Gossip Girl episode 1 was a story of truths and lies and how a lie can become the truth
when enough people believe it. The old Gossip Girl had a strategy to do just so. First,
you tease things out to get people's attention. Then you go in for the kill.
The new gossip girl used that strategy in episode 1, but what was most interesting was
the way in which various characters both intentionally and unintentionally used that same strategy
in their human interactions, most notably, Zoya and Obie and the ending.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let's get to know these new characters.
Julien Elizabeth Calloway, or Jules, is a junior at Constance Billard and a massive
social media influencer. But it was not always that way. Jules mother died and her father
was always drunk or disappearing. So Jules built her status from scratch. Now she's not
just known, she's influential. And she doesn't want that to change.
Jules has a boyfriend named Otto Bermann IV, or Obie. Obie is rich even among the rich.
Jules referred to Obie as the Guilty Rich since Obie volunteers his time and energy
towards those that are less fortunate. So Obie is good people. But the same cannot
be said of all of Jules friends. Ak seemed cool and Max and Aubrey are interesting, but
Monet and Luna were pretty awful. Monet was rude to a couple teachers right off the bat
and even got one fired on the first day of school. We'll get back to the Seven Samurari
in a bit. Jules also has a half-sister, Zoya Jane Lott.
Zoya is a freshman, and until this year, Zoya went to school upstate in Buffalo. Zoya lives
with her adorable, single-father, Nick. Zoya applied to Constance Billard and received
an art scholarship. Without that art scholarship, she would not have been able to afford that
school, and it turns out, her half-sister Jules used her influence to help Zoya get
that scholarship. Corrupt, but kinda cute. Jules had reached out to her sister Zoya two
years prior and they bonded through phone calls. But Zoya hid that from her father.
And Jules hid that from her friends. Instead of letting their true story play out, Jules
tried to game the system just as she does very successfully with social media. Her goal
was virtuous. She wanted her friends to like Zoya for who she is and not just because she
s related to Jules. Unfortunately for them both, Jules plan unraveled.
But not right away. The first time that the sisters ever saw each other in person was
special. And the follow-up scene in the women s room was unexpected and cute as well. Turns
out, they got matching tattoos before even meeting each other. We'll get back to them.
But first, last but not least, we've got Ms. Keller, or Kate.
At the beginning of the episode, Jules spilled Ms. Keller's drink. Jules apologized, but
Jules awful friends said some pretty rude stuff, which Ms. Keller unfortunately attributed
to Jules as well. Perception is reality. Ms. Keller was hurt, as she had spent an hour
picking out an outfit that she thought the kids would not make fun of and Monet and Luna
did just so right away. So what did she do? Well at first, Ms. Keller defended the kids
to her colleagues, telling them that they, as teachers, are the kids last hope.
Unfortunately, her plans changed. Kate and her colleagues became the new gossip girl.
And Kate played dirty. Gossip Girl's first post on twitter was a
bust. But then, the Gossip Girl group decided to use the bait and kill strategy on instagram.
She teased her first big reveal and then dropped it when the kids were at Dumbo Hall. She called
out Jules and Zoya's mother Mama Marion for having dumped DJ Davis for Nick Nobody. And
name calling was the least of it. Gossip Girl mocked Mama Marion for having passed away
before she could see her daughters reunited. On a scale of 1 to 10, that was disgusting.
And little did Kate know, Zoya had just been at Kate's defense, saying that teachers are
underpaid and that she had met Ms. Keller on her admissions panel and liked her.
Gossip Girl also said that Zoya's scholarship wasn't granted, it was gifted. And that was
true. Jules 'father donates money to the school and part of that funds the art scholarship.
But Jules father doesn't read the applications, Jules does. And Jules forwarded on Zoya's
application. That hurt Zoya since she didn't want to take
the place of someone who may have been more deserving than her. Zoya wanted to earn her
scholarship. So Gossip #1 has potentially jeopardized Zoya's
scholarship. It hurt Zoya. And it also exposed that Jules and Zoya already knew each other.
So Jules had lied to her six closet friends, including her boyfriend.
Because of that, Obie left and Zoya left with him. She went up to his place to wait out
the rain and one of the Gossip Girl teachers took a picture of them removing their wet
clothes and posted it in a way to suggest that Obie was cheating on his girlfriend with
her sister. Again, the Gossip Girl group was way out of line.
