Queen Monet Has Saved ‘Gossip Girl’

It may have taken HBO Max‘s Gossip Girl a while to find its new Blair Waldorf, but she’s finally arrived in Season 2. Monet de Haan (Savannah Smith) has emerged as Constance Billiard’s new queen. And to our endless delight, she’s poised to be more Bloody Mary than benevolent ruler.

It’s a tired trope, but Gossip Girl has always revolved around women fighting other women. In the 2007 original, there was certainly drama that didn’t involve Serena (Blake Lively) or Blair (Leighton Meester). But those schemes and betrayals were secondary to the true draw of this series: Serena vs. Blair. That later turned into Blair vs. Jenny (Taylor Momsen), then Blair vs. everyone else. For Gossip Girl to work, you need two powerhouse queen bees duking it out for dominance. That’s the dynamic that Season 1 of Joshua Safran’s continuation tried to recreate by pitting Julian (Jordan Alexander) against her half-sister Zoya (Whitney Peak). It was also a flawed pairing from the start. Julian, with her vast social empire and effortless clout, was never really threatened by an uninterested outsider like Zoya. That’s why it’s so delicious to see Monet step into the fray.

Monet has always been the rightful foe for Julian. They both come from the same world, socially and economically. They understand how important it is to wield power. And though Julian pretends to be kinder, they’re both ruthless. Add in a shot of resentment on Monet’s part after years of being cast as background dancer to Julian’s one-woman show, and you have the perfect cocktail for a truly addicting friends-to-enemies fight.

Within minutes of Monet accepting her role as Julian’s new rival, the woman delivers. In the first episode of Season 2, she lays out what’s going to happen to her recruited minions. The plan? Poke and prod at Julian until the current queen of the Upper East Side retaliates. Once the battle has started, anyone can win, no matter who threw the first punch or who actually wanted to be part of this brawl.

“If I’m going to take Julian’s place, I need Gossip Girl to make my ascension public. The guillotine was placed in the town square for a reason. You didn’t just kill your enemy. You struck fear in everyone else as well,” Monet vents. “Come Sunday, Julian’s head will roll, and the crown that she never respected will finally be all mine.”

Do you hear that? That’s a war cry. It’s the sound of a new order rising from the ashes of the old one’s follies. It’s a glorious declaration that highlights everything that makes this series so deliciously twisted.

There’s another reason why Julian’s newfound and finally adequate enemy is so exciting. Gossip Girl has always been a show defined by power couples: Blair and Nate. Blair and Chuck. Jenny and Nate. Serena and whatever prince she met that week — you get the idea. Though Julian started out with Obie (Eli Brown), she’s not really someone who plays the power couple game. But Monet is. That means we’re going to get to see Monet embark on one of the most interesting escapades of the status obsessed. When you’re already at the top of the upper echelons, how do you find a worthy match?

This has already been hinted at in the first episode of Season 2 thanks to Monet’s unconventional debutante escort. But can you imagine it? Monet with her exacting standards and unflinching determination to rule perusing the apps? Hearts won’t be broken. They’re going to be ripped out of chests and publicly eaten as a warning to never mess with the de Haan family. Even the most diehard Monet and Luna (Zión Moreno) shippers can’t possibly be prepared for Monet in her chaos era.

War can only occur between two evenly matched foes. Otherwise, it’s complete obliteration. That’s what Monet is offering us in this second season, a battle so brutal and nefarious that it earns Gossip Girl’s attention. To paraphrase our new queen, now is not the time for abdication — only execution. And friends? It’s going to be fabulous.

New episodes of Gossip Girl Season 2 premiere on HBO Max weekly on Thursdays.