The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 4 Recap and Breakdown
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to The Pretty Passionate podcast. I'm your host, Doctor. Ruth Celestin, and this is a safe space for us to dive deep into our passions, the things that drive us. Today, we are focusing on none other than season three, episode four of The Gilded Age. I'm gonna be doing a recap and, of course, giving you my reactions to this stunning episode of television.
Dr. Ruth:I mean, if you weren't holding your breath, then I don't know what to tell you. But I was This is the event that was waited all season, and we're gonna get into all that nitty gritty. I'd like to remind you at the top of the show that we do consider this a spoiler full environment, meaning if you have not seen the Gilded Age season one and two or the preceding episodes one through three, this is probably not where you wanna start. First of all, I invite you to check out episodes one through three of my podcast on any podcast streaming platform and also on YouTube, where we're doing both the audio and the video versions of this recording. Now, onto the business of the day.
Dr. Ruth:I have to say, from a viewer standpoint, I thought because there was just so much talk about the wedding, the wedding, the wedding. She wants her to marry the Duke. Bertha wants her to marry the Duke. Who is Gladys gonna marry? Billy Carlson and all this stuff.
Dr. Ruth:I swore that this would probably be something that would happen in the finale, or actually maybe the penultimate episode. I didn't think they were gonna really drop the wedding on us this soon. So it was very exciting that it all was happening so quickly. And it indicates that, okay, there is so much more to this season than just this wedding. Okay.
Dr. Ruth:So we start out. The house is the Russell household is a frenzy. They're planning for the wedding. The staff is very busy. They're getting their instructions.
Dr. Ruth:They're getting their marching orders from Bertha, who is like a field general. She is giving everyone what they're supposed to be doing to get her household, get her daughter, get everything ready for this wedding. The whole town actually is preparing for this wedding. And so that's where they take us next, is kind of visiting our other main characters to see what are they doing, how are they preparing, are they going, were they invited, that kind of thing. So across the street, Agnes Van Ryeen is being really snarky with the whole thing.
Dr. Ruth:Like really, And this energy will carry itself throughout the episode, where she's regarding Mrs. Russell still as new money and feels like the whole fanfare around this wedding is just too much. Okay. Nothing to do with jealousy at all that you're suddenly broke. But okay.
Dr. Ruth:So she and Ada, of course, have a disagreement about who's paying for their seamstress and different charity clubs. You could just sense that there's still that tension over money. And she even says at one point, if you wanna mention money again, my gosh, money again. But money is like the central theme that is moving this relationship forward and possibly about to boil over. So, back at the Russell House, Larry is actually talking to his mother about making Marion a bridesmaid.
Dr. Ruth:Interesting. Because I didn't know Marion and Gladys to be very close. But it seems that one of her bridesmaids has dropped out because she's sick. So this gives Larry kind of an in to push his girl in and maybe get to know the family a little better, maybe win the favor of Bertha Russell. She's not really crazy about it, but he finally twists her arm and convinces her.
Dr. Ruth:In part, because I think he's a boy, Larry has more say so here, right? He can kind of push the envelope a little bit more. And yes, she can eventually threaten disinheritance, but I don't think it's gonna fly with Larry the same way that she kind of pushes Gladys, pushes her agenda onto Gladys. So George Russell comes in and he kind of settles the whole thing and lets her know. Some stuff you can just go, babe.
Dr. Ruth:Some stuff we don't have to fight about. He's grown. Let him bring the girl and have her be a bridesmaid. Which is crazy because if you think about Mrs. Russell a year ago, right?
Dr. Ruth:If this popped in my head, or a year last season or two seasons ago, Mrs. Russell would have died to be friend, to befriend Marian and the Van Rynes by doing something like this, right? Including them in one of her events. Back then, she was just dying for them to even accept her invitation to come over for tea. And now that the, you know, society's the tables have turned in society, so to speak, for her, it's interesting to see her be kind of a snob towards Marian, like she's not good enough.
Dr. Ruth:But remember, Marian does come from those old money declaration of independence signing families that is still well regarded in the community, so she can't just toss her aside. So at that point, they get some press, they get a paper, like the daily paper. And George is showing Bertha that they're going nuts, gossiping about Gladys, about what she's going to wear, what designer she's gonna wear, and down to her underwear that has embroidery on it, I guess with her new initials. And this freaks Bertha out because she's so close to the end. She doesn't want anything out of her control.
Dr. Ruth:Like, everything is within her grasp, and she feels like this is gonna come off as desperate to the duke. And it's this mystery carries out throughout the episode that, like, who's leaking this information to the press? She actually suspects the staff, which would've been shocking to me because they seem just so loyal to her. But at some point, we learned that the staff has been not so much accused, but asked about it. And they're very nervous about losing their jobs as a result.
Dr. Ruth:What's interesting, skipping ahead to the end of this episode, we never actually find out who concretely the person is. We have our suspicions, but we don't know a 100%. Or at least I didn't pick up on it being revealed 100%, even on rewatch. So if you do have that information, please enlighten me in the comments. In this conversation as well, an important thing that happens is Larry asks Bertha about her sister.
Dr. Ruth:Did you know she had a sister? I didn't know she had a sister. This is news to me. It's news to pretty much all of us, right? She clearly has an esteem a strange relationship with her sister.
Dr. Ruth:They're not close. We've never seen her all these last couple seasons. We never talked about her. She doesn't seem all that excited about inviting her to the wedding, but Larry's kind of like insistent and so is George. She's gotta represent the O'Brien side of the family, who knew her maiden name was O'Brien.
