The following review may contain spoilers for Season 1 of “Gossip Girl.”

This summer, a revitalized set of Constance Billard St. Jude’s students replaced iconic characters Serena, Blair, Nate, Chuck and Dan. With new faces and names, the HBO Max Gossip Girl reboot attempted to transition the 2000s teen favorite into a modern day TV show. It was ultimately a disappointment.

Ever since producers announced the revival of the show two years ago, fans have anticipated its premiere. The first episode was launched on July 8, and six more were released throughout the summer.

Many viewers of the original Gossip Girl show were eager to watch a modern take of the original show and meet the new characters; however, most of the content felt unrealistic for high school students.

The show centers around Julien Calloway (played by Jordan Alexander) and her long-lost sister Zoya (played by Whitney Peak). Julien is a teen influencer with thousands of followers and brands lining up to work with her. She uses her father’s clout as a renowned record producer to score her sister an art scholarship at Constance Billard St. Jude’s. Events like this, coupled with acts of rebelliousness and irresponsibility, prompt the teachers at Constance Billard St. Jude’s to revamp the Gossip Girl blog in order to keep students in check.

The reboot also follows the ups and downs of students Audrey (Emily Alyn Lind), Aki (Evan Mock) and Max (Thomas Doherty). Conflict arises when Max jumps into a relationship with his classics teacher and interferes with Audrey and Aki’s relationship. 

Julien has two “friends,” Luna and Monet, who act as her social media managers. The two scheme about creating drama in Julien’s world to keep her relevant. By the end of the show, Monet leaves Julien to work as a publicist for a rival teen influencer.

The role of social media in high schoolers’ lives is overestimated and forced. Luna and Monet have a strict set of rules for Julien and Zoya—they are not allowed to eat in public, wear the same outfit twice or go a day without wearing makeup.  

Constance Billard St. Jude’s is a rigorous private school. With a workload comparable to St. John’s, it is astounding and unrealistic that the characters have time to party every night. If the show was marketed as satire, our review of it would be drastically different since we both find how the students act to be a joke.

It horrifies us that teachers in the show would stalk their students and spread their secrets, just to maintain authority at school. Although we are shocked that parents can fire teachers at will, there is no logical correlation between this behavior and Gossip Girl exposing the intimate details of students’ lives. These teachers should pay the consequence for their actions on Gossip Girl, but they shouldn’t lose their jobs simply because they gave a different grade from what some thought was deserved.

Although some events of the show, such as parents’ career paths, may fit within the realm of possibility, the reboot was completely unrealistic by today’s standards, and it lacked the charm and magnetism of the original. 

In the end, the show failed to bring back an extremely niche concept that had already played out.