The new Gossip Girl shares more than just a title with its predecessor: Like the original, the show takes place among students at the fictional, prestigious Constance Billard School (which has been combined with St. Jude’s) and follows them throughout their exploits in dating, drinking (more on that later) and drama; and Kristen Bellis back to reprise her role as the snarky narrator spilling on the students’ private lives. There are even more clever, subtle Gossip Girl Easter eggs you may have missed in the reboot. Here are all the ones we’ve found in the pilot so far!
Gossip Girl Easter Eggs: Episode 1
There are nods to the original Gossip Girl characters
The opening scene sees Kate (Tavi Gevinson) on a subway to Constance Billard, recreating Serena Van Der Woodsen’s return via train from boarding school.Bell’s Gossip Girl tagline is a bit different this time around: Perhaps thanks to gentrification, not all of the characters live in the Upper East Side anymore, leading her to quip that she’s “your one and only source for the truth behind the scandalous lives of New York’s elite.“The first OG Gossip Girl character name-dropped in the series is Nate Archibald (played in the original Gossip Girl by Chace Crawford). Kate is speaking about Constance Billard’s notable and notorious alumni and explains that though there are plenty of spoiled brats who didn’t amount to much, that Nate ultimately turned out well.Zoya explains to her father that she’s attending Constance Billard in hopes of getting into Yale, much like Blair Waldorf (Meester) dreamed of in the original series. Zoya has a scholarship to Constance Billard and at times feels out of place among its wealthy, elitist and classist student body, likening her to Dan and Jenny Humphrey (Penn Badgley and Taylor Momsen) in the original.
A deep cut: Former student and current faculty member Rebecca Sherman (played by Sarah Baskin) introduces her colleagues to the original Gossip Girl blog. Reboot creator Joshua Safran explained her identity to The Wrap: “It’s such a very deep Easter egg, I assumed that nobody would know. Unfortunately, her full name would make you know her if you Googled it. But I couldn’t get her full name in. I tried and I just couldn’t [get the characters to] say, ‘Rebecca Sherman, you went to school here?’ But Rebecca Sherman is the name of the character at the end of Season 2 that they briefly think could be Gossip Girl before they think that it is Eric’s boyfriend.” He added, “If you go back and watch that episode, they think it’s Rebecca Sherman. And Blair is like, ‘No, her head’s always in a book. She doesn’t have time to be posting all the time.’ So it was my way of doing that.“Dan Humphrey, the OG Gossip Girl blogger, is revealed to have gone on to become a novelist. He certainly had plenty of practice in weaving storylines together!Blair and Serena met up over martinis in the original Gossip Girl pilot. In the reboot, Julien, Zoya and their pals sip martinis, even though Zoya’s not a fan of the taste.Uh, hello? Everyone hanging out on the stairs at the Met!
Gossip Girl fashion is in full force
Kate’s outfit (a striped top, silk scarf, brown coat and black pants) is a nod to Serena’s ensemble in the OG Gossip Girl pilot.Julien browses online for clothes from Alice + Olivia, a line the original cast rocked quite a bit in the original.Zara clothing was a fixture in the original Gossip Girl, and Luna disses the brand.Julien takes Zoya’s headband off and reworks it into a neck scarf, perhaps as a nod to headband queen Blair as well as a distinction between the old and new guard.
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