This episode of Gossip Girl centers around the marriage of Rufus (Matthew Settle) and Lily (Kelly Rutherford), but also uses that lens of marriage to focus on the myriad other couplings and re-couplings in the world of the show; they even start with a montage of them all. The film theorist Stanley Cavell identified the “comedy of remarriage,” a subset of the screwball genre. The comedy of remarriage cements the contemporary image of marriage of something that arises not from economic necessity or social propriety, but from true love. The relationship is dissolved for the wrong reasons, often through misunderstanding or social restrictions, but love brings the couple back together. This describes Rufus and Lily to a T; their relationship is billed as decades in the making, transcending social boundaries and an example of the triumph of pure love. (The political cynic in me doubts how true or representative this marriage really is, but he’s not reviewing this episode.)

For the most part, Rufus and Lily play it straight, sincere, and serious — the screwball comedy comes from the ensemble who weave the usual Gossip Girl web of intrigue and deceit. Written by Leila Gerstein and directed by Ron Fortunato, this episode features some of the best repartee and comic timing of the season, honed to a razor tip. Everyone gets a good burn in. Bree and Blair: “We’re Southern, so family loyalty’s really big down there.” “Like slavery?” Dan and Vanessa: “You know I’ve always cared about you–” “Stop, I’m not in love with you, moron!” Serena… okay, Serena not so much; she’s really underserved. But special mention should be given to Michelle Trachtenberg’s Georgina, who finds the right grace notes of Iago/Medea/the space diaper astronaut stalker with her performance. Georgina is pure id, and Trachtenberg calibrates her tension and villainy so finely. It takes talent to make a merely funny like like “Haven’t you ever tried to get someone to dump a celebrity before?” into something sublime.

A number of other storylines are wrapped up in this episode as well, as if the platform for the “remarriage” serves as a catalyst for other relationships as well. The feud between Bree (Joanna Garcia) and Carter (Sebastian Stan) is revealed as one of deceit and scorned family, spelling the end of their respective relationships with main characters. However, both are rather anticlimactic. Carter and Serena’s relationship was relatively anodyne and never seemed to add anything to the story; its abrupt ending recalls the Serena-and-Dan drama at the end of season one. If all the writers can do with Serena is play musical chairs, they are wasting her. I seriously can’t remember the last time she did anything interesting. At least Nate was a gigolo for incestuous nobles and punched out his own father.

The “Scott is Rufus and Lily’s love child” plotline is resolved as well. In a trademark Gossip Girl inversion, Georgina’s attempt to use Scott as a nuclear option power play ends up instigating a family reunion and renewal. Chris Riggi still has the charisma of a block of seitan, but he serves as a good catalyst for the other actors. I was always wary of this plotline that lasted a good half season, but the writers manage to bring it in for a landing, earning the emotion at the end. It’s probably the most sincere and truthful this show has ever been, and it works. The episode fulfills the task of any good comedy of remarriage: for a short time, we get to hear some acid-laced zingers, have a few laughs, and in the end perhaps believe for a moment that true love is really possible in this fucked-up world. Plus, the episode ends with a nice cameo by Sonic Youth. What’s not to love?

Next week: Serena falls for a shady celebrity chef, or maybe a soulful zookeeper — who the fuck knows. Also, I find a way to name-drop the Situationist International.

Cultural references this episode:

• Arnett Mead is a shout-out to the television series Friday Night Lights, where Arnett Mead is a fictional town whose football team serves as rivals to the Dillon Panthers.
• Rachel Getting Married is a really good film.
• The New Yorker on Sonic Youth: “The band that once specialized in manhandling pawnshop guitars has become an institution.”