Gossip Girl Brought Back An OG Character *Nobody* Expected To See

Warning: Spoilers for Gossip Girl Episode 4, “Fire Walks with Z,” follow. It took four episodes, but HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot finally brought back a character from the original show, and the return was just as dramatic as expected. In Episode 4, titled “Fire Walks with Z,” Zoya found herself with an unexpected ally in her escalating war with Julien, and while fans of the original Gossip Girl may not have recognized him at first, they definitely did when he revealed his name. With Milo Sparks' cameo in the Gossip Girl reboot, one of GG’s most controversial characters lives on to stir up trouble for a whole new generation.

Before the GG reboot premiered, series creator Joshua Safran teased that the door is open for cameos from the original cast, but warned that Season 1 wouldn’t feature any of the main characters from the OG show. So far, that’s all been true. Outside of the premiere episode, which had a super-tiny cameo that barely even counted, no one from the old series has shown up. But Episode 4 finally gave fans a real connection to the first iteration of GG, and it was worth the wait.

As Zoya plotted a way to get revenge on Julien, whom she assumed had sabotaged her birthday and tried to get her evicted from her apartment, a strange child sat down next to her. The bowtie-wearing, tea-sipping 10-year-old introduced himself as Milo Sparks and offered his assistance in executing Zoya’s vengeance. For fans of the original Gossip Girl, the last name Sparks carries significant meaning, and it soon became clear that Milo is the son of none other than Georgina Sparks, the unhinged party girl who caused all the most chaotic drama for Blair, Serena, Chuck, Dan, and the rest of the gang.

Milo himself actually played a pretty pivotal role in the original Gossip Girl, as well. At the end of Season 3, Georgina revealed she was pregnant and told Dan Humphrey he was the father. Dan believed this for a while; he even signed Milo’s birth certificate to make his paternity legal, but the truth came out later in Season 4. After bloodwork confirmed Dan couldn’t be Milo’s father, Georgina explained she got pregnant while having an affair with a Russian man named Serge, and had to convince Serge’s wife that Dan was the father to avoid being killed by her. Milo even made a winking reference to his father when introduced himself to Zoya, confessing that his real last name is Ivanov but he prefers not to mention that.

It’s unclear if Milo will continue playing a role in the new Gossip Girl story, but if he does stick around, fans can expect more details about what happened with Georgina, Dan, Serena, Blair, and the rest of the OGs in the past decade. (Hopefully viewers will even get a Georgina cameo if they’re lucky!) If anyone can teach a new generation of Upper East Siders how to make some truly gossip-worthy scandal, it’s a Sparks.