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Gossip Girl: The Original Series


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I watched this when it aired, but I don't think I ever saw season 5 or 6.  And if I did, I don't remember watching them  Over the holiday break I've been rewatching; I'm near the end of season 4.  

This rewatch has solidified one thing: man, do I fucking hate Serena!  Ugh!

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I am binging this on netflix and am obsessed. To be honest, I don't care about most of the characters storylines, but man oh man, am I obsessed with Chuck and Blair's relationship. Their relationship is so unhealthy and disturbing but so great to watch. I started the series not finding Chuck attractive and now find him so hot.

P.s- Does nate ever get story lines?

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11 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I know it's been Years since this aired , but can we start up discussion again ?? I have no one to talk about the show with ! 

Have you finished the series?

For some of us, the series left us with mixed feelings (especially the last couple of seasons) on it which you can read above. I also think to this day, a lot of us view the show in polarizing terms especially the ships and the characterizations so it's kinda beating a dead horse for those of us who watched it. hehe. 

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12 minutes ago, Athena said:

Have you finished the series?

For some of us, the series left us with mixed feelings (especially the last couple of seasons) on it which you can read above. I also think to this day, a lot of us view the show in polarizing terms especially the ships and the characterizations so it's kinda beating a dead horse for those of us who watched it. hehe. 

I feel like the first two (maybe even three) seasons were pitch-perfect.  Then it just kind of all went to hell in a handbasket, but the writers themselves have even admitted to that!

the context of Dan as Gossip Girl  (oh shit!  spoiler alert!) is a slap in the face...they honestly should've just made it a complete stranger, that would've been more believable!

at any rate, it was always really pretty to look at; they didn't disappoint in that regard.

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3 minutes ago, teapot said:

the context of Dan as Gossip Girl  (oh shit!  spoiler alert!) is a slap in the face...they honestly should've just made it a complete stranger, that would've been more believable!

I would have believed if Rufus was Gossip Girl more than Dan. 

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I liked the show but from one storyline to the next was forgotten about within 1 episode and it just got really messy .. I don't really mind Dan as gossip girl because despite the fact that a lot of it doesn't add up .. he was so desperate to get in their group so in that aspect I can see it being him more than anyone else . 

I get the feeling Nate was supposed to be the main lead guy in the beginning but not sure if it was his lack of acting skills or what , but he seemed to be a filler during every episode and none of his storylines were good . 

I loved Dan and Serena together in season one but eventually I didn't give a crap about their relationship and in the end , I didn't care if they ended up together or about either of them at all . 

I absolutely loved chuck and Blair but didn't understand how he was supposed to be this commitment phobe and could never commit to Blair but then fell in love with Eva and Raina within 1 episode of knowing them . I also thought the prince storyline went on wayyyy too long and just wanted to skip to Blair obsessing over chuck again . Her pregnancy storyline was really horribly done because a- she never seemed to acknowledge that she was pregnant other than once and b- after the accident and miscarriage , it was never brought up again which was very weird . 

And lastly , a major pet peeve is when they try to squeeze everything into the last episode of a show . I would have liked to see Blair and chuck have an actual wedding because they loved each other and not have them get engaged just because chuck would go to jail otherwise . Each of the 3 times he was going to propose was because he was about to lose her and not because he just wanted to get married . Also , he couldn't be with her until he defeated his father ? The excuses the writers gave with each season as a reason they couldn't be together got worse by the season . And I don't need to see the last 10 episodes be about a resurrection of a character no one cares about 

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On 3/14/2018 at 1:41 PM, Jaclyn88 said:

I am binging this on netflix and am obsessed. To be honest, I don't care about most of the characters storylines, but man oh man, am I obsessed with Chuck and Blair's relationship. Their relationship is so unhealthy and disturbing but so great to watch. I started the series not finding Chuck attractive and now find him so hot.

Yes to all of this!  I just finished binging on this last night.  I highly enjoyed it and thought the quality of the show was great up until Season Five.  Halfway through that season, it went downhill as far as story lines went.  BUT who cares, because I, too, quickly became obsessed with Chuck & Blair and would watch those two read the phone book to each other.  Ed Westwick & Leighton Meester had THE best chemistry together and the two of them could act circles around everybody else, mainly Blake Lively.  Those two were the stars of that show.  They were magic.  And man, oh man, I am going to miss the hell out of them.

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(edited)

I just started the show on Netflix last week, and I just finished S2.EP3.  I am loving it!

 

Some random thoughts of mine, so far:

- At first, I really liked Serena and Dan as a couple, but I already find them exhausting!  They just broke up for the second time, and the last episode ended with the slo-mo "Old Serena" is back and seemingly going to make Dan's life Hell ("Shove It") scene.  I'm not upset that they broke up, because I know they'll be back together at some point, and that thought makes my eyes roll so hard.

- Speaking of Serena and Dan, I cannot believe Lily decided to break things off with her long-lost love, so her teen daughter could have an on-again off-again romance with his lame-ass son.

- Totally shipping Blair/Chuck! 

- "The Lord" and the Duchess can leave anytime 

- I did not like Vanessa at first, but she is growing on me.  When she was first introduced, I considered her a poor man's Theresa to Dan's Ryan (O.C. fan, here!), but she is becoming one of my favorites, behind Blair. 

- Nate = Total Snoozefest... ZzZz...  Ooops, sorry-- Almost fell asleep there, for a second, thinking about him.  The only thing that is making him **slightly** more interesting to me now is his relationship with Vanessa.

- I almost just called Vanessa "V", and it reminded me that I am getting super annoyed with the calling-everyone-by the-first-initial-of-his-or-her-name-shit!  It's annoying enough when GG does it, but if it were just GG, or if it was something that just "S" and "B" did amongst each other (see what I did there?), then I could maybe look at it as a silly teen girl thing, but when most of the characters are doing it, I'm finding it super cringeworthy. 

- Speaking of cringeworthy, Blake Lively's acting really gets on my nerves.  The whole baby voice-- Or is it a whiny voice?  Either way, it grates.

- I went into watching knowing that Dan is GG, and I find that so silly and not believable.  Going in knowing it made me notice a lot of ways that it doesn't add up.  Also, I really didn't like it, at first, when I was shipping Dan and Serena, but--as I stated above--I find them so exhausting, that I really could not care less about the fallout that reveal may cause.

 

That is all for now!  I'll be back with more thoughts as I watch more!  Hopefully, someone is out there to talk about it with me!  LOL

 

ETA:  - WTAF is the dress code in this school?!  There are times that I’ve thought “maybe it’s a sort of “casual” day, and then the very next day, there is Serena in a fitted tee and a slouchy vest!  I guess we are to just accept that they can wear whatever they want, as long as they wear the skirt?  And as short as they want the skirt to be!  I am fine with the accessorizing, but I have come to terms that I need to just come to terms with the fact that they can basically wear whatever tf they want, even though they are supposed to be wearing uniforms!

Edited by Miss Bones
I forgot something that has been pissing me off, though I love the fashion ;)
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(edited)

Almost done with Season 2, and have some more random thoughts:

- When Dan is getting advice about his writing from his mentor (regarding his character of "Charlie Trout"), I had to laugh when says he doesn't want to exploit people just to be a better writer.  This coming from Gossip Girl, himself!

- At the fashion show when Blair fires all the models, and the socialites model all the dresses.  LOL that Serena would be the "finale" socialite.

- Lilly/(formerly)Bart's hotel suite reminds me of Joey's apartment on Friends, when he moved out from his/Chandler's apartment, and he had all the tacky modern art (i.e. the Big White Dog).

- I was not sad to see Bart go!  Nor was I sad to see his shady brother go!  That storyline was really beginning to bore me.

- Why does Lilly's hair always look so shitty?  Half the time, it looks like she parted it down the middle, and threw it in a messy bun at the nape of her neck.  Just doesn't go with her fancy clothes and jewelry.

-Dan and Serena have already gotten back together and broken up again since my last post.  Like I said before:  EXHAUSTING.

-It seems like they are flirting with the idea of putting Nate/Blair back together, and that is the worst idea that I've heard since Dan/Serena getting back together.  Chuck is right Blair/Nate have 0 sparks or chemistry. 

Edited by Miss Bones
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On 5/31/2018 at 2:11 PM, Miss Bones said:

I just started the show on Netflix last week, and I just finished S2.EP3.  I am loving it!

 

Some random thoughts of mine, so far:

- At first, I really liked Serena and Dan as a couple, but I already find them exhausting!  They just broke up for the second time, and the last episode ended with the slo-mo "Old Serena" is back and seemingly going to make Dan's life Hell ("Shove It") scene.  I'm not upset that they broke up, because I know they'll be back together at some point, and that thought makes my eyes roll so hard.

- Speaking of Serena and Dan, I cannot believe Lily decided to break things off with her long-lost love, so her teen daughter could have an on-again off-again romance with his lame-ass son.

- Totally shipping Blair/Chuck! 

- "The Lord" and the Duchess can leave anytime 

- I did not like Vanessa at first, but she is growing on me.  When she was first introduced, I considered her a poor man's Theresa to Dan's Ryan (O.C. fan, here!), but she is becoming one of my favorites, behind Blair. 

