I don’t know if it’s because it’s been so long since I saw a new episode of Gossip Girl, or if the writers spent the entire strike perfecting their craft, but last night’s episode managed to top all the previous ones!

If for whatever reason you missed The Blair Bitch Project, don’t fret!  It will air again on Sunday at 6 p.m. on the CW. (http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tv/gossip-girl/EP00932206)  And do yourself a favor and avoid the spoilers, because this episode was full of awesome surprises and classic GG drama!

If you need a full recap of last night’s episode, check out Zap2It’s It Happened Last Night blog.  I’ll do my best to fill you in too…so watch out, spoilers ahead!

The episode began with another Breakfast at Tiffany’s reference, with Blair sporting the chic Audrey Hepburn trench coat look in the pouring rain, as she searched desperately for her cat.  Nate shows up, and calls Blair “Jenny…”  Ouch!

The symbolism in this one scene is a pretty accurate reflection of how the rest of the night goes.  Blair spends most of the episode trying to wrest her queen bee social status from Jenny…

There’s only one word that can aptly describe last night’s episode: Blairicious.  It was all about Blair.  After being tricked by Jenny and Blair’s old clique, Blair gets stood up at the popular New York restaurant and bar, Butter.  But Blair, being Blair after all, is not one to take these things sitting down.  So she orders a bellini, picks up her cell phone, and begins plotting her revenge.

Meanwhile, Jenny and the girls are at the home of Hazel, reveling in having tricked Blair.  Hazel is to Jenny what Jenny was to Blair: the sad little sidekick who would do anything to be cool.  The only difference is that Hazel’s family is rolling in money.  Money is a big issue for Jenny in this episode, because her new friends are always wanting to go out to expensive restaurants, and they expect her to wear expensive clothes just like they do.  So when Jenny leaves Hazel’s room to answer her cell phone, and mindlessly wanders into Hazel’s mother’s huge walk-in closet, she decides to steal an expensive-looking dress to trade in so she can wear something expensive to her upcoming birthday dinner.  But the next day at school, Hazel tells them about how her mother’s dress was stolen…a $15,000 Valentino!  Not having realized the true value of the dress, Jenny tries to get it back, but the sales girl laughs at her, saying, “It’s not my fault if you can’t recognize a Valentino…”  Desperate to get it back, Jenny calls Nate and asks to borrow $8,000.  But when he starts asking questions, she hangs up and comes up with another idea: She takes it into the dressing room, and leaves with it under her coat!  Stealing the same dress twice?  C’mon, Jenny!

This is where it gets really good.  Blair drops by Jenny’s dad’s art gallery in Brooklyn, and convinces him to throw a surprise birthday party for her and invite all of her new friends.  So when Jenny gets home, still hiding Hazel’s mother’s dress under her coat, all of her friends are there waiting… including Blair, who’s holding a giant cake with Jenny’s picture on it.  Jenny frantically makes the excuse that she has to go change, and after she leaves, the girls immediately begin commenting on how lame the Brooklyn apartment is.  Jenny’s dad goes into her room to find her freaking out, struggling to get out of the dress.  He goes to help her unzip it when the other girls come in to see what’s going on, and there stands Jenny, wearing Hazel’s mother’s one-of-a-kind Valentino, for all the girls to see.  Blair excuses herself from the party, announcing in Blairicious fashion that she’s booked a table at Butter under “Waldorf,” “in case there’s an after party.”

Of course Blair doesn’t have to wait long until the girls show up at Butter, and it seems that she’s reclaimed her power when one of the other girls obediently follows her to the bar.  But little Jenny hasn’t given up yet…she went over to Nate’s and convinced him to hang out with her because she “didn’t want to be alone” on her birthday.  The two show up at Butter, and the girls are ecstatic to see Nate, especially because one of them has a huge crush on him (who wouldn’t?!), and Jenny sits in Blair’s seat.  The girls comment that Hazel’s mother probably gave the dress away, meaning Jenny is off the hook.  Blair returns to find her seat—and apparently her social status—usurped by the conniving Jenny Humphrey again.

Serena also had her own unpleasant surprise at the end of last night’s episode.  Throughout the episode, she kept receiving weird packages from an anonymous sender.  One package had porn, another was a case of champagne…delivered to the SCHOOL (which would obviously get Serena in trouble!), and one package had coke in it.  Serena blamed it on Chuck, until she got a card that read,

“S, Hope you liked your presents!  Coming back to town. –G.” 

When she shows this card to Chuck, you know something big is up, because Chuck actually starts being nice to Serena, and even offers to make her a drink.

We learned from next week’s previews that “G” is actress Michelle Trachtenberg’s new GG character, a blast from Serena’s wild and dangerous past.

What did you think of last night’s episode? Has Jenny sunk to new lows, or did she just prove her ability to be as despicable and manipulative as Blair?  Who deserves to be Queen Bee?  And what will happen to whichever girl doesn’t win the struggle?  How about Serena’s old friend coming back to town…are you excited to see Michelle Trachtenberg?