Annoyingly, The Gilded Age season 4 isn’t going to be on our screens for an age (pun intended) yet. In fact, we don’t actually have a release window at all, which isn’t too surprising given that season 3 only wrapped a few weeks ago. However, the last few episodes told us a lot about what we can expect going forward, and all eyes are on George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha (Carrie Coon).
George’s life hung in the balance in the closing scene of season 3 episode 7. He’d previously won out against Clay (Patrick Page) and Mr. Sage (Peter McRobbie), getting the business back on track in spite of their rivalry. However, this came at a price. A courier soon visited George’s office, pulling a gun on his secretary before aiming it straight at George himself. The gun went off, the screen goes black and we had no idea whether he’s alive or died.
In episode 8, we find out that George was indeed shot, but managed to make a miraculous recovery. But once George is well enough, he promptly tells wife Bertha that he’s not even sure if he loves her or trusts her, leaving for New York without so much as an amicable thought between them. We’ve currently got no idea if George is even going to return for season 4, but we do know Bertha has to rebuild her life on her own, likely vicariously living through Gladys (Taissa Farmiga).
However, I don’t think it’s George or Bertha who deserve all the attention in The Gilded Age season 4, or should be the storyline that’s going to change 19th century New York from the way that we know it. For me, a new era lies in Gladys herself, and it’s her recent marriage and impending pregnancy that will have a lot to answer for.
Gladys’ marriage and pregnancy will change The Gilded Age season 4 for good, mark my words
Gladys announces she is pregnant right in the episode’s final moments, with George seemingly out of the picture. At its most basic level, the final moments of season 3 mean Bertha got everything she’d been working towards, but now has been left without a stable family unit of her own. Watching Gladys wed the Duke of Buckingham, and essentially become part of British aristocracy by proxy, was what she always wanted, but it’s the consequences we need to be paying attention to.
Firstly, Glady’s story is actually based on real life. She’s loosely based on Consuelo Vanderbilt, an American socialite and member of the Vanderbilt family who married the 9th Duke of Marlborough during the real Gilded Age. However, theirs became known as a loveless marriage that was ‘forced’ on her by her mother, with their union thought of as being advantageous to everyone expect for Consuelo herself. Sound familiar?
On top of this, Gladys is who will bring us closest to creator Julian Fellowes’ biggest global hit, Downton Abbey. We’re still a way off time wise, with The Gilded Age still being the latter stage of the 1800s while Downton Abbey originally began in 1912, but if Gladys stayed with her Duke, had his baby and moved to England, the timelines cross over enough for her to have be middle aged when season 1 of Downton Abbey rolls around. If that doesn’t smell like a spinoff, I don’t know what does.
Regardless of which direction Gladys’ story actually takes, it’ll no doubt change the trajectory of The Gilded Age’s future – and that’s before we even considering how all of this affects Bertha. But who knows whether Gladys will realise she’s living Bertha’s dream and quit while she’s ahead?
“I hope I don’t have to play pregnant too long,” Taissa Farmiga told Marie Claire. I don’t want to have to wear a corset with a pregnancy belt. Let’s just throw this out there – maybe Julian reads this. But also I’ll do what I have to do!”
All three seasons of The Gilded Age are streaming on HBO Max in the US, NOW TV in the UK and Paramount+ in Australia.
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