5 shocking moments from Gossip Girl (2021) episode 4: Milo who?!

Finally Gossip Girl (2021) is starting to infuse some of the OG’s energy into its storytelling!

Episode 4, “Fire Walks with Z,” leans hard into a battle for the throne as Zoya’s birthday takes center stage and throws the plot into chaos. Welcomed chaos. The kind that breeds poor choices in the name of winning and take downs that go horribly wrong.

We left “Lies Wide Shut” in a decent place for Zoya, Julien, and Obie. Max, Audrey, and Aki weren’t doing so hot, but the pseudo-triangle between the two sisters and the Prince of New York seemed to have reached a tentative equilibrium.

However, that’s not at all the way Luna and Monet need things to be if Julien is ever to rise back to the status she once held at Constance St. Judes and the Upper East Side proper. Cue a dastardly plan to wreck the peace the sisters have found in their relationship and finally put Neo-Queen J on top.

“Fire Walks with Z” is undoubtedly the best episode of Gossip Girl (2021) so far. Here are five of the most shocking moments in the episode that had us hooked in to the story being told.

Spoilers ahead of Gossip Girl (2021) episode 4

5 moments that made us gasp in Gossip Girl (2021) episode 4

1. Zday is also a day of remembrance and mourning

As Gossip Girl (2021) has progressed, the audience has been given bits and pieces of who Marion, Julien and Zoya’s mother, is to both girls and their respective fathers. But none was more heartbreaking than learning she’d died in childbirth bringing Zoya into the world.

That narrative piece is the catalyst for Zoya’s emotional journey throughout “Fire Walks with Z.” We learn that she doesn’t like celebrating her birthday on the actual date of her birth because of this. It’s also why Zoya is angry from nearly to start to finish in episode 4 as Julien turns a bad day into a worse one for her all because of outside meddling.

2. Luna tries to evict Little Z

Speaking of meddling with a side of nefarious plans, we knew Zoya telling Luna that her housing situation isn’t on the up-and-up by New York law would come back to haunt her. Why Z decided to trust her with that information in “Lies Wide Shut” we don’t know but clearly she shouldn’t have.

Now not only the housing board knows but also Gossip Girl’s followers which means all of Constance St. Jude’s is aware Zoya could get evicted. Not a good look for a girl already dealing with harassment from her classmates over the tension between her and Julien as well as her relationship with Obie.

Banishment from Julien’s Queendom may not be nigh, but Monet and Luna sure are working hard to make sure Z leaves their world behind.

3. Sparks and trouble, a winning combination

Surprise, surprise Gossip Girl (2021)’s first OG character appearance is connected to none other than Georgina Sparks. Episode 4 reintroduces her son Milo to the Gossip Girl audience as a 10 year old boy. He’s just like his mother, instigating trouble, and watching the chips fall as he gathers information.

It’s Milo who comes up with a plan for Zoya to take Julien down, though it’s basically child’s play for him. He’s a devious edition to the cast whose shady dealings give him plenty of intel. We can’t wait to see how his character is used in the rest of the season. Hopefully, his appearance wasn’t a one-off.

4. A sad Buffalo reveal

Well, it turns out the secret Zoya was carrying about her old school in Buffalo wasn’t the kind of thing you share with a whole party of guests in revenge. That is, if you’re not Luna and Monet.

What starts off as a video of Z vandalizing her school’s hallway and joining in on the chant, “F**k school,” turns into her being locked in a classroom by the group of girls she was with. It’s obvious pretty quickly that the take down Julien thought she was launching is actually evidence of Zoya being bullied.

As the girls taunt Z by calling her “mother killer” her screams for them to let her out get more and more desperate until she starts wrecking the lab in an effort to get out. This wasn’t ammunition, it was just sad.

5. A PSA courtesy of Julien Calloway

Gossip Girl (2021) consistently pulls its teen characters back from the edge by making them self-aware enough to effectively address their faults. Still, we weren’t expecting for Julien to apologize for releasing the video by immediately giving an “I’m a bully” speech and confessing to talking about people and using them for her own gain.

She even has all her guests take out their phones so they can post and record her public apology and shaming of her own behavior. It’s certainly a memorable moment for this debut season, one that embraces this show’s preoccupation with growth and accountability for its main cast earnestly.

Honorable mentions (not shocking but noteworthy)

• Princess Nokia: Gossip Girl (2021)’s first musical guest star. She was treated to quite the mess between the sisters, but eventually she took the stage and gave those teens a show!
• Audrey and Aki: Instead of beating around the bush and dragging things out for episodes, the two finally talked about Aki’s sexual orientation. No assumptions, just honesty. Aki loves Audrey and wants to be with her, he also thinks he might be bi. They don’t know what their future looks like now, but they want to figure it out together.
• Max and Rafa: Surprising no one, these two hooked up. May this teacher-student relationship crash, burn, and end swiftly.

New episodes Gossip Girl (2021) premiere Thursdays on HBO Max.