Gossip Girl season finale recap: Graduation Day!

I don’t know whether to applaud or cry about the season finale of Gossip Girl. On the one hand, it was full of amazing moments (yay, Chuck and Blair!). But the flip side is we now have to spend an agonizing summer wishing to be cooled off by GG‘s iciness. I might have to start roaming the Upper East Side on Monday nights just hoping I can spot a hot high schooler making out with a cougar or two teen girls launching into a bitchfight. Or maybe I’ll just stay home and drink.

So, my favorite television students have finally graduated and are off to college. Now, correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think we know where Chuck is going? Am I right? Maybe he’s just continuing to work for Bass Industries. And we have Dan, Vanessa, Blair, and possibly Georgina all going to NYU in the fall. Nate will be at Columbia. And Serena is the only one currently leaving the Big Apple. I have a feeling that’s gonna change come next fall.

To start, I looooved how Blair posed for the paparazzi as she and Serena left lunch. It was priceless. Once again, Leighton Meester shows her flair for comedy.

The major plotline in this finale was Serena’s attempts to unveil Gossip Girl’s true identity, which I found a little random. Like, who cares at this point? Also, the email blast that Gossip Girl sent during the graduation ceremony was laaaaame. Blair is ”weak.” Chuck is a ”coward.” Big whoop. Frankly, Nate is the one who got the worst classification: ”class whore.” Mean but fair, Gossip Girl. And Dan is an ”insider.” Are these supposed to sting? I guess I just expected a little more vitriol from Gossip Girl. Especially since this is what inspired Serena to really dig deep and try to discover who the anonymous blogger is. The entire graduation scene, much like prom, was incredibly anticlimactic but, in the end, I wasn’t really bothered by it. But quite frankly, I was bored at my own high school graduation. One highlight though was the reappearance of Cyrus and Eleanor. They are just too genius. And too cute. Every time Wallace Shawn pops up in an episode, I smile.

Next, we had the standard Gossip Girl cocktail party — no episode is complete without some sort of soiree. I had no idea that the Constance Billard senior class was so tiny. It appeared for a hot second that Jonathan might be Gossip Girl but alas he had just hacked into her system and was receiving tips from her. The whole thing was a little fishy to me. When did Jonathan become a hacker? And who still does that? Is it 1995? Yet another reason for Eric to dump him.

At Nate’s party, the shiz really hit the fan when Gossip Girl, angry with all of Serena’s snooping around, unleashed basically every secret she/he ever knew about Serena’s classmates. It was kinda funny all of the twists that came to light because I had forgotten some of the stuff. Also, the whole Blair/Jack Bass situation was really glazed over. I need some more details on that. And I kinda thought the Chuck/Vanessa pairing was going to develop further but apparently not!

NEXT PAGE: Striptease!

At Nate’s party, Chuck and Blair had their hottest scene to date, even hotter than the blackout episode last fall. This was one of their best moments all year. Blair stripping for Chuck was ah-mazing and I don’t even have an appreciation for female stripteases! Her dress was phenomenal too. I almost wish she would have kept it on. But good lord that sequence was smokin’! It gave me palpitations. I knew, though, when Chuck rejected her again that there had to be a happy ending. Otherwise, Blair just looks too sad. Though she’d be sad in a fantastic dress. In my mind, that dress would trump any tears.

Speaking of romance, Lily and Rufus got engaged. And it was the sweetest moment. They were both stoned and drunk. Ahhh what a story to tell the grandkids! ”Well, Nana was totally baked when Grampy popped the question…” It did seem quite appropriate for an ex-groupie and former rock and roll star. And I loved that he used a Lincoln Hawk wristband as a ring. So charming. It will be really interesting next season to have the Humphreys and the van der Woodsens co-habitating.

We finally got a Jenny storyline after months of Little J moping around and following Rufus on various errands. So, Little J was nominated to become the next Queen Bee of the school now that Blair is departing. First off, Jenny’s dress to graduation was totes inappropriate. I love how Rufus has no concerns about that — he’s too busy getting stoned with Lily. In any case, Little J ended up being chosen by Blair as her replacement. It was a surprisingly nice scene between the two of them, having been at odds for most of the past two seasons. ”For what it’s worth, you’re my queen. I choose you,” Blair told Jenny. And the audience gives a collective sigh, Awwww. I totally dig Jenny being Queen Bee next season. She’s best when she’s drunk with power and I’m loving that her first order of business was to do away with headbands. I second that!

The final moments of the episode were a whirlwind of twists, like the return of Lily and Rufus’ love child, now calling himself Scott! And he’s going to NYU! And the actor in question, Chris Riggi, has kinda weird hair! And was a lil’ vampire-ish to me! Am I alone? But at least he’s cute!

Georgina reappeared for like two seconds and apparently got all the money back from Poppy. That was a little confusing and I would have liked to have seen the Poppy smackdown but perhaps we’ll get some flashbacks later. More satisfying was Georgina requesting to be roommates with Blair at NYU. Perfection! That’d better happen. Also, Michelle Trachtenburg just needs to join the show full time. Her NBC series, Mercy, looks like a hot mess and GG is so much more fun with Georgina around.

We also once again saw Carter Baizen, who finally revealed what he and Serena were doing down in Santorini: looking for her missing father. Interesting. But now apparently the dude has jetted to Fiji. It’s like Serena’s dad is secretly Carmen Sandiego. He’s all over the map. That would be a serious cramp in Lily and Rufus’ plans if Papa van Der Woodsen showed back up — which makes me think he will, since this show loves drama!

And then, finally, there was the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the Chuck/Blair reconciliation. And it was just how I hoped. Blair was wearing some insanely preppy outfit and Chuck was his usual debonair d-bag self. Note to all potential suitors of me: I will also forgive any kind of bad behavior if you repent by traveling to Europe to pick up my favorite chocolate. I almost got a little emotional during that scene. But then laughed when Blair seriously asked Chuck to say ”I love you again.” I think they just might be my favorite couple on television. Screw MerDer. My favorite couple I will now call…Chair. Or maybe Bluck.

What think you, PopWatchers? Can you stand a summer without Gossip Girl? Will Chuck and Blair last? How is Jenny going to handle being Queen Bee? And do you think Scott has weird hair?