- Nate = Total Snoozefest... ZzZz...  Ooops, sorry-- Almost fell asleep there, for a second, thinking about him.  The only thing that is making him **slightly** more interesting to me now is his relationship with Vanessa.

- I almost just called Vanessa "V", and it reminded me that I am getting super annoyed with the calling-everyone-by the-first-initial-of-his-or-her-name-shit!  It's annoying enough when GG does it, but if it were just GG, or if it was something that just "S" and "B" did amongst each other (see what I did there?), then I could maybe look at it as a silly teen girl thing, but when most of the characters are doing it, I'm finding it super cringeworthy. 

- Speaking of cringeworthy, Blake Lively's acting really gets on my nerves.  The whole baby voice-- Or is it a whiny voice?  Either way, it grates.

- I went into watching knowing that Dan is GG, and I find that so silly and not believable.  Going in knowing it made me notice a lot of ways that it doesn't add up.  Also, I really didn't like it, at first, when I was shipping Dan and Serena, but--as I stated above--I find them so exhausting, that I really could not care less about the fallout that reveal may cause.

 

That is all for now!  I'll be back with more thoughts as I watch more!  Hopefully, someone is out there to talk about it with me!  LOL

 

ETA:  - WTAF is the dress code in this school?!  There are times that I’ve thought “maybe it’s a sort of “casual” day, and then the very next day, there is Serena in a fitted tee and a slouchy vest!  I guess we are to just accept that they can wear whatever they want, as long as they wear the skirt?  And as short as they want the skirt to be!  I am fine with the accessorizing, but I have come to terms that I need to just come to terms with the fact that they can basically wear whatever tf they want, even though they are supposed to be wearing uniforms!

I love that you're posting because I have no one to talk about the show with since I'm a late bloomer as well ! 

I've been finished with the series for a while and I still haven't found Nates storyline so don't get excited lol. The first few episodes it looked like he was gonna be a lead romantic character but his stories are always on the back burner . 

I liked Dan and Serena during the first few episodes of their relationship  , but man would Serena be hard to date . And I love how she supposedly has this big bad past that she's infamous for and she's been through sooo much Yet she is only 16! 

I love this show and it is addicting but I have never seen such inconsistent writing with how characters feel about each other . I get that they're supposed to be teens anf therefore immature and flaky , but one second a character is in love with someone and the next they're in love with someone else .. and that happens with ALL the characters all the time . 

I was very confused as to why chuck so easily said he was in love with Blair in season 1 when they were barely anything at that point to thinking he's gonna die if he says it in season 2. And he stood her up on a helipad . I think she deserves those words chuck . 

Jenny is the absolute worst . 

Please keep posting :)

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13 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I love that you're posting because I have no one to talk about the show with since I'm a late bloomer as well ! 

I've been finished with the series for a while and I still haven't found Nates storyline so don't get excited lol. The first few episodes it looked like he was gonna be a lead romantic character but his stories are always on the back burner . 

I liked Dan and Serena during the first few episodes of their relationship  , but man would Serena be hard to date . And I love how she supposedly has this big bad past that she's infamous for and she's been through sooo much Yet she is only 16! 

I love this show and it is addicting but I have never seen such inconsistent writing with how characters feel about each other . I get that they're supposed to be teens anf therefore immature and flaky , but one second a character is in love with someone and the next they're in love with someone else .. and that happens with ALL the characters all the time . 

I was very confused as to why chuck so easily said he was in love with Blair in season 1 when they were barely anything at that point to thinking he's gonna die if he says it in season 2. And he stood her up on a helipad . I think she deserves those words chuck . 

Jenny is the absolute worst . 

Please keep posting :)

Well, hello there!  Glad to know someone else is out there, who is a little late to the party, as well!  :)

Too funny about Serena's big, bad past, at age 16!   So true.

I was so into the whole Blair/Chuck courtship--and I still am excited for them to get together--but they have been draagggginggg it out for so long that I am at the point that I am just like "get to it already!"  It's always something with them.  And like you said, just tell her you love her already, for crying out loud!  It's starting to get old for me, the whole "will they?/won't they?" act.

Jenny actually doesn't bother me too much.  She's not my favorite, but I think she has realistic screw-ups for a teen.  Unlike Miss "I got coked out and let a guy overdose and now I feel like I killed him" Van Der Woodsen.  One thing that does bug me with Jenny is that she truly seems to believe that her Dad should let her do whatever she wants.  I don't remember feeling that way as a teenager.  Sure, I wished I could do whatever I wanted, but I didn't expect my parents to actually go along with it.  Like when she wants to drop out of school to work for Eleanor-- What kid in their right mind actually thinks that their parent is going to be/should be cool with that?  I could not believe it when Rufus allowed it.  So silly.

I find Serena to be the absolute worst.  I don't know if it is just Blake Lively, or if it is all just the character, but she really gets on my nerves.  The only thing I like about her is her hair and her clothes.

I will definitely keep posting!

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15 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I love this show and it is addicting but I have never seen such inconsistent writing with how characters feel about each other . I get that they're supposed to be teens anf therefore immature and flaky , but one second a character is in love with someone and the next they're in love with someone else .. and that happens with ALL the characters all the time . 

Yes! When the show was good, it had an addictive quality and was good looking overall, but it became very frustrating as the show progressed. This show does not have good writing and there are a lot inconsistencies. A number of us quit before the last season or checked out for most of the last couple of seasons. It's why this forum is partly so slow for what was at the time, a popular show. A lot of us became exhausted by it. 

I do find it interesting to hear viewers who are binging it because I wish I had binged it instead of the many years I watched it live. Hehe. 

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8 minutes ago, Athena said:

Yes! When the show was good, it had an addictive quality and was good looking overall, but it became very frustrating as the show progressed. This show does not have good writing and there are a lot inconsistencies. A number of us quit before the last season or checked out for most of the last couple of seasons. It's why this forum is partly so slow for what was at the time, a popular show. A lot of us became exhausted by it. 

I do find it interesting to hear viewers who are binging it because I wish I had binged it instead of the many years I watched it live. Hehe. 

Blake Lively said in an interview that in the last seasons they'd get their scripts minutes before they were due to film their scenes.  it sounds like the show runners just kind of let go of it.

okay this is the most unpopular opinion in the world, but I love Serena!  (I could take or leave Blake Lively, but I love SVW!)

I'm not crazy proud of this, but I was kind of like her as a teen...NOT the beautiful/popular part, I mean, I look *okay* but no one was jealous of my hair!  (it was the 80s & it was kind of fried, I digress...)

I'd get caught up in whatever was happening, I'd just go with whatever flow, I'd fall in love six times a day, and people (not my close friends, they were like "she's kinda flaky but she means well") didn't quite trust the instability so they'd think I was a trouble-maker, and they'd treat me as such.  So then I'd be like, okay well then screw you, I'll do whatever I want!

coincidentally, my Mister was kind of my "Dan", as in when I started dating him, I wanted to do the right thing and be the kind of girl he could be with.  That was thirty-two years ago!

I grew out of all of that a very, very long time ago, though, and Serena seemed like she'd *still* be like that her whole life, kinda like her mom Lily! (for the record I love her too but I can't believe she did Rufus so wrong!)

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11 minutes ago, teapot said:

Blake Lively said in an interview that in the last seasons they'd get their scripts minutes before they were due to film their scenes.  it sounds like the show runners just kind of let go of it.

okay this is the most unpopular opinion in the world, but I love Serena!  (I could take or leave Blake Lively, but I love SVW!)

I'm not crazy proud of this, but I was kind of like her as a teen...NOT the beautiful/popular part, I mean, I look *okay* but no one was jealous of my hair!  (it was the 80s & it was kind of fried, I digress...)

I'd get caught up in whatever was happening, I'd just go with whatever flow, I'd fall in love six times a day, and people (not my close friends, they were like "she's kinda flaky but she means well") didn't quite trust the instability so they'd think I was a trouble-maker, and they'd treat me as such.  So then I'd be like, okay well then screw you, I'll do whatever I want!

coincidentally, my Mister was kind of my "Dan", as in when I started dating him, I wanted to do the right thing and be the kind of girl he could be with.  That was thirty-two years ago!

I grew out of all of that a very, very long time ago, though, and Serena seemed like she'd *still* be like that her whole life, kinda like her mom Lily! (for the record I love her too but I can't believe she did Rufus so wrong!)

I liked Serena's character in seasons 1 and 2 but her love interest of the day got tiring to watch after that. On teen dramas, it's hard for me to realize that these characters are only about 15 or 16 years old because they all look so much older and don't have the personalities of 16 year olds. Like, how Chuck owns his own businesses by 17 and has been known to sleep with everyone in NYC and around the world. Or how Serena had such a busy past with kind of killing someone and all the guys and boarding school and her promiscuous past ways. And I get that Serena is supposed to be a younger version of her mother and she learns from what she's seen, but she just gets so whiny and woe is me throughout the show, especially in the later seasons. What I like about Blair is  that she knows she's a bitch and a schemer and freely admits it, but Serena is never would admit that she did anything wrong in any situation. That being said, season 5 Blair is so Out of character it's ridiculous.

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29 minutes ago, teapot said:


What drove me crazy is that they just dropped the university storylines.  did they graduate?  Was the last season the consecutive next year?  No clue!

