The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 5 Recap and Reactions
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Pretty Passionate podcast. I'm your host, Doctor. Ruth Celestin, wife, mommy of two, plastic surgeon, and your overall bestie. It's like the group chat up in here. So let's go ahead and get started on the first thing going on in the group chat.
Dr. Ruth:In today's episode, we will be covering a very interesting bit of pop culture. I told y'all that when something is coming up in the zeitgeist and I can't ignore it any more than you can, we're gonna talk about it here and break it down. Also, we are gonna be covering season three, episode five of The Gilded Age on HBO. The title is A Different World. So let's get started.
Dr. Ruth:First item of business is the Coldplay concert heard around the world. And no, not because of worldwide stereo, but because of an unfortunate situation with a gentleman and his alleged mistress who were caught on the KISS cam. And unbeknownst to them, their reaction and the reaction of Chris Martin would propel them into worldwide fame. Yes, that's right. Unless you are somehow living under a very, very large rock, you have probably heard about the CEO of a company called Astronomer.
Dr. Ruth:To be honest with you, I've never heard of this company before now. Name is Andy Byron. He and his alleged mistress, I'm gonna say alleged because I don't have the receipts, but he and his alleged mistress were canoodling up in a seemingly VIP, maybe a booth section of the Gillette Stadium when Coldplay was doing their concert. And at some point, they do the kiss cam and they go around. And these two were caught on the kiss cam and their reaction was so over the top.
Dr. Ruth:They were mortified. Woman in the video covers her face. She ducks away from the camera. You have to have seen repeated memes reenacting this and showing exactly how exaggerated and attention grabbing their response was. So much so that the lead singer, Chris Martin, he says he's all confused, he's like, it's okay, guys.
Dr. Ruth:And then he, like, actually bemuses at some point. He goes, well, either they're really shy or they're having an affair. Well, not sure if Chris Martin wants to add clairvoyant to his LinkedIn, but he called it. So the alleged kissing couple, they said they're both employees of Astronomer. This company, if you've never heard of it, is known as pioneers in the data ops space.
Dr. Ruth:I don't know what it means. I won't pretend, and I didn't want to research any further. But I know that they have, I think, evaluation somewhere over a billion dollars. Now, the two people in the video allegedly, Andy Byron, the company's CEO, and Kristen Cabot, or Cabot, I think it's Cabot, who is the chief people officer. She was actually recently promoted to this position.
Dr. Ruth:They were reportedly both married at the time, but I have seen some reports saying that she was divorcing or on her way to a divorce from her husband, who is also the CEO and COO of Privateer Rum. So these are some highfalutin', high powered folks out here acting a total mess and making a mess of their lives, allegedly. Strangely, the privateer CEO, COO, his name is Andrew Cabot, so she's got a thing for Andrews, I guess. The way that they react reacted, flagged so shady, that he pointed it out, it became viral instantly. Once it hit the Internet, you know, people just went nuts with this Internet sleuthing, trying to figure out who these people are.
Dr. Ruth:Initially, were saying that the third person in the video, the very red faced woman who was completely mortified, sitting off to the side, that she was also an HR director or something like that at the company. Turns out she's not. But apparently, the man's wife, whose name is Megan Kerrigan, and she was hyphenated Byron, but, Chile, that changed within an hour or so of the rest of the world getting onto this, and I'm sure her relatives and friends letting her know. And she Facebook broke up with this dude and changed her stat her her last name on her page to just be Megan Kerrigan. And according to some reports I've seen about her son, her son who's a little older, I think he might be a teenager, who's speaking out, she's already filing for divorce.
Dr. Ruth:Now most of what I've just told you, I found on People Magazine, people.com, and also on the New York Post articles on this topic. So I'm not trying to take credit for doing this research at all. The initial public statement from Astronomer, the company said that they were investigating everything. Of course, they're a company. They can't just jump to conclusions like we can on the Internet.
Dr. Ruth:After that, the initial statement from Andy Byron, basically, I think he tweeted something out where he pretty much blames the cameraman and Chris Martin for more or less invading what was supposed to be a private moment. And a private moment inadvertently went extremely public. Insert massive eye roll. Sir, you are in a stadium, in what looks like a pretty pricey section, enjoying yourself with your lady friend. And when I have never there's not a stadium in the world that I have walked into and not seen a giant sign saying, hey, just a heads up, you may or may not be getting filmed when you walk in here.
Dr. Ruth:That's just common practice because of situations like this where they don't want to be sued or held liable for you being caught on somebody else's camera because there's cameras everywhere. You have to be the dumbest person on earth if you think that in a concert where people are all over trying to get themselves on Instagram, you know, the selfies and show everybody where they are, that you're not gonna get caught on anyone's camera? That it was a private moment? No. It wasn't private, sir.
Dr. Ruth:It was very much in the public and very much in the public at a place where they have cameras. Obviously, being caught on the KISS Cam is just terrible luck. I mean, there were times when I remember when I was younger, used to go to Yankee games and wanna be caught on this KISS Cam with my boyfriend. Never happened for me, but those those VIP sections tend to get a lot of attention from the camp. So, again, what were you thinking?
Dr. Ruth:What were you thinking? Clearly not about his family and his wife because this alleged affair, you know, he didn't take any responsibility for the fact that he did this. It was more about this private moment going public and embarrassing everyone. But as of yesterday, Astronomer accepted his resignation. There was a lag of a few days that reportedly was about negotiating his golden parachute, his way out.
Dr. Ruth:He's gonna definitely have to have some kind of severance package, I'm sure. I can understand Astronomer's position on this. The public scrutiny is just way too much. I mean, I still saw new memes as of today being made, and they're still quite funny. And over the weekend that just passed, every event where people were on the Kiss Cam, they were acting up and reenacting like every fan couple.
Dr. Ruth:Not even couples, just like two friends. They would just act like they weren't supposed to be together and stuff like that. So I think as as far as the public interest goes, it's gonna take a few news cycles and some really interesting stuff happening in order for the public interest in this story to go away. But as it unfolds, you better believe everybody's gonna be up on all of the details. And unfortunately, because of this alleged affair, the name astronomer, at least in my head, will for quite some time be attached to this incident.
Dr. Ruth:Best of luck to the families involved. Honestly, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I can only imagine what it must be like to wake up the next morning to a phone full of messages and emails and whatnot from missed calls from people in your circle who are like, girl, we saw your husband out with another woman. So my heart first and foremost goes out to the wife, Megan Kerrigan, and also to his family who were clearly not top of mind during this incident. So no updates on what's actually happening with the alleged mistress, Kristen Cabot, but it seems if, I mean, if the company is like every other company in the world, there's going to be a moral turpitude or some kind of morality clause in your contract that gives the company an out to get rid of you if you do anything that besmirches the reputation of the company.
