Gossip Woman reuses outdated tropes, affords nothing new for the sequence – THE MERCURY

Welcome again Higher East Siders. It’s that point of yr once more when a drained TV present tries to redeem itself with a reboot. You guessed it, it’s Season 2 of the brand new “Gossip Woman.”

The second season appears to reuse “Gossip Woman’s” outdated tropes somewhat than adapt them for Gen Z viewers, like the primary season of the reboot. Specializing in the unique qualities that made “Gossip Woman” so common robs it of its freshness, and the present nonetheless has a protracted option to go to precisely resemble the venomous lives of the privileged upper-class adolescents of the Higher East Facet.

Paying homage to the unique “Gossip Woman” sequence, Season 1 of the “Gossip Woman” reboot is caught mirroring Serena’s entrance, each embodying iconic digicam angles, character introductions and filming in beloved landmarks of New York, just like the Grand Central. The reboot follows a switch scholar incomes a scholarship to start out a life at Constance Billard — the fictional non-public college in “Gossip Woman” — in a plot reminiscent to the unique “lonely boy” Dan Humphrey.

We additionally see the style similarities between Jenny from the unique sequence and modern-day Zoya when she exhibits as much as her first day in a uniform almost similar to the unique fashionista. Many allusions and easter eggs from the 2007 sequence bleed into Season 2, like the enduring frenemies dynamic between Serena and Blair that followers have come to like and dread. We discover a comparable rivalry with Julien and Monet competing for the Constance throne, an off-the-cuff title held by the college’s hottest and influential.

The principle difficulty with the primary season was its advanced and complicated thesis. The director centered extra on making a “new and improved Gossip Woman” with extra morally sanitized themes in an try and revolutionize the unique. Nevertheless, the unique present was marketed as an escape somewhat than a actuality test, drawing audiences in with its emphasis on the corrupt life-style of the Higher East Facet. The saving grace for the reboot is Monet’s reintroduction to Season 2. The viewers are gifted with Monet touchdown the throne of Constance all whereas rocking the Blair Waldorf headband and persona, reviving the unique “Gossip Woman’s” hype.

Season 2 on HBO Max stars the identical Season 1 forged however focuses extra on the preliminary sidelined characters that lurk within the shadows of Season 1’s posse. Considered one of these characters is Monet, who we see develop a forged of henchmen all through the season in a basic Queen Blair style. Her adversary Julien is extra on the pleasant aspect, which demonstrates an anomaly to the unique plot of “Gossip Woman,” the place every character drowns of their toxicity. Though the elevated incorporation of sideline characters have added tremendously to the plot, some characters like Obie ought to have been written out. The second season tries to account for his irrelevance by reducing his display screen time, but his character is just too underwhelming in a present that spins off a rollercoaster of repudiating but wildly entertaining corruption.

All through the second season, one can see the same course of occasions between Serena and Blair’s battle for the throne to Julian and Monet’s personal battle. As time goes on, the present provides depth to deuteragonist, creating an emotionally gripping face off. Whereas this battle is a good nod to the relationships in “Gossip Woman” (2007), the knock off characterization and battle simply additional show that the brand new sequence lacks the boldness and escapism that followers of drama crave. Hopefully the characters obtain story arcs that make them greater than the ghosts of beloved and despised characters, but it surely gained’t be simple replicating the recognition of the 2007 model.

Till subsequent time, Higher East Siders. XOXO Gossip Woman