Gossip Girl - Season 6 Episode 7 - Video Recap and Review - Save the Last Chance

Gossip Girl finally hit the mark during its final season with “Save the Last Chance.” I’ve been pretty lenient in reviewing the ultimate guilty pleasure of a series in its final year, but this was a legitimately entertaining hour of television beyond just being fun. It brought back the vibes of earlier season, before relationships got stale and plots got too convoluted. One character's dream is another's misery. I love that!

The episode began with Bart Bass (Robert John Burke) tearing apart Chuck’s (Ed Westwick) room at the Empire Hotel in search of the ever-elusive microfilm. We don’t even know what’s on the film. Chuck doesn’t know, Ivy doesn’t know, Lily doesn’t know, and I’m not even sure Bart knows. Chuck arrived with his signature quips just before Ivy (Kaylee Defer) popped in like she owned the place. Ivy, of course, is the one in possession of the film at this point. She doesn’t want money in exchange for it. She only wants Lily’s (Kelly Rutherford) life ruined beyond repair. On the Upper East Side, that’s like child’s play. Money is everything. Ivy’s from Florida, so we can cut her some slack. In reality, Bart and Chuck would both have to think about how to outsmart each other and Ivy to get what they wanted without harming Lily. At least, not harming Lily too badly.

Over at Serena’s (Blake Lively) place, she and Dan (Penn Badgley) had apparently been holed up for a few days boinking. Serena’s not ready for the two to be seen in public yet. At least, not until they make amends with everyone. Wow, everybody hates Dan and Serena.

Serena’s first attempt at righting her wrongs would be fixing things with Blair (Leighton Meester). It shouldn’t be too hard to get someone to like you again after stealing her boyfriend and convincing him to cheat on her on the very same bar you’d once convinced another boyfriend of hers to cheat with you on. Oh, and it’s all documented via sex-tape. Alas, she’s Serena and she’s Blair’s Achilles’ heel.

Nelly Yuki (Yin Chang) showed up too, just in time to intimidate Blair into thinking she was too old to sell to teens yet too un-established to be taken seriously on her own. She’s too in between, allegedly. Serena came up with this pretty stellar sounding plan to convince Sage and her popular friends to attend Blair’s Barney’s popup shop debut. By sending an old picture of her kissing Stephen to Gossip Girl, they’d manipulate Sage into running to Blair for help. Blair is good at ruining Serena’s relationships; even fake ones. Serena made sure to tip off Dan first.

Meanwhile, Ivy’s secret partner was revealed to be none other that William Van Der Woodsen (Billy Baldwin)! Wow, so she partnered with Lola and Lola’s father. Apparently, Lola’s the one who’s truly hell-bent on ruining Lily’s life, but Ivy made her a deal in exchange for the money Lola signed over to her; money that was somewhat Ivy’s to begin with yet always Lola’s? I’m a little confused by all of the money. It all feels so infinite to me! Oh, and Ivy is in love with William. Lola is okay with all of this. I would say, “poor, Rufus is getting played,” but that relationship kind of makes me cringe to begin with.

Bart decided to immediately warn Lily of Ivy’s plot for revenge, advising her to beware of Chuck. Lily refused to believe Charles would harm her. In reality, Chuck was kind of considering it after she refused to back him last episode. Dan arrived at the hotel on his quest to make amends with Nate (Chace Crawford) and offered to help he and Chuck with their scheme to prove his loyalty.

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Lily called Rufus (Matthew Settle) for a covert meeting on the edge of the park. Rufus refused to help Lily get the microfilm off of Ivy. You reap what you sow, and he believes she has something to hide. If the film meant nothing as Lily insinuated, she wouldn’t need it back. Rufus played it off smooth, but he managed to catch Ivy putting William into a car across the street. A kiss goodbye sealed the deal. He didn’t get a glimpse of the guy, but he figured out Ivy had been playing him.

Ivy decided to meet with Chuck first in order to see what kind of plan he’d concocted to destroy Lily’s life. Chuck came up with this idea to plant the microfilm on Lily at Blair’s event. If the cops busted Bart, they’d list her as an accomplice.

Shortly prior to aiding Chuck, Nate bumbled down the street disheveled and windblown as he chased after the man handling his extended credit. Nate’s way behind on his payments and The Spectator is on the brink of bankruptcy. All of Nate’s assets are invested, so the site is all he has. Later, Nate would learn that Bart Bass was the man who secretly cosigned his credit line, making him a silent partner. Basically, Bart has a tremendous amount of leverage hanging over Nate’s head. Why? Nate is Chuck’s best friend, and Bart is willing to blackmail Nate to no end in order to ruin Chuck. Nate apparently fudged some numbers, the same crime his father committed, and Bart is willing to send him to jail if he doesn’t do as Bart says. Your war with Chuck is one thing, but leave Nathaniel alone!

After Sage ran straight into Blair’s trap, the two met with the upper crust of high-society queen bees in Central Park. If Blair could get those girls to wear her line, the rest would follow beneath them. Blair resorted to her typical high school blackmail, but Sage evoked her one-time favor. Every queen bee, or don as they call themselves now, gets one favor from the group before graduation. Sage’s choice was to have the girls accompany her to Blair’s event. Within a few minutes following (our minutes, not theirs), Sage had seen enough of her father’s whimpering to know he wasn’t getting back with Serena. Therefore, she changed her scheme to another attempt at humiliating the former be sties, S and B, in public.

