The End Of The 'Gossip Girl' Season 1 Reboot, Explained

- Gossip Girl -
The End Of The 'Gossip Girl' Season 1 Reboot, Explained

The Gossip Girl revival's season finale reset the chessboard, with the characters all in much different places from where they were in the first episode. Aki and Audrey are no longer keeping their attraction to their friend Max a secret — they're now in a very public "triad" with him. And Zoya's no longer making eyes at her sister's boyfriend Obie — Obie, who moves on faster than the a Kardashian news cycle, is now dating a girl named Grace, who probably should go to therapy, stat.

But perhaps the biggest character shift comes from Julien, who realized that she was making her friends orbit around her like the sun, without giving much thought to their wants or needs. Julien decided to change that, putting Obie back together with Grace, and allowing Zoya to hang out with her (way more fun) friends on New Year's Eve. It's a sweet moment, hampered by the fact that, in the final moments of the finale, it's suggested that Julien is going to betray all her friends in the service of Gossip Girl — sort of, kind of?!?

Images: HBO Max

I'll be honest: I have no idea what Julien's game is. In the final moments of the finale, JC has an "influencer to influencer" chat with Kate's Gossip Girl (over DM, of course) telling her that if she really wants to make her and her friends squirm, she has to return to posting, and posting anonymously. In fact, Julien will help her out: She'll send Gossip Girl every piece of info that the blogger is unaware of, with the caveat that not every piece of gossip will be true. Oh, and apparently, Julien will also work tooth-and-nail to bring Gossip Girl down, and find out her identity, at the same time, before she "ruins us all." According to Julien, "that's how you change the world — by taking the gloves off."

If you're wondering why Julien would do this, well, so am I. Why would Julien want more gossip to come out, if she also wants to destroy Gossip Girl? She tells Gossip Girl how she "hates" her, and yet, for some absurd reason, is eager to give all her secrets, and secrets of her friends, to the blogger? It doesn't make logical sense! Even if Julien's ultimate plan is to feed GG false information in order to sus out her identity...well, why would she tell Gossip Girl that the tips might be fake? Why is she communicating with Gossip Girl at all?

My best guess is that Julien isn't being genuine about her motives. Perhaps Julien just firmly believes that "you're nobody until you're talked about," and is hoping that Gossip Girl will continue to put her name in people's mouths. That would make perfect sense, given JC's influencer status, and the idea that no press is bad press. Yet, it doesn't really vibe with what Julien tells Gossip Girl, which is that she wants to engage in a cat-and-mouse game. To what end, Julien? Like, The Art of War did not teach you this.

Perhaps there will be some more clarity to Julien's intentions come Season 2, and if this plan really does reveal Gossip Girl's identity, well — that's fine with me. Kate needs a job that isn't about torturing students, and she definitely needs to fix the idea that anything she's doing with GG is noble. If Julien can topple the Gossip Girl empire — even if a new one springs up in its place — NYC will certainly be better for it.

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