"Gossip Girl" is arguably one of the best teen dramas of the 21st century, yet one thing will never make sense — Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) being the titular, trouble-making narrator, Gossip Girl.
From constantly spreading rumors about his 15-year-old sister's sex life to acting shocked at Gossip Girl blasts when he's all alone, a lot of things never quite added up to the show's final (and reviled) reveal.
Executive producer Stephanie Savage claims to E! News that the writers always knew Dan was Gossip Girl and that the big secret was almost revealed in the first episode. She also admits that there are a lot of times when fans could have been dubious that Dan was truly Gossip Girl.
"We could have made the show two hours long with just Rufus drilling Dan about all of those things," she said to E! News. "What about this time and what about that other time? Wait, you wrote this about yourself?! My hope is that people who are really curious about that can go back and rewatch the season and get their brains going."
To help fans "get their brains going," here are 12 times we couldn't believe Dan was actually Gossip Girl.
Every time he pretends to be shocked by something that Gossip Girl wrote.
In the first season, Dan appears visibly upset over multiple Gossip Girl posts when he is completely alone.
In episode six of season one, for example, he looks shocked by a Gossip Girl update that says Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) is looking for a date to the masked ball.
Dan, you are alone in your kitchen. Why are you pretending to be so shocked when you — as Gossip Girl — wrote the post?
When he told the world his girlfriend bought a pregnancy test.
Dan looks completely shocked when the iconic Gossip Girl blast goes out that revealed Serena (who was Dan's girlfriend at the time) bought a pregnancy test.
Despite having an excuse for the fake gasp — since his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen) and his father Rufus (Matthew Settle) were in the room with him — it still makes no sense why Dan would reveal this news.
Most teenage boys probably wouldn't want to publicly announce that they may have gotten their teenage girlfriend pregnant — especially knowing it would upset their father.
He constantly spreads rumors about his 15-year-old sister's sex life
Some sibling arguments here and there are to be expected, but Dan making his sister's sex life the biggest gossip in Manhattan is a definite low — not to mention gross.
In season one, Gossip Girl sent out this message about Jenny: "Breaking News — Asher Hornsby overheard bragging that Little J swiped her V card at his register. Didn't anyone teach you, Little J? You shouldn't give away the ending if you want him to pick up the book again.”
Not only is that epic slut shaming, but it's a despicable thing to say about your little sister. Dan shows no remorse and sends another blast later in the episode: "Looks like Little J didn't spread her legs after all. She spread lies instead."
Read that in Dan's voice and shudder.
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