Panic Roommate - Recap

Raina and Chuck are enjoying each other's company. Blair is happy back
at her W internship. Serena has no new messages. Dan finds out that Ben
is going to be his new roomie. Raina and Chuck keep getting interrupted
by technology. She finally takes a call, because it's her dad/boss, and
she can't ignore him. She tells Chuck she needs a rain check.

Epperly is having a meltdown. She needs to find a place big enough for
Florence and the Machine to perform. Blair wants to help, but Epperly
refuses. Blair has an epiphany. Epperly needs her strings plucked. All
she needs to do to get her supe off Blair's back is get her on hers.
Chuck is the answer to all Epperly's problems. His hotel is big enough
for the party, and then there's Chuck. Two birds, one Bass.

Rufus finishes giving the tour so Ben's PO can sign off on his new
lodgings. Ben thanks Rufus, and apologizes to Dan. He knows this is a
huge imposition, and he'll do his best to stay out of Dan's hair. If at
any time he wants Ben gone, Ben is gone. Rufus reassures him, and Dan
asks his dad for a moment. Ben goes to unpack. Dan refers to Ben as
Serena's stalker. Rufus tells Dan that Ben moving in was Serena's idea.

Eric meets up with Damien. He has the tickets and popcorn, but Damien
can't join him for the movie. He has to leave town, and he can't talk
about it. Of course Eric drags it out of him. The other morning, Ben
jumped Damien. Told him that if he didn't get out of town, he'd tell
Damien's dad that he was dealing. Eric doesn't know Damien's dad. If he
finds out, Damien is in deep serious. Eric thinks it's crazy. Ben is the
dangerous one, and he doesn't want them around his family or friends. He
asks Damien not to leave, he's going to figure something out.

Nate talks to Chuck about Raina. He's trying to get her to fall for him
so that she'll spare his company. She doesn't strike Nate as the "love
at first sight type", so. Chuck should just give it some time. That's
one thing Chuck doesn't have. His mole told him that the board is voting
that very night at 8:00. Blair arrives with Epperly in tow. They can't
have the Empire, it's spoken for. But the Palace is theirs. Perfect.
Blair and Chuck need a moment alone, so Nate shows Epperly the view. The
minute Nate and Epperly are out of sight, Blair and Chuck blurt at each
other "I need your help."

Dan tracks Serena down. She's at home, looking for Eric. He asks her
what she was thinking, it's like she forgot all of Ben's machinations
over the past six months. She blames that on what her family did to him.
He deserves a second chance. Dan recognizes that Serena has feelings for
him. She says no, but even if she did, it wouldn't matter since Ben made
it very clear he has no feelings for her. She hasn't even spoken to him
since the W party. Her phone rings. Dan glances over, and it's Ben.
"Yeah, I guess I'm way off-base."

Ben wants to know why two guys just delivered a bookcase to him from
her. She can explain. She'll be right there. Eric arrives, and she
leaves. Dan and Eric compare notes. However, Eric leaves out one
pertinent fact; the 'friend' who was beat up is a bit of a thug himself.

Chuck asks Blair what he can do for her, and she says "Epperly". He
doesn't think he's the man for the job, since he's gotten nowhere with
Raina. Blair says that's because he needs to stop pulling on her
drawstrings, and start pulling on her heartstrings. Chuck doesn't know
where those are. In a common connection, Blair tells him. He should let
his guard down and show her a side of him that nobody else sees. Chuck
is grateful, but he can't do Epperly. She and Nate come in, grinning and
giggly. Blair and Chuck pause, and Blair invites Nate to join them for
lunch. He's happy to join them.

Eric and Dan take their "trash-talking Ben" show on the road. As they
walk down the street, Eric tells him that nobody does that kind of time
and not come out of it at least a little twisted. They're meeting
Damien, and Dan reacts in anger. Damien is a drug dealer! Eric just
wants Dan to hear him out. Damien tries, but the answer is 'no'. Dan
refuses to team up with the one guy he trusts less than Ben, and neither
should Eric.

Raina's dad, Russell Thorpe, continues to harp on the prospectus being
perfect. Tonight is the big night. If the Bass board senses weakness,
the deal will be off. Chuck approaches, and the two engage in some
verbal fencing.

Serena arrives and offers to return the bookcase. She already called the
delivery guys. She can return his gift, too. It's a signed copy of one
of his favorite books. He'll keep it, but the bookcase still goes. He
doesn't want to raid the Humphrey pantry, so they decide to order in.

Blair, Nate and Epperly stroll down the street. Epperly takes a call,
and Blair asks Nate to do Epperly. She bails on lunch due to an emergency.

Raina's guilty conscience starts kicking in when she sees Chuck greet
every waiter by name. She thinks he's putting up a show, but he
literally grew up in this place. He knows everybody because they are his
extended family. Raina shares similar memories, so she knows whereof he
speaks. He asks her to join him for dinner, but she has to take a pass
so she can do the big meeting.

Serena and Ben enjoy their dinner. He apologizes for how badly he
treated her. Dan comes in and Serena leaves. He tries to talk to her,
and she says that since they're not dating, she doesn't need his
protection or permission. Ben assures Dan he has nothing to worry about.
He walks into another room, and his cell rings. Dan sees "Juliet".

Chuck makes a call to Blair, and Raina overhears. Blair pretends it's
Epperly, talking about Nate. Chuck turns around and greets Raina. After
she heard him chatting her up, she thinks she might want to see this
place at night, after all. Nate has the same reaction to the end of the
conversation that he heard. Maybe he was too hasty in dismissing
Epperly. He'll hang with her at the party tonight. Serena approaches,
and Nate excuses himself. She fills Blair in on lunch with Ben. Damaged
outsiders are right up Serena's alley. Is it Ben, or the idea?

