"Gossip Girl" Pilot: Former It Girl vs. The Queen Bee

Published: September 20, 2007 at 08:10 PM GMT
Last Updated: October 16, 2007 at 08:10 PM GMT

By Karen Woodward

Bad girl gone good, or is it a part of the act?

Now this is a show I can get behind. Money, intrigue, beautiful people (although what is up with the guys' eyebrows?) - set on Manhattan's Upper East Side. A world I know nothing about but am more than happy to visit once a week. So without further ado, let's join the world of Gossip Girl...

Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) has returned home from a year at boarding school. But was she really at boarding school? And why did she take off so fast anyway? She was queen bee of her school - seemingly had everything. What's going on? A driver picks her up at Grand Central, where she is spotted by Dan Humphrey (the sexy Penn Badgley) who's returned home with his sister Jenny (Taylor Momson) from a brief trip to see their mother. They're picked up by their father, Rufus (Matthew Settle- looking hot hot hot) who's clearly bitter that his wife left him. When Dan spots Serena, we know there will be a story there...

Later, Blaire Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and her bitchy mother are hosting a party in their fancy abode. We meet Blaire's boyfriend Nate, a pretty boy (with bad eyebrows) who is also pretty wimpy - er, misunderstood. His father brags that Nate will be going to a fancy college, but from the look on Nate's face, we know that's exactly where he doesn't want to go. We also briefly meet Chuck, the James Spader in Pretty in Pink/ Logan in Veronica Mars character, except he has overly groomed eyebrows that make him look like a gorilla who thinks he cleans up nicely. (Oooh! He could guest star on Cavemen!) Serena briefly stops by and there is some serious tension in the air. First, she spots Nate, and they share "a look" - What's it mean? - before Blaire appears. Serena and Blaire used to be best friends, but clearly Blaire doesn't want to have anything to do with Serena anymore. Why does Blaire not want Serena around? Is it because she likes her new position of Queen Bee, or is there something else? Does it have anything to do with Nate rebuffing her when she attempts to have sex with him for the first time?

The next morning at the Humphrey loft: Dan and Jenny are hanging with their dad. We learn that Dad is in one of the "Top 10 Forgotten Bands of the 90s" according to Rolling Stone. I find this sort of intriguing in its randomness. It also explains why the Humphrey kids go to a posh private school and yet are seemingly so normal. Dad isn't a businessman or a banker, he made his money as a guitarist! Ya gotta love it. Anyway, Jenny is writing names on envelopes and she exposits that she has been given an invite to Blaire's Kiss on the Lips party because she can address the envelopes in calligraphy.

That night, Serena and Blaire meet at the Palace Hotel bar (where the van der Woodsen's currently reside. (The hotel, not the bar). They talk about old times, and apparently kiss and make up, but I don't believe it for a second. Blaire leaves and Chuck shows up. Serena is drunk at this point and he takes her to the kitchen (his family owns the hotel of course) and is all over her. He says he knows that Serena and Nate slept together before she took off for a year. Oooooooooh. Serena gets away and runs (literally) into Dan. She drops her sidekick, he retrieves it, but she's already gone. Shades of Cinderella?

The next day Dan returns the sidekick, and he and Serena run into her mother. She bought a dress for Serena to wear to the Kiss on the Lips party, but Serena lies and says she already has plans with Dan. Dan charmingly goes along with the plan. I love Penn Badgely. He's the only good thing about John Tucker Must Die. Later, he picks her up, and they have a good time hanging out at his dad's gig until he receives a text from Jenny.

She's at the Kiss on the Lips party, and Chuck has spotted her as fresh meat. He takes her outside and is all over her, not taking no for an answer. Never fear - Dan is here! And Serena! He saves her, and the three of them leave the party together - Dan grabbing Serena's hand. It's quite an exit.

And it's all posted on Gossip Girl's blog. But who is she?

XOXO
Gossip Girl Fanblogger

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