The Gilded Age Episode 1 begins in 1882.
Marian’s father Henry died, and he left her nothing.
So she packed up and went to her Aunt Agnes van Dhijn and Aunt Ada Brook at 61st and Fifth.
Their family descends from Old New York, and Agnes is very keen to keep it that way.
When their father died, their brother Henry left them out to dry so Agnes is resentful
of him.
At the time, she was already engaged to Mr. van Dhijn, so she married him even though
she did not love him.
“And he was not an easy man.
He was not a man you would like to be alone with.”
Marian was robbed at the Doylestown, Pennsylvania Train Station, but Peggy Scott bought her
a ticket.
When they got to the city, the ferries to Brooklyn were not working, so Marian invited
Peggy inside, and this caused some drama among the staff.
Bannister was respectful enough to Peggy, and John liked her.
But Miss Bauer was awkward, Bridget was rude, and Miss Armstrong was concerned with how
Bridget may respond.
Bridget is an Irish immigrant, and she is afraid that the black community is coming
for their jobs.
It was not a good look.
Agnes was also skeptical of Peggy at first, but she demanded that Peggy write down her
parent’s address as an emergency contact, and was pleasantly surprised at Peggy’s
penmanship.
It turns out, Peggy had studied at the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia.
Ada and Agnes had grown up around there, and their father was one of the Institute’s
founding patrons, so Agnes ended up hiring Peggy as her secretary, and they have begun
to bond.
Agnes encouraged Peggy to reconnect with her parents, so she reconnected with her mother,
but not her father.
In the past, he did something to protect her that she did not take kindly too.
It may relate to her dreams.
Peggy wants to be a writer.
And her father does not support her in that.
Speaking of dreams, Bertha has some very big dreams.
Bertha dreams of becoming a major player in the great game.
“And you've come a long way.
Even I can see that.
I don't want to come a long way.
I want to go all the way.”
The Russel’s had been renting down on 30th street, but 30th has gone out of fashion.
So they built a new home up on 61st and Fifth.
Their new home stands out.
It is huge.
And its exterior is light limestone which contrasts with the brownstone homes on their
block.
“How brave not to go with the same old builders everyone else uses.
I don't think we should be afraid of new things or new people.”
Although her husband George believes in her, some people have their doubts.
Bertha hired Miss.
Turner to teach her the ways of the Old People, and Turner is bad news.
Early in the episode, Miss Turner was lurking around George’s office, and Mr. Watson warned
her to tread carefully, which might suggest that Turner is a homewrecker.
Although she helped Bertha dress for the charity event, Miss Turner does not believe that Bertha
has what it takes to become a player in the great game.
But she is not entirely bad.
Miss.
Turner used to work for Mrs. Griswold on 50th, so Watson asked her why she had left Mrs.
Griswold if she was so good.
Miss Turner said that Mrs. Griswold had died of a heart attack while changing for Mrs.
Astor’s ball, and then she said this: “It was very hard on Mr. Griswold.”
“Because he was left all alone.”
“Because he wanted to go to the ball.”
So Miss Turner is shady, but in her defense, she’s got a good sense of humor.
And she almost cracked a smile.
The woman who smiled the most was Marian’s Aunt Ada Brook.
Ada is ray of sunshine.
And although they love each other, Ada is very different than her older sister Agnes.
Several times, Agnes reminded Marian that they are Old New York.
Agnes is not interested in the new blood in town.
“Now, you need to know we only receive the old people in this house, not the new.
Never the new.”
Agnes explained to Marian that the Old People ruled justly before the new people invaded.
“It's not quite as simple as that.”
“Yes, it is.”
So clearly, Agnes and Ada are different.
One thing that they have in common is that they both want Marian to meet people her own
age.
And she did just so, but not necessarily the people of whom Agnes would approve.
Marian has a dog named Pumpkin.
A cute little thing.
Pumpkin ran out onto the street, and Larry Russel bravely saved the little bastid.
So Marian met the son of the enemy.
“I'm Marian Brook.”
“Oscar van Rhijn's cousin?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, you're not as he described you.
Uh, I'm Larry Russell.”
Larry is back from Harvard where he made some good connections such as Mrs. Fish’s nephew.
So Mrs. Fish invited Larry down to Newport, Rhode Island where he was introduced to Miss
Caroline Astor.
Carrie is the daughter of the legendary Mrs. Astor, who we will get back to in terms of
the ending.
While he was there, Larry also met his neighbor, Oscar van Rhijn.
Oscar van Rhijn is Agnes van Rhijn’s son.
So he is Marian’s cousin.
Agnes had married someone whom she didn’t love, and presumably, she believes that it
is now time for Oscar to get married.
But little does she know, Oscar is gay.
Oscar is currently hooking up with John Adams who is the great-grandson of John Quincy Adams
– the 6th U.S. President.
So Oscar has some pretty powerful connections.
But he also has a difficult life ahead of him.
According to the showrunner, this is a time period where people were so ignorant, that
the concept of being gay is almost unthinkable to some.
