To call Monday night's series finale of "Gossip Girl" the "end of an era" probably isn't accurate, even within the stretched definition of "era" as it applies to scripted television. The show's era, if it ever had one, likely ended sometime around the time Jenny slept with Chuck then was exiled from New York, but it limped along beyond that point, steadily declining each week along the way.
That, in part, is what made Monday's episode -- "New York, I Love You XOXO" -- so stunning. It was easily the best single episode the show has produced in years, wrapping up the biggest lingering couplings (Blair/Chuck and Serena/Dan) in ways that both made sense and were satisfying. It was fun, caring, emotional, and even had the trademark "Gossip Girl" schemeing, but in a way that made you root for the characters, rather than despise them (an element that had been missing for much of this season).
But the episode's success comes with a major caveat. The show finally played its last card, revealing the identity of the title character, and in doing so introducing a litany of plot holes and inconsitancies to the previous six seasons worth of episodes.
SPOILER ALERT. If you haven't seen Monday's episode yet, and don't want to know the identity of Gossip Girl, then stop reading now. END SPOILER ALERT.