Dr. Ruth:And it's easy to say that, yes, yes, this is besmirching the reputation of the company. So we'll see. If I get any interesting news about what the consequences in the fallout are of this very public misstep, I will definitely share. Now that we've got that business out of the way, let's move on to season three episode five of The Gilded Age. After last week's episode, I was left reeling, watching poor Gladys come down that aisle in tears and say, I will, to a man she does not love and who she barely knows.
Dr. Ruth:Heartbreaking. The cruelty of Bertha's ambition really came through in that episode. So this episode, I will start by saying, for those of you who were, like me, kind of pissed off at Bertha for how she did her daughter, it kind of ends up being a bit of a comeuppance. So let's get into it. I am going to actually format this a little bit more into groups or clusters of events and try to be more chronological in the day or two days that we're seeing in the lives of the characters here.
Dr. Ruth:Just because they do so much back and forth ing, it will become confusing if I don't. Gladys, we open up with her. And thank goodness we do, because I needed to know what was happening with my girl. The brand new duchess is on her way by horse and carriage to her new home, which is called Sydmuth Castle. I don't know if you heard that when they mentioned it the three hundred and fifty eleven times at the dinner and whatnot last episode.
Dr. Ruth:But yes, Sidmouth Castle is the seat of the Duke of Buckingham. First thing we notice, the estate is massive. They're riding along for some time and for about a half hour, I think. And Gladys is like, are we there yet? Literally, child style.
Dr. Ruth:And he goes, he's like, yeah, we're here. This is Sidmouth, but we're in the park. And so we'll be at the castle soon. Then the carrot starts getting pelted by produce or flowers or something. And it was a very sweet note that really reminded me of Downton Abbey because the tenants and farm workers actually came out to greet their new duchess.
Dr. Ruth:And I thought that was a very warm welcome that I wasn't expecting, and a nice little reminder of our other favorite period drama by the same creator, Julian Fellows. Sadly, it's the only warm greeting our Gladys is going to get. They show her going on a tour of Sidmouth Castle with the Duke. Immediately, Lady Sarah, his sister, is being a snarky you know what. So they get up to a portrait.
Dr. Ruth:She Gladys is just taking part in the conversation. She mentions Lady Sarah mentions this is a wedding portrait for her mother. Gladys says, oh, my mother, you know, she had a she commissioned a wedding portrait for me, as you recall. In episode three, we saw that. And this chick says, well, that's best left in New York.
Dr. Ruth:As if to just stop her in her tracks if she had any thoughts about bringing her portrait of herself to her marital home. Okay. Not off to a good start. Then she notices a strange contraption. I knew what it was just by looking, but it was a mousetrap, an old timey mousetrap.
Dr. Ruth:And when she says, oh, we have mice? Remember, Gladys lives in complete luxury inside the Russell home. It's a new construction, so it's probably not plagued with the kind of vermin that a very old, drafty, you know, just full of holes and very connected to the earth building like Sidmouth Castle would be. So then they make a snarky comment about that actual issue, and they say, well, Sidmouth was built in the 1600s, and so we've been here. We like to stay in the same place.
Dr. Ruth:Like, hammering home the point that they believe Gladys to be new money. The duke says nothing to stand up for her during all of this, just want to point that out. Poor Gladys, trying to fit in, but Lady Sarah, even while just giving her a tour, is just unbelievably rude. Right off the bat, you can tell that this woman is not going to give Gladys a real chance. Gladys says that she's happy that Adelheid is with her, and I am too.
Dr. Ruth:Happy that she is not alone, and that Adelheid is there with her to help her get ready for her first dinner at Sidmouth. She's fixing her hair. She puts these pretty diamond pins in her hair. And Gladys confides in her that she is feeling out of place and that having Adelheid there is like having a piece of home with her. Even though we know that she is meant to be replaced with a British lady's maid, it's still a comfort to her in that moment.
Dr. Ruth:Now, Gladys comes down to the dinner, and she is announced in the room as the duchess. And everyone in the room does greet her warmly. But immediately, Lady Sarah pulls her aside and tells her that her hairpins are beneath her station as a duchess. She goes, well, if I'm wearing a tiara, don't you think you should be wearing a tiara? You have so much to learn about the ways of British noble stuff like that.
Dr. Ruth:Apparently, this hairstyle is really gauche with the diamond pins. They looked really nice and very expensive to me, but either way. The duke does defend Gladys's choice, to my surprise, but then he walks off arm in arm with Lady Sarah and leaves her standing there, to where thankfully one of the dinner guests is kind enough to extend his arm to accompany Gladys into the dining room. Then they put this stuff in front of her that does not look delicious. I'm sure that Gladys is used to eating gourmet delicious food all the time and not British food.
Dr. Ruth:Lady Sarah continues to be really rude and dismissive at dinner. And then at the end, even the duke joins in and kind of teasing her when they get up to go through to the parlor for the women, and the men are gonna go and smoke and do billiards and drink port or whatever. And Gladys doesn't know where to go, and he's kinda like, are you gonna drink some port with us? Like, And it's like, why don't you just, you know, why don't you just like be nice? Be a husband and be nice.
Dr. Ruth:And tell her, hey babe, this is the point where you guys go into the the parlor and do lady things. And we're gonna go over here and do men things. Okay. Love you. Bye.
Dr. Ruth:I know he doesn't love her, but still. The following morning at Sidmouth, we find our new duchess consoling Adelheid who is in tears. What's wrong? Well, she's learned that Lady Sarah has fired Adelheid for no particular offense other than the fact that, I guess, because of the stupid barrettes, she feels that she's unfit to get her properly accustomed to the life of a British duchess. So she's being sent home on the next thing smoking, back to New York.
Dr. Ruth:And we know Adelaide was supposed to be replaced by her English ladies maid, but not this early and not this abruptly. And we also know that her presence was just like the last little bit of just a security blanket for Gladys to try to get adjusted to this new life. And to just have that ripped away from her, that was the last straw. So she marches across the house to go talk to Lady Sarah and confront her. And I was actually really proud of her.
Dr. Ruth:But the truth of the matter is that Gladys is still very much a little girl. She marches in there and Lady Sarah is pretty much like, yeah, I did that and what, Unapologetic about firing Adelhide, telling her that she's not good enough to train her up basically to be a duchess. And she sticks to her guns. And the duke comes and stands in the doorway and says absolutely nothing. So Gladys just kind of awkwardly walks out powerless in the situation, which is kind of sad.
Dr. Ruth:So then Hector has that moment with his sister that we saw from the mid season trailer where he confronts her rude behavior. And he asks her, he tells her, like, you're the one who wanted me to go and find a rich Yankee to marry. Right? Those were pretty much his words. And she tells him that ridiculous line of, yes, but I didn't think he would actually bring her here.
