"Hey, Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here." The sound of Kristen Bell's voice was music to the ears of fans who tuned in every week for six years.

At first blush, Gossip Girl was flawless, boasting glamorous New York City locations, trendy, designer fashions, and, last but not least, the most gorgeous cast on television: Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf), Blake Lively (Serena van der Woodsen), Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald), Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass), Penn Badgley (Dan Humphrey), and Taylor Momsen (Jenny Humphrey).

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Devotees, however, who didn't just watch, but studied the ins-and-outs of the storylines are well-versed in when their beloved show went sideways.

Dan And Jenny Went To School In Manhattan

Jenny and Dan in their school uniforms walking together

Granted, Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Jude's School for Boys were top-notch academic institutions, however, there was really no good reason for the Humphrey kids to commute from their Brooklyn home via subway and bus to attend.

Viewers were constantly reminded of their outer borough roots, as though the place was a land to which pariahs are banished. Fact is, multitudes head to Brooklyn for fine food, fun vintage clothing, a lively social scene, and to take in Manhattan's amazing skyline. It also is very family oriented, because it has inviting parks and promenades, and most importantly, schools.

College Mania Fizzled Out

Blair Waldorf Gossip Girl

Headmistress Queller liked to brag that many of the schools' alumni attended Ivy League universities, hence Blair was on a mission for Yale; Nate was a Dartmouth legacy; Serena had Brown written all over her. Dan wanted an Ivy, any Ivy. Chuck could have gone anywhere to which his father was willing to donate a new wing. With the exception of Dan, the scions of NYC started building their college application resumes with the "right" pre-school.

And yet...Nate, Dan and Blair ended up at NYU, Serena went to work, and Chuck and his millions went to the school of life where he majored in partying. Eventually, both Blair and Serena did enroll at Columbia University, as though all one has to do to get in is show up.

The Perception Of The Humphrey Family

girl and guy eating at kitchen counter

They did not live in a duplex penthouse as did the van der Woodsens and the Waldorfs or a townhouse like the Archibalds or have a suite in the family-owned hotel like Chuck. No, the Humphrey's lived in a massive loft in a cool and pricey neighborhood in Brooklyn. Their dad still got royalties from his days as a musician and ran an art gallery that sold expensive pieces.

The boho-chic fam may not have been part of the "money is no object" crowd, but they were not poor as church mice, either.

That They All Actually Stayed Friends

bride groom guests

Nate cheated on Blair with her BFF Serena. Chuck physically assaulted Jenny. Georgina pretended Milo is Dan's baby. William van der Woodsen convinced Lily she had cancer. Then there was the garden variety backstabbing, business deal manipulating, and messing with each other's heads. And when any of the group did find love or a life outside the Upper East Side, it never worked out. Each always came running back to the core group of "real" friends.

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And in the end, there they were, hanging out and celebrating as if the characters didn't have legitimate reasons to avoid each other.

No One Knows What Charlie Rhodes Looked Like

blond in neutral top/blonde in red

Lily and her sister Carol were estranged. Noted. Carol didn't want anyone to know that her daughter Charlie was the product of her affair with Lily's husband William. Got it. Although she stayed away, the idea that Carol never even sent a photo to her mother, so the doyenne could acknowledge her granddaughter, seemed a bit much.

Not only that but the stand-in Charlie, Ivy, might have been an aspiring actress, but she wasn't Meryl Streep. The thought of this Florida wanna-be fooling a bunch of NYC's savvy elite is even harder to believe.

Success Just Fell Into Their Laps

man in shirt and tie, two women looking at document, blonde in yellow holding envelope

Dan wants to be a writer and just like that, he gets published in the pinnacle of publications: The New Yorker. Serena graduates high school, isn't yet feelin' the whole college thing, meets a producer at the beach and gets offered a gig as a movie publicist. Jenny wants to be in fashion, becomes an intern at Waldorf Designs and she's suddenly designing for Eleanor and showing the vet style maven how it's done.

Fans could get the impression from this series that success is that easy.

That None Of Them Are In Therapy

3 women crying

Take the everyday things that average young people need help dealing with (divorce, gender identity, interpersonal relationships) and crank them up to the next level for this bunch whose lives are anything but average; especially in a city where therapy is commonplace.

How do the van der Woodsen sibs not have to talk to someone about Lily's many marriages? Blair's parents not only went their separate ways, but her dad came out as gay. Also, Chuck thought his mother was dead, then she showed up, then his father died, which proved not to be the case, then Diana tried to pass herself off as his mother. Four words: Shrink on speed dial.

There Was No School Dress Code

gossip girl cast

"Anything goes" was the new black at their highfalutin high school. So why did they bother to wear uniforms?

At schools like Constance Billard and St Jude's, there is a list as long as one's arm about what can and can't be worn. (Mostly can't.) The uniform has basic pieces (blazers, white shirts, ties and either khaki pants for the boys or plaid skirts for the girls) that are not to be embellished, and loafers are usually the shoe of choice. Girls wear knee socks or stockings.

Serena never wore the blazer and, like Nate whose tie was always loosened, often looked like she just rolled out of bed. Blair added so many accessories it was hard to find her mandated clothing under them all. Dan's uniform always appeared to be ill-fitting.

They Barely Dated Outside the Inner Circle

one man 3 dates

Outsiders came and went pretty quickly. Most their relationships were within the group. Chuck and Blair, Blair and Nate, Nate and Serena, Serena and Dan, Dan and Blair; Bart and Lily, Lily and Rufus, Rufus and Ivy, Ivy and William. Then, Serena and Nate's politician cousin Tripp, Dan and his childhood friend Vanessa who also went out with Nate who also dated 17 year-old Sage, when Serena was dating the girl's dad Steven. Nate was an equal opportunity dater, so aside from younger women and ones his own age, he also slept with his older boss Diana as well as a married neighbor in the Hamptons.

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Dan got into the older woman act as well by sleeping with his high school teacher Rachel, and Serena was involved with her college professor, Colin.

Dan As Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl man at computer, man with books

Although Kristen Bell voiced Gossip Girl for the whole of the series, it turned out Dan was the infamous gossiper all along. Understandably, every fan was confused by this nonsensical revelation.

Would Dan really spread rumors about his own sister? Why, when by himself, would he read the GG posts and look surprised? According to the show, he wrote them. Would he really out his Dad for once having a baby with Lily? The identity of GG is now engraved in stone, but it's forever disappointing that the writers took such a left turn choosing who Gossip Girl was.

NEXT: Gossip Girl: 10 Storylines The Show Dropped