Dr. Ruth:It's clear that whatever Bertha's pre George Russell life was, it's something she wants to leave in the past. And it will be very interesting to see what this Monica brings out of her in reminding her of her relatively humble origins, right, compared to all the other great names of the New York social scene. So next scene is across the street. Ada is having a seance, okay, with a woman named Madame Daschkeva that Mrs. Bauer arranged.
Dr. Ruth:Remember in last episode, she asked her in the end if Ada wanted to see Luke again. And so this is what she was referring to. She went and found some lady who, they got the candles, the place is darkened. Of course, Ada waits till Agnes is going to a meeting to pull this. Even though it's her household, she still would never do this in front of Agnes, with good reason.
Dr. Ruth:So Agnes actually interrupts them in the middle of the seance because she comes home early. Ada doesn't really get what she wanted out of this meeting. They interrupt her and the person, Madame Daschkeva, is doing this thing. I don't know if you know that fortune tellers, a lot of them are trained to do this thing, where they ask you leading questions, right? And they're, without your being consciously aware, pulling information out of you that helps them to give you the right answers.
Dr. Ruth:Please don't come from my throat if you read Fortunes for a Living. Then I'm not talking about you. Okay, fine. That's exact they make it a point to make it look like this is what Madame Daschkeva is doing. That she is one of those charlatans that's pretending to have this divine ability, and she doesn't.
Dr. Ruth:Maybe we'll see some more from her in the future. We don't know. But Agnes comes in, shuts it all down, puts her out, tells Mrs. Bauer to go back to the kitchen and not to meddle in these affairs again. And again, she was rude, because that's just how Agnes does.
Dr. Ruth:But I have to say, I agree with her again. Damn it, Agnes? You got me agreeing with you and all this rudeness? Because I feel like she was protecting her sister. Keep in mind that this spiritualism that is being depicted here is something that was taking over in the mid eighteen hundreds, mid and late eighteen hundreds in America, on the East Coast especially.
Dr. Ruth:People were just inventing religions. And they were like Christianity spin offs, you know what I mean? And that was losing some people their fortunes, losing them their whole minds. They were just running off and starting this new religion and with so much fervor and there was just so much spiritual fervor. It's not out of tune with the times that Agnes is viscerally responsive in this situation and wants her sister to have no parts to do with this woman.
Dr. Ruth:So she puts her out, tells her to stop. Ada has a touching moment where she admits to her extreme loneliness and sadness without Luke. And I know they don't do this in this time period, but man, she could use a grief counselor. Because what she went through, she's just supposed to move on with her life. I think it is unfair for Agnes not to give her grief a little bit more space.
Dr. Ruth:But back then, women were just, I guess, expected to grin and bear it, suck it up, buttercup, and move on after such a loss. So I got the feeling because Ms. Dashkova gave her her card that that's not the last we're going to see of her, but we'll see. So just then, Aunt Monica arrives at the Russell's house with a very warm reception for everyone except for Bertha. She is I mean, if you had any doubt when her invitation was first announced, you are very clear when she arrives that these two are not like this.
Dr. Ruth:Maybe they were when they were little, but Bertha clearly has a completely different outlook on life and different goals in life. She says that Monica lives in Albany with so much disgust, you would think, I don't know, you would think she said she lives on Skid Row. So she's coming here. She's clearly not going to be the fancy society type that Bertha is now surrounded by. And I can tell that that's going to be a source of conflict.
Dr. Ruth:Gladys and Larry and George are happy to see her, though. They're getting her all settled in. And the fact that Gladys has not been out of her room comes up. Because Monica asks for her, and she still has not been out of her room, apparently for days. Now, Anahyde is her ladies' maid, and she had mentioned that she's also not eating very much.
Dr. Ruth:She's taking little bits of food here and there, but she's just in her room just wallowing in this grief that she has to do this wedding thing. Bertha tries to get her sister to try a new wardrobe, and she refuses to cooperate. She's adamant she's got a dress that Some of those dresses are kinda hard to tell apart in terms of quality and stuff, but they do this excellent job of really showing when someone is dressed expensively. Like the way Miss Russell dresses is up here, right? And all the others, Miss Aster and them, it's all You could see the fabrics are different.
Dr. Ruth:The way that Monica's dress looks, it looks cheap. It looks, it's well made. Obviously, it's put together in a certain style, but the fabrics look rough and cheap. And, you know, Bertha is aghast that her sister not only wants to wear this thing to the dinner tonight that she's hosting Hector and his sister, at their house. Her sister fully intends to wear that dress again tomorrow.
Dr. Ruth:She said, I brought one dress and one dress only and that's what the people are getting. She tries to get her to switch, tries to get her fitted into one of her gowns, and she won't have it. It's clear also in this scene that Monica knows she can get under Bertha's skin like only a sister can. And it's clear that she rattles Bertha in a way that I think, even with all of the drama and turmoil and stuff that she's dealt with in the past seasons, we never saw Bertha kinda like lose her cool. She always has this steely determination and looks like, okay, she's in control of her emotions.
Dr. Ruth:She's going to regroup from this bad news and come back at you. But with her sister, it's different. And it's interesting to see that dynamic. Up in Newport, the Scotts are entertaining Doctor Kirkland and his mother at Peggy's cousin's house. Peggy's cousin's house.
Dr. Ruth:I said she was her aunt, I think in previous episodes, this is actually her cousin. So it just seems like Mrs. Kirkland is there because her son wants her to be there to learn more about Peggy. So I'm like, okay, maybe she's going to learn more about Peggy and see. She's an impressive young lady and worthy of her son, who knows?
Dr. Ruth:But in that conversation, she's just as snippety and rude as she was before, just saying these off putting things about Peggy's desire to have the vote. But we have to remember the context of the time. This was a wealthy black woman living in her little Newport bubble, and these things were not important to her. Voting didn't affect her at all. She had money.
