Unlike Downton Abbey, in The Gilded Age showrunner Julian Fellowes doesn’t seem to spend much time “downstairs” in America’s grand mansions. The dynamic of contrasts is his signature, from the excellent Gosford Park or Belgravia or The English Game, but it was in Downton that he achieved the perfect balance, with the dramas of the team that serve the Crawleys even more interesting than the conflicts of the British nobility. In the HBO Max series, he more timidly navigated the lives of the Russells or Van Rhijns’ employees, but that could change now in the second season. There are many secrets yet to be explored by sympathetic characters or not, but one of the biggest mysteries of the first season has already been confirmed: there is something much more serious in the past of the helpful and discreet Mr. Watson (Michael Cerveris) and will be highlighted in the second season.

As we know, screenwriters don’t use dialogue for nothing, each sentence from each character is said to reinforce something or reveal some path to be explored. In the pilot of The Gilded Age, when we first enter the kitchen of the Russells’ mansion, we get a glimpse of several secrets. We were paying attention to the ambitious Turner (Kelley Curran) so when Watson says that “he didn’t need protection” it’s odd, but she is immediately on that Watson has something hidden. When they talk about people wanting to visit the Russells, Turner (accurately) says it’s not for the family, but for the house. Watson retorts something that is wise but strange for a valet: “The boss is successful, isn’t he? People want to know you when you are successful. When you fail, they turn away,” he says casually. When questioned about his bitter remark, he adds: “I’m just stating the fact.” Turner sees that there is something more to his opinion: “Are you hiding something from us?”, she says. Watson states that he has “nothing to hide”, to which he hears “Then you are an unusual person”. Of course, he is a man with a secret.

Throughout the season, Watson is one of the most observant in the Russells’ house, acting silently and noticing Turner’s plans from afar. We also knew that in his off hours, Watson acted as a stalker for a rich young woman, whom he tried to get close to quickly only to be rejected. His connection with Flora McNeil (Rebecca Haden) is only hinted at, but we know that his real name appears to be what she calls him, “Collier”. Fast forward to the first episode of The Gilded Age, and we meet her again at Bertha’s (Carrie Coon) dinner party to discuss the new opera house. Flora is McNeil by marriage, the wife of banker Robert McNeil (Christopher Denham), who is dealing with a rejection similar to that of the Russells. So much so that Caroline Astor (Donna Murphy) mentions them as others on the long waiting list for a box at the Academy of Music.

Watson’s, or Collier’s, plot will have greater relevance this season. As the platform itself defined Flora, she is “a woman who was raised to believe the lie that her father abandoned her and her mother”. As she confirms, Flora is the daughter of the current valet, having only discovered the truth about him (off-screen) last season. As she explains to her husband, Watson/Collyer was once a rich man, but lost his fortune and “went down in the world”. The problem of secrecy seems to put Robert’s plans in danger and he ominously warns his wife that they will have to do something.

And now? Of all the mysteries still outstanding, the one about Watson’s past will certainly have the greatest impact. Let’s start theorizing!