Like most television shows, Gossip Girl wasn't perfect, and it wasn't just because the reveal to the biggest mystery of the show made no sense. There were plenty of things wrong with the show, even before the series finale, which revealed the identity of Gossip Girl. Fans immediately started pointing to all the reasons it just could not be Dan, no matter what had been said by executive producer Stephanie Savage.
The problems started with the pilot, and while it's not unusual for there to be obvious (and sometimes drastic) changes after the first episode, usually those differences improve on weak points -- but it's not always the case. Instead, some things like locations and methods of transportation are never addressed on-screen, like they should have been.
Character changes, inappropriate behavior for teenagers, crazy love stories, and outrageous career moves are the norm, especially when television shows follow characters' lives from high school to college and beyond. Much like most of the storylines of Gossip Girl, some of these were taken to the extreme.
Even though logic need not always apply to TV shows, even teen dramas based in reality, there were some things that could have easily been fixed, or at the very least, explained on-screen over the six seasons.
Here are 16 Things Wrong With Gossip Girl We Choose To Ignore.
What Happened to Lily and Rufus' Child?
First, Lily and Rufus were told that their son ed while sailing with friends. However, that was a lie – his adoptive parents lost their other son – and Scott was actually alive.
Instead of just introducing himself to his biological parents, Scott weaseled his way into everyone's lives and pretended to be someone else.
When Lily and Rufus finally learned the truth about who Scott was, on the day of their wedding, they tracked him down to the bus stop. They spoke about their own issues, hugged, celebrated their wedding, and that was it. That was the last time he was seen or heard from, so what exactly was the point of that? There is no reason for the character not to appear at least one more time before the end of the series.
Humphreys' Magical Moving House
In the pilot, it was established that the Humphreys lived in Williamsburg, but later, visual representations of the residence showed Dumbo. Savage has addressed this, explaining, "When we wrote the pilot script, we felt like Williamsburg was the appropriate place to situate the Humphrey family, and we shot all our Brooklyn locations in Williamsburg."
The EP went on to say, "We were never able to find a satisfying exterior location in Williamsburg that seemed right for the loft… but it matches perfectly with the beautiful building at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO." Once they realized that, they simply began saying the Humphreys resided in Brooklyn.
However, the only way to know this is to look for an answer online, meaning that those who haven't are left with that inconsistency.
Why Weren't They Ever Carded?
Underaged access to bars happens all the time on TV shows. It is wrong, yes, but it happens enough that it can be somewhat easily ignored. However, there is a difference between going to a party in the privacy of a character's home among friends and blatantly being served in a bar.
Not even 20 minutes into the pilot, Blair and Serena are talking at a packed bar, as the former sips a drink.
Not only was Blair served a drink, but the bartenders, and everyone else at the bar, had to ignore their age and behave as though it was not a big deal. That was only the beginning, as the following seasons revealed. That being said, there should be no amount of money in the world to keep them from being carded.
The Show Should Have Been Darker
Gossip Girl was based on books by Cecily von Ziegesar and, as tends to be the case when a book series is adapted into a TV show or movie, there were some changes. Characters were changed, such as Chuck and Jenny, as well as relationships, such as Lily and Serena's father, and locations, such as the Humphreys' residence.
The CW also played a factor, as the series couldn't get as dark as it may have been able to elsewhere. Shows on the CW can and do get a bit provocative, but nothing like what was written in the books.
For example, in the books, Jenny got attention because of her physical attributes, the characters' behavior was wilder, there was profanity, Dan had a bad habit and Nate struggled with substance abuse.
Move Over, Eleanor
Jenny's fashion career storyline in season 2 was absolutely ridiculous -- not only did she score an internship at Waldorf Designs, but she also was fortunate enough that, the same day she was fired, she got stuck at the office with Eleanor during a blackout. During that time, Jenny managed to win her over enough to get her internship back. That would have been enough luck for a 15-year-old to have at that point, but it didn't stop there.
Jenny's designs were not just better than Eleanor's, her dress was the big finale hit at a fashion show she let Eleanor take credit for.
Let's not even discuss Rufus agreeing to Jenny being homeschooled after she skips school for the internship. She was only 15!
Lunch At The Met?
Gossip Girl often showed Blair eating lunch on the steps at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but there are two very good reasons why that wouldn't have happened, especially with someone like her character: distance and foot traffic.
The locations used for the school and the Met weren't exactly close or within walking distance for a lunch break. There's no way someone would have made the walk as often as these characters supposedly did. They did have to go to class, even if things like an education are usually forgotten on teen dramas.
Furthermore, sitting on the steps of the Met and eating lunch would have put them right in the path of anyone going into the museum, which would have been annoying, unsanitary, and definitely not glamorous -- something a character like Blair would not have been okay with.
Why Was Chuck on the Bus?
The pilot saw Chuck wondering if Dan was following him and Nate, when he moved to get off the bus with them. Dan explained he went to their school, gesturing to their uniforms, but it was clearly designed to point out the divide between him and the other boys. However, what the show never bothered explaining, was why Chuck and Nate were even on the bus in the first place.
It was the only time they ever used that method of transportation to get to school, but luckily after that, Chuck took a limousine everywhere he went.
Yes, things do change from a pilot to the rest of a series, but would it have been so hard to throw in a line to explain this?
The Mysterious Ex-Husband
In season 2, "Valley Girls" featured flashbacks that offered a look at a young Lily Rhodes, who, during the course of the episode, met Keith van der Woodsen, thought at the time to be her future ex-husband, the father to Serena and Eric. That would make sense, right? Why would the series introduce a character with that last name if that wasn't the case?
Well, in season 3, Billy Baldwin played William van der Woodsen, Lily's ex and the kids' father. Was he Keith's brother or cousin? Was he somehow related to him? The series would never address that, leaving fans to believe it was simply a mistake.
All it would have taken was mentioning a family member to fix a plot hole like that.
Gossip Girl's Identity
When there's a series-long mystery like the identity of the titular character, it's nearly impossible to please everyone with the big reveal. No matter who ended up being Gossip Girl, there probably would have still been Tumblrs and Tweets pointing out why it couldn't be that person. However, Dan being Gossip Girl made zero sense, even though Savage said they, "never really entertained any other idea."
The Executive Producer has said that the test audience figured out the identity of Gossip Girl because of a sequence in the pilot, which they re-edited.
Perhaps that should have been a sign moving forward. There are plenty of instances during which Dan looked shocked reading gossip when he's by himself in a scene. Not to mention things he posted about people he should have cared about, like Serena and his sister.
Dan And The New Yorker
In season 1's "Roman Holiday," Vanessa gave Dan a really good gift: news that his short story, "10-08-05," was going to be published in The New Yorker's Summer Fiction issue featuring 20 under 20.
"This can't be real," he said upon hearing the news, and in the real world, it more than likely wouldn't be. Now, if this had been for another literary magazine or if he'd been published somewhere else first, it might have been slightly more plausible.
Instead, fans were led to believe that Vanessa managed to get her hands on a story that was polished enough for publication, when she went through his drawer looking for a stapler she pretended to need.