Last year, my first as a teacher at Bishop Seabury Academy, my juniors would huddle together in my room before class every morning, all abuzz about … something, I couldn’t immediately tell what. Eventually I asked, and they let me into their secret world, the world of “Gossip Girl,” a show they were all obsessed with even though it came out the year they were born. They said I should watch it, and I was an easy sell, as I have never outgrown my love of high school drama. (On TV. I have actually way outgrown my love of high school drama IRL.)
I began watching in March, and I finished in July. Let me say it plainly: I became obsessed. I never skipped the intro – “You know you love me. XOXO” – and eventually I even started saying it along with Kristen Bell, alone in my living room. I defended Vanessa to friends. I lurked on Reddit threads devoted to whether the show should have prioritized Dan/Serena or Rufus/Lily (since Rufus is Dan’s father and Lily Serena’s mother, they really couldn’t both be endgame). Best of all, I watched a fan-made supercut of Chuck Bass saying “I’m Chuck Bass” for eight and a half straight minutes.
The characters reminded me of no one I’ve ever met, and I don’t think I would like any of them in real life, but I adored every ridiculous moment. Each season was technically worse than the last, but somehow I loved it more as it went on. I updated my students on exactly when Chuck Bass crossed over from villain to hero, and they nodded knowingly. I will remember this show fondly forever, because I won’t actually be thinking about Blair and Dorota (my favorite duo, hands down), I’ll be thinking about the first group of students I ever had at Seabury. For that reason alone, I would give “Gossip Girl” five thousand anchors if I could.
