Yes, Then Zero

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Yes, Then Zero is the 88th episode of Gossip Girl and the first episode of season 5. It aired on September 26, 2011 on The CW, was directed by Mark Piznarski, and written by executive producer Joshua Safran. The episode opens with the main cast spending the summer in Los Angeles.

In LA, Serena van der Woodsen works for a movie production company and clashes with a co-worker. She is assigned various tasks, including obtaining medical marijuana for the film’s star. Serena nearly jeopardizes the production, but her work earns her a potential job offer from producer Jane. Ivy Dickens returns to LA, reprising her Charlie Rhodes persona.

Chuck Bass and Nate Archibald spend the summer in LA as well. Chuck adopts a riskier outlook, while Nate’s fling with an older woman—who turns out to own the house where they attend a party—leaves him exposed and kicked out. Nate pretends to own the house to feel like someone else. Chuck later crashes a motorcycle on a dangerous set road, suffering a large bruise.

Back in New York, Blair Waldorf returns with Louis Grimaldi after Monaco and is dealing with Louis’s mother Sophie about wedding plans, while trying to hide Blair’s pregnancy. Dan Humphrey learns a chapter about the Upper East Side will be leaked to Vanity Fair and asks Louis for help preventing publication. Louis agrees to stand up for Blair at a UN gala, but he later stands her up to deal with the story, leading Blair to confront Dan in Brooklyn and demand a way out. Dan confirms the story, leaving Blair hurt and confused.

Gossip Girl’s signature voiceover guides the episode’s twists. In the fashion notes, Blair wears an Oscar de la Renta dress, Serena a Catherine Malandrino dress, and Diana Payne dresses from Dolce & Gabbana and Herve Leger. Musicians Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice cameo as themselves. The promo features Lana Del Rey’s “Kinda Outta Luck,” and the episode also includes songs “My Pet Snake” by Jenny and Johnny and “Bad Karma” by Ida Maria.

Yes, Then Zero received mixed reviews and drew about 1.37 million viewers. TV Fanatic praised it as a strong return, highlighting the pregnancy reveal, the Daniel novel tie-in, Nate’s storyline, and Chuck’s rebellious energy as signs the season could recapture the show’s mix of humor, heart, and scandal.