High Infidelity is the second episode of the sixth season and 113th episode overall.
Up and at em, Upper East Siders. It's important to start your day right. There's nothing worse than waking up on the wrong side of the bed.. except maybe waking up alone. I can hardly wait to see what today brings.
-Gossip Girl
Summary
While hosting her first high society party, Serena, along with Nate, discover something shocking about their dates. Meanwhile, a rival from Blair's past returns to impact her future as a fashion designer. Dan must choose if losing his integrity to get his new book released is worthy. Also, Chuck decides to dig up more dirt into Bart's past at the risk of destroying his marriage with Lily.
Recap
The episode begins with Nate in bed with Sage, Serena in bed with Steven, Dan sleeping at Georgina's, and Blair waking up excited for WWD (Women's Wear Daily) day. At The Empire, Chuck ignores another one of Lily's calls when Amira announces she booked a 7:00 flight for Dubai that evening. Chuck begs her to stay, saying that the reason Bart faked his death has to do with the hotel deal. Amira reminds him they looked and found nothing, and she really does have to get home. Chuck proposes that she come to brunch with him, to watch how he reacts while he name drops in front of Bart, and then she can go home. At Steven's, Serena invites Steven to come to the Central Park Conservancy Gala that she's hosting. He says he can't, due to a scheduling conflict, but she thanks him again anyway for getting her on the board to even be able to host. At Waldorf Designs' atelier, Dorota shows Blair how she had the place decorated. Blair is beyond impressed and says she feels ready to meet with WWD. Dorota asks Blair what she'll say if anyone asks where the designers, seamstresses, and models are. Blair answers that while it's unfortunate that her mother's team didn't follow her back from Paris, she has a new plan: which is to have Kati and Jessica dress the part and pretend. Elsewhere outside, Dan and Georgina discuss what he saw at the loft. Dan says he's glad that he's free of any delusions of Brooklyn being a moral high ground, and Georgina mentions that he was dumped by Simon & Schuster and Alessandra. Georgina suggests they send it to magazines and deliver it serialized, and that will cause the book offers to come in. Dan agrees, and says he'll meet her at Vanity Fair after he runs an errand. At the VDW's, Lily, Bart, Chuck, and Amira are having brunch. Lily asks how they met, and Chuck comments that he knows all of Amira'a secrets to rattle Bart; but it doesn't. Amira lies that they met while admiring a fish tank. Chuck says she was attending a meeting with a big real estate man and that Amira said he knew Bart. Bart says that he didn't, and that he's sure Amira understand that her career and life itself more than likely depends on her discretion. She quickly excuses herself, and is followed by Bart. When they're gone, Lily encourages Chuck to give Bart a chance because he has changed. Chuck isn't open to the idea. By the elevator, Bart confronts Amira. Bart tells her again to leave, citing that their weekends together already cost him a lot. She heads back to the dining area, to tell Chuck they need to leave. Lily emerges from the kitchen, having overheard everything.
At Waldorf Designs', Kati and Jessica are dressed, subsequently as a model and seamstress. Blair tells everyone to get into position when Kati notices Nelly Yuki in the background. She says her name, and Blair states that she lost her status as a minion when she stole her spot at Yale. Nelly comes up, and Blair immediately belittles her and tells her to leave. Nelly then reveals that she is the WWD reporter there to cover Blair's line. Elsewhere outside, Serena and Nate are walking around. Nate thanks her for letting The Spectator help sponsor the event, and she says it's no problem, so long as he doesn't invite Blair. Nate mentions that they've been fighting for a long time, but Serena says she's just maturing and growing up. She wishes aloud that Nate would find someone who helped him grow, and he tells her about Sage. While doing so, he sees Sage at a restaurant with Steven and tells Serena to look. At Waldorf Designs', Blair is trying to play nice with Nelly. She tells Jessica and Kati to help Dorota make tea while she talks to Nelly. She lies that the designs are still in transit, but Nelly says she knows she's lying. Nelly tells her that she has until the next day to decide if she wants to be in the article, which is also including Poppy Lifton and her collection, and leaves. Blair calls the minions back into the room and tells them she needs them to collect surveillance on Poppy's collection right away. Outside, Nate leaves Sage a message breaking up with her. Serena is shocked, saying they could have the wrong idea. Nate is sure they don't, and that neither of their ways have worked in the past so maybe they should mature and change them. Serena agrees, and decides to call Steven and just ask him straight up. At the VDW's, Bart arrives home and is confronted by Lily, who asks him if he slept with Amira. He admits he spent a weekend with her when he suspected her of sleeping with Rufus. He apologizes, and Lily says it explains why she's extorting money from them. She thanks him for his honesty and wonders what Chuck will think when he learns of Amira's agenda. Bart muses that that's why he brought her in the first place. Back outside, Serena call Steven from across the street from where he's with Sage. She asks him if he's seeing anyone else, but he denies it completely. When they hang up, she continues to watch them.