Surprisingly though, Jules didn't believe it. Hats off to her for that. But perception
is reality. Jules classmates believed the Gossip Girl post. They believed a lie. So
Jules foolishly tried beat the lie with a lie of their own, meaning, for the second
time, Jules tried to game the system the way she games social media.
Her plan was to get the power back by inviting her sister Zoya to her fashion show, but forgetting
to put Zoya on the list to the after-party. Monet and Luna would then post pictures of
Jules and Obie inside at the after party and another picture of Zoya having a meltdown
outside. Let s be real. That plan was selfish. But it would've, at least, for the sake of
Jules regaining her social media power.' But Monet and Luna had a plan of their own.
They stole Zoya's phone and then sent out an inappropriate picture of Max from it to
everyone at the fashion show. So Zoya got kicked out and embarrassed. For the second
time, Jules plan failed. And sadly, a divide emerged between the sisters
since Zoya was upset that Jules didn't stick up for her.
Jules response was Learn me or leave. Basically, an ultimatum. Not cool. Jules cares more about
her social media presence than her sister. And it got worse from there. Jules asked Zoya
if she really thinks she can win and Zoya was like: I'm not playing your game. So its
outcome means nothing to me. And that's the gist of the story. The Fake Life vs Real Life.
Jules does care about Obie. And she does care about Zoya. Jules is a good person. But she's
fake. She apologized to Ms. Keller the first time
that she knocked over her coffee at the beginning of the episode. But then she smirked as her
friends threatened Ms. Keller s job in the hallway. Her kindness was True Jules and her
negativity was the Fake Jules. But it is what it is. Ms. Keller assumed Jules was a punk,
and that s partially why she went after her. But at the end of the episode, Jules knocked
over Ms. Keller's coffee a second time, and once again, Jules blamed herself. She also
complimented Ms. Keller on her blazer. So this second time, Ms. Keller heard her, which
means, Ms. Keller has no excuse if she keep harassing Jules. Because she now has reason
to believe that Jules is a good person. Let's hope that the Ms. Keller who wants to nurture
her students reemerges at some point. Alright, now let's finally discuss the ending:
Zobie. Gossip Girl used the bait and kill method
with her social media posts. But some characters used that same strategy in real life.
Max, for example. Max told Aubrey that he was excited to see the school body, including
hers. He teased her. Then he teased her some more at the club. And now she's thinking of
him when she's with Ak. Max s teasing has worked.
Jules also used that strategy in real life. She teased the fact that she liked Zoya's
shoes, and later, she went in for the kill. She commented on them again and took a picture
with Zoya as stage two of the plan. But Gossip Girl, Max, and Jules were all intentionally
trying to game the system. Sometimes, the bait and kill strategy happens naturally as
it did with Zoya and Obie. When they first met, Zoya commented on Obie's
pin. The RTC Alliance. And she told him that if he ever needed another body, she s in.
That was an organic tease. At the club, he gave her the pin. Another organic tease. And
at the end of the episode, Zoya has decided to join Obie at the RTC Alliance. An organic
bait and kill. So what does that mean for Jules and Obie?
Well, the first time that Gossip Girl tried to use Obie to come between Jules and Zoya,
it worked in terms of their classmates perceptions, but Jules didn't buy it.
But now that Jules and Zoya are at odds with one another, if Gossip Girl sends out more
posts of Zoya and Obie, Jules may actually take it personally.
And that will be a shame for two reasons. First off, because no one should ever be exploited
the way that Gossip Girl does to people, let alone good people like Zoya and Obie when
they are volunteering their time to help the less fortunate.
The second reason that it will be a shame if Jules buys into Gossip Girls next post
about Zoya and Obie is because nothing has happened between Zoya and Obie. In fact, Obie
said that he missed who Jules used to be before social media, and Zoya didn't hit on him.
Instead, she reassured him that the Jules who called her for the last two years is the
Jules that Obie misses, meaning the real Jules is still inside her. They've just got to get
the real Jules to reemerge. From a story-telling perspective, that's the
long game. But in the short-term, expect Gossip Girl to make that journey difficult.
Alright, these characters got me. I'll be doing videos every week. But until next time,
I'll catcha on the flipside.