This Sunday, we’re heading back in time — and back to The Gilded Age’s New York — as Season 3 promises a whole lot of drama. Gladys Russell is being forced into marriage with the Duke of Buckingham, there’s Peggy Scott is finally finding true love, and, above all, there’s the blossoming romance between Larry and Marian. The two shared a kiss at the end of Season 2 and seem madly in love in the trailers for Season 3. But let’s not forget that actress Louisa Jacobson has been warning us for over a year now: “Things you think are going to happen might happen — but then something else turns everything upside down,” she told Town and Country. Oh dear. No! What now?

There are plenty of fan theories about what could threaten the couple: everything from disapproval from their families to an unexpected pregnancy from Larry’s ex-lover — the one his mother, Bertha Russell, pressured him to break up with. The only thing we can rule out is the return of the irresponsible Tom Raikes — who broke Marian’s heart — as actor Thomas Cocquerel is no longer in the cast. But wouldn’t that have been dramatic?

Actually, Louisa’s curious hint seems to point to a different kind of issue — something similar to what Marian faced when she was briefly engaged to Dashiell Montgomery: namely, what marriage really meant for women at the time. In large part, it meant giving up your work — a dealbreaker for Marian.

According to Town and Country, Marian’s two very public relationships (first with Raikes, then with Dashiell) will count “against” her. “If you scandalized society, you could be completely cast out — and you see how that affects the heroine at the end of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth,” Louisa said in 2024, echoing the same comparison I made here at MiscelAna in 2023. We’ll soon find out how Marian deals with the fallout of being deceived by Tom and almost forced into an engagement with Dashiell — whom she didn’t even love.

“Marian is on a journey of self-discovery,” says director Salli Richardson-Whitfield. “In that time, women were expected to just seek a husband. But she feels she wants something deeper in life — something bigger. And part of that is finding love, hopefully with Larry. But then — what kind of marriage does she want? She’s really exploring who she is as a complete woman — something we rarely see portrayed in the late 19th century.”

Which is ironic, really, because if there’s one thing that connects Larry and Marian, it’s their shared desire to not only work, but to work in something they love. They support one another — so in theory, they should both want the same kind of marriage. Still, it might be a source of conflict ahead.

“Society back then was extremely public, and the stakes were high if people found out you had ruined two engagements. There was immense pressure on women,” Louisa continues. “It’s funny, because in Season 1, Marian used to say, ‘I don’t care what society thinks,’ but the truth is, I think she realizes it does matter. How you live your life — appearances — they matter. And she’s in the process of building her own path, something that feels authentic and meaningful to her, something aligned with her values, rather than just copying her aunts or other young women in society. And I really relate to that,” she confessed.

Whether Julian Fellowes will bring together the most “shipped” couple of The Gilded Age remains to be seen. In the photos and trailers released so far, Larry and Marian appear deeply in love — and marrying for love was already a modern, even radical act for a woman like Marian, who isn’t wealthy and, frankly, “needs” marriage to survive. Larry, on the other hand, is young, rich, and in love with her. So what’s stopping them?

So far, actress Laura Benanti is still not listed as part of the Season 3 cast… but who really knows? A major twist could still be on the horizon. Because honestly, unless Larry ends up being forced by his mother to obey her for some larger reason, there doesn’t seem to be anything standing in the way of him choosing Marian. Let’s not forget she helped George Russell out of his legal troubles in Season 1 — and the entire Russell family seems to genuinely like her.

Whatever the case, we’ll find out soon enough!