Dr. Ruth:She had access. They live in a community in Newport. They mentioned that, I think, a couple episodes ago where there's more opportunity for Black people. And they're thriving. So I can, from a certain standpoint, understand why the vote and such issues are unimportant to her.
Dr. Ruth:But it's just her being so vocal about it that gets on my nerves. She's always telling people how it should be and how they should be. And that's the part that is completely unacceptable for her if you're talking about polite conversation. But that seems to go over her head. I really like Doctor.
Dr. Ruth:Kirkland. He still kind of always stands up for Peggy. And he's like, yeah, that's right, babe, kind of. Not in that lingo, but he kind of stands up for her without putting his mother down. But I just look at this dynamic and I'm like, girl, do you wanna sign up for a lifetime of this?
Dr. Ruth:Or at least until she goes to meet her maker that you have to have this person with her very vocal opinions in your ear? I don't know, you know? But hey, I guess she knows what she's doing. So back at the Van Rhynes, Agnes has a heart to heart with Marian. And again, it seems like there's another person in Marion's life trying to urge her to kind of poop or get off the pot with Larry.
Dr. Ruth:Like, be with him and move forward with him. Don't keep remaining in this limbo with him where you guys are, will they, won't they? Because, again, for a woman in that time frame, this is kind of a dangerous game to play. And now you've got her being a bridesmaid at the Russells' wedding, very visibly being linked to the Russells in this way in society. I can see why Agnes is kind of pushing all the more for them to maybe make it official.
Dr. Ruth:So something tells me the way that everyone keeps telling her this, I worry that she's gonna make a misstep with this particular issue. She's going to take her time you know, claiming him and making the relationship official or defining the relationship. And as a result, something negative may come. I don't know what it is, but I just have a bad feeling whenever they do things like that. I feel like they're trying to prepare us for something.
Dr. Ruth:Meanwhile, Jack and Larry have their meeting with Mr. Weston. Remember the guy who asked to hold onto the clock so he could look at Jack's invention and see if it's legit. Well, he called them back. They arrive at his office.
Dr. Ruth:They're nervous. And then that nervousness quickly turns to shock when he tells them he loves the invention. And he actually wants to not go into business with them. He wants to buy the whole thing, lock, stock and barrel. The patent, the invention, and all the rights to it.
Dr. Ruth:And then they start immediately, Larry goes into negotiation mode, which is impressive. He's very comfortable. He actually sits back in his chair, know, and he kinda starts tossing numbers back. Oh, three. No.
Dr. Ruth:I was hoping, you know, for six or maybe four. And poor Jack is just like, you know, watching the ping pong ball go across the table just listening to this. And his whole, like, fate is being decided here. But I guess that's why he brought not I guess. I'm certain that's why he brought Larry into the situation because he would be completely out of his depths in this conversation on not only the value of his invention, but, you know, all those things.
Dr. Ruth:So thankfully, Larry has got his back. And at the end, the negotiation rests on six. They say the number six. And that's when Jack becomes clear that six means $600,000 that they're going to buy the invention for $600,000 the look of shock on his face. It looks like they're going fiftyfifty, so now Jack just got $300,000 richer, just like that.
Dr. Ruth:And so when they arrive back at the house, he is very clear that this is a complete shock to him. This is more money than he would have ever fathomed he could make in this situation. And he also was like, well, now what do I do? I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life working with this clock thing. And now it's just been bought from me, which is great.
Dr. Ruth:But now what? Because where does he go? He still lives as a footman at the Van Rhynes house. One of the things I think is really interesting that Larry is quick to point out, and I love that he did this for our sake, is that the fortune that Jack just earned makes him wealthier than Ms. Van Rhine ever was.
Dr. Ruth:And makes him almost as wealthy as the newly wealthy Mrs. Forte. So think of it that way. That's crazy because Mrs. Forte inherited a fortune that Luke's family built over generations of successful business ownership and things like of that ilk.
Dr. Ruth:So this is what's so exciting about this time in the Gilded Age, is that fortunes could be made overnight. Similarly, they could be lost overnight, but we'll get to that in a minute. So he decides to keep this to himself for now while he unpacks it. And I think that's the wisest course. If he just charges in there telling them he's suddenly overnight rich, it could test relationships that he's not ready to have tested.
Dr. Ruth:We head back up to Newport, and we are treated to Peggy's address. Remember, she was invited to Newport to speak, and then they're staying with the cousin and making a whole trip of it. So the room is full of spiffily dressed people of actually all walks of life. And I just love that whenever we're in Newport, even if they didn't say we're in Newport, you can tell because of not only their use of light, with all the sunlight, it's just always everything is sun covered when they're there. But also everyone's way of dressing is pastels, lighter hues, just more of a spring look to them.
Dr. Ruth:She delivers her dress, and to my surprise, Aurora Fane is actually there attending. We haven't seen Aurora since that embarrassing moment with her husband at her fundraiser, right? So it looks like she's run off to Newport for refuge. And she's just going to live out her shameful days as a divorcee up there because she won't be welcome in polite societies in New York City anymore. But she comes up to Peggy and gives her congratulations for delivering a great speech.
Dr. Ruth:And Peggy tries to be comforting to her. But Aurora, it's so fresh. You can tell she's just so wounded that she just thanks her kindly and kind of runs away. I can't blame her. What else is there for her to do?
Dr. Ruth:She makes it clear she's not planning to attend the wedding because that would obviously be scandalous. So they move on to speaking with Mr. And Mrs. Kirkland and Doctor. Kirkland, hottie Doctor.
Dr. Ruth:Kirkland. And once again, this lady with her nakedly rude comments. She talks to, so they ask, well, where's Mr Scott? Harmless question, shouldn't result in massive insults. So Dorothy says that Arthur, mister Scott, is back in the city.
