Gossip Girl Season 5 Episode 12 Father and the Bride – Review

Monday’s Gossip Girl was the 99th installment since the show’s debut (all the way back in September 2007) and the final one before the royal wedding / 100th episode spectacular we’ve had circled on our calendars forever.

The question, especially after “The End of the Affair” last week, was whether “Father and the Bride” would be mostly light-hearted filler or raise the stakes with any dramatic developments leading into next week.

In terms of the central storyline, not a lot changed. Chuck came into tonight determined to find out why Blair is shutting him out. He got nowhere until the closing moments, when an unlikely ally joined his side.

Nate formed an unexpected partnership of his own discovered the truth about the accident courtesy of a quid pro quo with Gossip Girl. After one fake firing of Serena and a little subterfuge, Trip was outed as the perp.

Blair, meanwhile, was manipulated by Beatrice, got absolutely plastered with the bridge and tunnel people of N.Y., ended up in a Sixth Precinct holding cell, but ended the night on a happy note … for the wrong reasons.

While the episode certainly kept us guessing, had its share of comedic moments and did a reasonable job of advancing the stories, it still stretched the limits of believability and was rather uneven at times.
The motives of Father Cavallia are the hardest to believe/understand. It’s not that a corrupt priest is implausible, but he wants to sabotage the wedding to … maintain his spot on the royal court? Really? We care why?

Shows work best when you get to know characters over time – at least long enough to understand how they operate and why, so they don’t have to rush an explanation of their actions in 30 seconds of thrown-together dialogue.

Cavallia and Beatrice’s scheme to stop the nuptials came out of left field and felt forced as a result. I know Blair needed a push to get tanked and Chuck needed a conduit for information, but this was very spotty writing.

The bachelorette party was a fun time, don’t get me wrong.