Dan Finally Becomes a Contender For Blair on Gossip Girl

"Dair" fans have been begging to see more of their favorite almost-pairing on Gossip Girl. Now it looks like they’re going to get their wish, as Dan (Penn Badgley) makes a stronger play Bair’s (Leighton Meester) heart in the second half of the season, which began last night. E! spoke with the show’s executive producer Josh Safran about Dan's chances with Blair:

Dan Become a Contender: Make way for Dan, Chuck and Louis, because he's becoming a viable contender in the fight for Blair's love. "What I said at the top of the season was this was pretty much going to be a romantic love triangle between Chuck, Louis and Blair and that Dan was going to be more a friend of Blair," Safran explains. "This second half of the season, that triangle absolutely becomes a square in a major way. That is where that story is going." Dair fans: Rejoice! Chuck/Blouis fans: React!

As for that spoiler about Dan writing Louis' vows, Safran says he was a bit peeved about that leaking out because the "reveal is in the last five minutes of the episode." He would tell us that "just because the audience finds out Dan wrote the vows doesn't mean Blair finds out."

Did Blair’s pact with god save Chuck’s (Ed Westwick) life? Blair seemed to think so in Monday’s episode and The Hollywood Reporter got the scoop from Safran about Blair’s outlook.

The Hollywood Reporter: Blair seems to be entering into a new phase, especially with her spirituality. How long will that last?

Josh Safran: Blair very much believes that this pact she has made with the powers responsible for saving Chuck, she will move forward with that belief undeterred. When we started the season, we talked very much about works that were meaningful to us and inspired us and some of the works that came out of that conservation were The Talented Mr. Ripley and The End of the Affair. We knew from the very beginning we were going to tell a story much like the Charlie/Ivy story has been inspired by The Talented Mr. Ripley. Blair's always had faith, in all different ways, whether it's faith that someday my prince will come or faith that she went to confession in season 1. The sacrifice she's making is for the greater good of the man that she loves.

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Photo Credit: The CW