Gossip Girl

Below are some stills from the next episode of Gossip Girl, "Treasure of Serena Madre," which airs November 30. No new episode this coming Monday, Upper East Siders.

It's Thanksgiving in New York, and this being Gossip Girl, it's not weird at all that Serena ends up having dinner with her friend's married cousin who she's sleeping with.

Will her affair with Tripp come to light? Will Dan and Vanessa hook up minus Olivia this time? Could Chuck and Blair possibly be any cuter? We'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, click to enlarge these Gossip Girl pics ...

With Hilary Duff's Olivia Burke out of the picture on Gossip Girl and no plans for the show to bring her back this season, does this clear the way for Dan and Vanessa?

Duff's all-but-certain departure was confirmed this week after the threesome-gone-awry. But it was Dan's surprise feelings for V that prompted the big O to pack it in.

Is Danessa the next big Gossip Girl couple, though? According to reports, the following couples will be getting together (or staying together) by the end of the season:

Dan and Serena are totally getting together ... with other people!

• Dan and Vanessa, as "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?" and "The Last Days of Disco Stick" foreshadowed, are definitely on. They will be getting together this season.
• Same with Nate and Serena, who will become a bona fide couple.
• Rufus and Lily will have a big problem (Serena's dad), though.
• Through it all, Chuck and Blair will be going strong.

What do you think? Happy? Upset? Share your thoughts on these Gossip Girl pairs!

Last night's Gossip Girl featured moral lines being crossed, bad decision making, romantic twists and turns, slightly confusing plot lines and a whole lot of Lady Gaga.

In short, pretty much what we were expecting. Follow the link for a full recap of "The Last Days of Disco Stick." Now for our review of what worked and what didn't:

Dan, Olivia and Vanessa: For the most part, the aftermath of last week's threesome was handled well ... even if it featured a lot of Vanessa being manhandled by Dan!

Olivia got jealous of V and Dan's supposed feelings for her and left to go film a movie. Fare thee well, Hilary Duff. You weren't too annoying, but it was time to say goodbye.

The odd twist we liked was that Vanessa seems to be interested in someone else, whereas Dan has feelings for her. We would have guessed it would be the other way around.

After last week's threesome, Dan's love life predictably imploded this week.

Blair and Lady Gaga: There was too much Lady Gaga for our taste last night, but give Gaga credit for refusing to do a standard, music-plugging, ratings-boosting cameo.

The idea for the cabaret - a Snow White-themed Lady Gaga musical, followed by her own two-song set, was the singer's own collaboration with the Gossip Girl writing staff.

That's pretty cool. We're still not quite clear on why this event was Blair Waldorf's ticket to NYU glory or why she cares so much about that crowd, but it was fun to watch.

Serena, Nate and Tripp: Now we're talking. Throughout this third season, we've been complaining that Gossip Girl has lost some of its morally-questionable edginess.

Married Congressman-elect Tripp nailing Serena certainly shoves that in our face, and watching her leave with him after Nate admitted feelings for her at the end was painful.

This is Serena, though. She cannot make a good decision. Ever. We're not quite sold on Tripp bailing on his marriage so fast, but those legs on Serena ... okay, we're sold.

Chuck Bass saves the day ... at least for this episode.

Jenny, Chuck and Damien: Chuck effectively has to babysit Damien, the teenage son of a diplomat from Belgium who he hopes to get in good with for business purposes.

Luckily, Jenny is feeling bored being the queen of the Upper East Side and decides to take him off Chuck's hands. He's hot, after all, so this should be some harmless fun.

That is, until he starts dealing drugs in the park. Now Jenny, an honor student at the Serena School of Bad Decisions, is even more intrigued by this mysterious hottie!

She agrees to accompany him on his next deal, which takes place at a club. Fortunately, Chuck steps in and puts a stop to it just before Jenny can officially sling some E.

Chuck throws Damien and his dad out of his hotel and tells J that she shouldn't go down that path. It was awesome to see new, mature Chuck giving brotherly advice.

Which she promptly ignored, texting Damien to meet up again, but still.

"The Last Days of Disco Stick," if you haven't heard or pieced it together, is the all-new episode of Gossip Girl airing Monday and featuring a performance by Lady Gaga.

More on that later. In the first preview from the episode below, Nate laments his lack of girlfriends. Or girl friends. He also gives Dan a lesson in threesome etiquette:

Follow the jump for two more Gossip Girl clips. In the second, Chuck and Blair walk and discuss his latest business venture and her latest plan to win over NYU. That plan involves scoring a private concert from Lady Gaga, a preview of which we see in the third sneak peek ...

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Episode stills never tell you a whole lot, but the promotional photos for next week's Gossip Girl, "The Last Days of Disco Stick," do reveal some intriguing things:

• Jenny's rumored new boyfriend looks to be making his first appearance.
• Serena seems to be flirting with Nate and Congressman cousin Tripp.
• Chuck and Blair look to be in plotting mode. At least we can hope.
• Lady Gaga is there. She will be performing on the show!

Click to enlarge "The Last Days of Disco Stick" pics below and see what you think ...

It's hard to say how we feel about Gossip Girl this season.

