Full disclosure: I, unlike many women my age, never watched the original Gossip Girl series. Sure, I’m aware of the basics simply as someone who followed pop culture in the early 00s, but if you asked me to distinguish between Blair and Serena, I wouldn’t be able to. So, unlike I suspect many viewers (and critics) watching the new HBO Max reboot (or, really, sequel) of Gossip Girl, I came into the show more or less blind. Can a non-fan enjoy Gossip Girl and become embroiled in the soapy twists and turns of the new series? Well, yes and no. While I enjoyed some aspects of the series (or, at least the four episodes provided for critics), I wasn’t wholly sold on the addictive nature of the show – and the often very manufactured drama.
So, what works? As with the first go-round, Gossip Girl is choc-full of insanely attractive twenty-something actors playing rich, entitled prep school students. And the young cast is, for the most part, very green – and it shows. The most engaging of the students is Max Wolfe (portrayed with depth by Thomas Doherty), the pansexual playboy of the series, who is rich as all get out but tortured by his personal demons. While other characters may take the spotlight in the early episodes (the main conflict through the first four episodes is between half-sisters Julien – Jordan Alexander, who grows into the role – and Zoya – Whitney Peak, who isn’t given much of a clear character through line thus far), Max is far and away the most interesting character in the series (even if he gets saddled with a tired teen drama trope in episode four). As for the rest of the lot? Well, I didn’t find myself all that invested in any of them.
Centering the initial set of episodes around the Zoya and Julien drama (most of which is orchestrated by others, with the girls serving as pawns within the plot, which in turn robs them of a lot of their agency and a chance to allow their characters to develop beyond thin outlines) means that almost every action or conversation within the story is about them. Thus, we only see other characters in terms of how they relate to this duo: their parents, their friends, their frenemies, their significant others, and their teachers. The identities of the other characters can’t emerge when they are defined by their relationships with Zoya and Julien. Take the dynamic duo of Monet (the excellent Savannah Lee Smith) and Luna (the snarky but fun Zion Moreno): As Julien’s inner circle, they exist to serve her arc. But some of their actions in the initial four episodes hint that they could be a real force to be reckoned with – both together and apart – if the show would let them branch off from their bestie. I suspect that’s something that will happen down the line, but you can feel their characters wanting to jump out of their defined arcs and really shine – they just aren’t allowed to. Which is such a shame.
As for the adults, well, they are, on the whole, the least interesting set of characters on the series. A major spoiler in the first episode attempts to give relevance to the school’s teachers (Tavi Gevinson – who is as young or younger than some of the actors playing teens, and it creates a weird juxtaposition within the series – and Adam Chanler-Berat, among others), but it only serves to make the entire premise of the series particularly nasty and unfortunate. Sure, I understand why the decision was made, but really? Even in a soap opera, this “twist” defies belief. That the teachers a) care that much about the lives of their students to attempt to manipulate them and b) are willing to risk their own jobs to do what they do . . . well, I just can’t see it happening. And then there’s the parents, who haven’t had a ton to do yet, but are pretty exhausting themselves. Aside from a fun, layered performance from Laura Benanti (who I hope gets more to do later on in the season), I would have been perfectly happy not to deal with the parents at all in the series. The teens are where the interesting drama and complex storylines lie – let’s keep the adults to a minimum.
And that’s the real trick to Gossip Girl – the series hinges on the audience wanting to see what crazy and debauched things these privileged teens get up to. We want to look at their carefully curated lives (since this show takes place in 2021, the Gossip Girl account is naturally on Instagram – as are the teens, some of whom are influencers and have plenty of fame and fortune), gawk at the excess, and revel in their lives. This is escapist television at its peak. If you can look past the pretty out-there plots (including the frustratingly pedestrian backstabbing plots), Gossip Girl is a fun, frothy show. And, for those OG fans, yes, Kristin Bell is back as the Gossip Girl narrator, so that’s a nice touch. So, if you have a hole in your TV schedule and are looking for a summer series, Gossip Girl might just be the empty calories you crave. After all, nothing wrong with having a cheat day.
Gossip Girl airs Fridays on HBO Max. Four episodes were provided for review.
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