HBO Max‘s Gossip Girl reboot may focus on a new generation of New York socialites, but if fans of the original CW series pay close attention, they can still spot plenty of updates about their favorite classic characters.
From vague references to Nate Archibald and Dan Humphrey to an actual appearance by Georgina Sparks’ son Milo, the new series takes every opportunity to honor the legacy that allowed it to exist.
And while there are only a few updates to share at the moment, showrunner Joshua Safran assures TVLine, “There are more returning characters coming” in the second half of the season, adding, “We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
Read on to see what the reboot has taught us about the original Gossip Girl crew, then drop a comment with your thoughts. Which other characters do you want to hear from?
While we don’t know exactly what Nate is up to these days, Chace Crawford’s character is mentioned in the pilot alongside several other “great” Constance Billard and St. Jude’s alumni, like Caroline Kennedy and Colson Whitehead. He’s even referred to as a “saint” compared to what he was like in high school. Perhaps the mayoral bid he alluded to in the original series finale went better than expected?
When Dan is mentioned in the new Gossip Girl pilot, Kate breathlessly replies, “The novelist?!” It’s not much to go on, but it certainly implies that Penn Badgley’s character hasn’t completely faded into literary obscurity… yet.
Leighton Meester’s character makes an appearance (of sorts) in Episode 4 when Zoya spots a framed photo of the former it girl hanging on the wall at the Sparks residence. We don’t get a formal update on her life — heck, we don’t even know if she’s still Mrs. Chuck Bass — but at least we know she’s still very much on Georgina’s radar.
Michelle Trachtenberg’s character travels in A-list circles these days, as revealed by the photos of her with the likes of Elon Musk, Ed Sheeran and Vladimir Putin that we see in Episode 4.
That said, “of all these people she’s around in her life, her target is still Blair,” Safran tells TVLine. “She has to see Blair’s face every day to energize her. Or to be inspired to do evil.”
Georgina’s unholy spawn (now played by Azhy Robertson) is the first character from the original series to appear on the reboot, introducing himself to Zoya by saying, “My last name is Sparks. Really Ivanov, but in this day and age, it’s best to leave that out.”
Like his mother, Milo lives for the drama. We even learn that he once gave E. coli to Lily-Rose Depp at Lola’s behest — which is pretty messed up, considering the actress nearly died from that in real life.
I’m really hoping they’ll have a line saying Serena divorced Dan. Even better if she moved on with/married Nate or Carter. They never should have made her end up with Dan, to this day it still upsets me.
The moment they introduced Carter I thought he was the one for Serena. The things he wrote about Serena while true were so awful I could never root for them as a couple again.
You get upset very easily, don’t you…
Uh, no. Serena and Dan always should have been end game. Nate was always a weak, whiney & annoying character. Hardly deserving of Serena. The very last person on the show she should have ended up with is Carter of all people. Serena should be with the one that she is in love with. Which was Dan throughout the entire show. Even when they hated each other they loved each other. Not having them together is like saying Chuck and Blair shouldn’t have been together. I could have seen your point until you said she should be with Nate or Carter. 🤢
I’m really hoping a couple main characters make an appearance in second half of the season later this year. Even Vanessa would be OK. I don’t think the actress is doing anything these days.
She’s on The Orville which is coming back sometime this year (hopefully).
They seriously used Lily Rose Depp’s medical emergency as a punchline? As If this show wasn’t already 💩. That’s in some serious poor taste considering, as the journalist points out, she almost died in real life. 😬
I think it’s funny when shows have photographs of characters and they are obviously from episodes and not posed like most photos are. I get the reason but it’s odd they couldn’t find a better photo of Blair to use.