My favorite character! I think Leighton's doing a great job playing a very complex role.

Definately my favorite character, also.

She's a bitch but she owns it.

I'm going to disagree and say that Leighton to me is doing a horrible role at Blair. Blair yes is a bitchy woman but in the book when you read about her family and how much she's had to overcome there's a sympathy there as well. When Leighton acts on screen it's too much trying and not enough doing. I have no sympathy for Blair at all. I don't even care about her chemistry with Nate because it doesn't seem interesting and more filler then anything.

Leighton needs to step it up and I hope she does for the next few episodes. It's not enough so far for me.

I like Leighton and thinks she very pretty. Haven't seen a whole episode yet, so I can't really judge her acting skills. I just know that I never liked Blair much in the books and from the previews and promos, I'm guessing that's not going to change much when I watch the show. I just hope that they atleast try to make her three dimensional. I really can't stand the good girl/bad girl cliche that comes along with every teen soap to ever exist.

Eh, it's the first episode, there's plenty of time for all the emotional backstory whatever that may be. I'm so glad I never read the books because I can come into a show without all the baggage and frustration of it not being "true" to the novels.

Which are pretty crappy at that. I've read them all and enjoyed them enough, but they are so horribly written at times. I could care less how "true" Josh and the GG production crew stay to the GG book series, because honestly, they could use a few changes.

I agree, I never thought the books were great pieces of literature to begin with so I really don't care.

I thought Leighton did a great job with Blair.

I had to do a double take for most of the first 15 minutes. I couldn't quite peg who she looks like, until I saw it without the sound. She looks just like Lyla from "Friday Night Lights", minus the squeaky voice. After I figured it out, I couldn't stop seeing it. (And both their characters deal with the fallout from cheating early in their series'.) Anyone else see the resemblance?

Yep, she totally looks like Minka Kelly. It's really evident in the scene where she hugs Serena.

I'm totally loving Blair right now. She's a loveable bitch. Leightom seems to be playing the role perfectly.

Leighton looks like a mix of Minka Kelly and Rachel Bilson. At times, I SWORE she looked like Minka Kelly, and at other times, I swore she looked like Rachel Bilson.


Anyways, so far, Blair is my favorite character and I really like what Leighton is doing with her so far. It's funny, because in the books, I feel terrible for Blair, and I could give a shit about Serena, but so far, I feel bad for both and can't choose a side!

Oh, I'm totally on Blair's side. But Blake is so lovely that she doesn't make me hate Serena like I do in the books.

The actress who plays Blair looks like she should be Robin Tunney's younger sister. Does anyone else see the resemblence? Robin Tunney

I'm still freaked out that it's Carrie Bishop. Still a bitch!

Wasn't she a lot more curvy when she was on Surface?

Actually I thought she was a little too skinny on "Surface". She looked curvier when she guest starred on "North Shore". No, I didn't actually watch that show. I also thought she looked really good on "Tarzan". Okay, I may have watched that show.

She has the hottest bitchface ever. Love her!

Loved her tonight, just loved her. And the ruby ring!

Leighton is perfect for this roll, I swear.

I loved her tonight, too. Leighton's amazing. She's doing a great job portraying Blair, and what Blair is like - which is bitchy and unhappy. I'm excited to see more from her!

Blair was all kinds of awesome tonight! I agree that Leighton Meester has this character down perfectly.

One of my favorite things about Kaitlin Cooper was how much she enjoyed train wrecks and freakouts. Glad to see B keeping up that particular tradition, between her indulgent/affectionate/condescending interactions with Jenny, her exuberant jump out the door to tattle on S, and again when D punched Chuck. I love a girl who loves a spectacle.

I LOVED when she laughed when Dan pushed Chuck. I would have totally laughed too.

Honestly, I was more of a Serena girl when it came to reading the books but having seen the show, I absolutely LOVE Blair! Leighton Meester plays her character so brilliantly that you sympathise with Blair, despite her petulance and bitchiness. That is no easy feat!

I love how the show can have her all gussied up and Uptown Diva in her long white robe yet still have this same character so giddily excited about shit stirring like a little kid and it not seem like contradictory ideas.

That may possibly have been my favourite sngle bit of the entire episode, just the amount of glee on her face when watching all the shit unfold in front of her was hysterical. I swear you could almost see her start to bounce up and down with excitement.


I've never read the books and I feel I'm supposed to like Serena for (i guess) trying to change/grow/improve etc, and I do but I'm surprised by just how much I also like Blair. At the moment I prefer her to Serena, I think it has a lot to do with how well Leighton Meester plays her (even though she will forever and always be Carrie Bishop to me). Yes she's a bitch but damn if she isn't fun with it.

Blair became my favorite character in the most recent ep based on every single scene. However, my favorite scene was the one with Nates dad and he was talking to her about her mother and how shes going places, and Blair: 'Hopefully places far, far away!.... Just kidding". Then there was the scene in which she was telling Dan about what happened with Serena and Blair, and everyone kept talking, and she was just waiting for it to come back to her so she could finish her story. The best was when she was waiting for her to start telling the story after Chuck and company stopped talking and she lost her shit over Nate going to the hotel to talk to Serena but that not even a second later, she was back to finish the story. I was kind of expecting to hate Blair a bit, but based on how Leighton Meester is rocking the role, I honestly can't.

