[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Gilded Age Season 3 finale.]
Two couples hang in the balance after The Gilded Age Season 3 finale cliffhanger double whammy. One couple had a romantic turn in the episode’s final moments, while another pair faces devastation. Both endings were packed with drama and fittingly set up in glittering ballrooms. These endings bring The Gilded Age‘s best season yet to a nail-biting conclusion, one we thankfully will see addressed in Season 4 after HBO renewed the series in July. Here’s what fate had in store for your favorite families from 1883 New York City. Plus, Carrie Coon teases what’s ahead after those Russell family bombshells and shares what she thinks about that noteworthy moment between Bertha and Marian (Louisa Jacobson).
Did George Russell survive the shooting?
The episode began with the immediate aftermath of last week’s shooting that threatened to kill George Russell (Morgan Spector). Thankfully, William (Jordan Donica) was across the street at the Van Rhijn house when George was rushed home from the club where a paid assassin fired at home point blank. With help from Marian, Bertha, and the staff, William was able to save George’s life. The near-death experience made him rethink his life entirely, and it seemed that he and Bertha would make amends after a season of painful distance because of it.
Did Marian and Larry get back together?
Karolina Wojtasik / HBO
George’s shooting gave Marian a reality check. She tried to reconcile with Larry in the Russell home after the dust settled on George’s emergency, but Larry (Harry Richardson) was still heartbroken by her hasty calling off of their engagement. It wasn’t until Bertha’s ball that they were able to have the conversation they really needed — one prompted by positive intervention from Bertha, who encouraged Marian to fight for her relationship with Larry. And fight, she did. Marian and Larry ended the season agreeing to give their romance another shot.
“I was really curious to see what the writers would do with that plot point because for me with Marian, I’ve always felt that Marian is so much more a Bertha than Gladys is,” Coon tells TV Insider, “that Bertha would have a lot of respect for Marian’s desire for freedom. She’s very plucky and she does things on her own and she breaks the rules, which Bertha also does. And yet [Marian’s engagement to Larry] was a bridge too far for Bertha. She didn’t have enough status for her son ultimately.”
“I’m glad it came around that Bertha ends up having to capitulate and fight to get Marian back because I think she does actually respect her,” Coon continues. “And I was glad to see that they’re going to have a really interesting relationship going forward.”
Did Peggy and William get engaged?
Karolina Wojtasik/HBO
The meddling Mrs. Kirkland (a fabulous Phylicia Rashad) exposed the story of Peggy’s (Denée Benton) annulled marriage and dead child to William before she had the chance to tell him herself, threatening perhaps forever the happiness of this couple that was very much in love. This caused an apparent split between the two, one that was still haunting the heartbroken Peggy at the Black elite’s Newport ball. Everyone in Peggy and William’s sphere was furious with Elizabeth for what she did, especially her own husband, played by Brian Stokes Mitchell. Mr. Kirkland encouraged his son to go after Peggy and make amends no matter what disapproving remarks Mrs. Kirkland made.
Peggy was supported by her parents, Dorothy (Audra McDonald) and Arthur Scott (John Douglas Thompson), the latter of whom had strong words for Mrs. Kirkland after she hurt her daughter. In a sweeping romantic moment, William arrived at the ball to ask Mr. Scott for his permission to marry Peggy. He then surprised her on the dance floor and proposed to her on the spot, but her answer remains a mystery.
This ball, along with Bertha’s, were a splendid treat for the eyes, with romance at every turn about the dance floor thanks to the gorgeous costume, set, and lighting design. There are lots of reasons to love The Gilded Age. The showstopping imagery they deliver in these grand, high-society moments is one of them — and it centers Black people of the time period in this lush, romantic period setting as well. In a TV world where Black characters aren’t often the leads of a lush, romantic storyline in a dazzling fairytale setting, Peggy and William’s love story is a breath of fresh air.
Are Oscar and Mrs. Winterton getting married?
Karolina Wojtasik / HBO
The grieving Oscar (Blake Ritson) may have found a way to solve all of his problems (the ones that can be solved, that is) — and those of his ally, Mrs. Enid Winterton (Kelley Curran). The woman who went from a lady’s maid in the Russell house to new-money rich through marriage found herself widowed in the finale. Oscar was left a cottage by his late lover, John Adams (Claybourne Elder). Both well aware of each other’s true circumstances, Oscar proposed a marriage between the two of them.
With Winterton’s fortune, the Van Rhijn name would have money once more, and both Oscar and Enid would have the freedom to be romantically involved with whomever they pleased in this beard of a union, as well as multiple private homes in which to live out their days in peace. It’s a match made in heaven for these two schemers. And it technically means that Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) is now going to be new money. This is on top of the renewed possibility of Marian becoming a Russell. Will horrors ever cease for poor Agnes? Ada (Cynthia Nixon) will help her through it. And Agnes’ new philanthropic job will help, too.
Are George and Bertha getting divorced?
George’s shooting was miraculously kept secret, and he was well enough to attend Bertha’s ball where daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) and her husband, Hector (Ben Lamb), were in attendance. George made it seem that he had taken stock of his life and realized that forgiving Bertha in their ongoing feud about Gladys’ marriage was better for them, that he wanted to reconcile and reunite. Bertha was on cloud nine, but reality came crashing down the morning after the ball.
George did reevaluate his life, and reconciliation was of interest to him, but not enough to make him want to stay in their marriage. He dropped the bombshell that he was leaving Bertha in the finale’s last moments. As Bertha wept and watched him leave, Gladys revealed she’s pregnant. A love match seems to have formed between Gladys and Hector after all. Bertha was right to marry her daughter off to the duke, but it cost her everything.
The Gilded Age Season 4 will reveal the fate of George and Bertha’s marriage, but it seems more likely than ever that they will in fact be mirroring the Vanderbilt marriage on which they’re based. It’s a good thing Bertha welcomed divorced women back into society. She may soon be one. Coon told TV Insider that Season 4 may “explore that possibility,” but “the train hasn’t left the station.”
“You have to pay attention to the idea that Bertha is preemptively trying to make society comfortable for divorced women,” Coon told TV Insider. “We know Bertha, we know that any effort she’s making is not entirely altruistic. There’s always something self-serving in that effort.”
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