Dr. Ruth:He had some business to attend to. And this turns around and is like, well, he had to go. He's not an important man. I mean, he's not like us. What?
Dr. Ruth:Who says things like this? I wanted to punch her myself. But she's just going on the fact that this man was formerly enslaved. The man has a whole pharmacy, teaching your son stuff, mentoring the next wave of medical professionals, black medical professionals in New York City, no less. And it means nothing to her because of his background.
Dr. Ruth:Breeding and connection and legacy is everything to this woman. She's a nightmare. The Kirkland men try to clean this up again. And not by putting her in her place per se, but just making little comments. You think everything revolves around Newport and it doesn't.
Dr. Ruth:And they try to keep it light. And then she goes off and again, I shudder to think about what having a mother-in-law like that would be for Peggy. I don't want that for my girl. I just look at her, and I look at that dynamic, and I think, yikes on bikes. Run, Peggy, run.
Dr. Ruth:We are now at the Russell's, and we're having their dinner. This dinner we actually are privy to. And Monica is in attendance at this dinner. She just won't shut up. I can see why Bertha didn't necessarily want her in this group.
Dr. Ruth:Because Bertha's putting it on, you know? Bertha is the queen of the castle, the lady of the manor. She is so classy. Not necessarily to the old money people, but she doesn't wanna have any missteps that are gonna drag her further into her past, if that past is in Albany. So here goes Monica just prattling on, engaging everyone in conversation, asking somewhat personal questions.
Dr. Ruth:For example, she asks the Duke if she can call him. She tells him, oh, I have to call you the Duke, right? He tells her, call me Hector. Okay, great. Hector has his sister here and she's a snotty person, very snotty.
Dr. Ruth:She just gives off a vibe. She's talking about basically she wants to get back to England as soon as possible. Okay. The funniest part of the dinner, well there was a couple funny things that happened. Monica asks her, oh, where's your husband and where's your kids?
Dr. Ruth:Which is not normally a question that I think is okay to ask women in public like that. But she was being so nasty and snarky. And she had just a look on her face like she had just had some lemons. So I appreciated her kind of making her remember that she's a spinster, right? So she apparently lives in the house with the Duke, which should be interesting for a marital situation.
Dr. Ruth:But then something happens with Monica. They go, they serve the coffee. And Monica goes to take a sip while she's saying something, and the handle just pops right off, spills down the front of her dress, her one dress that she had for dinner and the wedding, and ruins it. And so now she's forced to take Bertha up on her offer to replace her dress for the wedding. And it's very clear based on the glances that Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Russell exchanges with the staff and stuff. It's very clear that that was an intentional thing to ruin the dress so that her sister would have no choice but to switch it out for something fancier. George actually points this out when they have a nice, slightly warmer than recent past interaction in the bedroom talking about this coffee incident. And he's like, gosh, we're so like you and I. You know, kind of like their ruthlessness, their willingness to push things to the limit to get to the conclusion that they want.
Dr. Ruth:I almost for a minute thought, is the fire lit back up and they're about to have a little moment? And then they have a little bit of an argument again about the whole wedding thing. Because George has, at this point, made it very clear that he is not for the wedding. He's simply not going to get in the way of the wedding anymore. And I think that is a big distinction because this is her dad we're talking about.
Dr. Ruth:We're moving on to back across the street. Jack can't sleep. No wonder. He's like filthy rich now. So I wouldn't be able to sleep either.
Dr. Ruth:Like, what? I wouldn't I don't know. But don't get me started on what I would be doing if suddenly I got what is at the time considered to be a fortune. Right? So, Jack is walking around.
Dr. Ruth:He finally runs into Ms. Bauer. And he confesses to her, because you gotta tell someone at this point. I mean, goodness, what a secret to be keeping to yourself. So he confesses to Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Bauer that, you know, actually, this amount of money was $300,000 She's so shocked that she straight drops a ceramic bowl she was holding. Because she thought it was like, oh, you got cute little nest egg and you can keep working here. Work on your different inventions. No worries. You're gonna keep climbing.
Dr. Ruth:She and I did not expect him to become wealthy overnight from this. I thought it was gonna be a slower burn. But I actually love that they're doing this because isn't this what happened with George Russell? You know? I mean, he has a lot more business savvy and a lot more, you know, get up and go probably than Jack does.
Dr. Ruth:But how long is this gee, gosh, oh golly version of Jack going to continue to exist now that he is as rich as the Forte household. Mrs. Bauer rightfully tells him, don't tell anyone else. Like, keep your mouth shut about this until you figure out your next move. Because he's like, what do I do?
Dr. Ruth:Not only do I not know if I should keep working here, I never had a home before I worked here as a footman. So now if I just go out, where do I go? I guess he's young. I mean, has he ever, he's probably never had an apartment and all that. He's just figuring so much out.
Dr. Ruth:And it's like, wanna celebrate with him and be like, yay, we in there, we rich. But I also understand that this gives him a lot of anxiety. This is kinda how I probably would feel if I won the lottery, to be honest with you. There'd be a part of me that's like, whoop, a billion dollars or whatever the big jackpot is. But then you would kind of be foolish not to have a moment of anxiety about this newfound wealth, right?
Dr. Ruth:Because bad things come with that kind of a windfall, unfortunately. And so it's important, and I think it's smart that it's giving him pause and he's taking his time and he's not just going out and buying a horse drawn carriage. Yeah. Because you can't buy a Ferrari. We are now going into the morning of the wedding.
