HBO Max’s ‘Gossip Girl’ Reboot Isn’t There Yet — But It Has Potential

As easy (and fun) as it is to write in Gossip Girl’s snarky voice, nailing the tone of The CW’s mega-hit of a teen drama was always a balancing act. The original Gossip Girl’s best storylines seemed to do the impossible, basking in the lives of these obscenely rich teenagers while also mocking their pettiness, cluelessness, narcissism, and toxic co-dependance. During the first couple of episodes of HBO Max’s revival (four were provided to screen for critics), you can feel the new Gossip Girl falter as it attempts this delicate balancing act. But by the end of Episode 4, the series starts to find its stride. Gossip Girl 2.0 isn’t a perfect replica of what made the original so addicting; but it has the potential to get there.

Thankfully this new installment has learned from the original’s sluggish college storylines. Instead of trying to catch up with adult Blair, Serena, Chuck, Nate, and Dan, showrunner Joshua Safran’s sequel returns to the Constance Billard School to focus on a new class of Manhattan’s elite. That facelift leads to some fun choices. Whereas the characters in the original pretended to be annoyed and appalled by their unending media attention, this new batch lives for it. Our “It” girl Julian, played beautifully and emotionally by Jordan Alexander, is constantly flocked by her high school-aged brand expert Monet (Savannah Smith) and her personal stylist Luna (Zión Moreno). Julian, Monet, and Luna’s response to a Gossip Girl blast — now found on Instagram — feels like a war strategy, compared to the hectic free-for-alls that defined Serena and Blair’s lives. And why wouldn’t that be the case? These teenagers have grown up with cameras on them at all times, during the always-on era of social media. The fact that they can manage their personal brands better than most companies adds an extra interesting hurdle for the blogger trying to bring them down.

And for once we know exactly who’s trying to bring them down — and why. Within the first few minutes of the show this new iteration shows us exactly who our new queen of drama is, and why they revived this long forgotten name. Even this drastic shift contains notes of the original, though. Initially the new Gossip Girl’s posts seem so cringe-worthy and cruel you almost feel bad for these wealthy kids. But it isn’t long before the chaos GG creates draws you into a tornado of lies, betrayal, and endless hookups.

There’s another benefit to bringing this CW drama into 2021: the sex. Though the original made it known that Chuck would sleep with everyone, the 2007 version of the show was shockingly chaste when it came to sexuality and gender. That hesitation has been thrown out the window. Go into the new Gossip Girl knowing that anyone can hook up with anyone at any time. When you’re talking about a show like this, exploiting new avenues for drama is catnip. And since it’s on HBO Max instead of The CW, those sexy moments are a hard PG-13.

Then of course there’s the look of the show. Gossip Girl has always loved its gowns and designers, and this new version is no different. Julian, Monet, Luna, Audrey (Emily Alyn Lind), and Zoya (Whitney Peak) each embody a different version of flawlessly executed Gen Z style. Truly, if you want to look cool at your next party, turn on this show for reference.

But that’s about all this new sequel has figured out, at least in the early going. As Twitter has spent the past few weeks fretting about, the characters often have conversations about privilege and classism, discussions that lose their well-meaning bite when framed against teenagers sipping martinis and passing around literal silver trays of coke. The only character who escapes this eye-rolling treatment is Thomas Doherty’s Max Wolfe, who feels like a fully realized person from the get go, with depth, emotions hiding behind his devilishly charming smile. Even our favorite blogger’s voice feels off. Gone are the biting quips and pithy sign-offs, only to be replaced by rambling paragraphs that surely dried out Kristen Bell’s mouth. Don’t expect any blast to be as immediately catchy as “Spotted: Chuck Bass drunk off his ass.”

This is all because Gossip Girl 2.0 is too afraid to let you see the cracks in the characters, instead seemingly holding them up on a pedestal. That was never the case in the original Gossip Girl. Fans fell in love with Blair because of her malicious scheming and Serena due to her careless, hard-partying ways. These characters were great because of their flaws. This new iteration is scared to give its main cast even a single crack of imperfection. Even the cruelest revenge plot comes with a tear-jerking backstory. What’s left is a teen drama about vicious, scheming teens where no one is really that vicious and everyone feels guilty about their schemes.

If that sounds frustrating: it is. But there is hope. The first iteration of the show didn’t emerge from the television ether fully formed. Instead, it premiered amongst a series of catty fights that barely made sense, a rape attempt that was horrificly brushed aside, enough plotting to make a supervillain groan, and too many pointed declarations of “I’m Blair Waldorf” and “I’m Chuck Bass” to count. It was an addicting mess that became an addicting treasure. That DNA is buried deep in its sequel, and by Episode 4 it starts to emerge. Time will tell if that continues past the fourth hour, and it will definitely indicate whether the reboot will become the same cultural force as the original.

This drama’s predecessor once set the bar for ruthlessly mocking the upper class while telling their stories. It created a teen show that was as sex-crazed and scandalous as adolescence felt. If the new Gossip Girl can loosen its grip enough to let its Upper East Siders become the actual bullies they not-so-secretly are, there’s a chance it may capture something great once again. If not, Gossip Girl may need to sign off, for good. XOXO.

Gossip Girl premieres on HBO Max on Thursday, July 8. New episodes will premiere weekly.

Watch Gossip Girl on HBO Max