It was the next consecutive year but I think they just had no idea how to write for them in college and I guess they thought they got everything out of it that they could.. but yeah, pretty weird how it was never mentioned again especially because it would have been relevant during Blair and Louis' story arc 

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(edited)

I watched GG in real time but I've lately started to re-watch the series.

High points:

Chuck & Blair, with a particular emphasis on S1-3.  I spent a lot of time cursing Chuck on Blair's behalf, but I loved them as a pairing and never truly stopped wanting them together.

Carter Baizen, i.e., the guy Serena had the most chemistry with by far.  If only the show had kept him around longer, he was so pretty to look at and I really enjoyed his (unfortunately) brief pairing with Serena.

Serena/Blair - loved their friendship, especially early on in the series

Dan/Serena - S1 & the very beginning of S2, only.  Whatever made them appealing evaporated after that, mostly due to Dan becoming more and more self-righteous and judgmental, as well as hypocritical (not to mention, falling for her best friend and being mean asf.)

Juliet/Nate - this was pretty much the only Nate pairing I liked, sad to say.  He actually had good chemistry with Jenny but I couldn't get into that pairing.  Nate just looked way too old for her back then (I think CC was 21 at the time and TM was 14, and it showed.)

Nate as a friend to all.  Again, Nate in a romance never did much for me, but I loved him as a friend to everyone, especially to Chuck and Dan.

Lily's relationship with Chuck - I thought she was actually more maternal to him than she was toward Serena at times

Chuck/Blair feuding during S4 (I actually really loved this period, felt very much in character for both and was fun to watch)

The UES (+ sometimes Dan) crew's annual "Let's all get together to save [insert character/usually Serena]" couple of episodes.  I just generally loved how they all had each other's backs regardless.  It was always so much better when they would unite against a common enemy rather than sniping at each other.  The friendships of the series were perhaps the best thing about the show, aside from Chuck & Blair as a pairing. 

Low points:

Jenny, disliked her almost from the start and was incredibly happy to see her go.  She was a whiny, power-hungry bitch of a wannabe, and was enormously full of shit in S3 when she became "queen".  She fucked over everybody who was nice to her (usually Eric), and always made excuses for her behavior.  Someone "forced" her to be the way she was (usually Blair).  She never owned her shit and was just as awful as Blair (who ALWAYS got her comeuppance when she went too far), as opposed to Jenny, who always got saved, usually by Dan or Nate.  The good girl act with her was bullshit - she wasn't good, she was a raging bitch and I was always, ALWAYS happy whenever Blair smacked her down.

IVY and everything about that horrible story

Vanessa - other than being very, very pretty, she brought nothing to the table to me.  Was basically a female Dan - sanctimonious and judgmental.  They were actually perfect for each other.

Rufus/Lily - ALWAYS found them to be a dull, drippy snoozefest.  They were fine when they were strictly supporting/side characters but I never really cared for any of their drama as a pairing.

Bart back from the grave/Chuck's mom story

Chuck/Blair/Jack/hotel 

Dan/Blair becoming romantic - liked their friendship but hated, hated when it went romantic and found it to be such a betrayal of Serena.  Actually tuned out for a while because of this pairing.

Dan/Serena reuniting.  Hated this after Dan/Blair.  Derena were absolutely destroyed by then, I saw no chemistry, no desire from Dan to be with Serena, nothing.  Awful, awful reunion, should have never happened.

But, #1 with a bullet was Dan as Gossip Girl.  Unless Dan had serious mental problems, including some sort of dissociative disorder, this made zero sense whatsoever.  Many times, Dan would sit in front of his computer, shocked over a GG post.  Again, unless Dan has blackouts or some sort of mental issue, that shit is not explainable.

Edited by lvbalgurl
Grammar & added more high points/elaborated on some low points
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On 6/11/2018 at 7:32 PM, lvbalgurl said:

I watched GG in real time but I've lately started to re-watch the series.

High points:

Chuck & Blair, with a particular emphasis on S1-3.  I spent a lot of time cursing Chuck on Blair's behalf, but I loved them as a pairing and never truly stopped wanting them together.

Carter Baizen, i.e., the guy Serena had the most chemistry with by far.  If only the show had kept him around longer, he was so pretty to look at and I really enjoyed his (unfortunately) brief pairing with Serena.

Serena/Blair - loved their friendship, especially early on in the series

Dan/Serena - S1 & the very beginning of S2, only.  Whatever made them appealing evaporated after that, mostly due to Dan becoming more and more self-righteous and judgmental, as well as hypocritical (not to mention, falling for her best friend and being mean asf.)

Juliet/Nate - this was pretty much the only Nate pairing I liked, sad to say.  He actually had good chemistry with Jenny but I couldn't get into that pairing.  Nate just looked way too old for her back then (I think CC was 21 at the time and TM was 14, and it showed.)

Nate as a friend to all.  Again, Nate in a romance never did much for me, but I loved him as a friend to everyone, especially to Chuck and Dan.

Lily's relationship with Chuck - I thought she was actually more maternal to him than she was toward Serena at times

Chuck/Blair feuding during S4 (I actually really loved this period, felt very much in character for both and was fun to watch)

The UES (+ sometimes Dan) crew's annual "Let's all get together to save [insert character/usually Serena]" couple of episodes.  I just generally loved how they all had each other's backs regardless.  It was always so much better when they would unite against a common enemy rather than sniping at each other.  The friendships of the series were perhaps the best thing about the show, aside from Chuck & Blair as a pairing. 

Low points:

Jenny, disliked her almost from the start and was incredibly happy to see her go.  She was a whiny, power-hungry bitch of a wannabe, and was enormously full of shit in S3 when she became "queen".  She fucked over everybody who was nice to her (usually Eric), and always made excuses for her behavior.  Someone "forced" her to be the way she was (usually Blair).  She never owned her shit and was just as awful as Blair (who ALWAYS got her comeuppance when she went too far), as opposed to Jenny, who always got saved, usually by Dan or Nate.  The good girl act with her was bullshit - she wasn't good, she was a raging bitch and I was always, ALWAYS happy whenever Blair smacked her down.

IVY and everything about that horrible story

Vanessa - other than being very, very pretty, she brought nothing to the table to me.  Was basically a female Dan - sanctimonious and judgmental.  They were actually perfect for each other.

Rufus/Lily - ALWAYS found them to be a dull, drippy snoozefest.  They were fine when they were strictly supporting/side characters but I never really cared for any of their drama as a pairing.

Bart back from the grave/Chuck's mom story

Chuck/Blair/Jack/hotel 

Dan/Blair becoming romantic - liked their friendship but hated, hated when it went romantic and found it to be such a betrayal of Serena.  Actually tuned out for a while because of this pairing.

Dan/Serena reuniting.  Hated this after Dan/Blair.  Derena were absolutely destroyed by then, I saw no chemistry, no desire from Dan to be with Serena, nothing.  Awful, awful reunion, should have never happened.

But, #1 with a bullet was Dan as Gossip Girl.  Unless Dan had serious mental problems, including some sort of dissociative disorder, this made zero sense whatsoever.  Many times, Dan would sit in front of his computer, shocked over a GG post.  Again, unless Dan has blackouts or some sort of mental issue, that shit is not explainable.

I agree with all of this ! 

I always wanted to flip out on chuck for blairs sake also .. I loved their story but never understood why she let him walk all over her  ( especially during season 2 when one day he wanted to be with her and the next he didn't ) . I also didn't like how the writers had Blair pretty much beg chuck to marry her . I know they were in the situation with Bart but I thought the ending should have been him just coming to terms with the fact that he can't live without her and then propose naturally . I'm glad they got married but was disappointed how it happened .. 

i too saw no hint of love from Dans side regarding Serena the last couple of seasons of the show . He was still in love with Blair about 2 episodes before saying he loved Serena and he looked like he just rolled his eyes at the thought of Serena toward the end . They were cute together in seasons 1 and 2 like you said , but after that the cuteness was done . I always felt like even though Dan had this major crush on Serena in the beginning , throughout the show Serena was way more in love with him than he was with her . I thought the writers did a bad job with their relationship . 

Season 6 was spent wayyy too much on Bart bass . Maybe they had nothing else to write about but he did not need to be the main storyline for the whole last season 

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38 minutes ago, Jaclyn88 said:

i too saw no hint of love from Dans side regarding Serena the last couple of seasons of the show . He was still in love with Blair about 2 episodes before saying he loved Serena and he looked like he just rolled his eyes at the thought of Serena toward the end . They were cute together in seasons 1 and 2 like you said , but after that the cuteness was done . I always felt like even though Dan had this major crush on Serena in the beginning , throughout the show Serena was way more in love with him than he was with her . I thought the writers did a bad job with their relationship . 

I think a lot of the actors were over the show the last couple of seasons. I also wonder if Penn Badley and Black Lively's offscreen relationship affected the performances as well. They had gone out for a couple years but had broken up by end of S2 I think. I think they were still fine as coworkers, but like many couples who end up dating and breaking up off screen, their chemistry on set never quite recovered. I also personally didn't buy Blake's chemistry with most of her male love interests; she wasn't that good of an actor. At least I saw it a bit more with Penn when they were dating.

