There I was minding my own business, scrolling through the channels on T.V, yes, I still have cable and rather enjoy it because I low-key struggle with hi-tech devices like smart t.v’s.
Imagine my surprise when I saw an ad for “Gossip Girl” on HBO and to check my local listings. I did not check my local listing as I wasn’t about to pay extra for HBO, but went on my trusted, Bootleg Movie website. I searched the keyword “Gossip Girl” and saw “Gossip Girl 2021” and immediately my interest was piqued.
I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
The show opens with a girl sending photos to her friends to “approve” outfits before going to school. As we skip a few scenes and see a few characters we know nothing about yet (nor do we care ) we make it to school scene. Constance is a private school in Manhattan, where super wealthy and privileged kids go everyday to do everything but learn (since they are already rich). The iconic “Met Steps” is the school’s common area, where the status quo and the senior and popular kids reign supreme. We are soon introduced to the core group of friends namely:
Jordan Alexander plays Julien Calloway, a teen influencer, according to Cosmopolitan. The Canadian actress and singer’s credits include the TV series Sacred Lies and Unbury the Biscuit. Skater and model Evan Mock plays Akeno “Aki” Menzies, marking his first acting role. (We’ve already seen him wielding a skateboard on set.) Aki has been dating Audrey (more on her below) for “ages.” Savannah Smith plays Monet de Haan. A student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Smith marks her first booking with the Gossip Girl role. She and Zión Moreno play “Greek-chorus-type roles but are still fully fleshed-out characters with inner lives of their own,” according to Cosmopolitan.Whitney Peak plays Zoya Lott, who’s like the Dan Humphrey of the group, acting as a “relatable-ish tour guide” into the flashy world of the Upper East Side, Cosmopolitan reported. Peak previously played Judith Blackwood in several episodes of part three of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The 17-year-old was born in Uganda and has had small roles in the Academy Award–nominated film Molly’s Game and the CW’s iZombie.Eli Brown plays Otto “Obie” Bergmann IV, a “rich do-gooder and German import.” Brown is best known for playing Dylan Walker on Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. The actor had two 2020 films, The F**k-It List and Run Hide Fight, and is also a singer-songwriter. Thomas Doherty plays Max Wolfe. You might recognize the singer and actor from Disney’s Descendants 2, HBO’s Catherine the Great, or Hulu’s High Fidelity. When asked by Cosmopolitan whether “libertine” Max makes out with boys, Doherty responded, “Yes, I do get naked, and yes, I do indulge.Zión Moreno plays Luna La. With a credit on TNT’s Claws, Moreno began her career as a model when she was 19 years old before diving into acting.
A Teacher then runs out after being fired on the first day because she gave a student a bad grade. The other teachers who look as young as the parents, are outraged about this and remembers a time when Constance produced great students like Nate Archibald, which was a lie since we all know Nate was the lowest on the totem pole as it relates to intelligence and he actually went to Jude School for Boys (Yes I caught that, they were trying to be slick).
The teachers then go to the Teachers lounge and start plotting their revenge and an un-important teacher who was a past student, remembers the “Gossip Girl” Blog and how it was the source of exposing the secrets of all the students and how they would have to do something clever. There is a teacher who moonlights as an aspiring writer (Ms Keller) who decides she will become the voice of Gossip Girl. Thing is Blogs are apparently “dead” (hold my Blog) and instead, they start an Instagram Account type-situation. We then hear the iconic voice of Kristin Bell back as “Gossip Girl”, then we hear “Positions” by Ariana Grande which sets the tone and builds the drama for everything to come. I don’t know about anybody else, but hearing Kristin Bell’s voice brought back a sense of nostalgia and allowed me to forget just how bad everything was thus far and started to have hope for the show.
The characters are a diverse mix of the previous characters as there is a little bit of several characters in one person, so it’s hard to say who is a “Dan” or a “Serena” and so on. Zoya for example is the new kid and is a mix of Dan, Jenny and even Blair, since she is a new freshman who came from Buffalo, and is clearly the outsider but wore a headband (like Blair) on the first day. She is the half sister of Julien who’s mother ran out on her famous DJ Father to live a normal life in Buffalo. The girls have been in contact with each other for 2 years without their fathers knowing and decide to meet at Constance. Zoya gets in on a scholarship (or did she) and was immediately painted as the lesser version of her sister but we soon find out they actually like each other. We are introduced to a weird love triangle with Aki , Audry and Max . It has been established that Aki and Audry are in a monogamous, long-term relationship but they both seem intrigued by Max who is painted as queer of the group and is more of the “Chuck Bass” character. Obie and Julien break-up in the first episode which seems rushed, but creates a story line for him and Zoya to develop which seems cliche’ but I think they might find a way to make it interesting. I think Obie’s character is rather boring and pretentious and I would definitely like to see more from him in the episodes to come.
I find the Teachers spying on and playing with the lives of these children as creepy; in the original version, though the characters knew that were rich and had power, they still respected their teachers and used them as chess pieces as needs be. These new characters and the teachers seem to exist on the same parallel and I find the teacher story line quite odd. The main teacher seems to be quite mysterious and we need to learn more about her disdain for these students. Could she have been a casualty of the old characters or is it just all an act and she is possibly undercover to write a book? Or is the she sister or cousin to one of the guest characters from the Original cast?
Fashion + Styling
Eric Daman is back as the official Costume Designer for the Reboot, and yes, this is the same person who styled the characters in Sex and the City. It is said they were going for a young, trendy, Fashion-forward look with items from Balenciaga, Fendi, JW Anderson and Louis Vuitton but I did not like the looks and found the styling quite dark.
Clothing is used as a non-verbal way to express the character’s personalities and gave viewers an inside into “Manhattan’s Elite”, especially if you are not from that world, it gave an insight on how these people actually dress. Blair and Serena were styled as the Preppy + Sex Kitten persona’s and those outfits worked and there were several memorable looks that made you feel like you wanted to go out to find the items to make you dress and feel like the character/s you identified with the most. These girls looked regular and somewhat trashy and the way they were styled just did not make sense. The main character Julien was styled in Biker shorts, thigh-high boots and the school shirt and tie, which made her look somewhat tacky. She is tall and has long gorgeous legs and would have better been suited in the school uniform (skirt, shirt and tie then add the boots), this would have cemented her as the “Queen Bee” who is a bit edgy. It looked as if she rolled out of bed and called it a day. I find that the lighting + styling was very dark! There was a Fashion show in the first episode where Julien was one of the models in the show. The final dress she wore was by Christopher John Rogers, but it was literally just a dress! The looks were not styled and there was no pizzaz or any thought that really went into the looks.
So far, the only character’s looks I like is Monet De Haan who embodies a classy, sophisticated, rich and trendy teenager in 2021. Her looks are age-appropriate and I like that her they were actually “styled”, rather than looks just worn as they are. She is also giving major “Blair” vibes with her Alpha-female energy and the way she was able to scheme her way to almost drive a wedge between Zoya and Julien. She is definitely a character to watch out for as I feel she is more of a “flat” character currently and has a lot of potential to be more rounded as the season goes on.
I will be watching the series in it’s entirety to see how I like the Plot, Characters, Outfits and everything else in between and might share my update, as I really do hope things get better!
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
#I watched the Gossip Girl Reboot so You DIDN’T have to
