The longest Gossip Girl roundtable ever, I believe, is below for episode 5.16 “Cross Rhodes,” in which Blair confessed to her feelings for Dan, Chuck was thisclose to ruining Dan’s reputation but then didn’t in the name of love, Serena was extra pouty, and the real Charlie and her faux counterpart met — and everyone found out the truth.

Oh, and also: CeCe died, but not before having three lines. So, there’s that.

(The general question after these is “What are your thoughts?”)

1. Blair realizes she has feelings for Dan

Heather | Let me just start out with this: jhsakdfjhsakdjfhadjkfhafdkljsalkdfjsldkfjslakf !!11!! Ok, now that is out of the way, I can move on. I thought it was sweet. I loved how they touched on her tendency to deny and then deny she’s denying, and then play dumb when anyone brings up the idea that she might be in denial. I had always thought that all it would take was a tiny crack in the denial wall, and things would start leaking out. I loved the scene during the play. It reminded me of Cher’s epiphany in Clueless. I am a big fan of Austen and romantic comedies, so the sudden wash of realization followed by a frantic search warmed my heart. It was sweet, touching, and simple.

Samantha | I thought it was a bit ridiculous how it all came about. Blair has always been one of the first people to point out the inaccuracies in Dan’s book, and suddenly she thinks the whole thing is truth? Also, I find it humorous that they throw in how Dan has “always loved her” and “always thought she is perfect” when there are numerous, CLEAR examples from the first 2 seasons especially that prove this is not the case.

Heba | Blair needs to decide what she wants! I love that she chose Dan, but she’s not over Chuck. There’s this Bair-y vibe missing about her. I don’t know, she’s different. But anyway, yay for Dair!

Jen | Blair realizing she has feelings for Dan and realizing that Dan loves her the way she has wanted to be loved made me of course really happy. I liked that Serena and Blair both pointed out that she’s big on denial when she has feelings for someone and tends to stick with what she already knows (think when she first started having feelings for Chuck). I LOVED that Dan finally made it clear what he wants in no uncertain terms. And also how he attacked her face when she was trying to demonstrate a meaningless kiss. Hehe.

Elodie | I thought it would have been better if she had had this realization last week in the midst of reciting the things he has done for her this season, but either way it was nice for it to finally eb acknowledged, although I’m a little pissed off at the “I’m married, but I still have feelings for the rest of the cast and my husband is a permanent absentee.” If they were going to put Blair through this painful marriage storyline they could have at least used it a bit after the wedding.

Camila | Well, I don’t like it, but Blair is being honest with Chuck and Serena, so it’s better than if she was going against their back. I don’t like the couple, but the real problem about it was the way it was written so far. I still don’t like the way Blair loved Chuck a few episodes ago and now has feelings for Dan.

Michael | Finally! They’ve been doing this one-sided relationship thing without any good buildup from the other side for too many episodes now. But I agree with Elodie… but I think she realized it in the last episode, she just didn’t want to admit it. However, I don’t see why they had to retcon the idea that Dan has always loved her? It makes no sense. They could have easily used something that happened onscreen or something that made more sense. Maybe that’s just me. Unless that was a competition in college. I don’t know. Anyway, the point is I’m glad the story is finally moving forward. Disregarding the annoying, nonsensical transition from “I love [Chuck] more and more everyday if it’s even possible to love someone that much!”

2. The Charlie secret is out!

Heather | Finally! I was kind annoyed that everyone seemed far more angry with Ivy than Carol, but I am still hoping that Ivy and Lola can team up to take Carol down. I really like Ivy and Kaylee, but I don’t know how they are going to continue her story. I will definitely be curious about how this will all play out as the end of the season approaches. I am still hoping for some Chivy action too.

Samantha | I’m glad It finally came out, though sad it had to happen at the expense of CeCe! Hopefully this will move the plot along. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Ivy.

Heba | FINALLY. This is one season over-due. And by the way, I like the real Charlie way more than the fake one.

Jen | I actually felt really bad for Ivy in this episode. She is kind of messed up and super crazy, but I love that the real reason she continued the whole ruse was because she wanted to be part of a family. So although it made sense that they all turned their backs on her, I couldn’t help but feel sad for her. Her taking care of Cece was sweet. I’m gonna be a little bummed if she now turns around and schemes against them with Georgina.

Elodie | Aww, I feel so sorry for Chivy, especially as Chola turned out to be such a bitch! Remember when Chivy and Serena first met? That was cute and cousin-y and nobody said anything mean, they were both excited to meet one another. Chola was kind of mean and unnecessarily so, I was really disappointed that Blair didn’t make a snarky comment after the exchange.