At The Spectator, Dan arrives to see Nate. He tells him that he needs to publish Dan's serial because he needs a new solution since the Gossip Girl reveal failed. Dan thanks him, but says that Georgina handles the business so Nate needs to call her and ask. He leaves, and Nate receives a call from Sage that he ignores. Back at Waldorf Designs', Kati and Jessica return and inform Blair that Poppy's collection is the same as Blair's. She realizes Nelly must have set her up, and she'll end up either not getting exposure or risking getting a rep as a plagiarist. She announces she's making a new plan to ensure Poppy's dresses aren't photographed. At The Empire, Lily calls Chuck to accuse him of helping Amira extort money from Bart. Chuck says that Amira has nothing to do with Bart, but Lily then reveals that they slept together. Amira then arrives to hear Chuck tell Lily he had no idea. He hangs up, and demands to know when Amira planned to tell him she slept with Bart. Meanwhile, Dan and Georgina are meeting with various magazines but are being told the same thing: that they'll only publish if they either make cuts or lose the last names and authenticity. Dan gets annoyed that no one will buy the real version, but Georgina encourages him to take one of the authors to get the exposure. She gets a call from Nate, but ignores it. She tells Dan they're not taking Nate's offer and tells him to get ready for a bidding war. At Waldorf Designs', Blair illustrates her plan for stealing Poppy's clothes. Kati gets a text from her ex, who let them into see Poppy's samples, and he reveals Poppy plans to have her collection photographed at the Central Park Conservancy Gala hosted by Serena. Blair is relatively unfazed, and says she knows someone else who can help them.
At The Empire, Amira tells Chuck that they weren't together long and she only kept quiet about it because he was investigating Bart's business life, not his personal one. Amira suggests maybe the money was to hide the affair from Lily, but Chuck insists Bart would never drop that kind of money to hide a relationship and there must be something else connected to the weekend. Amira says she can't risk staying to find out what, and Chuck tells her she has to leave without her money. He then instructs her to write down everything she remembered from the weekend and she can't leave until she does. He gets a text from Blair, and says he's going to help a friend but he'll be back. At the VDW's, Serena arrives and announces to Lily that Steven is cheating on her. She gets a text from Steven saying he cancelled his meeting to be able to come to the gala. Serena asks how she should face him, and Lily encourages her to face him with a smile and handle it maturely. At The Spectator, Nate receives a call from Sage, who is shopping. She asks why he broke up with her, and he says he found out she lied. Sage is taken aback and says she didn't exactly lie, and offers to come by so they can talk. Nate says no, that he's busy and already late for the gala. After they hang up, she tells the sales associate that she needs a dress. At the gala, Serena runs into Steven and pretends like she's happy to see him. Meanwhile, Georgina and Dana arrive despite not being invited. She says they need to get some attention before they can start being picky about offers and tells Dan to start working his way around the room. Elsewhere, a party goer compliments Serena and Steven and she excuses herself once she sees Sage across the room. She finds Nate, pulls him aside, and demands to know if he broke up with Sage. Nate says he did, and Serena asks why she's at the gala then. She tells him to get rid of her and walks away. Somewhere else, Kati and Jessica excitedly tell Blair that they got rid of Poppy's models. Blair realizes they only did away with four, which means two are still on the loose. She tells them to go find them and get rid of them while she distracts Nelly. When they're gone, Chuck arrives and asks Blair what she needed help with, according to the text. Blair says she didn't send a text and Chuck quickly realizes who did. He leaves.
Sage confronts Nate, and swears she didn't lie and only omitted details. She assures him it won't change anything, but he isn't so sure. She tells him he could forget, and he isn't sure about that either. Meanwhile, Dan is watching Blair when he's approached by Nelly. She asks how he could still want everything he can't have, and mentions his Gatsbyish obsession. Dan replies that Fitzgerald made a career of it, and Nelly reminds him that he died alone. Blair then comes up, and Georgina escorts Dan away. Blair tells Nelly they really did get off on the wrong foot and she really is interested in hearing about her life. At The Empire, Chuck arrives to find Bart waiting for him and Amira, along with her money, gone. Back at the gala, Serena asks Blair what she's doing there. Blair says that she would have come if she had been invited, and Serena argues that she isn't trying to hurt Blair, just move on. She tells her to leave before she has security escort her out. Nelly asks what Blair is doing there if she wasn't invited, and before she can say anything is interrupted by Jessica, who has gotten all of the models' clothes. Nelly asks if it's from her collection when Poppy comes up and demands to know what's going on. Meanwhile, Steven confronts Sage and Nate. Serena also comes up, and Nate says Sage isn't leaving with Steven because he's dating Serena. Sage kisses Nate, and Steven punches him. Serena demands to know why Steven is embarrassing her and he reveals Sage is his daughter.