Dan rearranges all the dishware that Ben put away wrong. Ben tells him
if he wants him gone, he should say so. Not rattle dishes. He's told
Juliet he needs some space. Dan tells him that he knows Juliet called
just a bit ago, and Ben says it's because his mom's birthday. They're
the only family he has left. He's not going to lose them. But it's okay
for Serena to lose hers? She's already cut off her mom and Eric. His
phone rings, and Dan says it's Serena - and he's right. She invites Ben
to the party that night. He says yes, just to spite Dan. Dan promptly
contacts Eric.

Epperly won't be able to make the party, so Blair's efforts have all
been in vain. Blair talks her down, and also mentions that Nate can't
wait to see her. As they leave, Epperly has inbound calls on three lines
going unanswered.

At the party, Blair is about to go say hi to Nate when Epperly decides
she needs to check on the gift bags. Nate approaches and whisks Epperly
away to the bar. Serena and Ben arrive. He seems a bit uncomfortable,
but says he's looking forward to it.

Raina tells Chuck she missed her meeting. She wants to see his hiding
place. He can't just show it to her, so she'll have to find it herself.
They race off, hand-in-hand.

Damien purposely rams into Ben, then tells him to watch where he's
going. With Eric backing him, Damien starts ramping up the
confrontation. Ben tells him not here, and get out of his way. Damien
stands his ground, so Ben goes around him. Dan is surprised. He thought
Ben had a short fuse. Eric says Damien baited him, Ben just didn't bite.
Damien tells Dan to call Ben's parole officer and tell him his parolee
is about to get violent at a private event. Against his better judgment,
Dan makes the call. He tells Damien he's doing it for Serena.

Damien gives Eric something to wrap around his hand. He's going to need
it when he punches Damien.

Blair watches Nate and Epperly getting acquainted. One of the other
interns arrives and asks if Blair has seen Epperly. The party planner
developed all the gift bags to the old location. Blair is sure she can
fix it, Epperly is right over there - only she's not. She and Nate have
disappeared.

Raina finally finds Chuck's hiding place. It's in the kitchen, in the
corner. She hid in the same place, because you can see everyone, but
nobody can see you. She can see how much The Palace means to Chuck; it's
his home. She thinks she can make sure he gets to keep it. Chuck is
about to tell her something important, but her father interrupts. How
dare she miss the meeting? He goes on to tell her that Chuck knew about
the vote. He kept her away on purpose. She asks Chuck if it's true, and
he doesn't answer.

Serena introduces Ben to her friends. He tells her he's leaving, but
it's too late. Eric and Damien set him up. Eric hit Damien in the mens
room, and they tell Serena that Ben did it. She says there's no way, but
Eric says he saw it. She looks searchingly at Ben, who remains silent.

Florence and the Machine performs while Serena tries to figure out what
happened. Why did Ben hit Damien, unprovoked. How did Ben's parole
officer just happen to be here? Dan admits he called him. Serena walks
off in anger.

Chuck admits to Raina that he knew about the board meeting. But they've
connected. He really does care about her. Raina says there's nothing he
can say that will ever make her trust him again.

Serena runs up and tells Ben to tell his PO the truth, but he refuses to
defend himself and is led away.

Blair finds Nate, but Epperly isn't with him. He tells Blair that she
left with some guy she knew from Oxford. Blair needs Nate to help her
get 650 gift bags from the old location, or she's going to tell everyone
what his favorite movie is.

Eric wants to go celebrate with Damien, but he's not interested. He was
just using Eric to get even with Ben. How humiliating.

Rufus approaches Dan. He can't believe what Dan did. He didn't know how
strongly Dan felt about Ben. Eric comes up and tells Rufus no, he was
right. Ben didn't hit Damien, he did. He shows them the knuckles to
prove it. Dan takes off running while Rufus stares down Eric.

Rufus and Dan touch base before Ben gets home. When he walks in, Dan
apologizes for everything. Ben accepts, and thanks Dan for calling his
PO and setting the record straight. Ben's going to pack and leave, but
Dan wants him to stay. He realizes Ben is somebody he should trust, just
like Serena said he should. If Ben doesn't believe him, he can ask her
himself. Serena walks in from the other room, Dan invited her. He
excuses himself to go get Nate.

Eric arrives, bearing coffee. Rufus is surprised to see him. Dan and
Nate are on their way over to Damien's to look for him. Eric admits that
Damien ditched him after the party. Rufus asks Eric why he wants to
spend his time with a guy like Damien when he has all his other friends.
Eric doesn't have any other friends. He's embarrassed to admit that he
thought Damien got him, that they could just hang out together and do
nothing. But lesson learned.

Chuck got a text saying "You owe me". Raina arrives, she got a call from
Blair. She's giving him a second chance. He tells her he'll keep
business separate, and find his own way to save his family business.
She'll be back tonight, they'll order room service.

An intern tells Blair that Epperly's been in with Stefano for over an
hour. Blair frets, she just wanted Epperly to get laid, not laid off.
Epperly heard that, but doesn't comment. She's leaving the magazine. The
guy she met last night was a college sweetheart. He's going to Bali.
She's going with him. And as a token of her appreciation, she
recommended Blair as her replacement. Stefano is giving her a trial run,
effective immediately.

Russell asks Raina if he has her full support. Yes, but under one
condition. Chuck goes along for the ride. Thorpe says he doesn't need
Chuck, but Raina says he really does. He just doesn't know it yet.

Nate and Dan run into Damien outside his home. They told his dad
everything. He'll probably be cut off.

Serena and Ben kiss.

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