I am biased, but it seemed like Dan (and even Penn) liked the Dan/Blair interactions more than the Dan/Serena ones. Whether it was because he liked working with Leighton or that the characters got along in his mind, Dan/Penn didn't really show any affection for Serena afterwards.  

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(edited)

I definitely think Blake lively was lacking in the acting department but I also think a lot of it was the writing . The reason we all love chuck and Blair is because they are shown to consistently be in love with each other throughout the whole series ( albeit their way of loving each other is weird but they do )... but with Dan and Serena , they are written to be in love with various characters throughout the show and move on from each other quicker than you can say move on . And adding on to that , Dan is shown to fall in love with Serena's best friend ( that would never have happened with chuck falling in love with blairs  friend). So I think the writing was just bad for them and made their eventual marriage unrealistic . 

Adding on to what you said about Dan just liking Blair better , I agree towards the end that that was true .Dating Serena would be tiring . She never takes any blame for everything and has so many dramatic things going on in her life , whereas Blair was a bitch but she never apologized for who she was and the crazy she brought . 

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On 6/5/2018 at 12:30 PM, teapot said:

Blake Lively said in an interview that in the last seasons they'd get their scripts minutes before they were due to film their scenes.  it sounds like the show runners just kind of let go of it.

okay this is the most unpopular opinion in the world, but I love Serena!  (I could take or leave Blake Lively, but I love SVW!)

I'm not crazy proud of this, but I was kind of like her as a teen...NOT the beautiful/popular part, I mean, I look *okay* but no one was jealous of my hair!  (it was the 80s & it was kind of fried, I digress...)

I'd get caught up in whatever was happening, I'd just go with whatever flow, I'd fall in love six times a day, and people (not my close friends, they were like "she's kinda flaky but she means well") didn't quite trust the instability so they'd think I was a trouble-maker, and they'd treat me as such.  So then I'd be like, okay well then screw you, I'll do whatever I want!

coincidentally, my Mister was kind of my "Dan", as in when I started dating him, I wanted to do the right thing and be the kind of girl he could be with.  That was thirty-two years ago!

I grew out of all of that a very, very long time ago, though, and Serena seemed like she'd *still* be like that her whole life, kinda like her mom Lily! (for the record I love her too but I can't believe she did Rufus so wrong!)

It's not unpopular to like Serena - I know most of the critics against her are the vocal ones, but I think Serena has quite a following still.  I think that characters are about self-insertion and most people identify with the put upon, "underdog" characters like Blair and Dan.  But Blair wasn't really an underdog compared to us, but in her UES world, she the underdog, even though she was the quintessential entitled "why can't *I* be the most popular one" and "I HATE being in someone else's shadow because *I* should have it all" character who had a hard time understanding that there is ALWAYS a prettier, more privileged flower who gets everything because sometimes that's just how it is.  Crazy thing though is that I still love Blair - AND I love Serena.  I feel like a lot of fans felt "there could be only one" and for many it was Blair - making Serena the enemy who must be destroyed.  I think this is why a lot of fans were okay with Dair - they pretty much hated Serena and thus didn't see any issues with Blair doing worse than Serena did with Nate, with Dan.  Serena was the enemy and she "deserved it" because Blair should have everything she wants and not be 2nd best, etc etc...  And since most fans knew Serena still loved Dan deep down, it was even better that he got with Blair.  Take that, most popular girl in high school who got all the guys just because you were pretty!!  Haha!!  I - the underdog in your shadow and alllllllll the guys you didn't give the time of day WIN!!!

I didn't buy into that line of thinking.  I'm still mad at the writers for a lot of it because it was sexist writing at its core.

I found that Serena's heart was pure - yeah she made a ton of mistakes but she wasn't vindictive.  I can count two times where she was vindictive - that moment she and Dan broke up and he acted a fool, so she became Queen to put him in his place (God I LOVED That sequence - finally she reminded Dan of who SHE was and who HE was before he met her and "leveled up" on HER star) and then later when she tried to make that sex tape to break up Dair.  I can't count what she did with Nate as vindictive - that felt more like a mistake because she didn't compound it afterwards by deciding to BE with him in a relationship.

The fact that she still had feelings for Dan though is why I really thought Blair was wrong for dating Dan. If Serena had dated Chuck after knowing Blair had been in love with him (and possibly still was) she would have hated it.  The fans would have dragged Serena to hell and back too.  I didn't find Dair a breath of fresh air, because I didn't hate Serena.  I also didn't hate Blair - but her character was to be judgy, entitled and snobby.  Those eventually became lovable quirks because she also had a soft center, but it doesn't mean that all of her attacks on Serena were justified.  And the constant acting out against Serena because Serena was more popular/beautiful/whatever got exhausting.  Maybe because I know what it's like to have a jealous friend constantly trying to tear you down with constant guilt trips.  I also know what it's like to be the underdog because no one has it all.  Someone always has more in some way or another.

Also - these writers only marginally got better since The O.C..  Dan is basically a combination of Ryan/Seth.  Blair is a mixture of Summer/Julie - but she leans much more towards Julie than Summer most of the time.  Serena is a slightly better written version of Marissa - but with the SAME pitfalls of being the character the writers CONSTANTLY go to to create drama.  After a point it uses the character up and also dumbs it down - Serena acting the way she did with the Georgina stuff was stupid - the writers erased her growth and made her dumber in order for their inane plot to work. 

A lot of people think the series finale was really sexist - but as I alluded to before - it was just a continuation of sexist themes that started in S1.  Even though I loved Dan and Serena (mostly just in S1), Dan basically negged Serena after a bit and then kept that up until the end.  His usage of GG to neg Serena was the worst and then in the end that article he wrote and published was the WORST negging ever.  Yeah he wrote the "nice one" too and gave that to her, but he negged her in order to gain entry to her circle and have the power over her so that he wouldn't feel out of place in her world.  He negged so that he could gain rightful entry into her world.  He negged all of them but the negging of her was the worst because he was supposed to love her.  Don't even get me started on Lily and her ex-husband.  Jesus.

Blair, on the other hand, escaped a lot of the sexism - out of the endings on the show she seemed to get the best one.

The writers always pick one woman to be "kinder" to - just like on The OC where it was Summer (who probably deserved it more than Blair, to be honest, in terms of character), the writers always pick one woman to be left standing above the others and on GG it was Blair.

I still love this show - but that doesn't mean the sexism that ran rampant in it was okay.

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5 hours ago, phoenics said:

It's not unpopular to like Serena - I know most of the critics against her are the vocal ones, but I think Serena has quite a following still.  I think that characters are about self-insertion and most people identify with the put upon, "underdog" characters like Blair and Dan.  But Blair wasn't really an underdog compared to us, but in her UES world, she the underdog, even though she was the quintessential entitled "why can't *I* be the most popular one" and "I HATE being in someone else's shadow because *I* should have it all" character who had a hard time understanding that there is ALWAYS a prettier, more privileged flower who gets everything because sometimes that's just how it is.  Crazy thing though is that I still love Blair - AND I love Serena.  I feel like a lot of fans felt "there could be only one" and for many it was Blair - making Serena the enemy who must be destroyed.  I think this is why a lot of fans were okay with Dair - they pretty much hated Serena and thus didn't see any issues with Blair doing worse than Serena did with Nate, with Dan.  Serena was the enemy and she "deserved it" because Blair should have everything she wants and not be 2nd best, etc etc...  And since most fans knew Serena still loved Dan deep down, it was even better that he got with Blair.  Take that, most popular girl in high school who got all the guys just because you were pretty!!  Haha!!  I - the underdog in your shadow and alllllllll the guys you didn't give the time of day WIN!!!

I didn't buy into that line of thinking.  I'm still mad at the writers for a lot of it because it was sexist writing at its core.

I found that Serena's heart was pure - yeah she made a ton of mistakes but she wasn't vindictive.  I can count two times where she was vindictive - that moment she and Dan broke up and he acted a fool, so she became Queen to put him in his place (God I LOVED That sequence - finally she reminded Dan of who SHE was and who HE was before he met her and "leveled up" on HER star) and then later when she tried to make that sex tape to break up Dair.  I can't count what she did with Nate as vindictive - that felt more like a mistake because she didn't compound it afterwards by deciding to BE with him in a relationship.

The fact that she still had feelings for Dan though is why I really thought Blair was wrong for dating Dan. If Serena had dated Chuck after knowing Blair had been in love with him (and possibly still was) she would have hated it.  The fans would have dragged Serena to hell and back too.  I didn't find Dair a breath of fresh air, because I didn't hate Serena.  I also didn't hate Blair - but her character was to be judgy, entitled and snobby.  Those eventually became lovable quirks because she also had a soft center, but it doesn't mean that all of her attacks on Serena were justified.  And the constant acting out against Serena because Serena was more popular/beautiful/whatever got exhausting.  Maybe because I know what it's like to have a jealous friend constantly trying to tear you down with constant guilt trips.  I also know what it's like to be the underdog because no one has it all.  Someone always has more in some way or another.

Also - these writers only marginally got better since The O.C..  Dan is basically a combination of Ryan/Seth.  Blair is a mixture of Summer/Julie - but she leans much more towards Julie than Summer most of the time.  Serena is a slightly better written version of Marissa - but with the SAME pitfalls of being the character the writers CONSTANTLY go to to create drama.  After a point it uses the character up and also dumbs it down - Serena acting the way she did with the Georgina stuff was stupid - the writers erased her growth and made her dumber in order for their inane plot to work. 

