The Gilded Age‘s third episode confirms that pacing and energy are setting the tone for the story now, which we appreciate. Marian Brooks (Louisa Jacobson) is at ease, and more firm (although relatively resigned) to her role in a curiously traditional society in a supposedly modern country. Yes, we know that many of the plots are inspired by real stories and when comparing The Buccaneers we do not miss the irony that the colony may have rebelled against the United Kingdom created a democratic republic, and also survived a Civil War (which ended just some 8 or 9 years before the one we are following), but remains rigid in its customs and admiring the aristocracy that they cleverly got rid of. The arrival of the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb) will further shake up a tense season in the series. That’s right, it has already been mentioned and will be yet another reason for the war between the new and old rich in New York. But let’s go to our critical recap of Head to Head, by characters and not in the order shown.

The episode synopsis says, “The opera war escalates when an unexpected guest attends Bertha’s fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Opera, while Agnes throws her support behind Mrs. Astor’s fight for the Academy of Music.” I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it here: it is a failure of The Gilded Age to insist on antagonizing Agnes Von Rhijn (Christina Baranski) with Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon). Bertha barely remembers Agnes, with reason because Agnes is a usually immobile character, who appears on the scene for short and striking phrases, but who does not interact with anyone who does not come to visit her, hence her gratuitous dislike for Bertha because she is “new money ” is deliberately silly, but equally useless in the plot. This is because, as I have complained before, Bertha is inspired by Alva Vanderbilt, who although mentioned in the series is not a character, and Caroline Astor (Donna Murphy), her rival, is. Caroline’s presence deflates the existence of Agnes, a fun mirror of Downton Abbey‘s Lady Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith). But Violet stands out because she is an anti-heroine who circulates, interacts, and interferes. She expected much more. from Agnes! So let’s talk about Agnes in the episode.

Agnes is proportionately amazing to Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) as she is purposefully unpleasant to everyone else. When sitting down and asking Caroline Astor “Give me orders, whatever I do” she reveals her reduced dimension in everything that happens. The Opera War is raging, but only Bertha and Caroline really care. The opening night is scheduled for the same date precisely to make the division clearer and so we have an active villain, who is neither of the two traditional ladies, but precisely Turner, sorry, Mrs. Winterton (Kelley Curran). For now, Agnes’s help is to spread rumors to spare Caroline from exposing herself as the petty and prejudiced person that she is, threatening anyone who chooses to support Bertha of losing “the box at the Music Academy”, that is, her support.

Coming out of this middle-aged Mean Girls reunion, Agnes reveals to us a secret that Marian hasn’t yet realized. Dashiell Montgomery (David Furr) has already asked his aunt for help in winning over Marian, something that Agnes celebrates because he is perfect for her niece. However, Agnes is not stupid and knows that Dashiell needs to win over the girl because she will not accept marrying out of convenience. I don’t know if Aurora Fane (Kelli O’Hara) has already been activated, it seems so to me because she always creates situations where Dashiell could be around and Marian hasn’t noticed yet. Having said all that: I still don’t know if we can root for him. His discretion seems genuine, he has the support of his family and is taking things slow with flirting, so he is the opposite of Tom Raikes (Thomas Cocquerel) and much more active than Larry Russell (Harry Richardson) – the latter more occupied with his passion for the widow Susan Blane (Laura Benanti) – but as I’m on the #larrmar team I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop to understand which one really belongs to Dashiell.

Since I mentioned Larry and Susan, she is much more “suspicious”. He is in love and has not yet realized that Susan, although excited, is having fun with her freedom, but does not want to scandalize society or anything permanent. I don’t know, Marian seems to be less vulnerable to heartbreak than our dear boy this season. And also because we’re talking about Tom Raikes, the one who has this suspicious vibe is Pastor Luke Forte (Robert Sean Leonard). The neediness of Ada (Cynthia Nixon), in yet another brilliant and sensitive performance by Cynthia Nixon, is touching, and even at an age where she should have given up on love, she dreams of marriage. It’s exciting, but it always puts it at the disposal of predators. Agnes, in her usually cynical wisdom, has already figured out that the pastor has something of interest, from the teaser we know that he will oppose the romance with her sister and we still have to find out if it will be right once again. Poor Ada.

In the field of romance, Oscar Van Rhijn (Blake Ritson) continues his search for a wife, apparently finding a candidate, Maud Beaton (Nicole Brydon Bloom), but without being able to disguise his unhappiness. Yes, the third season is planting a lot of romantic disappointments for our cast.

Before getting to where I want to go, it’s worth mentioning that the plot of Watson (Michael Cerveris) wanting to hide that he is a rich man turned valet and that he is worried about not exposing his daughter, Flora (Rebecca Haden), will make sense when it comes to “exposing ” the new Mrs. Winterton. The offer from his son-in-law, Mr. MCneil (Christopher Denham), to leave would even be functional if Watson weren’t already talking about the truth with more than one person in the Russells’ kitchen. Secrets are the keynote and we are seeing that none are well kept!

The only discreet one is George Russell (Morgan Spector), who is dealing with work problems again (separate post to come) and ‘kept’ Turner’s failed attempt at seducing him last season from Bertha just for his ex-maid throws the truth in Bertha’s face. No man understands how even refusing one woman could be a betrayal for another, but I’m with Bertha. The humiliation she experienced without any knowledge makes her look like a fool to Turner, and George will have to do a lot of work to overcome this miscue.

I’m not going to miss the dangerous plot that is unfolding for our dear Peggy, clearly falling in love with her married boss and embarking on a suicide mission to go to the south of the country to report. Slavery, which gave me goosebumps when remembered in such a casual way, was a reality in the United States less than 10 years into the history we are following, and precisely because the South was rooted in this brutality it is so dangerous for our heroine to venture there. Segregation is present in many moments even in New York and The Gilded Age also shows this, without putting this real and inconceivable drama at the center of the story, but the danger for Peggy is very real. Peggy deserves to bring these stories to our attention. Who cares about opera houses, dukes, or marriages between rich people with it all literally on the doorstep?

But the keynote of the entire season is really ‘secrets’. Turner has the opposite danger of Watson: he wants to omit his recent working-class background, but with a clear insider in the Russells team (who is that handsome valet?) and the entire staff aware of his position, it’s a bit complex to place the blame on Watson’s shoulders. Bertha when the others find her. EVERYONE saw her working for the Russells: Marian, Aurora, Oscar… but for now it seems to be what they want us to follow. The secret of The Gilded Age is always the irony of hypocrisy. And we love it!

Pesquisar

Pesquisar