The friendship between Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf was the focus of much of the hit CW show Gossip Girl. The show's dramatic plot kicked off with the return of Serena and the mystery of what went wrong between her and her former best friend, Blair.
Throughout the series, they broke and mended their friendship multiple times, eventually ending up as best friends. Their friendship was strong, but few people could make it through as many ups and downs as these two did. Here are five times they were good friends and five times that they were horrible to each other.
Good: Serena Blew Off Her Photoshoot To Avoid Hurting Blair
Soon after Blair forgave Serena for sleeping with her boyfriend, Eleanor Waldorf returns home and is looking for someone to be the face of her new fashion line. She initially looks to her daughter, Blair, to represent her line, and Blair is thrilled to have her mother's approval. However, Blair's photoshoot doesn't go well, and it's Serena that ends up making more of an impression with the photographer.
Eleanor goes behind Blair's back and replaces her with Serena, crushing Blair in the process. Serena puts her friend's feelings over her opportunity and opts to spend time with Blair instead.
Horrible: Serena Slept With Blair's Boyfriend
When Serena shows up in the Upper East Side again after mysteriously running off to boarding school, not even her former best friend Blair knows why she left in the first place. Halfway through the pilot, we learn that Serena hooked up with Blair's boyfriend Nate the year before, which led to her running away in shame.
Serena wants to mend their friendship, but Blair has no interest in that after finding out what she did.
Good: Serena Helped Blair Through Her Pregnancy Scare
After sleeping with both Chuck and Nate, Blair finds herself in a difficult situation when she thinks she might be pregnant. Serena buys Blair a pregnancy test, allowing people to think she is the one who might be pregnant in order to protect Blair's privacy and urges Blair to take the test herself.
Throughout the episode, Serena is there for Blair, even convincing her not to run off to France by saying that she will be there for Blair, no matter what happens.
Horrible: Blair Tried To Ruin Serena's Future
While still angry at Serena for sleeping with her boyfriend and running away, Blair was on the hunt for revenge during the early stages of season 1.
When college scouts from Ivy League schools came to Constance, Blair discovered Serena's frequent trips to the Ostroff Center. She misinterpreted this as a sign that Serena was seeking help herself, and chose to use this to publicly humiliate Serena in front of the college scouts. The show has never handled mental health issues with much tact, but this was a particularly egregious move on Blair's part.
Good: Blair Helped Serena When Georgina Was Blackmailing Her
When Georgina Sparks shows up at the end of season 1, it's clear that she knows a big secret about Serena that Serena doesn't want anyone else to know. She eventually confides in Blair that she had a hand in a young man's accidental overdose.
Blair accepts this and supports Serena unconditionally, later convincing Lily not to send Serena away.
Horrible: Serena Tried To Steal Blair's Spot At Yale
Blair's dream was to attend Yale University, something she had worked her whole life for. After Serena and Dan broke up (again), Serena's attention-seeking tendencies came out, leading to a competition between her and Blair.
Serena crossed a line when she decided to use her socialite status to push Blair out of the top spot, making a greater impression with the Dean and eventually costing Blair her dream. Blair didn't take this lying down, of course - she brought up the man Serena accidentally helped kill during a gathering at the Dean's house.
Good: They Didn't Let Juliet Come Between Them
When Juliet Sharpe shows up with the intention of ruining Serena's life as payback for putting her brother in prison (which is as deliciously dramatic and ridiculous as it sounds), her first move is to drive a wedge between Blair and Serena, who are attending their first year at Columbia University. Juliet runs an elite club on campus and lies about Serena not being accepted.
The two quickly figure out they're being pitted against one another and stage a fake fight to trick Juliet. Serena gets her spot in the club and the friendship between the two girls remains stronger than ever.
Horrible: Blair Dated Dan
Blair and Dan formed a sweet friendship in season 4 and things turned romantic in season 5. Despite knowing how Serena felt about Dan, Blair dated him, crossing a major line and hurting Serena deeply.
Although Serena had many romances throughout the course of the show, her feelings for Dan were always deeper and seeing him with her best friend hurt.
Good: Blair Proved Serena's Innocence
When Juliet disguised herself as Serena, kissed both Dan and Nate, ruined an opportunity for Blair, and drugged Serena (you know, like any sane person would do), Serena woke up thinking that she had relapsed and really did those things.
Blair and Dan knew differently, suspecting that Juliet had something to do with it. They took a road trip together to track down Juliet and find out why she was messing with Serena.
Horrible: Serena Slept With Blair's Boyfriend (Again)
Blair had an unfortunate habit of dating men who shared intimate relationships with Serena. Serena had an even nastier habit of sleeping with these guys ... while they were with Blair. In the finale of season 5, after Blair kicked Serena out for releasing her diary on Gossip Girl, a hurt Serena found Dan and told him about Blair's feelings for Chuck before giving Blair the chance to do so herself.
Although Blair's choice to date Dan crossed a line, Serena's choice to sleep with Dan before he'd broken up with Blair was no better.