Lil J is back in the picture after a hiatus of hiding. She has been totally invisible the past few episodes! I’m glad to see she is back. Although, she is not so interested in being seen on her Sweet 16. She prefers an evening with her father’s chili and a stack of board (bored) games to celebrate her rite of passage. Serena however has different plans. Serena throws a big upper east sider party to show she still knows how to, while Jenny is pizzed  cause all she wants to be is a Brooklyn babe. She sabotages the party with a “rager at the hotel” text to gossip girl, and the apartment gets trashed. Uh oh Jenny, still the troubled teen we know and love?

Nate and Vanessa are on the rocks because she’s “all bohemian” and he’s “all ivy league” and lets face it, Brooklyn and Manhattan relationships just never work out. It’s like long distance dating. But who knew that Vanessa would get all messy with revenge with Chuck?!! Sure its just physical… whatever you say. I think they just wanted to get some of their real life romance on screen. I can’t wait to see how it goes. Oh yeah, and Blair and Nate got back together, whaaaaat???? Blair begins to accept that there are just no sparks between her and her old flame, but Nate of course waits till a snowy moment in central park to show her the real fireworks. I have to admit I’m a little bummed about it. I love the Chuck and Blair drama.

Serena is bored with high school life and decides to buddy up with Poppy again and head to Spain. Poppy’s boyfriend somehow knows her….? where is that going to lead I wonder. Don’t worry Lily, Serena will be back in a week. I think.

The subtle thread through the episode is this fan letter that Dan got for a story he published. We think its a minor flourish to the storyline until……Dan makes a phone call to the fan. Coincidentally it happens to be his half brother that wrote him! What?! Of course he’s not there, and his parents answer and plan to put a lid on the situation. The secret is still intact as of now. We’ll see how well that works.

Though all of this there is one thing I definitely learned-Nate’s email password has been soccer since the 5th grade. Till next week. XOXO- Chaunte