Even Serena’s closest friend, Blair Waldorf, is surprised to find that Serena has suddenly ended her self-imposed exile from a boarding school in New England and returned to Manhattan for school. Once the Upper East Side’s most notorious party girl, Serena’s reasons for returning are mysterious, although they may have something to do with her younger brother Eric, who’s secretly in the hospital following a suicide attempt which is kept under wraps by their overprotective mother Lily.

Whatever the reasons, the change in Serena is obvious, especially to Blair, whose friendship with Serena has always been competitive and difficult. Into this crowd comes Dan Humphrey, a kid from Brooklyn and whose freshman sister, Jenny, tries a little too hard to fit into Blair’s circle of gossip friends, whom include ‘Gossip Girl’s contacts, Isabel and Kati.