The Gilded Age Recap: The Return of Hector
The Gilded Age Recap: The Return of Hector
What the Papers Say
Season 3
Episode 2
Editorâs Rating
4 stars
The Gilded Age
What the Papers Say
Season 3
Episode 2
Editorâs Rating
4 stars
Gladys needs to put up more of a fight if she thinks sheâs going to evade Berthaâs plans.
Photo: Karolina Wojtasik/HBO
And weâre off to the races. I need catty asides in my period dramas, and this need can best be served at a gathering. In our premiere, everyone was too separated. Now theyâre all crashing into one another, and I am a fan. Loose meteorites, the lot of them!! The more crashes we get, the more collateral damage, which in this case will be something like, âMrs. Astor has uninvited me from next monthâs charity bazaar in aid of lightly injured polo ponies.â *horrified gasps*
Gladys has run off, and at first, it seems like she has escaped Consuelo Vanderbiltâs destiny and eloped with the uninspiring-but-seemingly-okay Billy. The servants are in a tizzy. Larry is cross with Bertha for driving Gladys to this. But then we find out that Gladys is just staying at Billyâs home (in a respectable way, you pervs). Gladys! You cannot evade the Wheels of Fate, a.k.a. Berthaâs plans, unless you take big and irrevocable swings! To be honest, even if she had eloped with Billy, Iâm not positive Bertha couldnât have just undone the marriage and hushed it up with her gobs of money. Gladys would have had to out-scheme Bertha, and I think we all know that Gladys isnât up for that challenge.
When Bertha collects Gladys from the Carlton family, Mrs. Carlton (hello again, Broadway legend Victoria Clark!) tries to smooth things over for the couple. Seeing that Bertha is implacably set against the marriage, Mrs. Carlton mentions that her great-grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence and wonders what Berthaâs ancestors were doing. I donât know, man, but maybe it was something not directly involved in deleting the condemnation of slavery from our nationâs founding document.
No more delays on the Update on Peggyâs Health. I admit to being very concerned about Peggy last week, and I try not to absorb too much information about the season before and as it airs. I was genuinely worried they were going to kill off Peggy. She was coughing so much! But instead, her illness provides a reason for Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski to sit in a room together, mere moments (years) after the end of The Good Fight. I know the answer to this is âacting,â but I still donât know how they were able to do these scenes together without losing it. The vibes! The vibes are so different!
Dorothy is there because Peggyâs illness means her parents are coming to visit. Dorothy tries to go through the servantsâ entrance, but Arthur wonât have it, and they enter, along with the doctor theyâve brought, through the front. Agnes has them sit in the parlor with her while the handsome doctor attends to Peggy. So handsome! Letâs hope heâs not married. So many men on this show are married. He asks for hot water for Peggyâs feet. I want hot water for my feet! I know the heat index is like 112, but the heart wants what it wants. Peggy slowly improves, thank God. Agnes tells the Scotts that her family was brought up to be well mannered toward everyone, and thatâs what she does. Arthur replies that he doesnât think good manners are an effective cure for 250 years of slavery. Indeed! They bond over being parents, and we are all grateful for Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski.
Downstairs, Miss Armstrong continues to be racist. âIâm only saying what everyone is thinking.â âNo one is thinking that.â I see you, 2025 vibes! The other servants are only concerned with who is actually in charge of the household now that Ada has all the money (itâs Ada!), and also will Ada make them sign the temperance pledge. As a side note to this pledge, some temperance pledges allowed for beer and wine. The word teetotaler comes from those who advocated for a total (get it?) abstention from alcohol. In my opinion, the movementâs insistence on this shift to complete abstinence is part of what sunk it. But weâre not here to listen to my opinions on the fall of the temperance movement, however correct they may be. The servants donât want to sign the pledge, and when Ada asks Marian, Marian says no and, in a moment of amazing boundary holding, says sincerely, âIâm sorry if that makes you unhappy.â
Okay, youâve been waiting for it, Iâve been waiting for it, Gladys has been waiting for it: George is home! When he gets there, he immediately sees JP Morgan. Film and TV veteran Bill Camp manages to make JP Morgan so compelling. I never thought Iâd want to see more of JP Morgan in my programs, but here I am. George and JP talk about Georgeâs Big Railroad Idea, which JP calls a feat to rival Moses parting the Red Sea. Itâs a huge risk with a potentially huge reward, and JP will support it, but if George fails, heâs on his own. Could this be foreshadowing?! I am concerned about the Big Railroad Idea. If this were the musical version of The Gilded Age, George could take this moment to sing âNever Enoughâ from The Greatest Showman.
