The social climbing, power plays – and yes, the fabulous costumes – kick up a notch in the third season of lush historical drama The Gilded Age.
Set in 1880s New York City, a time of huge economic shifts and social change, the series explores the power battles between “old money” families clutching tightly onto tradition and the ambitious “new money” folk looking to climb the social ladder.
Within this, there’s internal power struggles too, which we see ramp up for the old money van Rhijn family in season three.
Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) has been sitting pretty as the family matriarch for decades. Her sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) was long unmarried until she wed Reverend Luke Forte (Robert Sean Leonard) just before his death last season.
The Reverend’s secret fortune was left to Ada, allowing her to save her family from financial ruin – and to take her spot as head of the household.
It’s a rude shock for Agnes, and the shift in power between the sisters makes for compelling viewing.
“Human behaviour gets encrusted in our habits, and behavioural patterns are very hard to unlock or change,” Christine, 73, tells TV WEEK.
“It could be a marriage, it could be siblings, but how do you undo years of ingrained patterns?”
The sisters’ innate stubbornness provides plenty of tension, as Ada has a different way of running things.
“I had a therapist who [would say] ‘Don’t pick up the rope if you can’t be engaged in a tug of war,’” Cynthia, 59, laughs. “Neither of these women are able to not pick up the rope!”
“It’s just another layer of nuance of these two women who love each other so much, who are so deeply intertwined, but also constantly have a difference of opinion about how things can be run.”
Across the road, the ambitious Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) wants to set her daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) up for life with a strategic marriage. As a mum herself, Carrie, 44, says she can empathise with her character’s actions.
“I have to advocate for Bertha’s point of view. She wants her daughter not to have a flash-in-the-pan romance. She wants her to have a long-term and fulfilling marriage,” Carrie explains.
“She is certainly putting her dreams into her daughter, but she also is looking to protect her. Everything she’s doing is out of love and Bertha gets to say that in this season.”
However, this approach puts her at odds with her husband George (Morgan Spector), as he previously told Gladys she should marry for love, not security.
Again, the New York power couple find themselves jostling for power in their own home, a process which Morgan, 44, says the two off-screen pals struggled with.
“We were constantly getting the [director’s] note like, ‘No, it’s not good, you’re [supposed to be] mad at each other’.” Morgan recalls.
“Both of our instincts have been toward connection between these characters,” Morgan says.
“But there’s a real rift that I don’t think these characters understand – or acknowledge how big it is – until the end of the season.”
Could there be trouble in paradise for the Russells?
Stream The Gilded Age on Paramount Plus from $6.99/mth, with a 7-day free trial.
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