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Grab your designer handbags and prepare for some Upper East Side scrutiny! Join us as we uncover the most glaring inconsistencies, illogical story beats, and head-scratching moments from the scandalous world of Gossip Girl. From identity mix-ups and character changes to disappearing plot threads and unexplainable actions, some secrets just can't be kept from dedicated fans. You'll be questioning everything you thought you knew about Manhattan's elite.
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00:00Hey Eric, it's Nate. Listen, uh, I have kind of a strange question for you.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most glaring plot holes,
00:08inconsistencies, and just plain illogical story beats in Gossip Girl. Major spoilers to come.
00:13I should drink. Me too. A vodka on the rocks. Big glass, not too many rocks. Three ollie.
00:22Number 20. Masquerade Face Blindness.
00:25On the Upper East Side, appearances are often deceiving. From friends to hair color,
00:30there's always more than meets the eye. It's an ancient trope to be sure,
00:34but that's why we're wondering why a show from 2007 would even employ it.
00:38In this episode, Blair throws a masked ball, and love drama ensues.
00:43Dan sneaks into the party and Jenny steals Chuck's clothes, leaving him in his underwear on the roof.
00:48But when Jenny switches masks with Serena, this causes Nate to confuse her for Serena.
00:53He stops her to dramatically confess his feelings.
00:55I've been trying to do the right thing, but it's killing me.
00:58Look, I know we both care about Blair, but maybe the best thing is for me to just tell her the truth.
01:01I'm not over you. And I thought I could fight it, but I can't.
01:05Jenny flees, but not before Nate kisses her.
01:07A simple confusion of masks does not explain how Nate could have mistaken Jenny with Serena,
01:12as they are two different blondes with different voices and personalities.
01:16But hey, that's Gossip Girl for you.
01:18I mean, I don't even care, but other people might.
01:22Yeah, I know.
01:23Number 19, phone inconsistencies.
01:26Wait, why are you all here?
01:28I got a text saying to meet you.
01:29Yeah, so did I.
01:38Cell phones and texting in general play a big role in the show,
01:41with characters getting messages and Gossip Girl blog notifications all the time.
01:45So it's no surprise that there are some inconsistencies
01:48when it comes to the Upper East Side or cell phone use.
01:50It's me again. I've left you a couple messages and you haven't called me back.
01:55I think we should hang out today. Friends hang out.
01:58Maybe you've lost your cell phone.
01:59In a dramatic moment from season one, Serena throws away her cell phone,
02:04only for her to still have one in later episodes.
02:07It's hard to conceive of Serena Vanderwoodson rifling through the trash can,
02:10but it seems that is indeed the case.
02:13There is also one episode in season five where Serena talks to Dan on her iPhone,
02:17while it's clearly on the home screen.
02:19You know, that's my dad.
02:21He's on the other line. I'll see you soon, though.
02:23Yes, in very long development meetings.
02:26Oops.
02:27Number 18, Blair neglecting her royal duties.
02:31Hey, she's here, the Princess Bride.
02:33Oh, you're back early.
02:34Well, there are several matters to attend to.
02:37First off, CNN is asking if you privately wish to be called Princess or Mrs. Grimaldi.
02:44I'm sorry.
02:45I just need my best friend for a moment.
02:53Go right ahead, Mrs. Grimaldi.
02:54This show is known for its wild storylines,
02:57but perhaps one of the wildest is Blair dating and even getting engaged to a prince,
03:01Louis Grimaldi of Monaco. Royalty still exists, of course,
03:05although an Upper East Sider actually marrying a prince is some extraordinary luck indeed.
03:10That said, real-life royalty does require a lot of rules and responsibilities that Blair
03:15doesn't seem to be at all hampered by. In fact, once Louis tells her that their
03:19marriage will be a loveless one by contract, Blair manages to evade it by running away with Dan.
03:24So much for a fairytale wedding.
03:26I don't understand the Dominican Republic. Louis may not agree to a divorce here in the States,
03:31but I think I can get one there without his consent.
03:35Was researching divorce law part of your wedding prep? Because that should have been
03:38your first sign.
03:39Number 17. Harvard or Columbia?