Camila | When Carol said that Lola was her daughter, I thought Chivy was leaving today, which made me sad. Then, in the end of the episode, she picked Georgina’s number up and I was grinning. Imagine what these two can do together! But I thought that Carol would try to cover the whole thing somehow. She was too straight. We needed more manipulation, haha.

Michael | Thank god. Maybe this will make the real Charlie Rhodes interesting. But I fear it will make Ivy boring. And seriously, why were they mad at Ivy and not Carol?

3. Blair and Serena: they finally share moments together

Heather | I loved their scenes. I liked how it was clear neither was trying to hut the other, but was also trying to avoid hurting themselves. It would have been really easy to make Serena the villain in this story, but, surprisingly (for Gossip Girl especially), they avoided that. I hope this wasn’t a one time deal. I want more scenes where Blair and Serena talk about their problems like adults and find mature solutions. It was refreshing.

Samantha | It was brief, and a bit touching. I hope there is more to come, though even with Serena’s permission, it will still get awkward if Blair and Dan become a ‘thing,’ and there probably won’t be many of these moments.

Heba | This reminded me of the good ol’ days. It was sweet, but then there was this fleeting moment at the end of the episode when Blair kissed Dan and Serena wanted to kill her. So I don’t think the truce is gonna last for long. Bit Serena just needs to get over herself already.

Jen | I will be so happy if there is a lot of Blair/Serena for the rest of this season. I’ve actually thought that Blair and Dan being together opens up some really great opportunities to explore that friendship. I think back to the first season with Blair’s “you take everything from me!” and how that’s turned on its head when the man Serena thinks of as the love of her life is in love with Blair. Serena even accuses Blair of doing it just to take something that’s important to her. But at the end of the day Serena is a good person and a good friend, and I loved that she put her feelings aside and told Blair she wouldn’t get in the way. It will be really interesting to see how their friendship is impacted by this as we go forward. They have always been best friends with a lot of tension and jealousy, so this is a good opportunity to bring that back into focus. Also, when she said Blair’s picture with Dan was her way of apologizing…that was cute. The show is really at its best when their friendship is at the center of it.

Elodie | Also the Claire and Sabrina moment was pretty cute, just saying and quite funny. I think that drama group was basically the writers putting themselves in the gossip girl storyline. I thought it was a nice parallel to the way that Blair, Dan and Serena are invested in their own lives and the drama group mocked them and the way *certain* (you know who you are) fans are invested in the show and the writers like to mock it. Woah, tangental to the question much? In other news, I’m happy Blair and Serena made it up and as much as I had Dair feelings before, I don’t know, this episode kind of killed them a little after seeing Serena’s puppy dog eyes when Blair kissed Dan at the hospital (we’ve been here too much this season btw). I’m totally team Blair and I enjoy that this is now the Blair Waldorf Show, but I am a little angry that Blair would do that. I know Serena gave her her blessing (kind of) but still she’s your best friend you can’t just go around stealing your best friend’s first love/ stepbrother (like Serena did with Nate/Aaron) my point is, generally it’s not the done thing. Again tangental.

Camila | Blerena, yay! The scenes in the beginning of the episode with bitchy Serena were so funny. And Dorota locking them in that room so they could work it out was hilarious. But now to the real answer: I thought it was nice of the writers to make the “best friends” share scenes this season. No, but really, they finally worked their problems out and it was great. Blair trying to deny her feelings so that her friendship with Serena didn’t die was really sweet. And Serena saying that she wouldn’t be an obstacle in her friends’ relationship (sigh) was also sweet. I hope they continue to talk about their problems and relationships like best friends would do and how they did in the past.

Michael | I love a good “It’s okay if you steal my man… who cares if my grandma is freakin’ dying!” scene. But I’m weird that way.

4. Chuck is scheming against Dan

Heather | I am so over this. Either make Chuck a fun, mustache-twirling villian, or make him yoda. I am tired of being told that he is “redeemed,” but being shown something completely different. I feel the writers backed themselves into a corner with Chuck, and now they are trying to have their cake and eat it too. It’s not working for me though. In a season with stranger and dodgy characterization, I think his has been the one that been the most confusing. Safran and Co.: PICK A CHARACTERIZATION AND STICK WITH IT!

Samantha | SCHEMING CHUCK = LOVE. I would love for him to revert to full season one and just start scheming against everyone but Nate (including Blair). That would be ideal, and perhaps it would bring back the bitch in Blair.

Heba | I don’t blame Chuck, honestly. That’s all I’m saying about this.

