The first half of the season gave us perhaps the tightest-plotted storyline in the show’s history. For weeks, as Juliet and Ben’s scheme unfolded, we wondered if somehow we’d missed something… until the episode in which all was revealed, via flashbacks.
Ironically, the one guy Serena didn’t bed went to prison for supposedly having sullied her reputation. But when last we saw the disheveled beauty, she’d strolled into the prison looking like she inspired our favorite MY NAME IS EARL line: “It takes a special kinda woman to sell sexual favors in the light of day.” Something tells us that having done the time, Ben might finally get to do the crime. (Hey, if it keeps us from the millionth redux of the endlessly boring Dan/Serena pairing, we’re all for it!)
Lily’s proven to be something of a self-serving rhymes-with-witch. Chuck could give JR Ewing a lesson in manipulation. Watching these two duke it out over the future of Bass Industries has the potential to be an epic battle.
Tika Sumpter — who was woefully underused during her stint as ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Layla — will join the show as Raina Thorpe, whose daddy will be mixing it up with Chuck. Someone over at GOSSIP GIRL must be a fan of the Llanview-set sudser, seeing as Tika’s former co-stars Melissa Fumero (ex-Adriana, OLTL), Bree Williamson (Jessica, OLTL) both did the primetime sudser. Plus, OLTL brought GOSSIP GIRL Amanda Setton on for a too-short stint as stripper-turned-gold-digger Kim.
When last we saw them, Blair and Dan were exchanging feisty, playful banter. And now comes word that in the episode airing January 31, the two wind up working together as interns at W magazine. We’ve noticed in the past that when these two cross swords, sparks fly. And if opposites attract, well, these two should be a match made on the Upper East Side. 