03:42College is a big deal on the show. Until it's not, but that's another story.
03:46Still, in the early seasons, Serena and Blair apply to various Ivy Leagues,
03:50waiting with bated breath for their results. Where Serena's dad went to college, however,
03:54is uncertain.
03:55Where'd your parents go to school?
03:57Harvard and Brown.
04:01That's all I'm saying.
04:02In Season 1, Serena reveals her dad had been a Harvard man. However, while in Paris in Season 4,
04:09Serena reveals her legacy at a different Ivy.
04:11I know you want to do your own thing, but Columbia isn't yours. My dad went to med school there. He
04:16encouraged me to apply.
04:17Which is the real story. It's a minor discrepancy, all things considered. And to give the show the benefit
04:22of the doubt, it is possible to go to two universities, one after the other.
04:26Do you see the Yale rep?
04:28I thought you wanted to go to Brown, and Blair wanted to go to Yale.
04:32Yeah. I know.
04:35Number 16. Who is Chuck's mom?
04:37The storyline with the mystery of Chuck's mother is riddled with inconsistencies. In Season 1,
04:42Chuck speaks about his mother as if she were alive, but then it is mentioned she is, in fact,
04:46dead. In Season 2, Chuck clarifies that his mother died giving birth to him.
04:50It's not your fault.
04:52Tell him that. Sometimes I swear he thinks I killed her.
05:00Who knows, maybe I did.
05:02Except, no. In Season 3, he spies a mysterious woman named Elizabeth Fisher.
05:06She tells him she was 19 when she got pregnant with Chuck, and she wasn't ready to be a mother.
05:10And I thought my father was the heartless woman.
05:12Chuck, you have every right to hate me, but I want to be in your life.
05:18Then, Diana Payne falsely confesses to being Chuck's mother, but it's really,
05:22actually, Elizabeth? We're scratching our heads, too.
05:25Even if she is my mother, she isn't. It doesn't change anything. The past belongs to the past.
05:34Number 15. How did Chuck lose his virginity?
05:37What's this?
05:38I was hoping we could discuss what you have planned for my room.
05:42And who are you?
05:45I'm Chuck Bass.
05:46He is, indeed, Chuck Bass. But even for a notorious womanizer,
05:50you'd think he'd get the story of how he lost his virginity straight. In Season 1,
05:54Blair mentions that Chuck lost his virginity to Georgina Chapman,
05:58with Chuck clarifying it was in the sixth grade. But then, in Season 2,
06:02during the reading of his father's will, Chuck snarkily reveals a different version of events.
06:06Dear son, I know I've always been hard on you.
06:09True. But my goal was always to prepare you for this day, to help you go from being a boy to a man.
06:16The Italian au pair took care of that.
06:17Chuck, please.
06:18Which is it, Bass? We would love to think it was with Georgina Chapman in the sixth grade over the alternative.
06:24But considering how Chuck Bass came out, perhaps the Italian au pair is the most realistic story.
06:29Spotted Chuck Bass in France. Chuck Bass in Germany. Chuck Bass in Italy.
06:34I hope he has so much fun that they have to quarantine him.
06:37Number 14. Vanessa somehow knew about Serena's affair.
06:41In an episode of Season 4, Serena comes clean to her therapist about her boarding school experiences.
06:46Namely, that she had a crush on her English teacher Ben Donovan.
06:49Maybe we could get a room?
06:52Serena.
06:55Nothing came of it, but her mother Lily falsely accused the teacher of assault and swept the whole thing under the rug.
07:00Or so she thought. But as early as Season 1, Vanessa let slip a reference to Serena's messy past.
07:06I'm sure Serena knows what to do. What with her vast experiences with boarding school professors,
07:12Pamplonian bullfighters, best friends, boyfriends.
07:16How she could have possibly known about the non-affair as an outsider is beyond us.
07:21And probably beyond the writers as well.
07:23Number 13. Blair's mom has two different actresses.
07:26Hey, you're up. Do we have plans?
07:28Darling, it is impolite to interrupt.
07:31It's usually noticeable when actresses change.
