In the growing list of period dramas, The Gilded Age has earned a top spot. Created by Downton Abbey‘s Julian Fellowes, the HBO drama has received critical acclaim, and rightfully so. Now three seasons in, the captivating story highlights the drama of New York’s upper class in the 1890s. Known for its drama, The Gilded Age delivers shocking twists every season — and with Season 4 fast approaching, it’s time to recap Season 3’s most important events.
‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 Introduces Chaos for the Van Rhijns
The Van Rhijn household is rarely quiet, but Season 3 sees a shift. After losing his fortune, Oscar (Blake Ritson) moves back into his mother’s house, which is only being sustained because of Ada’s (Cynthia Nixon) unexpected inheritance. As the new head of the household, Ada no longer defers to Agnes (Christine Baranski), hosting Temperance meetings and controlling the purse strings. Meanwhile, Agnes must come to terms with her fading relevance. Yet, in the end, she receives an invitation to become the Heritage Society’s vice president, giving her a new focus for Season 4.
While his mother and aunt clash, Oscar must rebuild his life, but no one is willing to trust a bankrupt banker. However, his lover, John Adams (Claybourne Elder), helps Oscar repair his reputation. When Oscar finds Maud Beaton (Nicole Brydon Bloom), the woman who stole from him, he helps her rather than seeking revenge, showing his growth. But Oscar’s progress stalls when John is suddenly killed, leaving Oscar to mourn his loss without revealing their true relationship to anyone but Marian (Louisa Jacobson). At the end of Season 3, Oscar becomes reacquainted with Mrs. Enid Winterton (Kelley Curran), whom he knew as the Russells’ maid. Now widowed, she has a fortune and no social connections, while Oscar has the opposite. This is the mutually beneficial marriage Oscar’s always wanted, setting up another interesting storyline for The Gilded Age to pick up when it returns.
‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 Explores the Black Elite and the Lower Class
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Agnes and Ada aren’t the only ones whose circumstances change. Last season, the van Rhjins’ footman, Jack (Ben Ahlers), invented a more accurate clock, and Season 3 explores his journey to sell it. Teaming up with Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), Jack sells the patent for a fortune, setting him up for life. The Gilded Age has much to explore as Jack quickly starts working on other inventions, though a visit from his former coworker, Bridget (Taylor Richardson), to his new house suggests the potential of a blossoming romance.
While Peggy (Denée Benton) has quit her job at the newspaper, she has decided to publish her first novel. However, her progress is interrupted by a sudden illness. Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica) treats her and quickly takes a liking to her. While visiting family in Newport, Peggy and William develop a romance despite his mother’s protests. Mrs. Kirkland (Phylicia Rashad) disapproves of Peggy and tries to thwart the couple, ungraciously revealing gossip about her past to William. When Peggy reveals the truth about her lost son, William initially hesitates but eventually realizes it doesn’t matter. Season 3 ends with William proposing to Peggy, setting up potential wedding bells in Season 4.
Every one of these four started as a cast recording people played until
the disc wore out, and every one of them eventually turned into a film. Here is yours, what it says
about you, and the case for it being the best of the four.
You work like the clock is against you, because in your head it
always is. Hamilton is three hours about a man who cannot stop producing, cannot stop
arguing and cannot leave a single thing alone, and you recognised yourself in it
immediately.
- You are the most ambitious person in most rooms and you are slightly embarrassed about
how much you like that. - It won eleven Tony Awards in 2016 and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the same year.
- Disney paid a reported seventy-five million for the filmed stage version and put it out
in 2020 instead of in cinemas. - Your flaw is the one the show spends its second half on, which is not knowing when to
stop writing.
People made up their minds about you early and they were wrong.
Wicked takes the most famous villain in American children’s fiction and asks what the story
looks like from her side, which is a question you have asked about yourself more than once.
- You are an acquired taste and the people who get you would go to war for you.
- Jon M. Chu’s first film was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2025 and won two.
