Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Gossip Girl premiere.
The Gossip Girl reboot avoided the story trap that the original series suffered from: the secret identity of the anonymous blogger. The Gossip Girl reboot's premiere features a plot twist that revealed the identity, whereas the original strung that story out, creating narrative problems for the writers in later seasons. Though it's a twist that marks an immediate narrative departure from the premise established by the original, there's no risk of severing a foundational thematic connection between the two series. In fact, the revelation actually works in the HBO Max reboot's favor.
In the original Gossip Girl series, the eponymous blogger was an internet persona who anonymously and tactfully revealed the secrets and scandals of the Upper East Side's elite, focusing specifically on the teenagers at the Constance Billard and St. Jude's private schools. Other than Kristen Bell's narration (which returns in the reboot), there were no clues or identifiable characteristics to Gossip Girl that afforded the character — or the audience — opportunities to theorize who was really behind the blog. In the series' final episode, of course, it was revealed that Dan Humphrey was actually Gossip Girl the entire time.
The Gossip Girl reboot does the opposite and immediately reveals that it's a group of Constance Billard teachers behind the internet persona — this time on Instagram — thereby avoiding the story trap of predictability and implausibility that hurt the original series. In doing so, the HBO Max reboot rejects Gossip Girl's formulaic anonymity, which was key to the original series. Rather than the blog being an all-knowing yet untouchable force to be reckoned with once again, the new series introduces human characters with concrete, though arguably problematic, motivations for taking on Gossip Girl's identity. The stakes, as a result, are much higher for everyone in the show, which ultimately opens up potentially fresher and more realistic narratives for the series to explore.
Indeed, "Gossip Girl" felt more like a plot device in the original series, inserted into the narrative whenever conflict was needed, rather than a complex character with a clear motive against the main characters. This resulted in unrealistic storylines as the series progressed. When, for instance, Serena, Dan, Blair, Chuck, and Nate all graduated from private school and entered different colleges, it wasn't made explicit why or how Gossip Girl was able to report on their scandals across multiple locations. The reboot, on the other hand, retcons the original show's final scene and introduces Gossip Girl as a personal antagonist for the new students. By revealing that the teachers are the creators of the anonymous Instagram account, Gossip Girl is no longer a specter looming over everyone's personal lives. Instead, the scandalous posts are clearly understood as a concrete means to an end for a collective of disgruntled and undervalued individuals who are trying to regain respect and control. This, for the audience, grounds the reboot in authenticity that the original was sometimes lacking.
In essence, revealing who Gossip Girl is right from the start affords the reboot the luxury of being able to actually show what it's like — what it takes, emotionally and mentally — to be Gossip Girl. The new series can start laying the groundwork for Gossip Girl to return as an actual character. Yes, Dan was revealed to be Gossip Girl in the original because he wanted to write himself into Serena's life, but that conclusion didn't feel established or earned. In the reboot, however, the stakes are made immediately clear and, as such, become that much higher. Kate, for instance, was steadfast in her desire to use Gossip Girl as a way of keeping her privileged students in check. And yet, she was surprised and genuinely moved when, at the end of the episode, Julien compliments, rather than insults, her outfit. There's a suggestion of internal conflict here, which effectively paves the way for the reboot to explore more intimate conflicts down the line. Ultimately, the Gossip Girl reboot shows signs that it has learned from the original series' mistakes.