Dr. Ruth:Like, the nerve of you. So he was just supposed to bring her money and she was gonna stay a married woman in a whole other continent? Like, disgusting. Literally, I cannot wait for Lady Sarah to get some real comeuppance. At this point, poor, poor Gladys, she's had enough.
Dr. Ruth:And good for her, she fires off a letter hands it to Adelhide and tells her to get it off to New York, make sure no one else knows about it. So Adelhide is like, yes ma'am. On to our girl Peggy. We catch up with her and Doctor. Kirkland at a baseball game.
Dr. Ruth:And I think it's in Newport, but I'm not a 100% sure, don't quote me on that. But, you know, Newport always has that bright sunny feel. So that's what it feels like. Her dad apparently sponsors this team, and they're having a wonderful time with that respectful flirtation that they're always doing. And the game ends.
Dr. Ruth:They're walking away, and they run into Mr. Fortune. Mr. Fortune was the editor of The Globe, the paper that Peggy had briefly worked for, but she stopped working for them because he went ahead and kissed her and he's married. He's obviously like his face is alight seeing her and he sees doctor Kirkland and he's clearly like, what the heck is going on here?
Dr. Ruth:Again, he's married. I'm just gonna say that that one last time. Okay. He offers her a chance to cover a story that's emerging in Philadelphia about a women's suffragist. And she's very hesitant because I feel like she doesn't want to be involved with him again.
Dr. Ruth:She's got her other work she's doing. She's working on a novel. She's working for Mrs. Van Rhine. Does she need to be hopping a train right now and getting reinvolved with this man?
Dr. Ruth:It is a good opportunity for her as a writer in her career. Doctor. Kirkland is encouraging. And so she accepts the job with hesitation. And she tells him when Mr Fortune walks away with his daughter, comes to find him, she tells Doctor Kirkland, you know, yeah, the relationship basically with her and Mr Fortune is complicated.
Dr. Ruth:She doesn't tell him exactly why it's complicated and she doesn't tell him the whole story, but I imagine as the episode goes on that more will come of it. Her next scene is at the Van Rhine house where she's doing her job as Agnes' secretary, and a letter arrives for her. Mister Fortune sent it to the 60 First Street location, and it is a train ticket. Marion's the one who brings in the letter, and when she sees who it's from, she's surprised because she knows what's up with Mister Fortune. And she feels like it's bad news that he's resurfacing, and I don't disagree with her.
Dr. Ruth:So she questions Peggy about it and kinda needles her a little bit. But Peggy's insistent that she's going by herself and that she doesn't that Mr. Fortune is not coming. And she also doesn't need Doctor. Kirkland to come with her, I'm a big girl is basically the moral of the story, and we move on.
Dr. Ruth:But at the train station, Doctor Kirkland, he's accompanying Peggy to take her onto the train, but he's not going. But all of a sudden, Mr Fortune shows up like, oh, we're gonna get on our train. Our train? What? So Peggy is completely caught off guard because she was not expecting him to be trying to go with her.
Dr. Ruth:And at this point, honestly, Mr. Fortune just, you know, I thought he was attractive last season, I'm not gonna lie. I thought he was so sweet and cute and funny. And then finding out he was married and that their relationship would have to be some gross affair completely killed any interest I had in that relationship. But also, the way he is behaving at this train station, he's getting up in Doctor.
Dr. Ruth:Kirkland's face and he is shoving him because doctor Kirkland is insisting that he let Peggy go by herself. Because Peggy is clearly not expressing any interest in traveling with mister Fortune. And it's just gross. Like, what are you trying to be alone with her on a train or be alone with her when you get to Philly and she's gotta go to whatever hotel she's staying at to do the story? Like, back off.
Dr. Ruth:It's obvious that she's not interested in your very married self considering that your daughter is the one your little small daughter is the one who came and found you at the baseball game when you were chatting with her. I'm assuming you're still very much involved with your family and your wife, and that's how it should stay. So it's really off putting that he's being so insistent, especially in the presence of another man that she's clearly interested in and getting along with. And he's here to say her off. So back off, buddy.
Dr. Ruth:Peggy is obviously mortified by the fact that their altercation actually happens in the first place. She steps between them and gets Mr. Fortune to finally leave. And that's when she becomes a little scared. You can tell that this is turning him off.
Dr. Ruth:Doctor. Kirkland, as you remember, is kinda, he's bougie. He's not about that fist to cuffs life, you know. He wasn't the first one to shove anyone. He did stand up for her though, and I found that very, very nice and attractive.
Dr. Ruth:I feel like he was like, you back off, and I'm being polite right now. So he was insistent, but he wasn't as big of a jerk as Mr. Fortune. Peggy promises that she'll fill him in on the whole situation with Mr. Fortune.
Dr. Ruth:And much to my relief, Doctor. Kirkland reassures her that when she gets back from Philly, he will absolutely be waiting to hear what she has to say about the situation. So I breathe a sigh of relief, and I'm sure she does too, and she gets on the train. I don't know the future for this couple, but I definitely don't want that future to be jeopardized in any way by Mr. Fortune meddling early on in the situation.
Dr. Ruth:He's a non factor, and he should stay that way. On to the Russells. So the bulk of the episode is focused on the drama happening within the Russell family. Family. Be it Gladys, or George, or Bertha, or Larry, and the things happening between them and then individually.
Dr. Ruth:So we'll get into what happens with them. We start with George. He's waiting for an update on his business ventures from Clay. Clay doesn't have great news. The Chicago rail owners still won't sell, and the mine owners in Morenci, Arizona won't budge either.
Dr. Ruth:It's clear that Clay doesn't really a 100% agree with George continuing to push his agenda. And basically gets himself fired on the spot. He's like, are you done? Clay goes, yeah, I'm done. And he goes, yeah, you better believe it, you're done, you're fired.
Dr. Ruth:And I was like, woah. So then Clay tells George straight up, I guess he's like, I got nothing else to lose now. He tells him, you're going broke, your business is gonna fail, and all that, and storms out. And I have to be honest, that makes me very nervous. I am nervous for George because we've had now multiple, multiple characters in his industry tell us, foreshadow for us, that he is going to experience extreme financial trouble.
Dr. Ruth:He just had this exceptionally expensive wedding he just paid for and all this money he paid to Duke. And remember, he was talking about her dowry being being in play for making these business deals happen. And JPMorgan did pull out last episode. He pulled his money out of the project. So George is in deep, all in with his money.
Dr. Ruth:So I'm nervous. I'm nervous for him. Well, upstairs, Bertha is also upset talking to mister Church about the papers. The papers once again still writing about Gladys and spreading the gossip. She's like, you have to get to the bottom of who the mole is in our inner circle because this is unacceptable.
Dr. Ruth:Now, Mr. Church heads across the street to meet with Mr. Bannister and ask for his assistance and advice in this situation because, you know, again, she suspects someone in the house and he doesn't know where to even begin. Mr. Bannister gives him pretty good advice.
