Vanessa, hoping to finally win her mother Gabriela’s approval, desperately vies with Blair for the honor of delivering the freshman toast at NYU, but at what price? Dan invites Olivia to meet Rufus and Lily, which leads to all sorts of problems for the new couple. Serena and Nate team up to help Carter Baizen.

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving on the Upper East Side if there wasn’t a serving or two of some major drama for the holiday. Blair suspects her mom has been keeping a big secret from her, but it turns out to be something else entirely. Vanessa is supposed to spend Thanksgiving with her parents, but has a fight with her mom and shows up on Dan’s doorstep. Rufus learns that Lily has been lying to him about her mother, Cece. Chuck tells Nate that he has some potentially damaging information about one of their friends. Jenny learns that Eric was behind her very public embarrassment at Cotillion and can’t pass up a chance to get even. Serena is put in a very awkward position when her mother invites Trip and Maureen to join them for Thanksgiving dinner.