Clay really tried it!
The man got outclassed and outsmarted by THE George Russell, so he turned around and tried to have him assassinated? Boo, tomato tomato! What a coward!
The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 7 saw some folks playing scared, but others were making bold moves, and even more were facing the consequences of their own actions. It ’twas a well-balanced and delicious penultimate hour.
Look, I don’t know for sure that Clay was the one who hired the hitman, and I’m sure he’s not the only man in the city who wanted George’s head on a stick, but considering how Clay and George parted ways, it’s easy to put two and two together.
But before we get into that shocking ending, let’s talk about George throughout this hour because he went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs in record time, and handled it in the way only he could.
At this point, I think Bertha is just unwilling to look at herself in the mirror, and you could feel bad for the way George treated her when she came to him about their current estrangement, but the fact of the matter is, they BOTH had contributed to the place they were in.
George and Bertha are two very similar people, and it’s probably a significant reason why they’ve largely had such a successful marriage, but where George will usually relent and let Bertha call the shots as it relates to social aspects and even family situations, marrying Gladys off was his final straw.
Bertha’s always been cutthroat and determined, but it’s like George just finally had his fill. And coupled with his business on the brink of collapse, he’d just lost all patience and understanding he had for his wife.
The hour constantly had Bertha on the outside looking in, and I guess we were meant to feel sorry for her, and I did, but only to a certain extent.
Both George and Larry, when he returned to put his two cents in, have been shouldering Bertha’s judgment and calculating nature for so long, and everyone has a breaking point.
They’ve just happened to reach theirs at the same time.
I believe Bertha comes from a place of wanting better for herself and her family, which isn’t wrong at all, but the methods by which she achieves her goals are isolating and frustrating, and can you blame the people in her life for frankly just getting tired of it?
Bertha versus George and Larry felt like a long time coming, and with both men taking a stand by leaving the home, even if only temporarily, you’d think that would be a wake-up call for Bertha to be a little less controlling and even the slightest bit more collaborative.
I have a hard time believing she can make that switch so easily.
Though maybe she won’t have a choice, considering what could be about to happen.
Let’s be real people; George Russell PROBABLY isn’t dead.
The Gilded Age isn’t above killing someone or making a splash, but I highly doubt at this point in the story they’d kill off George.
It wouldn’t narratively make sense, and an almost-death opens up a host of other storylines they can attack in The Gilded Age Season 4.
An almost-death death could be a life-altering moment for the business tycoon, and push him to be ever more callous or something completely different, while driving him and Bertha closer together or driving that wedge even further apart.
Maybe Larry will have to step into the business more, something he never quite wanted for himself, and Gladys and Hector will spend more time in New York City in the aftermath.
There are too many possibilities here to squander by dropping a shock death nobody asked for into a season that has been on a tear since The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 1.
Speaking of Larry, though, he came back from the West Coast with a pep in his step and a pocket full of metaphorical copper, only to be met with that note from Marian.
You could tell that his heart dropped down to his butt as he read it, and his confusion tinged with anger and disappointment was the exact response you’d expect someone to have.
Marian being upset was understandable, but her refusal to even talk to the man was where she lost me. If you love him, then you should be able to have a conversation with him before ending the relationship.
Everything about this situation has been frustrating, and it feels like they needed to give them angst for the sake of it and introduce a way to reinforce Marian’s trust issues, but this was the best they could come up with?
Marian’s fears are valid due to her past, and I appreciate that Ada has been the one to talk to Marian about this because she’s the one who can relate to her the most.
She spent years and years alone, and even though her love affair was brief, it was the most profound thing to ever happen to her.
Marriage and all that isn’t for everyone, nor is it the end-all, be-all, but in the 1880s, it was certainly expected, and Ada knows better than anyone how the world looks at spinsters and how spinsters look at the world.
Marian’s petrified of getting her heart broken and being embarrassed more than she felt she already had been. Still, in protecting her heart, she’s being a bit cruel to Larry, who, at the very least, deserves to know what’s happening in his relationship.
The miscommunication trope can be fun sometimes when it’s something a little minor, or you know it’s leading to a big revelation, but this feels so forced and irritating.
When Larry showed up at Marian’s school because it was the only way he could get her to talk to him, I almost didn’t care.
And when Jack finally came clean about Larry being a perfect gentleman at the funhouse house of ill repute, I started to care even less because I’m realizing these two have no business getting married right now.
Do they love each other? Sure. Do they have the foundation for a successful marriage? I think so. But Larry lied because he was afraid of Marian’s reaction, and Marian then completely shutting down doesn’t elicit much hope in me for their union.
