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"Good morning, Upper East Siders.."
Ah, 3 months is just too long. I know for a fact that I echo the screamings of other Gossip Girl aficionados crying for more, just when the drama started to build after the brief hiatus owing to the writer's strike. Adapted based on the popular novel series of the same name, the show had guaranteed support from it's original fan-base when the pilot aired September last year.
Developed by famed The O.C. producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, viewers already knew what to expect from the show prior to it's premier. Teenage dramedy, campy acting, lines that do not represent how real people talk, and a picturesque ensemble cast.
Repeated-yet-always-entertaining issues were dealt with throughout the first season, among them drug abuse, infidelity, coming out, alocohol consumption, upper-class locales discriminating the lower ones, and of course, rumours and scandals. It is the making of a great teen drama, indeed.
Assembling a relatively unknown cast, I believe the producers have attained more hits than misses. Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were chosen as the lead females for the show, with Meester kicking ass as the crazy bitch in town. Their chemistry as BFF's though, fails to impress me. I much preferred them cat fighting their way in the first 3 episodes of the series. hoho..
 Serena Van der Whiny-son
 Meester looking good..
The O.C. connection becomes ever relevant with Meester's character, though. A certain someone who carries as much feistiness and bite in her character does ring a bell, and their resemblance doesn't stop at their similiar traits. Familliar, no.?
The resemblance is uncanny..
 So Summer, rite.!
The guys do carry some weight. Penn Badgley plays Serena's love interest, Dan. Some may remember him as the dude from John Tucker Must Die. No, not John Tucker himself, he plays the long-haired brother who can't seem to get enough of Cheap Trick's I Want You To Want Me.
 long-haired Dan.
 hungry Dan.
Filling in the shoes of Nate Archibald is Chace Crawford, Carrie Underwood's former flame. With hair and eyes like that, not many realise the fact that he can't act for shits..
Noone can debate that the most entertaining character is indeed Chuck Bass, played by Ed Westwick. Playing the antihero to the series, his interest in sex, money, and nothing more makes one love and hate his character all at the same time. Equipped with his trademark scarf, Chuck never fails to steal the scene.
 The devil himself..
Some may not know that Westwick is a Brit. In fact, he's the lead singer of his own band, The Filthy Youth, where a couple of their songs were featured in the show. After hearing them, I'd stick to acting if I was him.
 "I'm Chuck Bass.."
The parents are, well, let's just say their young enough to play the main character's siblings. Their role in the series is rather lame as well, with boring parental angst being passed about each other.
Parents sacrificing their love for their offspring's fling..
The music played in the show is commercially succesful, with the incorporation of contemporary hip hop hits and New York based bands to the sound of the series. The sounds of The Virgins, Timbaland, The Bravery, One Republic, The Ting Tings, and The Pierces have been used, among others. My favourite musical montage in the show has to be the scene when Blair and Chuck made out in the limo, with Sum 41's "With Me" being played in the background. Scandalouss..
 now that's what i call a promo.
As for the storyline, the sudden return of Serena as the main plot in the beginning of the series did spark some drama. Not such a goody-goody girl as we first thought you were, are we..
 notti, notti..
The story grew with the relationship between Dan and Serena developing, while the one between Nate and Blair contracting. Our 2 favourite bimbos finally ended their feud with a 'heart to heart', bringing an end to the short-lived, yet much entertaining cat fight between them. boo.
One became rather bemused as the pairing-ups soon became a family affair, with Rufus and Lily rekindling an old flame, not to mention the obvious (or so i thought) attraction between Eric and Jenny. How incest, ew..
 so wrong, so wrong..
Things really got juicy when Nate and Blair finally ended their relationship, propelling an inevitable match-up..
 They are so M.F.E.O.
After a couple of rather sub-average episodes dealing with the Nate-Blair-Chuck love triangle, Rufus and Alison failing to patch things up, Lily agreeing to marry Bart, and Dan and Serena trying to 'spice things up', the viewers faith towards the show were duly repaid with Blair and Jenny waging war for the queen bee position, as bimbo as that may sound.
Two words, padan muka. She fought one battle too many, guiding her character from a bright and relevant teenage girl to a, well, teenage girl trying to fit in. No complaints though, as it brought much entertainment, especially in revealling Eric's homosexuality.
 gay, gay, gay..
Providing the drama in the closing stages of the season is none other than the shadowy character of Georgina Sparks. Her arrival brought alight to some more secrets surrounding Serena, oh the drama. As many thought Serena was doing a Paris, turns out she "killed" someone. Big deal. Though, I must admit, the part when she confessed her doings to Blair in the end of episode 16 definately gave me chills. haha.
Did you know that the role of Georgina was initially offered to Mischa Barton? The part then went to Michelle Trachtenberg as Mischa turned the offer down.
 Mischa as Georgina, now that would've been interesting..
To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the season finale. It seems as if the build up to the end ran out of steam, after an episode like episode 17 when all the drama reached it's climax with Serena finally revealling her secret (oh, so you can tell your secret to 'trusworthy' friends like Chuck and Nate but not your boyfriend. -.-.) and Dan hooking up with Georgina (or Sarah, rather). With that mentioned, Dan is such a whore. Less than a day after the break up, he runs to Georgina for 'comfort'. Man-whore.!
 My ex was a stalker, sob sob..
Anywayy, I felt Georgina was presumably 'killed' off rather easily, and way too soon in the episode. Like what, 5 minutes into the finale and that's it? She lost? I mean c'mon, I'm sure Georgina could do better than that, after all the scheming and play-acting with Dan. What an ungraceful end to a character that gave us so much to bitch about.
 They try to make me go to rehab, i said no no no..
With Lily and Bart getting married, things built towards a rather peculiar and irritating ending. Dan and Serena are on a compulsary teen-drama-main-couple-break-up-but-will-definately-get-back-together state, Blair and Chuck reunites for less than 10 minutes, Blair flirts with some random helicopter guy, Serena and Nate seems to be back where they were at the very start of the series, and Vanessa apparently being more than friends with Dan. Now that's worth OMFG-ing.
 The ice is getting thinner..
The way things were left at the ending, it seems as if they could pair anyone with anyone. With no dramatic cliffhanger of any sort, the show looks to open season 2 on a clean slate and hopefully leave viewers speechless, fingers crossed. One can only hope for more bad behaviours and sinful acts come season 2, with a little less of the dull parent drama and a little more teen action filled with guilty pleasure. hoho..
Till then, you know you love me. xoxo.. hahaha..
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