Episode 24 (224) – Valley Girls

Posted on Jul 20, 2009 in Season 2 | 0 comments

To prove she is able to handle her own affairs, Serena refuses to leave jail with either Lily or CeCe (Cynthia Watros) although Lily drops the charges Serena was arrested on. Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle) is also angry with Lily; Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) inform Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr) that Rufus returned home without proposing to Lily and has remained in his bedroom ever since. At her own home, Lily feuds with CeCe for telling Rufus about their lovechild. Serena encourages Blair to enjoy Prom with Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) in the way she had chronicled in a scrapbook as a preteen, but each of the couple’s Prom plans, including Blair’s dress, the limo, the corsage, and the hotel reservation, inexplicably go awry. Nate suspects Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) of sabotaging Prom in an effort to win Blair back, but Chuck denies involvement. After learning of her arrest, Dan convinces Serena to allow him to bail her out and escort her to Prom.

At Prom, Chuck foils a plot by Penelope Shafai (Amanda Setton), Hazel Williams (Dreama Walker), Isabel Coates (Nicole Fiscella), and Nelly Yuki (Yin Chang) to humiliate Blair. Chuck admits to Serena and Dan he has secretly been altering Nate and Blair’s Prom night to recreate the scenes from Blair’s Prom scrapbook. Despite not knowing this, Blair still feels disconcerted while dancing with Nate and ends their relationship by the end of the night. Blair explains to Serena that after completing high school with Nate, he feels like simply a high school boyfriend. The girls reminisce on growing up together through crazy times, like sisters. Meanwhile, Lily apologizes to Rufus and CeCe. Rufus does not allow Lily to kiss him, explaining he is concerned she is too unpredictable and too much like her mother. CeCe remains indifferent.

Throughout the episode, dialogue and objects prompt Lily to recall the events of her own first arrest. During flashbacks, a seventeen year old Lily Rhodes deliberately violates her Montecito boarding school’s strict honor code in order to be expelled. She travels to Malibu, California to meet with her recently divorced parents, Rick Rhodes (Andrew McCarthy), the wealthy owner of Rhodes Records, and CeCe (Cynthia Watros), to discuss living with Rick. When Rick refuses, Lily decides to find her sister Carol rather than move in with CeCe, whom Lily detests. Carol, an aspiring actress, had rejected the Rhode’s upscale life and moved a year earlier to the San Fernando Valley. While searching for Carol, Lily meets Owen Campos (Shiloh Fernandez), who takes her to a club where they encounter Shep, Owen’s musician friend, and Carol. Carol and Shep are in the midst of a dispute with Keith van der Woodsen (Matt Barr), the rich, antagonistic director of Shep’s music video in which Carol stars, and are headed to confront him at his party for raising his price and holding the video hostage. When Lily asks why Carol doesn’t simply use their father’s company, Carol insists she doesn’t want anyone to know of their privileged background. When the antagonism escalates to a fight at the party, security arrests Owen and Lily although Carol and Shep manage to escape. From jail, Lily calls CeCe who calls her daughters irresponsible. Carol, who has come to pay Lily’s bail, overhears Lily defend Carol’s lifestyle. Carol takes the phone from Lily, informs CeCe that Lily will be living with her, and takes Lily back to the city.

Directed by Mark Piznarski.
Written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
Originally aired on May 11, 2009.

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