Dr. Ruth:Gladys is still in her room. Oh my god. I'm sure it's an en suite, so I'm sure hygiene is not an issue here. But she's still in her room refusing to eat, refusing to come down. Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Russell calls Marion over and asks her to go and talk to Gladys and I guess try to convince her that this is a good thing and that she should be happy. Marion's like, this is a tall order, but I will try. And I actually think she does a good job. She goes and she speaks to Gladys and listens to her. And I think plays the role of a good girlfriend And not someone who is going to advise you to your ruin.
Dr. Ruth:In that she doesn't just tell Gladys, girl, don't do it. Let's go, let's run. I think she gives her real practical advice about the situation she's in. She reminds her that for a woman, changing this right now is more devastating to your reputation than it is for his. She reminds him that the stakes are even higher now than they were before because now, ruining the marriage, turning him down, running away, or whatever, would be a very public embarrassment for this VIP person, which that's the society they live in.
Dr. Ruth:So the advice is accurate for the time that they live in. We don't yet know how it's going to impact Gladys, but it seems like she's taking it into account. Then JPMorgan shows up the morning of George's daughter's wedding, and I know it's not good. His business manager is there, and he's about to tell him, man, I can't talk. It's my daughter's wedding.
Dr. Ruth:And JPMorgan is like, uh-uh yeah. There's a run on the banks, and you better be scared because financial stress is coming to all of these institutions, and your railroad expansion is not happening. In fact, I'm pulling my money out because I think it's too dangerous of an investment. Which, historically, is accurate. That there is, at this time, a run on the banks.
Dr. Ruth:And also, there are several banks, I think at least a few in New York, that collapse completely and go the way of the dodo. Like, they don't exist anymore. And so they are in some precarious times for finance. There is some instability there, so that's not actually made up, at least for the show. But George Russell, man, he comes away from that conversation where freaking JP Morgan, have you heard of him, tells you this is not gonna work.
Dr. Ruth:This is a bad decision. And he's like, nope. I got it. I'll figure it out. He tells his manager there is money to be found elsewhere.
Dr. Ruth:I'm gonna find the money, build this railroad, and JPMorgan's gonna come back and wanna invest again when things are on the up and up. Last time I think he was talking to JPMorgan, he was talking about using his daughter's dowry money to make some of this happen. So at some point, we're gonna find out if they will proceed in the future as these extremely wealthy people. Are they going to lose half of their fortune in this financial crisis, this run on the banks? This is the life of the robber baron, though.
Dr. Ruth:This is very, I think, historically accurate in more than one way, because just like the way Jack's fortune was made overnight now, George Russell's fortune could be lost overnight. You see all this decadence and stuff? That is reality. Some people lose their shirts and then they have nothing. Just like the Van Rynes.
Dr. Ruth:Although that was more of a scam thingy, but these fortunes in the Gildan Age were being made and lost in the blink of an eye. Back over at the Van Rhine residence, Oscar announces that his life is great. He's on the up and up. He is actually building his clientele. He's up to 12 clients now.
Dr. Ruth:I was annoyed by this. I have to say because I was like, was this earned? Literally, he just got handed some damn money and clients again. Like, he didn't What did he learn? What did he really learn?
Dr. Ruth:I mean, I know he was embarrassed. He tucked tail for a little bit. But I think for me, the main point of this is just to underscore just how bouncy men are in this world. How they have just, just a ball. They can do whatever they want.
Dr. Ruth:They can have mistresses. They can have divorces. They can lose their fortunes and still be trusted to invest other people's money later on. And it is literally a man's world at this time. I think that's part of what I feel like they're trying to tell us with Oscar's reemergence as this trustworthy investment adviser.
Dr. Ruth:Crazy. So he's planning to go to the wedding to get more clients. At that point, Agnes is reading the paper and she comes across a particularly hot piece of gossip. Is that Mrs. Drayton, who is Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Astor's daughter, Charlotte, is involved in some kind of love triangle between her husband, Mr. Drayton, and Mr. Burrows, which is a guy that she was hanging around with in Paris. And if you recall from the last episode, they mentioned it when Gladys and her and someone else, the three of them were talking, and Mrs. Drayton was talking to this man a little bit too friendly, a little too long.
Dr. Ruth:And Lena asked her to sent her sister over to interrupt that conversation. It was a very brief moment, but it happened. They kind of hinted that you know, Charlotte is being a little reckless and maybe a little too flirtatious and openly wanting to leave her husband. So, we know there's marital trouble there. We know she wants probably to divorce him.
Dr. Ruth:We'll see what happens with that because clearly her mom is not going to be for this. So Marion comes down the stairs. They love her dress. They oo and ah over it. Oscar does says, does and says something really gross.
Dr. Ruth:When Marion turns to show them the dress, like, oh, look. He's like, mm-mm, at the bustle part? And I was like, ew, aren't they cousins? Or am I not understanding the relationship? They go, speaking of Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Astor, they go to her house, and it's a private conversation between she and Charlotte. So Charlotte is her daughter, whose name is now Mrs. Drayton. Mrs. Astor is telling her, listen, we're not going to this, I guess, the reception, because this news of yours about there was a duel between her husband and her possible lover is spreading and Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Astor is just completely embarrassed. They have a bit of a showdown because her daughter calls her on just the ridiculousness of her own life. She goes, you you and father, I think her dad is John Jacob Astor, I'm assuming, like the Astor in this time period, is on boats with his beauties, having a good time, living his life. And she's, you are in this drafty mansion all day by yourself. I mean, we had an inkling that Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Aster was miserable, but now we know why. She says, you can be quiet about that, I'm never getting divorced because I won't be a divorced woman. Because she enjoys her position as the ruler of the roost. She's at the top of the social circle because of the amount of her money, but also the elderliness of her money. She's old money.
