Updated
Updated · Vanity Fair · Aug 25
The Gilded Age Returns Nov. 1, Testing 5-Year Bonds in Season 4
Updated
Updated · Vanity Fair · Aug 25

The Gilded Age Returns Nov. 1, Testing 5-Year Bonds in Season 4

3 articles · Updated · Vanity Fair · Aug 25

Summary

  • November 1 marks HBO’s Season 4 premiere, with the new episodes pushing The Gilded Age beyond its slow-burn rhythm into higher-stakes conflicts over marriage, legacy, ambition and even life and death.
  • The sharpest rupture centers on Bertha and George Russell, whose marriage is buckling after her role in daughter Gladys’s loveless match to the Duke; Gladys is now expecting a baby as the couple edges toward a possible split.
  • Peggy Scott also moves closer to center stage as the series expands its Black world, while Marian and Larry deepen their long-running flirtation and Oscar Van Rhijn teams with Enid Winterton to climb past Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Russell.
  • Season 4 broadens the show’s scale with dozens of New York and Newport locations, new additions including Bonnie Milligan, Taylor Trensch and Jim Gaffigan, and a production using about 5,000 costumes built from 50,000 archival references.

Insights

Will Bertha Russell's ruthless climb to the top of New York society finally cost her the one thing she truly values?
Can the record-breaking success of this historical drama survive the fracturing marriage at the very heart of its storyline?
As old and new money collide, how much of the 1880s extreme wealth inequality is actually mirroring our modern society?