FANS of the original Gossip Girl had to wait six seasons to find out the identity of the anonymous blogger, but viewers of the reboot had to wait just part of one episode.
The new HBO Max iteration of the iconic teen drama revealed who is behind the Gossip Girl Instagram account in the premiere on Thursday.
WARNING Contains spoilers from Gossip Girl (2021) episode 1
While the CW series revealed the blogger to be outsider-turned-insider Dan Humphrey, the new hidden poster was found to be not part of the in crowd at all.
The teachers at Constance Billard and St. Jude’s, which are now combined, banded together after having had enough of the ridicule and threats to their jobs at the hands of their students.
After hearing about the old Gossip Girl blog from their co-worker Rebecca Sherman, who used to attend the school at the same time as original characters Blair, Serena, Dan, Nate, and Chuck, they decided to bring her back from the dead.
Rebecca told her co-workers, after one of them said Nate was an esteemed alumni: “It’s not like Nate Archibald was such a saint when we started.
“When I was a student, we lived under constant threat. People like Nate were scared straight.”
She went on to spill all about the old GG website, with all of the teachers eventually crowding around their lounge and devouring every last drama-filled post.
Wanting to teach the kids a lesson, the pack of educators, led by Kate Keller (played by former fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson), decided to pick up where the anonymous insider had left off.
This time, they figured a social media platform would be the best way to get these 2021 teens’ attention – first trying Twitter, to absolute no luck, and then landing on Instagram.
At first the new in crowd of Manhattan’s elite pays the Instagram no mind, despite being tagged in posts, but eventually they’re forced to pay attention once secrets are spilled and rumors are shared.
Fans weren’t too happy with the shocking twist of Gossip Girl’s identity – which is not just one but a whole group of adults.
They blasted these teachers for not knowing any better than the teens and coming after the minors with “stalking” and others “gross” behaviors.
One of the worst actions, according to fans, was the moment one teacher stood outside in the rain and took photos of two teens undressing through an apartment window.
“Them predatory a** teachers taking pics of teenagers while undressing irk me the f*** out #GossipGirl,” one grossed-out fan wrote.
Another said: “Not the teachers being messy and creating gossip girl that’s so whack what the hell #GossipGirl.”
Others said “these teachers are sick in the head” and that they’re “disappointed” by the new twist, though they’re at least happy to hear Kristen Bell’s voice again as the Gossip girl narrator.
The new show’s cast also includes Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zion Moreno, Whitney Peak, and Savannah Lee Smith
With a weekly release schedule, episode 2 of the Gossip Girl reboot comes out on HBO Max on Thursday, July 15.
