Season 1 Episode 1 of Gossip Girl starts out in the wildest way with a scene featuring Chuck Bass nearly forcing himself on Jenny Humphrey.
The scene was exceptionally dramatic and concerning because Chuck targeted Jenny specifically, knowing she’d be an easy target since she was a young, vulnerable freshman.
This scene would come back to haunt Chuck later on.
After Rufus found out about the attempted sexual assault, he lost all respect for Chuck and started icing him out.
And then, the most insane Gossip Girl moment of all time occurred at the end of Season 3 when Chuck and Jenny hooked up with each other, consensually.
The hookup went down when they were both feeling lonely and depressed, but it was still one of the skeeziest storylines of all.
Did Chuck ever redeem himself?
Many would say that Chuck never actually redeemed himself after what he did to Jenny in Episode 1.
As a reminder, he also tried to sexually assault Serena van der Woodsen in an empty hotel kitchen.
He “traded” Blair to his uncle for a night in exchange for ownership of the Empire Hotel.
For a stretch of time, he took on a different persona named Henry Prince living in Paris to abandon his life as Chuck Bass in New York City.
In the worst scene of all, he punched a wall behind Blair‘s head and caused the glass to shatter over her shoulder, cutting her cheek open.
Chuck’s actions were beyond deplorable for the majority of Gossip Girl.
As far as his redemption story goes, he certainly went out of his way to become a better human as he grew older.
Regarding his friendship with Nate Archibald, he paid off Nate’s gambling debt when Nate got caught up with the wrong crowd at one point.
Later on, he arranged a deal with Nate’s mother to help Archibald family out of financial ruin.
He bonded with Lily van der Woodsen and became so close with her as her stepson that she took on the motherly role in his life he direly needed.
At one point, he saved Lily from being sexually assaulted by Jack Bass.
With Eric van der Woodsen, Chuck was a kind and supportive older stepbrother because he knew Eric felt extremely lonely as a young LGBTQ kid.
When Chuck crossed paths with a prostitute named Elle, he went out of his way to save her from the creepy sex club full of dangerous, rich, old men.
When Dan Humphrey brought him a dog, Chuck adopted that dog, created an emotional bond with it, and took care of it from that point forward.
Regarding Blair Waldorf, Chuck made sure she had her dream prom night with Nate, even though he wasn’t the man who got to experience the evening with her.
Chuck paid paparazzi to take pictures of Blair to boost her confidence levels. He applied to Columbia for Blair so she would have another option for college.
He also paid Blair’s dowry to help her escape her loveless marriage to Prince Louis.
He saved Blair‘s life when Raina‘s father was vengefully prepared to light her on fire on a rooftop.
As far as things with Jenny go specifically, there were several actions Chuck took there as well.
When he realized Damien was about to get Jenny involved in selling drugs, he immediately blocked that from happening.
Although his intentions were a little murky in landing Jenny an interview with Tim Gunn, Chuck most certainly arranged that meeting.
If it wasn’t for Chuck, Jenny wouldn’t have been able to sit down with Tim Gunn at all.
And Chuck genuinely asked Jenny for her forgiveness about the attempted sexual assault when they had a face-to-face conversation a few years later.
Jenny granted him that forgiveness.
All in all, sexual assault will never be acceptable.
Still, as far as fictional characters go, there’s room to argue that Chuck most certainly redeemed himself after the incident with Jenny in Season 1, Episode 1.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
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