DAIR and the ROMCOM connection...Let’s speculate!! So I’ve just watched Petty in Pink for the second time today and I was giddy with delight from all the fantastic DAIR scenes. It looked like that DAIR would be endgame you know after watching this episode (because really the prince is really just a prop random guest star 128 or something…). But then a comment my friend made got me thinking…the Dan and Blair storyline is, according to writers, basically based on the formula of classic romantic comedies.
Now this description of romcom is pure Dan and Blair (It’s like the writers got the classic romcom obstacle list and decided to use them all on DAIR): In romcoms sometimes the two protagonists (Dan & Blair) are hesitant to become romantically involved because:
1. They believe that they do not like each other (basically for the past three and a half seasons Dan and Blair were generally repulsed by each other and what each other represented, although you did see moments where when they let their prejudices down you would see that wonderful spark again and think that they’re not so different from each other)
2. Because one or both of them already has a partner (a.k.a. the “endgame”, “epic” coupling of Dan & Serena and Chuck & Blair), or
3. Because of social pressures (Blair looking down at Dan because he’s from Brooklyn and Dan being all judgmental on Blair and the excesses of the UES, Blair having preconceived notions of what she wants her life to be and what type of person she spends it with).
However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. I won’t go into a list of all the subtle clues the writers have left us since S1 to set this pairing up as a good love match. It has been discussed ad nauseam and it’ll be too long to list them (But I could, I have so much useless shipper information on my brain…). Maybe it’ll be easier to let go of the foreshadowing and just say that the Dan and Blair relationship has all these:
* Shared interests and ideals
* They understand and accept each other’s craziness and are each other’s voice of reason (Blair has always heeded Dan’s advice since season 1, he’s been her go-to guy for all Chuck related concerns, Blair is the only one reminding Dan of his writing, Blair also gives him her unbiased rational opinion of his obsession with Serena)
* They SEE EACH OTHER—they know the bad of each other from previous seasons, and in S3 or S4 you see them starting to see the good of the other and even admitting it.
* And after the whole W fiasco, you see the TRUST develop between them. Best example would be 4x18 where Dan, instead of thinking the worst of Blair, believed that she would not embarrass her and Blair in 4x19 saying to the Prince that Humphrey would never do that.
* They’re actual friends. And you’ll notice that Blair has a stronger attachment to this despite her initial protests that THEY WERE NOT FRIENDS. I mean in 4x16 she went to Dan to talk about her crappy day, in 4x17 she went to the loft to explain why she stood him up, she chose his side over Chuck in 4x18 and she refused to give the friendship up and ended up defending it at the expense of her friendship with Serena.
If one watches all the previous seasons (which I don’t want to because please do not make me sit through S3 again—except for 3x18) the GG writers have given us a long trail of breadcrumbs that leads us all to that fateful, damned FREEZE FRAMED KISS in 4x17.
And as for attraction? Come on kids if you don’t like and enjoy each other’s company not even similar interests could force you to go on pre-planned joint outings (which does not describe what a date is LOL) and exert that much effort to go together without actually seeming to be there together. Sneaking around is tough work. And Blair did admit that Dan was not “horrible looking” plus Dan’s a guy, he’s not blind. Also you really cannot kiss a person with whom you are not attracted to. Not even as a social experiment. Eww. And Blair’s not that type of girl, if she wasn’t feeling any attraction to the Donut she would have laughed at his face or kicked him out.
So now we’ve established them as the classic romcom pairing.
According to Wikipedia: next step would be the protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together. So we’re on this part of the story—Blair hiding in bed for a week and not talking to Dan, Blair holding on to what she thought she wanted in life (Deciding to be with Chuck after the kiss and Blair telling the Prince in 4x19 when she said that he was the only man she wanted in her life—mainly because he fit into her idea of the perfect life for an UES princess) and Dan admitting that he actually is ass-backwards crushing on Blair Waldorf.
Next step is now to separate the two protagonists to help them realize that they are ideal for each other, or that they are in love with each other. Now Dan said in 4x19 that he can’t continue to be friends with her and Blair will be distracted by her fairy tale romance. So maybe there will be little to no Dan-Blair scenes in 4x20 to 4x21 (Noo…I’ll miss my BBs).
In 4x22 maybe we’ll go on to the next stage where one of the two makes some spectacular effort to find the other person and declare their love (Source: Wikipedia). Well, I’m up for some grand gestures (Really ANY GESTURE would do…) showing that the DAIR SL will continue up to the finale and beyond..
According to what I know re romcoms, there are situations where the couple does not live “happily ever after” together. The ending is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship, even if they physically separate in the end. Sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each other’s arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character (Wikipedia).
I guess as a DAIR fan this is the question that makes me sometimes doubt my ship. How will DAIR end?
The spoiler people have been suspiciously mum about the last 3 episodes. The 4x20 episode is just a rehash of the Midnight preview on who will Blair choose? And by choose I mean Dan or Chuck. Not the Prince. It’s always going to be Dan vs. Chuck because it’ll be the classic two worlds colliding. UES vs. Brooklyn. Destiny vs. Fate. Want vs. Need. And would be a nice parallel to the two different shoes foreshadowing in 4x16—Blair with both her feet planted in two different worlds as represented by two different guys. And the shoe clue was also emphasized in 4x19 by gossip girl both at the start and end of the episode.
Maybe she’ll choose herself.
Logically Blair should end up with Dan (4 years set up and all) but this is GG, and the writers have this love affair with Chuck Bass (I think they’ve read too much Gothic novels). So I’m thinking possible CHAIR somewhere before the season ends or at the start of S5.
I for one am solidly on TEAM PAUPER. I love Dan with Blair. And Chuck instant redemption SL is just lazy writing and fan pandering. I would like to see a season ender that opens a lot of options for character development in S5.
As for Charlie, as much as I would like her to GTFO of the UES I think she will play a critical role in the season ender, along with Vanessa. Nate will be there as eye candy again. And Serena, I’m just over her already. Let her go to California and figure things out.
