An Exclusive Sneak Peek at CW's New Gossip Girl Series

A new season of television is upon us, bringing many new shows (and many new seasons of old ones). A particularly hyped program is the new Gossip Girl show, which is modeled after the book series. The series is based upon-what else?-gossip. But it goes beyond that. It is about a group of young socialites (think pre-tabloids Paris Hilton), who spend their time partying, shopping, and basically just living the high life that many young teens wish that they could break into. On the other hand, there is the teenage drama element that factors in; the girls deal with relationship problems, broken friendships, betrayals, and unsupportive families. The series itself is named after the narrator-the writer of a gossip blog which focuses on the celebutantes of the story.

If you are planning on watching the show and do not want any spoilers, do not read any further than this paragraph. I will sum up my rating here: acting gets a 9/10, storyline gets a 10/10, and faithfulness to the books gets a 7/10. If you are an extreme fan of the books, you will probably not be disappointed. If you did not read the books but you enjoy this type of show, then you will definitely not be disappointed. If you would like an exclusive review of the first episode itself, continue reading. I do not give every single detail, but I do go over the general storyline and plot points.

The show opens with the arrival of Serena, who has just returned to New York from boarding school. We are not sure why exactly she left or why she has returned, but we do know that everybody is excited. Her best friend, Blair, is slightly pleased when she finds out. More than anything, though, she is nervous; rumor has it that her boyfriend, Nate, has a thing for Serena, and Blair naturally does not want to lose Nate. Following me so far?

Five minutes in and we are at a society party. Everybody is dressed to the nines and the mothers of the show are being distant to their daughters. (Paraphrasing Blair's mother, "If you are going to wear one of my fashions, you must tell me so that I can fit it properly!") Serena arrives and leaves in under a minute, and everybody is shocked that she did not get drunk.

We find out that Serena left early so that she could see her brother at the hospital. Fade to black.

The next day, we find out that her brother is in the hospital because he tried to commit suicide. We also find out that their mother has hidden him away so that nobody in society knows the truth about what happened. This is when the tension between Serena and her mother starts to come up, as Serena obviously does not approve of her mother's actions.

We switch to a scene with Dan, his sister Jenny, and their father. We find out that their parents are divorced, their father is somewhat anti-capitalist, and they are probably going to be the token "out of the loop" characters for this show. Jenny is addressing invitations for an exclusive party, and Dan is shocked when he finds out that she is invited. Oh, but she is only invited because she is addressing the invitations! And thus, their status is cemented. Dan also reads Gossip Girl's blog, and has a fascination with Serena.

From here on out, the show hints that Serena and Nate may have had a past together (but Serena wants no future with him), Nate's friend Chuck believes that Nate should cheat on Blair, and Dan really has the hots for Serena. Oh, and Chuck hates Dan (probably because he is lower class).

Lunch break at their school. Serena walks up to Blair, where Blair and her friends are handing out invitations for the oh-so-exclusive party. There is, however, no invite for Serena. Drama! Serena tells Blair that she wants to meet her later on to talk, but Blair smirks and says that she has plans with Nate. Serena holds her gaze and gives her a time and place. How could Blair refuse? We are informed by our gossip girl narrator that a power struggle is in the works between the two, and that neither are going to go down without a fight.

We go to the mall where Jenny is trying on dresses for the party. She texts her brother and asks for help. While she and her brother are looking at dresses, Serena and her brother (Serena pulled him out of the hospital for a little break) show up, and Jenny gives her an invitation. Serena gives Jenny some valuable fashion advice, and Dan hides. We also see some possibility for a romance between Serena's brother and Jenny (which I personally think would work out really well).

Later that night, Blair and Serena meet up at the Palace hotel. We realize that Blair acts the way she does towards Serena mostly because she is really angry at Serena for just up and leaving one day for boarding school. The scene ends with the two agreeing to work on their friendship.

I'm not going to go into too much about the next scene, because it is really vital to the story. Let's just say that we talk a little more about what went on between Serena and Nate. Oh, and we find out just how sleazy Chuck really is. Dan, meanwhile, is at the hotel bar, trying to find Serena. She runs into him, drops her Sidekick (by the way, EVERYBODY in this show has a Sidekick), and he picks it up.

The next day he tries to return it to her, but the hotel's front desk attendant will have none of that. When Serena walks by, he asks her if she knows Dan. Of course she knows him, she bumped into him the night before when she was filthy drunk! They have a moment, then Serena's mother shows up, proclaiming to the world that she found a brilliant dress for Serena to wear to Blair's party. Uh oh, but Serena is not going to the party! Why? Because she suddenly has plans with Dan! Dan is ecstatic that he has a date with this goddess that he has worshipped for so long. The date will be a concert that his father's band is performing in. Hooray!

Blair's party is a bit, but Jenny seems to be getting a little too close to Chuck. He "loves freshmen." Poor Jenny. You can't help but feel protective of her, as she seems so innocent and inexperienced around all of the juniors and seniors around her. Serena's date with Dan seems to be vaguely awkward at first; the first thing he does is have her meet his father. He then gets a text from Jenny-she needs help from Chuck! Serena decides to tag along, saying, "If it's Chuck, it's not okay."

They find Jenny and Chuck together on the roof of the party building, with Jenny trying to get Chuck to leave her alone (no success). Small fight between Chuck and Dan, and the scene ends with Chuck threatening Serena's social life. In this kind of show, that's serious business.

The show ends with Dan, Serena and Jenny riding off in a taxi; Blair looking incredulous; Chuck looking vengeful; and Nate looking depressed.

Overall, I give this show a 10/10. The camerawork is done very well, the acting is excellent, and the storyline is fantastic. Whoever picked out the music has perfect taste. Be sure to watch the show when it premieres, you will not be disappointed!