MsMojo Can Fix It: Rewriting Nate Archibald's Story on Gossip Girl

MsMojo Can Fix It: Nate Archibald on Gossip Girl

Hey MsMojo fans. Have we got a scoop for you. Spotted: Poor little rich boy. Once the biggest catch on the Upper East Side, these days, it seems like no one even remembers N. is around. Until they need his help, anyway. How did the consummate insider find himself out in the cold? Compared to the rest of his social circle, it just doesn’t feel like just desserts. But maybe we serve up the sweet spoonful of vindication. Nate Archibald, this one’s for you. XOXO. MsMojo.

The Character You Know

In terms of impact on a story, you might say that Nate Archibald started out as the most important character in “Gossip Girl.” In love with Golden Girl Serena van der Woodsen since childhood, but perpetually coupled up with her best friend Blair Waldorf instead, Nate was the cornerstone of the story’s foundational love triangle. When he and Serena shared a booze-soaked hookup prior to season one, it caused her to leave New York for boarding school without a word to anyone, fracturing their friend group, and setting the stage for her dramatic return a year later.

Okay, yes, there was a brief and bizarre subplot about an overdose and a guilty conscience being the real motivation for Serena’s disappearance. Regardless, the romantic tension of the Nate/Serena/Blair triangle played a huge part in shaping the plot and character dynamics of the first season. This was also the throughline that kept Nate looped into the story. Because the truth is, Nate always had way more on his plate than whatever high school soap opera his friends were embroiled in.

As the son of a Vanderbilt socialite and a powerful banker, handsome, athletic Nate grew up as a Park Avenue Prince. However, the older he got, the more his privileged existence started to close in on him. Pressured by his parents to choose the approved college and date the approved girl, Nate was already struggling with feeling as though he had no control over his life. And then his entire world spirals out of control when his father’s misdeeds come to light. Financially ruined, his parents flee the country, and Nate is left on his own to piece his life back together, often with the interference of his Vanderbilt grandfather.

No matter what he was going through though, Nate remained the most decent person in his peer group. Forgiving to a fault, he was always the first to step up and try to help a friend (or even frenemy) in need, while mostly managing to keep his own reputation out of the mud. Of all the main characters on the show, Nate is the only one that never sent a tip to Gossip Girl, and rarely did he find himself spotlighted by the infamous blogger. Maybe that’s a sign that we’re supposed to consider him boring, but honestly, it just makes Nate one of the only people on this show we’d actually want to hang out with.

Where It Went Wrong

Unfortunately, Nate belongs to a club of fictional characters who are defined by their love lives. And even more unfortunately, it was a hard trap to slip, because from his genesis in the mind of novelist Cecily von Ziegesar, a love triangle was the entire basis for Nate’s character. The first season of the show translates this element faithfully; we are introduced to a Nate torn between his unrequited feelings for Serena and his relationship with Blair. However, the series started to peel away from the book plotlines pretty quickly, and where Nate was the ultimate love interest of both girls on the page, things rapidly shifted on TV. Dan Humphrey was elevated from a brief fling to a primary love interest for Serena. Meanwhile, the chemistry between Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick morphed Blair and Chuck’s friendship of convenience into the marquee love story of the entire series. The flagship, if you will.

These changes left Nate adrift. Not only was he without an obvious partner in a show where the relationship drama was a huge piece of the individual arcs, but he was now completely detached from his original narrative purpose.

The upshot is that Nate would go on to appear in the fewest number of episodes of any main cast member, and that he frequently felt like an afterthought tacked on in whatever way was most useful for the plotlines of his friends. Nate’s own story beats centered almost entirely on his dating escapades, with an array of short lived relationships most notable for the fact that he was frequently paired with ladies who were introduced as antagonists to Blair or Serena. Don’t even get us started on the show’s disturbing habit of putting him in manipulative situations with older women.

Occasionally, Nate got to be more than convenient arm candy. In a few arcs that felt like they came from another series entirely, his Vanderbilt relatives would get him swept up in their political aspirations, often ending with a disenchanted Nate taking a step back for a while. In the later seasons, he took over running the publication “The Spectator,” which should have been a chance to let the character evolve. However, it soon became just another set piece to service the needs of the other plots.

By series end, we’re led to believe Nate has become a media mogul of some kind. It’s also hinted that he’s finally ready to bow to his grandfather’s wishes and jump into politics. Considering that one of Nate’s most defining traits across the series was his desire to make his own path, it feels like a cop out. Maybe even more so because it was one of the few definitions the writing ever let him have.