A lot of people think the series finale was really sexist - but as I alluded to before - it was just a continuation of sexist themes that started in S1.  Even though I loved Dan and Serena (mostly just in S1), Dan basically negged Serena after a bit and then kept that up until the end.  His usage of GG to neg Serena was the worst and then in the end that article he wrote and published was the WORST negging ever.  Yeah he wrote the "nice one" too and gave that to her, but he negged her in order to gain entry to her circle and have the power over her so that he wouldn't feel out of place in her world.  He negged so that he could gain rightful entry into her world.  He negged all of them but the negging of her was the worst because he was supposed to love her.  Don't even get me started on Lily and her ex-husband.  Jesus.

Blair, on the other hand, escaped a lot of the sexism - out of the endings on the show she seemed to get the best one.

The writers always pick one woman to be "kinder" to - just like on The OC where it was Summer (who probably deserved it more than Blair, to be honest, in terms of character), the writers always pick one woman to be left standing above the others and on GG it was Blair.

I still love this show - but that doesn't mean the sexism that ran rampant in it was okay.

I think the show was only kinder to Blair bebause she was one half of the couple most people shipped on the show . i noticed on a majority of tv shows , most people end up falling in love with the couples who were not intended to be a couple from the very beginning ( for example pacey and Joey , Monica and chandler , etc .) ... I think the same can be said for chuck and Blair .. even though their story started in the first season , the writers made them work to be together unlike Serena and Dan who got together right away and were thrown in your face as the starring couple . But I do agree with most people loving the underdog of the show which Blair and chuck were both separately and together . 

I didn't think the finale was sexist , I thought it was extremely rushed and should have been longer . I also thought the odds of Serena and Dan having ended up together in the end would have been pretty slim in real life , as he seemed very over her by the end . 

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22 hours ago, phoenics said:

I think this is why a lot of fans were okay with Dair - they pretty much hated Serena and thus didn't see any issues with Blair doing worse than Serena did with Nate, with Dan.  Serena was the enemy and she "deserved it" because Blair should have everything she wants and not be 2nd best, etc etc...  And since most fans knew Serena still loved Dan deep down, it was even better that he got with Blair.  Take that, most popular girl in high school who got all the guys just because you were pretty!!  Haha!!  I - the underdog in your shadow and alllllllll the guys you didn't give the time of day WIN!!!

I think fans were into Dair for a multitude of reasons.  Some of it was due to indifference/dislike of Serena and love of Blair, and all of the justifications you stated.  I think a lot of it was due to being way, way over the rigmarole of Dan/Serena (who had lost the charm and appeal they had seasons before) and Chuck/Blair, who had become infuriating and toxic to some.  People were tired of Blair begging to be with Chuck and his being an asshole to her in return.  I got that.  Also, it's always intriguing when two people who find each other despicable find a common ground, become friends, and eventually fall for one another.  Dair had good chemistry and common interests, and their scenes were engaging.  I enjoyed their friendship.  If Dan was a character who had been on the edge of the crowd like Carter or Vanessa and had no involvement with Serena, I wouldn't have had a problem with them.  I would have continued to want Chuck and Blair, but I could have dealt with them.

My overriding issue with them was the Dan/Serena relationship, and that Serena was still in love with Dan.  I could not get past that.  I didn't care what happened on Dawson's or 90210; I loved Serena and Blair as best friends and I could NOT see Blair doing that to her.  If the tables were turned, and Serena and Chuck fell for one another, Blair would be tearing them to shreds and I'd be right with her.  Because HELL NO.  No, no, no, no, NO. 

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(edited)

Rewatch update (I'm in the middle of S4): 

  • At the beginning of S4, there's a scene where Dan is taking care of Milo and believes Georgina is at a spa.  He reads Gossip Girl and is genuinely shocked to find that she's at St. Bart's.  What-the-fucking-fuckery show?  Does Dan have blackouts?  Does he have a mental illness?  Fuckyoushowthatmakesnodamnsense!!
  • Chuck living in Paris and later NYC with Fleur Delacour was so, so bad.  I watched GH back in the day and it legit reminded me of when Sonny got shot and was "rescued" and nursed back to health by Angel Boris.  Angel and Fleur had nearly the same sugary/insipid personality.  I laughed during the scene in which Blair was "mean" to her at the boutique.  So hilariously dumb and heavy-handed.
  • Blair in the red dress.  In the Oscar de la Renta red fucking dress.  Running to stop Chuck from getting on the train.  I'm not sure I've ever seen her look more stunning.  
  • Speaking of that scene - there's a reason why so many people adored that pairing and it's written all over that moment.  Blair tells Chuck, "I don't love you anymore" but her eyes and his both say how deeply and achingly they're still so connected and drawn to each other, and so very, very much in love.  Leighton and Ed played all-consuming love so well.
  • I loved Serena, but holy crap, the three-guys-in-love-with-Serena story was just awful.  She looked and was horribly fickle throughout that story.  She would be confronted by Dan, Nate, and the professor multiple times on who she was "choosing" and she'd stand around gaping.  Oh, what shall I do, all the mens want me?!  Why, why, why?
  • This was breezed through in the series, but what Georgina did to Dan was beyond fucked up.  As critical as I was of Dan throughout, due to his seemingly endless self-righteousness and hypocrisy, he didn't deserve that shit.  He believed Milo was his, loved him, helped raise him, Georgina rolls out to "a spa" (messaged via post-it and actually a LIE as she was at St. Bart's as aforementioned) and returns and tells him the kid isn't his?  I know most people felt Georgina was a "fun bad girl" but I couldn't stand her after that.
  • This is at the end of S2 but there's a moment where Blair is voted prom queen (due to Chuck's machinations) in which Serena is so genuinely happy for her in the crowd and it's just so beautiful.  Serena's unconditional love and support for Blair despite her schemes, jealousy, their fights, etc, was a huge, huge reason why I continued to love her despite her nonsensical stories.
  • The GANG GETS TOGETHER TO TAKE DOWN JULIET at the opening night of the ballet.  YES YES YES.  This is why I loved this show.  No matter what was going on with Nate, Blair, Serena, & Chuck, they would always unite to fight a common enemy.  Because they are family.  LOVE IT!
Edited by lvbalgurl
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So I myself have been binge-watching the show recently on Netflix. A lot of things irk me but like watching the Kardashians its nonsense but for some reason, you continue to watch and can't look away.

1 thing I noticed is that everyone keeps telling Nate their deep dark secrets and not to tell anyone else but as soon as he walks out the door he tells. Lmao, and people get hurt because he can't keep his mouth shut but no one ever disowned him the way they disowned Vanessa. 

 

Speaking of Vanessa after all the things that Serena, Blair, Chuck, and let's not forget Georgina claiming the Dan was the father of her baby and pretending to be a different person. He grew up with Vanessa and understands how cruel the upper east side is an even led himself to do things to question his own character. Why did he just dismiss her out of his life forever like that? She was family first. That really pissed me off!!!

I think that Vanessa and Dan should end up together. I'm on Season 4 so we'll see.

 

 Chuck and Blair need to just stay the fuck away from each other. It's a toxic relationship. They don't know how to be together without hurting each other and playing games. They should just be friends and care for one another that's it. Chuck should've stayed with that french hooker that made him a better person and Blair I hope stays with them prince.... which I know probably won't happen and shell end up back in a hot mess of a relationship with Chuck by season 5. Presumably cheating on him with Chuck. 

Serena just needs to stop stringing the guys in her life along. Nate then some random guy, then Dan and some random guy.... So on and so on. I wanted her with Dan, but now I think she should just cut him loose, free him to be happy with someone else (Vanessa!) but yeah I think Om did with my rant for now. Oh and also I kinda wanted Dan and Blair to have feelings of each other and a secret relationship for real  just to piss Serena off. Lol

 

Feel free to agree, disagree or add to this. ?

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Hey guys!

 

Currently about halfway through S4, so thought I would give an update on my thoughts, being a 1st time watcher of GG, and wanting anyone to talk with about it!!

 

Jenny is gone now, and anyone above who basically said she is an asshole is right.  I liked her okay when I was on the earlier seasons, but she is just...such a dick!  At least Blair owns being conniving.  Jenny tries to be all apologetic and seemingly sincere, like “I screwed up”.  No, Jenny, the shit you do is cold and you’re just a shitty person, at this point.  I’m sure you’ll “screw up” again, in the very near future!

 

Vanessa has started to be a shittier person too, what with her teaming up with that Juliet girl to take down Serena (whom I still could take or leave at this point; I’m lukewarm about her). I had always liked Vanessa prior to that, so I’m hoping for a redemption arc, but I’m not going to hold my breath.  Most of the characters on this show are dicks.

 

Still love Blair.  She makes me laugh with the most simple one liners, and I love how over-the-top she is. I have, however, been annoyed with some of the cheesy stuff with Darota.  I only like the Darota jokes when they are done simply.  Like when Blair was just telling Serena what she did over holiday break, and one of the things was “supervised Darota taking down the tree” ?. That kind of Darota stuff cracks me up— Blair commanding her to do things.  When it’s a whole-episode-about-Dorota’s-wedding type thing, I can really do without it! 

