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It's a good day to be a Gossip Girl fan. After almost one year of waiting, Gossip Girl Season 2 has officially landed on HBO Max.
Fans have been treated to the first two episodes to kick off the highly anticipated new season, and already the show is shaping up to be even more dramatic than in the first outing, not to mention it is following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the original Gossip Girl.
Season 2 picked up from the dramatic ending of Season 1, which saw JC (played by Jordan Alexander) strike a deal with Gossip Girl (GG). She will be sending GG tips going forward but only some will be true, causing chaos while becoming somebody's savior.
It's a new year in Gossip Girl Season 2 and it's begun with a whole load of drama.
Newsweek has a recap of the most dramatic moments from Episodes 1 and 2 below.
The Eight Jaw-Dropping Moments From the 'Gossip Girl' Season 2 Premiere
Episode 1: "Deb Brawl in a Blue Dress"
1. Poor Max
GG fans have no doubt been waiting patiently to see how Max (Thomas Doherty), Aki (Evan Mock), and Audrey's (Emily Alyn Lind) relationship would work out, following their super-cute happy ending in Season 1.
The trio promised to give their relationship a try, something Max was originally reluctant to agree to.
After giving into his feelings, Max is head over heels for Aki and Audrey but sadly, they would rather keep the nature of their new relationship private. It is evident Max wants to live his life as authentically and openly as possible.
It's frustrating to watch but Max attempts to be as understanding as possible that Aki and Audrey just maybe are not ready.
2. Disaster at the Debutante Ball
At the end of Season 1, Monet de Haan (Savannah Smith) made it clear she was the one to watch in Season 2 and would be doing anything to take the crown from former Queen B, JC.
Turning up the fake friendship, Monet convinces JC to attend the Debutante Ball, where her mom Camille de Haan (Amanda Warren), is now on the board.
JC agrees to attend. After all, the Debutante Ball has changed now that Camille is involved. She is the first and only Black woman on the board and has insisted the money raised will go to charity, which will look great on JC's college applications.
However, the Debutante Ball is a disaster for everyone involved, including Monet whose plans to sabotage JC completely backfire.
Monet may have succeeded in ensuring JC's father Davis (Luke Kirby) is in attendance (who, from Season 1, was exposed as a sexual predator), which causes outrage, but she fails to totally embarrass JC. In fact, she only embarrasses herself.
Her huge plan to walk down the stairs dressed in bright blue with a female on her arm to challenge the ball's stance on same-sex partners does not quite go to plan as Zoya (Whitney Peak) is one step ahead as she ensures Monet's date already reunited with her girlfriend.
Instead of walking away from the drama, Monet pushes JC and a huge fight breaks out, ultimately only showing JC in a good light.
3. Don't Mess With Monet
Not only does Monet sabotage her own plans to come out on top, but her mother Camille is also collateral damage.
Worse, the argument between mother and daughter has even bigger consequences as it becomes known to Kate Keller (who is Gossip Girl) that Camille had been paying Monet's school to ensure she got good grades and good references when Monet was failing.
If that is not bad enough, after a seriously harsh telling-off from her mother that should have scared her to death, Monet has nothing to say afterward, other than curse her mother as a "f****** b****."
It sure does seem like Monet is incapable of feeling any sort of emotion at the moment, or is it all just a mask?
4. It's War
In Episode 1's final moments, GG cuts her deal with JC. However, in a parting message, GG warns JC to "watch her back" regarding Monique, sending JC into a paranoid spiral.
Ignoring GG's advice, JC heads straight to Monique's house to question her about her antics at the Debutante Ball.
Monique does not fess up and apologize. Instead, the fire burns behind Monique's eyes (quite literally) as she warns JC it is now "war" between them.
Episode 2: "Guess Who's Coming at Dinner?"
5. Poor Max (again)
Eager to go public about his new romance, Max insists he, Aki, and Audrey go on a date in public and if someone happens to see them, then so what?
However, it becomes clear the situation is the opposite of what Audrey wants, especially after she spots one of their classmates in the same restaurant.
In an embarrassing move, Audrey flees the table and texts Aki, telling him to kiss Max and when Aki does as asked, Audrey causes a huge scene by throwing a drink all over Max, in public. Ouch.
6. Kate Keller's Power Trip
Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson) aka Gossip Girl has teamed up with new teacher Mike Shubin (Pico Alexander) in a bid to take down Camille de Haan for bribing the staff at Constance Billard. However, Mike has bigger ideas and wants to go right to the top, by taking down the head teacher.
Together, they invite themselves to the headteacher's dinner party where they are caught red-handed raiding through her room looking for clues of corruption. Instead of coming up with an elaborate lie as to what they are doing, Mike comes clean about what they know.
In a big twist, the headteacher does not try to deny it and admits to taking money from Camille de Haan. She is actually thankful she has been caught and no longer has to live with the guilt.
Mike is reluctant to turn the headteacher in, but Kate has absolutely no problem leaking the entire situation on Gossip Girl. As a result, the headteacher is suspended.
7. Stay True to the Triad
Finally, Max, Aki, and Audrey got their happy ending. After a dinner party at Max's family home goes horribly wrong when a bigot and homophobe comes to dinner, Max, Audrey, and Aki's relationship becomes public knowledge to their family and friends, on their own terms.
8. Is Monet Maybe a Monster?
In Episode 2 of Gossip Girl Season 2, Monet is not backing down in her war with JC, a war JC does not want to fight.
However, when Monet begins to introduce a uniform policy at school and implement what will be a horrific reign as Queen B, JC decides to go up against her.
With Luna's (Zion Moreno) help, JC agrees to an interview for The Spectator's "Most Influential Teen" piece. Things at the interview do not go well for Monet but JC shines.
Things completely backfire for JC as we learn Monet's car crash of an interview had actually been strategically planned by Monet herself. The latter's minions then make it appear as if JC had deliberately embarrassed her.
Worse, when JC refuses to push Monet into the fountain pool outside of the hotel they were visiting, Monet decides to throw herself in making it seem like JC was the one to push her in. Of course, the entire thing is posted on Gossip Girl.
For now, it's Monet 1 —JC 1. Who will win?
Episodes of Gossip Girl Season 2 drop every Thursday on HBO Max.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more