Rufus walked in to find Dan rummaging around the loft. Dan claimed to be picking up some stuff left behind but mostly, to make things right with his father. Before Dan could get out his full apology, Rufus apologized first for being wrong about Ivy. Ivy walked in just in time to make things uncomfortable, so Dan left; however, he got a glimpse of the envelope. Rufus kicked Ivy out, not that she cared, but more importantly, Dan was actually in the loft searching for the envelope to make amends with Chuck. Chuck appreciated the attempt, in any case. Chuck’s plan was to get the envelope first so he wouldn’t have to harm Lily. He wouldn’t ever hurt Lily deliberately. Nate, unfortunately, was pinned to a wall and forced to share Chuck’s plan with Bart.

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Blair invited Serena to her event to re-establish their friendship and to celebrate her successful debut. On the flip side, Sage and her teen vultures arrived to rain on Blair’s parade. Sage’s biggest mistake was alerting Blair to her scheme of simply trashing her line to the press. Nelly, of course, would leap at the opportunity to ruin Blair’s career, yet again. Blair’s first instinct was to accuse Serena of setting something up with Sage. Serena was pretty quick to convince B otherwise. A glance across the room revealed that Sage’s friends turned on her as soon as they got a hold of Blair’s fashions. Nelly even got some quotes as they fought over the last few pieces of clothes. To me, the line looked like a lot of the same plaid skirt next to a lot of the same white polo; kind of like the clothes you order through a private school’s vendor. Eh, Haley Reinhart’s “Oh My!” blared over Blair’s success, so I’ll turn a blind eye. The most important thing is that B and S are back together. Blair and Derota are even better.

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Down the block, Nathaniel was boozing alone! It’s easy to forget, but Nate Archibald actually has a conscience. This is Gossip Girl. Chuck bumped into Nate, and Nate spilled on the spot. Chuck was more furious with his father, knowing Nate wouldn’t ever sell him out for truly selfish reasons.

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*sigh*

In one of the jankest moments of the season, Bart and Ivy met in a hotel room to negotiate. Bart brought divorce papers, but as Ivy noted, Lily’s already been divorced a million times. That’s not humiliating enough on the Upper East Side.

Ivy: “Strip!”

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If Bart wanted the filmstrips, he’d actually have to strip… to pose for some pics with Ivy. At first, Bart thought he was about to make some kind of sex-tape. Ivy quickly shot that down. Not like it was so crazy of an idea considering Ivy had been sleeping with Rufus all season under false pretenses. In the end, Bart grabbed the envelope from Ivy just as Chuck came crashing into the room. Too bad, though! The envelope was empty! Even Ivy was shocked.

Across town, Rufus arrived at Lily’s apartment in time to deliver the microfilm before anyone could get to him. Apparently, revenge against Ivy was more important, and he’s looking to build a friendship with Lily. He solidified that they aren’t getting back together; meaning, Dan and Serena probably are, eventually. Luckily for Chuck, Dan swung by in the middle of their makeup session. After noticing that Lily had the film, he text Chuck. Chuck quickly bolted from the jank hotel room, feigning failure and leaving Ivy to deal with Bart’s threats.

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Look familiar?

Chuck was too late. Lily remained unconvinced that Chuck had their best interests at heart and that Bart was a monster out for blood. She burned the film, along with Chuck’s dreams of freedom from his father. It was Chuck’s true story of encountering Bart and Ivy half-naked that pushed Lily over the edge. In the lobby, Chuck drank exactly where Nate had boozed a few hours prior. This time, Blair showed up to congratulate herself and in hopes of hearing Chuck’s own success story. Unfortunately, she got the exact opposite. Chuck broke it off with Blair “forever.” They made a pact, and only she would ever be able to follow through. Poor Blair stood teary-eyed, but would she give back her ring? Nope, she still has hope. She returned to her studio to find that WWD published a rave review of her line.

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Bart ruined everything for everyone. He made sure to call Nate gloating, reminding a very wasted Archibald that he owns him. Sheesh! Also, Ivy and William decided to bolt out of town before Bart could destroy her, too. William didn’t look too pleased, although Ivy reasoned that merely trying to harm Lily was enough for her.

On a somewhat brighter note, I kind of thought Dan and Serena got engaged when they decided to sip champagne and talk about how they made a deal that I don’t remember. I think it went something along the lines of, “if we get back together, it’s the last time we will be together, so we’ll be together forever and ever.” Close enough, right? Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg) called while Serena stepped out. Dan claimed that he’s just researching his Serena piece! Wow, that’s a whole new low if it is true. Maybe his Serena story will be a positive one to clear her tarnished name as an It-girl.

What did you all think of the episode? Are you enjoying the final season of Gossip Girl? Is Dan faking it with Serena? Will Chair happen? How will Nate get off of Bart’s leash? What will become of Ivy? How about this… what would you like to see happen?