30 thoughts on “The Gilded Age (2022) – Recap Episode 3

  1. Marian’s costumes are irritating me so much. Just so vapid! But then, so is her character. I wonder if she’s going to go rogue at some point, and show up in a non-pastel gown which has a semblance of personality…

  2. Marian’s costumes really are a snooze-fest. Is this supposed to be a character point? Gladys is wonderfully pretty-pretty in those soft prints. Well dressed Peggy is totally wasting her time as a lady companion in white society. Like I said back in those days well off black people had their own alternate universe. I bet there were some black owned magazines who’d publish her. Why is her dad against his daughter having a career as a writer? BTW what does he do? And who is paying for Peggy’s smart clothes?

    1. Episode 4 finally gets into more of Peggy’s story! But recaps will have to wait, alas. Knowing that there will be a season 2, I hope they really expand her plot because they’re slowly dropping hints.

      1. I worry about what Fellows is going to do with Peggy. She’s got no business playing lady’s companion, it will do nothing to further her authorial ambitions. She belongs in her own part of town in the center of her own story not playing supporting role to a bland Marian.

        1. But there has to be some connection between the two worlds, since this is The Gilded Age, not actually a show about the Black elite in Brooklyn c. 1880s. The later would be fantastic! But Fellows isn’t writing that & HBO isn’t funding that, unfortunately. Shonda Rhimes is already doing Bridgerton at Netflix, I guess she can’t do everything, alas.

  3. Peggy’s smart new outfit is quite good. I really like the two fabrics together and the colors. The skirt treatment is fantastic. But I think the scoop on the bodice hits in a funny place. It makes the plaid fill in look big and clunky…and plain. I know it echos the diagonal strips on the skirt but I wish they had done something with it… or brought the scoop up or something…. I dunno. The placement bothers me. And I dunno about the black lace scarf thingy. Just nitpicking. It’s subjective. And it is good outfit. She looks good in it. She has some of the best costumes in the show.

    1. I’m wondering if the lace scarf is a family memento that we’ll learn more about later, since she wears it so often.

    2. Peggy is the best dressed and Marian the worst. Marian should have hired Peggy as her stylist not her companion.

  4. Carrie Coon (Bertha) was pregnant …. so possibly influenced some design issues? In Episode 4 she hides behind a fan ….Peggy has the best costumes in the show!

    Your recaps are more fun than aspects of the show …. unless one is playing ‘Spot the Broadway actor…”

    1. Love playing “spot the broadway actor”! There’s so many of them in this show, and I think they’re doing a better job than most of the others at making the period mannerisms and accent seem natural and unforced.

      1. Your’re absolutely right! Theater actors, especially those classically trained (like many of the best cast members), often learn the transatlantic accent, or dictation methods inspired by it, because of its clarity on stage. The others, mainly the young crowd (barring Peggy) and good lord that hateful lady’s maid, clearly lack the same amount of practice. I believe Carrie Coon is purposefully playing it up to imply that Bertha leared as an adult, which would be more effective if Taissa Farminga had a better handle on the accent (luv her tho) bc It’s safe to assume Bertha would have put Gladys through finishing school. Celia Keenan-Bolger and Michael Cerveris have really stood out to me so far in terms of naturalness, and Denee Benson in terms of precision.

        1. Side Note: does anyone have a guess as to why the IMDb page on the actor for Mr. Morris has him credited to 9 episodes?

  5. I love that they thought to include a watch on Mrs. Ainsley, George’s secretary. But they weren’t wearing little watches & pins like that until mid-late 90s, and they would be up above their bust. They were worn on long chains, and tucked into a pocket. ~Val

  6. Marian just continues not to work for me as a character–I’m sure her complete lack of understanding of the social rules around her is supposed to come off as relatable to the audience and also unconventionally bold (boring choice for a period heroine, but whatever), but she just seems weirdly ignorant for someone who’s grown up at least somewhat adjacent to all this (I think this is also an area where casting an actress about ten years older than the character backfires. The visual of an approximately 30-year-old woman being shocked to learn about her era’s social hierarchies and sexual mores makes her seem less principled and different than strangely immature).

    I will say I’ve been enjoying all the interior details in the old money New York houses, so there’s that! No idea how accurate those are, though. And I always love a send-up of rich people philanthropizing more for their own social clout than for any kind of greater good, so that’s been a fun throughline in this season so far.

    1. Also on a costuming note, it’s interesting to me that they put Aunt Ada in military-inspired costumes pretty often when she’s clearly positioned as the sweet, unworldly aunt!

  7. Ada looks impressive and mad as you know what is the full view of the dinner gown. And Peggy should continue to be so fabulously dressed, and continue to write. Octavia, Alice, Maya and Toni never gave up and they’ve created some of the best fiction written. Maybe Oliver can turn into say one of the offspring of Andrew Carnegie, Morgan or Vanderbilt and rescue George from ruin.

  8. Queer representation is good. It would be nice if they weren’t always nasty pieces of work. I get Oscar needs a beard but must he pick an innocent young girl?

  9. I keep wondering if they are planning for Gladys to have a Consuelo Vanderbilt story line. The way her mother controls her etc..

  10. The costumes seemed themed for each character, with Ada is orange and occasionally green, Agnes in purple and dark blue, Marian in lighter blues and yellow, Peggy often in plaid, the one woman always in stripes, and Bertha in supposed European couture.

  11. That obviously rhinestone choker on Bertha, gag!! The jewelry continues to be ridiculously wrong for the period, especially on the very wealthy characters.

    1. The Gilded Rich wore huge amounts of jewelry at the slightest opportunity according to contemporary sources, including historic pieces that had belonged to assorted queens and princesses.

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