I’d like to think these two will find their way back together, but they probably don’t need to rush into getting married. Marian still needs time to heal from her past wounds, and Larry needs to not rush things.
For Marian, the deterioration of her relationship was only one thing she had to deal with, as she was also the main emotional support for Oscar, who had been dealt one hell of a hand when John Adams died right in front of him.
The Gilded Age does such a masterful job of giving us multi-faceted characters, ones who will upset you at every turn, but who you also have a fierce loyalty and understanding of at the same time.
They’re not afraid to flood the series with morally questionable characters and trust that the audience can and will hold them accountable, while also allowing grace and nuance where they belong.
The writers invite us to challenge the notions of power, privilege, and social ambition through the lens of the characters and revel in their complexities. Perhaps none more so than in a character like Oscar.
He’s a closeted gay man living in a time when he has to hide so much of himself.
And in the aftermath of John’s death, he buried all his pain because he had no one to confide in, mainly because no one knew the depths of their relationship.
Even John’s sister, who seemingly knew a whole lot, wasn’t exactly someone Oscar could lean on.
He’s been keeping secrets his entire life, and while she was kind and the last tether to the man he loved, she certainly wasn’t someone he felt comfortable enough to be that vulnerable with.
God, how I wish he could have sat with his mother, aunt, and cousin and felt free enough to break down and shed that put-together mask.
But he couldn’t do that, and my stomach was in knots during that scene because I had no idea what Oscar was going to say next and how it would be perceived.
I’ve always enjoyed the dynamic between Marian and Oscar, and in that moment, she was literally the only person in that household who could be there in the way that she needed him to.
And hell, I even appreciate that she was open with him about maybe not understanding everything, but not allowing that to keep her from expressing her love for her cousin and being there in the moment he needed someone the most.
Oscar just having those moments to cry and be open about John was devastatingly beautiful and something he needed so badly.
I have a complicated relationship with Oscar because at times he’s portrayed as a caricature-like conman, but when he gets the space to shed the bravado, you can see so much of who he is at his core.
I still believe, though, that John’s death will throw him back into trying to hide behind a wealthy heiress, or someone who can help him achieve what he’s wanted; to make a lasting impact on high society, even at the expense of his personal happiness.
Elsewhere during this hour, they hid Peggy and Dr. Kirkland until the latter half of the hour (rude!).
Much like Marian and Larry, it was inevitably time for the drama to seep into their relationship, and I’m talking more than just his mother’s passionate anti-Peggy stance.
The fact that Peggy wasn’t able to tell Dr. Kirkland about her past and will instead be forced to fill in the blanks for him and defend herself about the narrative that his mother spread based on hearsay is just distressing on so many levels.
Suppose you want to argue that Peggy should have told him herself, whatever. I’m positive she would have done so on her own terms when she felt it was the right time.
Things move crazy fast in the 1880s, but they’re still getting to know each other, and he’s still courting her.
While Mrs. Kirkland tried to turn her not telling him into something sinister, like she was going out of her way to deceive him, I tend to think it was just a matter of her finding the right time to do so.
Mrs. Kirkland found something of Peggy’s that she deemed another negative and exploited it the first opportunity she got, which now puts her son in the position of having to confront Peggy, and I am annoyed.
I don’t think Peggy was deliberately hiding it from him, and if he doesn’t understand that and can’t find the gumption to fight back against his mother’s prejudices and embrace Peggy for everything that she is, past and all, then he is NOT the man for my Peggy.
Posh Extras
- The hitman getting right up and into George’s office to shoot him, and close range is SCARY.
- Miss Andre being the leak was BORING. I wanted a much bigger reveal.
- This review ran long, so I couldn’t get too much into the McCallister of it all, but he also tried it and quickly found out that no matter who he may be in society, he’s never bigger than the whole program.
- I quite like that everyone in society was left off-kilter by the book because these people aren’t mythical creatures. They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us, or whatever they say.
- Assuming George makes it (he will, people!), Bertha is going to turn this ball into something spectacular. Any excuse to make a big mark, she will take and run with it.
- Jack sighting! Look at him getting his own place. Love this for him, but miss him at the house already!
- I also didn’t get a chance to touch too much on Gladys and Hector either, but Gladys is truly her mother’s daughter. Sarah is about to be on the first carriage out of that castle, and she’s about to have the kind of influence Bertha has been dreaming about since she was born.
Busy, busy hour, which is just how I like my penultimate hours!
Next up is the finale, which should touch on a lot of the aftermath of George’s shooting, all the romantic entanglements, and a million other things like only this series can do.
So much to discuss, so bring all your thoughts to the front and let’s talk about it!
You can watch The Gilded Age on Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
Watch The Gilded Age
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