07:34Blair's fashionable mother, Eleanor Waldorf, is a fashion designer and CEO of Waldorf Designs.
07:40In the pilot, she's portrayed by Florencia Lozano.
07:42Blair, you will never be more beautiful or thin or happy than you are right now.
07:49I just want you to make the most of it.
07:55I guess I have time to change.
07:57And put some product in your hair. The ends are dry.
07:59After Episode 4, Lozano dropped out and was replaced by Margaret Colon.
08:03Eleanor plays a small role, all things considered, appearing in only 34 episodes.
08:08So the change in actress was easily missed by most viewers. Still, her relationship with Blair is
08:14strained, with Eleanor's own standards shown to have contributed towards Blair's obsessive
08:18perfectionism. Whether Lozano or Colon, though, Eleanor is Eleanor.
08:22"'Cause more people should be like you, Mother."
08:24"'But before you tuck into that, you might find the low-fat yogurt more appealing."
08:28Number 12. Too Much Thanksgiving.
08:30As per Gossip Girl's Thanksgiving tradition, I'm trading my laptop for Stovetop.
08:35And for the next 16 hours, the only thing I'm dishing is seconds.
08:39When the cat's away, the mice will play. Have fun, little rodents."
08:44One thing Gossip Girl arguably loves more than gossip and drama is the holidays.
08:48The show's Thanksgiving episodes are especially iconic, if very much frequent. In fact, Season 5 is
08:54the only season not to have one. Perhaps the most iconic Thanksgiving is Season 3's The Treasure of
08:59Serena Madre, where Blair suspects her mother of keeping secrets, and Vanessa has a huge fight
09:04with her estranged mother.
09:06"'Kids. Oh, what makes you an expert?'
09:09"'I'm so glad you invited me, Rufus. Cheers.'"
09:20By contrast, there are only two Christmas episodes. Perhaps the drama among the scions of old American
09:26elites is more suited for the American holiday than Christmas cheer. That and the fall aesthetics
09:31are gorgeous.
09:32"'I'm thankful to know that no matter what they say, you can go home again,
09:37whether it's your home or not.'"
09:42Number 11. Serena gets accepted into three Ivy League schools.
09:46"'It isn't a game, and this isn't just another thing on a laundry list. This is Yale. My dream.
09:51You crossed the line."
09:52Now, this is a head-scratcher. Between Blair and Serena, the former is by far the most academically
09:58inclined, Blair being the quintessentially anxious overachiever. By contrast, Serena is far from the
10:04most studious. "'I know you may find this hard to believe, but not everyone wants to go to Yale,
10:09because not everyone wants to be Blair Waldorf.'"
10:11"'Not everyone can be. Since we're not friends anymore, let me speak frankly.
10:17You're not that smart. You lack focus and discipline.'"
10:20She even misses the SAT, though that was caused by Georgina Sparks' influence. So it's a shock when
10:26Blair gets waitlisted at Yale, while Serena gets accepted not only into Yale, but Columbia and Brown.
10:31Not only that, but Blair finds out her eventual transfer to Columbia is partially Chuck's doing.
10:36"'Oh my god, I cannot believe he actually did it.
10:41Months ago, Chuck joked about applying for you. He said you had too much pride to admit.
10:45NYU was a mistake.'"
10:48Pretty rich girl privilege is one thing. A party girl who missed her SATs getting into three Ivies is
10:53another. Show please.
10:55"'Oh, of course. The theme of this evening seems to be torture.'"
10:59Number 10. Nate's career.
11:01"'Everything okay?'
11:04"'I hope so.'"
11:05Okay, we understand that Gossip Girl doesn't exactly depict a realistic teenage experience,
11:10and that all the characters are super wealthy and privileged.
11:13But even within the world of the show, it seems pretty unrealistic that Nate was able to go from
11:18being an intern to becoming editor-in-chief of The Spectator in what seemed to be no time at all.
11:23"'I think her plan will actually work, which means all of Gossip Girl's readers will flock to us.
11:29Or rather, to you, Mr. New Editor-in-Chief. Congratulations. You've earned it.'"
11:37Not to mention, when we see him in the series finale, he's inexplicably running for mayor.