Aw, Blair is so deliciously evil. And sympathetic. The last scene where she was cracking while she read the letter was so good. I like that she's very good at not being one note. I hated that yellow blouse, though.

So far I don't like Blair. Even with last night's heart-to-heart with Serena, she's too one note. She reminds me too much of Shannen Doherty in Heathers which is not a good thing.

I don't think she's one note at all. LM has a way of showing us Blair's layers/insecurities with subtle moments as apposed to it being thrown in our faces, which I love.

I understand that Blair is pretty much completely lacking in appropriate role models and that she has insecurities. And hell, I even felt somewhat bad for her when she was reading the letter to Serena (in an, "Oh, you poor, lonely little spoiled thing" way), but for the most part, I have no sympathy for her. If her cruelty were only limited to Serena, it might be more tolerable, but she's an equal-opportunity immature bitch. The nasty comment to her NANNY was just so far over the line of acceptability that I lost any willingness to sympathize with her.

Not only that, but her presence makes me doubt pretty much every OTHER character in the show for wanting to associate with her, or in Serena's case, rebuild a friendship with her. Except Chuck, who is a creepy asshole all on his own.

I like Blair, due in large part to the fact that she is just a giant trainwreck waiting to happen. Sure she's a total bitch (and highly entertaining with it) but underneath she just seems to be a tightly wound mess of emotions and insecurities waiting to explode. I think it's LM's acting that help with that. You can see the bitch but you can also see the little cracks of actual emotion in her eyes.

The one thing that really bothered me about her is her wanting to stay with Nate and treat Serena like shit. But it seems to me now it wasn't so much about Nate as it was about having the image, the perfect picture. She seems to have a case of "if I look happy I'll be happy", which will most definitely come back to bite her on the ass.

As for her deal with Serena I can totally see why she is pissed (even though she probably needs to start getting over it soon), it's not as much about the thing with Nate as it is about the two of them. Serena was her best friend, probably one of the few people she trusted and actually opened to, she suddenly runs off and leaves without a word only to turn up a year later out the blue. No wonder she didn't take it well.

Oh, Blair.

She was my favorite character in the books and definately my favorite character on the show. Of all of the characters, she has the largest potential for growth, aside from Nate. (And my dillusional shipping of Blair/Nate from the books has transfered over to the show. Please don't ask why.)

However, as I was skimming through my books, I was surprised at how little we see Blair genuinly laugh or smile. Sure, she would smirk at something catty, but I don't remember her ever finding something to be haha-funny. Which is something that I like that's changed on the show. This Blair seems happier than Book Blair, which is a nicer contrast to show how sad she really is.

And what I love the most about Blair, though, is that she makes the best out of every situation. So what if she can't express happiness to her Mom? Nanny's second best! (Was it the nanny or the maid?)

Plus, she just tries so damn hard that I really can't hate her for it.

THAT'S IT! Heather Duke!

That's exactly who she's channeling. Only I think it's a GOOD thing.

Heather, why are you being such a megabitch?
HD: Because I can be.

I completely agree. Blair is really the only realistic character in the books, IMO. Yeah, all of the characters have their own issues, but they deal with them differently or they don't deal with them at all. Blair's bitchy-ness has always been a coping mechanism for her -- it's how she hides her insecurites. Book!Serena and Book!Nate were very shallow, cruel characters in their own way. They never had to put any effort into anything they did, and had everything handed to them on a silver platter (they both got into Yale without trying, whereas Blair, who dreamed of going, was wait-listed). Not to mention, they constantly screwed over Blair and showed no regret for any of their actions, which is why I was surprised to see Serena the main character of the show.

I am glad that they're giving these characters depth that didn't in the books, but on the other hand, they made Blair a lot less likeable in the first few episodes for viewers who are new to Gossip Girl than she was in the books. Maybe it's just me, but I'm glad to see that they're slowly showing more to Blair, because I relate to her character the most, and I really don't want to see my favourite character butchered.

I haven't read any of the books, but I love Blair. I find her much more sympathetic than the other characters (with the exception of Dan and Jenny).

Well, I guess it's just me being a huge Blair supporter that I was a little worried about how others would react to the character. I'm glad to see that that's not the case!

I know what you mean. I'm the same way when I read something before I see it.

The truth is, it seems like they were setting Serena up as some tragic, oh isnt' she so brave - she's been through so much, hero type and I just couldn't get why all my sympathy shouldn't be with Blair. Although she did go too far at the Ivy party. Still love her.

I like Blair without reading the books. She's really interesting. Vunerable and sad, but really goes all out to get revenge, which seems to be the only time she really releases her bitchiness.

I'm one of the ppl who didn't read the book and can not stand Blair. Actually that's a little harsh. She's a sympathetic character, in that she was wronged by...pretty much everyone in her life...and she's a teenager, but she is a raving bitch who chooses to believe in delusions instead of reality to save face.

