The 2021 HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl brings us back to the Upper East Side and the halls of Constance Billard and St. Jude’s. A whole new cast and a whole new gossip girl continue to expose the dark underbelly of “Manhattan’s elite”.
This group of teenagers is still rich, privileged, and seemingly able to sit at any bar in New York, but they are a decidedly more diverse group.
The first season leads with a whole storyline dedicated to Aki (Evan Mock) coming to terms with his bisexuality and coming out to his girlfriends, friends, and family. Aki and Max (Thomas Doherty) are shown in the same small room changing, and there is plenty of intense eye contact and rippling abs. Max, Aki’s longtime friend, is open about his attraction to men and women and is well-known for his promiscuity.
As the first few episodes unfold, Aki has to recognize his attraction and reassure his girlfriend, Audrey (Emily Alyn Lind), that he is not interested in leaving her. After some very avoidable misunderstandings, she is supportive of his new bi identity, although she ends up accidentally outing him to his family.
At the same time, it is clear that there is some pretty intense attraction brewing between Aki, Audrey, and Max. The three fall into bed together and, after a few encounters, realize that what they are interested in is being in a threeway relationship. Season one ends with the three of them agreeing that they would all date each other as three equals.
Both Max and Aki end up very confident in their bisexuality, and the second season is dedicated to exploring the dynamics of the triad. Although the relationship doesn’t make it to the end of the season, the show creator, Joshua Safran, always imagined them ending up together.
Yes. They [Aki, Audrey, and Max] were all endgame in all of our minds as a triad. The goal was to showcase how Audrey and Aki maybe in the end actually were ready for this level of adult relationships. In Season 3, we were going to continue that story.[1]
Unfortunately, the show has been canceled, so we may never see their happily ever after. That being said, the short-lived Gossip Girl Reboot did give us two out and proud bi men, and that was pretty great.