2.11 "The Magnificent Archibalds"

As Thanksgiving draws near, Blair looks forward to spending the holiday with her family. But her disappointment only begins when her father, Harold, is delayed in trying to leave Europe, and Eleanor's new boyfriend, Cyrus, takes over planning the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Blair also learns that Cyrus plans to propose marriage to Eleanor, which prompts her to run into the company of her Polish maid, Dorota. Serena continues to hide her sordid past from Aaron after he tells her that he too is a recovering alcoholic and party guy. Meanwhile, Dan asks Lily to help intervene in the continuing feud between Jenny and Rufus when Jenny crashes at Lily's penthouse and confides in her that she has decided to file a petition to become legally emancipated from her father. Eric also learns from Chuck about Bart's investigation and files he keeps on everyone to keep everyone and everything under his iron thumb. Elsewhere, Nate's fugitive father, Howie 'The Captain' Archibald, arrives in town to visit him and his mother with an offer to live a life of luxury as fugitives, while Vanessa gets caught up when the authorities comes to call her on Mr. Archibald's whereabouts after he's spotted re-entering the country.