How We Fix It

Nate is Gossip Girl.

No, pitchforks away, please! We’re kidding!

He was one of the characters once considered for the job, though, and it certainly would be interesting. Seeing Nate turn out to be the Upper East Side’s Omnipresent Mean Girl in Chief would be quite the switch up. But while a part of us is drawn to that chaos, ultimately, we can’t stand to lose one of the few good ones this show gave us.

So, for real this time. How do we fix it?

As someone trying to make their own way, maybe it makes sense that Nate is the only character on the show reliably in possession of a compass. A moral compass that is. As much as he obviously cares for his friends and family, he has always stood a bit apart from them. Not blinded by ambition, and only rarely swept up in his emotions, more than anyone around him, Nate can be counted on to do the right thing. His priority seems to be finding the truth in any situation, regardless of the agendas at play.

Maybe that’s why Nate is “Gossip Girl”’s go to man whenever sleuthing becomes necessary. With the number of investigations he was involved in over the seasons, we’re shocked that The CW never took Kristen Bell out of the narrator’s corner and put her on-screen for a Veronica Mars crossover special.

With that in mind, we think that Season 4 is the perfect place to start tweaking Nate’s storyline. When he was dumped by Serena at the end of the previous season, it severed his last remaining link to his original book persona, so it’s an organic place to try something different.

Season 4 already brought several new elements into play. When Howard Archibald is paroled from prison, he moves in with Nate, and the steps he takes to restart his financial career brought Russell Thorpe into the story. Russell, who has a long and bitter history with the late Bart Bass, comes to New York intent on destroying Bass Industries. Nate becomes a key player in all the drama that follows, not only because of the implications for his best friend Chuck, and for Howard, but also as a result of a connection he sparks with Russell’s daughter Raina. Disappointingly, the Thorpe storyline eventually boils down to a dead end tangent with little impact on any longer plotlines.

It could be more though.

Nate has his suspicions about Howard’s new job at Thorpe Enterprises from the start, but mostly because of all the complications of the situation. Sure, there’s plenty of reason for Nate to be concerned, but what if he found something that raised a red flag in a more tangible sense? Like, for example, if he accidentally stumbled on something in the family banking that didn’t add up? The Archibalds never technically lost their position in society, but Howard’s antics severely handicapped their net worth. Yet, suddenly, their debts are paid, and their accounts are flush. All as a result of transfers from a mysterious off-shore source.

Chuck’s game with Russell can continue to unfold pretty much the way it already does on the show, but now in addition to helping his friend, Nate will also be trying to figure out his father’s motives. And when Howard turns company intel over to Chuck that will rule out Russell as a factor in the Archibald family’s windfall. As Chuck, Nate, and Raina close in on the increasingly unhinged Russell, Nate’s investigation will yield the revelation that those offshore payments were being approved by a small financial firm in New York. A tiny subsidiary of…Bass Industries. When the Thorpe arc comes to its resolution, the trio make their way to the office for answers only to discover a ghost from the past awaiting them.

Yes, bonkers as it is, we’re going to keep the resurrection of Chuck’s Machiavellian father, Bart Bass. We will learn that not only did he settle the Archibald family’s financial matters, but he pulled strings to arrange Howard’s parole all in order to enlist him as a pawn against Russell. It’s not merely because of the longstanding feud, or because of Russell’s intentions against Bass Industries, but because Russell’s ambitions have seen him approaching lucrative opportunities with some dubious partners, potentially threatening Bart Bass’ interests on a deeper level. Put a pin in that, we’ll circle back.

After years under the thumb of Gossip Girl, Nate’s tolerance for secrets and shadow networks is already pretty low. While confiding in Raina, he expresses his frustration that everything in his life seems to lead back to a scheme or plot. She challenges him to do something about it. Pointing out that turbulence in the media industry, Raina will suggest acquiring a failing magazine or paper, and using it as a means to platform investigative work. Nate is reluctant to use any of the funds provided by Bart Bass, but luckily, Raina is willing to partner with him. This neatly solves another “Gossip Girl” misstep, and keeps savvy, morally conscious Raina in the story rather than exiling her back to Chicago. It also excises the messy, predatory plot involving Diana Payne.

With the start of Season 5, Nate and Raina launch The Spectator, helped along by a few silent partners. Gossip coverage helps to pay the bills, but the paper’s real work is in digging down into the dubious dealings hidden by the shine of high society. As Bart Bass enters his super villain era, Nate and Raina are quietly working on finally figuring out just what his real deal is.
Rather than Chuck discovering his father’s illicit business dealings, it should have been Nate. However, before he can put together the full story, he finds The Spectator sinking beneath him.