Dr. Ruth:So she actually says something really interesting when her daughter does call her out and say, I don't intend to live like you. She's like, it is what it is. Men just get to have more fun. And I think that was something that, you know, there was a couple points in this episode so far, where we've seen that men just have all this choice and all this leeway and all this freedom, right? So we go to the wedding.
Dr. Ruth:The wedding is taking place during the day and it's at their church. We see Lena and Agnes have a tense exchange because Ada stupidly brings up the newspaper gossip. She's like, didn't you have something you wanted to talk to Mrs. Astor about? And Agnes is looking at her like, shut up, girl.
Dr. Ruth:You've been in that situation where you're trying to make eyes at someone, like, mm-mm So Lena, Astor, picks up on that and is like, what do you wanna ask me about in the paper? Knowing full well. And they have a tense moment where actually it feels almost like Agnes gets cowed by Lena Aster when she's about to walk away and she says, I'm gonna go home and check on Charlotte. I'm not going to the reception as her excuse. Poor Agnes is like, I understand.
Dr. Ruth:And Lena jumps all over her like, wait, what do you mean by that? She said, nothing, nothing. So there's a lot of tension there for Mrs. Astor. I believe what she is feeling is a justifiable fear that her social standing, her position at the top of this little society is in peril.
Dr. Ruth:She just watched Mrs. Fain get completely cast aside in society. So I can also understand her apprehension for any of this to get out about her, about her daughter. She just probably wants to go and live quietly and have everyone mind their business. But this is a bit of a comeuppance for her because she was constantly reveling in all the little gossip that there was about everyone else.
Dr. Ruth:So it is what it is. One good turn deserves another, I guess. So, back at the Russell House, George makes one last plea to Gladys. He sends Bertha on to the wedding to greet the guests so people start getting suspicious. He goes upstairs to talk to Gladys and makes one last plea with her.
Dr. Ruth:And he sounds a lot like Marion with his reasoning, that it's like hella late to back out, you know? And maybe it's not gonna be that bad and all those kinds of justifications. It still just feels so nasty that they are forcing her to marry this man, but that was their way back then. In the end though, which is admirable, he leaves a choice up to her. He says, alright, I'm gonna go downstairs and wait ten minutes.
Dr. Ruth:If you're not down in ten minutes, I'm assuming the answer is no, which was nice. And then we're back at the wedding. So we just keep going back and forth between the wedding and the scenes with the characters there, and then a couple of outside of the wedding scenes. So we're back at the wedding. So Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Winderton rolls up to the group and starts heavy gossiping. Right? Y'all remember her. Right? That's that little that found herself trying to sneak into George Russell's bid and usurp Bertha's position as the lady of the house back when she was working at the Russell household as Ms.
Dr. Ruth:Turner. So if you remember from seasons past, Mrs. Winterton married this old man who is high society, not on the upper echelon of things, but just, you know, he's high society and so she's accepted in these circles. And when she ran into Bertha, Bertha had every opportunity to out her and say, actually, this chick used to work in my house. Only did she used to work in my house, she tried to steal my husband.
Dr. Ruth:But Bertha takes the high road in that situation and decides she'd rather have Mrs. Winderton as an ally in the Opera Wars at the time. So keep that in mind. Because Mrs. Fish asks her, where's Mr.
Dr. Ruth:Winderton? And that's the point where you see something come over her face. Looks like genuine sadness. And she's saying that he's not feeling that well. And again, women, goodness.
Dr. Ruth:Being a widow is better than being divorced, but not by much. Because she still would end up having to pretty much live her life up in Newport, hopefully with a fortune that he leaves her. Who knows? But it introduces some uncertainty in her situation when she was probably just getting used to the certainty and the privileges that come with being a missus of a man who's about town and a man who's important in society. So the back and forth is happening.
Dr. Ruth:The tension is growing at the church. There's kind of a will she, won't she. Then there are a couple of tense exchanges, notably between the O'Brien sisters, right? Because Mrs. Russell arrives at the wedding and she's talking to Monica.
Dr. Ruth:And Monica is not letting her off the hook. She's not impressed. I kinda like her. On the one hand, at first I was like, are you hating on your sister? This is obviously what she wants to do with her life.
Dr. Ruth:On the other hand, I was impressed because, again, no one really stands up to Bertha like that. And she's just not impressed by all this pomp and circumstance. She looks at it as kind of just not her thing, guess. And maybe a little shameful, and maybe even a sign that Bertha is insecure, which is true. She's doing all this and trying to get her daughter hitched to a duke so she can be the mother of a duchess.
Dr. Ruth:She can make all the other justifications she wants in her head, but ultimately she knows that this is going to greatly advance her position in society. Finally, back at the Russell House, Gladys descends the grand staircase And she looks beautiful. She looks divine. She looks classic. She looks like a Gilded Age bride.
Dr. Ruth:And I really do like her dress. She descends the staircase to applause from the staff, which I thought was really sweet. But her face is giving morose. Her face is giving, if we must, you know? It's like almost like defeat, which I hate to see on somebody's face on the day of their wedding.
Dr. Ruth:So at this point, I'm still like, no, no, no, Gladys. There's still time, right? So back at the church, the Russells. They're waiting for Gladys' arrival. And Hector's sister is once again, takes an opportunity to just be so nasty to Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Russell. Like, what the devil is wrong with you, lady? These people are saving your family's legacy. I know you may look down on them, but you certainly need their money. It just goes to show you that, you know, there is something definitely up with these people.
Dr. Ruth:Like, the duke is putting on a kind face, but I'm worried for Gladys by the way she's behaving. One of the things that Hector's sister kept mentioning that I was like, what is that? Is the grouse? So I had to actually look it up. So it's like basically a bird.
