The scandalous HBO Max series is back with three new episodes, Thursday, Nov. 25.
This Thanksgiving, there’s one more reason to be thankful:Gossip Girlis finally back.
TheHBO Maxseries returns after a three-month hiatus on Thursday, November 25.
Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max
The second half of its first season arrives just in time because we need answers!
But that wasn’t the only messy love triangle.
Who’d have thought it?
Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max
(Spoiler: It’s all of them!)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: One big cliffhanger from the midseason finale was Obie and Julien making out.
How do we see that play out when the show returns?
JOSHUA SAFRAN:The whole first episode back is about the after-effects of that choice.
Is she going to continue to do the work or do we see a regression there?
She constantly is going to struggle.
It’s just three steps forward, three steps back.
That’s a big chunk of her arc.
Do you ship Julien and Obie or Zoya and Obie?
Like, Zoya is who he wants to be, but he’s just not there yet.
Obie is actually able to see just how not as good as he thought he was, he is.
Both he and Julien are going through a major reckoning throughout this season.
The breakup in episode one wasn’t actually the thing that truly is going to shake them up.
It’s actually what is happening in episode seven.
They’re going totally down new paths inside themselves.
Another major cliffhanger was Aki’s dad outing him to the world on television.
How is he doing with that?
He’s dealing with it in the only way he knows how.
How quickly do we find out what that’s all about?
We had a lot of fun with that.
Do you want to know or do you not want to know?"
She thought about it and she was like, “actually I would like to know.”
So I told her.
She knew months in advance.
Okay, we can’t not talk about the threesome.
How are Audrey, Aki, and Max dealing with that moving forward?
They’re all, like Julien and Obie, dealing with the after-effects and a choice they’ve made.
I really loved how Thomas, Emily, and Evan just really embraced the screwball comedy of that.
It’s very fun to watch that moving forward.
How is Max also dealing with the fallout with Rafa (Jason Gotay)?
I definitely think there’s more to mine in terms of what Max went through emotionally from that.
How is that going to play out between the GossipGirls, so to speak?
It feels like Kate’s relationship with the Gossip Girl account and her students is becoming unhealthy.
Does she continue to obsess over it in the back half of the season?
I love this idea of exploring how the sins of the parents affect their kids lives.
Why is that something you wanted to dig into?
There was always some huge secret that they were behind that was causing the drama.
So this was just a way to continue that line.
It’s a way to really look at that.
Are the kids starting to stand up to their parents a little more though?
You see them try.
We’ve actually talked about it, not just as something to do later on.
So we’ve always talked about wanting to do that.
But she definitely will never be alive.
It’ll never be a Bart Bass situation.
Oh, thank goodness.
So the first episode back is the Thanksgiving episode.
How was having pretty much all of the cast together in one room?
Oh, my God.
I mean, it was a dream come true.
It was so funny because I directed that episode.
They just have this ability.
You don’t need to do multiple takes.
Then Adam knew how to catch it with his head.
It was just a lot of fun.
Do you have one episode coming up you’re most excited for people to see?
Well, obviously I have to say them all.
I love episode 9 so much because it takes place during SantaCon.
Ah, the worst day in New York City!!
It’s like an episode-long action sequence and that was really fun.
So I’m excited about that.
Then the finale we went up to Hudson.
They all look incredible.
It was the chance to go out on a major high.
So I’m excited for them all!
So is that where we end the season, on New Year’s Eve?
Yes, and it’s a climactic New Year’s Eve countdown.
I would expect nothing less.
Gossip Girlreturns Thursday, Nov. 25 with episodes 7, 8, and 9.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