- Wicked: For Good opened to a hundred and fifty million dollars in 2025 and was then shut
out of the Oscars entirely. - Your risk is spending so long being underestimated that you start enjoying it.
You cannot walk past something unfair. Les Mis is a show about a
man who spends his entire life trying to make one wrong right, and about everybody around
him deciding what they are prepared to lose for other people.
- You are the one who speaks up, and you have paid for it more than once.
- The original London reviews were terrible and it is now the longest-running musical in
West End history. - Tom Hooper shot the 2012 film with the cast singing live on set, and Anne Hathaway won
Best Supporting Actress for it. - Your weakness is taking on so much of other people’s weight that nobody carries yours.
You are not interested in saving it all for later. Rent is a year
in the life of people with no money, no plan and a very clear sense that the time they have
is the only thing they genuinely own.
- Your friends are your family, and you would rather be broke among them than comfortable
without them. - Jonathan Larson died suddenly the night before the first preview and never saw what the
show became. - It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony for Best Musical in 1996, and his story
became tick, tick… BOOM! in 2021. - Your flaw is that living entirely for now leaves somebody else to deal with later.
‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 Highlights the Russell Siblings
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Image via HBOWhile The Gilded Age is an ensemble show, the Russells are central, especially in Season 3. At the start, Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) has fallen in love with Billy Carlton (Matt Walker), but Bertha (Carrie Coon) doesn’t approve of the match and threatens to sabotage Billy’s career. Instead, Bertha manipulates Gladys into marrying Hector, the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb), hoping the marriage will raise her daughter’s position in society. Though Gladys’ situation seems bleak, she makes the most of it, and after she wrestles control away from her new sister-in-law, Lady Sarah (Hattie Morahan), she finds some happiness with Hector, leaving them with a child on the way in Season 4.
Meanwhile, Larry isn’t as lucky in love. Season 2 began with a romance between him and Marian, and Season 3 picks up where they left off. Though Marian is cautious, they soon become engaged. That same evening, Larry meets friends at a less-than-reputable establishment and lies about it. Having been hurt similarly before, Marian breaks off their engagement. While Jack, who was there that night, confirms Larry’s innocence and Marian wants to make it right, Larry is unsure how they can move forward. Ultimately, Season 3 leaves the couple on the road to reconciliation, but it’s unclear whether they will fully rekindle their relationship.
‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 Explores Tension in Bertha and George’s Marriage
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The Russell children aren’t the only ones with drama, as Bertha and George (Morgan Spector) have their own issues. Gossip about the Russells leaks to the papers, and their staff discovers the culprit is Miss André (Rachel Pickup), Bertha’s maid, ending her time at the Russell house. She isn’t the only one spreading gossip, as Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane) publishes a book exposing all of society, including the Russells, and gets himself excommunicated.
Season 3 also highlights society’s treatment of divorced women through Mrs. Fane’s (Kelli O’Hara) journey as her husband decides to leave her in the wake of his affair. Bertha opposes ostracizing her, but Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy) holds fast, which is ironic since her own daughter Charlotte (Hannah Shealy) is heading for a divorce. When McAllister’s gossip brings that scandal to light, Mrs. Astor asks Bertha to host the final ball. In response, Bertha invites divorced women, allowing her to restructure society.
Throughout the season, George has his own endeavors, focusing on building a transcontinental railroad. To do so, he must ally with his competitors, but his work makes him enemies, including his former right-hand man, Clay (Patrick Page). This story culminates in a gunman showing up at George’s office and shooting him. He’s rushed home, and fortunately, Dr. Kirkland is visiting at the van Rhijns house across the street and performs immediate surgery. George pulls through and chooses to hide the experience from the press. While George survived, his marriage to Bertha may not. Despite a near-reconciliation, the season ends with George and Bertha at odds over her treatment of Gladys — and George declares that he wants a separation right before Gladys announces her pregnancy, leaving Bertha experiencing both joy and despair.
The Gilded Age is streaming on HBO Max, with Season 4 premiering on November 1.
The Gilded Age
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