The Gilded Age rushed out of the starting gate last week with a captivating season premiere. Dramatic events, ones that are going to have long-term consequences, made the episode unforgettable. Creator Julian Fellowes and the writers wisely decided to keep the momentum high for the next episode. The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2 suggests that this season will push the dramatic intensity of this show to new levels, and I am here for it.
“You Won’t Hear Me Beg” is an appropriate title because the audience doesn’t need to ask for more drama in this episode.
MORE: Did the events of last week’s episode of The Gilded Age slip your mind? Just read our review of Season 4, Episode 1!
“You’re a man, your life is simple.”
Let’s start with Larry (Harry Richardson) and Marian (Louisa Jacobson). Their night together in the last episode was surprising on the level of societal norms of the time, but also not surprising on the level of their feelings for each other. Larry tries to reassure her that he’ll marry her. We expect this, don’t we? Because that’s who Larry is. Especially when it comes to Marian. He is the marrying kind.
Right now, Marian is the one keeping them apart because of her own hang-ups. Even as she tells Larry she won’t be with him out of pity or guilt, we know she’s wrong. Those aren’t Larry’s motivations. It’s as if Marian has regressed in self-assurance since last season, and her character arc this season will be to grow enough to accept Larry’s love.
We get an idea of something that might help with that in this episode. Marian is now volunteering at a settlement house in a poor neighborhood, a change from her teaching job last season. A young boy who has to work to help his family survive comes to the house with a burn. His mother has a new baby and no one else to help, and Marian clearly has things to learn from the situation. It’s also not lost on me that the image of a woman holding a baby next to Marian is significant. Marian just lost her virginity, after all, and period dramas do not lose opportunities to comment on social restrictions of the past.
MORE: Julian Fellowes created both The Gilded Age and Downton Abbey and we have ideas on how the two shows can crossover!
“All you did was indicate weakness.”
Those include restrictions based on more than just gender roles. Peggy (Denee Benton) faces low-key but noticeable small-mindedness when the other women at her future mother-in-law’s women’s club learn she has written a novel. Our girl Peggy can handle that, though. Just like she can handle the misguided mother of her fiancée. Mrs. Kirkland (Phylicia Rashaad) is no longer opposing Peggy as a partner for her son, William (Jordan Donica).
But that doesn’t mean she isn’t making mistakes. Her introducing Peggy as a widow, instead of telling the truth about her annulment, proves that. The way Peggy is so comfortable with who she is and is capable of asserting that is truly aspirational.
At the same time, William comes up against some social restrictions of his own. He treats a patient with signs of tuberculosis. When he accompanies the man to a hospital for treatment, he is not allowed to stay with the patient because he is black. We haven’t seen this character face a conflict like this yet. Last season, he was wooing Peggy and saving George Russell (Morgan Spector), but a moment like this adds authenticity to the setting. I also love the way William and Peggy communicate and support each other. I hope their future is filled with more of that. Bring on their wedding!
MORE: If you don’t remember what happened all the way back at the end of last season. our review of The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 8 has you covered!
“I saw my life with a terrible clarity.”
Another couple I’m even more invested in after this episode is George and Bertha (Carrie Coon). They are both finally in New York again now that Bertha has returned from England, and Bertha being Bertha, she confronts their estrangement head-on. George doesn’t agree to come home, but the kiss he gives her says everything he can’t right now. Our Railroad Daddy can’t change his nature. His temper may be more volatile lately, thanks to a dependence on laudanum after he was shot last season, but he’s still a “My Wife” guy. It would take more than getting shot to change that. The episode ends with him in her arms, where he belongs.
Speaking of George’s shooting, this episode draws on the show’s early episodes for the answer to who pulled the trigger. Viewers will remember the city alderman who George financially ruined in season one. It led to the man’s suicide. Well, his son was George’s attempted assassin. George faces a moral crisis about what to do with this young man. The episode builds up this intense moment perfectly, deftly showing George teetering on the edge of losing himself. The Russell marriage is one thing that keeps me coming back to The Gilded Age, and Season 4, Episode 2 gives it the time it deserves. I can’t wait for more.
The Gilded Age airs on Sundays at 9 PM on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
