It’s Christmas time in the city and everyone is busy getting ready for the big day, the school is hosting its annual fundraiser with musical accompaniment from The Constance Billard Choir. A jazzy version of Santa Baby fills in the silence as the girls bop and dance to the fun tune. Other Christmas songs like O Coma All Ye Faithful and O Christmas Tree by The Plush Interiors follows the Humphrey family around as they get ready for Christmas morning.

When Rufus finds out that Alison is still talking to her neighbor Alex, whom she had an affair with, he confronts him and the song Stuck for the Summer by Two Hours Traffic plays on. I wasn’t quite convinced that the tune itself fit, but the lyrics do a good job of meeting the mood that Rufus is probably in at this moment.

Everyone, but Serena, is getting ready for the annual Debutante Ball, but when Serena’s grandmother shows up things begin to change. Determined to get her granddaughter set off on the right path, Serena’s grandmother tells the family that she is sick and wants nothing other than to see Serena be presented at the ball.

Serena agrees to the ball, but only if she can do things her way, which proves to be more difficult than she originally planned. Her grandmother attempts to drive Dan away by insulting him and telling him he is not meant for Serena’s world. Dan pushes back, by announcing that he will be Serena’s escort for the ball instead of Carter, the escort Serena’s grandmother decided for her.

The seriousness of the debutante Ball pervades the music in Hi Society, but there is still plenty of room for fun and flirty tunes that captures the attitude of the girls perfectly. Discussion of the Debutante Ball opens up the episode and Comin’ Home Baby by Mel Torme whistles in the background to put everyone in the mood for the festivities. As all the debs and their partners practice the dances for the ball the piano version of Secret by The Pierces accompanies them.

When Lily finds out that Jenny loves these types of events, she asks her to volunteer her time and The Speakeasy by Daniel May plays on as Jenny considers and tries to figure out how to pull of two events in one night. Later when Lily takes Jenny shopping with her, Pretty Please by Lissa plays in the background as Alison realizes Jenny went behind her back anyway.

With the holiday season beginning, Thanksgiving is the perfect time for everyone to reflect on just where they have gone in a year’s time. A flashback reveals that Dan and Serena actually had a run in last Thanksgiving, and while they don’t have plans to spend the holiday together thing end up changing.

When Serena tells Blair that she knows about her and Chuck, Blair proceeds to spew her usual vile comments and Serena decides not to spend Thanksgiving with them. Now that the entire van der Woodsen family is uninvited they are faced with the task of preparing their own Thanksgiving dinner. Dan finds out and invites all of them, including Lily over for dinner.

It’s Thanksgiving in Manhattan and things are not at all like they were last year, in fact, almost the entire episode is full of comparisons. In an effort to illustrate just how much things have changes, we see Serena teetering down the street to Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado as Blair attempts to steer her in the right direction.

Recurring by Bonobo plays at The Waldorf’s as the family is in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving Dinner together, this is a flashback of course because everyone knows now that Blair’s family has split up. Her We Go Again by OK Go fills in the background as another flashback shows Dan telling his family about the beautiful blond girl he met and saved in the city, we all know that the mystery girl is Serena and that Dan has had a serious crush on her for years.