Pilot (S01E01)

On Manhattan's Upper East Side, where gossip rules and affluent prep-school students find themselves with the money, access and appetite to explore all the temptations New York City has to offer, several privileged prep school teens first learn that Serena van der Woodsen (series star Blake Lively) is back in town the way they learn all the important news in their lives: from the blog of the all-knowing albeit ultra-secretive Gossip Girl. No one knows Gossip Girl's identity, but everyone in this exclusive and complicated vicious circle relies on her website and text messages for the latest scoop. Even Serena's closest friend, Blair Waldorf (series star Leighton Meester), is surprised to find that Serena has suddenly ended her self-imposed exile to boarding school and returned to Manhattan. Once the Upper East Side's most notorious party girl, Serena keeps her reasons for returning mysterious, although they may have something to do with her younger brother, Eric (recurring guest star Connor Paolo). Whatever the rationale, the change in Serena is obvious, especially to Blair, whose friendship with Serena has always been competitive and difficult. When Serena was out of the picture, Blair enjoyed her time in the spotlight, and she has no intention of going back to living in Serena's shadow. Their uneasy relationship is further complicated by Blair's boyfriend, Nate (series star Chace Crawford), a young man who is uneasy with all of the privileges that have been handed to him. Now that Serena is back, Blair will have to fight to hold Nate's attention. (Warner Bros. UK)