FINALLY, we have news about the official return of The Gilded Age: Per a presser we got from HBO Max (or whatever it’s called now), the eight-episode second season of the show will be returning on Sunday, October 29th. Buckle in, here’s what we have ahead of us:
The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost. Season two of THE GILDED AGE begins on Easter morning 1883, with the news that Bertha Russell’s bid for a box at the Academy of Music has been rejected. Through the eight episodes of the season, we watch as Bertha challenges Mrs. Astor and the old system and works to not only gain a foothold in Society, but to potentially take a leading role in it. George Russell takes on his own battle with a growing union at his steel plant in Pittsburgh. In the Brook House, Marian continues her journey to find her way in the world secretly teaching at a girls school while much to everyone’s surprise Ada begins a new courtship. Of course, Agnes approves of none of it. In Brooklyn, the Scott family begins to heal from a shocking discovery, and Peggy taps into her activist spirit through her work with T. Thomas Fortune at the NY Globe.
I’m very excited to see more of Hot T. Thomas Fortune for Peggy, and also I feel a lede has been buried: Ada’s courtship appears to be with none other than Robert Sean Leonard, whom I’ve loved since I was a youth! At the very least, she appears to be looking at art with him while glowing, as one would. That seems sexy for the time period:
This feels like a gift. Of course, it’ll also be emotionally fraught for all of us to have to deal with George Russell being a sexy robber baron who presumably is also anti-union. Emotional conflict!!!! For me!!!!
Here’s your trailer:
Go get ‘em, Bertha! (Also, hurrah for the return of Nathan Lane and his cornpone accent; I am disappointed not to see George Russell threatening someone from the interior of a massive fireplace, but I trust it will happen!) (I also look forward to complaining about how Marian thinks she’s going to get away with SECRETLY TEACHING. That’s a lot of time away from home?!?! Like is she secreting people’s papers in her hope chest? Aunt Agnes is very perceptive, she’s gonna notice something is up! Oh, Marian, this plan is probably dumb.)
This season, our recaps of The Gilded Age will live at our Substack, Drinks With Broads, where they will go out to all paid subscribers! If you haven’t subscribed yet, paying subscribers receive all our TV recaps (including Heather’s barnburner takes on the freshly renewed And Just Like That), an additional full-length newsletter weekly, the ability to comment, and access to all our archives. It’s $5 a month, or $50 a year, and we’d love to see you there if you’re not hanging out with us already. It’s great fun! Please join us for further discussion of hot robber barons, sexy newspaper owners, what appears via some other press photos to be the return of Bertha’s Evil Ladies Maid, yet more Tony winners, the dramatic personal lives of rich people with problems, insane Wiki deep dives (will we ever beat the one where I discovered someone got mysteriously stabbed in Java by his third wife and probably deserved it because he previously tried to set his butler on fire? Stay tuned!), history, trains (‘n’ more!) and, of course, laser focus on scandals of yore.
Catch up with season one’s recaps here at GFY!
Photographs by Barbara Nitke/HBO