Jen | I LOVED Chuck scheming against Dan. It was so the Chuck way to react to being hurt. Dan’s observation that he is clearly threatened was spot on. I thought it was pretty despicable of Chuck to use Alessandra like that, but then in the end he tried to make things right and be a good person at Blair’s encouragement. It showed that he still has to fight his dark side but he IS trying. Much more believable than his insta redemption of earlier in the season and much more interesting in my opinion. All the same, I kinda want him to get in trouble for doing that to Alessandra. Disregarding her as a human being and manipulating her as a revenge tool is just as bad as trying to sabotage Dan’s career in my book, and it would be nice of the show to acknowledge on some level that that behavior is wrong. Ah, wishful thinking. 🙂 For the record, I love Chuck as a character and I love watching him battle his demons, so that made me happy. Oh, I agree completely that it would be awesome for Chuck to go into super scheming mode and bring out the bitch in Blair. But then I think they should at least acknowledge that he’s trying to be a better guy. I don’t know /torn.

Elodie | I think this has the potential to be the most successful scheme on Gossip Girl, topping even the Juliet take down and Carol’s Chivy/Chola scheme.

Camila | I loved it. It’s not because I’m a Chuckstan (I mean, I am but it’s not because of that), but because the scheming days were the best! Didn’t you love when everyone schemed against everyone but they were all still friends? Sure, they spent some time without talking, but it was the spark of the show. Gossip Girl needs its scheming. And Chuck was one of the biggest schemers so it’s fair that, hurt the way he was, he schemed a little bit. BUT I was also glad when Blair called him and made him do the right thing because it prooves that Chuck is a good person (not that I need proof but anyway). By the way, his scenes with Alessandra were hilarious.

Michael | I don’t think this did service to any of the characters — even Alessandra! Why would Chuck not think maybe Dan kissed Blair and Georgina snapped a quick picture but nothing else happened? And if something did happen, why try to ruin Dan instead of Blair who seemingly toyed him around? Anyone? Bueller? Whatever, at least it was fun and someone had sex. A plus!

5. Georgina sends Chuck the video!

Heather | Why didn’t she do that before? In a show built upon contrivances, this one really stands out as a bad one for me. How perfectly timed Georgina was with her email. Good try writers, but you can’t take me out of my happy-bubble with this mess of a plot line.

Samantha | GOOD. We need to move this plot along. And if Chuck doesn’t do something about that stupid video I will shoot someone.

Heba | I hate the fact that Dan sent the video. I hate it so much. When the secret’s out, he’s gonna be the bad guy and everything between him and Blair will be ruined. I’m loving all those sweet moments between them, and you know it’s gonna end because of the video.

Jen | Georgina picked the right time to send Chuck the video. I can’t wait to see how he’ll react to that and I’m super nervous about how Blair is going to react. Given that he said that until this episode he didn’t even believe he had a chance with Blair, and he told Blair he wanted to be more than friends under the assumption that she DIDN’T feel the same way, it’s pretty clear that he was trying to save her from a loveless marriage and he didn’t do it for his own ends. He probably assumed it would ruin the wedding and she’d go be happy with Chuck. So I don’t think it’s the absolute worst thing! But the show obviously does or it wouldn’t be such a big damn deal lol. And don’t ask me why he let her believe it was Chuck’s doing, I guess he just didn’t want Blair to be mad at him. Bad Dan.

Elodie | My Chair shipping heart got excited, but then worried. In my head Chuck would show Blair and they’d live happily ever after (as soon as Blair gets divorced), but the reality is probably that Blair won’t believe him or that he will do something stupid with the information. Like blackmail Dan, that would be a good idea!

Camila | Yes, Georgina, yes! Finally you’ve done something right! Now, after doing the right thing, he will be back to his scheming self. Again! Chuck’s made a lot of mistkaes and they always got back at him. Dan made one mistake and he was going to get away with it. That didn’t sound ok for me. Now Chuck can scheme with Georgie and people will see what Dan did. As much as I don’t want everyone to hate on Dan, he sent that video out of his free will and now come the consequences: An angry Chuck Bass and a Crazy Georgina.

Michael | This plot makes no sense. And I agree with you, Heather: why did she take so long! I don’t understand why the writers are basically making every character out of character in order for stuff to be shocking. As long as the secret actually comes out next week, because I’m ready for the real Gossip Girl to be back. Georgina sucks at it.

