Gossip Girl “The End of The Affair?” Season 5 Episode 11 Review

After a startling cliffhanger and an excruciatingly long hiatus, Gossip Girl returned tonight with an episode that caught us up on what the characters have been up to since Blair went “Riding in Town Cars With Boys.”

Continuing the season’s dark tone, this evening’s installment was an unconventional one by any measure. A time jump transported us from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, leaving flashbacks to fill in the blanks.

Did it make for an effective, compelling story? Yes and no.

The episode did improve as the night went on, culminating in a heartbreaking Chair scene for the ages. An intriguing new character was introduced, as were new twists to several existing plot lines.

The problem was that the bulk of this much-anticipated chapter was predicated on mystery that was a letdown at best and highly dubious at worst. Blair can’t be with Chuck because of that? Seriously?

“Just because we can’t be together, doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

Yes, she may still change her mind, and “The End of the Affair” may become the beginning of something greater – the fairy tale we all hope is coming. The past hour offered little resolution, however.

Watching Leighton Meester utter the above quote at both points in the episode was as believable as it gets. Sadly, the writing surrounding it was not; rather, it was at times both predictable and unsatisfying.