Image is important, but at what cost? Is it more important than your happiness? And although Blair the character sucks as a 'person' she is interesting to watch.

Heh. I guess I see what you mean. I guess I can't really judge whether Blair's a good person since she is still, what, 16? How many people in her situation would be fabulous people? (Blair isn't really any more or less heinous as some of the other teenage girls in NYC who feel like they've been wronged more than anyone else, ever.) I'm sure we'll see growth, though. Looking back on it, Blair is one of the few people in the books that actually seemed to grow a bit from who she was before.

As for her happiness, I don't think Blair has ever found anything that makes her happy. Book Blair didn't have anything, either, except for maybe Nate, Serena when they weren't fighting and, later, her sister.

And Blair was definately the most realistic character in the books, I think. In a sea of people who were unsure of who they wanted to be and too busy being boringly perfect, she was someone who knew exactly what she wanted, she just couldn't get it. On top of that, she tried so hard to hide her imperfections that they just sat on her sleeve. And I loved her for it.

As for the show's presentation of Blair, it's more difficult to show a character's depth when you don't know what they're thinking. All we have to go on are their facial expressions and actions. Thankfully, Leighton's doing a fabulous job (IMO) with Blair.

My friends and I were talking about why Blair would stay with Nate and try to slay Serena in every which way she could. With Serena, I think it's so much less of it being with Nate as her leaving without saying anything, let alone it being because she slept with her boyfriend. That just heightened everything. If Serena had just left, without sleeping with Nate, I think Blair would still be as angry. She'd just be less open about it. Nate is a scapegoat for her anger and aggravation. Look at how, after she got her letter off of her chest, they were closer to reconciling than they ever would have if they talked for hours and hours on end about Serena sleeping with Nate. Serena could have apologized until the cows came home- Blair was angry at her before she even found out about that.

As for why she's still with Nate, a) I think she's genuinely in love with him (and that he loves her, in as much as he can love someone with how passive as he is, and in a completely different way than how he loves Serena) and b) she doesn't know what else the hell to do. If she and Nate break up, does that mean that he and Serena will get together? Will she have to stare at their stupid, "perfect" faces all day? Does this mean people will talk about her, in the worst way possible? Will she becomes known as a loser? Will she and Serena never be friends again? She wants to give him the benefit of the doubt because she probably doesn't want to consider the other options.

Oh, but I found one Laughing Blair moment. It's in Book 4, "la isla bonita," pg. 107, soft cover

Love you, Blair!

Leighton Meester is seriously my hero.

Am I the only one here that wants more Dan/Blair time?

Nah, that's one pairing I'd love to see in any capacity. Snarking at each other, a friendship developing or a romance later on? I'd love it!

Mine too. She's really the best actor they have at this point, and I don't say that in a damning-with-faint-praise way, because I do think the cast is pretty strong for the most part. But LM is just a step above. Also, gorgeous--I think I may have a bit of a girl-crush.

I just watched Episode 4, and thought Meester really shone in it. Plenty of actresses can do the bitchy, snarky attitude, as we've seen in countless shows over the years, but I thought the restrained fragility she managed to bring to the part when she was trying to model but couldn't loosen up was great, and something that plenty of actresses would have screwed up.

I hope the writers manage to maintain that aspect of the character, the balance between the screaming, shouting super-popular 'bitch' and the fragile, breakable, desperate-for-approval girl that can't quite truly break the shackles that her upbringing has imposed on her. Too often these characters get 'normalised' so swiftly in teen-dramas that they lose what made them interesting in the first place. Regardless, Meester's doing a great job with what she's being given so far.

Damn, I love Blair! I've only read a couple of the books and I liked her well enough in them, but on the show she's absolutely my favorite character. Leighton is just vibrant and definitely my new girlcrush of the fall season. To be honest, I barely remember her as Carrie Bishop; guess I'll have to pull out my VM DVDs. What a hardship!

Really, though, she's the highlight of the show for me. And I don't usually get into non-canon ships (well, except on Heroes but everything's at least a little bit canon on there, hee), but I am just dying for some Dan/Blair. Their current dynamic reminds me of really early Logan/Veronica, which I loved (until S3, anyway). And I find the idea of them together way more interesting than Dan/Serena, possibly because so far I think Serena lacks a discernable personality.

ETA: Thread title, yay!

I admit, I was worried about how Blair would come off onscreen; it would be really easy just to play her as a Shallow Uber Bitch. But Leighton has done a great job giving Blair depth. The photo shoot scene, with Blair trying to loosen up but still holding back, was pure gold.

I loved that scene. I also loved when she finally had it out with Eleanor. Poor screwed up kid, but at least she had some sort of breakthrough (hopefully).


As I said in the Serena thread, the only time I find her interesting is when she's with Blair. I kind of love their whole messed up relationship. I think the scenes between the two of them are the best part of the episode.

Love the new name!

Blair is totally my new girl-crush. Love her!



The idea of Dan/Blair sounds really interesting. I want her with anyone other than Nate (not Chuck though!) because I just feel that Nate is not really into the relationship, and that makes me sad.

Love the thread title btw. :)