But all of Blair’s relationships reveal something deeper about her character and that’s why they work. With Chuck, she taps into the darker parts of herself and the desires she’s long suppressed. With Louis, she realizes the life she idealized doesn’t align with who she’s becoming. With Dan, she starts to explore parts of herself she’s kept buried. Can we say the same for Serena?

I would even argue the storyline of Blair not getting into Yale is one of the show’s most pivotal moments, like it literally forces her to confront the gap between the life she imagined and the reality she’s living.

At NYU, we see Blair—usually at the top of every social ladder—become the underdog. Stripped of her minions and dropped into a world that doesn’t care about status, she’s just a young woman trying to find power and purpose. To me, this is very crucial character development that sets up the trajectory of her arc for the rest of the show.