Pratik Handore
The much-awaited ‘Gossip Girl‘ reboot hit our screens this week and takes us back to the posh campus of the Constance Billard School. We are introduced to a new batch of high schoolers who are equally proud and entitled as their predecessors. The anonymous blogger known as Gossip Girl returns after a long hiatus, and things are about to get rough for the new girl Zoya Lott. If you need some help getting acquainted with this new batch of students, allow us to provide you with a detailed rundown of the show’s premiere episode. Here’s everything that happens in ‘Gossip Girl’ episode 1. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Gossip Girl Episode 1 Recap
The premiere episode titled ‘Just Another Girl on the MTA’ opens with the group of high schoolers preparing for their first day of the new school year. Julien Calloway is the Queen Bee and a social media influencer from a rich family. She is dotingly followed everywhere by her friends/helpers Luna and Monet. Her circle includes the charismatic Max Wolfe, Audrey Hope, and Audrey’s boyfriend, Akeno “Aki” Menzies. Julien secretly has a sweet spot for her half-sister, Zoya, who has recently transferred to the school on a scholarship. The two sisters have been corresponding behind their fathers’ backs.
Soon, Julien puts her plan of inducting Zoya into her inner circle in motion. Julien’s friends are skeptical of Zoya, but she immediately strikes a bond with Julien’s boyfriend, Otto “Obie” Bergmann IV. Meanwhile, someone takes on the identity of Gossip Girl using an Instagram account. While Julien and her friends attend a party, Gossip Girl drops a post revealing that Julien used her influence to get Zoya, her half-sister, the scholarship. How the reveal affects the sisters’ volatile and nascent relationship makes up for the rest of the plot.
Gossip Girl Episode 1 Ending: Who Is the New Gossip Girl?
Gossip Girl makes another post revealing that Obie cheated on Julien with Zoya. Towards the end of the episode, Julien plans to control the damage caused by Gossip Girl’s posts by performing a staged altercation with Zoya. However, at the fashion event where the altercation is supposed to take place, Luna and Monet intervene. They send an NSFW image from Zoya’s phone to everyone present. The show’s finale involving Julien lighting the stage on fire (literally!) coincides with the security escorting Zoya out. Convinced that Julien planned on insulting her, Zoya decides to go against Julien. Shortly afterward, Obie breaks up with Julien. The episode ends with the new Gossip Girl receiving tons of gossip-filled messages.
The reboot goes a fair distance in flaunting the differences from the original series. The new iteration takes a drastically different approach by revealing the identity of Gossip Girl in the very first episode. The original series made the reveal at the very end, and it should suffice to say long-term fans weren’t pleased with it. Therefore, this is a welcome change. The new Gossip Girl is none other than Kate Keller, the teacher Luna and Monet make fun of earlier in the episode.
Kate and the other teachers realize that they have no authority over the students due to their influential and wealthy backgrounds. To reinstate the balance of power, the teachers band together, with Kate presumably being their leader. They create Gossip Girl 2.0 to curb their students’ arrogance and bad attitudes. Towards the end of the episode, Kate receives respect from Julien, which hints that their plan is working. However, the success is questionable as Julien isn’t actually arrogant towards her teachers. Nonetheless, an intriguing game has been set up between Gossip Girl, Julien, and Zoya.
Why Does Gossip Girl Target the Sisters?
The teachers learn about Gossip Girl and her exploits from a fellow teacher who is a former student of the school. They research Gossip Girl’s tactics by going through her blog and realize that the rivalry between Serena and Blair was the main reason behind the blog’s popularity. Therefore, the new Gossip Girl must also pick a target that is reminiscent of that dynamic to obtain maximum reach and effect. Since Julien is the most popular person in the school, they pick her.
Upon learning of her relationship with Zoya, the teachers plan to engineer a rivalry between the two that is likely to dominate the school in the coming months. It’s a clever tactic on Gossip Girl’s part and furthers the same dynamic that got people hooked on the original show in the first place. The premiere gives us a major nostalgia by recreating Serena and Blair’s rivalry in a fresh way.
What Happened to Julien and Zoya’s Mom?
The timeline of Zoya and Julien’s relationship is never explicitly stated, but we do learn some important details about their relationship. They are half-sisters through their mother, and their fathers supposedly hate each other. Therefore, the sisters speak to each other secretly. We later learn that Julien’s mom ran away when she was little and had an affair with a man, leading to Zoya’s birth.
It isn’t confirmed, but it is heavily hinted that the girls’ mother has passed away. The two admit that they both knew relatively little about their mom. However, she left them a clue that guided them to try and form a bond with each other. It is highly likely that their mother’s history will continue to loom large over the sisters. We might receive some clues about what happened to her and her real identity in the future episodes.
Read More: Where Is Gossip Girl Reboot Filmed?
