Ep 12. Father and the Bride

The episode Father and the Bride is the twelfth episode of season 5 of Gossip Girl. The episode is all about the preparations of Blair's royal wedding, where Blair's father comes to town to help with the wedding gown but things take an unexpected turn when he reveals his true feelings about Blair's pending nuptials. Meanwhile, Serena and Dan's relationship hits rock bottom, leading Serena to make a risky move to protect herself.

The episode begins with Blair's father arriving in town to aid in the preparation for her wedding. Blair's father is played by John Shea, who portrayed Lex Luthor in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Harold Waldorf, Blair's father, is excited to be able to work on Blair's wedding dress, which was designed by the famous fashion designer, Vera Wang. Harold tells Blair that he wants to use an old tradition in which a bride sews a piece of fabric into her wedding dress that has special significance to her. However, Blair realizes that she doesn't have anything that fits the bill, leading to a search for something that can fill the role.

Meanwhile, Serena and Dan's relationship is in a bad place, as Dan keeps trying to make up for how he has treated Serena in the past. However, Serena is not willing to forgive and forget. Dan keeps trying to make grand gestures to show that he loves her, which begin to backfire. To make matters worse, Dan's ex-girlfriend, Georgina, is back in town and looking to cause problems.

Back at the Waldorf apartment, Blair finds an old box that belonged to her mother and inside she discovers a piece of lace that is from one of her mother's dresses. It is the perfect symbol for the tradition that her father wanted to incorporate into her dress. Harold is pleased with the piece of lace and goes on to explain that he always knew that Blair would marry a prince. He goes on to say that he wanted Blair to have everything that she ever wanted, but he is still not pleased with her decision to marry Louis.

Serena is feeling insecure about her relationship with Dan and decides to get drunk at the rehearsal dinner, embarrassing herself in front of everyone present. She ends up confiding in Sage Spence, Steven's daughter, about her relationship issues with Dan. Meanwhile, Blair is trying on her wedding dress, which is an incredible Vera Wang creation, and is brought to tears seeing how happy her father is in seeing the dress on her. The two share a beautiful moment together, but unfortunately the moment doesn't last and, Harold drops a bombshell when he reveals that he doesn't want her to marry Louis, and he won't be attending the wedding.

The next day, viewers get to see Serena trying to make things right with Dan, but things don't go as planned when they have an argument resulting in Dan breaking up with her. After the breakup, Serena is further encouraged by Sage Spence to just focus on herself and to take back control of her life by publicly acknowledging the mistakes that she has made, which she does.

Blair is still reeling from her father's decision to not attend the wedding, so she calls him to try and fix things. The two have a heart-to-heart conversation where her father reveals that the only reason that Blair has done well is because of her strength and intelligence and that he is proud of her. However, he still feels that she doesn't belong in a royal family and doesn't want her to be a part of it.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger, with Blair's mother, Eleanor, trying to convince Harold to attend the wedding and be there for Blair on her big day. This episode is one of the most dramatic and emotional episodes of season 5. It not only focuses on Blair and her father, but also on Serena and Dan's relationship. Every scene is filled with tension and ups and downs. Overall, this is a truly unforgettable episode of Gossip Girl.