Gossip Girl: The College Years

I have long been a Gossip Girl devotee, but while my loyalty to the show remains in tact, I have to admit that it feels like a very different viewing experience this season (which is both good and bad). I'd say creatively, the show has survived the move from high school to college better than expected (and FAR better than other shows who've tried to make the leap), but for various reasons things just aren't clicking with me in the same way.

I'd say the biggest difference is with the relationship between Chuck and Blair. They've always been the centerpiece of the show for me and have generally been the reason I'm eager to tune in week-to-week. Last season really overhauled their dynamic. The evil, snarky, deceptive manipulations of season 1 were replaced by a devastating loyalty to one another. Both characters were broken down to the point of near annihilation, so it only makes sense that they couldn't come back from the brink as their old selves. Once the dust settled, the pair finally let go of the games and the facade of imperious control and decided to give the relationship a chance--a startlingly honest, very real chance.

Seeing the pair of them lay their emotions out there for the other to see was a serious divergence from the masked interactions of yore and it necessarily changed the dynamic between them. In general, when a couple finally finally finally gets together on a show (often after several seasons of will-they-or-won't-they teasing), the spark is extinguished and I lose all interest in them (Jim and Pam, Barney and Robbin, Sydney and Vaughn, Derek and Meredith, etc). Playing house just isn't as enthralling as one would hope... With Chuck and Blair, the writers have done a wonderful job keeping the relationship interesting and have managed to have them be a couple in a very satisfying way. In a sense, I'm almost too invested in them now. Before, when it was all mind games and masked agendas, the main thing that was at stake was the facade. If things broke down between them or one betrayed the other, it was generally on a superficial level, and therefore didn't impact the realities in such a potentially devastating way. Nowadays, each scheme, each lie, each manipulation is a very real, very personal assault on the other, and that's kind of hard to watch.

I've gotten to the point this season where I'm a little afraid to watch the episodes because there's just so much as stake for the both of them. This is the first time either of them has been honest with anyone about anything and the tension for the audience (at least for me) is palpable. Their relationship (which feels more like a detente at times) seems like this fragile arrangement that I'm constantly worried will fall apart. That sounds unduly dramatic, but after the hell on earth they survived last year, it just seems counterintuitive that anything could faze them at this point. They've been through so much and have revealed so much about who they are that there's just a tremendous amount at stake. Every episode I find myself just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's a little nerve-wracking...

As anyone reading this post surely knows, I tend to get a little (read: very--like, to an unhealthy extent) invested in my shows, and in particular, with certain characters on those shows. Well, Blair and Chuck are my characters on Gossip Girl. Actually, for some reason, I find I'm most tied up and worried about Blair most of the time (kind of like Dr. Carter was for me on ER). She has a tendency to set herself up for total annihilation and that's exceedingly interesting, but ultimately very stressful to watch. Now that she has so much invested in Chuck, it just makes the whole relationship all the more precarious. For example, in the episode where Blair and Vanessa are both vying to give the freshman toast (or whatever that was), the fact that Blair lied to Chuck was almost painful to sit through. It's not that the episode was poorly written or that the storyline was out of character (far from it), it just that the whole set up these days makes everything a much bigger deal than it would have been in the past. Chuck seemed genuinely hurt by this, where in the previous two seasons, it would have just been round 1. Lying to and manipulating each other was par for the course in seasons past, and in fact, was the largest facet of the game they played. Now, every slight is seen as an utter betrayal. It's a stirring dynamic, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch. I spend the better part of every episode on pins and needles wonder when the roof is going to cave in.

My investment in Chuck and Blair and my fears about all the horrible that seems inevitable for the two of them wouldn't be as big of a deal if I were more invested in the other characters on the show. I've never been all that tied up in whatever Serena has going on or what has happened to Jenny lately, but this season, I find I'm even less enthralled. Whereas with Blair, I'm constantly concerned about what's going to happen and how her plans are going to blow up in her face, with the rest of the cast, it's just like watching a bunch of stuff happen to a bunch of people I don't know. When Serena makes a fool of herself or Dan makes a mess of things, it's just a series of events that don't concern me. It's really kind of a weird sensation because I'm interested to know what will happen, but whatever that may be, I don't generally care. With Chuck and Blair and I'm constantly pulling for things to work out a certain way, but with everyone else? They could get deported tomorrow and I'd want to know what happens, but wouldn't really care one way or the other. In this sense, their storylines are much easier to watch, but no where near as satisfying.

Speaking of everyone else, I think the area where the move to college was the most detrimental was with regard to Jenny and Eric--those poor saps who are still stuck in high school. They've had very little screen time thus far this season, and with good reason. I don't really care all that much about Jenny's reign over Constance Billard. No one can out-do Blair, so watching her try just seems a bit out of character and redundant. Eric has always been a bit lost in the shuffle, which is a shame given how much I enjoy the character. I'm hopeful the coming episodes will integrate them a bit better into the overall world of the show, but I'm just not too sure how that's going to work... Same goes for Rufus and Lily... I used to be quite invested in their storylines, but now? Even with Lufus (er, Scott) showing up, I just couldn't get behind them. I was interested in the love child storyline primarily because of Georgina, not Rufus or Lily, which is kind of a shame (not that Georgie isn't awesome, but I just would have liked a bit more emotional resonance with the actual parents).

Dan's journey thus far has been decent enough, but I never really cared about him anyways. Hilary Duff isn't as nauseating as expected, but I'd still prefer she shuffled off to wherever she came from. Nate... is just kind of there. The Bree Buckley storyline turned into something much more substantive than anticipated, but that was all due to Carter Bazien. Speaking of Carter Bazien, I never knew how much I missed you! I developed quite an admiration for Sebastian Stan during his stint on Kings and my affections clearly carried over into Gossip Girl. Unfortunately, from what I'm hearing, his appearances on GG have come to an end for the foreseeable future... I was shocked at just how much I enjoyed his and Serena's relationship. I went in expecting it to fall flat, but it really worked for me. Again, although I was interested, the fact that the relationship came to a crashing end seemed more like just something that happened rather than the nuclear holocaust that would result from a Chuck/Blair split.

Anyway, long story short, I still love the show, but it has become mentally taxing to watch at times. It has moved to the second tier, I'd say. I'll be interested to see where everything goes, but I think I'm hoping to become a bit less ridiculously invested in Chuck and Blair and quite a bit more invested in the rest of the cast. As with any show entering its third year, it simply can't hold the freshness and novelty of its first two seasons, but the show appears to be growing and I'll be sticking with it while it does. (It just might be a little more stressful to watch than I'd prefer...)