Dr. Ruth:He says that it's usually the most recent hire who's spreading the gossip. Now, church is like, that's so twenty, thirty people. That's so hard to narrow down. We hired so many people recently with the wedding and everything, who knows? But for me, the very obvious choice there is Adel Hyde because she was the one who instantly, when the rumors first started surfacing and they were asking questions about who the source was for the papers, she was the one who immediately blamed the dressmakers.
Dr. Ruth:She was instantly trying to take the attention off of her and put it on someone else, and that makes her suspicious to me. But we still haven't solved that mystery. Later, after his disastrous meeting with Clay, George comes to Bertha asking her to meet with Mr. Merrick. He's one of the Chicago rail family members.
Dr. Ruth:She also knows him from being on the board at the Metropolitan Opera. So that's George's in to have mister Merrick over for dinner, and he wants Bertha to work her feminine wiles on him to try to convince him to sell his shares or for his family to sell their shares in the railroad, which will give George a green light to continue development across the country into the West with his railroad. Next, George enlists Larry Russell in a rather tense negotiation for father and son to help him with the Morenci deal. He is asking him to head out to Arizona tomorrow. Larry's like, oh, I need more information.
Dr. Ruth:I need some specs on the mines and all this. So he wants to, you know, Larry is being a good businessman. And you can see at some point that George even catches that and he's like, my boy. Like, even negotiating and playing hardboiled with your old man. And you could tell he was proud that Larry is protecting his own interests.
Dr. Ruth:And with the what's in it for me, he meant it and he wanted to know. And George was like, well, what's in it for you is that you inherit everything I own and build, so you'll wanna see this work. So Larry's sold on that. But he tells him he can't leave tomorrow because he was planning to propose to Marion. But, okay.
Dr. Ruth:I thought it would be a little bit longer before we got to this point, but I'm pleased. I'm very, very pleased. So George is thrilled as well. He immediately congratulates Larry and tells him Marion is a fantastic choice. And he seems ready to stand up for Larry because Larry does have some concern about what his mother is going to think.
Dr. Ruth:But George is kind of reassuring that this time, he's going to have more of a say in this situation than he did with Gladys. Maybe because this is his son, he feels more responsibility for making sure that his choices are honored and he allowed Bertha to manage the affairs of the marriage regarding the daughter. Or maybe it's his guilt for how things played out with Gladys, making him feel very strongly that he wants to protect Larry's interests here and make sure that he gets to marry who he wants to. But he's pretty firm and resolute that he likes Marion and he is going to support this marriage. So that makes me really happy because I know Bertha doesn't like her.
Dr. Ruth:We know that from last episode. So, Larry then goes off right away, and he and Marion, they're walking in the park, and it's a beautiful scene. They get to a point where they're standing with the light just so the sunlight hitting these willows in such a way that the framing is unreal. I mean, the final frame of this scene is just unreal beautiful. I felt like something out of Bridgerton, the way that they use nature and light in Bridgerton into such terrific effect to make such beautiful scenes when it comes to things like this.
Dr. Ruth:So he proposes in this ethereal scene. She, for a moment, made me scared that she was going to say no, but she accepts with tearful joy. And they both head back to her aunt's house to deliver the good news. Well, it's received warmly by Ada. I mean, we kind of knew that was coming.
Dr. Ruth:Ada was already happy for them before they even talked about marriage. Now, wow though, to Aunt Agnes' reaction. She is shockingly rude even for her. She's like, oh, we're so happy. And she somehow is still concerned about the fact that due to this engagement, the Russells will now try to claim relationship to them.
Dr. Ruth:And I guess that's so disgusting because of the new money, old money thing. Ada is trying to calm her down because in the delivery of the engagement news, Larry accidentally slips, or not accidentally because he wasn't trying to keep it a secret. Larry slips that Jack is newly wealthy. This catches Agnes' attention because she's like, what? My footman is rich now?
Dr. Ruth:You're out here making my footman rich? Like, gross. What are you doing? Now you're you're you're stealing my niece and you're trying to be related to me. She's acting very snooty and I think undeservedly so.
Dr. Ruth:Ada does her thing trying to calm her down. Thankfully, it doesn't come out yet at that point exactly how much money it is that Jack made from the sale. Because I think that's his business to tell, and I would have hated for it to come out at that point. So, the newly engaged couple head back over to the Russell's to tell Larry's parents the good news. There they are popping champagne with George, Larry, and Marion, but Bertha is missing.
Dr. Ruth:Larry points out that maybe we should have waited for mother, but we catch up to her. She's coming down the staircase, that beautiful breathtaking staircase, beautifully dressed for dinner to welcome none other than Mr. Merrick into the house. They stroll arm and arm into the dining room and meet up with the three who are already celebrating in the parlor. Bertha does not receive this well.
Dr. Ruth:She doesn't receive it well. She does nothing to hide her nuisance about the fact that she's just finding out about this. The fact that she's just finding out about Larry leaving for Morenci tomorrow. And she's like, well, I just, I go to one charity meeting and all of a sudden I'm left out of everything. And it's just ridiculous, her reaction, honestly, because she saw it coming.
Dr. Ruth:She knew that Larry was into Marion. And I think she was just upset because she kinda missed her opportunity to manipulate the situation a little bit more to her advantage. She also makes a snarky comment about Marion's aunts and how they received it. Like, oh, I'm sure they're just thrilled. So you can tell there's gonna be some tension with these two families being blended.
Dr. Ruth:It's a tense moment, but it is broken up by mister Merrick proposing a toast and Bertha reluctantly participates. So we're at the dining table with mister Merrick and Bertha and George. And they engaged in some rather cringey, heavy flirtation in front of mister Russell. And I have to say, it was cringey for late 1,800 standards, but it would be cringey even for a man in 2025 to be breaking bread with another man, telling him just how fine his wife is, just how awesome his wife is. Like, okay, that's that's why I married her, bro.
Dr. Ruth:Like, I don't need you to constantly tell me how amazing my wife is. Like, there's just a limit to some of that conversation in terms of propriety. Dinner's over, and obviously George suppressed his desire to throat chop Mr. Merrick enough for them to get to the billiards room. Really, Mr.
Dr. Ruth:Merrick is just playing, and George is trying to convince him to sell their railroad shares. He's giving him a pitch, Mr. Merrick is kind of dodging it, and then he gets more direct. And he's like, my brother deals with all this. He's gonna handle it.
Dr. Ruth:It's our family legacy. We're never gonna sell. I don't trust you, so just forget about it. George is, you can see stifling rage. And he's like, I'm disappointed.
Dr. Ruth:And Mr. Merrick just bounces. He's like, all right, well, guess that's the end of our fun. And he leaves rather abruptly. Something tells me that George will ultimately own their shares somehow.
