‘The Gilded Age’ teaser: lavender marriages, clock drama & a presidential visit

As some of you know, I am completely devoted to The Gilded Age. I decided to make the investment in the show early on, and I stayed with it through multiple soup-related storylines, the clock guy’s tragic backstory (now forgotten), the disappearance and reappearance of Pumpkin (Ada’s dog), two full seasons of opera drama and one upwardly mobile lady’s maid. And it all paid off beautifully in Season 3. The show hit its stride, they gave several characters some big payoffs, and I remain obsessed with the Gladys Russell-Duke of Buckingham storyline.

Well, Season 4 will soon be here. We basically only have to wait about nine weeks, which should go by in a flash. Season 4 premieres on November 1. The official logline, per HBO: “Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) changed Society at a cost. Now, her family must reckon with the consequences as Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) seizes an opportunity to regain her position. Meanwhile, Marian (Louisa Jacobson) forges a new path for herself, and Peggy (Denée Benton) works to be accepted by her future in-laws. In this new era, you must be careful what you wish for.” Here’s the new teaser:

I always worry that the writers are giving Peggy too many bummer storylines, but the now-constant presence of both Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald has completely won me over. Rashad and McDonald are chewing the scenery every single time and it’s glorious. It looks like Oscar is definitely going full-throttle with his lavender marriage, which should be fun (especially because Bertha KNOWS). I’m less concerned about the state of the Russell marriage, but I’m sure Carrie Coon will be scheming and fighting for her man. I’m dying to know what Agnes is mad about. It’s probably something soup related (for the president).

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red/HBO.

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7 Responses to “‘The Gilded Age’ teaser: lavender marriages, clock drama & a presidential visit”

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  1. Lightpurple says:

    Christine Baranski in full scene chewing, one-liner glory is a joy to behold!

  2. TMoney says:

    I cannot wait for the drama!!!
    This show is the main reason why HBO has me in such a choke hold!

  3. jferber says:

    I love the term “lavender marriage.” So pretty. I think they were also called Boston marriages.

    • Mcgee says:

      As I understood it (and perhaps I am poorly informed!), a “Boston Marriage” referred to a patrician marriage in which the partners led separate lives but kept up the legal (and sometimes social) fiction of partnership.

      Separate bedrooms or even residences, etc. But legally married.
      More like Mrs. Astor, really.

  4. jferber says:

    Fun fact: the phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses” is said to have originated through Edith Wharton, Henry James’s contemporary and friend. Her maiden name WAS Jones and her family was extremely wealthy and lived in Manhattan.

  5. EllenOlenska says:

    I needed this today! “ I find often that the Lord is too lenient” just gave me the biggest smile!

  6. Yup, Me says:

    I do enjoy this show and will be resuming my HBO membership to watch it (before canceling again immediately following the season finale as I have done in other years).

    I have been enjoying Peggy’s storyline and the fact that her story is rooted in real stories of well to do Black figures in The Gilded Age. One quibble I do have- a lot of the white storylines get to have fantastical elements (it is a soap opera dramatization, after all. History doesn’t have to be exact exact) while many of Peggy’s (and the other Black characters’) storylines continue to feel anchored by the challenging realities of the era they were navigating.

    If we can bend history to give white women and men glorious and fantastical history adjacent retellings, we can do it across the board for characters if color, as well. If not, then everyone’s stories should be similarly weighted down by the burdens of reality.