[S12E1] Come As You Are: Part 1

Synopsis: The 12 queens come together in a virtual slumber party to kiki about all things season 12. Ru checks in with all the girls during quarantine and chats about the shadiest moments, most shocking eliminations and takes fan questions.

[S12E1] Come as You Are: Part 1

At Constance, Serena, Blair, Nate, Chuck, and almost the entire junior class break into the school swimming pool and throw a party. In the water, Nate grabs Blair and tells her that he knows she's avoiding him but that she should remember the night they had after Cotillion. They kiss, which she breaks away from and swims the other way. She emerges from the water to ask Chuck when he's going to give up because she can't ignore Nate forever. He replies that only time will tell when he will stop holding their affair over her head and encourages her to be patient before walking away. He runs into Serena, and reminds her that Bart and Lily are coming home the next day; and might be engaged. Meanwhile at the loft, Vanessa films Dan for a documentary she's making to enter into a contest for grant money. As she films, he gets a call from Serena; who invites him to come to the pool party, and he and Vanessa decide to go. They arrive and Vanessa continues to film as they're greeted by Serena. Across the room, two guys get into a fight, which ends with one of them being shoved into a metal pole and falling unconscious into the water. Blood quickly fills the pool and Nate dives in to save him. He's able to bring the guy out of the water and they begin to administer CPR. Serena calls for an ambulance as everyone retrieves their things to leave quickly. In the rush, Chuck sees the key to the pool on the table and takes it.

At the Waldorf's, Dan and Vanessa ride up to the penthouse; where Blair is throwing a homework party for them all to work on their essays. On the way, Vanessa shows Dan that she got Chuck holding the key to the pool on film. Blair notices Vanessa's camera and tells Serena that she is clearly using it to get closer to Dan. Serena explains that she really needs the grant money but Blair doesn't buy it. She walks away and sees Chuck playing with the key; which she grabs to hide, as it's evidence. Dan then comes over to Chuck and informs him that he knows he took the key and broke in. However, Chuck says that the only reason he ended up with the key was to keep them all, including Dan, from getting in trouble. Upstairs, Blair is putting the key in a drawer when Nate enters, barely noticing her close the drawer. He presents her with the letter, but she ignores it to go downstairs to see her guests. When she's gone, he opens the drawer and finds the key inside. Downstairs, Dan goes to leave and tells Serena that no one is taking the situation seriously because to them it's not. Vanessa wanders over but Dan sends her away for privacy. He asks Serena to consider asking her friends to tell what they know, and he figures out from her reaction that she knows who broke in. Meanwhile, Chuck orders Blair to stop leading Nate on because he knows they kissed. Blair tells him to just tell him already because she'll just convince him that he's lying. Chuck, knowing Vanessa is filming them, says he has proof and asks for the tape. Blair says that since it's her house, the tape belongs to her, but Vanessa decides not to give it to either of them. Chuck grabs her arm to get it, but Dan tells him to back off and they leave.

At The Palace, Rufus goes to see Lily. He asks why she really came to see him, and says he knows she wanted him to stop her from accepting Bart's proposal. They sit down and he admits he's still in love with her and is curious to see what would happen if they were really together. He advises her not to let her mother influence her again and to take control of her own life. At Constance, Nate tells Queller that he broke into the pool.As proof, he gives her they key but is stunned when she asks about a keychain. When she sees his confusion, she shows him a photo of the key on the night of the party attached to a lanyard. Realizing he's trying to protect someone, she asks who. Meanwhile, Blair tells Vanessa that she won't be able to use the footage because she won't sign a release. Vanessa says she doesn't want to distribute it, only use it to enter the film contest. Blair walks away and Chuck hands Vanessa a roll of cash containing $10,000. She initially refuses to take it but then accepts it, and gives him the tape. Elsewhere, Lily and Bart have lunch. He excuses himself to take a phone call and while he's gone, Lily looks around the restaurant before picking up her phone. She calls Rufus and tells him that she's ready to see what they could be. They make plans to meet that night to go away together to explore it. Back at Constance, Queller expels Nate in front of everyone for lying to her about breaking in to the pool. Afterwards, Serena tries to comfort Dan. He tells her to just give up whoever broke in and she admits that it was her. She explains that at the end of freshman year, she dated the swim team captain, who gave her a key that she never gave back. When she was hanging out with Blair, they got bored and decided to go to the pool; but then everyone invited everyone to come. Dan encourages her to tell Queller but Serena says that if she got expelled, no good school would take her because of her past. At that moment, an announcement comes over the intercom asking Dan to go to Queller's office after class. Elsewhere, Nate tells Blair that he took the fall to save her future, since he saw the key in her room. Blair explains that the key wasn't hers and she was hiding it for someone, but that she thinks what he did was romantic. He tells her he loves her but she just says that they can't happen at the moment. He asks why and she replies that she doesn't want to be with him.

During the months after Charon's last assault, Kimball becomes President of the planet Chorus. One of her first acts was allowing the Reds and Blues to live peacefully away from conflict, stating that they were done fighting. Unfortunately, ten months following the crew's retirement, a group of imposters posing as the Reds and Blues begin a killing spree on UNSC outposts, forcing the UNSC to act against Chorus in suspicion that the terrorist attacks are associated with the planet, putting all peace talks on hold and making Kimball distrustful of any outsiders, particularly the press. 041b061a72