 

I can also do without Chuck.  I really, really, TRULY do not care anymore about any of Chuck’s escapades in business, Bass Industries, and the like.  I have a hard time caring about him, in regards to Blair anymore, TBH— I do like them together, it’s just always so much drama/so many obstacles for them to be together, and quite frankly if I were them, I’d really be wondering, at this point: “Is all this trouble worth it, just to be with this person?”  I do enjoy an obstacle or two getting in the way for a couple I ship on a TV show— Kelly, Brenda, Dylan love triangle; Dawson Joey Pacey live triangle, for example.  And don’t get me wrong, I get tired of love triangles too— But this whole Blair/Chuck cat and mouse game is getting a little tired, if I’m being honest.

 

So far I am enjoying Blair and Dan.  They just started a bit of banter in the last episode I watched (S4: EP11), no clear romance/sexual tension happening, and i like it because I think the actors play very well off of each other.  Probably also because I find Dan and Serena so exhausting with the back and forth, and i do find it a little creepy that they are step siblings now, and being they’re still being all romantic and stuff.

 

Speaking of Dawson and 90210, watching GG I’ve actually noticed that the drama and such that I used to love in a teen show like this, when I WAS a teen, is now the same shit that makes me (at age 30) roll my eyes and say “oh, for goodness sake— how cheesy.”  Haha

 

 

(BTW, I’m also reading the book series at the same time that i am binging the show for the first time.  They’re really easy reads and it is helping me meet my Goodreads goal of 50 books in 2018!)

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Joining this conversation super late.  I watched GG casually when it was on, but I think I got bored with it partway through--my guess is somewhere in S3 or S4.  I was definitely never obsessed with it, but just was a soapy guilty pleasure to watch to unwind.  I started binge watching on Netflix and am somewhere in S3 currently.

While I do genuinely enjoy this for the soapy fun, at least in early seasons, I don't think I can actually say I LIKE any characters.  It always somewhat bothered me that it felt like fans gave Blair a free pass a lot for her awful, awful deeds because she was some supposed underdog.  I guess she's an underdog compared to Serena and she has more self awareness than Serena, but that didn't mean she didn't do crappy things in almost every episode.  How many times does she need to learn the same lesson?

What saves Blair is Leighton Meester's performance and that is why I think it's easier to root for her than Serena.  I haven't watched a lot of Blake Lively's movies to know if she's a better actress now, but her acting left a lot to be desired here.  Leighton could elevate awful material.  Blake could not.

I can't make myself root for Blair/Chuck because Chuck is human garbage, despite his sad upbringing.  He was basically written off from the first episode where he tried to casually date rape Jenny.  Jenny may be obnoxious, but that doesn't make me side with an attempted rapist.  Now on top of that I can't get all the rumors and stories about Ed Westwick out of my mind and I can't separate that when watching on screen.

I do remember liking Blair/Dan when it happened, though I haven't gotten to that in my rewatch yet.  I also think it's the idea of the polar opposites people that used to hate each other turning into love trope.  But it is crappy of Blair/Dan to do to Serena, however when you only have a handful of main characters and nobody cares about the side extra love interests that are brought in periodically, you will wind up hooking them all up at some point.

But still...if you asked me if I liked any of these people? I'd say that would be a hard pass.  Leighton just had the best situation in that she was a strong actress where most of the other leads were not and so she could elicit emotions and sympathy from people in a way the others couldn't.

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9 hours ago, spanana said:

Joining this conversation super late.  I watched GG casually when it was on, but I think I got bored with it partway through--my guess is somewhere in S3 or S4.  I was definitely never obsessed with it, but just was a soapy guilty pleasure to watch to unwind.  I started binge watching on Netflix and am somewhere in S3 currently.

While I do genuinely enjoy this for the soapy fun, at least in early seasons, I don't think I can actually say I LIKE any characters.  It always somewhat bothered me that it felt like fans gave Blair a free pass a lot for her awful, awful deeds because she was some supposed underdog.  I guess she's an underdog compared to Serena and she has more self awareness than Serena, but that didn't mean she didn't do crappy things in almost every episode.  How many times does she need to learn the same lesson?

What saves Blair is Leighton Meester's performance and that is why I think it's easier to root for her than Serena.  I haven't watched a lot of Blake Lively's movies to know if she's a better actress now, but her acting left a lot to be desired here.  Leighton could elevate awful material.  Blake could not.

I can't make myself root for Blair/Chuck because Chuck is human garbage, despite his sad upbringing.  He was basically written off from the first episode where he tried to casually date rape Jenny.  Jenny may be obnoxious, but that doesn't make me side with an attempted rapist.  Now on top of that I can't get all the rumors and stories about Ed Westwick out of my mind and I can't separate that when watching on screen.

I do remember liking Blair/Dan when it happened, though I haven't gotten to that in my rewatch yet.  I also think it's the idea of the polar opposites people that used to hate each other turning into love trope.  But it is crappy of Blair/Dan to do to Serena, however when you only have a handful of main characters and nobody cares about the side extra love interests that are brought in periodically, you will wind up hooking them all up at some point.

But still...if you asked me if I liked any of these people? I'd say that would be a hard pass.  Leighton just had the best situation in that she was a strong actress where most of the other leads were not and so she could elicit emotions and sympathy from people in a way the others couldn't.

Forget about us liking any of the characters . What amazes me is that any of them would still like each other and hang out on a daily basis . Most casts on television shows argue , lie and cheat on each other , but they still have a certain chemistry and I can see why they'd stay friends .. but this cast just didn't have that in my opinion . Nates only friends would be these people ? Blair and Serena hardly ever like each other .. chuck is awful to everyone including the love of his life .. Dan would never hang out with any of them . They all can't stand him and he hates them . Jenny is jenny . It's just a bad mix . 

The only part of the show I enjoyed watching was the chuck and Blair relationship .. I realize how unhealthy and unrealistic it is .. but damn do they have the best chemistry and know how to entertain .

i do wonder since the writers didn't originally cast Blair and chuck as a romantic love interest , who would have been blairs main relationship ? Nate ? 

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So I'm now up to the end of S3 and I honestly can't remember if I was still watching regularly at this point when it was on.  I have a feeling I tuned in, but not regularly.  I do agree that it's hard to buy that any of these people are friends on any level and to me it's not even entirely about the chemistry.  Everyone has slept with and/or been in love with everyone.  I know on a tv show like this the partner swapping is essential because you can only have so many main characters and you have to keep things interesting and as probably almost everyone can attest to on this show, nobody cared about any of the outside guest star relationships.  But this show takes it to an extreme.  Everyone has hooked up with everyone, except Eric since everyone else was straight.  At least as of S3, Vanessa has slept with Chuck, Nate and Dan.  Jenny slept with Chuck (capital EW) and hooked up with Nate.  Serena, with Nate and Dan.  Blair with Nate and Chuck, and Dan is yet to come in the future.  Vice versa on the guys.   I'm all for sexual freedom and liberation but it's hard to imagine these people with be "friends".  It's almost refreshing that Serena and Chuck's relationship is different.

Also as referenced above, most of these people fight in almost every episode.  Serena and Blair fight constantly.  One episode they are in a fight, the next they make-up and then they have a new fight.  They like Jenny, they hate Jenny, etc.  They only come together at mostly the end of every season when they need to pull off a caper.

Currently on my tv screen, Dan and Nate are having a way too calm conversation about how Nate isn't mad at Dan because Dan/Serena spent the night together (mostly as friends, but they still kissed and spent the night in bed together).  Why would Nate be calm about that and he and Dan are still cool?

Oh, and Jenny is the WORST.  Like Chuck is worse in the big picture with the magnitude of the crap he's done, but Jenny is also nonsensical.  I didn't mind her brattiness in S1, because in the first season her motivations at least made sense.  It made sense that she was trying to find her place at Constance and was trying to keep up with Blair and the rich kids and did stupid things to try and keep up with her new life.  But what is frustrating about S2 & S3 Jenny is on top of being a brat, she is also written with little consistency.  Most of her motivations for the things she does make no sense.  One episode she learns her lesson and then she's randomly dealing drugs.  Sometimes she loves Serena, other times she randomly hates her.  Sometimes she's against shallow popularity and other times it's the only thing her life resolves around.  She's just obnoxious to be obnoxious.

  • Love 3
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Couldn't agree more about Jenny . Minute to minute her values change and it gave me whiplash when watching . 

The biggest mystery on the show is Nates character . Why do the writers not treat him like a main character even though he is one ? They clearly don't give a crap about his storylines as he never has any . Granted he doesn't come across as the best actor , but he legitimately has nothing to work with . 

Another thing is chuck and blairs encounters are so inconsistent . They'll have a really nice scene together where they're serious, work things out , cry and end on a high note .. but then the next episode is as if they never had that conversation and they're back to being weird . 

Edited by Jaclyn88
  • Love 1
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One reason I lost interest by about season 2 was that as the show got more famous it had to stop filming in the gorgeous locations they began with. Season 1 was an amazing visual treat: the New York vistas, the lushness of the clothing choices, and the *art*, which I loved seeing on the walls. The other main reason was that I thought Lily was a fantastic character at the beginning - the UES socialite with a shady past as a rock groupie chick - and they effectively threw that away. The show really peaked at the first Thanksgiving episode, and then, for me, cratered badly because they very quickly ran out of the ideas they came with. But as a prediction of the future - mobile phones and social media used for mutual destruction - it was amazingly prescient, and for that all credit should go to Cecily von Ziegesar, the author of the books.

