Exclusive: 'Gossip Girl's' Stephanie Savage gives me the Chuck-Blair-Nate goods

It's the moment so many of you have been waiting for, begging for, blogging for, bitching for...

All "Gossip Girl" die hards are well aware that we're hanging on the precipice of graduation and meeting Dan and Serena's half sibling and of course the "Gossip Girl" spin off. And we will get to all that in due time.

But I think I'd be risking an internet lynching if I didn't deliver the big news right now. What's the deal with the Chuck-Blair-Nate triangle? Will it be but a blip in the total "Gossip Girl" time line as I promised weeks ago?

Well, yes. The short answer is yes. I spoke with executive producer Stephanie Savage on Friday, as many of you already know, and what I took from our talk is, though this Blair-Nate pairing won't go away next week, and you will have to live with it for a time, the two are not exchanging rings. 

"We are definitely out there [online], kind of listening to what people are saying. We are very aware there is a lot of interest in having the Chuck and Blair story come to fruition... and that's what we're thinking about right now," Savage told me.

And what exactly does "right now" mean? Well, "GG" season two has already wrapped and when I asked Stephanie to clarify, she did say Chuck-Blair would be a top priority for season three... and as long as the writers manage to drum up the same heat that Chuck and Blair had in the backseat of that limo when they begin writing for fall, I'd say the show is on track.

But does that mean Blair and Nate -- What are we calling them now? Nair? 'Cause they stink? -- will be a big part of year two's five remaining episodes? Sounds like it.

"They have a little run," Savage revealed. "I don't want people to not be invested in that story because I think that when the Nate and Blair story finally ends, people will understand that it was necessary growth for both of the characters. They come out in a different place."

So the lady's got a plan, you guys. It's all going to work out and, actually, she can even explain the reasoning behind this Nate and Blair reunion and why it makes sense right now: "It felt like, given the history that they had -- when we met Blair, her whole story for the first half of the first season was very much about them feeling like they were destined to be together -- it is very realistic. Especially since Blair has been feeling insecure lately -- she's found out that she's not getting into Yale, her life isn't going to end up like she thought it would and she's kind of off the path she'd planned -- Nate offers security, familiarity, and just kind of that nostalgia for that vision of herself that she had as a young girl, wanting to see that come to fruition as high school culminates. This is your high school boyfriend, this is who you always dreamed about finishing high school with. And when that dream presents itself, it's going to be pretty appealing."

Makes sense to me.

But for those still worried the show is simply stalling on Chuck and Blair and that "Gossip Girl" will forever avoid a relationship between the two till we hit the series finale, there is more promising news.

When I asked Stephanie whether or not a Chuck-Blair pairing could work without tanking the drama, she seemed pretty confident that it would: "We think we had good success on [our first series] "The O.C.", for example, with the Seth and Summer storyline, where they were really together as a couple for the vast majority of the show. We told stories where they were having issues and they were having obstacles, but in the context of them as a couple. So it's not necessarily the case that once a couple comes together, they stop being interesting or stop being able to generate story."

Satisfied? This is all good, no?

And in the meantime, as Chuck has to wait out the whole my-best-friend-is-banging-my-girl storyline, the Vanessa thing will continue for a bit. But Savage explained that it certainly won't have the same resonance as the Blair-Nate situation.

And yes, I know some of you are disgusted by the temporary coupling of Chunessa, but come on, don't you think it's even just a little hot? They come from two completely different worlds and perspectives, they despise each other, and yet they're finding comfort in one another while on common ground for the first time. You can at least agree that this is better than Chuck Basshole chasing after some stupid secret nanny prostitute or whatever that whole thing was, right?

Also, Stephanie told me she and her writing staff have not forgotten the fact that Nate and Chuck are supposed to be loyal to each other, given their longstanding friendship. Apparently the two boys have a very sweet story which will play out at the end of the season as they "kind of figure out the Blair of it all." That's a direct quote.

As for the whole Uncle Jack Bass-Blair of it all, the ball was not dropped on that storyline after all and will, in fact, come to full blossom in "Gossip Girl"'s season finale.

What happened -- and as Stephanie told me, this is some good behind the scenes scoop -- is the writers had originally planned for the big "what went down with Jack & Blair on New Years" reveal to play out in an episode earlier this year. The scene with Chuck finding out was even shot and partially shown in a preview for that episode. But when the producers watched the cut of it, they just felt like it wasn't dealt with properly. It seemed as though an important piece of drama was being rushed through, so they ultimately decided to hold that information back and get a bigger story out of it at the end of the year.

Mystery solved.

So, thoughts?

Remember, "Gossip Girl" is off the air for two weeks, but hopefully this -- along with the answers to your other "GG" questions, which I'll roll out later on so don't forget to check back -- will tide you over till Monday, the 20th...

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