HBO Max's Gossip Girl revival is a decidedly different beast than the one that ran for six seasons on The CW between 2007 and 2013. For one thing, the original Gossip Girl began before the true explosion of social media — we never got to see Blair Waldorf or Serena van der Woodsen's heavily curated Instagram feed, nor see Jenny Humphrey get cancelled on Twitter. Yet just because the new Gossip Girl is playing with some new toys doesn't mean it has forgotten its roots.

One thing that's important to note? The new Gossip Girl lives in the same world as its predecessor. This isn't a reboot, but a revival, and while Constance Billard and St. Jude's certainly look different this time around, they're the same stomping grounds where Dan Humphrey stalked his classmates. Most importantly, it's Dan's diabolical Gossip Girl scheme that kicks off the action of the new series.

The pilot episode of the Gossip Girl revival reveals miserable teacher Kate Keller, who, once again, is a target for the school's mean girls. Kate doesn't get it: These students are supposed to be the top teenage minds in the country. She lists off several notable alum, including Nate Archibald, who, as fans will remember, ended his run on Gossip Girl tenure as a media mogul who teased a mayoral run.

It's in this moment that Kate is introduced to the original Gossip Girl blog — and where we get the rest of our name drops. A teacher named Rebecca, who is also a Constance Billard alum, explains the deal — how the blog was created by Dan ("The novelist?!" Kate exclaims) and that it all centered on the rivalry between Blair and Serena. It's what inspires Kate's (completely psychotic, in my personal opinion) plan to pit Julien and her little sister Zoya against one another.