[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “The Gilded Age” Season 3, Episode 8, “My Mind Is Made Up,” including the ending.]
It starts, as it often should, with Audra McDonald.
Her “Gilded Age” character, Dorothy Scott, is trying on a dress for the upcoming Newport ball — feeling quite pleased with her lovely embroidered roses — when her archenemy, Mrs. Kirkland (Phylicia Rashad), strides into the fitting room to ruin her day. All season, in fact, Mrs. Kirkland has made a habit of spoiling Dorothy’s fun. One might even say she savors it, and this day is no different.
The haughty mother of Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica) feigns surprise that Mrs. Scott and her daughter, Peggy (Denée Brown), are still attending the ball. By Mrs. Kirkland’s assessment (which is all that matters), the unmarried Scott should feel too ashamed for “duping” her son, Dr. Kirkland, to allow herself the pleasure of a fancy night out. “I had hoped Peggy would do the respectable thing and send her regrets,” Mrs. Kirkland says.
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That does it. That is it. With the camel’s back broken, Dorothy Scott, summoning all her righteous indignation (and channeled with maybe one-third of Audra McDonald’s extraordinary talent, which is still enough to power the city of Manhattan), lets the snobby scold have it. “Perhaps you should get off your high horse,” Dorothy spits. “You have enjoyed a certain kind of privilege amongst our people here at Newport that has created an illusion for you — the kind that has allowed you to act without grace, manners, and impunity.”
Each word snaps off like a foot colliding firmly in Mrs. Kirkland’s rump, forcing the typically uncontested aggressor to stand down. Sure, she tries to preserve a sense of superiority before she flees, reminding her suddenly effusive enemy that, no matter what accusations Dorothy tosses her way, Dr. Kirkland now knows better than to make Ms. Scott into a Mrs. The malevolent mother’s whisper campaign did the trick. The Kirklands will win the long game, as the wealthy so often do, and the Scotts will have to sit there and take it, as is their lot in life.
Well, to paraphrase Cynthia Nixon’s Ada later in the episode: “Societies change, bitch!”
Dr. Kirkland loves Peggy, he doesn’t care about her past, and he tells his mother as much. Joined by his irate father, Frederick (Brian Stokes Mitchell), the good doctor chastises Mrs. Kirkland for spreading gossip and sullying Peggy’s honest reputation. Then the patriarch puts his foot down. “WOMAN,” Frederick bellows. “You are not above reproach. You have sewn calamity and heartbreak — and this is not the first time. It stops now.”
Hell yes, Papa Kirkland! Get her ass!
…OK, let’s hit pause on the outrage for a second. It kind of sucks that only the men’s admonishment matters here, especially since Dorothy delivers the very same message, and does so with greater purpose and passion. But hey, it’s “The Gilded Age.” That’s just how things work. At least Mrs. Kirkland gets what she deserves, and everything works out between Dr. William Kirkland and the future Mrs. Peggy Kirkland.
The same good fortune — and just comeuppance — also graces Ms. Charlotte Drayton (Hannah Shealy) and her mother, Mrs. Caroline Astor (Donna Murphy), respectively. The former host of the annual ball at first rejects a precedent-breaking invitation on behalf of Charlotte, her daughter, whose divorce is the very reason Mrs. Astor forfeited hosting duties to begin with.
“We cannot allow the scourge of divorce to infect the social circles we hold dear,” Mrs. Astor says. “If you receive them, it will become an epidemic, and I cannot be part of that.”
Except, she does become a part of that, choosing to attend the ball despite her daughter’s scandalous appearance and her own promises to stay home. Bertha (Carrie Coon), ever the gracious host, only makes Mrs. Astor eat a morsel of crow when she slinks into the foyer, choosing instead to bask in one more season-ending victory over Old Money. (The opera house was only the beginning.)
And yet, Bertha’s basking doesn’t last.
As the Newport Ball ends in picture-perfect fashion, Bertha tells George (Morgan Spector), “I just want what’s best for us all.” And doesn’t that sentiment sound familiar? Is that why George gives her a look of curious consideration when he should be expressing satisfied acknowledgement? Amid the Russells’ latest victory lap, is something [gasp] amiss?
Let’s trace the echo back, shall we? What kicked off mid-revelry near the end of Episode 8 resounds all the way back to Episode 7, “Ex-Communicated,” when Larry (Harry Richardson) accused Bertha of meddling in his relationship with Marian (Louisa Jacobson).