Compared to last, it's been much more consistent, with fewer story lines that feel like filler, and without the need to create comically fake drama that often drove us crazy.

Yet some of the over-the-top drama seems to be lacking.

The downside of that consistency is that the show often feels boring, or just a little bit short on vintage GG excitement. We expect the show to really push the envelope.

Instead, it just sort of slides it nonchalantly in our direction. It's hard to put your finger on why or whether it's a conscious decision. In any case, it was true last night.

Click here for a full episode guide to "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?" Now, some thoughts on last night's story lines, beginning with the big threesome scene ...

The threesome (between Dan, Olivia and Vanessa, as predicted) was hot, but brief, and light on drama. When it looks like Olivia must leave to film a movie, roomie Vanessa and boyfriend Dan find a list of things every college kid does and try to check them all off.

At the end of the list? Have a threesome. So they all kiss each other and the next morning we see them all in bed together. Sexy? A little. OM3? Eh. What will really be interesting is how Dan deals with this when he learns Olivia's not leaving and V really loves him.

Elsewhere, Blair and Serena finally made up, but after last week's cake face plant, this felt a little stale as well - cute as Chuck Bass was in plotting the reconciliation.

Also intriguing but lacking a real spark? Serena working for Nate's cousin Tripp. He clearly wants her and sort of admitted as much, but no one acts on it. For now.

Even Jenny's quest to rule Cotillion lacked the flair of years past. Eric and Blair schemed to take her down, but she wouldn't have it, thanks to Nate saving the day.

Yawn.

Basically, the dialogue is always sharp and there have been refreshingly few eye-rolling plots this year, but it needs to be more inappropriate and ridiculous dammit!

Here's a different kind of sneak preview than we're used to seeing. The CW and The Plastiscines have released a music video promoting next Monday's episode of Gossip Girl.

The group performs its catchy song "Bitch" (certainly appropriate for the chosen program) with clips of "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?" mixed with shots of the band.

There's a surprising amount of new footage we haven't seen in the previews (particularly Eric talking about taking Jenny down). Check it the three-minute video below ...

Pretty cool, right? Definitely a unique marketing strategy. It will be interesting to see if Eric and Jenny patch things up by the end or if this unexpected rivalry escalates.

Follow the jump for two more just-released sneak previews from the episode ...

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Promotional photos from next week's controversial episode of Gossip Girl aren't that controversial. There are no threesome shots (probably for the best considering the recent criticism the show has gotten for it), but they do raise some questions:

• What brings Nate and Jenny together on stage?
• What is S doing with Congressman-elect Tripp?
• Is this J's big moment as queen of the ball?
• Does V ever wash her hair?

As hinted in the sneak previews we posted earlier, the Cotillion ball is in effect and much more. Click to enlarge pictures from the episode below and comment away:

OM3, indeed.

Could next Monday's much-anticipated Gossip Girl threesome scene be pulled by federal regulators? If the Parents Television Council (PTC) has its way, it sure could.

The group has released an open letter to The CW objecting to the scene, which they are calling "reckless and irresponsible," and threatening to complain to the FCC.

"Gossip Girl routinely depicts teenagers engaging in promiscuous and consequence-free sexual behavior, which is bad enough," PTC president Tim Winter wrote the CW.

"But will you now be complicit in establishing a precedent and expectation that teenagers actually engage in behaviors heretofore associated primarily with adult films?"

In concluding its letter of protest, the PTC pleaded to the CW, "You must ask yourself, how does airing this program serve your obligation to serve the public interest?"

Rumored participants Dan (Penn Badgley) and Vanessa (Jessica Szohr). Likely joining them in this sexy scene that has everyone talking? Dan's girlfriend Olivia (Hilary Duff).

Should the PTC launch a formal complaint and government regulators agree with the PTC about the episode content, the CW could face a fine or have the episode pulled.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules stipulate that the government may pull programming "unsatisfactory or unsuitable or contrary to the public interest."

The episode, "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?" airs next week, and while the threesome scene has not been aired in full or in part, the promos are hyping it up.

The CW has not publicly responded to the complaints but has released two sneak previews from the episode, which contain no signs of the threesome scene, instead.

The PTC does concede that it is objecting based on the idea of the threesome scene, rather than having seen it, so it seems unlikely that the show would not air Monday.

Still, the group says it will continue to "monitor the situation closely."

1 Night. 2 Experience. 3 Some. OM3.

This is actually the tagline for next week's episode of Gossip Girl, "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?" As you might have heard, or guessed, there's a threesome happening!

Amazing, but true, and while we think we know who's involved in the menage-a-trois, the promos are ambiguous. Check out the spicy teaser for Monday's much-hyped episode ...

Follow the jump for two clips from the episode, which sadly don't provide further threesome details but do set the stage for some of the drama coming our way next week.

In the first clip, Chuck tells Blair to make up with Serena and be a mentor at Cotillion. A ball without Blair Waldorf is like a Tour de France without Lance Armstrong. Right?

In the second clip, Blair does go to the ball, but quickly reprises her cat fight with Serena and leaves poor Jenny mentorless and caught in between the feuding frenemies...

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