a bit!), here are five things you can look forward to from Gossip Girl's 100th episode! Plus, some scoop from executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Safran (who wrote the episode) about what went into the making of the milestone hour!
5. Something For Every Shipper: Chair (Chuck and Blair), Derena (Dan and Serena), Dair (Dan and Blair)...all these couples have significant moments in the hour. The couple out of those three with the most screentime? Chuck (Ed Westwick) and Blair, who share two very important scenes...before Blair makes her way to the altar. Let's just say Chuck isn't going down without a fight, with him proclaiming it should be the two of them standing at the altar, not Blair and Louis (Hugo Becker). Prepare to squeal, Chuck fans! Also, Chuck has a lot of supporters at the wedding.
And here's a quote from Safran that should make Chair fans happy: "Chuck and Blair are never over." Take from that what you will.
As for Dan and Blair, there's not a whole lot of scenes, but you know, sometimes it's quality over quantity. So yes, there will be definitely some squealworthy moments for that faction of the fanbase as well. A few things we can tell you are that Louis calls Dan and Blair "best friends," Dan steps in as Louis' Best Man and the vows are brought up again.
On the Blair and Louis front, expect to see a side of their relationship we've never seen before...and it's awesome. For Dan and Serena, Blair pushes for Serena to tell Dan how she really feels about him, which may lead to a "grand gesture" from Serena. Sorry Nate and Serena fans, no moments for you, as Nate is busy making googly-eyes at the real Charlie, who is a cater-waiter (How Dan Humphrey of her!).
4. Parents Being Awesome! In the beginning of the series, the adult storylines were focused on just as much as our core groups. While Rufus (Matthew Settle), Lily (Kelly Rutherford), Eleanor and Cyrus (Wallace Shawn) have taken more of a backseat in the last few seasons, they come back in a big way in the episode. Almost every scene involving Blair and Eleanor made us tear up, but what really got to us were the scenes between our bride and her two dads Harold and Cyrus, which happens to be one of Savage's favorite moments from the show ever.
Also: awesome Princess Bride reference from Cyrus FTW! "We've been wanting to do that forever!" Safran says of the line. "I just always wanted to it. We talked about it. He's one of those characters who is so easy to right for."
Rufus and Lily also step up in this episode, helping to salvage the wedding in a big way. They also reminisce on their small, intimitate wedding and it's adorable.
3. The Bitch Is Back: And she's awesome! Yes, Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg) makes her triumphant return and it's glorious. Her one-liners are as sharp as ever ("Jesus owes me one!") and her scheming reaches new levels of evil goodness. (Moment of silence for poor Milo, who will surely be going to therapy thanks to some serious mommy issues.)
2. Blair Might Need Socks: Yes, Blair does experience some cold feet...and a panic attack right before the wedding. Like mother, like daughter apparently, as Eleanor's wedding to Harold started late to give her Xanax time to kick in. Before her marriage to Cyrus, however, Eleanor was cool as a cucumber, so seeing her daughter freaking out before her wedding leads Eleanor to make a big decision to invite a certain person to crash the wedding.
Of the big wedding, Savage says, "It's not an exaggeration to say the crew has been planning Blair's wedding since the pilot, not exactly knowing what that would be. Blair's probably been planning her wedding since she was a teeny tiny girl." So expect a lot of peonies and an '80s pop song to play at the wedding, obviously.
1. Nods to the Past: Longtime viewers will get a kick out of all the homages to the pilot, including the use of the song "Young Folks" and the line "I love you, always have, always will"...except Blair isn't saying it and Nate's (Chace Crawford) not on the receiving end this time. One nod that didn't the cut? Safran revealed he wanted to recreate that moment in the pilot where Nate and Serena (Blake Lively) see each other for the first time only for Blair to open the door between them. For the 100th episode, they wanted to film it with Dan (Penn Badgley) entering between Serena and Blair "because that was a way to pay homage to what was going on emotionally at that time."
Check back in a bit. We're about to post some more preview clips and interview clips with the cast!
Gossip Girl's 100th episode airs Monday on the CW.