Initial Thoughts on the New Gossip Girl Reboot (From a Fan of the Original Series)

 

I was a huge fan of the original Gossip Girl. When it first came out in 2007, I was too young to watch, but by the final season I was watching every week on the CW. The first episode of the new Gossip Girl premiered last week on HBOMax and I thought I'd give my first impressions. There are spoilers below, so read at your own risk!

What I Liked

1. They Told Us Who Gossip Girl is in the First Episode

The downfall of the original series was making Dan Gossip Girl. There were so many loopholes to that plot point that it felt like the show writers never thought the show through and decided on Dan as they were writing season 6. I like that they tell us who Gossip Girl is in the first episode so we're not set up for disappointment later. It was also meta in an interesting way seeing the teachers reference the old Gossip Girl archives for inspiration. 

2. Diversity and Inclusivity 

At its core, Gossip Girl has been and always be about the lives of the ultra-rich. Unlike the original series the reboot has cast people of color in major roles and has also given glimpses into sexual exploration outside of heteronormative relationships. 

3. The Main Characters Don't Seem Like Copies of the Originals

While I was watching the first episode, I was trying to figure out who was the Blair, the Serena, the Dan. While there are some characters that share traits with the original, a bad boy that is Chuck-esque, the blonde that could maybe be a Serena, the leader of the pack that is a Blair, none of the characters felt like carbon copies of the originals. There were different nuances to these new characters and I'm excited to see if they end up being more well-rounded characters than the originals. 

What I Disliked

1. The Ages of the Characters 

This is mainly in regards to Tavi Gevinson looking extremely young for a high school teacher and some of the high school cast (mainly the men) looking older than they should. It felt realistic that younger teachers would want to insert themselves into the lives of their students in a way that perhaps older teachers couldn't, but my boyfriend couldn't stop commenting on how some people look way older than their characters or how Tavi looks like she could be a high schooler herself. 

2. The Bullying and Creeping 

The cyber-bullying students to get them to fall in line seems like a dated concept to me. It does not feel like something that could remotely happen in 2021 and thoroughly disturbed me. I also didn't like that the teacher was taking pictures of two underaged minors undressing. That is very much child pornography that was then distributed on a public platform. I understand that it is not real and it's a show, but one of the best parts of the original was that it was peers sending in pictures and Gossip Girl felt more like a Page Six than cyberbullying. 

3. The Characters Are Less Compelling 

The first episode as a whole just felt weaker than the first episode of the original series. None of the high schoolers felt relatable or likeable and the teachers were even worse. I wasn't drawn in to the series in the way that I thought I would be. If I wasn't so in love with the original series I would not have watched the whole episode all the way through. With such strong shows available on streaming platforms, this just missed the mark completely. 

Final Thoughts

I will continue watching for a few more episodes to give it a fair chance, but if this show did not have the legacy of Gossip Girl behind it, I wouldn't watch it at all. I cannot see myself re-watching this first episode ever, which is a shame because I love re-watching old Gossip Girl episodes while doing chores. 

Let me know your thoughts on the new Gossip Girl in the comments and if you're going to keep watching the rest of the series.