"The Last Days of Disco Stick" is the 10th episode of the third season of the American

teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

television series ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'', and the 53rd episode overall. Written by Leila Gerstein and directed by Tony Wharmby, it originally aired on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

on November 16, 2009. The episode features a cameo appearance and special performance by

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

, and marks the last appearance of

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...

on the series.

Plot

Serena (

Blake Lively Blake Ellender Brown (born August 25, 1987), known professionally as Blake Lively, is an American actress. A daughter of actor Ernie Lively, she made her professional debut in his directorial project ''Sandman'' (1998). She had her breakthrou ...

) continues to have chemistry with Tripp (

Aaron Tveit Aaron Kyle Tveit (; born October 21, 1983) is an American actor and singer. Tveit originated the lead role of Christian in the stage adaptation of ''Moulin Rouge! (musical), Moulin Rouge!'' on Broadway theatre, Broadway, a performance for which ...

). Serena knew that it was wrong and went to Nate (

Chace Crawford Christopher Chace Crawford (born July 18, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on the series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012), and of Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep in the television series '' The Boys ...

) for help. Nate decides to not let Serena out of his sight until Tripp leaves for Washington D.C. the following day. They spend a lot of time together and some chemistry builds there. At a bar, Nate confesses he has always been in love with Serena and leans in to kiss her. As he does this, a distressed Tripp walks in and interrupts. He just learned that it wasn't their grandfather that set up the drowning man in the Hudson River on Election Day, but his wife. Now that his marriage has fallen through, Serena goes to comfort him. Nate urges her not to go, but she insists. Things are awkward between Dan (

Penn Badgley Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix psychological thriller series ''Y ...

Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie W ...

(

Jessica Szohr Jessica Szohr (; born March 31, 1985) is an American actress. She started her screen career appearing on television shows such as '' My Wife and Kids'' (2003), ''Joan of Arcadia'' (2004), '' What About Brian'' (2007) and '' CSI: Miami'' (2007). S ...

), and Olivia (

) now after their

threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". While the term ''threesome'' typically refers to sexual activity involvin ...

. Nate tells Dan that the third person should always be a stranger. Vanessa and Olivia fight over Dan's time and attention. They are all brought together by

Blair Blair is a Scots-English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or " field", frequently ...

(

Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester ( ; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is known for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on the CW television series ''Gossip Girl'', which ran from 2007 to 2012. She has also appeared in fi ...

) for a performance. Blair runs another one of her get popular schemes; to get in with the elite of

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

. They hosted a gathering of actors and writers to perform a play based around pop culture: a modern-day ''

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' using the music of

. Blair was originally not invited, but got Olivia to get her in with her connections. Dan brings Vanessa in as the director of the play. Olivia and Vanessa vie for Dan's attention. During one of the scenes, Olivia calls out Dan for having a thing for Vanessa. She leaves, leaving Vanessa to fill in for her as Snow White. When Dan kisses Vanessa, he realizes that he's had feelings for her all along. Unfortunately, Vanessa is interested in some artsy guy from Tisch. Olivia decided to leave NYU, leaving Dan all alone. Blair brought Lady Gaga on stage which really impressed her classmates. Meanwhile, Jenny (

Taylor Momsen Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, model, guitarist, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film ''How the Grinch Stole Chr ...

) has been hanging around New York City with one of

Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

's (

Ed Westwick Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's ''Gossip Girl'' as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series ''White Gold''. He made his feature film debut in '' Chi ...

) clients, international drug dealer Damien Dalgaard (

Kevin Zegers Kevin Zegers (born September 19, 1984) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Framm in the ''Air Bud'' film series, Toby Osbourne in '' Transamerica'' (2005), Damien Dalgaard in the CW teen drama ''Gossip Girl'', and as rookie ...

). She gets herself caught up in a drug exchange. Chuck steps in to save Jenny. Although, Jenny doesn't feel like she needs protection and texts Damien to hang out again.

Production

The episode marks Hilary Duff's final appearance in the role as Olivia Burke after fulfilling the whole contract as a recurring character for the third season. Recording artist Lady Gaga makes a cameo appearance.

Fashion

Similar to most ''Gossip Girl'' episodes, "The Last Days of Disco Stick" drew heavily on fashion. Costume designer Eric Daman dressed Leighton Meester in a Theory coat, Vince leggings, a

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

bag,

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

hat and Manolo Blahniks. When styling Blair's more mature look, Daman stated, "I chose very sleek, very linear clothing...It's almost architectural in design." Daman drew on the character of Jenny, citing her preference for wearing "lots of vintage clothes like torn-up jeans and paint-splattered T-shirts." and dressed Momsen in an Alexander Wang jacket over a

Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British online fast-fashion retailer, which specialises in women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It is majority owned by Danish company, Bestseller. In 2024, ASOS sold 75% of Topshop and Topman to Bests ...

dress and Hue tights. Daman also cited musician

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

as an inspiration for the character's style. When dressing

, Daman considered Serena's confusion over her feelings for the married congressman and incorporated her character's outfit into the episode. "From a fashion standpoint, Serena is in a little bit of an identity crisis", Daman explained. ''

InStyle ''InStyle'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine founded in 1994. It was published in the United States by Dotdash Meredith, and started originally as a brand extension of ''People (magazine), People'' before carving out its own ide ...

'' praised her Serena in her Twenty8Twelve coat, Alice and Olivia dress, Hue tights, a Kotur bag, Stephen Dweck necklace and Manolo Blahniks, describing it as "perfectly put-together". Eric Daman praised Vanessa's growing confidence, commenting "She's becoming her own woman", and accessorized Vanessa's

Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin; 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg ...

coat and

Nanette Lepore Nanette Lepore (born January 1, 1964) is an American fashion designer based in New York City. ''New York'' magazine has said that "her gypsy-influenced designs are feminine and youthful. The looks are full of bold colors and bright prints, with ...

dress with

American Apparel American Apparel Inc. is a North American clothing retailer. The brand began with operating retail stores between the late 1980s and late 2010s. Its operations are based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in ...

leggings, a L.A.M.B. bag and a bold blue Gemma Redux necklace.

Reception

"The Last Days of Disco Stick" was watched by 2.24 million viewers.TV Ratings: The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Castle up; Heroes down
. TV by the Numbers. November 18, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2010. The episode received mixed reviews. Isabelle Carreau of

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...

felt that the episode was very predictable, and that even though "the drama following the threesome was put center stage, yet it fell flat".

References

External links

"The Last Days of Disco Stick"
at TheCW.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Days Of Disco Stick, The 2009 American television episodes Cultural depictions of Lady Gaga Gossip Girl season 3 episodes