Why Was Dan's Gossip Girl Reveal So Hated & Who Was It Originally Going To Be?
Long before the infamous ending to "Gossip Girl" shocked the world, Dan Humphrey was not looking that great. More similar to Penn Bradley's character in "You" than we would like to admit, Dan had soured with the fanbase long ago. Though the Brooklyn native's introduction into the world of the Upper East Side and Serena van der Woodsen's (Blake Lively) heart seems to suggest he is the hero, he quickly proves he isn't.
Intent on getting published, Dan becomes just as bad as the rest of the schemers in the neighborhood. He steals Chuck's (Ed Westwick) life story to make his own Charlie Trout (ugh) knockoff version and constantly judges all the women he's with. This only crystalizes when Dan reveals he is the anonymous blogger known as Gossip Girl. Right off the bat, we have to explain why this decision is so heinous. Dan always proclaimed romantic notions about Serena, putting her on a pedestal as his dream girl. But his actions prove otherwise. He creates a blog popular for publishing hurtful rumors about Serena and her friends. Perhaps this could have worked if Dan got his comeuppance. But instead of being shoved out of the world he was so desperately trying to claw his way into, he gets what he wants and even marries Serena. Dan's confirmation as Gossip Girl is the biggest betrayal of the series. And that is a high bar to clear.
Nate would have been the real twist
After six seasons with a multitude of interweaving plots, no one could be Gossip Girl and still make sense. But there were better choices than making the blogger Dan. According to producer Joshua Safran, his money had always been on Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford).
"It was Nate until the day I left. I think we all came to the conclusion that it might be Nate by the end of Season 4, and then we spent Season 5 teeing it up. If you watch it, there are many clues to it being Nate," Safran told The Daily Beast. Nate is the character that struggles with his privilege and though it doesn't always work, tries to do the right thing. Making Nate may not have avoided plot holes, but it did make more character sense.
"With Nate, it was because he'd never sent anything in to Gossip Girl," Safran continued, "and if it had been Nate, it was based on this idea that he'd felt so guilty for sleeping with Serena that he had to create an alter ego to bring us all to it." And as the character that tries to do what's moral, making him Gossip Girl would have been an actual OMG moment. Throughout its lifespan, "Gossip Girl" lived and died by these moments, becoming a cultural touchstone. RIP, "Gossip Girl." You did the teen drama world a great service.