“XOXO, Gossip Girl here, coming at you with the latest news on the Upper East Side.”
I swear to God, that’s all I heard for four months straight and it drove me absolutely nuts. For years, I had stayed away from Gossip Girl because I always heard so much about it and thought the idea of a show being centered around gossip had to be the dumbest idea ever. But now, as an adult, I decided to watch all six seasons of the show on HBO Max.
And yeah, alright – I get the hype now, you crazy people.
I’ve seen a few episodes before, but only now did I fully watch it through to completion and I felt compelled to talk about it, instead of ranting about how I hated the reveal of who Gossip Girl actually was. Let’s get into it, why don’t we?
The Cast Of This Show Is Actually Amazing
So here’s the thing – I’m very used to CW shows at this point having really good casts.
If you liked Blake Lively in Gossip Girl, check out her other roles.
There have been so many great CW shows that have given us excellent actors, like the Riverdale cast, despite the show’s interesting (and sometimes very bad) twists and turns, or the Supernatural cast members getting even more famous from their roles.
I mean, literally no other CW show cast compares to the Gossip Girl cast, though, where I have seen many of the main characters in so many big TV shows and movies. Blake Lively is literally everywhere now and is married to Ryan Reynolds, one of the cutest couples in Hollywood. Penn Badgely is the star of his own popular Netflix series, You. Chace Crawford is on The Boys and plays the interesting and weird superhero, The Deep. I swear, everyone is so talented. I am blown away by how many of them got their start here.
And While The Drama Is Predictable – It’s So Addicting
Look. This is a CW show. The drama isn’t going to be like the Game of Thrones universe shows or even like Succession or Yellowjackets, where you’ll feel shocked after every single episode. It’s very petty drama that these people get into.
But, damn is it addicting.
I can’t even tell you how many stupid, petty squabbles these kids got into on Gossip Girl, but every time I watched them, I found myself glued to the television screen. Whether it be someone wearing the same dress as another, or literally something as serious as murder, I couldn’t look away – and I genuinely think that’s because of the cast.
I Also Loved Every Single Relationship – Specifically The Toxic Mess That Was Chuck And Blair
On God, the relationships in this show made zero sense – but I was here for them.
I seriously think that the reason why I supported not only the decent relationships (like Dan and Serena) but the truly horrendous ones (like Blair and Dan), is that every single one of them had their interesting storylines and fun moments where I just couldn’t look away – or, sometimes it felt like a slow motion car crash.
You want to know what felt like that the whole time? Chuck and Blair. Chuck and freaking Blair.
I could write a whole article on why Chuck and Blair would be divorced at this point if this show took place in real life. Their dynamic was so toxic and so bad for them and while everyone will say “Chuck’s changed!” or whatever the heck they want to spew at me, I can’t get over how horribly he treated her.
And yet, I can’t look away. It’s just a mess all around. And I love it – probably because I’ve never experienced the messiness of a bad breakup.
This Is The Most Unrealistic Portrayal Of Teenagers Ever – But I Still Enjoyed The Heck Out Of It
Yeah, this show is not Never Have I Ever on Netflix, or even Ms. Marvel on Disney+. These teenagers are too hot.
I’m allowed to say that because nearly every "teen" cast member was at least 20 when this show came out, and they don’t look or act like teenagers.
The only “teenager” who was really awkward was Dan, but he got over that real quick and then no one felt like a teenager. But, I suppose that’s the dream while going to a prim and proper school on the Upper East Side. Might as well act like a grownup at the same time.
How The Hell Did Serena And Blair Even Stay Friends?
Like, actually, how did they stay friends? There were so many backstabbings, betrayals and so much more that happened between these two – how on earth did they manage to make it out of this series on civil terms?
You would not catch me being that buddy-buddy with someone like Blair or Serena if they were like that to me. I don’t know if it’s pure ignorance, but hey, it makes for good television, so here I am.
Also – Why Did It Seem Like They Had A Full Breakfast Spread Every Morning?
Why was there always a breakfast spread?
Granted, I know, these people are rich-rich. They probably have servants and all these cooks to make food for them on a daily basis, but every day? Every day?! When I was a teenager, I barely had time for a piece of bacon in the morning and you’re telling me they had time to have a full, sit-down breakfast everyday?
This is me being picky about the show, but I just can’t believe it. Even with me loving all my cooking shows, I'd never have the time to have a breakfast like that every day.
And For The First Time In A CW Show, The Parents Felt Slightly Useful
Most CW shows, I always feel that the parents are never really there. Sure, they’re cast, but I feel like they are always just a placeholder to show the audience, “Look! We cast the parents! We didn’t forget!” And then we never see them again.
On Gossip Girl, I actually liked the drama that most of the parents brought. I really liked the relationship dynamic between Lily and Rufus. I enjoyed the bits between Chuck and his father and his goal to be better than him. Every parent storyline actually melded pretty well with the others – and for that, I give props to the show.
The Sixth Season Was The Weakest – But Still Had Its Fair Share Of Drama
Yeah, I can see why most people don’t like the sixth season. It’s not as petty dramatic as other seasons and was only 10 episodes long, which wasn’t the norm for the show. I didn’t like the finale all that much, either.
What I will say is that the season did have its fair share of drama – such as Chuck and Blair literally being framed for murder. Like, who would have expected that? Not me. Even so, it could have been better – but the rest of the series made up for its lacklusterness.
From terrible relationships to funny plotlines to crazy characters, Gossip Girl really had it all – including the best narration from Kristen Bell – and now, I do understand why so many loved this silly, dramatic CW show – it’s scored a point in my book and I can fully say, I’ll probably end up watching it again.
