Spotted: The 10 Most Annoying Characters On Gossip Girl

Every show has characters we love to hate or just flat out despise and Gossip Girl was no exception. This series also featured characters who were downright annoying and we preferred to have less of them on screen. In honor of the 10 year anniversary, I’ve come up with a list of the top 10 most annoying characters on the show…and no…Vanessa isn’t making the cut 🙂

10. Lily Rhodes-van der Woodsen-Bass-Humphrey – Alright, so this was a tough one which is why she’s at number 10 and I even questioned putting her on this list at all but Lily had moments on the show that made you want to jump through the screen, despite sometimes doing some of them in what she thought was the best interest of those she loved. Lily may not have had the best judgment (Exhibit A: forging Serena’s signature and winding up on house arrest), but, in her defense, her family didn’t exactly make her life any easier. Considering everyone related to her—through blood, marriage, or secret adoption—was constantly scheming and lying, she probably did the best she could. That being said, Serena (spoiler alert she’s on this list too) likely learned all of her questionable from her and her dabbling in both worlds (rich socialite and down to earth groupie with Rufus) led a lot to her conflict. Sometimes you just wished she got out of her own way instead of trying to dictate things when her life could be a shambled mess. However, like I said, she did do some things with the best of intentions (Having your own daughter arrested because you’re mad at her doesn’t exactly seem like it’s in her best interest but to each his own).

9. William van der Woodsen – William van der Woodsen wasn’t exactly trustworthy. Even though he always wanted Lily, he made some major mistakes, like cheating on her with her sister Carol and fathering Lola. He also pretended that Lily had cancer so that he could he could get closer to her and he later used Ivy Dickens to get Lily back. He could be pretty cold and manipulative and he wasn’t even around much for his two children that he had with Lily. Basically, the guy didn’t have many redeeming qualities and is only far down this list because there are people who tended to get on my nerves more.

8. Howard Archibald – In another example of poor parenting (seems to be a theme on this show, save Rufus Humphrey), Howard Archibald was an awful father to Nate. He was a white-collar criminal with a cocaine addiction (remember how he let Nate take the blame for the coke with Nate’s mom even though he knew it was his?) and he even fled the country to avoid serving a prison sentence. He did attempt to redeem himself in later seasons, but the damage was already done.

7. Lola Rhodes – Lola Rhodes – who was the real Charlie – was pretty annoying, mostly because of her attitude towards her family. She considers herself so much better than them because she has rejected their wealth; however, she proves that she is just as vindictive as anyone on the Upper East Side when she gives Ivy her inheritance for promising to bring down Lily. Honestly, most people in this convoluted story made the cut for this and she just happens to be another offender on the list.

6. Louis Grimaldi – When he first appeared on Gossip Girl, Louis Grimaldi was like Prince Charming; however, he turned out to be pretty cold and manipulative. He married Blair, but then informed her that their marriage was only a contract and their love did not exist, prompting her to end the marriage. She then almost had to bankrupt her family to pay her dowry. His primary offense? Providing another obstacle for the inevitable union of Chuck and Blair.

5. Diana Payne – Like most other characters on Gossip Girl, Diana Payne was a schemer and her storyline became exceedingly complicated, especially when she confessed to being Chuck’s mother. This turned out to be yet another lie. The only thing that was true was that she was old enough to be his mother, but lied like a teenage girl. She represents the show venturing further into soapy territory in its later seasons that proved to be a detriment.

4. Ivy Dickens – Ivy Dickens became less and less likable as the Gossip Girl went on. During season four, she wasn’t so bad, but when it came out that she wasn’t really Charlie Rhodes, she dedicated her life to full-time scheming. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that good at it and she ended up getting used and tossed aside by the other characters which only appear even more worthless. Again, she’s adjacent to a story I just didn’t enjoy and if you’re going to be a schemer on this show, you need to be good at it, she was not.

3. Carol Rhodes – She mostly makes the list because her annoying behavior led to us enduring other annoying characters (see above). Carol Rhodes was pretty devious. She hired a con artist (Ivy Dickens) to impersonate her daughter Charlie, so she could access her trust fund and she slept with her sister’s husband and had a child with him, Charlie (Lola). Not cool, not cool at all.

2. Serena van der Woodsen – It pains me to put the lead of the show on this list (I mean we should be rooting for her, right?) but More time than not, Serena made it very hard to be in her corner. This didn’t begin in season one. Yes, she was flawed, but you believed she wanted to make a better life for herself after her return from boarding school. Shipping her and Dan was essential for the fans and you believed she could have her happy ending. Then we forgot that was only season one and we had 5 whole seasons for her to make countless mistakes that would make us want her to play in traffic. For someone who was determined to turn her life around and be a better person, Serena sure had a knack for making the worst decisions ever. The really interesting thing about it was that she never seemed to see how terrible some of her ideas actually were. Usually, Serena would come up with some harebrained idea, someone would tell her exactly how horrible that idea was, and then she’d just do it anyway somehow deciding that nothing would go wrong… because all of her previous bad ideas obviously turned out great. Sleeping with your best friend’s boyfriend? Shouldn’t be a problem. Sleeping with a married congressman? Sounds like a great plan. Dating a professor without actually dating him? Yeah, haven’t even scratched the surface but if I did I’d be writing all night.

1. Jenny Humphrey – (Spoiler Alert – The main image gave this one away). Much like Serena, Jenny was pretty tolerable in season one. I gave her the benefit of the doubt because she was young and wanted to fit in and she had a sweet relationship with her brother and her father. There were some cracks in the beginning but not enough to write her off. However, with each subsequent season, she became more and more annoying. Maybe it was the writing or maybe Taylor Momsen just gave up on even trying to act (Rumor has it she was insufferable before she left the show). All we know is that by the time she left, no one was sad to see her go and despite only being on the show for 3 and a half years of the 6-year run, it felt like she couldn’t exit fast enough to go play in traffic with Serena.

 


Like this story? Follow Reel Talk Inc. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for daily news and reviews, and sign up for our email newsletter here.

Podchaser - Reel Chronicles
About Gaius Bolling 3795 Articles
At the age of five, I knew I wanted to write movies and about them. I've set out to make those dreams come true. As an alumni of the Los Angeles Film Academy, I participated in their Screenwriting program, while building up my expertise in film criticism. I write reviews that relate to the average moviegoer by educating my readers and keeping it fun. My job is to let you know the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of cinema, so you can have your best moviegoing experience. You can find more of my writing on Instagram @g_reelz.