Why the New Gossip Girl Doesn’t Work

The show updates a lot of things brilliantly for Gen-Z but lacks a central relationship on par with Blair & Serena

At the beginning of HBO Max’s new Gossip Girl series, we zoom in on a woman riding a train into the city. If you watched the original, you can recognize the homage to the opening scene where it-girl Serena (Blake Lively rocking the trendiest hair of the late aughts) arrives back into town. However, the reboot is also sending a message as we’re not observing a rich high schooler…