GOSSIP GIRL: Sara Goodman Teases the Final Season

For more than five years, viewers have watched as GOSSIP GIRL’s Serena, Blair, Chuck, Nate, and Dan bonded, fought, loved, hated, broken up, made up, and heck, grew up, but that journey is now coming to an end — The CW series kicks off its final season tonight.

To find out a little about what’s to come in the sixth and final season, I chatted with executive producer Sara Goodman about bring the series to a close…

How are you feeling as GOSSIP GIRL gets closer to the end?
Sara Goodman: You know, it’s sad. It’s not just sad, it’s also really exciting for us, because at the beginning of this season, we knew we had exactly 10 episodes, and we knew what we wanted to do. So the challenge is, you want to bring everything to its rightful conclusion and be true to the show, and we’re going to miss them. We’ve been with these characters for a long time.

Is there a main goal you guys had when shaping the final season that you can share?
SG: I think the main goal — of course, I can’t really say [Laughs] — I think we wanted to be true to the show, so we wanted to be irreverent and we wanted to tell our twisty, delicious stories, and we also really wanted to go back to the fundamentals of the show, which are our core characters, which are the core relationships, which are the multi-generational families that live on the Upper East Side. And who’s going to last here and who’s not. Who’s going to turn into their parents and who’s not. [Laughs]

I’ve seen the premiere, and it also feels like the characters are often together more than they have been in a bit, too.
SG: We really wanted to bring back that BREAKFAST CLUB, working together, non-judging, I think is what one of the fans called it…the non-judging BREAKFAST CLUB kind of feeling, where no matter what they’ve been through together, when push came to shove, they were there. They are family, they are there for each other. That being said, those things are going to drive the season. Who’s going to be together, who’s not going to be together, including Blair and Serena, which is another of the primary relationships that we went back to this season.

Did you come into the season knowing for sure where all these relationships would end up, whether they were romantic or platonic?
SG: Yes. Because we had the 10 [episodes] and because we knew we were ending this forever, we really sat there and decided where we felt the characters should go.

Well, Chuck and Blair have been off-on-off-on-off-on so many times over the years, and this year they manage to be simultaneously off and on…
SG: [Laughs] We never thought we could merge those things!

What can you tease about their journey this season?
SG: I think we’re straightforward, shockingly enough, in the season opener for them. They need to achieve certain things before they commit their lives to each other. They need to make their lives what they want them to be. I think it’s a very mature way — maybe because we thought it up [Laughs] — I actually think it’s a mature way of looking at things; they both know what their relationship has done to them, positively and negatively. And I think neither one of them wants to risk the relationship or either one of their goals. So I think what we’re rooting for this season is for the world to help them, or for them to really succeed in their individual pursuits, so that they can eventually be together. And hopefully in that time — and I say hopefully, so you know where I stand — but hopefully during that time, the challenges that they’ll face won’t tear that apart.

Very interesting. And Serena has a new love interest (played by Barry Watson) this season. What does his energy — especially as someone not used to the antics of the group — bring to the show?
SG: He has no interest [in the antics]. In fact, when we were talking about what we’re going to do with the season, is everyone going to turn into their parents, and who are these kids we met in high school going to be as adults, really, we brought Barry Watson in and that character really is Serena’s first adult relationship. He does not play games, he’s not interested in that, and he’s his own, confident, very different energy than we’ve ever had her with. And is she ready for that? And is that what she wants? I think we’ll have to find out.

Given there are only a handful of episodes remaining and Serena does seem happy with this new relationship, are Dan and Nate out of contention for her heart when all is said and done?
SG: I will say no one is out of contention. But Steven is really good for her.

What can you say about the Bart/Lily/Rufus/Ivy storyline?
SG: Lily chose Bart at the end of last season. And if you really think about that, that’s keeping with her character when we met her. Not that she hasn’t gone by the wayside before. But I do think in season 5, Rufus took Ivy’s side against Lily, and they had those moments earlier. And I guess I’ll see when Rufus finds out — or maybe he won’t find out — what Ivy’s agenda is, where he’ll fall.

Looking ahead, will there be any major time jumps this season?
SG: No, we don’t do that. I mean, I can’t talk about what’s at the very [end], but story-wise, we’re telling the stories in the same way we’ve always told them.

Was there anything you really wanted to get back for the final season you weren’t able to, whether it was characters or homages, etc.?
SG: We got everything we wanted. It’s unbelievable, but it’s true.

Should fans be expecting some familiar faces popping back in?
SG: There’s definitely going to be some old faces. Of course I can’t tell you who. There definitely will…we have some old faces coming back. I feel like we’re telling the stories about our characters. I think they’re what people want to see at the end. I think they’re about who is going to be with who and who these people are growing into, without ever dismissing where they’ve been. I think we really tried to build on the mistakes they’ve made, though those will come back to haunt them, too. All of that stuff will make them a grown-up and take them to the end.

And should we be bracing for any major character deaths before the series ends?
SG: I can’t answer that! [Laughs] You never know.

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Make sure to keep checking back for more from our interview with Goodman, including what Nate and Dan will be up to this year, and more!

GOSSIP GIRL airs Mondays at 9 PM on The CW.

Related:

GOSSIP GIRL Season 6 Premiere: ‘Gone Maybe Gone’ Photo Preview
GOSSIP GIRL Final Season Video Teaser: ‘Chair’ Gets Sexy, Dan Gets Slapped, and Blair Tries to Stop…a Wedding?!

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