• Video
  • Shop
  • Culture
  • Family
  • Wellness
  • Food
  • Living
  • Style
  • Travel
  • News
  • Book Club
  • GMA3: WYNTK
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Contact Us
  • © 2025 ABC News
  • Culture

'Gossip Girl' review: Old magic isn't back yet but there are flashes of hope

2:11
‘Gossip Girl’ reboot coming to HBO Max
HBO Max
Peter Travers.
ByPeter Travers
July 09, 2021, 8:00 AM

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away -- 2007 to 2012 -- the CW's "Gossip Girl" spun a deliciously addictive peek into white, teen privilege on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Now we have a reboot, starting this week for 10 episodes on HBO Max, where the sex is more LGBTQ, the skin colors more diverse and the social satire more woke.

The old magic isn't back. Not yet. But there are flashes in the first four hours provided to critics. Look, it took a minute for the original "Gossip Girl" to hit its stride before Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) became icons of wealth porn and New York magazine declared the series the greatest teen drama of all time.

Evan Mock, Thomas Doherty, Emily Alyn Lind, Eli Brown, Jordan Alexander, Savannah Smith, Zion Moreno appear in season one of the HBO Max series, "Gossip Girl."
HBO Max

Joshua Safron, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage -- the team behind the CW series -- have reupped. But not the original cast, having presumably aged into cultural oblivion. Post-pandemic, a fresh class of high schoolers are closeup-ready at the elite environs of Constance Billard and St. Jude's, where education remains an afterthought.

Related Articles

MORE: 'Cruella' review: Emma Stone and Emma Thompson deliver much to enjoy in this beautifully crafted fluffball

Happily, Kristen Bell does come home as the voice of Gossip Girl, whose identity previously stayed secret in the manner of Lady Whistledown on "Bridgerton." We learn who GG is right away on the next-gen version, though HBO Max insists we stay mute. Silly, but OK fine.

Download the all new "Popcorn With Peter Travers" podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Tunein, Google Play Music and Stitcher.

The feud between Serena and Blair has been replaced with a frenemy duel between two stepsisters -- mixed-race influencer Julien Calloway (breakout star Jordan Alexander), the daughter of a record producer (Luke Kirby) whose fame helps her rule the school, and her Black half-sister Zoya (sweet Whitney Peak) a struggling transfer student from -- yikes -- Buffalo.

Though Julien, a junior, and Zoya, a freshman, pretend to be strangers, they have previously bonded over having the same dead mother. The mean girls determined to tear them apart get a boost when Julien's boyfriend, Obie (Eli Brown), decides civics-mined Zoya is more his speed.

With one exception, the boys are humdrum. Not just Obie but Oki (Evan Mock), the pink-haired lover of Audrey (Emily Alyn Lind), who learns she is hot for same guy as Oki. Enter Thomas Doherty, the show's livewire. As Max Wolfe, a sexually fluid party boy with two dads, Doherty oozes a pansexual danger that rivals Chuck Bass, minus the vile rape-culture vibes.

Jordan Alexander, Thomas Doherty, Evan Mock and Emily Alyn Lind appear in a scene from the first season of the HBO Max series, "Gossip Girl," in 2021.
HBO Max

If it worries you that these under-18 characters swill martinis, snort cocaine, indulge in threeways and seduce their teachers, take comfort that -- just like in the original -- they are all played by actors in their mid-20s or older.

It's comically ironic that fashion blogger turned actress-activist Tavi Gevinson, 25, has been cast as Kate Keller, a teacher, who leads her fellow educators in a revolt against controlling students who ignore or troll them. "We're supposed to send them out of here as Barack Obamas instead of Brett Kavanaughs," she says. Good luck with that.

Related Articles

MORE: Review: 'F9: The Fast Saga' is the biggest, baddest popcorn movie of the summer

In "Gossip Girl" 2.0, Twitter is termed "a glorified chatroom for meme-sharing, conspiracy theorists and Lin-Manuel Miranda." Burn. Instagram is their preferred form of getting their social knives out. And when they do, the series is wicked fun and compulsively watchable.

This new version stumbles by pushing its characters to feel bad about feeling good. Talk about a buzzkill. A guilty conscience is no substitute for a guilty pleasure. Will the series overcome its growing pains? Gossip Girl says it best: "It may take some time. It may hurt a bit. But I know you love me." As usual, she's right. Xoxo.

Up Next in Culture—

Jon Bernthal reported to join Tom Holland in upcoming 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'

June 21, 2025

Prince William turns 43! Royal family shares sweet tributes and family photo with the puppies

June 21, 2025

Fat Joe accused of sex trafficking, fraud in new lawsuit

June 20, 2025

'Bridgerton' season 4 marks end of production

June 20, 2025

Shop GMA Favorites

ABC will receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Sponsored Content by Taboola

The latest lifestyle and entertainment news and inspiration for how to live your best life - all from Good Morning America.
  • Contests
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Children’s Online Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • About Nielsen Measurement
  • Press
  • Feedback
  • Shop FAQs
  • ABC News
  • ABC
  • All Videos
  • All Topics
  • Sitemap

© 2025 ABC News
  • Privacy Policy— 
  • Your US State Privacy Rights— 
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy— 
  • Interest-Based Ads— 
  • Terms of Use— 
  • Do Not Sell My Info— 
  • Contact Us— 

© 2025 ABC News