Country of origin United States Original network The CW | No. of episodes 22 | |
Original release September 13, 2010 (2010-09-13) – May 16, 2011 (2011-05-16) | ||
The fourth season of Gossip Girl, an American teen drama, consisted of 22 episodes which aired between September 13, 2010 and May 16, 2011. The series was based upon the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar and developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. The CW renewed the series for a full fourth season on February 16, 2010. Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Kelly Rutherford, and Matthew Settle all return as series regulars.
Contents
It was later announced that the show would stay in its Monday 9:00 p.m. timeslot as a lead-out to 90210. The season premiered on September 13, 2010, to a 1.0 Adults 18-49 rating and 1.84 million viewers. The fourth episode achieved a 1.1 Adults 18-49 rating, the seasons highest rated episode, while episode eleven was the most watched with 2.06 million viewers tuning in. The season concluded on May 16, 2011 with 1.36 million live viewers tuning in. On Metacritic the season has a 75/100 rating, indicating generally positive reviews by critics.
The first half of the season focuses on Juliet, a mysterious girl with a vendetta against Serena. The second half focuses on Chuck's professional struggles trying to keep his father's business from his father's old rival and his relationship with Blair. The season also focuses on Blair's relationship with a prince, Nate revisiting old family problems, the deteriorating friendship between Dan and Vanessa and his growing feelings for Blair, as well as Serena's cousin Charlie and her integration into the Upper East Side.
Production
The series was renewed for a fourth season on February 16, 2010. It continued to air Mondays at 9/8c following 90210, and premiered on September 13, 2010.
Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick and Clémence Poésy began filming this season in Paris, France on July 5, 2010. It was announced that Jessica Szohr would be absent for an unspecified number of episodes. However, Szohr began filming on July 9, 2010, the first day of production in New York City along with Penn Badgley, which indicated she would be back sooner than anticipated. Szohr appeared in the season premiere. Taylor Momsen began filming her scenes on August 30, 2010. Taylor Momsen appears in 1 episode titled Easy J which aired October 25, 2010 and will return in full series regular status for the second half of the season. It had also been confirmed that Tate Donovan, who previously worked with show's developers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage in The O.C., will be directing an episode scheduled to air in November 2010.
The first two episodes of the season take place in Paris.
The Airborne Toxic Event made a special appearance during the season 4 finale "The Wrong Goodbye" as the band for the Constance Billard Alumni party, playing the song "Changing" from their sophomore album, All at Once.
Cast
Harry Potter actress Clémence Poésy joined the cast in Paris as Chuck's new girlfriend, Eva, for four episodes.
Former Melrose Place star Katie Cassidy joined the cast as Juliet, a student at Columbia University and a potential love interest for Nate, with an agenda against Serena, together with David Call as Ben Donovan, Juliet's imprisoned brother. Actor Sam Page was cast as Serena's new love interest, a Columbia business professor and Juliet and Ben's cousin, for a four episode arc. Kevin Zegers is returning to the show as Damien Dalgaard, he's expected to do one episode this year and comeback later in the season. Desmond Harrington is also returning as Chuck's uncle, Jack Bass. His first appearance this season is set to air sometime in 2011. Taylor Momsen was absent for several episodes at the beginning of the season due to her touring commitments with The Pretty Reckless, but return near the end of the first half of the season. She was then scheduled for an indefinite hiatus from the show and has so far only appeared in four episodes of the season ("Easy J", "Juliet Doesn't Live Here Anymore", "The Witches of Bushwick", and "Gaslit"). Michael Boatman and Tika Sumpter will be guest starring in episodes set to begin airing in 2011. He'll play Russell Thorpe, a powerful business tycoon and a former associate of Chuck’s father, Bart, while she will portray his daughter, Raina.
Tim Gunn and fashion designers Diane Von Furstenberg and Rachel Zoe all made special cameo appearances during the first half of the season. Singer Robyn has also made a cameo appearance performing her hit song 'Hang with Me.'
William Baldwin has admitted he would like to return for the fourth season. He has said he will return in the same capacity of Michelle Trachtenberg to come in cause some trouble then leave again. The CW has announced Baldwin will return in February 2011. Sheila Kelley replaced Illeana Douglas as Lily's sister, Carol, after Douglas was forced to drop out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. Michelle Trachtenberg will return to the series as Georgina Sparks in the season finale. Kaylee DeFer is also joining the cast as Carol's daughter and Serena and Eric's cousin, Charlie Rhodes. DeFer's contract with the show also included the possibility of her becoming a series regular next season. DeFer has officially been promoted to series regular starting in season 5.
Hugo Becker, who played Prince Louis Grimaldi, will return on April 18, 2011 for the rest of the season. The Borgias actress Joanne Whalley had been cast in an episode of Gossip Girl following a Screen Actors Guild casting notice. Whalley was rumoured to play an adversarial role to Kelly Rutherford's Lily van der Woodsen but turned out to be that of Princess Sophie, Louis Grimaldi's mother.
Oscar-winning director David O. Russell would be making a cameo. On April 6, 2011 10 Things I Hate About You star Ethan Peck reportedly landed a role in the show. Both stars were seen filming with Blake Lively in California. Peck would reportedly make his debut in the season finale and was in talks with producers for a recurring role for the fifth season. Recurring cast members Nan Zhang and Nicole Fiscella reprised their roles as Kati Farkas and Isabel Coates for the penultimate episode and the season finale. Zhang had left the show during the first season and Fiscella finished her stint as a recurring castmember during the second season of the show. Tony Award-winning actress Jan Maxwell reprised her role as Headmistress Queller for the season finale. Hugo Becker remained ambiguous on whether he would be joining the series as a recurring or regular cast member during an interview with Zap2it, stating "the answer is in the finale." On May 16, 2011, Entertainment Weekly announced that Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar would be making a cameo for the season finale.
