The CW Source

Was this Bad Decision Week or did we miss something? What else could explain the rash of ill-advised moves during last night's episode of Gossip Girl? Serena gave questionable Aaron a chance after more of his weird hot-and-cold games. Jenny decided that emancipation was her only answer. Meanwhile, Dan found whatever glimmer of a soul he may still possess and didn't out the Bass scandal... but the fact that he even considered it makes him lose points in our book.

Here's what went down. Jenny's plan to go into business with Agnes rapidly devolves into disaster when they clash over work ethics and business plans. Agnes freaks out when she finds out Jenny's getting some contracts behind her back -- and proceeds to burn Jenny's dresses. There goes Lil' J's last hope at doing her own thing.

Blair's mom is dating again, and Blair has visions of a Cary-Grant-like gentleman... but instead, Eleanor's new bf is a short, stout, balding guy with a catchphrase (shudder). Blair's determined to break them up, but she ends up bonding with the guy. When he gets Cyndi Lauper to show up at Blair's 18th birthday party, she has to admit that he's a step ahead of her, and grudgingly allows him into her life... only to find out that he and Eleanor have hit it off so much that he's moving in!

Serena and Aaron seem to be off to a good start -- he's sending her maps to beautiful places, somehow getting their images projected on the video screens of Times Square, and even asking her to pose for him as his muse. Oh, and she's blowing off Blair's birthday party planning sessions to hang out with the guy. But when Serena finds out he's dating other people, she gets (understandably) upset -- he acted so interested! She's not a date-around kind of girl. Somehow, when Aaron comes over and tells her he really likes her, and that she should give him a chance, she agrees, and spontaneously skips through the park in her slip with him. We still don't see how their situation has changed, like, at all, but for some reason, Serena keeps giving this guy another chance.

Dan's story was the most unbelievable (and that's saying something on this show) -- he's recruited to write an expose on Bart Bass, thanks to his compelling fiction contribution to the Paris Review. Dan pretends to be a Bart admirer and asks some fairly harmless interview questions -- then he asks if he can shadow Bart a few days a week. Then Dan digs up some major dirt about a fire that happened twenty years ago -- a secret so big that it could ruin the Bass family if it ever came out. Dan considers publishing it, but ultimately he just sends a copy of the story about Chuck to Bart, who realizes that it's time to build a relationship with his son.