It’s been 10 years since Gossip Girl premiered and became the guiltiest of guilty pleasures and in honor of the anniversary, I’m ranking the 10 best characters to grace the show.
10. Eric Van Der Woodsen – Every show with this much scheming and backstabbing needs someone with a heart of gold and that person on Gossip Girl was Serena’a little brother, Eric. Many of Eric’s storylines surround his relationship with his family, namely Serena and Lily, and his friendship with Jenny Humphrey. Unlike many of the other characters on the show, Eric tries to stay out of the drama; except for a few notable instances. Eric is often times shown to be kind and friendly to almost anyone. His personality stayed relatively the same until he began to feel betrayed by Jenny and her abandonment of their friendship. However, after he schemed with Blair and lost his relationship and himself, he stopped. It’s also mentioned that growing up, he was frequently on the sidelines of Serena’s reckless behavior. He’s shown to be wise and gives good advice when someone, namely Serena, comes to him needing someone to talk to. So even when Eric tried to be bad, he was always good at heart and, as a viewer, you were happy he caught himself and wanted to get out of the scheming before he went down a darker path. Eric left at the end of season 4 but did a cameo in the series finale and we were all happy to see he was still doing well.
9. Eleanor Waldorf – You don’t start off loving Eleanor but it becomes pretty clear early on that she’s going to win more parenting awards than one Lily Van Der Woodsen. Eleanor lacks a little empathy, but she teaches Blair to be a self-respecting and responsible lady. All she wants is what’s best for Blair, even if Blair doesn’t always agree with her at first. While the character wasn’t a series regular, he recurring appearances were always a delight and her interactions with Blair always proved to be a highlight.
8. Rufus Humphrey – In the same vein as Eric, Rufus is another character who mostly played it on the good side of things on the series. For almost the entire series, Rufus was a pretty great guy. He sacrificed a (moderately) successful career in music to be home with his family while his kids grew up and then worked his butt off to send them to elite Manhattan prep schools. He was always there to supply his family, friends, and really anybody who showed up, with an endless supply of waffles. When Dan and Jenny were spinning out of control, he was their moral compass. He waited twenty years and countless marriages to finally be with Lily. He was one of the most genuinely good characters on the show. And then he moved in with the psycho girl who stole his family’s money and pretended to be his step-niece. Rufus was the TV equivalent of an Olympic runner who’s in first place the entire race and then trips and falls on their face five yards before the finish line. Despite this, he’s still a good guy and anyone who has to deal with a daughter like Jenny deserves extra kudos.
7. Celia “CeCe” Rhodes – CeCe was quickly painted as the judgmental and snobby mother of Lily van der Woodsen who disapproved of anything less than her high standards, particularly when it came to the Humphrey family. Lily didn’t seem to get along well with her because CeCe was constantly disapproving of her often ‘liberal’ choices in life, but we still had a lot of respect for her as the reigning queen of the Rhodes. Fans quickly learned not to underestimate how cunning she was! She loved to swoop in and shake up Lily’s life when she was least expecting it. Despite our disdain for her constant ruffling of feathers, we sympathized with her when she got sick, but even from the grave she was causing trouble by writing Ivy Dickens into her will. Plus it was always fun watching her throw back a few drinks.
6. Carter Baizen – Like many of the characters on Gossip Girl, Carter Baizen was a manipulative con artist who was always up to no good. Naturally, fans turn on characters who are unlikable and constantly stirring up trouble, but Carter Baizen ended up being a likable character who underneath all the manipulation and lies, actually did have a heart. We truly believed he cared about Serena. Unfortunately, he was banished to a Texan oil rig in the end when she found out he was up to his usual antics and lied to her, but he took his sentence well and remained true to his original character — who could never be fully trusted. Humble beginnings for our boy Bucky!
5. Dan Humphrey – Dan really began as the most relatable character. He was the outsider but his clever quips kept him on top of his game and his initial affection for Serena is a prime example of trying to get the girl who seems the most unattainable. For people who didn’t come from a lavish lifestyle, Dan was the character that was the voice for them. That being said, there is no denying Dan’s fall from grace was rough. He started out as Lonely Boy: the outcast kid from Brooklyn, in love with a girl who he thought, would never notice him, desperately wanting to fit in. Every time the “different worlds” issue tore Serena and Dan’s relationship apart, we all rooted for him to get the girl again. It seemed like all of Dan’s problems would be solved by moving into the van der Woodsen’s Upper East Side penthouse when Rufus married Lily, despite the fact that the girl he so desperately wanted was now his step-sister, but all it really did was create a monster. Suddenly, not only was Dan still an outsider but now he lived right in the middle of all of the people who didn’t want him there. Clawing his way into the world of Manhattan’s elite stripped Dan of his down-to-earth Humphrey roots, and left no trace of the Lonely Boy from the pilot. Holding in the secret that he was Gossip Girl for six years probably ate away at the innocent kid we all knew and loved, but that’s really not an excuse because that reveal made absolutely no sense. Even all these years later, still don’t get it. That being said, Dan is still my boy and friends say I’m the most like him so I’m ok giving him some props.
