Should I, to paraphrase the movie Mean Girls, stop trying to make The Gilded Age happen? Perhaps because it's airing on HBO and isn't as immediately accessible to a British or American viewership as Downton Abbey, there doesn't appear to be an awful lot of hype about it. Instead, costume-drama viewers seem a lot more interested in Netflix's Bridgerton. But I'm just back from my first trip to London in three years (well, OK, I travelled back last Sunday – but I'm still tired!) and going for the path of least resistance. I don't have much to say about Bridgerton anyway. It's frothy, escapist, not very action-packed, the ideal viewing if you have a cold, and has nothing whatsoever to do with Regency England (something the series, to its credit, acknowledged briefly in a parallel-universe-explaining scene in season one). The higher Regency society was no melting pot, and the Queen did not literally select the "diamond of the season" as if the season were some beauty pageant. This is pure fantasy, and should be enjoyed as such.
Back, then, to The Gilded Age. To be fair, in terms of action, there's not much more going on here than in Bridgerton. Only towards the end did it pick up the pace – and then, just as all the pieces had been moved into a promising pattern, the season was over (after nine episodes, not ten as I first thought it would be). The Gilded Age suffered from the same problem as late Downton series in that some storylines were dragged out just so the characters involved could have a "season arc". For instance, no-one really believed that Marian Brook's romance with Mr Raikes would come to anything, so that plot line could easily have been shortened, even if it meant having to give Marian something else to do for the rest of the season. For all that, I really liked this series – yes, more than Bridgerton – and now the preliminary introductions to the characters are over and done with there are many interesting ways it could go. In order to follow my old Downton tradition, I think I'll try some predictions, hopefully without spoiling too much of season one for those who have not yet seen it.
Mrs Chamberlain's son makes an appearance Romance seems likely to bloom between Marian and Larry Russell, but will it really be all plain sailing from here? This pairing is so obvious it could easily become boring if there are no other romantic options for these young leads. Marian has made friends with Mrs Chamberlain, a rich and kind woman who is nevertheless shunned by polite society because of her scandalous past. She has a son ("adopted", though he is in fact her biological son) whom we have yet to meet. It would lead to some intriguing developments if he were to take an interest in Marian. What would her aunts say? Aunt Agnes would be shocked, but she has a more pragmatic side, and in terms of wealth young Mr Chamberlain would be a catch for the penniless Marian. Marian herself would be favourably disposed towards the son of a friend. By not being an obvious "Mr Wrong", he could give Larry a run for his money.
Mr Russell does Marian a good turn The admirable George Russell is the kind of man who always pays his debts. Marian unwittingly helped him unearth a scheme to besmirch his good name, and now he owes her one. There's no guarantee he will help her with good grace. Russell is a great character, my favourite by far, but the viewer is still supposed to be a little wary of his ruthless streak. I can see Agnes Van Rhijn being reluctantly grateful to him for helping her niece out of some scrape, and him acknowledging her grudging thanks in a stiff "well, we're even now" way.
An English Lord for Gladys? It's pretty clear that the socially ambitious Bertha Russell is in part modelled on Alva Vanderbilt, which would make her daughter Gladys a parallel to Consuelo Vanderbilt. Consuelo married the Duke of Marlborough, a match fiercely promoted by her mother, but was famously unhappy in her marriage (and let everybody know it). We've already seen that Bertha did not consider a perfectly respectable young banker grand enough for Gladys. Maybe a titled Englishman is what she's looking for as a son-in-law. I don't think the dates match, regrettably, but otherwise one could imagine Bertha trying to secure a young Earl of Grantham for her daughter before he's snatched up by Cora instead. Anyway, I expect some members of the English aristocracy to make an appearance.
Bertha Russell and Agnes van Rhijn team up It may be too soon to expect this in season two, but consider this my standing prediction for future seasons as well. Sooner or later, it will happen. They are both hard-headed women, and will in time find some common cause (possibly involving the happiness of Marian and Larry). Bertha told Mrs Astor that she could prove a useful friend, but I can't really see these two women becoming really chummy – Mrs Astor is more likely to see the point of Bertha's husband (whom she has already conceded to be "a force to be reckoned with"). But Agnes and Bertha do have things in common, and if the situation is dire enough they could be brought to see it. As Agnes has been a bit of a disappointment this far, I think the character would benefit from moving out of her comfort zone.
We learn more about Peggy's ex I'm ashamed to say I can't remember what happened to Peggy's husband. Did he die? Or did her father bully him into accepting a divorce, and in that case, on what possible grounds? In any case, Mr Scott's behaviour over Peggy's marriage is baffling, to say the least. It's one thing if he thought she married beneath her, but she did marry – and yet he handled the whole situation as if she was living in sin. It's rare for a character in a Fellowes drama to behave completely irrationally and in a "stock character" (Stern Father) manner. Does Mr Scott know something about Peggy's hubby that we don't?
Battle of the butlers I suppose the rivalry between Church and Bannister, where the former apparently shopped the latter to his employer when he was earning a little on the side (though should we, and more importantly Bannister, really take Miss Turner's word for this?), will play out somehow. Not that I really want it to. I like them both. Can't they just be pals?