11:42"'Mr. Archibald, what do you say to speculation that you'll be announcing your bid for the mayor's
11:46race any day now?'
11:47"'I'd say New York is the greatest city in the world who wouldn't want to be mayor.'"
11:50While we're on the topic of unrealistic professional accomplishments,
11:53we have our doubts that Dan's book would have ever been published,
11:56let alone make the New York Times bestseller list.
12:00Number 9. Texting from the inside.
12:03"'How are you?'
12:05"'Depends. Nothing's gone.'"
12:08So, the world of Gossip Girl may be slightly out of step with the world that us regular folks live in,
12:13but there are some basic rules that everyone has to follow, no matter how rich they are.
12:18In Season 4, however, the diabolical Juliet is found to be plotting with her brother Ben,
12:24who is incarcerated at the time.
12:26"'What you need is to get Serena caught with her professor, whoever he is.
12:32And you get the proof like we talked about?'
12:34And how were they communicating, you ask? By text, of course.
12:38Call is old-fashioned, but even in the modern day,
12:40we are pretty sure prisoners are not allowed access to their cell phones.
12:44"'I got it. We're good. I'll call you later.'"
12:49Number 8. No Drinking Age.
12:52"'Chuck Bass. I do believe all your years of underage boozing and womanizing have finally paid off.'"
12:58We're not naive. We know underage drinking happens, especially in countries like the US,
13:03where the drinking age is 21. Of course, with their social statuses and trust fund accounts,
13:08the teens of Gossip Girl probably have to follow different rules than the rest of us,
13:12but they're not totally immune to the law.
13:14"'I'm really sorry.'
13:16"'Yeah, I could tell, since you didn't call her right the entire time it was happening.'"
13:20Even when they're still in high school, they're shown drinking constantly,
13:24and never seem to have any restrictions whatsoever on procuring alcohol or getting into bars and clubs.
13:30Not to mention, Chuck actually buys a club while he's still many years underage.
13:35"'Why settle for some club in a hotel when you can just buy the hotel?'
13:44"'Chuck.'"
13:46Number 7. Pretty much everything about Bart Bass.
13:49"'Dead. Oh my god.'"
13:53Viewers willingly suspend their disbelief about a lot of things while watching this drama-filled show,
13:58but everyone has their limits.
14:00"'What did we bury in that coffin?'
14:03"'Charles. I'm here with you now, trying to explain.'"
14:07Many plot points seem unrealistic, but others leave you asking,
14:12"'Wait, what?' Bart Bass is often at the center of these head-scratchers,
14:16whether it's revealing that he was alive after several seasons of being presumed dead,
14:20or heartlessly trying to kill his own son.
14:23"'If the man I'm hiding from were to discover I was still alive, he'd try and kill me again,
14:28or go after you.'"
14:29No matter how much money you have, faking your own death is nearly impossible,
14:33especially for such a prominent figure like himself.
14:36"'Please, son.'"
14:41You're gonna have to bear with us on this one, because as the seasons of Gossip Girl went on,
14:58the plot lines became more and more convoluted.
15:01In season 4, Serena runs into a girl who she believes to be her cousin Charlie,
15:05and mentions that she hasn't seen her since they were 12.
15:08Later on though, when the real Charlie shows up and Ivy is proven to be an imposter,
15:24the actual Charlie says that she's been hidden from her extended family for her entire life.
15:29There's no implication that Ivy has been working on this con since she was a kid,
15:33so this seems like a clear oversight.
15:35"'Ivy, don't say a word.'"
15:38"'Your mom hired me to be you.'"
15:40"'Why would he do that?'
15:41"'To protect you.'"
15:43"'I was supposed to gain access to your trust fund for your mother, which I did.'"
15:48Number 5, Lily and William's relationship.
15:52Serena's father, Dr. William Vanderwoodsen, doesn't figure into the story until the show's third season.
15:57When your mother came to me last summer, she was sick.
16:02I cured her.
16:04Then I fell in love with her again.
16:06When he does appear, it's soon revealed that he is tricking his ex-wife Lily into believing she has cancer,
16:12so he can spend more time with her.