Dr. Ruth:I just won't count him out in this situation. I know that he's definitely the underdog here, but I won't make the mistake of counting him out yet. Then George goes on to talk to Bertha, who's getting ready bed that evening, and he just lets it all out. That he won't allow her to butt into Larry's engagement, that he's going to stand up this time. And you can definitely see, okay, that's his guilt talking, right?
Dr. Ruth:And then he says that, oh, he did not appreciate her flirting with Mr. Merrick like that. And she's like, what do you mean? I thought you wanted me to charm him. He's like, charm him?
Dr. Ruth:But you had me being a cuckold at my own dinner table, and I was like, yikes. It's clear that the tension between them is still just boiling, boiling and it's about to boil over. He just has resentment against her that he is unwilling to confront his part in. At the end of the day, let's be real. Yes, Bertha is a woman who gets what she wants.
Dr. Ruth:Yes, she's persuasive and she has her ability to convince George of certain things. But if he truly did not want Gladys to marry that man, I feel that he could have stopped the wedding. He probably knows that too. So he is taking all of his frustrations over the business deal and the wedding, all that on Bertha. And although I am upset with her over what she did to Gladys, I don't think she deserves quite the amount of ire that George is directing at her.
Dr. Ruth:Some of that is just not her fault. Earlier in the episode, when Marion and Larry are telling her aunts about the engagement, he mentions that he's going out that evening with his friend to celebrate his engagement at a place called Delmonico's. I don't have any recollection of that place being mentioned or featured before. And once we get there in the scene, I don't know if he was lying to her or what because then they begin to refer to the place they're at as the Haymarket. I actually had to Google what the heck a Haymarket is.
Dr. Ruth:Google only gave me answers that it's a marketplace, an old school marketplace, usually in a square where a lot of merchandise is being sold. So absent a really clear Gilded Age reference for what that means, I'm interpreting it to mean that stuff is being sold at this place, but it's not necessarily food and produce, if you get my drift. So they're walking around. Larry is giving Jack a lay of the land. He's letting him know that as a man of means, he now has access to this kind of stuff.
Dr. Ruth:Crazy. It's very clearly an establishment of ill repute. There's women boxing in a ring. There's gambling happening. Obviously, there's tons of liquor flowing.
Dr. Ruth:He tells him, do you want women, men, whatever suits your fancy? And it's clear, very clear, that having money and being a man in this society makes the rules very, very flexible. Flexible. In that moment, Jack is still taking it all in. He's definitely not just checking off his boxes of things he'd like to do with the women who are approaching him at the Haymarket.
Dr. Ruth:And in that moment, Larry spots Maude Beaton. Remember Maude Beaton? The one who beat Oscar out of his family's fortune, telling him she was gonna marry him and that she was the illegitimate child of a really rich man and all that and disappeared overnight with the Van Ryan fortune, Maude Beaton? Well, he spots her as a working girl here at the Haymarket. She's definitely at work.
Dr. Ruth:And when she rolls up on him and he's like, hey, aren't you Maude Beaton? She completely denies that and says, I'm Dolly Trent. I don't know what you're talking about. And her client impatiently kinda grabs her and is like, let's go upstairs. So the whole thing was really quite disturbing and it leads you to believe like she definitely can't have money if she's doing this for a living, right?
Dr. Ruth:So what happened to the Van Rhine fortune? So many questions. I mean, how much time has elapsed between her stealing all that money and now suddenly finding herself so destitute that she's selling her body for money? We don't know. I think we'll find out.
Dr. Ruth:So the following morning, Larry gets the specs of the Morenci deal from George and he starts heading out. He's going to Arizona, but before he leaves, he bids farewell to Marion and then he tries to catch up with Oscar and explain to him in confidence what he saw the night before. He tells him that he saw Maude Beaton at the Haymarket working. And although he doesn't use the word prostitution, he definitely lets him know that that's what she was doing. And he also very kindly promises to keep this a secret on Oscar's behalf, which I thought was considerate.
Dr. Ruth:Now, Oscar immediately does not keep it a secret. He goes to his buddy, John Adams, for lunch, and they're talking about this. And he says that he plans to go see her at the Haymarket. And John Adams is like, is that a wise idea? And Oscar's like, she left me penniless, bro.
Dr. Ruth:She ruined me financially. John Adams makes a very interesting point, which I didn't see coming. He says, at the end of the day, you both deceived each other. You were gonna marry her and take over her whole life and ruin her whole life being married to a man who's not into women. And she lied to you and took your money.
Dr. Ruth:So he's like, way I see it, everyone got their just desserts, which I was like, oh, He's like, yeah, she's working now at the Haymarket. Basically, that's the karma she's reaping. That's karma enough. And Oscar, he's saying, lost your money doing something dirty. You were gonna lie to this woman and marry her, and ultimately, you've bounced back.
Dr. Ruth:You've got your business back. You're flourishing. What do you need to go and get closure from her? Anytime people talk about needing closure, they don't need closure, they need something else because you never get closure from another person. You only get closure from yourself when you decide to move on from something.
Dr. Ruth:You don't get closure because a person who wronged you apologizes or anything of the sort or explains to you what happened to all the money they stole. He's probably never gonna get satisfactory answers from her on that topic. So it makes sense that John is giving him this advice and we'll see if he takes it. Back at the Russell house, Mrs. Russell is walking the hallway outside of George's office and she hears an argument between George and someone else.
Dr. Ruth:The door opens, mister Brinkley, his new business manager leaves. He then informs her that he fired Clay and that things are not great, that things are really going poorly for his business, and he's seething at that point. You could tell he's just like a loose cannon ready to fire. When Bertha offers to help, he snaps at her in the worst way. I mean, we have not seen them argue like this before.
Dr. Ruth:He tells her that, you know, he's like, instead of trying to help me, why don't you find out what's really happening with Gladys? Because obviously, he seems to think the amount of time that's gone by that they haven't heard from her is abnormal. It seems he expected to hear from her already, but it's never made clear to us how much time has elapsed between the wedding and this moment. Either way, too long for him to have heard from his baby girl. Again, that feeling of guilt, could see bubbling to the surface within him that he feels like he threw his daughter to the wolves, and now she's out there suffering and he can't even help her.
Dr. Ruth:She is so far away. So that frustration, he is directing it right at Bertha. She tries to reassure him that no news is good news, but as a mom, that attitude really gives me pause. So much pause. I cannot imagine.
Dr. Ruth:I mean, my kids are very young. But there is no world in which my kid gets married, moves away from me, even if I think they married a great person, and I just never hear from them. And I'm just gonna be like, no news is good news. They're probably in marital bliss and they just don't have time to reach out. I'm too much of a helicopter mom for that.
