The TV show Gossip Girl premiered in 2007 and has remained an essential part of teen culture throughout the six seasons. Gossip Girl is a teen drama focused on the lives of the elite youth in Manhattan’s Upper East Side of New York City. The show follows the character’s social, romantic, and professional lives through high school and after college. Throughout the many seasons, an online blogger named “Gossip Girl” documents the high-class teens’ every move and will not hesitate to reveal potentially disastrous information for the world to read.
Season One
The show starts with It-Girl Serena van der Woodsen returning from boarding school and regaining her status as the popular girl of Constance Billard. Serena is on thin ice with former best friend Blair Waldorf, also known as “Queen B” of the Upper East Side, because of having an affair with her long-time boyfriend, Nate Archibald. Serena dates Dan Humphrey during season one, which causes lots of uproar from fellow elite classmates. Dan is looked down on for living in Brooklyn with his dad and sister Jenny and not having much money like the rest of Serena’s friends. Serena’s younger brother, Eric, is released from a treatment facility after attempting suicide. Dan’s old friend, Vanessa, comes to the city and causes a strain on his relationship with Serena.
Season 2
The season starts with the marriage of Bart Bass, Chuck’s father, and Lily van der Woodsen, Serena’s mother. Also, Blair’s mother gets married to Cyrus Rose, which proves to be difficult for Blair to accept a new family member. The main characters make their college decisions. Serena planned on attending Brown University but took a year off before returning to school. Blair is devastated she got rejected from her dream school, Yale University, so she attends New York University (NYU). Dan was accepted into Yale but could not afford the tuition and decided to attend NYU. Lastly, Nate goes to school at Columbia University. As the season goes on, Jenny rebels from the rules and runs away to start her clothing line. Bart Bass dies in a car accident, leaving Lily to adopt Chuck into the family so he can take over the company when he is ready. After Bart’s death, Rufus and Lily continue their romance from when they were younger, and it becomes known to the world that they had a child from when they were together decades ago. Throughout the season, Blair and Chuck are wrestling with their feelings for one another, which proves to be an ongoing battle for the characters.
Season 3
In this season, Chuck and Blair become an official couple while trying to juggle college and family business issues. Since Blair graduated, Jenny has become the new Queen Bee at Constance. Jenny lets the popularity get to her and begins treating classmates poorly, like the popular girls used to do. Furthermore, Chuck purchases The Empire Hotel, which continues to be what he is known for throughout the show. Rufus and Lily married and met their son, whom they gave up for adoption years ago.
Season 4
The season begins with Georgina Sparks convincing Dan that he is the father of her baby, but he finds out later that it is not valid. Blair gets engaged to Prince Louis Grimaldi, even though she cannot stop thinking about her past romance with Chuck. Nate begins dating Juliet Sharp, who becomes a lot of trouble because she despises Serena. Furthermore, Lily gets put on house arrest because she wrongfully sent a man to jail when Serena was in boarding school, thinking it would help her daughter. Bart’s old enemy, Russell Thorpe, purchases Bass Industries when Lily sells it against Chuck’s wishes. Charlie Rhodes, Serena’s cousin, comes to the Upper East Side, but she is not the real Charlie Rhodes. Serena’s aunt hired her to pretend to be her daughter to get money from the trust fund.
Season 5
The season starts with Serena working on the set of a Hollywood movie. In NYC, Ivy Dickens is still pretending to be Charlie Rhodes and stirring up trouble. Dan published his first book, “Inside,” which reveals many truths about his friends, leading him to be alone. Blair and Prince Louis get married, and Blair gets pregnant with his child, although she loses the baby in a car accident. Throughout the season, Blair is torn between staying with Louis or getting back together with Chuck, ultimately ending with Blair and Louis getting divorced. A big plot twist is thrown to viewers when it is released that Bart Bass is alive, and him and Lily get back together after her and Rufus get a divorce.
Season 6
In the last season, the focus is on Chuck and the rest of the friend group trying to take Bart down after it is revealed that he faked his death. Blair is the new CEO of her mother’s company, Waldorf Designs, and has released her successful clothing line. Nate is having difficulty keeping his newspaper company, “The NY Spectator,” funded, so he commits fraud. Bart learns about this and uses it as blackmail to get information on what Chuck is doing to destroy him. In the end, Bart and Chuck are fighting on a rooftop, and Bart falls to his death. The last episode of the show documents Chuck and Blair’s wedding and the identity of Gossip Girl. All these years Gossip Girl was Dan. For the last few minutes, it flashes forward into the future, and viewers see Serena and Dan’s wedding and Chuck and Blair’s kid.