  • Love 5
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Inconsistency of character/storyline is one of the shows gaping flaws when I see it all laid out in a row as I do by binge watching.  I'm somewhere in S4 at the moment, and really it's just so nonsensical.  Vanessa is trying to take down Serena, Vanessa blames crap on Jenny (Jenny was part of it too but still), Vanessa keeps popping in and out of town and after all her scheming is shocked Dan and family want nothing to do with her.  Bye Vanessa!

I repeat Blair/Serena have at least a disagreement or altercation at least once every few episodes.  They really are very crappy friends to each other as they will turn on each other on a dime and then apologize by end of episode.  It's also not just simple disagreements.  It's usually one selling out the other to Gossip Girl or in some other humiliating way.

I can't even follow the storyline with Bass enterprises and I don't really care to at this point.

What I do enjoy is watching the Dan/Blair friendship develop and I wish they had held off longer on the romantic aspect.  The two actors IMO played very well off each other and, romance aside, at least it made sense that they turned to each other when for the most part they didn't have others around.  Also in their own weird way, Blair and Dan have more in common than Serena/Dan.  I understand the appeal of Serena/Dan to each other, but outside of the physical, I'm sort of lost on what they even talk about.  They have very few common interests.  I also liked the aspect of Blair/Dan being embarrassed about said friendship.   I feel more chemistry between Blair/Dan than I ever did between Serena/Dan.

At least at the point I'm at, Jenny is gone and Vanessa just left.  I also think I decided the only character I don't totally hate is Eric.  He had a handful of shady episodes, but that was about it.  Unfortunately Ivy has showed up and I already want her gone.

I also didn't remember that the Rufus/Lily relationship lasted this long.

Lastly I find it amusing that every single person that comes into their lives from the outside are never who they say they are. You would think by now these "kids" would wise up and not trust anyone at face value.

Edited by spanana
  • Love 6
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17 minutes ago, spanana said:

Inconsistency of character/storyline is one of the shows gaping flaws when I see it all laid out in a row as I do by binge watching.  I'm somewhere in S4 at the moment, and really it's just so nonsensical.  Vanessa is trying to take down Serena, Vanessa blames crap on Jenny (Jenny was part of it too but still), Vanessa keeps popping in and out of town and after all her scheming is shocked Dan and family want nothing to do with her.  Bye Vanessa!

I repeat Blair/Serena have an least a disagreement or altercation at least once every few episodes.  They really are very crappy friends to each other as they will turn on each other on a dime and then apologize by end of episode.

I can't even follow the storyline with Bass enterprises and I don't really care to at this point.

What I do enjoy is watching the Dan/Blair friendship develop and I wish they had held off longer on the romantic aspect.  The two actors IMO played very well off each other and, romance aside, at least it made sense that they turned to each other when for the most part they didn't have others around.  Also in their own weird way, Blair and Dan have more in common than Serena/Dan.  I understand the appeal of Serena/Dan to each other, but outside of the physical, I'm sort of lost on what they even talk about.  They have very few common interests.  I also liked the aspect of Blair/Dan being embarrassed about said friendship.   I feel more chemistry between Blair/Dan than I ever did between Serena/Dan.

I watched this show week by week when I was on and it was always inconsistently written after S1. Most of the characters don't get clear or consistent motivations. It was very annoying how they would randomly fight and go against each other. No one acted remotely rational on the show. I watched a lot of this show for Leighton Meester's Blair and the fashion styling, but even the latter became overdone by S5.

I really liked Blair/Dan as well and it made sense to me because they did have a lot in common. I never quite understood how Dan and Serena could have a relationship beyond high school. I also think the actors' chemistry was hurt after their real life breakup. I think Penn really started to phone in the acting around S3/S4 (so did a lot all of the cast eventually), but he was still somewhat trying in the Blair/Dan arc. At the time, Penn said in an interview that he thought Blair was Dan's soul mate but he wasn't hers implying that the writers would put Blair and Chuck back together eventually. 

  • Love 2
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That's actually a very good point.  I wasn't even thinking about that Blake and Penn's real life relationship definitely messed with things. I also think it's fairly obvious later in the series that the majority of the actors were over it and trying to get out with some dignity in tact.  Which I have mixed feelings about.  The show became a mess, but at the same time it's what brought these people fame and I hate when actors forget that and act like a show is standing in the way of their movie career or something.  At least put in the effort.  You were working actors, which is more than can be said for much of Hollywood.

I never really thought much about what Dan/Serena did together besides the physical, but it was driven home when you see he and Blair having similar taste in films and attending art exhibits together and such.  Then again, I'm not sure what Serena does period.

  • Love 2
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Dan and Serena were cute together in season 1.. ill give them that. But to me, it wasn't the actors chemistry that threw them off so much, but it was the way they were written. Season 2 was fine because they both still cared about each other but were giving their relationship space.. but by late season 2 and for the rest of the series, their relationship was written so badly. The writers wanted us to believe they still loved each other, but never wrote them as if they did. Serena would date a million other guys and only think of Dan when it was time for the guest character to leave the show. And Dan just didn't seem into Serena for the rest of the series. He fell in love with her best friend for goodness sake and only broke up with her because she wanted her ex boyfriend and dumped him .. He chased her even after they broke up which he never really even did with Serena. Then the show put them back together in season 6 but only because Dan was using her for his book. Then they get married during the last episode? Why? probably only because Blair was unavailable. Blair and Chuck had a lot of issues but at least the show always stuck to them wanting each other, regardless of how messed up their relationship was. Dan and Serena, not so much.

  • Love 1
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Dan didn't seem into Serena for the rest of the series, or at least up to where I am currently in S5, and the writing supports that...but I do think the way Penn plays it plays a role in that too.  If Penn was more into the Blair stuff, I think there are subtle ways he shows that.  Even in Dan's casual conversations with Serena by S4 & S5, he looks like he barely wants to be in the same room as her.

So S5, which I'm partly way in at this point.  I still don't give a crap about anybody outside of the core group except Georgina's crazy ass.  So don't give a crap about Ivy.  So much time spent on Ivy and the prince.  I'd rather get back to the Dan/Blair stuff.

As for the whole book thing, the whole book blowing up into this huge overnight success complete with optioned movie rights is very unrealistic.  Considering half the stuff Dan wrote about were scandals for the most part already on Gossip Girl, what is so interesting about it all?  I'm also of mixed mind about how self righteous everyone is about it, including Dan.  On the one hand since Vanessa anonymously submitted it, the book probably would have looked different if Dan had edited it and submitted it on his own.  But people in the world already thought Serena was shallow and flighty and etc.  I guess it makes sense that Serena's main objection is how Dan sees her and that Dan didn't make her the star of the book.  And Nate's main objection is being forgotten and unseen.

Vanessa has officially made my list of characters I hate more than the others, along with Jenny.  While she's gone at this point, I actually think in the long run she comes across even more self righteous than Dan.  In the earlier seasons they were about on par, but Vanessa is another one where once they ran out of things to do with her, none of her motivations and betrayals made sense and then she's self righteous that people don't want to forgive her betrayals.

I guess the best thing I can say about S5 so far is I do see some advancement in the maturity of some of the characters.  Blair is less schemy, Serena actually works at a job, etc.

ETA: This Ivy stuff goes on FOREVER.  Now that she's finally been exposed and Cece left her the entire estate, I don't really understand why real Charlie and others have sympathy for her and see the Rhodes as the devil that are in the wrong.  I get Carol, the sister since she's the reason Ivy duped them in the first place and she's shady as hell, but if I were Lily and Serena and just found out some person has been pretending to be my relative and now Cece left her her entire estate, I'd be pissed and try to get the money back too.  I guess we are supposed to feel bad for Ivy since she has no family and took care of Cece, but it's also not Lily's fault she didn't know about the cancer coming back.  Cece kept it a secret and Ivy didn't try very hard to tell Lily.  It's not like Lily would have abandoned Cece if she knew.

Edited by spanana
  • Love 1
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Season 5 Blair seemed like she had different writers for her character that season . Her personality was completely different from prior seasons ( including season 6 when she seemed back to herself ) and her love square made no sense . She was about to leave Louis for chuck because she was so in love with him .. until she made a pact with God and then somehow became in love with Dan ? And then still married Louis despite not loving him ? And she somehow thought Louis ended up being evil when in my opinion the guy was a Saint for putting up with her that whole time . She was a mess that season , but not in a Blair-like fun way . 

  • Love 4
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Finally made it to S6 and haven't been able to will myself through the last 3 episodes since the rest has been so bad.  I don't care about anything that is happening.  It's almost like they suddenly made each character even more awful in the last season and there seems to be little to bring them to any closure outside of who they wind up with romantically (I presume since I only have a few episodes left and everyone is still a mess).  I don't want to see Rufus with Ivy or even hear the name Ivy one more time.  Everything about her and her story is the worst, which includes the real cousin.  