Dr. Ruth:I just It gives me pause as a mother that she's not concerned about Gladys in the same way that mister Russell is. Even though she saw the same tears on Gladys' face walking down the aisle. It's okay. I'm not gonna go too far into it, but lady. George is very nasty to her.
Dr. Ruth:He tells her he's glad that she's headed up to Newport right now because he really doesn't have time for her and to help her assuage her guilt. And he's really focused on his work. And Bertha pretty much just leaves that conversation looking really injured. Even though I agree with George about a lot, I feel really bad for Bertha and I don't think she deserves that because as strongly as he's expressing his opinions now, I'm like, where were you, man? Where was this last week?
Dr. Ruth:Where was this when it was time to save Gladys? But again, we're moving on. We're moving on. The next two groups I'm discussing are kind of smaller plot lines in this episode. So briefly, we'll mention Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Forte does find her way back to Mrs. Daschkeva's place. This time she goes to her, and she tells her Mrs. Daschkeva, or Madame Daschkeva rather, tells her very comforting information about Luke. She tells her all this stuff.
Dr. Ruth:You know, like she has all this foreknowledge. Oh, you were married and it was brief and he was taken from you after a short amount of time. All this stuff that seemingly is causing Ada to have a lot of belief in her abilities. Last episode I mentioned that there are people, since the beginning of time, who are very well trained at how to find this information out from you or figure it out, I'm sure. I mean, Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Forte is a person in society whose news, such as the death of her husband, would probably have made the papers. It's not like it wouldn't have been public knowledge. So I think Mrs. Forte, Ada, is being a little bit naive, or I should say a lot of it naive, about how it is that this woman may have come across this information. Just my 2¢ on that.
Dr. Ruth:But she says that she's channeling Luke, she's holding his pocket watch to her breast, and she's like, he's here, you can converse with him. And poor Ada converses with Luke through Madame Daskeva, and he assures her He says a lot of lovely things. But more or less that he would not want her to live her life miserable. He wants her to be happy, and that he loves her. And he understands how much she loves him.
Dr. Ruth:At that point, Ada then goes back to the Van Rijn house. She's lighter, airier, and she's telling Agnes that she's going to stop wearing dark clothes and that she feels great. Mrs. Van Rijn does not press for the source of this newfound happiness because she believes that Ada was just at a temperance meeting. That said, I am concerned.
Dr. Ruth:I'm concerned that Madame Dashkabat is one of those people who is going to try to integrate herself into Ada's life and pockets to constantly get money from her to speak to Luke. That's thing one. But I do accept that this is psychologically beneficial to her because it's already causing her to come out of her mourning and be a little bit lighter and a little bit happier. The skeptic in me can't see how this is going to lead to something positive in the long run. I've never heard of a tale of a rich woman who was distraught and dependent on a psychic that didn't get scammed in the end.
Dr. Ruth:So I'm hopeful that Madame Dushkeva is somehow actually communing with the dead. I don't know. I don't know everything. Whatever. But we'll see.
Dr. Ruth:What I do know is that she knows to keep it from Agnes, because she knows that Agnes would definitely talk her out of this. On to Mrs. Bruce and Mr. Borden. They have been sharing these brief moments in this episode and the last episode, kind of establishing where they are in their relationship.
Dr. Ruth:At the end of last season, they had such a cute little flirtation around going to the opera. And I was really, you know, looking forward to some sort of development in this relationship. The writers are moving slow on this one. We've gotten little snippets here and there, but no real big scenes for them. So this week, we have an update.
Dr. Ruth:Mister Borden's wife, we know, passed away a couple of weeks ago. Last week, because he was now officially single, he just up and proposed to Mrs. Bruce. She turned him down because it turns out she's not officially single either. She's married.
Dr. Ruth:But her husband suffers from mental illness, and so they can't be together. She can't afford to get him the treatment that he might need outside of an institution. And so she's stuck in this marriage because as you remember, in New York, the only grounds for a divorce is adultery. She also feels a certain amount of guilt because she did love him and did wanna build a life with him, but this mental illness took over and there is no chance of that happening. So she's kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place about what to do with her relationship with Mr.
Dr. Ruth:Borden. She obviously can't move forward with marriage with him, but where does that leave them? So once again, mister Borden just, you know, pours it all out and he tells her that he loves her and she thanks him. I mean, I laughed out loud when that happened because I feel like, okay, she's backing away completely from this relationship. If you tell someone that you love them and they respond to you with a thank you so much, I mean, it's curtains, isn't it?
Dr. Ruth:Or it's almost curtains. Or some splaining needs to happen before you call it curtains. But it doesn't spell love and success in the future for this relationship, in my opinion. Speaking of other staff, we also have a scene that takes place with the Van Rhine staff, where they're talking about the engagement between Marion and Larry, and they're talking about the wedding. And for some reason, they're musing about whether or not Jack would be welcome at this wedding.
Dr. Ruth:Of course, missus Armstrong is a hater, so she's like, what in a way? They would never allow a servant to be at the wedding. But then they're arguing, well, Jack's not really a servant anymore as they know from the earlier conversation with Larry. The clock was sold and he has come into some money now. They still don't know how much money.
Dr. Ruth:Mister Bannister comes downstairs and his 2¢ in the conversation is that, yeah, well, Jack's a wealthy man now. And they're like, what you mean wealthy? In defense of Jack, missus Bauer definitely lets it slip out exactly how much money Jack is getting out of the deal. And this is like where I'm instantly regretting that Jack told her the truth and he should've just kept it vague. But she tells them, and Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Armstrong and Bannister's mouths are literally just agape. They're sitting there like they don't recover. One of the interesting things that I was looking at, I was reading an article, I believe it was in Screen Rant. Yes, it was in Screen Rant, where they were talking about the inflation value of the money that Jack has earned in the sale of his clock invention. And by their calculations, by the way, this is something that is notoriously hard to do.
Dr. Ruth:But by their calculations, the $600,000 is in today's money equivalent to about $20,000,000 And so Jack is walking away a cool $10,000,000 richer. Now I've seen online other estimates that put the figure way higher, but this 20,000,000 feels more right than, you know, a 100,000,000, like some sources were saying. But you take from that what you will. Either way, he is a multi multi millionaire. He's going from being someone who didn't have a home before the Van Rijn household to having all this money dumped into his lap all at once.
Dr. Ruth:And he's so young. He's such a life novice in general. I'm scared for him. I'm scared of his friend's reaction and how this will all play out, but we're gonna see. So we head on up to Newport, the bright and sunny beautiful Newport, always picturesque with the waves and the beaches and the grass and the sun and the outfits.
Dr. Ruth:There's a big event coming up at Mrs. Fish's house. So we start with Aurora and Marion. Marion obviously went to visit her at her home and they're catching up before they head over to the party. The divorce is still happening.
