Gossip Girl: The Complete Fourth Season

What's a girl with boy troubles to do? Well, if you're a rich bitch from the Upper East Side, you go to Paris for the summer, of course! Which is where we find besties Serena and Blair at the beginning of the fourth season of Gossip Girl. But drama finds them when they run into Chuck, assuming a new identity and girlfriend. And the scandal continues back at home, starting with Juliet, the new girl with a mysterious grudge against Serena. But Serena's in the midst of trying to choose between Nate and Dan, while Dan's been busy being a father to Georgina's baby. Confused yet? Add to that a prince, an on-the-outs Vanessa and secretly psycho, but not really, cousin Charlie, who's not really who she says she is, and you may need to lie down. As usual, there's a lot to take in over season four's 22 one-hour episodes, with some serious relationship twists and killer meltdowns. But the "scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite" are a little different now, as the characters of Gossip Girl are in college, so there's greater maturity in the troubles they face and also in the way they deal with them. The funny thing is, the Gossip Girl whom the show is named for (we still don't know who the hell that actually is) takes a backseat this season, as well as in the previous third season. In the past, the secrets spilled by GG were a way bigger deal, but maybe that's because the ways of high school politics don't exactly work the same once you're in college, a fact Blair struggles with in season three at NYU, going on to step-up her "Queen B" approach at Columbia University in season four. Oddly, Blair becomes one of the most charming characters of Gossip Girl. After being the bitch you love to hate for the first few seasons, her wit and admirable determination to get exactly what she wants make her rather endearing. She's still a brat, but she's a brat you root for and envy. It's also nice to see Blair and Dan, whom she constantly belittles, make more of a connection. While their almost hook-up is the most surprising of the series thus far, it was disappointingly cut short. It's also a shame that Jenny isn't in season four much, as her dysfunctional character offers a different perspective on the woes of socialite society. Two featurettes, as well a gag reel and unaired scenes, are included in the special features.