The silent partners all begin to bail, and Thorpe Enterprises is targeted with a high profile lawsuit from out of left field, crippling the paper’s finances. Nate of course assumes that Bart is seeking vengeance, but as he desperately tries to reach his former investors, he makes another unpleasant discovery: his grandfather, William Vanderbilt, had been among them.

This mostly carries over from the existing show where William’s financial stake in Diana Payne’s Spectator is the reason Nate is hired there in the first place. Their cyclical relationship throughout the series saw Nate drawn into the Vanderbilt orbit longing for family, only to be disillusioned by William’s repeated attempts to manipulate him onto the “suitable” path. It’s a repeat pattern this time around as well. However, this time, William’s maneuvering reveals even more sobering realities.

You see, William, too, is in cahoots with Bart Bass, and wants to bring Nate back to heel. It turns out the Vanderbilts have been a beneficiary of the illegal deals Bart has been doing behind the scenes. In return, William’s political connections have protected Bart, and together they have formed a shadowy cabal of business contacts, government agents, and elected officials. From day one, Nate’s crusade to shine a light on the seamy side of wealth and privilege has been tainted by the very forces he was rallying against. And doomed too, since William and Bart’s financial hold on The Spectator would have ensured its failure no matter what.

But who acted as his eyes and ears on the ground in Nate's inner circle? *Insert Emily in Paris ‘It’s Dan.’* Yes! What a twist! It turns out that Bart bought Dan YEARS ago. When the would-be reporter was researching his insurance fraud, Bart was researching Dan right back, uncovering his identity as Gossip Girl and using that to hold them in a pact of mutually assured destruction. Of course, Dan’s secret identity revealed a ruthless, ambitious nature that Bart could respect, and so he became the Emperor to Dan’s Anakin Skywalker, guiding his journey through the Dark Side for the love of the pure mayhem it induced in Chuck’s world.

Does this actually make more sense than the story that exists? Not really. Dan being Gossip Girl is always going to be nonsensical, but giving it some connective tissue to the shady underbelly of the show at least makes it look like it was an intentional choice, and not the result of a coin toss.

All of this is a blow for sure. But inspired by all of his friends' schemes and games over the years, Nate marshalls the set up of all set ups. Raina and Chuck team up to orchestrate a sham attempt at a hostile takeover, misdirecting Bart. Serena and Blair distract Dan by pretending to renew their duel for his affections. And Anne Archibald returns to finally make up for all her years as a bad mother by entrapping William. All parties manipulate their targets into big monologue moments where they confess their parts in the grand conspiracy, which are caught on hidden cameras and streamed live on the Gossip Girl platform commandeered from Dan’s control. Probably by Georgina, since what wild “Gossip Girl” gotcha moment could go down without the Chaos Queen herself? It’s unlikely that all the players in their vast network will be punished, but the most powerful, including Bart and William, will go down.

Nate is heralded as a hero, and he accepts those laurels graciously. But frankly he’s had enough. This messy, elitist world where no one is ever what they seem to be was never his preferred scene. So with this fight behind him, he packs up his life, and makes his exit from the Upper East Side.

The future finds Nate in California, where he always hoped to be. He sleeps in, takes his dog for long walks on the beach, and spends his time with a group of people who don’t know or care what his pedigree is. Nate hasn’t totally given up on the good fight, though. He runs a non-profit organization that is dedicated to fighting for transparency in finance and government, which is as close to political office as he wants to get.

And as for his love life? There’s an argument for Raina Thorpe, another genuinely good person, who had amazing chemistry with Nate. But given their ideological differences, maybe they decided they were better business partners than lovers. It would be more realistic if he found someone totally unrelated to his past. However, there’s a part of us that delights in the idea of Nate reconnecting with someone else who often went unnoticed. Someone with the brains and drive of Blair, without her vicious side. The outsider’s perspective of Vanessa, without the hypocrisy. The creativity of Jenny, without the drama. Yup, we think grown up Dan and Nelly would be a fun, if unexpected pairing, who could balance each other well. And we can’t say we don’t love imagining Nate bringing her to Blair and Chuck’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner.

Mostly, though Nate just enjoys living his life in a world where people don’t make plans grander than where they’re all meeting up to watch the sports game. Whatever else his old friends may be getting themselves into, Nate is at peace, and we love that for him.

So what do you think? Would it be better if Nate were Gossip Girl? How would you change the story of the sidelined St. Jude’s Golden Boy? Let us know in the comments.