‘The Gilded Age’ Elegantly Frames Aristocrats at Play in 1880s New York City

Alci Rengifo

These days, all you need is money to be considered high on the food chain. Back in 1880s New York City, you also had to have a proper last name, but with America’s boom years those times were slowly beginning to change. That is just one of the details that makes HBO’s “The Gilded Age” an entertaining drama of customs and manners. Its title is taken from Mark Twain’s famously enduring definition of that period in late 19th century America, when powerful industrialists built monster fortunes while the working class toiled away. No doubt creator Julian Fellowes senses the times are ripe for a fresh take on the period, since we currently inhabit a world where Amazon workers go on strike while billionaires fly into space. Fellowes was also the creative mind behind “Downton Abbey,” that wonderfully addictive, hugely popular journey through the British aristocracy in the early 20th century. Fans who need their dose of refined plotting will find just enough to enjoy in this new serving across the Atlantic.

Beginning in 1882, “The Gilded Age” sets its narrative as a standoff. Into the elite corners of New York arrives railroad tycoon George Russell (Morgan Spector) with wife Bertha (Carrie Coon). George wants to expand his empire and nab a few politicians into his pockets. Bertha seeks to establish their reputation within New York society. Despite their immense wealth and newly built mansion, it is not so easy since the “old people” who can trace their lineage to the Mayflower scoff at “the new people.” Also arriving in the city is Marian Brooke (Louisa Jacobson), who left Pennsylvania after her father passed away and left nothing. Brooke moves in with her aunts, Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), an icy old money gatekeeper, and Ada (Cynthia Nixon), a much kinder soul. The enthusiastic niece happens to bring a new friend, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), who helped her get on the train in Pennsylvania after losing her ticket. Peggy is an aspiring writer who has to face discrimination for being Black American, even in a supposedly modern metropolis. All of the intricate social threads and protocols that make up this environment become threatened when the Russells are shunned, encouraging them to make their own moves to push back against the old pecking order.

Devoted viewers of “Downton Abbey” may miss the rural estate setting of that original show, yet “The Gilded Age” has its own charms in wandering through the more cluttered avenues of late 19th century New York. It has the same anthropological fascination now applied to the American aristocracy. Fellowes and co-creator Sonja Warfield transfer over the same pacing and style of “Downton Abbey,” mixing intelligent plotting with dashes of melodrama. The music by the Harry Gregson-Williams Brothers features sweeping strings and glittering winds. While this may not be Old World Europe, the mansions and homes of the American elite are still great eye candy with their fresh, baroque designs and chandeliers. Bertha puts together a sumptuous feast for a ball that all goes to waste when no one shows up. In the same way “Downton Abbey” always referenced historical events, George is reading the news that Jesse James has been shot while enjoying a cigar in his grand library. Much of the cast is taken from New York’s theater scene, which helps give the show its distinct flavor of an American social cream of the crop. Louisa Jacobson is the daughter of Meryl Streep. You don’t get more Hollywood elite than that. 

Beyond aesthetics, it’s the people that are more intriguing to observe. The rich will always keep their place up in the ladder by any means necessary, but “The Gilded Age” is an elegant romp through a bygone era where the customs of being elite worked differently. The U.S. and the world were going through a transitional period thanks to the Industrial Revolution. For Agnes van Rhijn, Bertha Russell needs to be shunned because she doesn’t come from the right family tree. No matter that George is quite wealthy, what matters is that the old ruling class has to remind everyone else to be aware of their place. Suddenly a new rich crop is appearing thanks to the money being generated by the expansion of the railroads and other industries. Agnes is so ruthless in staying firm to her conditioning that everyone else around her is tiring out by the demands of protocol. Marian attends a fundraiser and gets scolded by her aunt for selling an item to another society lady with undescribed blemishes in her past. Ironically, Agnes has no qualms about letting Peggy stay in her home and even become her secretary when she notices Peggy’s pristine penmanship. Less accepting are publications who recognize Peggy has great talent when she submits short stories, yet won’t publish her because she’s Black.

“The Gilded Age” will have a particular appeal to those who enjoy Victorian dramas or more intense films like “The Age of Innocence” for the way it frames a particular way of living. Bertha having no one attend her parties may seem like a first world problem, but in 1882 to be shunned by particular names could mean ruin. Agnes’s son Oscar (Blake Ritson) is always looking for the perfect wifely prospect, casting his eye on Bertha and George’s naïve daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga). He’s not in love with her. What he needs is a spotless social cover since he is gay and carrying on a romance with another man. The Russells also have a son, Larry (Harry Richardson), a potential good match for Marian if he can escape Agnes’s acidic glare. Nathan Lane chews up the scenery appearing later in the season as Ward McAllister, a real arbiter of social taste from the era, complete with a Savannah timbre to his accent.  As with “Downton Abbey,” we also get to know the help, who have their own dramas going on. There’s a serene butler, Watson (Michael Cerveris), constantly keeping an eye on Ms. Turner (Kelley Curran), a maid with obvious intentions towards George. 

After the initial episodes of the first season immerse us in the environment, the plot quickens to some more suspense when George decides to finally use the stock market in a crafty way to really hit back at the snobs who won’t let him and Bertha join the club. No one gets shot in this show because assaulting your bank account can be equally vicious, in one episode leading straight to death. To be clear, “The Gilded Age” is not superior to “Downton Abbey,” how could it be? But it keeps the spirit of that kind of series alive and well. It successfully makes the viewer feel as if we are in the past, around people with different manners but with the same ambitions as today in our own gilded age. In his hilariously brilliant but keen documentary, “The American Ruling Class,” the great journalist Lewis H. Lapham says, “We like to pretend that no such thing as a ruling class has ever darkened an American shore or danced by the light of an American moon.” This is a show that happily invites us to dance in the past with a sector of society that judged itself on both moneyed influence and archaic codes. On a sophisticated level, it’s kind of fun.

“The Gilded Age” season one premieres Jan. 24 and airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.