6. Other thoughts

Heather | This wasn’t my favorite episode of the season, but I think it’s clear Amy Harris is a very talented writer. I thought the pacing of this episode was better than others, but at times it felt over-stuffed. I think there were too many separate story threads being used, and things weren’t tied together as nicely as I would have liked, but I think that is more symptomatic of the poor pacing of the over all season. We stayed, spinning our tires in place for about six episodes, and when they finally took their foot off the break, the story jumped ahead at dragster speeds. I also find it interesting that my favorite episodes/scenes this season have been written by newcomers, especially when it comes to the nature of the Serena/Blair relationship. I would like to see the veteran writers taking some of this fresh perspective into their stories, and remember: best friends don’t just share toilet paper, they share feelings and secrets.

Samantha | I want to know where Blair’s French babysitter is? I mean, they aren’t just going to let Blair run around kissing Dan now right? That would be a bit ridiculous. The nanny wasn’t just there to guard against Chuck.

Heba | So THAT’s what happened to the real Charlie Rhodes? I wanted something bigger! They made me expect something bigger.

Jen | The last couple of weeks have been really great for me, and not just because Dan and Blair are cute (not that it hurts). I just loved the high school theme, Blair scheming to get Serena and Dan together last week and Chuck scheming against Dan this week. I guess I like some classic schemes. Just…Blair needs a non-love interest SL. Loving Dan being really excited about his next book. Also, Blair has been looking gorgeous.

Elodie | Most of my thoughts on this episode were summed up in my Serena/Blair tangent. I think there needs to be a realization on the behalf of Serena that DAN IS HER STEPBROTHER and she no longer loves him, only as a brother and that she doesn’t care if he and Blair get together, because as long as she cares I feel a little uncomfortable. Then I will be happy with Dair (not to say that their kiss this evening… oh my god, I think I orgasmed, how cute are they?!!!!! When she just pecks him and then he just pulls her straight back in, n’aww!)

Camila | Did anyone noticed Chuck’s motorcycle at the end? Well, if not you’re blind. Kidding. But seriously, that can’t be a coincidence. I wonder what that means… That bruise he had was gone too fast, wasn’t it? Also, could Serena be more mean? Poor Chivy! Also, where is Blair’s creepy nanny?

Michael | So, I feel like a total asshole for not including CeCe’s death as a major question. But I will say that I feel as though CeCe’s will and testament has something in it that will move this story forward, so the writers needed to kill her off.

7. What grade would you give this episode?

Heather | I think to be fair, I need to give this two separate grades.Dair-Shipping Heather gives this an A. I loved the nervousness and uncertainty in their scenes. I loved that things were finally out on the table, and that we over, at least, the first round of Blair-nial. I loved Dan knowing how to handle her flavor of crazy, when to be upfront with how he was feeling, and seeing when he needed to back off and let her figure things out on her own. I loved seeing Blair basically acting like a twenty-one year old girl with a crush. Their scenes in the hospital hurt my heart in all the absolutely best ways. Casual Viewer Heather gives this a B+. The dialogue was pretty strong, and like I said earlier, I think Amy Harris does a pretty great job of capturing the spirit of Blair and Serena and Blair & Serena. The directing was pretty generic, but the relatively steady pacing kept the episode feeling pretty light and fun. Gossip Girl is at it’s best when it center’s around the main characters and their struggles with themselves and their places in the world, and I think, for the most part, this episode delivered on that front.

Samantha | I’d say C. Everything that happened was VERY expected. We knew Blair and Dan were going to have more moments, we knew CeCe was going to die, we knew something was going to be come out about Lola/Chivy. I literally looked at my clock at least 3 times to see if the episode was almost over.

Heba | B, only because of the Dair scenes.

Jen | I’m going to give this episode…an A-. Why not? No major complaints. I was yelling at Chuck(/my TV like a crazy person) and my heart was warmed by Dair and Blerena scenes. I was actually really into the episode and not facepalming. I love Ivy back on my TV screen and I’m glad we can just call her Ivy now. Cece’s death at the end felt a little rushed. I will say that I don’t yet giveashit about the real Charlie Rhodes. And by extension…Nate. Come on, Nate…go back to taking down Gossip Girl or something? That seemed so promising. But I mean…for an episode of Gossip Girl this season, I call this success. Things are actually moving forward.

Elodie | A well deserved 8 – too much Lily to rank it any higher. Oh actually maybe 8.5 – the 0.5 being for the Rufus and jacket scene rofl rofl rofl.

Camila | A-. It was a good episode, but everything that happened in it was a little too expected. That’s the only complain I have. In my opinion, the show was way better this week than last week’s episode and I hope they continue that way.

Michael | Solid B, to be honest you guys. Everything finally started moving. And everyone knows that I’ve been bored with the non-stories they’ve been having. (My thoughts on this episode are lessened because this was already too long.)