16:13Not only that, he's actually giving her drugs to mimic symptoms of the disease.
16:18I'm sorry I didn't believe you, I was just so overwhelmed.
16:22The only thing that matters is I'm not losing you.
16:25To cancer, to Will, or anything else.
16:28Despite this reveal, Lily and William end up together in the show's series finale,
16:32with no real explanation of how she possibly managed to forgive him for such heinous actions.
16:38We are just not buying this one.
16:40Number 4, is Chuck's mom dead or alive?
16:43In the very first episode of Gossip Girl,
16:46Chuck casually mentions stealing medication from his mom while chatting with Nate.
16:51Well then maybe I should swipe some of my dad's Viagra.
16:55Or my mom's Pax in it?
16:56By season 2 however, he reveals to Dan in an uncharacteristically tender moment
17:01that his mom actually died while giving birth to him.
17:04And of course, because this is Gossip Girl,
17:06by season 3 we get a reveal that she's actually still alive.
17:10I spent 18 years accepting the fact my mother was dead.
17:16The thing is though, Chuck always thought she was dead.
17:19So that line from the pilot must have been written before the story was well thought out.
17:24I thought it would be better if you could hate me.
17:26But I think it's better if you know me.
17:28Number 3, Lily and Rufus's son.
17:30Just tell me one thing.
17:35Is it a boy or a girl?
17:36In season 2, it's revealed that when they were younger,
17:39Lily and Rufus had a child together.
17:41This is understandably groundbreaking for those around them,
17:44especially their respective children.
17:47But although much is made of this dramatic turn of events,
17:50the story eventually fizzles out after Scott Rossin actually enters their lives for a while in season 3.
17:55My name isn't Adler, it's Rossin.
17:57I'm Rufus and Lily's son.
18:02His final appearance is at Lily and Rufus's wedding,
18:05and he is inexplicably never heard from again.
18:08And I'm sorry Scott, that this is how you had to meet me.
18:11Because all I've thought about for the last 20 years is holding our child in my arms.
18:21He's only just met his parents for the first time, so this doesn't really add up.
18:29In the early seasons, much is made of the gang's college applications,
18:33and in particular, Blair's aspirations to get into Yale.
18:37I know I must seem rather traditional compared to that young lady,
18:42but isn't tradition what Yale is all about?
18:44Well, yes, but we've been trying to change that image.
18:47By the beginning of season 3, our main characters are in their freshman year of college,
18:51though Blair ended up at NYU, much to her chagrin.
18:55Somehow though, as the show goes on, their scholastic pursuits seem to fall by the wayside,
19:00in favor of a variety of other types of drama.
19:03Where's your laptop?
19:04Right here, why?
19:05Okay, I'm about to send you something right now, check this out.
19:09By the final seasons, there seems to be almost no mention of them ever attending classes,
19:13but they also never say that anyone dropped out.
19:16Serena, you and I both want to take down Gossip Girl, this will do it.
19:19Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel,
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19:35Number 1. Dan being Gossip Girl
19:38Though the show's creators seem to have known that Dan was Gossip Girl from the very beginning,
19:43there are so many times in the show's run where this just doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
19:48All I had to compare to this world was what I'd read in books, but that gave me the idea.
19:53If I wasn't born into this world, maybe I could write myself into it.
19:59This starts with the pilot, when he seems shocked to find out Serena's returning to town,
20:03when he allegedly wrote the post, to countless other instances,
20:06when his reactions to Gossip Girl are completely inconsistent with the fact that he's the one
20:11creating the content.
20:12And when Serena came back from boarding school, I wrote my first post about me.
20:18Lonely boy, the outsider, the underdog.
20:22I might have been a joke, but at least people were talking about me.
20:26He even acts like he doesn't know who Olivia Burke is.
20:28How have you never heard of Olivia Burke?
20:31Come on, I thought you lived in Brooklyn, not a cave.
20:33Not to mention all the times when it was literally impossible for him to have written something.
20:37We really wish they had crafted this one better.
20:40Gossip Girl's dead.
20:42What other Gossip Girl plot holes drive you up the wall?
20:44Let us know in the comments.
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