5 Things Gossip Girl Has Done Right This Season

Those of you who rely on the wit and wisdom of Gossip Girl to get through the week were probably disappointed to find that your favorite television excursion was off last night. Fear not, though. In an effort to bridge the gap between now and when Gossip Girl returns with a new episode on Monday night, Movieline has decided to look back at the infant stages of season four to find out just what the series has done right thus far.

1.) Reignited the Chuck and Blair rivalry

Back in September, I used this space to lament the fact that Gossip Girl had turned Chuck and Blair into a typical will-they-won't-they couple and not the mustache-twirling villains we all fell in love with. Thankfully, season four has gone back to the basics. While the animosity between the pair can't possibly last for the entire season -- and while they'll probably get back together in time for November sweeps -- hearing Ed Westwick whisper threats at Leighton Meester is probably some of the funniest stuff airing on television in a given week.

2.) Created a credible villain who isn't Georgina Sparks

Because Gossip Girl will never find room for Michelle Trachtenberg as a full-time cast member, Georgina Sparks will never be allowed to unleash her full compliment of crazy on the denizens of the Gossip Girl universe. That's obviously too bad -- I'm a committed member of Team Georgina -- but in lieu of that, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and the Gossip Girl team have done the next best thing: Juliet. The admitted life-ruiner is awful in ways that make you want to dump a glass of white wine on your television whenever she appears on-screen. Juliet isn't Georgina, but her villainy knows no bounds.

3.) Made Serena interesting

2010 has been a renaissance year for Blake Lively. She's gotten rave reviews for her limited role in The Town, she had a shoe named after her and she's even gotten more to do as Serena. During season three, it felt like S was nothing but decolletage; this year, however, the Gossip Girl Queen Bee has been given plenty of juice -- including going for an STD test. Whether or not this renewed interested in Serena is the result of Lively's reported complaints is irrelevant. Gossip Girl has a talented star in Lively and they're finally trying to use her.

4.) Played with Vanessa's righteous indignation

Poor Jessica Szohr. No one likes her character of Vanessa, not even the writers of Gossip Girl. Or so it seems. Season Four has been a Vanessa hater's dream come true. She's gotten used by Juliet, shunned by everyone else and moved even closer to her taboo-shattering affair with Rufus.

5.) Kept Jenny away from the Upper East Side

Good news and bad news: Jenny hasn't unleashed her sullen eye makeup on the Upper East Side...yet. As the Gossip Girl promos tease (threaten?), she'll be on the show next week and will probably again appear in November. Alas...