“The American Gilded Age was a time of immense economic and social change, when empires were built, but no victory came without sacrifice.

In the aftermath of the Opera War, the old guard is weakened, and the Russells are ready to take their place at the helm of society. Bertha sets her sights on a prize that would elevate the family to unimaginable heights, while George risks everything in a gamble that could revolutionize the railroad industry — if not ruin him first.

Across the street, the Brook household is thrown into chaos when Agnes refuses to accept Ada’s new position as lady of the house.

Peggy meets a handsome Newport doctor whose family is less than thrilled with her career. As all of New York rushes toward the future, her ambition may come at the expense of what they truly hold dear.”

This is the official summary of the season, and it goes against what we already expected, but even before the official trailer, which should come out in a few days or weeks, there is information to give clues to some surprises.

The first hint that everything is going to turn upside down, at least from Bertha’s perspective, who wants to marry her daughter to the Duke of Buckingham, is that the season’s tagline warns: The heart makes its own rules. Married to the image of the Russells in the church, with Bertha looking indignant, it seems to me that Gladys will publicly rebel… will she?

As the showrunner himself, Julian Fellowes, commented in an interview, in the years of The Gilded Age, marriage could be a death sentence for women. Divorce was unacceptable, and for them, having lovers? It was extremely risky. They had to conform, and that’s why Marian Brook hesitated so much in the second season, even though she enjoyed Dashiell’s company. “If you married the wrong guy, you were in trouble for the rest of your life,” Julian Fellowes commented.

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And finding love and happiness within marriage will be the challenge of the hour in the series. We know that Gladys Russell also wants to marry for love and negotiated this freedom with her father. The problem lies in the ambitious plans of her mother, Bertha. Just as she was adamant about being accepted in society, she is now determined to give her daughter the title of nobility. This puts her at odds with her husband, as we already know that the divorce of the season (yet) is not between the Russells, but between the Astors. But wait, apparently more than one couple is going to talk about separating. Huh?

Which still leaves us wondering how the families will deal with the romance between Larry and Marian. They are perfect together, but she is not noble or rich, and he is “nouveau riche”. They both deserve complete happiness soon. I hope that any drama between them is easily resolved. After all, if he is disinherited, it will not seem like something that would make Larry think twice. The only risk is that something from the recent past will get in the way of this union (who knows, maybe).

There is a certain disappointment, although it was expected, that Agnes will “refuse to accept” that the one in charge of the house on 5th Avenue is Ada, not her. What does she have to accept? Did she expect that in gratitude, her sister would leave the “command” to her and submit as she did before, but only this time, also paying the bills?

Peggy, on the other hand, will have a love to distract her, we already knew. Courted by a tall and cultured doctor from the black elite of Newport, will he be like Dashiell and ruin everything by waiting for her to give up her desire to work?

This is where Agnes tried to explain to Marian: if not even rich women have the chance to choose a husband they love, even less so would those who, like Marian and Peggy, are not heiresses. Having someone affectionate and pleasant was enough to make them jump for joy because marriage for them was an economic and survival choice. Love was for fiction or for the lucky ones like Ada.

The showrunner mentions a few more details, such as the plot that shows John Trotter, the footman in the van Rhijn household, taking the first steps towards building his own fortune. Marian becomes a teacher of English as a second language, and we will be surprised by Agnes, the suffragette.

We still need to know more about Oscar, Turner, and other characters, but the tone of what could still be the last season of the series (they haven’t announced the renewal yet) is “all or nothing for love”. I like it!