“Gilded Age” flips the money and power

As “The Gilded Age” returns, we see two approaches to life. There’s the:
— American view: Money is really quite essential; and
— Old-world view: Even without money, there’s class and privilege and such.
“I’m always rather fascinated by people who pretend that the loss of money … doesn’t affect them at all,” said Julian Fellowes, the series creator.
As the third season begins (9 p.m. Sunday, June 22, on HBO and Max), that’s the situation for Agnes (Christine Baranski, second from left in this poster).
Her son Oscar was swindled out of the family fortune. At the same time, her sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) learned that her late husband, a minister, was rich.
Now life has flip-flopped. Ada owns the manor; Agnes is merely a guest.
That’s hard for her to accept, Fellowes said. Agnes believes in “the essentially English concept of greatness by birth that can’t be shifted.”
For two gifted actresses — Emmy-nominees in their roles — this is new.
Agnes has had an air of authority. “I always call her a walking declarative sentence,” Baranski said.
Now Ada, unaccustomed to power or prosperity, is in charge. “She’s thrilled; she’s terrified,” Nixon said. “She’s trying to do something and she’s making a lot of mistakes. She’s trying to mature into this great responsibility.”
This is familiar turf for Fellowes, who grew up in a rich British family and is now a baron. He won an Oscar for writing “Gosford Park” and two Emmys for “Downton Abbey.”
Now he’s writing about rich Americans in 1880s New York and Newport, some clinging to old-world values.
“The whole season is about who’s in charge,” said Sonja Warfield, who writes and produces the show with Fellowes. “Who is in charge in society? Who’s in charge of marriages?”
Yes, there are marital strains, even where we might not expect them.
Until now, the Russells have seemed comfy. George (Morgan Spector) is new-money rich; Bertha (Carrie Coon, second from right) is embedded into society. Their son, Larry, is a fresh Harvard grad; their daughter, Gladys, is of marrying age … which is where the complication comes.
Bertha wants Gladys to marry old money. “She wants her daughter to be safe,” Coon said.
George hates the notion. “If you have to marry an English aristocrat to really feel like you’ve arrived, then the sort of status George has built for himself isn’t enough,” Spector said.
And how does their daughter feel? “I think Gladys is pretty used to being a pawn that Bertha loves to move around,” said Taissa Farmiga, who plays her.
Her brother Larry has fallen for Marian Brook (left), but that won’t be easy. “She wants to do something that adds up to more than getting dressed for the opera or not being late for dinner,” Fellowes said.
That’s the independent spirit that Larry admires … but that could squelch their future together.
Already flashing that sort of independence is Peggy (right), who has been both Agnes’ secretary and a reporter for a Black newspaper. She’s a generation ahead of the Harlem Renaissance. “Peggy is sort of the American Girl doll of my dreams,” said Denee Benton, who plays her.
But things won’t be easy for anyone. The 1880’s brought recessions and turmoil. Last season had the “opera wars,” with two opera groups fighting for dominance. Soon, there may be bigger things to fight for.