If you were ever obsessed with Gossip Girl, you are not alone. Gossip Girl, an iconic show about the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite, is one of if not the best teen drama of all time. The romances in the show were what stuck with the young viewers most remarkably. To quote a fan on social media, Chuck and Blair were “the best power couple” on the show. In this article, we will be discussing Gossip Girl‘s most celebrated couple, Chuck and Blair, renowned not only for their relationship but also their individuality.
Why Do Chuck And Blair Deserve Each Other?
Much of Gossip Girl focuses on Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf’s seemingly endless cycle of falling in love, breaking up, trying to destroy each other’s lives, and falling in love all over again. Although they are the most cherished couple romances of modern TV, their relationship is disturbingly problematic. Why are fans so fascinated by their toxic love? Why does it make so much sense that they end up together?
It was because, despite everything, the two deserved each other in the worst ways. This toxic pair belonged together because no one was as cruel and manipulative as they were. No other was as good at being terrible with style. It is no accident because to be the king and queen of the world they were in, they had to rule with an iron fist.
Chuck: Will you go to war with me?
Blair: I thought you would never ask.
At the beginning of Gossip Girl, Blair and Nate were trying their hardest to embody their parents’ expectations and have a storybook romance till they learned that Blair had much more in common with Nate’s best friend, Chuck. So what exactly made Chuck and Blair two kindred spirits? Where Nate is earnest and naive, Chuck and Blair are both extremely manipulative and trade-in secrets. Besides being manipulative, ruthless, and who love to use their knowledge to wield power over others, let us explore the other reasons why Chuck and Blair deserved each other.
Taking Advantage Of Innocent People
Their similarities were clear from how both of them took advantage of ingenue Jenny Humphrey in different ways. Blair did it by using Jenny’s calligraphy skills to make invitations for her party. Jenny said-
“One of the girls in my art class saw my calligraphy and she said that if i
adjust all the invitations, I could have one.”
Chuck, the supposed heartthrob, tried to rape his friend, Serena in the kitchen of her father’s hotel, and later Jenny Humphrey at a party.
They Had A Soft Spot For Nate
Chuck and Blair were both misanthropic and ultra elitist. They were uninterested in the company of most other people whom they felt did not have the necessary power, intelligence, or skills to be worthy of their time. Yet despite hating most people, they shared a soft spot for Nate, whom both feel compelled to protect at various points throughout the show.
Although Nate was born into their world, he was not truly suited to the manipulation and control it demanded. The difference in his personality was reflected when he said-
“Dad, not everything life’s a business deal.”
Since he had been a fixture of both of their lives since childhood as Chuck’s childhood best friend and Blair’s first boyfriend, their attachment to him was a part of their attachment to tradition and the upper east side world they all inhabited. They seemed to romanticize Nate as if his gentlemanly demeanor, good looks, and innate sweetness reflected how they liked to think of their shared elite society. In reality, Nate was pretty average and could only stay on top thanks to the protection of dirtier cutthroat peers like Chuck and Blair.
They Had Conflict-Ridden Oppositional Relationships With Their Parents
Not only did the couple have a conflict-ridden relationship with their respective parents, but also simultaneously pushed back against their parents’ expectations while ultimately seeking their approval. Blair’s mother often insulted her daughter and forced her to work insanely hard to earn her approval. She was mean to her multiple times including this one-:
“If you’re gonna wear one of my designs, tell me so we can at least get it properly fitted.”
On the other hand, Chuck’s father, Bart, set an example for his son as the ultimate schemer and manipulator. He modeled the deep selfishness and cruelty that defined Chuck throughout the series, taking these qualities to an absurd extreme. When Chuck asked whether he was threatening Blair with physical harm, his father replied-
“I can’t help it if accidents happen.”
As soapy and over the top as it all was, Chuck and Blair’s combative family situations captured an interesting contradiction for young elites. While their family’s wealth made many things easier for their children, wealthy and status-obsessed parents could hold their children to impossibly high expectations. It prompted achievement-oriented cycles of abuse that made these young people’s lives feel pretty hard. The relationship also explored how the narcissism of incredibly wealthy people could manifest in parental bullying.
Both Chuck and Blair tried to escape from their lives, including Chuck eventually adopting a fake identity.
“I realized I might be alive, but Chuck Bass doesn’t have to be.”
But inexorably, they were drawn back to the upper east side by the end of the series. Chuck and Blair even made a pact that they could not be together until they had defeated their respective parents in the realm of business and manipulation. But the story unfolded differently – as a story of them coming to accept their families and going on to repeat the cycle.
They Hurt Each Other In Appalling Ways
The Blair and Chuck relationship was also about two people hurting each other over and over again in disgusting ways. They took the on-again-off-again relationship model to a destructive abusive extreme. The middle phase of their relationship was largely filled with them reiterating through words and actions that they hated each other. One example of extensive verbal abuse was when Chuck told Blair that he was not interested because she was not untouched. He told Blair-
“…but now you are like one of the Arabians my father used to own. Rode hard and put away wet. I don’t want you anymore.”
They repeatedly exploited each other, like Blair using Chuck so she could give a special toast at NYU parents weekend. They also used romantic conquests to make each other jealous.
Chuck: “You and I both know this guy’s just a prop you bought to try to hurt me.”
They also wanted to make each other suffer most absurdly. Chuck even offered Blair up to his uncle Jack- literally pimping out his girlfriend in exchange for the hotel business.
Jack: “I told Chuck I’d take either you or the hotel. He chose to give me you.”
This manipulation felt out of bounds of what Chuck had previously considered fair play in their cat and mouse game. Needless to mention, Chuck also slept with Jenny Humphrey, who had become one of Blair’s worst enemies.
So, the Chuck and Blair relationship was mutually destructive, and it was their similarities that made them worthy of each other. As much as Gossip Girl tried to present their relationship as an epic romance in which Chuck became someone worth marrying, the truth was that they were a tragedy, not so much for them as for us and for anyone who had to live in Chuck and Blair’s world.
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