Dr. Ruth:It's bird. If someone else knows of a different meaning, I couldn't find it. So please enlighten me. But I don't know, maybe they have some kind of fancy hunting happening at one of their other houses that she's in such a rush to get back to England because of the grouse. So, she must love the taste of it.
Dr. Ruth:Who knows? If I'm wrong about that, then that's gonna be hilarious. But, okay. But before she parts ways with Hector, and he's about to go to take his place at the altar and wait for Gladys, she actually tells him try not to laugh. Which I was like, oh Bertha, get your daughter, run.
Dr. Ruth:George, get your girl and run. Because laugh, it was very sinister, you know? And even though we didn't get more context for what she meant by that, it kind of concluded for me any question I had in my mind about the duke actually being interested in Gladys and having a lot of goodwill in this marriage. It's more like, get this over with, let's get her and her money. That's what it felt like to me.
Dr. Ruth:At this point, we see everything we need to know to make an informed decision about whether she should move forward with this marriage. Everyone's logic so far to Gladys has been that we're at a point of no return. In fact, think they say we're at a point of no return more than once, right? And that breaking an engagement would lead to social ruin, and it would be worse for you than him, and all this stuff. But it kept occurring to me, was like, is it too late?
Dr. Ruth:No, it's not. She hasn't said I do yet. And understand that once she is married, it is too late. Because the only grounds for divorce in New York, which is going to be the legally binding state of their marriage certificate, right, is the only ground only grounds is adultery. So she'll be trapped in this marriage.
Dr. Ruth:So I just hate that they keep saying it's too late. And I guess I have to just turn off my twenty twenty five brain and accept that, yes, if she breaks up with him, who will have her? But then another voice in my head was like, who will have her? She's a daughter of, effectively, a billionaire. I mean, really?
Dr. Ruth:Who's gonna have her after she's been not ruined? It's not like she slept with him and everybody knows it, right? This is just an embarrassing embarrassing thing. There's gonna be, as George wanted for her, a perfectly respectable banker or builder or some kind of businessman that's going to want to be with her because he loves her. And wow, she's an heiress.
Dr. Ruth:I don't know. I just hate that everyone keeps saying she doesn't have a choice at this point. And I'm like, no, the lack of choices really begins when she marries this guy. So I take a deep breath. But my hope that she runs away, it fades because she walks in and she looks beautiful.
Dr. Ruth:And they give us a POV of Gladys coming down the aisle. She sees all the familiar faces. And they're also bouncing around the church, which I did like during this process of her getting to the aisle and the clergyman saying his words and all that. They give us a little insight into everyone's little pocket conversations, like Ada and Agnes, and Nathan Lane's character and Mrs. Astor.
Dr. Ruth:There's just, with her continuing being snarky, people's opinions are being loaded into the conversation as we're watching Gladys get married. Even George and Bertha Russell, they have a moment where he's like, I hope this works out. And she's like, can you please just let me enjoy this? My daughter's about to be a fricking duchess. And he just decides to not engage, I guess, and just watch.
Dr. Ruth:Because clearly he's not enjoying it. I mean, think that's the subtext there, is it? It's not fun for him. And I imagine a dad who actually loves his daughter, this might even be a little mournful because he doesn't want his daughter to marry someone she doesn't love, but not important to Bertha. So much to my chagrin and my stomach actually dropping in this moment, she says yes.
Dr. Ruth:She says I will. She takes the vows. And so they're married. And I'm like, okay. Now she's good and trapped.
Dr. Ruth:She doesn't have a choice. And to my surprise, they are immediately on the ship. It's the next scene. And it's like, you hear the the foghorn, right? It's like they're heading out back to England immediately.
Dr. Ruth:I didn't know they were gonna be leaving this quickly. I know they had implied because of the grouse that they would be coming back soon. But I don't know. These grouse must be really special. They must have special powers and taste really, really good.
Dr. Ruth:So they're heading back to England, which is crazy. I thought we were gonna see a goodbye scene between her and her mother. Not gonna happen. She's in the room, she's in her cabin with Adelhide, finishing up getting ready for bed. And here come Hector, it's her wedding night boo.
Dr. Ruth:And I was like, so, I don't know, I was so grossed out by this. I was so grossed out by this. Because it's not a romantic wedding. This is two people who are married to each other because of their situations. And one was actually like her hand was completely forced.
Dr. Ruth:Right? And she's so young and ignorant about sexuality. And, you know, she's He goes, well, did your mom tell you what's supposed to happen? And it just felt really creepy. I don't don't know why.
Dr. Ruth:Please forgive me. But I just don't know. I didn't like it. She's like, yeah, it's supposed to hurt and all this, but I'm sure that Bertha Russell is not giving her a very thorough sex education, right? So she's gonna learn a lot tonight.
Dr. Ruth:And he kind of insists that they consummate the marriage tonight. I think, I mean, maybe he just wanted to get some, but I think the biggest motivator there is locking that marriage in, making it impossible to annul so he can have her money. I just, that's my take. Because he could have, sometimes in arranged marriages, the spouses actually wait a little while to get to know each other. But I guess it depends on the reason for the marriage and the culture, so whatever.
Dr. Ruth:The last scene of the episode is him kinda leading her off to the bed. I am so grateful they did not show us Gladys in bed with this man. I hope to never see it because again, it just felt, it gave me the ick that she was so young and naive and he just seemed a little too eager. The credits roll. We go into the mid season trailer, which was It was it was like, what?
Dr. Ruth:What? What? So much snippets of so much happening. It was hard to take it in. I had to rewatch it a couple times.
Dr. Ruth:And we walk away with First, there's a tense discussion between Mr. Russell and Bertha. And it's clear that he says something about her always getting what she wants, and he's getting tired of, I guess, her patterns of behavior. Their confrontation is definitely coming to a head. Then we see the Duchess of Buckingham.