Bertha and Gladys come home postâGladys fleeing to Billyâs, and George kisses Bertha on the cheek. On the cheek? Do you have any idea what 2025 is dealing with on the daily? Do you know the emotional toll? And you give us CHEEK KISS? Gladys tells George about being sold to Hector, the Duke, etc., etc.; she wants George to protect her, so she leaves. George and Bertha start making out on the couch (great), but then it cuts to the KITCHEN. WHY? Do I have to read fanfic to make up for this? Straight fanfic? During Pride?
Thatâs the most we get from George and Bertha, despite there being a bedroom scene. The bedroom scene is a debate about Gladysâs future and who calls the shots. Bertha tells George that he can have a say about Gladysâs marriage when Bertha is in his boardroom, offering ideas about railroads and steel mills. Sheâs trying to give Gladys power through this marriage, but has she met Gladys?
Before getting to The End of Gladys and Billy, we have to talk about the Fane situation. Aurora and Charles are supposed to host the Young Womenâs Christian Association that week, but Charles isnât responding to Auroraâs letters. I know he wants a divorce, but also heâs giving Aurora zero compassion, zero understanding, and 100 percent âwhat if I act like a total dick?â At the YWCA event, Aurora tells people, including Mrs. Astor, that Charles is ill and canât attend. Donna Murphy, thank God youâre there; Iâve missed you. Charles ends up coming to the event and bringing his mistress. Mrs. Astor sees whatâs going on and leaves, and Charles tells Aurora that the woman heâs with didnât even want to come, but he made her? Agnes shuts Charles down in a very satisfying way, but what would be more satisfying is if someone could crush all his hopes and dreams.
The YWCA event is somehow the moment where Billy is supposed to ask George if he can marry Gladys. Billy walks up to George, who is speaking with two other gentlemen, and immediately acts like a chickenshit and bows out. This works out for him, because Bertha has already told Mrs. Carlton at this party that if Billy doesnât back off, he will never get another job, and the Russells will disinherit Gladys. BERTHA. Meanwhile, the John Adams descendant is over here telling Oscar he loves and believes in him and will give him money to invest and get him back on his feet. John Adams descendant redemption!
Larry and Marian are still sneaking around, but in a way where literally everyone knows what theyâre up to. Larry could have kissed Marian in the extremely private alcove of the servants entrance, but instead, heâs like, oh wait, letâs jump into this parked carriage with entirely open windows and many people walking nearby. A perfect place to make out. Really missing the Bridgerton carriage scene about now. At least there was some nod to privacy there. I do really like Larry and Marian, though, even if Larry had some surprising chemistry with Jack the Clock Boy during Jackâs suit fitting. Larry was even holding a phallic cigarette the whole time. I do think itâs likely that Harry Richardson, who plays Larry, is just very good at having chemistry with people. But also I hope he and Marian get married and are happy forever and ever.
We end with the dinner for Hector the Duke. Immediately, before it begins, Billy covertly calls on Gladys and tells her their love is âno longer practicalâ and itâs over. Not cool, Billy. But also, if you suck this much, itâs probably for the best. Oh no, am I the Bertha now? Hector has brought his attorney, which stuns George. He tells Gladys that heâll take care of it. Will you, George?
âą I heard Charles Fane is a real pile of shit; pass it on.
âą Marian and Larry making out in a parked carriage â dumb or exhibitionist? Or both!
âą Donât you just feel like Agnes van Rhijn and Dorothy Scott could work at a law firm together? I know that sounds specific and so beyond the times in which we live, but I can see it.
The Gilded Age Recap: The Return of Hector
