You may have cheered noticed the lack of Vanessa Abrams on the final two episodes of Gossip Girl this May. But was that by design, or a contractual issue with Jessica Szohr?

According to Gossip Girl executive producer Stephanie Savage (via EW), it was the former.

“The big story at the end of this season was the [William] story, and we wanted Dan to be available to really be in that story with everyone else,” Steph explains.

“And it felt like it was nicer to give Dan and Vanessa their own ending to their story rather than try and thread that through that [William's] complex story line.”

In other words, even the producers know V is kinda useless when it comes to broad, intertwining plots that bring the Gossip Girl characters together. Awesome.

Vanessa's summer in Haiti began two episodes early.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.