Millions are watching ‘The Group Chat,’ the TikTok series about a girls’ night gone off the rails

March Madness and the season finale of The White Lotus couldn’t compete with the excitement felt on TikTok this past weekend as users, brands, and celebrities all waited for the climactic Part 4 of the app’s most recent viral series: "The Group Chat."@thatgirlsydjo/TikTokA multi-part, dramatized story, the shorts are performed and written by Sydney Robinson (known on TikTok as @thatgirlsydjo) and depict a group chat dealing with the bombshell news that one of the friends wants to bring their boyfriend to a girls' dinner. The first part of the series dropped on the app one week ago and received 29 million views, launching a discourse about the appropriate way to handle the situation, and a surprise appearance from Charlie Puth. @thatgirlsydjo The Group Chat: a series #groupchat #friends #drama #tea ♬ original sound - Sydney Jo Meet the friends inside "The Group Chat"Part 1 introduced the characters and set up the premise: 10 friends planned to meet for dinner when Hailey messaged the group to say that her boyfriend Justin had a hard day. She asked if was possible to change the reservation so she could bring him with her that night. @jphen/TikTokAfter Jessica (the assertive friend who made the reservation), Emily (the diplomatic friend), and Maddie (the friend from out of town) expressed their apprehension about having Justin join the dinner, Hailey decided to bail. @howdy5582/TikTokThe video immediately resonated with viewers, and commenters weighed in to express their frustration with Hailey. “Leave. The. Boyfriend. At. Home!!!,” wrote Ariel and Rachel Pan asked “Is he a puppy? Why is his separation anxiety the group's problem?” @OpenTable/TikTokA new bombshell enters the group chatParts 2 and 3 brought about several twists. Hailey left the chat after the group told her they would prefer to have Justin sit this one out. Jessica learned that the dinner reservation she made for 10 people two weeks ago was changed to 11 people that same day, which exposed Hailey as a liar. @thatgirlsydjo The Group Chat: Part II #groupchat #friends #drama #tea ♬ original sound - Sydney Jo Hailey asked to be added back into the group chat and re-included in the dinner reservation. When she learned the dinner reservation couldn't be changed again, she suggested an alternative restaurant. The episode ended with one of the friends walking into the newly reserved restaurant to discover — plot twist — that Justin was already there.@meangirls/TikTokBy Part 3, "The Group Chat" built up such a following across TikTok that celebrities and brands started commenting on Robinson’s videos, begging for Part 4. @thatgirlsydjo The Group Chat: Part III #groupchat #friends #drama #tea ♬ original sound - Sydney Jo She responded by posting a trailer.@UPS/@lesdoggggg/TikTok@pacers/@bathandbodyworks/@ashleyofficial/@campbells/TikTok'The Group Chat,' Part 4Robinson ended TikTok’s agony on Sunday when she posted Part 4, the first video to feature Justin. When the individual members of the group chat arrived at the steakhouse, they learned that Justin wasn’t there to eat with them. He told Hailey he was headed to the restaurant to have dinner with his friends, but when she arrived to meet the rest of her party, she discovered he was there with a date. @Athenaisbluer/TikTokBy the end of Part 4, it’s clear that Hailey orchestrated the entire reservation change in an effort to catch Justin cheating.Up until Part 4, Robinson played all the characters in the series, but commenters immediately noticed that Justin’s voice sounded suspiciously like singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, noted fan of "The Group Chat" series. @charlieputh/TikTokStassi Schroeder of Vanderpump Rules weighs inRobinson told Today that she and the musician connected after he commented on her video, and he agreed to voice the character. She said she intended for his character to only appear in one episode, but “Obviously if he ever wanted to be involved ... of course he’s got the part, no question.”Since Robinson posted her first video in “The Group Chat” series, her account swelled from 260,000 to over 1 million followers. Former Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder posted a reaction video comparing herself and her communication style to Emily, and her co-star Katie Maloney to Maddie. @stassischroeder/TikTok“I don’t want to be Emily,” she said. “I want to be one of the girlies who’s just sitting in her bed and letting everyone do the work for her. I want to be that. But then, how do you get sh*t done?” @stassischroeder I’m freaking living for The Group Chat @Sydney Jo ♬ original sound - stassischroeder One final video remains in this first "Group Chat" story arc, but Robinson told Today she intends to create new videos following the friends through other storylines. So if you're concerned about what you can use to fill the basketball and Thailand-sized hole in your content-viewing schedule, consider checking out "The Group Chat."The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.The post Millions are watching ‘The Group Chat,’ the TikTok series about a girls’ night gone off the rails appeared first on The Daily Dot.