The Gilded Age Season 2 Review

The Gilded Age (2022-)
Season 2 - 8 episodes (2023)

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Created by: Julian Fellowes
Starring: Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga, Harry Richardson, Blake Ritson, Thomas Cocquerel, Simon Jones, Jack Gilpin, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Baranski
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
A young woman entering 1882 New York City's rigid social scene is drawn into the daily conflicts surrounding the new money Russell family and the established van Rhijn-Brook family, who are neighbors across 61st Street near Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Verdict
The time period is interesting and there's enough characters and dramas to keep this just interesting enough. It's a cross of Downton Abbey and Succession, but I don't enjoy it as much. This is a show where if it ended at any point, even mid episode, I wouldn't be concerned wondering what might happen. I'm not invested in these characters. Their motivations are to be and look rich. Having a deeper motivation would certainly help. I just don't care about opera wars, marriage, and the illusion of looking rich.
It depends.

Review
The first season was a show where nearly everyone wants to be rich, and if they can't be rich, appear rich. Various cliques bicker over who can be in the club. It's all nearly pointless drama, but that doesn't make the quarreling any less fun. Everyone is angling for something. Fellowes is also the creator of Downton Abbey, and this treads a lot of the same ground, broadening this to a city instead of just a house. I enjoyed the first season of Downton Abbey but quit watching around the fourth season as the plot lines became increasingly emotionally manipulative. This hasn't reached the same peaks as none of the characters are as engrossing.

This show revolves around being or looking rich, especially richer than your neighbor. Bertha Russell's (Carrie Coon) goal this year is to build the Met opera house since she can't get into the Academy opera house. Building her own gives her the best seat. Bertha ruffles feathers as she's new money, and the old money need a reason to disparage her. The ironic thing is that old money Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) is striving not to appear poor as she's running out of money. It's all a facade. Everyone is so eager to seem important.

Taissa Farmiga, Morgan Spector, Carrie Coon play Gladys, George, Bertha Russell

Bertha could be an interesting character if this delves into why she's so controlling and why she's so desperate to be the richest person on the block. Without that, her motives are flat. She's competitive and conniving, but it seems like it's just so this show has plenty of drama. Her husband George (Morgan Spector) might be the least interesting character. He only gets richer and always wins with very few obstacles.

Agnes's sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) begins dating a minister. Agnes is all vinegar about that as she is with everything, but it's due to her fear of being alone. She and her sisters were spinsters, and now Agnes faces being alone. Instead of talking about it, she's hateful. One of the better moments this season is when Agnes supports her sister despite her insecurities.

Louisa Jacobson, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon play Marian, Agnes, Ada

A subplot is Ms. Turner who was a maid for the Russell's in season one and married up between seasons. She's now in the same social class as Bertha, which Bertha is eager to cut Ms. Turner down at any chance.

Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), Agnes and Ada's niece is a teacher, which illicits many snide remarks from Agnes. In a plot just to show us how backwards these times were, a cousin proposes to Marian despite never discussing it with her or even going on a date. Marian agrees because he's rich. Money is freedom.

The two most annoying plot lines might be the ones that also conclude so quickly. The swiftness makes them feel manipulative. Ada gets married and her husband goes from fine to bed ridden in the same day. It's too quick, and it could have built to it and developed characters along the way. That ties in to another annoying subplot where Agnes's nephew Oscar van Rhijn loses the families money on a scam, but the show happily rectifies the situation. It's too easy, and it only seems to prove this show has no real stakes.

This season is about marriage and an opera war. The opera war comes to a close with Bertha winning which isn't a surprise. The only lingering question is how. It seems she may have promised her daughter in marriage, but that's only speculation as we don't get a definitive answer. Agnes and Ada go from rich to poor to rich again in the span of a couple episodes. The only twist is that now Ada is running the house instead of Agnes. After an entire season not much has changed, and that's part of my issue with the show. There isn't any development.