Dan's self righteousness is at an all time high.  Serena is a mess.  Blair is a mess and her trying to scheme/bully her way through her mom's company is cringe inducing to watch.  Everyone lies and fights with each other every episode, so zero growth, etc.

Also in retrospect to S5, I really hate the way they did the Dan/Blair relationship.  The initial build up to their friendship was good and the part where they were interning together, however briefly.  And showing them slowly coming to rely on each other and developing feelings and being embarrassed to admit they were friends.  But then the prince crap happened and so by the time Dan/Blair actually happened it was more about Blair & Chuck & Prince stuff than it was about Dan.  So they threw them together for a few episodes, during most of which Blair continued to pine over Chuck.  Then ick to Serena trying to "seduce" Dan and make a sex tape that she could exploit to help break them up.  Not that Dan was in the right since it takes to two to you know, but the actual relationship was a mess since Dan and Blair were never in the same place.  There was a lot more potential to the relationship than what the show chose to do with it.

Edited by spanana
  • Love 4
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I just didn't understand how Blair and Dan were in a relationship and best friends in season 5 and then in season 6 she went back to treating him like she did in season 1( like he was one of her minions ). It made no sense in context of the last couple of seasons . 

  • Love 2
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17 minutes ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I just didn't understand how Blair and Dan were in a relationship and best friends in season 5 and then in season 6 she went back to treating him like she did in season 1( like he was one of her minions ). It made no sense in context of the last couple of seasons . 

I think that is this show in a nutshell though.  There is no continuity from the writers season to season and often even episode to episode.  You really never know half the time who is going to hate who in any given episode because moods and motivations turn on a dime and rarely make sense.  

I actually think one of the things that disappoints me the most about S6, besides all the ridiculous screentime wasted on Ivy, is Blair.  Watching Blair flounder with her mom's company would be one thing.  That makes sense to some degree since she has no real fashion experience or experience running a company.  Seeing her overwhelmed, cool.  But it's just how she goes about her screw ups and that she expects to high school scheme her way through it and bully people to try and get what she wants and then doesn't understand why nobody in the real world wants to go along with her high school schemes.  I know scheming is Blair, but at the very least I would have liked to see her upgrade her scheming side from high school levels and combine that with hard work and her smarts to make something work.  Not the juvenile crap she was doing.

I also feel like Blair spent a lot of time uttering how she needed to be successful for Chuck, which also made me shudder.  

I won't even get into the Dan as Gossip Girl thing since that made zero sense in context of the show, but I guess that is how the show works.

Edited by spanana
  • Love 3
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Yeah I agree about Blairs scheming in regard to the company . I really do think if she were a real person , she'd have split personality disorder . I think out of everyone on the show , she was the most inconsistent personality wise . She went from one mood to the next in every scene and loved someone one second and hated them the next . She gave me whiplash . 

I also couldn't stand Ivy and why on earth she was on as many episodes as she was was mind boggling to me . She became a main character the last season and her storylines were terrible . And her and William ? Her and Rufus ? Her obsession with Lily ? Ooookay . 

What disappointed me most season 6 was the lack of wrapping everything up . I kept waiting for things to come together and instead we had to deal with chuck trying to defeat his dad for the entire season and nothing at all was happening for Serena and nothing ever happens with Nate and Dan was a bitter shrew the last season . Why was he so obsessed with these people if he thought they were so horrible ? Why not make other friends ? I get the first season he was enamored by them but why for 6 years would he keep hanging around people who are so horrible ? 

The last episode really annoyed me because it was thrown together and there wasn't enough time for anything when they could have used the last few episodes to lead up to a good finale . I was especially annoyed that chuck and Blair had this ongoing love story since the beginning and we had to endure a million different reasons why they couldn't be together for years  , only to have them get married because if they didn't , he'd go to jail ? I would have liked to see a genuine proposal because he was in love and not because he'd get arrested if he didn't do it . 

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13 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

 What disappointed me most season 6 was the lack of wrapping everything up . I kept waiting for things to come together and instead we had to deal with chuck trying to defeat his dad for the entire season and nothing at all was happening for Serena and nothing ever happens with Nate and Dan was a bitter shrew the last season . Why was he so obsessed with these people if he thought they were so horrible ? Why not make other friends ? I get the first season he was enamored by them but why for 6 years would he keep hanging around people who are so horrible ?

I remember at some point during S5 having the thought that Dan wasn't as self righteous as he used to be and I thought it was because his book being published aside, at that point he seemed to have come to some peace with the fact that he wasn't the outsider he pretend to be and he was on the inside.  Maybe it was because of his infatuation with Blair, or maybe it was something else.  I honestly don't remember when in the season I thought this.  Then S6 happened and Dan was elevated to his worst version and he was back to yapping about being the outsider.  Which again, I get seemed to be hinged on Blair's choosing Chuck for the umpteenth time but still.  Every time I feel like somebody on this show has some actual growth and makes some progress, the show finds a way to completely undo it which makes for completely unsatisfying watching.  You expect characters to take a step forward and two steps back at times, but you also need to see some actual progress forward and you especially expect to see things coming together as the show is wrapping up.

Also I know it was mentioned earlier, but it is completely ridiculous how such a big deal was made about getting into college and where everyone was going and then even the transfers, and then college is never mentioned again.  Sure not everyone needs to go to college but characters like Dan and Blair would 100% be in school and getting their degrees.

  • Love 1
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53 minutes ago, spanana said:

I remember at some point during S5 having the thought that Dan wasn't as self righteous as he used to be and I thought it was because his book being published aside, at that point he seemed to have come to some peace with the fact that he wasn't the outsider he pretend to be and he was on the inside.  Maybe it was because of his infatuation with Blair, or maybe it was something else.  I honestly don't remember when in the season I thought this.  Then S6 happened and Dan was elevated to his worst version and he was back to yapping about being the outsider.

I had  the same feeling during S5. Blair was not written well during their relationship but Dan was not too bad actually. I knew the show would ruin it though which is why I didn't even try to watch S6. I sometimes wonder why the producers were thinking with the show. Namely they weren't thinking at all. The show did really well the first couple of seasons but the characters became incomprehensible. I think they also lost a sense of fun along the way. In trying to develop adult "careers" for the characters, they made them too ridiculous and over the top soapy (any Chuck storyline) but without the tongue in cheek "let's look at the pretty people in nice clothes" of the earlier seasons. 

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As I wasn't watching it at the time, I was trying to figure out if Ivy and/or the actress was well received when she joined the show and that was the reason she stuck around so long.  I get they were probably looking for a new character to fill the voids left by Jenny, Vanessa and I guess Eric, even though he was never on that much, but it just seemed like to a lot of time to devote to such a waste of space character.  Plus once they broke up Rufus and Lily, which also seemingly happened for dumb reasons, they needed something to do with Rufus.  With one of his kids gone, the other barely talking to him, and a broken marriage...what was left for his character to do?

I also think it's weird that they so quickly went to trying to develop adult careers for the characters, at least in the way they did it.  I get its the Upper East Side and so most of these kids are born into rich parents and family legacies where companies are handed right over to them but most people don't go from high school to directly running a newspaper or a fashion business or a whatever it is Bass Enterprises does.  I understand that trust fund kids likely aren't going to be doing the same crappy unpaid internships the rest of us do, but you still have to take time learning something before you are suddenly the boss.  Do I buy Nate can run The Spectator?  That Blair knows how to run her mother's business?  In Chuck's case, I'll at least give him that due to his father's "death" it was thrust upon him in a way.  Even Dan.  How many kids sell their first novel, practically fresh out of high school.  In a weird way, Serena's was the most realistic in that while her commitment to her work was very hit or miss depending on what the script called for that day, at least she was interning and doing the sort of grudge work/learn the business work the rest of us do.  I know Blair also had her brief internship.   Even Jenny when she was there was a fashion phenom who was so good at what she did she was trying to drop out of high school to pursue it.  Maybe it only comes off so jarring because they dropped the college storylines so these kids never seemingly went to college and so it was really was high school to running businesses with minimal supervision.

  • Love 1
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The career aspect of the show was ridiculous , especially Jenny and Chucks . I didn't buy Eleanor who is supposedly a huge deal in the fashion world absolutely needing Jenny to design dresses for her company . She was what , 14 at the time ? And her designs / clothing looked like forever 21 clothes at best . 

Chucks career was insane . Yeah his dad fake died so it makes more sense than the rest of them that he'd have a business .. but at 18? His dad wasn't wrong when he came back to life and told Chuck that he screwed up pretty badly with the company .. trading Blair for the hotel ( though I thought Bart would be happy with that ),  running away and disappearing and trying to be a different person ( Henry ).. signing the hotel over to a woman claiming to be his mother , etc . Chucks individual  storylines were pretty boring which is why I'm guessing they tied mostly everything he did to Blair . 

I don't really understand why a lot of fans thought Nate and Serena might end up together in the end . Rewatching the show , she never really seemed into him even when they were together briefly . Serena was in love with a new guy every episode until the story called for her to miss Dan. But Nate never seemed like a factor for her . 

  • Love 1
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On 06/11/2018 at 8:02 PM, spanana said:

I understand that trust fund kids likely aren't going to be doing the same crappy unpaid internships the rest of us do,

Actually trust fund kids *are* going to be doing unpaid internships - because they can *afford* to.

  • Love 5
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