S4:E17 “Coast is clear. Come over.” – Blair
Last night’s Gossip Girl started with Rufus bringing Lily to some courthouse, obviously so she can make a statement about how she forged the affidavit that sent Ben to prison. She didn’t seem too happy about it, but the cashmere coat she was wearing probably provided all the comfort she needed, anyway. Over at Blair’s house, Serena noticed that she was surprisingly…not a demanding bitch. Blair explained that she was totally fine with being let go/fired from W and that instead of Serena focusing on what was wrong with her best friend, she should go over to Ben’s house to make sure he knew how much fun she had having sex with him. Once Blair got Serena out of the house, she texted someone and told them to come over, which means this disgusting plot line of Blair and Dan is about to begin.
“I’m sorry, I should have given you a heads up. She got here a few days ago.” – Ben
Serena went over to Dan’s apartment to tell Ben how great the night they spent together was, but was greeted by Ben’s mom, who was totally unhappy to see the girl that she still thinks put Ben in prison. Ben asked Serena to join him outside and told her that he hadn’t told his mom that he was dating Serena yet, or even that Lily forged Serena’s signature, which means she was the one who sent Ben to prison…and not Serena. Serena asked Ben to have a chance to explain everything to his mother over lunch at her house, and Ben said he’d ask if she would be into that. Back over at Lily’s house, Lily received an orange jumpsuit amidst her dry cleaning and knew it was someone trying to send the message that she had to come clean about her lies. Chuck suggested that Russell might have tipped Ben off, so Lily called Serena and interrupted her lunch (in the very same house!) with Ben and his mom to ask if Serena could find out if Ben had said anything to anyone about the affidavit that could send her to prison. She said she would check with Ben, and just as she was about to, she overheard Ben’s mother tell him dating Serena was a bad idea and that he should be spending his time clearing his name and having his record expunged. Ben told his mother that he couldn’t do that without sending Serena’s mother to prison, and then his mother left because she was tired of hearing everything she said echo in such expansive quarters.
“I like Raina. And she likes me.” – Nate
After Chuck left Lily’s house, he went home and found Nate heading out to find a better storyline for himself. Chuck asked if Nate knew where Raina was, since after spending so much time with her behind his back he must know her schedule, and Nate said he didn’t know but that they did enjoy spending time with each other and that if Raina wanted nothing to do with Chuck, there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“I just knew you’d be my social death, Humphrey.” – Blair
Dan and Blair were supposed to meet up to go to an exhibit together in secret, but then they stood each other up when Dorota told Blair that she found Dan Humphrey’s New York Magazine on her bed and when Dan’s dad told him that sometimes the people they’re scared of are the people they’re most attracted to. They met up again at Dan’s house when they suddenly realized the impact of what would happen if everyone found out they were kind of into each other. Blair decided they could send out a message on Gossip Girl before Chuck’s party that night that would say something totally incredible is about to be revealed, but tell all their friends that they’ve been seeing each other beforehand so that by the time the big secret is out, their friendship isn’t a big deal. Once again, over at Lily’s house, Serena was about to tell her mom how badly lunch with Ben and his mom went when Vanessa showed up and told Serena that when he was in prison, Ben had Nate’s dad attacked and beaten up. Once Vanessa left, Lily asked Serena (again) if it was possible that Ben hadn’t gotten over what Lily did to him and was still considering sending her to prison for revenge. Serena denied that Ben was that bad of a person and maintained that wasn’t out for revenge because she still had the affidavit. She took Lily upstairs into her room to prove that she was still in possession of it, but it wasn’t in the drawer it was supposed to be in and Ben was the only other person who knew where she kept it.
“Ben didn’t steal the affidavit. You did.” – Lily
Ben’s mother found Lily at Chuck’s party and Lily slowly figured out that she stole the affidavit because Russell told her that if she stole it and gave it to him, he could help Ben get his life back. So Lily, Chuck, and Russell went upstairs to Chuck’s apartment, where Russell threw down a copy of the affidavit on the table and told Chuck that he could sign over Bass Industries, or send Lily to prison. But instead of Chuck pausing to think it over, he paused because he knew Raina was in the next room with Nate (who had brought her there on Chuck's request), listening to how her father was trying to blackmail Chuck. Lily excused herself by saying she had made an appointment with the D.A. to go tell him every law she had broken and every felony they should charge her with, and Chuck and Russell stayed in the apartment and dropped hints about Raina’s mother. Downstairs, Serena went over to Ben and apologized for thinking he took the affidavit, but he broke up with her.
“Because of your dad, my wife is dead.” – Russell
Russell told Chuck that even though Raina thought her mother left her father for another man, she was, in fact, dead. She had died in a fire that Chuck’s dad apparently had something to do with. Chuck acknowledged that Russell was trying to hurt his dead father’s memory, but he also acknowledged that he was sending Lily to prison because Chuck’s dad was responsible for the fire that killed his wife. Downstairs at the party, Blair and Dan decided against telling anyone of their relationship because things with Lily had gotten so out of hand that Serena and Rufus and Eric were going to need them.
“It’s a good thing you’ve got an excellent lawyer. You’re going to need him.” – D.A.
Lily went down to the D.A.’s office to confess everything, and she demanded that Ben’s record be expunged. She also told Ben that he should be with her daughter because they obviously care for each other. While Rufus was waiting outside for the proceedings to finish, he ran into Lily’s ex-husband and Serena’s father who said that Lily had no idea what she had gotten herself into. At Blair’s apartment, Dan suddenly showed up and said what if all the time they spent denying their friendship meant they were really trying to deny the romantic feelings they had for each other. Dan recommended they kiss to see once and for all if they shared anything special, which they finally did and then the episode ended. So as much buildup as there was to it, we can surely expect three times as much analysis of it in the future.