The Gossip Girl reboot framed the outsider Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak) as the main character from episode 1, but as season 1 progressed, it became clear that her half-sister Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander) drove the plot, not Zoya. While the original Gossip Girl considerably focused on the rivalry between Blair and Serena, Zoya and Julien's relationship is very different from that of their predecessors, as there is never any real enmity between them. The two can be seen throughout season 1 either fighting over something or ing each other and trying to find a way to mix their worlds; however, it was Julien's choices that often moved the story forward.
Besides sharing locations, setting, and a couple of minor characters, the Gossip Girl reboot and the iconic 2007 drama also share a similar beginning. The original Gossip Girl started with a central character returning to New York City, just like the reboot did. Nevertheless, Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Zoya do not share many similarities, except for their proximity to who is considered the queen bee of Constance Billard.
Despite the beginning of both shows being comparable, Serena's life, ideas, and plans were developed autonomously from Blair's (Leighton Meester), regardless of their friendship and often enmity being at the front and center of the show. On the contrary, Zoya's arrival to New York and Constance Billard may have been the starting point of the Gossip Girl reboot, but even that was envisioned by her half-sister Julien. She made sure that it was Zoya that received the school's art scholarship for them to live closely for the first time in their lives after their fathers kept them apart because of the bad blood between them. Almost everything that could be seen happening to Zoya was either a consequence of Julien's decision, or something involving Julien.
When Zoya and Julien kept their knowledge of each other a secret, it was Julien that tried to ease Zoya into her friends' group and even suggested they did so. Zoya started getting online attention that overshadowed Julien's, and as a result of that, a showdown between them happened after Julien's fashion show, meaning that Zoya was forced to tell her father the truth about their move. When at the end of Gossip Girl episode 8, Julien realized that there may have been some truth to the sexual harassment accusations against her father, she ed Zoya to help her find the truth. The only personal relationship of Zoya's that Julien did not seem to have any reach on was that with their teacher, Kate (Tavi Gevinson).
Even Zoya's love interest was more focused on Julien than his girlfriend. Indeed, Obie (Eli Brown) was involved with Julien before he started dating Zoya, and his feelings for Julien fizzled out only because he did not recognize the person he fell in love with, but it was his relationship with Julien that was repeatedly framed as central in season 1 of the Gossip Girl reboot. Their kiss in episode 6 was proof of that, along with being the embodiment of their betrayal of Zoya.
Moreover, despite it was Zoya that caused a scene in front of Aki (Evan Mock) and Obie's parents, Aki's father (Malcolm McDowell) cautioned his son about Julien, referring to her as "troublemaker." That could be ascribed to her and Obie's presence at his development's protests, but it could also have referred to the accusations against Julien's father. Still, everything that the show directed at Zoya ended up leading to her sister, making Julian Calloway the true protagonist of the Gossip Girl reboot.