Plot
Season four begins with Serena and Blair enjoying their summer in Paris...until the unexpected appearance of Chuck Bass, who is using a false name and cozying up to a new girl. Blair has to decide if she wants to fight for Chuck or spend her energy trying to rule Columbia University. Serena needs to choose between Nate and Dan, but Dan is a bit busy coping with his new role as "dad" to Georgina's baby. Georgina later reveals the baby is not his. Stephanie Savage has revealed in an interview that the Dan and Serena story is "reactivated" and sorting through it will become a bigger story. She also revealed that the third-season finale "Last Tango, Then Paris" had a big impact on Jenny and she'll be a changed person when she returns. Her return later this season will be "full of drama."
The Gossip Girl website was under construction when Serena and Blair returned from Paris and debuted "never before seen technology" when it returned. It is revealed that Juliet is working with her brother to take down Serena, for unknown reasons. Vanessa gets caught in the middle when Juliet sets her up for stealing Serena's phone and sending an incriminating email. Vanessa later leaves town when only Dan believes her, but tells Juliet to watch her back. After Blair ran Chuck's new girlfriend out of town, he pledges war against her. They later decide that it is best for both of them if they end their fighting after Jenny posts on Gossip Girl the reason why she left town. In the next episode, at Blair's 20th birthday party they kiss and have sex. Both Nate and Dan still have feelings for Serena, but don't know what to make of her mixed signals.
Most of Juliet's plan will be revealed by the end of the first half of the season, with some elements set to carry over. Juliet will also recruit two main characters to help take Serena down. Blair and Dan will team up to help Serena. The two characters who joined Juliet were Vanessa and Jenny. The three manage to turn everyone against Serena when Juliet and Jenny dress up as her at a masquerade party. Juliet takes photos of herself with cocaine and drugs Serena, causing Lily to believe Serena had gone off the rails again and has her committed to the Ostroff center. Jenny, feeling guilty about what they've done reveals everything to Blair. Vanessa leaves town to avoid Blair, while Blair and Dan form an alliance to seek revenge on Juliet. After they track her down, Juliet goes to Serena and explains everything to her. It is revealed in a confrontation with Lily that Juliet's brother Ben was Serena's former teacher at her boarding school in Connecticut, who was accused of having an affair with Serena. Lily forged Serena's signature on the police affidavit, which in Lily's plan, would allow Serena to return home and, inadvertently, had sent Ben to prison. Serena then hatches a plan to help free Ben from prison. This involves proving that her mother forged the affidavit against Ben. Chuck also learns that Lily was planning to sell Bass Industries behind his back.
Reception
The season opened to a 1.0 Adults 18-49 rating and 1.84 million viewers. The fourth episode initially hit season highs in all categories with a 2.8 Women 18-34 rating, 1.1 Adults 18-49, a 1.7 in Adults 18-34 and 2.00 million viewers, until the airing of the eleventh episode hit a season high in viewers 2.06 million. The series has larger increases in the adults 18-49 on the Live + 7 DVR Ratings. The 4th episode had an 18-49 rating of 1.1, which was later increased to a 1.5 rating. The 5th episode had an 18-49 rating of 0.9, which later rose up to 1.3, which is 44% of increase.
The season premiered to generally favorable reviews from critics. Steve Marsi, from Tv Fanatic, gave the episode 4.5 stars out of 5.0 and praised Michelle Trachtenberg and guest star Katie Cassidy's acting and storylines. Mark O. Estes, from Tv Overmind, also enjoyed the fact that the episode had "explored more adult themes than usual." Gerard McGarry, from Unreality Shout, had said that the season premiere was "brilliant," while Alexis James-blackhead, from Buzz Focus, had said that the episode was "less sizzle than fizzle." Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick's performance was praised during the next episode "Chuck Bass" was also a trending topic on Twitter on the night the episode aired. The season has a 75/100 score of Metacritic, indicating mostly positive reviews.
Erik Adams from The A.V. Club reviewed the direction of the fourth season following the fourth-season premiere. "By the time a television show reaches its fourth season, the characteristics of its main ensemble ought to be deeply entrenched and immediately recognizable to regular viewers. But on the occasion of Gossip Girl’s fourth season première, the ongoing teen soap—and its characters—are allowed some reinvention. The CW’s flagship franchise is in a precarious position: it’s a show that’s both out of time and losing its sizzle." Adams cited the show's expensive art direction despite the economic woes outside of the show and the doubtful following of the Gossip Girl world considering the rise of micro-blogging in celebrity culture. Adams praised the development of Blair and Serena's relationship, declaring their friendship as "[...]the great, central romance of Gossip Girl."
Brian Cantor of Headline Planet expressed disappointment with the show's performance for the season premiere, stating "[Gossip Girl] considerably [has] less critical interest and buzz than there had been for past seasons; the show no longer even has the "pop culture phenomenon" claim to soften the blow of ratings releases." Judy Berman of the Los Angeles Times in contrast, defended the show's creative form during the midseason finale The Townie, stating "Whenever I start to think that the show has run out of material[...]-- it unleashes a showstopping hour of sparkly melodrama that reminds me of why I'm still watching." With the airing of the season finale TV Fanatic's Steve Marsi assessed the fourth season stating "[...]it's not a stretch to say the past season was uneven at best, lacking some of the continuity, humor and drama of the past. It's hard to put one's finger on in a sense, since many episodes were enjoyable. But there was a certain OMG-can-you-believe-this-happened factor that just wasn't there."