New Gossip Girl offers up nostalgia but what it needs is some grit
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By Brad Newsome
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The new
Gossip Girl is glossed up, smoothed down, diversified out, and so keenly aware of the original that it sometimes feels like it’s about to disappear up its own ouroboros. Given the generous budget you’d expect from a new streaming service in search of a tentpole (HBO Max), the souffle rises wonderfully in the visual sense, but the air quickly starts leaking.
Which isn’t to say that you won’t find yourself sucked in as we return once more to the sister schools serving the entitled, bratty offspring of Manhattan’s super-rich. Queen bee this time around is Instagram influencer Julien (Jordan Alexander), who numbers among her cronies mean girl Monet (Savannah Smith) and mean trans girl Luna (Zion Moreno). They’re pals with the voraciously bisexual Max (Thomas Doherty), film nerd