Gossip Girl: The Evolution of Chuck Bass
Gossip Girl: The Evolution of Chuck Bass
Arguably one of the top two most interesting characters on the show, Chuck Bass has gone through some changes in the last 1 ½ seasons. In the season one pilot, he wanders around Central Park smoking a joint while razzing Nate for not yet taking Blair’s virginity. This is the mildest of the offensive things he does/says in the episode.
Chuck spots Serena drinking her troubles away at a hotel bar (presumably his father’s). She mentions hunger. He baits her with the promise of a grilled cheese with truffle oil and she follows him back to the kitchen. Thinking a sandwich is a fair trade for sex, he tries to force himself on her. She gets free from his evil clutches by kicking him in the balls.
At the Kiss on the Lips party, he tries to cure his boredom by messing with Jenny Humphrey. He escorts her to a dim and empty back room, kisses her as she squirms, then apologizes while trying to get her wasted. Cut to a few minutes later: he’s having a go at date rape on the roof until Dan comes and punches him in the face.
Chuck was the resident slimeball for a while. He was the Captain of Orgies; the snorting/smoking/drinking/lying Skeeve Master. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment when he started to become appealing. We caught tiny inklings of likability after Blair and Chuck started their affair. But the creep level was still fairly high until sometime after the Van der Woodsens and Basses started co-habitating. During the Georgina mishap, he was protective of Serena in a brotherly way. Seeing him care for a female, in the absence of a devious agenda, made him seem far less revolting.
After a summer filled with women and decadence, Bass has remained a fairly good boy this season. He had an extremely brief moment with Vanessa during the Cruel Intentions-like dare from Blair (that thankfully didn’t lead to anything substantial) but has otherwise remained abstinent. We also don’t see him with a substance harder than a glass of scotch. Shinier hair, more debonair (which may rhyme but it doesn’t make it any less true). He’s got real feelings for Miss Waldorf. So now, in addition to being a scheming-elitist-narcissist, he is also a human being. Of course, all these factors would be meaningless without the devilish expressions, naughty charm, and witty dialogue. And the wardrobe. God, I love those ascots.
“Watching you fail spectacularly gives me so much joy” -Chuck
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