Given that the upcoming Gossip Girl reboot is slowly unraveling more and more details, it may well be time to revisit the classic CW series. I’m assuming you’ve finished the show if you’re reading this, so you’ll already know that [spoiler alert] Dan was Gossip Girl the whole time.
Considering this remained a secret until the closing moments of the final episode, Dan Humphrey was always character surrounded by mystery, even if we didn't quite know it. We’ve taken a look into some of the details of his character you might not have known about.
It Doesn’t Really Make Sense That He’s Gossip Girl
That old chestnut: ‘the twist didn’t make sense’. Except, this time, it really didn’t. When Dan was revealed to be the titular character all along, everyone in the room was shocked, and so were the fans.
That’s probably got something to do with the fact that Dan was frequently seen reacting privately to GG blasts (why would he pretend to be shocked by his own work?), and even had direct communication with... himself? A diehard fan might not have wanted to think about this too much because it ruins the illusion. But go on, just consider it for a moment. It really doesn’t add up.
But It Was Hinted At In Episode 1
Having said all of the above, the writers hinted at Dan being Gossip Girl from the very start of the show. In episode 1, he can be seen at Grand Central station looking at Serena and covers his own tracks by claiming that someone else sent in that particular blast. But who saw ‘Lonely Boy’ there? No one but Dan himself. Not only that, but his attempts to seem out of the loop and like he barely even knows what Gossip Girl is, combined with his overly inquisitive nature are what really start to give away his plans to eagle-eyed viewers.
Even Though He Wasn’t Supposed To Be Gossip Girl At All
Surprise, surprise, Gossip Girl didn’t even have a confirmed identity when the show first started. It’s a bit like Lost, but on a smaller scale; they didn’t really know where their story was going to end up but at least GG didn't resort to time travel.
A former showrunner revealed that Eric Van Der Woodsen was initially supposed to be GG, but leaks derailed the plan. While having this spoiled wouldn’t have been ideal, it would have still made a lot more sense than the actual ending. Maybe the writers should have thought about whether a good ending was more important than a leaked ending.
His Writing Work Was Published By The New Yorker
One detail its quite easy to overlook given the complexity of the Upper East Sider’s lives is that Dan Humphrey actually ended up quite a successful writer. That’s a big deal, even if it was Vanessa who got him published. For someone committed to spending most of his time successfully running a non-monetized espionage blog, he must’ve been pretty talented elsewhere in the writing game. Perhaps if he’d spent more time on his fiction he’d have a lot more to show for it than the bizarre ego-goal of writing himself into the upper east side. Which, in fairness, he also did quite well at. So maybe he's just really good.
He Must Have Some Sort Of Tracker On Carter Baizen
The knowledge of exactly where Carter Baizen is and what he’s doing at pretty much all times would, at the very least, require knowledge of who exactly that person is. Dan Humphrey, as far as we know, doesn’t know who Carter is until episode 10.
Perhaps this is good acting on the part of Dan, and he was simply covering up his intimate knowledge of Serena's love interest. But the idea that Gossip Girl has a dedicated map of Carter Baizen implies that Dan, who is still a student, has some seriously advanced technology able to pull off some very impressive feats. Especially as everything seems completely untraceable to Dan himself.
He Ends Up With Vanessa In The Books
The series of novels on which the TV show is based were written by Cecily von Ziegesar, who is no stranger to the Upper East Side herself. While her character of Dan is actually quite consistent with the show in terms of personality, his ending couldn’t be more different.
He not only isn’t Gossip Girl at the end, but he is only briefly involved with Serena. On top of that, he ends up marrying Vanessa. As you might remember, Vanessa packed up and left without a word at the end of season 4, so these two storylines certainly match up. Also, everyone hated Vanessa.
He Might Well Be Bisexual
Speaking of the book series, things take an unexpected turn in their sequels. Dan ends up kissing a boy named Greg and questions his sexuality for a while. Maybe this could have been the start of something new for Dan? Well, no, because before long, Greg leaves him for, of all people, Chuck Bass. Dan comes to the conclusion that he isn’t gay, but makes no statement on whether he might be bisexual. As this never comes up in the series, we have no idea whether the on-screen version of Dan has even thought about this or not. We don’t know what he got up to before or after the events of the show...
Penn Badgely Eventually Hated Being In The Show
After Gossip Girl came to an end, it became abundantly clear that Penn Badgely was nothing like Dan. He was a cool hipster, fronting a band and dissing the show that made him a household name. Wait, what?
He’s called out Gossip Girl as something he isn’t proud of, he believed himself to be judgemental while on the show (and... after, right?), and he definitely isn’t the biggest fan of his own character. Just like the rest of us, he also isn’t too keen on the ending, but it’s a bit of a downer to find out the main character of Gossip Girl couldn’t wait to get out of there.
He Definitely, Definitely Won’t Be In The Reboot
Gossip (girl) all you want, there is absolutely no way Dan Humphrey will appear in the Gossip Girl reboot. If Badgely himself disliking the show and wanting to distance himself from it and his character wasn’t enough, the writers have confirmed that it follows a new set of characters in a new, modern-day setting. That means we will not see the return of Dan. Feel free to return to this statement if and when I’m proven wrong.
Penn Badgely And Blake Lively Dated In Real Life
Considering they were playing an on-screen couple (then an onscreen pair of step-siblings), Blake Lively and Penn Badgely managed to find time to form a real relationship for almost three years.
They kept it secret and managed to break up in total secrecy, without it ever impacting the show. Considering part of their job for a while was literally to kiss each other, this was quite well played. It’s pretty impressive that they managed to separate their personal life from the show so well, but it makes this fact quite easy to miss.