Now I know what you’re thinking, really, Gossip Girl? That was so 15 years ago. Yet it’s one of the most iconic American shows to date. Even people who aren’t on the Upper East Side seem to feel like they are immersed in the show. Like Chuck, you might be raising an eyebrow with suspicion, but let me take you through my own thoughts, eye rolls, and jaw-dropping moments of Gossip Girl that need discussion even 15 years after the show’s peak.
Gossip Girl is a classic 2000s show made for high school teens looking for a fun, deep dive into American high school life. Created by Joshua Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, it reimagines the novels by Cecily von Zeigesar into a 6-season series that takes them to a whole new level. Running from 2007 to 2012, it outlived its 2000s legacy and is still popular now in 2025 (yes, even for 20-year-olds who feel nostalgic now and then). Famous actors and actresses who got their name out there from this show include Leighton Meester, Blake Lively and Ed Westwick. The show begins by introducing the characters, from Blair on the Upper East Side of New York to Dan Humphrey in Brooklyn. We are shown their dynamics, their relationships, their strengths, and their weaknesses. We are also introduced to Gossip Girl herself, but not her identity, not yet anyway. (Dan Humphrey, I will never believe it was you… But I will get onto that later). We hear Kristen Bell’s classic voice and are transported straight to New York and the high school dramas of 2007. Starting off with Serena returning from boarding school and to the mess she left behind, it eludes just how much we have missed. That is my first critique of the show, though it is rather needed that we start at this moment, I do feel very disconnected from these characters already, like you’ve just joined a friend group that has so much history it almost makes you not want to know it. Yet, Kristen’s voice grips you onto the next episode and the next.
My other critique of the pilot is Chuck. Yes, I know he’s supposed to have a character arc, but did they really have to make him a sexual assaulter in the first episode, and then suddenly he’s supposed to have changed with no further behaviour of this? Now I do know pilots are filmed in advance to see if the show will get any views, but it just didn’t line up for me for the rest of the show; it made me repulsed, even when I wanted to root for him in his lost moments. Yet even so, Chuck remains a crucial character, and I did admire his redemption arc, yet not when it came to Blair, that girl got no break from his trading, scheming and lies, yet she still loved him. Attagirl! (She deserves bloody better.)
Through all the seasons, I had my agreements and disagreements with different parts of the show. Towards the beginning, I loved the high school gossip that was exaggerated and excessively dramatised to be almost laughable. Yet it works. Episode after episode, you get latched in, until suddenly you are on season 6 and you’re wondering how they are all 21 and Dan and Serena are getting married. That is one thing I can’t complain about with Gossip Girl – the drama. I also love how, at the end of every season, there is always a cliffhanger without fail. Probably making people who were watching at the time go crazy waiting.
Onto the characters, some I adored included Blair, who, though absolutely mental and completely just plain rude in the first few seasons, is the only one with a personality. Eric should also get a shoutout for putting up with his sister. Dorota holds the show together – I aspire to be her. Nate, though the man gets around the group twice, is ultimately a good person (the only morally correct one). Now, yes, a few of them I like, but I will knock off points for either being friends or locking lips with Dan or Serena, Chuck or Vanessa. Dan, yes, I know you are supposed to be the Brooklyn ‘poor person’ (yet you have a massive rooftop loft), you still annoy me with your judging remarks and total brutal nothingness about you. And Vannessa and Jenny – don’t even get me started – only Rufus’s waffles seem to be the good part of Brooklyn at this point. Lastly, Serena Van der Woodsen. You grind my gears almost enough to make me want to stop watching. But I don’t, I just huff and puff whenever you are on screen. But in some ways, Serena still isn’t the worst one; that is Vannessa. I have never hated a fictional woman more – as the seasons went on, I found her more and more irrelevant to the second, trying to be relevant but failing. At least Jenny knew to stay out of town.
Now I did enjoy the show, don’t get me wrong – in relevance to plot lines and when different characters were on my screen, however. Through each Blair and Chuck scene, I felt their passion and their yearning, and each Dan and Serena scene, I felt their innocent first love longing, making it a great emotional whilst also dramatic programme. The plot lines pulled you in and wrapped you around their fingers, including Chuck being shot, Blair’s engagement, and Serena being a murderer?! Over the seasons, you start to think: what more can happen to these people? And then at last, the start of season 5, that is the downfall. Everything gets slightly boring and repetitive. The plot lines start to lose my interest, and the characters start to, if not already, get on my nerves. And during most of my rewatches, this is where I stop. Yet the relationships still evolve and grab your attention until the very end.
On the note of love and relationships, this is where it gets interesting. It seems as though everyone gets into relationships with each other throughout the entirety of the show. And each couple or hook-up is a new, strange combination. The one that stuck me most was Nate and Jenny. I believe the actress was quite young, around 13 when they kissed, as well as the character. Not only making it slightly disturbing, but also a bit illegal?! Another pair that threw me off was Vanessa and Chuck, and though he won her over, it seemed even her stubbornness and Brooklyn morals (or any morals for that matter) couldn’t withstand the scandals the writers wanted to include in the show. In the end, the endgame couples for me are Blair and Chuck, Dan and whoever can put up with him, Serena and Nate and Lily and Rufus. On the other hand, however, I did enjoy Blair and Dan together, an unlikely match but a good one, as they seemed to have some similarities and brought out the good in each other. All the different couples added to the show in different ways, but never seemed to be completely right for each other. Even my endgame couples had their deep troubles.
Onto the end of my article, and the end of the show. On my most recent re-watch, I haven’t made it this far and have never got to the end in any of my re-watches. So, does this answer the question: Is it a classic re-watch or is it falling off the radar? For me, I believe it might be falling off the radar, yet I cannot deny its gripping drama and iconic plot. So that’s for you to answer on your next re-watch.
The one thing I do remember is who Gossip Girl is. In fact, it’s not a girl at all. It’s Dan Humphrey. I know. I think I slammed my laptop shut when they revealed this. I understand he’s the ‘outsider’ trying to get inside, but I was still annoyed at this ending. I think most of us wanted Eric or Dorota, as Dan didn’t make sense, especially rewatching when Gossip Girl posts about Jenny losing her virginity! His sister! I think the writers changed who she was last minute after speculation, and viewers were not happy with this result. At the end, in season 6, some of us enjoyed it – Blair and Chuck together, and everyone was happy. And some might have enjoyed Dan and Serena’s ending in the last episode, but from my list of endgame couples, you can see why I didn’t. On the whole, Gossip Girl exceeds expectations and also demolishes them. Some couples I rejoiced at, others I cringed at. Yet in the end, lessons were learnt and gossip was spilt. And isn’t that all the Manhattan elites need? But that’s a secret I’ll never tell…
xoxo Gossip Girl
Editor: Grace Lees