"The Freshman" is the 45th episode of the CW television series '' Gossip Girl''. It was also the second episode of the show's third season. The episode was written by Amanda Lasher and directed by Norman Buckley. It originally aired on Monday, September 21, 2009 on the CW. "The Freshman" shows Blair Waldorf (

Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...

) plotting to establish her 'Queen Bee' status in college as embarks on her first day at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

, along with

Dan Humphrey Daniel Randolph Humphrey is a fictional character in the bestselling Gossip Girl (novel series), ''Gossip Girl'' novel series. He is one of the central male characters in ''Gossip Girl'', where he is portrayed by Penn Badgley. Dan Humphrey is th ...

( Penn Badgley) and

Vanessa Abrams Vanessa Abrams is a fictional character in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series. She is portrayed by Jessica Szohr in the television adaptation. Vanessa was introduced on the first season as a recurring character, but became a series regular after a ...

( Jessica Szohr). Georgina Sparks ( Michelle Trachtenberg) turns up as Blair's roommate in the dorms, determined to make her a social outcast. Rather than depart for Brown,

Serena van der Woodsen Serena Celia van der Woodsen is the fictional character and the protagonist in the ''Gossip Girl'' novel series and in its TV adaptation, in which she is portrayed by Blake Lively. Serena is featured on the blog of the series' mysterious narrato ...

( Blake Lively) decides to stay in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and moves in with Chuck Bass (

Ed Westwick Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's ''Gossip Girl'' as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series ''White Gold''. He made his feature film debut in '' Chil ...

) until she incites a major fallout between the two. Intending to get even, she recruits Chuck's enemy, Carter Baizen ( Sebastian Stan). Meanwhile, Nate Archibald (

Chace Crawford Christopher Chace Crawford (born July 18, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012), and of The Deep in Amazon Prime Video original series ...

) and Bree Buckley ( Joanna Garcia) decide to explore their relationship further, knowing full well it could cause tension between their families who are political rivals.

Plot

Production

Leighton Meester's

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with

Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, ''While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enliste ...

" Good Girls Go Bad" was utilized as background music in the hotel rooftop scene. The song had been released earlier in the year. LeightonMeester

Reception

"The Freshman" was watched by 1.97 million viewers and received mixed reviews. Michelle Graham from ''

Film School Rejects Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006. The site was nominated for Best News Blog by ''Total Film'' magazine and na ...

'' reviewed the episode. "Despite a low quality start to the season, this episode certainly went a long way towards redeeming that slip. Blair and Chuck’s move from unstable pair playing games to stay fresh to a couple that support each other through the rough patches was very plausible, showing a strength to the relationship that we’ve seen flashes of up til now." Graham praised Georgina's return, stating that how the character "brought some humour and extra life" to the episode. On reviewing other characters, Graham found Serena and Chuck's storyline "predictable and dull" and was not on par with other story lines in the episode. Graham continued on to negatively reviewing the relationship between Nate and Bree but was surprised by Dan's storyline. "Happily, Dan’s meteoric rise to the top of the college social food chain was unexpected and had some enjoyable results, not to mention shockingly stupid."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freshman, The Gossip Girl (season 3) episodes 2009 American television episodes