“You must understand, I only want what’s best for you,” Bertha says. “You want what’s best for you,” her indignant (and misguided) son snaps back. “And if it doesn’t suit your plan, you seek to destroy it.”
Earlier in the finale, the Astors shared a similar exchange.
“Charlotte, I am trying to protect you,” Mrs. Astor says, regarding her daughter’s presence at the ball. “No, mother,” Charlotte says. “As usual, you are just trying to protect yourself.”
And before that — the scene directly preceding it, in fact — Mrs. Kirkland tells Mr. Kirkland, “I just did what I thought was right.” To which he pointedly replies, “For whom?”
Children squaring off with their parents. The future battling for its freedom from the past. These are the wars raging in “The Gilded Age” Season 3 finale, and each brouhaha ends with happy children and positive progress. Peggy and Dr. Kirkland are engaged. Charlotte gets to attend the ball while maintaining her place in high society. Even Larry and Marian dance the night away, rekindling a romance no one outside of themselves gives two shits about.
But among the mourning mothers so deservedly and thoroughly embarrassed, one doesn’t warrant the fate thrust upon her. One isn’t a rightly vanquished intruder, but a wrongly abandoned victim. And while Bertha would never allow such a disparaging designation (she is, after all, impervious to her enemies’ attacks), she’s stuck with it anyway. She is yet another controlling matriarch scorned, and even though she knows her plans were proactive and important, she’s devastated to discover her husband doesn’t see them that way.
What separates Bertha from the bad moms in the rest of the episode (because, yes, she can be a bad mom sometimes) is both simple and systemic: It’s misogyny. The Russell couple has always existed as two arms made to climb the ladder of American power. George’s right hand commands the business realm, while Bertha’s left hand guides the social circles. Both are needed to move up: Without George’s money, Bertha couldn’t outspend her opponents or hold court with dukes and duchesses. But without Bertha’s savvy understanding of polite society, George wouldn’t be able to court critical clients outside the office, sustain essential relationships, or properly position his family for upward mobility.
But what becomes horrifically clear in the Season 3 finale’s twist ending is that TV’s hottest power couple isn’t who we thought they were. It’s not just that they’re fighting. It’s that they don’t respect each other — not equally — which is the fuel to their fiery alliance, for viewers and for the Russells themselves.
The next morning, after the ball, Bertha is shocked to learn her husband is still pissed. She thought she’d repaired whatever he believed was broken in the family — making things right with their daughter, proving she had nothing to do with her son’s relationship struggles (like he needs any help), and throwing another goddamn perfect party — but George is still unsure.
“I don’t blame you for being ruthless. I admire it. It’s what we share,” he says. “But I’m ruthless in business, not with the people I love.”
“And I’m ruthless for the people I love, can you not see that?” Bertha shouts in stunned disbelief.
No, he cannot see the truth. For he is a man, and men are idiots. (I speak from first-hand experience.) George is happy to stomach the risk of bankrupting his family in order to realize his big railroad dreams; he’s even happy to consider killing his own workers, one by one, if they continue striking for a living wage and safe working conditions (how dare they?); he’s happy to hazard all sorts of financial, moral, and familial losses if it means making money, but he cannot stomach the temporary unhappiness of a daughter on her wedding day.
At episode’s end, he’s still complaining that Bertha “forced [Gladys] into a marriage,” even when Gladys herself isn’t complaining! She’s happy! He’s seen that she’s happy! And why did he get to see his daughter being so happy, back in New York, reunited with her family? Oh yeah, because Bertha threw a perfect fucking ball again, no thanks to you, George. Gladys even tries to tell her parents she’s pregnant, but George has already fucked off back to work before he can hear the good news.
And thus, Season 3 ends on Bertha’s devastated expression. She gazes out the window at a partner she can’t recognize anymore — not after all his previous claims toward respecting her role in their marriage have been proven empty (or, at least, clueless) — but she’s not angry. Not yet. Yes, she could exact her revenge in whatever ways she sees fit, probably before his carriage gets to the office. Yes, it would be a well-earned comeuppance, given how desperately she’s tried to get her husband to honor her perspective all season. And yes, he’s fallen catastrophically short.
We’ve seen in Season 3 that women can now, at the turn of the 20th century, survive the once-fatal blow of divorce and other such scandals. What’s left for Season 4 to decide is whether Bertha can survive a broken heart.
Grade: A-
“The Gilded Age” is available on HBO Max. HBO has already renewed the series for Season 4.
