"And again he was in the street, and found the place where the corners met, and for the last time turned to see where Time had gone."

Carter arrives at PRADA, asking Serena for at least the tenth time this season what the fuck she wants from him, and she brightly explains that the whole thing was a frame-up courtesy of Blair and Chuck, who are clinically insane. He nods, and says he already figured that out, listing the CLUES quickly, and when she asks him why he didn't say so, he points out that he did. Well done (and totally WSVDWWD). "If you're looking for the first excuse to bolt, trust me, you're gonna find one. For my sake, I figured sooner was better than later." She kisses him, and the song of the summer starts: Miike Snow's "Animal":

I change shapes just to hide in this place
but I'm still an animal

Serena says she's done finding excuses, when she's done kissing him, and he takes his time with his counteroffer: "Who says the offer's still on the table?" She calls him a terrible poker player, and he breaks out in the... I will go ahead and say it's the loveliest smile I've ever seen on this show. Which is not really about smiling, but when it is about smiling gives you a heckload of loveliness competition in the smile arena. This one leaves them all behind. Who knew Carter Baizen was hanging on to that little trump card? Shit. She invites him to breakfast, and they pull up another chair.

In your eyes I see the eyes of somebody
Who could be strong, tell me if I'm wrong
And now I'm pulling your disguise up
Are you free or are you tied up?

Blair joins Chuck across the street from the Empire Hotel, where the MacPherson club in question is located: "I just came from Sean MacPherson's office. I wanted to thank his assistant. She did me a favor. I was thinking too small. Why settle for some club in a hotel when you can just buy the hotel?" Blair's taken aback; he's not done. "I've been meeting with the board of Bass Industries all morning. I told them I want to cash my shares out... Risk it all, on my own. They think I've lost my mind."