My favorite teen drama is now streaming on Netflix – and it's addictive

The teen soap has become a vanishing art form, perhaps because younger viewers no longer watch traditional linear television and the short seasons of streaming series do not lend themselves to the kind of ongoing serial narrative necessary to sustain a compelling and exciting life addictive narrative.

A modern streaming service will probably never release a series focused on teenage relationships that spans six seasons and 120+ episodes, but that's okay because my favorite trashy teen drama just finished its entire release Netflix discontinued – and the CW hit from the 2000s. “Gossip Girl” makes for irresistible binge-watching.

It's not really fair of me to call “Gossip Girl” trashy, even though it revels in intimate betrayal and conspicuous consumption, because it's also considered one of the most intelligently written and sensitive TV dramas of its time. People may think that a show like Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure, but there's no reason to feel guilty about enjoying such clever dialogue, well-drawn characters, and masterfully crazy plot twists.

“Gossip Girl” is a brilliant, biting delight

The title character of “Gossip Girl” is an anonymous blogger (at least until an unfortunate reveal in the final episode) who chronicles “the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite” — primarily the students of two swank private schools on the Upper East Side. Voiced by Kristen Bell, Gossip Girl herself is spiteful, petty, and essentially infallible, and she narrates each episode with a sense of haughty entitlement. Her unwavering sardonic humor keeps the show lively even in the more dramatic moments.

These moments are usually thanks to the endlessly changing relationships between the main characters, especially between two couples who share the same fate. In the first episode, semi-disgraced socialite Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) returns from a stay at boarding school, meets brooding would-be author Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) in a hotel lobby and immediately forms a connection.

Through a series of misunderstandings, they end up planning a date and their epic love story begins with one of the best lines of dialogue in the entire series: “You would really go out with someone you don't even know?” asks Dan. “You can’t be worse than the guys I know,” Serena replies.

One of those worse types is aspiring business tycoon Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), who is essentially introduced as a villain before becoming a sort of sexy anti-hero as his connection to Serena's best enemy Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) grows. Chuck and Blair tend to be more exciting than Dan and Serena because they are more devious, but both couples break up and get back together several times throughout the series, and all four characters engage in varying degrees of reprehensible behavior.

“Gossip Girl” features a rich, complex cast of characters

Leighton Meester as Blair and Ed Westwick as Chuck

(Image credit: Warner Bros. TV)

The characters in “Gossip Girl” are rich in both senses of the word – almost all of them are obscenely wealthy, but they are also fascinatingly complex, with shifting loyalties and motivations that may or may not follow the dictates of late-night soap writing remain largely internally consistent. No matter how many different people they sleep with, as they progress from high school through college and into adulthood, they retain their innate charisma and insecurities, with a little more maturity along the way.

The main ensemble of all six seasons also includes Chuck's best friend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), as well as Serena's mother Lily (Kelly Rutherford) and Dan's father Rufus (Matthew Settle), whose storylines are just as exciting and convoluted as those of the younger generation. Like any good soap, Gossip Girl features a huge cast of supporting characters, and familiar faces like Sebastian Stan, Hilary Duff and Michelle Trachtenberg make frequent recurring appearances.

Many of the main cast have gone on to great careers in films and other TV shows, but Meester, who has struggled to find a worthy successor, is the clear standout throughout the show's run. Blair Waldorf is one of the greatest TV characters of all time, and Meester is captivated by her from the moment she first appears on screen in the pilot, surrounded by her minions as she rules the high school hierarchy.

She's often devious and ruthless, but she's also intelligent and sophisticated, as Dan discovers during their cheerfully unlikely love story in season five. She's the most fashionable person in a show full of fashion-forward, style-obsessed characters, but she never seems like she's chasing trends or trying too hard. She can be determined when it comes to what she wants, but she's also vulnerable and open, and when she first declares her love for Chuck in season two, it's heartfelt and honest.

“Gossip Girl” is ridiculous in the best possible way

Emotional as it may be, “Gossip Girl” is ultimately about the increasing absurdity of its plot developments, which include con artists, secret relatives and at least one character who appears to have returned from the dead. Serena is having an affair with a congressman. Blair marries a literal prince. Somehow Dan manages to get his work published in the New Yorker and also has a threesome. The show is aware of its silliness without being condescending to the audience.

If this is the kind of show that isn't being made anymore (the two-season Max reboot has its appeal, but isn't the same), then we're lucky that we can now watch it in all its facets so easily ridiculous fame.

Watch “Gossip Girl” now Netflix.

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