I think I speak for many of us when I say the HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl was one of the best reboots TV has given us lately.
The characters introduced in the show were the perfect, Gen-Z successors to the original characters we know and love. Chuck Bass’s mysterious, brooding energy is reincarnated in Max Wolfe, Dan Humphrey’s anti-elitist agenda is alive in young, innocent Zoya Lot. I am as in love with Audrey Hope as I was enamored with Nate Archibald. And my distaste for Otto “Obie” Bergman IV runs almost, ALMOST, as rampant as that which I felt towards one Vanessa Abrams.
This post is not about Obie, why I don’t love him, or the other reboot characters, and why I love them. This is about Vanessa Abrams.
Since the reboot is on hiatus until the end of November, I decided to satisfy my GG cravings by rewatching the original series. I’ve been enjoying the butterflies that come with watching Serena and Dan’s love ebb and flow, and psychoanalyzing Blair Waldorf’s iconic personality is one of my favorite pastimes. But recently, I got to the episode where Vanessa returns from Vermont and complicates literally everything.
Obviously, soap operas are meant to have drama, and there has to be the character who creates the bulk of it. Vanessa didn’t ask to be this character, but because she is, unfortunately, she has to be the character I genuinely do not like at all.
For one thing, from the second she arrives, she acts as though nothing could have possibly changed in Dan’s life. She assumes that he’s been waiting around for her to come home and love him the way he loved her before she left. Big ol’ red flag number 1.
She’s also such a hypocrite, and throughout the show tries to make Dan feel guilty for “becoming one of them” (them being the elite, private school-goers), even though Dan stays pretty true to himself for the duration of the series. Meanwhile, instead of removing herself from the world she deems so toxic, Vanessa manages to insert herself into ever major social event from the Masquerade Ball on. She even ends up dating one of the trust fund babies she claims to hate so much, but when Dan dated Serena or Blair or virtually anyone who wasn’t her? Vanessa was furious.
Vanessa is the worst kind of toxic friend. Someone who claims to be your best friend but constantly belittles your happiness. The person who finds ways to make you feel bad for finding happiness that is not dependent on them but is happy to tell you, “I told you so,” when something goes awry.
In summary, there have been so many beautifully written, unlikeable characters since the dawn of Gossip Girls’ creation. We all love to hate Georgina Sparks, and even Obie and Monet have more personality traits than simply “causing drama for no reason.” But in my opinion, Vanessa Abrams takes the cake when it comes to characters who just get under your skin, stay there, and don’t add anything enjoyable to the show. However, as previously stated, I think that was the point of her character. So, kudos to the writers for writing a character in 2007, who still makes me angry enough to rant about 14 years later.
XOXO,
A Serial TV Show Re-watcher with Too Much Time on Her Hands