4. Georgina Sparks – Next to Blair, Georgina Sparks was the queen of manipulation and cunning behavior. She was quickly pinned as the villain of the show, but she put on such a good performance she became one of those characters we love to hate. Granted, I hated when she swooped in during season one and screwed things up for Serena and Dan, but I did grow to find her quite likable when messing with Serena wasn’t her prime focus. Fans never wanted to her to succeed in whatever evil plan she had up her sleeve, but we also loved seeing her come back every now and again to stir things up! She was a go-to character for the writers when they needed to add an unexpected twist to the show. Underneath it all, we’re pretty sure Georgina just wanted to be a part of the group and make some friends, but she just went about it all the wrong way. However, similar to many of the other villains of the show, she ended up being an ally to them in the end and even found her person in Jack Bass, Chuck’s brother.
3. Dorota Kishlovsky – The Waldorf residence maid and Blair’s right-hand woman, Dorota, easily lands herself on this list! She provided the best comedic relief on the show as she was constantly at Blair’s beck and call to assist in whatever scheming plan she’d come up with and was always dishing out cheeky one-liners. Dorota was definitely a fan favorite of many viewers! While she was always in on Blair’s scheming, she really cared about her and her friends. She wasn’t just the help, she was an ally.
2. Blair Waldorf -Blair actually and legitimately ruined people’s lives. There’s really no way to put that lightly. Granted, she didn’t ruin everyone’s life, but there were a handful of people who would never be the same after crossing Queen B. Usually, the people Blair destroyed had at least a little of it coming, but it was kind of frightening how easily she was able to get a teacher fired for having a fake inappropriate relationship with a student, all with a smile on her face and a perfectly arranged headband in her hair. Like almost every other character on Gossip Girl, Blair was fiercely loyal to her friends and family and would stop at no ends to bring down someone who had hurt them. Things got a little dicey when she’d decide that a friend (Serena) was a nemesis, but, they’d inevitably somehow get over it, even after Blair did something extra horrible like telling the Dean of Admissions at Yale that Serena was a murderer. Despite her wicked ways, Blair showed great vulnerability in her relationship with Chuck and their journey actually made both of them the most interesting people to watch on the show. Behind all that scheming and betrayal were a heart and character this flawed need to show a little of that from time to time.
Honorable Menton: Nate Archibald – There is no way around it, Nate is pretty boring but I’d be remiss not to mention him because despite being as vanilla as they come, he wasn’t a particularly bad guy. Like Serena, Nate had a serious issue with inappropriate relationships. But, besides a youthful indiscretion with Serena (shocker), he had surprisingly selfless and noble, albeit misguided, reasons for having these relationships. When his father fled the country to avoid jail time for embezzlement charges and the family bank accounts were frozen, Nate gave up his relationship with Vanessa to carry on with a British duchess who agreed to give his family money. While prostitution isn’t exactly the best solution to a problem, Nate did what he thought was necessary to keep his family from going through anymore public embarrassment. After he went to college, he wanted to do something to make his own success without the help of any of his many corrupt family members, especially his grandfather. So, once again, Nate continued on with another unseemly relationship with the owner of the newspaper he worked for to try to make it in the business, which, surprisingly, actually worked. Sure, Nate did some ill-advised things, but unlike his family and friends, he did them for all the right reasons. You could also rely on him to punch people on any given episode so that’s a plus as well.
1. Chuck Bass – If there was ever a Most Improved award for TV characters, Chuck Bass would win it. When Gossip Girl started, he was the absolute worst. Not in a “guy you love to hate” way, but in a “he basically tried to sexually assault Serena and Jenny in Episode one” way. He was entitled, spoiled, and wore the weirdest clothes to play basketball. And then he fell in love with Blair. Suddenly, he was putting effort into something, besides finding drugs and girls, for the first time in his life. After Bart Bass died, all Chuck wanted was to be better than his father thought he was, and he did everything he could to get there. The old Chuck reared his ugly head every once in a while to do horrible things like try to trade Blair to his uncle in exchange for his hotel back, but by the end of the series, he was willing to give up everything to get Blair out of her extra screwed up marriage to a Prince. Why? Because he’s Chuck Bass.