Dr. Ruth:She's being announced in her new home in England. So I'm glad we get to go over to England with Gladys. I know that Julian Fellowes is gonna treat us visually to what is the life of a duchess looking like in England in this time? I just, I can't wait to see. I wanna see the castle.
Dr. Ruth:I wanna see everything. I wanna meet her ladies maid. Adelhi is going with her, we know she's heading back to New York. All that stuff, right? But we are privy to a piece of conversation between Hector and his sister where he says, I did what you told me to.
Dr. Ruth:I went and married a Yankee heiress to save the family. And she's like, yeah, but I didn't expect you to bring her home. What? What? So what?
Dr. Ruth:He wasn't even supposed to bring her back? Like, what the heck is going on? And then I was like, is this? She has so much say in his life. I was like, is this is this a Lego Lannister situation?
Dr. Ruth:I I hope not. Because I don't think I'll be able to handle it. As I love the show, it will send me if those two are Okay. So, moving on. George is enlisting Larry's help, it seems, to keep this to keep the railroad project on track.
Dr. Ruth:That's funny. Come on. It was right there. But then we see missus Van Rhine being nosy about how much money Jack has made. Obviously, that's gonna be a problem.
Dr. Ruth:Mrs. Van Ryan has been having trouble with people having more money than her this whole time. Now, what is she gonna do when her footman actually has more money than, remember, than she ever had. So that'll be an interesting dynamic shift. And then Peggy.
Dr. Ruth:Peggy's still being courted by doctor Kirkland, but his mother, man, she's relentless. She's out here gossiping now about Peggy, trying to dig up dirt on her. And if you recall, they kinda let us forget over this last season and a half or so. But Peggy has a past. Peggy had a man that her dad did not approve of who she had a baby with and the baby died.
Dr. Ruth:Which was really sad and it was one of the opening notes to us learning about her story and the strife that existed in the relationship with her dad. They've moved on past this. I mean, just the idea of them bringing this up now is, they didn't mention it, but there's nothing else in Peggy's past that we are privy to that I can think of that might be an actual issue for this snotty family. So we'll see, but it looks like some people know them and know their secrets. And they're going to divulge those secrets to Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Kirkland. Marion seems to have discovered something about Larry that she didn't know and that gives her a lot of misgivings about a future with him. Makes you wonder what that is. They show some cabaret looking type stuff and I was and gambling looking scenes. And I was like, okay, is Larry a freaking gambler?
Dr. Ruth:I hope not because gambling is a tough one. But something she he's doing that she doesn't approve of that makes her doubt the future if they have one at all. K. Missus Russell plans to end the ban on divorced women attending their parties. She's telling this to Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Astor, who seems to be a shocked recipient of this news. But since we know that Mrs. Russell is pretty much at or near the top of the social ladder here in the New York scene, she has a little leeway to call these kinds of shots. So I'll be interested to see what that means. I believe, you know, just watching it, that maybe she's trying to do that for the sake of maybe Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Fain. But maybe not, because I just couldn't remember them being that close. That said, remember, missus Astor is living in a loveless marriage and refusing to divorce because of society. So it kinda occurred to me that, is this an overture that Bertha is making to missus Astor saying, hey, I know you're not in a happy marriage and neither is your daughter. So if I, the mother of the Duchess, start opening up our society to divorced women and changing the rules, that allows women like you to remain at the top of the social ladder.
Dr. Ruth:And it allows her to forge a tighter bond with Mrs. Astor, because she's giving her something she would probably want. So that's an interesting little possible plot point. We'll see where that goes. Then it's just a series of back and forth one liners and things that are just ratcheting up the tension, and there's this crazy violin score playing.
Dr. Ruth:And we just know there's so much in jeopardy and so much on the line in the coming episodes that you know, all the relationships. The Duke and the Duchess, obviously their relationship is in jeopardy. The Van Rhine household, so much tension over money. It's going to boil over, we know. And the Russells remaining in conflict, at the end of their last conflict scene, George straight up tells her he doesn't trust her anymore.
Dr. Ruth:He tells us to birth his face, and she looks crestfallen. She has a look on her face like he just punched her in the gut. And so, as solid as their relationship has been, and even though they've had conflict, I have never questioned whether or not they would end up together. So it's frightening to see that for one of our favorite power couples. But she's doing something.
Dr. Ruth:She's meddling somewhere that's pissing him off. You know, that is that was quite an episode, okay? Quite an episode of television. What a wonderfully acted show. Just a beautifully written script.
Dr. Ruth:There's no wasted moments. There's no wasted opportunities. You know, there may be some smaller scenes that happen that I didn't necessarily mention here, but everything we know is going to have a payoff, and that's what I love about this script. It's not just, you know, a spinning top showing us pretty things with no purpose. So, I'm gonna say for the hundred and fiftieth time, I love this show, and I love that you're listening and appreciate your support of the podcast.
Dr. Ruth:Thank you for downloading. Thank you for following the podcast. Thank you for subscribing to the YouTube channel and for sharing this podcast with your friends who might be interested in the subject that we're discussing. We're very Gilded Age heavy right now in terms of topics because I had some catching up to do with that show. And we're gonna transition into lots of other stuff.
Dr. Ruth:I've got a special episode coming up with a special guest to discuss the Superman movie that we just saw. So that's coming up. And I'll keep you guys posted on our social media, which is PrettyPrescription on TikTok and Instagram. Please go ahead and follow-up for updates about the podcast, about things, about beautiful things in general, and lots of stuff that I'm passionate about that I'm sharing with you. Thanks for listening.
Dr. Ruth:Until next time.
