You know what it is, it’s that the first three years of this show it was kids metaphorically acting like adults. A fantasy parallel world where Blair wasn’t really the Queen of New York and she didn’t really “banish” Princess Jenny, we just pretended those things were true; where Serena’s social climbing was about being on the arm of similarly diaphanous It Boys, not marrying actual pharmaceutical CEOs. You could then look at the second half of this show as being a concentrated effort to play out those exact same stories, but in real life: Basically, taking the entire cool part out and just watching children actually act like adults, in a boring adult world.

Like okay: If Jenny were still on the show now, she would actually be married to an actual gay guy who would actually be having an affair with Eric. You know? Totally different dynamic. (That is a bad example because that sounds fucking fantastic, but you see what I mean. Make a fake Queen into a real Princess, and there’s no place for anything but what you’re looking at.)

- Jacob Clifton, Gossip Girl 6-5 “Monstrous Ball” Recap