Gossip Girl Season Premiere

Let’s be honest: Gossip Girl’s third season was not exactly up to par with the first two seasons. While seasons one and two were charismatic and entertaining in terms of plot and execution (New York Magazine declared the drama “the most awesomely awesome show ever” in 2008), season three reveled in clunky, disjointed storylines and incredibly unrealistic drama that was poorly portrayed.

But the past is the past, so let’s bury it – at least season three, anyway. It’s time to focus on the present, and it looks like there’s hope after all for everybody’s favorite Upper East Side kids; tonight’s season four premier was fun and spicy, with promising new twists and turns.

The episode begins with Serena (Blake Lively) and Blair (Leighton Meester) flirting, frolicking and, of course, shopping in Paris. Immediately, we are grounded in something constant; we are reminded of the girls’ tumultuous friendship, especially Blair’s jealousy of Serena. In the first five minutes, we learn that Serena has leapt from one romance to another, while “the only beau that Blair has is on her head.” That changes, though, with an amusing but initially predictable storyline; Blair’s dreams come true when she meets Louis, a charming prince, presumably from the House of Grimaldi, only to discover that he is merely a chauffer to the royal family. Kind of saw that one coming. But wait! At the end of the episode we learn that Louis is, in fact, royalty – he simply sought to hide his identity in order to discern who liked him for his personality and who was just impressed with his status (ahem, Blair).

Another interesting turn of events is the introduction of a new character – Juliet Sharp, played by former Melrose Place star, Katie Cassidy. She seems classy and sophisticated from the get go, and perhaps a bit too mature for Nate (whom she is starting some sort of relationship with). And while Nate (Chace Crawford) is overtly interested in her, Juliet is good at keeping her cool, though the mutual attraction is obvious. Nothing seems too out of the ordinary until the very end of the episode, when Juliet leaves her apartment to meet Nate for coffee. The camera flashes to a collage of disturbing photos on the wall, all of which picture Nate, Serena, and possibly the rest of the cast. The camera then zooms in to Juliet’s computer, which has the Gossip Girl site up with the latest post. So the question is, is Juliet Gossip Girl? And if she is, does it matter that she is not Kristen Bell, who voices the unseen Gossip Girl character?

And now for the less than original storyline: Dan’s (Penn Badgley) lovechild with Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg). It seems as though every teenage drama has to have a pregnancy scare or two that eventually culminates in an actual unwanted child. In this case, little Milo isn’t exactly unwanted, but the details surrounding the definitive nature of Dan’s paternity are hazy. And Georgina is villainous and secretive, as usual. In fact, the real twist in this storyline would be if Dan were actually the father.

In terms of the rest of the Gossip Girl gang, Jenny (Taylor Momsen) is MIA for now, which is a nice break from the Jenny overload that encompassed season three. Chuck (Ed Westwick) is now living as “Henry” after disappearing for the summer, though the details of that plotline haven’t been flushed out yet.

All in all, Gossip Girl’s premier delivered the excitement and attention grabbing dynamic that viewers might not have expected after a less than lustrous season three. But the mirroring of the first two seasons is a nice surprise, nonetheless; if the show’s writers stick to what made the first two seasons so good – a strong, coherent plot and social commentary with a splash (or more than a splash) of drama – then season four will surely be a hit.