Gossip Girl on HBO Max follows a new generation of Upper East Side teenagers attending the infamous elite school Constance Billard. Sadly, there’s no Blair (played by Leighton Meester), Serena (Blake Lively), Chuck (Ed Westwick), Dan (Penn Badgley), or Nate (Chace Crawford), but not much has changed in the world of Gossip Girl in nine years. Gossip Girl still exists, this time in the form of teacher Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson) and she is now all over social media, instead of a blog website.
Meet the new generation of Gossip Girl’s victims: Queen Bee Julien (Jordan Alexander) and her boyfriend Obie (Eli Brown), Chuck Bass reincarnated Max Wolfe (Thomas Doherty), Blair Waldorf 2.0 Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind), and her skater boyfriend Aki (Evan Mock), and of course Julien’s minions Luna (Zión Moreno) and Monet (Savannah Smith).
Zoya (Whitney Peak) is the new girl at Constance Billard and the half-sister of Julien.
Thankfully showrunner Joshua Safran, who was a writer and executive producer on the original series, has not hidden away from the original series and has very cleverly included references to the main series from name drops, to costume and location. Newsweek has a full list of the Easter Eggs hidden in the reboot.
All of the Original ‘Gossip Girl’ Easter Eggs Hidden in the Reboot
Episode 1— “Just Another Girl on the MTA”
The first episode introduces viewers to the new world of Gossip Girl.
Much of the drama surrounds Queen Bee Julien, who is channeling some serious Serena van der Woodsen vibes, and her half-sister Zoya (Jenny Humphries with less emo). You can read the full recap of episode one here.
Those of us in our mid-twenties may have been hesitant to get on board with the reboot version. We remember a time pre and post-Gossip Girl world and one thing is for sure, Gossip Girl was a pop culture reset back in the 2000s. Need not worry, within the first few minutes the references to the original world of Gossip Girl were everywhere to be seen.
1. Shout out to Dan and Nate
Six minutes into the first episode, we get our first nod to the original cast and a little update on where Mr. Gossip Girl is himself. Dan Humphrey isn’t Gossip Girl anymore, he actually made it as a successful author. Go, Dan!
There’s a quick reference to the students who have gone on to greater things since leaving Constance including Nate Archibald. Apparently, he was a distinguished student—are we forgetting he was arrested at least three times?
2. Rebecca Sherman
Who is Rebecca Sherman? Well, it turns out the Constance Billard teacher is a former pupil, who was in the class of ’09 meaning, she went to school with Dan, Nate, Chuck, Serena, and Blair. Small world.
Rebecca (Sarah Baskin) was the woman who sparked the revival of Gossip Girl by sharing her experience with her colleagues.
She said: “When I was a student, we lived under constant threat. People like Nate were scared straight. It was this thing that started in Freshman year, called itself Gossip Girl. Kind of like an Orwellian big sister. Kept tabs on students it deemed important.
“If she knew your secrets and she always did she told them. She kept us all accountable. Everyone thought it was me but it was actually one of my classmates— Dan Humphrey.”
Rebecca did not appear in Gossip Girl but her name was mentioned in the season 2 finale of Gossip Girl, which aired in 2009.
The episode sees the rich teens graduating from high school and trying to figure out Gossip Girl’s true identity.
3. The Met Steps
Once again, the rich kids gather on the steps of The Met for lunch, just like the OGs.
4. The Fashion
There is a lot to unpack about the fashion in the first episode.
First of all, teacher Kate Keller is wearing an outfit very similar to the one Serena van der Woodsen wore in the show’s pilot episode, neck scarf included.
Kate’s outfit is a nod to the passage of time and the generational gap between her and the Gen Z students. Kate would probably be the same as Serena now, making all of us original fans feel a little old.
The first episode also features shout-outs to brands that featured in the original series such as Alice + Olivia and Zara.
Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max
5. The Headbands
Apparently, headbands are no longer a thing in this new Gossip Girl.
Queen Bee, Blair Waldorf wore her headbands with pride when she was a student at Constance Billard. It quickly became her iconic look and a trend worldwide.
However, the new Queen of Constance Billard is anti-headband and even removes Zoya’s from her head, refashioning it as a scarf.
At the after-party, Chuck shows Blair a blurry Facebook profile with the name Rebecca Sherman and a photo of a brown-haired girl wearing a beret.
Blair shuts down Chuck’s suggestion exclaiming: “No, her head’s always in a book. She doesn’t have time to be posting all the time.”
At the end of the episode, Eric van der Woodsen’s (Connor Paolo) boyfriend Jonathan (Matt Doyle) is accused of being Gossip Girl.
6. The Martinis
Blair and Serena’s favorite drink in the original series was a martini, which the new cast cannot seem to get enough of, despite being underage.
In the first episode of Gossip Girl, Blair and Serena make up over martinis after Serena abandoned Blair at Constance to go to boarding school.
In the Gossip Girl reboot, Julien invites Zoya out in New York for the first time and offers her a martini.
Episode 2—”She’s Having a Maybe”
Zoya and Julien are at war at the beginning of episode two. Julien and Obie have broken up, Obie is pretty much in love with Zoya, and Julien and Zoya’s dad still hate each other. What else? Max and Aki kissed and Aki liked it… but then Max slept with Aki’s girlfriend Audrey. Gossip Girl got canceled and verified again and Julien actually might be a nice person. There is a lot to unpack, read the full recap here.
There aren’t too many Easter Eggs in this episode but there is one right at the very beginning. In the episode, we have a very niche and loose Gossip Girl reference but it 100% matters.
1. Alec Baldwin
There is a shout-out to award-winning actor Alec Baldwin. One of his children apparently attends Constance Billard, the “Last time Alec Baldwin confiscated my phone, I never got it back” cries one of the teachers at the parent-teacher evening.
Alec Baldwin did not appear in the first series of Gossip Girl but his brother William Baldwin did. He played Dr. William van der Woodsen, the absent father of Serena and Eric van der Woodsen in the third and fourth seasons of Gossip Girl.
Eugene Gologursky/WireImage
2. DUMBO
DUMBO is back. Originally portrayed as the poorer area of New York in the series, which is ridiculous, the spot is now where the characters hang out.
In the second episode, Zoya opens her phone to an Instagram Story post of Max “Deep in DUMBO” having drinks, and sadly she “wasn’t invited to the party.”
The show’s richest character Obie Bergmann also lives in DUMBO, compared to Jenny and Dan Humphrey who were seen as the poorer kids at school.
Speaking to Town & Country Mag, showrunner Joshua Safran commented on use of DUMBO in the new series. He said: “In the original, Dan was the poor kid and he lived in Brooklyn, which was ridiculous then, of course…. And now the richest character of our show lives in Dumbo.”
Gossip Girl airs Thursdays on HBO Max.
All of the Original ‘Gossip Girl’ Easter Eggs Hidden in the Reboot
Source: Gwapo Pinoys PH
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