Dr. Ruth:She's been hiding out in Newport as we know from last episode, but this invitation went out before any of that was known. So it hasn't been rescinded, so she's taking this as an opportunity to actually see some people she knows believing that Mrs. Astor will not be in attendance. She said the locals in Newport are a lot more friendly than the people in New York were in terms of knowing that she's a divorced or divorcing woman. She also dropped some knowledge that she'll get both houses, which is like, oh, great.
Dr. Ruth:So she's going to get the houses in the divorce because technically people who have been cheated on have a bit of an advantage when it comes to the courts. So she'll be awarded the houses and at least she won't be turned down on the street. But it's still really sad because she says in the divorce, she'll get the houses and Charles will get her life, get her social life and her social circle. And that's true. He'll probably show up in the New York social scene with his new wife and it's terrible for her because she can't even be seen in public at this point.
Dr. Ruth:So she does plan to attend the party. When they go over to the party, nope, Missus Astor decided to be there. She's without her daughter Charlotte that comes up right away when she's talking to missus Russell. And let me tell you, they are both just dressed. Those outfits, the costume on this show.
Dr. Ruth:Missus Russell in that black and white number, like, wow, stunning. Just beautiful. And I even loved missus Astor's dress, which I usually don't like her dresses. But it was just so rich. Everything looked beautiful.
Dr. Ruth:I love their outfits head to toe. When missus Fain arrives, missus Fish is suddenly all flustered. She's like, oh, well, missus Aster is here, oh, you can't both be here because I guess, you know, missus Aster being the queen bee and the queen bee being unwelcoming to divorcees, now they all have to freak out. So suddenly, it's like as if a bag of rotten fish has just walked into the room. Poor Aurora goes to sit on a couch, and these women are there.
Dr. Ruth:They look her up and down and just like, and just get up and leave. It's beyond mean girls. I'm sure she just wants the floor to swallow her up. Thankfully, Bertha comes to her rescue. She's the only one there who doesn't treat her like a complete pariah.
Dr. Ruth:She comes up to Aurora, she says you're looking well, and just converses with her like a daggone woman. A person, treats her like a human being. She makes a point, quoting the Bible. Jesus is quoted as saying that essentially he's calling out hypocrisy. He's saying that a lot of people are going around pointing out the speck of dust in their brother's eye or their neighbor's eye, while they themselves have like an entire plank of wood in their own eye.
Dr. Ruth:And in that sense, she's referring to Lena Aster, whose daughter Charlotte, as you recall from last episode, is going through her own marital strife right now. Her husband declared a duel on her supposed lover, and it's still a mess in the papers. And everybody is pretty much clear that Charlotte will end up divorcing this man at some point, except Mrs. Astor. She seems to still believe and live in Dulululand that the marriage is going to work out and that Charlotte is actually gonna sign up for the miserable marriage life that she is currently living.
Dr. Ruth:But as we know, Charlotte told her she has no intentions of living her life that way. It seems that karma is on its way to catch up with missus Astor again. Bertha insists that they should make room for missus Fain when they're all huddled trying to figure out how to work out this social disaster. And she even threatens to leave with missus Fain if she's not welcome there, which I was like, my girl, like this is the part about Bertha that I like. You know, all this stuff that happened with Gladys, it was really putting a really dark mark on Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Russell for me. And she went from someone I was rooting for during the whole Metropolitan Opera thing to someone who was kind of a villain in the story. Now seeing her emerge as this hero protecting Mrs. Fain, I appreciated it. I don't know if there's another self serving motive there.
Dr. Ruth:I really, last episode when I saw that preview of her talking about opening up their events for divorced women when she was talking to Mrs. Astor, if you recall in that mid season trailer, I speculated that she was making an overture to Mrs. Astor because her daughter is probably soon to be divorced. But it turns out that the origin of that, as we see here in this scene, is how Mrs. Fain was treated.
Dr. Ruth:Marion volunteers to see Mrs. Fain to her home. Poor Aurora leaves in shame. She's so distraught. She said that she was invited to that event as Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Fain, but now that she's divorcing, she's no one. And my heart completely shattered for her in that moment. What a feeling to feel like you are actually no one, you know, and everyone you know has completely turned their backs on you and treat you like you're trash. It's horrible. And again, I hope that Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Astor has some comeuppance that's on its way soon. The other person who was disappointing me in this scene was Mrs. Fish. She usually tries to stay neutral and also tends to have a keen eye for who is correct or who has the upper hand in a situation. But here it bothered me that she was being so deferential to Mrs.
Dr. Ruth:Astor. Well, when they are alone and the event is over, she has a moment alone with Mrs. Astor and tries to appeal to her better senses. She tells her, you know Charlotte's about to be a divorced person. The way you're treating missus Fain is basically how Charlotte is about to be treated in society unless you change your attitude to missus Fain.
Dr. Ruth:Open things up to her and you'll pave the way for things to be easier for Charlotte when she inevitably ends up divorced from her husband. Again, Mrs. Astor has not packed up her bags and left Dululu Land. So she keeps saying like, no, Charlotte's always been a wild child, but it's all gonna be fine. She's not going to end up divorced.
Dr. Ruth:Okay. Well, Mrs. Fish is completely undaunted by that statement, and she tells her, listen, the choice is yours. You can either accept missus Fain today or certainly be in a position to secure your daughter's exile in the future. And missus Astor is like, alright, peace out.
Dr. Ruth:She storms out of missus Fish's home. Thank Thank God for that redeeming scene for missus Fish because I so enjoy her and she was about to be on my crap list for the way that she allowed Aurora to be treated in her home. Her home is fabulous, by the way. When it's just a beautifully set home on, like, almost a hill with rocky cliffs and water just beating up on those cliffs. It's just gorgeous.
Dr. Ruth:What a beautiful setting for a home. In the closing scene of the episode, Bertha is returning home from Newport. She's immediately walking in the door on business, asking Church, have you found out who the mole is? She She also has a very fabulous black and white different gown on than what she had at the party because after all, who travels in the clothing that you actually wore to the event? Anyway, I'm not certain if it is actually the same exact day, but she walks in the door in a stunning gown, and she's talking to Church about the mole.
Dr. Ruth:Church has no updates, and then in comes George with this paper in his hands. He's like, you see? Like basically thrusts it into her hands and tells her Gladys is miserable. That's when Bertha starts to like tread water. She's like, I can fix this.
Dr. Ruth:She reads the letter. I don't know what the letter says. They never tell us exactly what it says. But I'm sure it says something like, daddy help me. These people are being horrible to me and I'm glad that she sent it.
Dr. Ruth:And Bertha's immediately, I can fix this, George. It's no problem. It's no big deal. There's a ship that's supposed to be leaving for England tomorrow. I can be on it, and I can get over there.
Dr. Ruth:I can fix it. And he's like, what are you gonna fix? You're gonna make them fall in love? Like, stop it. There's nothing to fix.
