Tonight’s Gossip Girl was smoking hot, as usual. Fashion week in Manhattan always has a way of making things interesting. Of course, there are some people that aren’t enjoying the excitement of all that is interesting. Two of those people are the dethroned queen, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), and her brooding, evil ex Chuck (Ed Westwick). Blair’s week just isn’t going as planned. It’s bad enough that Serena (Blake Lively) has taken over her place as Queen Bee to the ferocious little drones that once served Blair, but when Jenny (Taylor Momsen) switches her fashion show seating chart Blair naturally goes off the hook in true Waldorf fashion.

It seems that Serena has been hanging out with the right socialites, namely a hot brunette named Poppy. This is what leads to the upheaval of Blair’s seating chart. Eleanor Waldorf (Margaret Colin) has to make sure that she has a bang up fashion show. Unfortunately, the hottest of the hot usually go to the competitor’s show. After Jenny hears this, she mentions to Eleanor that Serena and her new friend Poppy might want front row seats. Problem is, Blair and Serena have a tradition of watching the show backstage. With that, the war is on!

First, Blair learns from mommy that Jenny is the only sophomore at the school that is lucky enough to be able to have independent study. Naturally, Blair knows this couldn’t be the case, so after a talk with the headmistress she heads to Jenny’s house to clear up the matter with Jenny’s dad, Rufus (Matthew Settle). She takes Jenny some chicken soup (non-existing mono and all) and informs Rufus that Jenny has not been in school for the last ten days!

Rufus is able to get Jenny a meeting with the headmistress, and on the Saturday of the fashion show no less. He only reams her for a little bit before sending her off to the meeting, too. Too bad for him that right after the meeting Jenny is right back at fashion central. And boy does she have a lot to clear up.

Blair decides to change the seating chart back and leaves Poppy in place, but moves Serena to the third row. Blair tries to trump Jenny by pulling Waldorf rank, but that doesn’t work when Eleanor steps in to take care of things on her own, allowing Jenny’s chart to stand. Poor Jenny! You almost have to feel sorry for her considering she didn’t know it was Blair’s chart that she was changing in the first place.

Blair, never one to be outdone, sends home the models (Jenny suggests that Serena and the socialites take their place), and ends up giving Serena a Jenny Humphrey original to wear on the runway as the finale dress instead of her mother’s design. All the while, Jenny’s dad is calling and trying to get in to the fashion show to deal with his daughter.

Serena doesn’t want to walk the runway until Poppy tells her how wonderful she is. Even though she doesn’t want to hurt Blair, she realizes that hiding from the light isn’t doing her any good, and Blair’s insecurity is not her problem. Besides, as Poppy says, if Blair is really her friend, she will be happy for her. Boy, Poppy and Blair must not hang in the same circles, eh?

Surprisingly enough, Blair gets an attack of conscience when Jenny covers for her. She even mouths a thank you when the group is backstage celebrating at the end of the show. Jenny doesn’t get much of chance to enjoy it though because daddy Rufus finally gets in and isn’t happy with his little girl. After a heated exchange of words we learn that Jenny has decided to blow off school and she won’t be quitting her job, like Rufus threatens to make her. Long story short, daddy ends up watching Jenny walk back into the party like a true Upper East Side girl.

Things could have ended perfectly for Blair or perfect enough if Serena hadn’t learned about the dress issue. However, she did find out and she is not only as pissed as the Queen Bee should be, she is hurt, too. The girls argue and Blair sheds some sweet and salty Blair tears. Point is, Serena is back in full force and if Blair wants to compete, according to Serena, she’d better get the hell out of the way or she might get run over. The smart thing to do would be to suck it up and stay Serena’s friend. Of course, we all know that being upstaged gracefully is not Blair’s strong suit.

In old people news, Lily (Kelly Rutherford) works her tail off to obtain art that new hubby Bart Bass (Robert John Burke) will enjoy. In the process she attempts feverishly to purchase a nude painting (very artsy, of course) of herself. When the picture is sold prior to auction, Lily’s art dealer learns that the buyer was none other than Mr. Bass himself. Lily couldn’t wait for Bart to come home, fully expecting to be surprised with the painting. However, when he arrives there is no such luck. What she does end up receiving is a beautiful emerald necklace. When asking about the painting she learns that Bart had taken care of it and that his status as a professional means that he must go to great lengths to care for his family.

Lily is less than pleased to learn of a Lily Bass dossier, but when Bart pulls out all that he has found about her, Lily is stunned silent to say the very least. She might not be happy with Bart at the moment, but with money like his, it’s highly doubtful that she will be leaving.

In more Humphrey news, we now look to Dan (Penn Badgley). His plans to getting into Yale aren’t going as well as planned because the writer that he is interning under doesn’t seem to think he has any potential. His stories are too alike and things just aren’t worth reading. Dan takes the author’s advice and tries to see how the other half lives. In order to do this, he looks up Chuck and though the two spending time together makes for an unlikely pair, Chuck bites and takes Dan along for a night on the town, Bass style.

Hitting the bar leads to a series of shots and an unidentified pill. Next thing you know Chuck is gleefully taking Dan’s shoes (his feet were hot) and kicking him out of the limo so that he can walk home. Unfortunately for Dan, the story he crafts (still too much about him) is not any good. The writer does like the character of Chuck though and suggests that he works to get into his head and find out his secrets.

After another night on the town for Dan and Chuck, they end up in jail. Dan comes to the rescue after a girl’s boyfriend wants to beat up Chuck. It isn’t Chuck’s fault the girl is dressed like a high end call girl. This whole thing softens Chuck up a great deal considering he doesn’t have too many people that have his back, especially with Nate absent from today’s show. And as a result, while the two are in lockup, Chuck reveals a story about how his father hates him because his mother died in childbirth. According to Chuck, his dad thinks that he killed her and he’s hated Chuck ever sense.

Bart’s lawyer is able to get Chuck out of jail and with Dan still waiting for someone to come and rescue him, Chuck offers to see if his lawyer can help him, too. Well, that is until he is handed the wrong bag of stuff by the desk clerk. Instead of receiving his stuff, he is given Dan’s, including the paper from the author that tells Dan to find Chuck’s secrets. Dan doesn’t deny the truth, ends up getting on Chuck’s death list, and has to have the writer rescue him from the clink as a result. Needless to say, the writer is not thrilled learning that Dan got the scoop and won’t be using it, causing the author and Dan to part ways.

The night ends with Serena posing with Poppy in true Paris Hilton fashion (though much better looking) and Blair looking on enviously, as Gossip Girl’s (Kristen Bell) blogging words of wisdom bring things to a close, as usual.

Technorati Tags: Gossip Girl, The Serena Also Rises, Blair Waldorf, Serena, Lily Bass, Chuck Bass, Jenny Humphrey, TV, Recap, Jail, Fashion Week, Penn Badgley, Kelly Rutherford, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester