I Attempted To Watch The Gossip Girl Reboot So You Didn’t Have To

What can I say about the television show Gossip Girl that hasn't already been said? It was lavishly fashionable, over-the-top, mean, and sometimes bitchy, rich teenagers, ruling the Upper East Side and it was entertaining. The new reboot, however, is the furthest from entertaining.

I was extremely disheartened to hear they were making a reboot barely 10 years after the initial show ended. While the show wasn't the best written, it was a guilty pleasure for a lot of us watching it. Something to watch for entertainment purposes and to enjoy watching spoiled rich kids fight against each other and then makeup within a few episodes!

Hollywood has always thought making reboots was a lucrative idea to bring more money to an already established show or movie, but sometimes they miss the mark and do it too soon. In this case, the reboot of Gossip Girl is too soon and should've never happened.

The show has barely been off the air for 10 years and to come up with the idea to reboot was not a smart idea. What would've been smart was to re-introduce the show to a newer and younger audience through some kind of anniversary with unreleased footage of the behind-the-scenes.

Using social media to ignite renewed coverage for the show. Or maybe I'm just the wrong audience for this show as it's clearly targeting teenagers. However, I can still watch shows with a focus on a younger audience without feeling like they're trying too hard to be interesting and diverse. 

But here we are. Initially, I wasn't going to watch the new series but decided why not make an article out of it. And while watching it, I realized how big of a mistake this was.

The show "Gossip girl reboot" in my eyes is unwatchable!

Unfortunately, this will be my shortest review ever but here it goes. Gossip Girl 2021 reboot, sequel, whatever they want to call it, is unwatchable because it is boring. That's right I said it, absolutely boring. 

None of the characters were interesting enough for me to sit through six, 59-minute episodes to write a full review. Yes, it was a diverse cast, and yes, they were setting up a rarely explored storyline of a non-monogamous relationship between three people, but it wasn't enough to keep me invested.

It was lacking something new and fresh. It presented itself as a Gen-Z type of show - which it was - but lacked the soapiness and finesse that the original was known for. If they had done a show that wasn't an almost copy of the original and tried something different maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. But they literally presented us a bi-version of Chuck and a mixture of Jenny/Dan for the "poorer" female lead.

My other gripe with the show is how none of the characters actually seemed to like each other. One of the main leads supposed friendship with some of the girls comes off as disingenuous as if their only friends for the sake of being friends.

While Blair & Serena were famously BFF/frenemies, once they got over their petty jealous squabbles were actually good friends. The relationship matured as they grew up over the years and it showed. There were so many little moments as the series went on, where you were truly rooting for their friendship and the lengths both would go to make sure the other person was always okay. 

In regards to the storyline, I didn't like that we knew from the start who was the new Gossip Girl 2.0. Even though they brought back Kristen Bell to voice the part, it fell a bit flat at times. Like it was trying to retain the character flare that didn't quite hit the punch.

Gossip Girl is supposed to be a feared character who knows all the inner workings of the rich elite, but this new version lacks those insights. The last flaw I will mention is the acting. I'm not sure if any of the actors are new faces to the screen or not, but it felt too forced at times with their emotions.

For example, in scenes where the audience is supposed to feel bad for the characters, it doesn't come through because it's noticeable that the actor is trying to invoke an emotion out of me that's not there. And it makes watching those few episodes that much more of a torture fest.

Whether you decide to bite the bullet and watch the reboot for yourself, just proceed to watch it with no expectations. Maybe it'll make it easier to get through the episodes if you have zero hopes in the show.