Dr. Ruth:Then he just goes completely nuclear on her. He is not convinced. He's livid. And you can definitely tell. He even says, I don't know if I'm angry with you or with myself.
Dr. Ruth:Because he's like, I knew this was gonna happen. He's venting his anger on her though to be sure. He's not just angry with her, he's angry with himself, but he's venting his anger directly at her. And right when she says, that's when you get that mid season trailer line where he's standing at the top of the stairs and she's at the foot of the stairs and he says, I don't think I do believe you anymore. And then he knocks the breath out of my lungs when he tells Bertha, like, sure girl, go on over to England.
Dr. Ruth:I don't think it's gonna work. I don't believe you anymore. Do whatever you want, Bertha, but don't expect me to be here when you return. What? What?
Dr. Ruth:So George is leaving her? Is that what I'm to understand? Did he just declare they're done? Bertha looks like someone kicked her in the guts and I can obviously see why and completely empathize with her. And that's when the scene fades, two credits.
Dr. Ruth:This was such a jam packed episode full of so much action. That last scene where I'm left wondering, so is he officially leaving her or not? It then also recalls that mid season trailer scene between birth of Russell and Lena Aster talking about opening up society to divorced women. I keep trying to speculate that she was talking about Amora Fan, that maybe she was talking about Charlotte Aster. But no.
Dr. Ruth:Now I'm going, maybe, maybe she was talking about herself. Maybe it's herself she is trying to secure a position in society for, knowing that George is leaving her. Maybe this is her play before the cat gets out of the bag. If the writers are sticking with some of the historical context and the families that they're basing the Russells on, they are basing the Russells more or less on the Vanderbilt family. At the time that Consuelo Vanderbilt marries the Duke of Marlborough, in real life now, Alva Vanderbilt is already divorced from Consuelo's dad.
Dr. Ruth:Was it Willie Kaye? William something? William Vanderbilt. So Alva is already divorced from her husband when she makes this match for her daughter, Consuelo, to marry the duke. And one of the reasons she's pushing so hard to do that is to elevate her social standing.
Dr. Ruth:Even though she's a divorced woman, being the mother of a duchess is going to secure her in a more favorable position in society and certainly make it almost impossible for those who would think to close doors on divorced women to do so. And I wondered now, is that what we were seeing in that mid season trailer? We go on to scenes from the next episode. George Russell is summoned by JP Morgan, and he's once again, JPMorgan is the sky is falling about their whole business venture and George's entire industry. He said it's in peril.
Dr. Ruth:George looks like he's concerned, which is concerning. Usually, he's got this smug like, oh, yeah, I'll see. I'll have the last laugh expression on his face. But in this trailer, he's looking a little concerned. Also very concerning is there is a very brief scene in which Clay is in a carriage with someone smirking with a cigar in his mouth like, we got him.
Dr. Ruth:And I'm like, what what has he done? What has he done in revenge for being fired? We'll find out. Marion is talking to Oscar in the scene, and somehow she's found out that Larry was at this hay market, this house of ill repute when he spotted Maude Beaton. How did she find that out?
Dr. Ruth:I'm like, Oscar, did you tell her after Larry did you the favor of saying he wasn't gonna tell everyone he saw Maude Beaton there? We'll find out. But Oscar's always been the ops, so anyway. So then we see Oscar actually rolling up on Maude and asking her about the money. And I'm thinking, bro, if she had any left, would you think she would be working here?
Dr. Ruth:But I guess he's gotta scratch that itch. We also see Peggy telling someone, we don't know who, the list of reasons why Elizabeth Kirkland does not like her and does not find her to be well suited for her son. She says, my ambition, my drive, my work ethic, I'm too busy and I'm not the right color. Here it goes, the colorism, again, punching us in the nose. I love this show so much.
Dr. Ruth:Truly just so pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a footnote. You know, it wasn't just something ugly that they let us into and they showed us is part of Elizabeth's character. But it's a plot line that we're going to hopefully explore. I hope we truly go into all of it, the paper bag and all that stuff about the colorism issue and everything that Mrs. Kirkland meant when she was yelling at the governess for allowing the kids to get a tan.
Dr. Ruth:Truly can't say enough about these scenes and what they mean to me. And I have heard a lot of whisperings online about the possibility maybe of a black Newport spin off. And I would absolutely pay actual money outside of my HBO subscription to watch a show written by these people about the black residents of Newport. I would like to go way deep into their stories, develop all these new characters, bring Peggy in if she's still involved with the Kirklands by the time this show is rolling. Let's make it happen.
Dr. Ruth:Jack is shown hugging Mrs. Bauer. He looks really distraught. He's got tears in his eyes. Seems like he's losing his place at the Van Rhine home.
Dr. Ruth:No. Poor Jack. I mean, can afford to live somewhere else, but he tells her this is the only place he's ever known to be a home. So, uh-uh. I'll be heartbroken for him if that's the consequence for success.
Dr. Ruth:In the final scene of the preview, Gladys is joined by her mother in England. And we see that Bertha's ready to take on Lady Sarah. And I am here for it. I'm excited because she kinda has this look on her face and she's shooting glances at Gladys. And you can Bertha doing her Bertha thing, where she rolls into a situation and takes charge.
Dr. Ruth:And now that she knows what time it is and now that she knows what game Lady Sarah is playing, I am happy to see her literally take the lady gloves off and put Lady Sarah in her place. I hope that's what happens, because that lady hasn't come up and that is overdue with the way she's treating this lady's daughter. I mean, she would have no hair left on her head if she treated my daughter like that. So I'm I'm hoping that Bertha is ready to train Gladys, as she should have before she left, to sharpen her teeth and sharpen her skills to be able to contend with Sarah and put her in a place. And also let the duke know, you keep letting your sister go on like this, me and my allowance are out.
Dr. Ruth:Because she does have that card to play, thanks to her dad. And I wanna see how much longer we have to deal with this. If they're going to make her stay married to him, kinda following real life Vanderbilt drama or what. But that's it for the trailer for next week. So they, as always, leave us wanting more.
Dr. Ruth:What a fabulous episode of television. I know I keep saying that. It is just so good. It's entertaining. And that hour is over before you know it.
Dr. Ruth:Those credits rolled and I was like, oh, that's it. We're done. And not in a bad way, but in a way that I was just wanting more. They drawn me so deeply into the story. I wasn't even keeping track of time.
Dr. Ruth:Now, it looks like they're full steam ahead. Next episode is airing on Sunday at 9PM Eastern Standard Time on HBO Max. Thank you so much for listening. Please, if you have not already, subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. And also subscribe to the YouTube channel to follow and like and share with anyone you think is interested in this show, interested in the subjects that we cover here.
Dr. Ruth:I appreciate your support. I appreciate your attention. And I will talk to you soon. Thanks. Bye.
