“Gossip Girl” isn’t the only series that has hit the “re-boot” button in the last few years, but it certainly is the latest. Let’s flash back just a mere fourteen years ago, the CW pilot of “Gossip Girl” premiered in the Fall of 2007 to mixed-acclaim. While parents hated the “inappropriate” series, teenagers love it. It wasn’t long after the series hit TV that it became a fan-favorite and an underrated cult classic. The series picks up eight-years after the cite went dark and this time focuses on the Gen-Z-ers new ruling class. Yes, the series exists in the same world. They even drop Nate Archibald and Dan Humphries names in the first ten minutes of the series.
The series, based on the book series of the same name, follows the lives of Manhattan’s elite and the re-boot has been confirmed to exist in the same world as the 2007 series, but at a much different time period. Because this time, social media really is everywhere and you can’t avoid the ever elusive, Upper-Eat Side Gossip Girl stories just by tossing your phone away in the trash (looking at you, Serena).
In 2007, there was only Facebook. Instagram hadn’t been launched, Twitter was in its infancy stages and TikTok hadn’t even been thought about. The concept of an influencer wasn’t even created yet. This is what should make the setting of 2021 even more perfect for our favorite NY sleuth. In this re-boot, we revisit the exclusive school, Constance Billings and this time, we are greeted by new faces.
Queen Bee Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander) is our new Blaire and Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak) …our new Jenny Humphries with a bit of a twist. Julien and Zoya are long-lost half-sisters reunited when Zoya takes a scholarship at the prestigious prep school. But tensions flare when Zoya starts over-taking Julien’s perfect life and position as ruler at Constance, including lusting for her boyfriend Otto “Obie” Bergman IV (Eli Brown).
The problem with the re-boot? It takes itself way too seriously. The creator re-launching the series cited the re-boot to be different than the original. The change? Instead of privileged, high society, trust-fund snobs, we are getting “woke” kids. Like, what? The entire reason we subscribed to the series and the content is because we want to see young teenage hedonism.
We want self-indulgent and self-destructive main characters, not self-righteous and self-aware students, which unfortunately is what gets delivered. Sure there is sex, debauchery and all sorts of depravity, specifically from our lead character Max Wolfe (Thomas Dougherty), but it’s a bit…. boring. It’s a bit been there done that when we wanted to see something new.
In the re-boot we see the voice of Gossip Girl come from the teachers at Constance. Terrified of losing their jobs they re-launch the dead website to keep the student body in line. Kind of a bummer when you find out who Gossip Girl is in the first fifteen minutes, but I guess that’s not really the point of the series. Kristen Bell's voice is back as the internet stalking sleuth, this time using Instagram to extend her influence and following the new elite at Constance.
Wish this was better, will still watch. “Gossip Girl” Re-Boot is streaming all 10-Episodes on HBO Max.
Series Grade: 5.5/10
And that’s the sitch.
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