Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl’soriginal pilot was salutary enough to engender a phenomenon , while the reboot ’s first sequence conflict to make audience investment - but why is this the case ? Years after the original serial aired its coda in 2012 , HBO Max resolve to repair the show for a new generation . The doubtfulness ofwhetherGossip Girl’srevival would be a reboot or a sequelhung over the show , the pilot ’s recall to original series characters making the case for its classification as more of a sequel .
The originalGossip Girlfocused on the rivalry between Blair ( Leighton Meester ) and Serena ( Blake Lively ) , with the introduction onto the scene of inadequate foreigner Dan ( Penn Badgely ) shaking up the institute dynamic among the loaded bookman of Constance Billard St. Jude ’s school . The finale uncover that Dan is the titular Gossip Girl , the anon. front voice by Krysten Bell that guided outcome behind the tantrum . The reboot keeps Gossip Girl ’s presence but changes the driving effect behind its activities . The instructor are now behind the online inciter , frustrated at their lack of power over their flush and more influential students . Despite knowing from the offset who is in control of Gossip Girl , Krysten Bell return to narrate the reboot .
Related : Gossip Girl Reboot Retcons The Original Show ’s Final Scene
The original pilot set up the relationship between Blair and Serena straight off . Serena ’s mysterious disappearance led to Blair feeling abandon , on top of which , it is revealed that Serena is blight by guilt as a result of having slept with Blair ’s boyfriend before she get out town . The betrayal is cleared . The reboot replaces them with reunite half - sisters Julien and Zoya , who begin the episode as close friends delighted to be attending the same school . The primary cause of the break - up of their friendly relationship is Zoya learning that Julien ante up for the scholarship Zoya thought she had earned on her own . This is already a soft instigator for a feud and given that Zoya knows full well what kind of family Julien total from , Zoya ’s ire makes her seem uninitiate rather than morally upstanding . Their relationship miss themeanness that made the originalGossip Girlfamousfor its savage one - liners and treacherous characters .
The original pilot also had a clear scoundrel in the form of Chuck Bass , who twice attempted intimate assault before the end of the installment . His mortification at the hands of Dan establish Dan ’s good bozo role while fuel their mutual hatred that would motor many upcoming storylines . The reboot miss such clearly distinct good and evil . By being Gossip Girl , the teacher are doing illegal and virtuously compromise natural action , but looker are still meant to have a certain amount of empathy for them . Despite Julian ’s existence as a productive social media influencer that could easily inspire hatred , her activity are not disconfirming enough to be hateable . This muddies the show ’s stakes while weakening consultation engagement and stifling any narrative impulse .
Finally , the reboot ’s first episode lacks the mystery that permeate the original . Cramming as manycameos and address to originalGossip Girlcharactersonly remind the interview of already completed storyline , making the reboot feel like an extended epilogue . The original pilot brought up a series of compelling questions : Where has Serena been ? Why is her chum in a psychiatric institution ? What happened between Dan ’s sire and Serena ’s mother ? The reboot puts all the info about the new characters on the table . looker know exactly how Julien and Zoya originally met , the other students are not cover anything particularly salacious , and there is no shocking secret past tense between any of the grownup . The reboot lack all the nastiness and luridness that spawned the caption “ Every Parent ’s incubus ” underneath the originalGossip Girl’sbillboards .
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