HBO’s acclaimed series The Gilded Age returns for its much-anticipated third season, captivating audiences with its lavish portrayal of a tumultuous period in American history. Set during the Gilded Age—a time characterized by political corruption, extreme wealth accumulation, and stark racial tensions—the show continues to explore the complex lives of its characters against this opulent backdrop.
Written by Julian Fellowes, the lavishly-produced drama featured a gem of a cast. They do a brilliant job of depicting the interconnected lives of the time’s powerful and their fight to maintain control. This season promises to explore deeper into the dynamics of race, class, and gender, presenting narratives for its Black characters that are as rich and engaging as those for their white counterparts.
Our Throughline Telling the story are three main characters. One of them is Agnes van Rhijn, portrayed by the splendid Christine Baranski, who represents the soul of true WASP high society. Agnes is infamous for her acid tongue and fast judgment on her niece Marian Brook’s suitors. Her character artfully serves to illustrate the stifling patrician social order of the time.
In contrast, Bertha Russell, played by Carrie Coon, represents that ambition and resilience. She’s even more driven than ever to find her daughter, Gladys, a happy and wealthy husband. Her ambitions are aimed at nothing less than the Duke of Buckingham. Her husband, George Russell (Morgan Spector), runs powerful interests up against it. He is unwilling to marry off their daughter to a man she doesn’t want to marry.
This third season focuses on Peggy Scott, a young writer and reporter from Brooklyn, played by Denée Benton. As Agnes’s personal secretary, Peggy juggles her own ambitions and dreams with the limitations enforced by a sexist society. Her character arc exemplifies the struggle against racism and sexism that women of color dealt with during this time.
Peggy’s family takes on an important role in developing Peggy’s narrative. Dorothy Scott, as played by Audra McDonald, and Arthur Scott, as played by John Douglas Thompson, are fascinating, complicated characters. These stories unveil the complex rhythms of family life as they juggle motherhood with public pressures to perform.
Agnes’s cutting humor comes through when she says,
“I’ll spend the rest of my days with society’s cast-offs, and women of ill-repute!” – Christine Baranski (as Agnes)
In particular, this quote stands as a testament to her contempt toward those prospering outside her own social sphere, while simultaneously foreshadowing her own weaknesses.
Even as the season goes on, the effect of industrial giants like J.P. Morgan—played by the awesome Bill Camp—will be felt. His alliance with George Russell on the epic Undertaker’s Highway railroad project epitomizes the era’s economic dreams. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, played by LisaGay Hamilton, passionately recruits young Peggy into her suffragist enterprise. This piece of recruitment adds yet another complex layer to Peggy’s journey.
The show truly nails how dynamic and interconnected lives can be. It deeply interrogates their quest for selfhood and autonomy at a moment when everything we understood as social order was being razed to the ground. As Bertha asserts,
“I won’t question your business if you don’t question mine.” – Carrie Coon (as Bertha)
Her shimmering prose captures the dichotomy of personal ambition versus societal expectation.
Agnes’s widowed sister, Ada Forte, played by Cynthia Nixon, becomes an even more central figure in the narrative. Through her artwork, she takes on the subversion of financial power in a male-dominated, patriarchal world. Throughout the series, we’ve seen how women use power and how they subvert expectations of their roles in their families and communities.
Marian Brook’s secret, long-distance courtship with strapping suitor Larry Russell complicates matters and raises the stakes. Their passionate yet tumultuous relationship gives voice to the realities of love in a time where class deeply entrenched the choices we make.
Besides the wonderful character development that we got from The Gilded Age season 3, the show is sure to be visually beautiful. That legendary, obsessive attention to detail when it comes to wardrobe and set dressing dazzles audiences. Its alluring nature takes them back to a time of opulence and wonder, serving as a sumptuous visual treat.
Even as the series develops, one thing is for sure — it will continue to confront issues that speak to modern audiences. It will continue to be grounded in its rich history. This dynamic between wealth and morality continues to be true today, just as it was during the Gilded Age.
