Sorry, Upper East Siders, but Season 2 of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot will be its last. Continuing a troubling trend, Gossip Girl is the latest show on the platform to get the ax, but in this case, its cancelation is not completely unwarranted.
Gossip Girl showrunner Joshua Safran shared the news on Twitter last week, also stating that they were looking for a new home for the show. This isn't totally unheard of, as Minx, another HBO Max original, was recently canceled but subsequently picked up by Starz, but it doesn’t seem likely. The Gossip Girl reboot tried to do entirely too much while somehow managing to commit the biggest faux pas a teen drama can make: being boring.
Where the 'Gossip Girl' Reboot Went Wrong
The CW’s original Gossip Girl, which ran from 2007-2012, was hardly the pinnacle of television either, but the reboot seems to fundamentally misunderstand what made it so entertaining, which particularly baffling given that Safran also worked on the original. There are a few positives of course: a diverse cast of characters, well-placed (and expensive) needle drops from Frank Ocean to Beyoncé, costuming that is generally reflective of current trends, clever episode titles in the style of the original, and Kristen Bell returning as the narrating voice of Gossip Girl. But the show's considerable budget cannot make up for its rehashed plot lines, cringe-worthy "Gen Z" dialogue, and half-hearted attempts at addressing social issues that make Gossip Girl a tedious watch.
Gossip Girl also makes the mistake of focusing too much on Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander) at the expense of its other characters, namely Monet de Haan (Savannah Smith) and Luna La (Zion Moreno). Julien goes from a wishy-washy influencer in season one to a borderline antagonist in Season 2, finding new and creative ways to sabotage her friends' lives and relationships and then wondering why they don't want to be friends with her anymore. It's tiring to watch Julien use and betray her younger half-sister Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak), see Zoya forgive her, and watch the cycle repeat itself. The relationship between Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind), Aki Menzies (Evan Mock), and Max Wolfe (Thomas Doherty) follows a similar pattern. Once Audrey and Aki decide to expand their relationship into a throuple with Max, Audrey and Aki's insecurities about taking their unconventional relationship public totally bogs down their storyline.
Teen dramas aren't usually known for their high-quality performances, but the acting in Gossip Girl is especially egregious. There are a few exceptions, like Savannah Smith as queen bee Monet and Thomas Doherty's vague Chuck Bass impression in his portrayal of Max, but the majority of the cast deliver rather wooden performances. The de Haan family as a whole is composed of some of the stronger actors, with Amanda Warren and Rick Worthy commanding attention as Monet's ruthless parents Camille and Greyson de Haan. Focusing on Monet (and even her sidekick Luna) rather than Julien would have made for a much more compelling watch, as she channels Blair Waldorf, one of the most entertaining characters of the original Gossip Girl.
The Reboot Eliminated the Mystery of Gossip Girl
What made the original concept of Gossip Girl interesting is that her true identity was never revealed until the show’s finale after six seasons of buildup. Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) being behind Gossip Girl all along not making sense is a topic that has been discussed to death, but the element of mystery was removed from the reboot entirely. This time, as it's revealed in the pilot, a group of teachers at Constance Billard create the Instagram account Gossip Girl under the guise of holding students and their parents accountable for their behavior. This eliminates the sense of mystery from the show because instead of theorizing over GG's true identity, viewers are left to wonder when the teachers behind GG will finally be exposed, especially since they don't do a great job of hiding it. It also makes the teachers, particularly Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson), who gets carried away with the power she wields running GG, seem like sociopaths. They stalk their students, publish details from their relationships and sex lives, and find increasingly absurd ways to wind up at the events their wealthy students attend where some of the most public drama unfolds.
Though the second season was generally more compelling, its penultimate episode encapsulates some of the show's most glaring problems. Zoya's dad all of a sudden has enough money to open his own law firm, Julien uses Zoya and betrays Audrey and her boyfriends, Kate becomes even more power hungry, and a comical "showdown" takes place where Julien, using wireless headphones, listens in on a phone call between Camille and Gossip Girl (Kate with her voice disguised) as the three of them stand roughly within earshot of each other. The episode ends with a line that’s almost too on the nose considering its cancelation, with Zoya declaring, “Let’s kill Gossip Girl.”
It's debatable whether HBO Max's Gossip Girl even falls into the "so bad it's good" category, but it's always a shame to see a show get prematurely canceled so early in its tenure.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Gossip Girl are available to stream on HBO Max.