There are just a few weeks left until the premiere of the second season of The Gilded Age, with the drama promising to recount the true war of vanities that marked the operatic season of 1883, with families of “old” fortune opposing those of “new”. The dispute marked the debut of the Metropolitan Opera House and will certainly move Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) and Caroline Astor (Donna Murphy). Last year, before we got hints about which facts would be in the second part of the story, I tried to guess some, but there are so many! Be that as it may, let’s remember what really happened so far.

We begin the story with Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) losing her father and discovering from his lawyer, Tom Raikes (Thomas Cocquerel), that not only did he lose all his fortune investing in the railways, but not even the house she lives in belongs to her. With nowhere to go, he convinces her to talk to her estranged and wealthy aunts, who live in New York, but who, because they fought with Marian’s father, never had contact with her. With no alternative, Marian accepts, at least temporarily.

At the station, before even boarding, Marian is robbed and meets the only person who helps her, Peggy (Denée Benton), a young woman of color who accompanies her to the home of Agnes Van Rhijn (Christina Baranski) and Ada Brooks (Cynthia Nixon) and who not only becomes Marian’s friend and confidant but also becomes secretary to the demanding and snobbish Agnes.

Marian rejects some of her aunt’s strict rules, especially the one that reinforces the distance between new and old fortunes. Mary ends up falling in love with Tom Raikes, who follows her to Manhattan and declares himself to her. Another parenthesis here, I theorized heavily against Tom Raikes from the beginning. I agreed that his love story with Marian had no future, but I went further in the motivation for the breakup. In the end, he is a man interested in money, but, after seducing and almost ruining Marian’s reputation, he rises socially and becomes interested in another woman with greater wealth, leaving our heroine desolate and humiliated in front of her friends.

Peggy also has her dose of drama. At first, we don’t understand the resistance to talking to her parents again, being an educated and intelligent woman, working as a secretary, and avoiding contact with her family. In the end, we discovered in the past that she had fallen in love with a young man who worked with her father, ran away with him to get married, and got pregnant, but her son was theoretically stillborn. At the end of the season, she discovers that the child has been put up for adoption and is determined to find her again.

In addition to the two, the other female protagonists were the ambitious Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), a fictional character inspired by the real Alva Vanderbilt, as well as Caroline Astor (Donna Murphy), a dramatized version of the real and feared Caroline. Personally, I think it was silly to put the “real” Caroline when they didn’t put the real Alva, I would have preferred Agnes to have been Bertha’s opponent. But everything is fine! Let’s remember.

Agnes Van Rhijn was from a rich family but married an even richer man when her brother, heir to the Brooks, and from this relationship, she has a son, Oscar (Blake Ritson), secretly gay and looking for a young wife and influenceable. She is a neighbor of the Russells, whom she hates for making a fortune in the railroads. She tries to teach Marian the importance of social hierarchy and that marriage is not a matter of love. However, she is sweet, understanding, and supportive of Peggy. A pit of contradictions.

Ada, on the other hand, is the sweetest of the sisters, still dreaming of marriage despite her advanced age, and being more effective in giving advice to her niece, whom she adores and treats with affection, doing her best to support her niece and help her move forward, even with a broken heart.

Bertha Russell is one of the most interesting characters in The Gilded Age. She has fortune, but she wants prestige and knows how to get it. She tries to join New York’s most exclusive social circles, coming up against the snobbery led by Caroline. She has the unwavering support of her husband, railroad baron George (Morgan Spector), who helps when he can with his wife’s plans.

The first season does not go into details about how George obtained his fortune, but his gestures make it clear that he is a ruthless man in the business, even if he literally leads his opponents to ruin and suicide. He is courted by other women, but faithful to Bertha. Additionally, George also faces an investigation into the derailment of one of his trains but manages to insulate himself with guilt when a dishonest employee is found guilty.

After many twists and turns, Bertha Russell finally gains some acceptance among the former financial elites, and when she finally hosts the biggest town dance, forces Mrs. Astor to ask for an invitation and attend the party. We said goodbye to the couple on top of the world, but it’s too early to celebrate.

The Russells’ children, Larry (Harry Richardson) and Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) have problems with Bertha’s plans. The matriarch includes them in her dream of ascending and forces Gladys to give up true love to marry the ideal candidate. And Larry, who dreams of desire. Being an architect is also expected to get along well and follow in your father’s footsteps. Both get closer to Marian and for now Bertha also likes the girl, but everything can eventually change. Everyone’s fans, including mine, are for a romantic couple but in the second season, they will have other suitors.

In the “downstairs” part of Van Rihjn and Russell’s house, there is a lot of drama between the employees, with more secrets to be revealed, but they have less success with fans of The Gilded Age. On October 29th we will follow the drama again. Did they guarantee a third season? I hope so!

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