Afterwards, Serena asks Steven why he never told her he had a daughter. Sage insults her, and begins to argue with Steven when Serena excuses herself to present her check. Nate asks if she's in high school, and Sage admits she is and that that's why she thought Nate broke up with her. He says he broke up with her because he thought she was sleeping with Steven. She promises she's not sleeping with anyone other than him. Elsewhere, Steven apologizes for not telling her about Sage, and that he was never ready to introduce her to anyone until he met Serena. They both agree to be more honest. Back at The Empire, Bart asks if Chuck would be willing to make a truce, but Chuck isn't. He tells Bart that it's too late to make nice and since he's consistently taken everything from Chuck, he's going to do the same to him. Back at the party, Blair accuse Poppy and Nelly of teaming up against her. They deny it, saying they just met that day. Nelly says she did want revenge, and all she had to do was wait for her to inevitable implode. Poppy says that designing is her art therapy. Blair finally realizes that they just did like the same fabric. Nelly goes to leave to write the article, but Blair begs her not to. Poppy tells her not to either, saying that will bring her more attention. Nelly agrees and they walk off together. Security then comes up to escort Blair out.
The next day, Dorota brings Blair to the atelier and reveals she's hired employees for her. Blair announces to them that the old line isn't viable and they need to create a new line in one week. At The Spectator, Dan arrives and gives his serial to Nate. He makes him promise to print it word for word, and Nate hesitantly agrees. Dan tells him that it doesn't matter, that he's no longer playing by anyone else's rules and is making his own. Nate reasons that he might lose some friends and family, but Dan says he isn't losing anything of value and he's taking back what's his. At the VDW's, Lily is reading the article on Serena's gala when Bart arrives. He apologizes about not being home in time to make it, and presents her with a new necklace as a gift. He tells her to accept that Chuck doesn't want to be a part of their family, but Lily says she isn't giving up. At The Empire, Chuck gets an envelope. Inside is a note from Amira:
I found this after you left. I don't know his name, but he's the only person I saw that weekend with Bart. Don't contact me again.
Along with it is a surveillance photo of Bart and Amira heading into a building, and a man in a suit in the background. At Waldorf Designs', Blair is staring at a photo of Eleanor when Dorota assures her Eleanor knows she can do it. Blair says she hopes she's right, as her whole future is riding on it. Outside, Steven and Serena are walking Sage to school. Sage reminds Steven of their deal: if she tolerates Serena, she can date Nate. Serena adds that she went to school with Nate, but Sage probably knows that from Gossip Girl. Sage replies that no one in high school reads Gossip Girl anymore. She meets up with her friends, and Steven and Serena leave. One of her friends asks Sage if it's true her dad is dating Serena, but all Sage replies is he won't be for long.
Starring
Main Cast
- Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen
- Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf
- Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey
- Chace Crawford as Nate Archibald
- Ed Westwick as Chuck Bass
- Kaylee DeFer as Ivy Dickens (Credit only, as she does not appear in the episode)
- Kelly Rutherford as Lily van der Woodsen
- Matthew Settle as Rufus Humphrey (Credit only, as he does not appear in the episode)
Recurring/Guest Cast
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Georgina Sparks
- Nan Zhang as Kati Farkas
- Zuzanna Szadkowski as Dorota Kishlovsky
- Robert John Burke as Bart Bass
- Yin Chang as Nelly Yuki
- Tamara Feldman as Poppy Lifton
- Barry Watson as Steven Spence
- Sofia Black D'Elia as Sage Spence
- Alice Callahan as Jessica Leitenberg
- Andrea Gabriel as Amira Abbar
Soundtrack
- Girl Like Me by Ladyhawke
- Who by David Bryne & St. Vincent
- Champion Sound by Crystal Fighters
- Nuclear Seasons by Charlie XCX
Memorable Quotes
Steven: Tonight marks the beginning of a new era: Serena Takes Manhattan.
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Georgina (to Dan): Your loss of faith in humanity turns me on.
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Nate (to Serena): This is a long time for you to be mad at Blair for being Blair.
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Nelly: I still have nightmares about Nairtinis and yogurt bombs. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night shouting "tights are not pants!".
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Blair: No one does dirty better than Blair Waldorf.
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Georgina: Why is the handsome vacant one calling me?
Dan: If you're referring to Nate, he has a surprisingly high IQ.
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Kati (on a text): That's my ex... we have a problem.
Blair: He's gay, just like everyone else you've slept with. Discuss it with your therapist.
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Nate: What don't girls understand about "it was fun, but I'm done"?
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Serena: You know how important tonight is to me and now you're humiliating me to defend that slut?
Steven: That "slut" happens to be my seventeen year old daughter.
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Dan: My "friends" chased my sister out of town and chose a guy who sold her for a hotel over me. My "family" is sleeping with a con artist, so no, I'm not losing anything. I'm taking back what's mine.
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Trivia
- The episode title is based off the movie High Fidelity.
- The vintage designs displayed at the Waldorf Designs' atelier are the orange dress Serena wore in Bad News Blair, the green dress ripped off from Jenny's design in Pret-a-Poor-J, and the blue dress Blair gifted Jenny in The Wild Brunch.
- The photos on the wall of the atelier are the ones taken at the first photoshoot in Bad News Blair, and the ones Blair and Serena took when they stole Eleanor's dresses in the same episode.
- This is the second time in the series (the first being Pilot) that everyone but Blair heard that Serena is back.
Video
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