So when the truth comes out, Agnes may pressure Oscar to conform to quote unquote normal social
customs.
Gladys is a character who is facing that.
“She's not a child anymore, and you shouldn't treat her as one.”
“She's a child until I say.”
Bertha has not let Gladys come out as they say.
Bertha’s goal is to show Gladys to the world at a ball at their own house.
But Bertha is not going to throw that ball until she knows that she can fill up the rooms.
So for the time being, Gladys is a prisoner of sorts.
But she does have a supportive brother, a loving father, and a secret new friend across
the street - Marian.
“I hope we can meet again.
I'm sure we will.
Let the three of us be friends in spite of everything.
Contra mundum.”
Gladys’s father George is great to his wife and to his children.
But when it comes to business George is an animal.
“Careful, that table belonged to King Ludwig of Bavaria.
He had it once.
I've got it now.”
George wants to own a train line from New York to Chicago, but Mr. Thorburn refused
to sell him the stretch from Cleveland to Toledo.
Thorburn refused two offers.
So now, George is going to spend money building a new line alongside Thorburn’s line.
This will inevitably put Thorburn out of business.
And it will cost George a lot of money.
But he looks at it as an investment.
Going forward, people will know that George’s second offer is invariably his last.
George has another goal closer to home.
George wants to build a new station in the city.
In order to do so, he needs to get permission from the city aldermen.
Clay asked George if he would like him to send out his detectives to get info on them,
but George said: “Not yet.
We'll start by appealing to their greed.”
Mr. Fane and Mr. Morris are two of the city aldermen.
And their wives invited Bertha to an event for a charity in aid of orphaned girls.
So Bertha went there, but she received mixed signals.
At first, Aurora and Mrs. Morris were flattering.
But they distanced themselves once Ada showed up.
Ada is Aurora’s aunt, which means, Agnes is also Aurora’s aunt.
Aurora asked Ada to not tell Agnes that she had invited Bertha, arguing that the charity
needs money and women like Bertha give it when they want to get in.
To which Ada responded: “There's a price for that, Aurora, and it's
no good thinking you won't have to pay it.”
Nevertheless, Aurora also went to the Bertha’s At Home at the end of the episode.
But things didn’t go so well.
Bertha had hired a foreign architect to build a new home, with limestone instead of brownstone.
Bertha hired a foreign chef, and she also hired a new housekeeper.
“Why did you get rid of Mrs. Findley?
She wasn't up to it, not for what I have in mind.”
At dinner, George told Bertha that she should invite her sister and old friends.
“I don't want my old friends.
I want new friends.”
So Bertha held an At Home.
Bertha was very excited.
She went out and hand delivered the invites.
She had her chef prepare enough food for 200 people, and she even had her architect attend
the event.
“She'd like you there to answer questions.
I should be honored, of course.
I hope it's a success.”
Unfortunately, very few people showed up.
Peggy encouraged Marian to check it out, and Aunt Ada encouraged her to sneak out while
Agnes was sleeping.
So Marian went there: “What a nice surprise.
Are your aunts with you?
I'm afraid they couldn't get away.
But you are made of sterner stuff.”
Then Marian’s cousin Aurora showed up.
But her husband did not.
And neither did her partner at the charity – Mrs. Morris.
So Bertha was very upset, and she took out her anger on Aurora by telling her to leave.
She was also rude to Marian.
“Leaving already, Miss Brook?”
“I'm afraid I must get back, but thank you for including me.”
“For including you in what?”
“Thank you for coming, Miss Brook.”
George pointed out that there was no need to be angry with Marian.
That her aunts probably forbade her from coming, but Marian had chosen to defy them anyway.
So basically, Bertha’s goal is to become a player in the great game.
She has chosen to leave her Old Friends behind in order to make New Friends.
Ironically, the new friends that she wants to meet think of themselves as Old New York.
And they think of Bertha as one of the New People.
So they don’t like her.
But that doesn’t apply to everyone.
Ada is different.
After all, she encouraged Marian to go to the party.
Marian’s cousin Aurora showed up, and Bertha doesn’t realize this, but Oscar was upset
that he hadn’t received an invite.
So Bertha did go to bed beaten, but she’s not broken.
And little does she know, there are people willing to give her a chance.
With that said, the most important person is Mrs. Astor.
“We cannot succeed in this town without Mrs. Astor's approval.
I know that much.”
Unfortunately, Mrs. Astor burned the invite.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“Well, because they own the future, men like Mr. Russell, and Mrs. Van Rhijn will
have to come to terms with it sooner or later, stands to reason.”
Bertha’s son Larry had become acquainted with Mrs. Astor’s daughter Caroline down
at Newport.
So they have begun to bond.
And Caroline is different than her mother.
As an example, her sister’s partner, Mr. Roosevelt, calls her Carrie instead of Caroline.
And Carrie calls him Rosy instead of Roosevelt or James.
In other words, the Old People are gilded, ergo the title of the show, The Gilded Age,
but the younger generation like Larry, Carrie, Marian, and Gladys are more real.
They are more open and accepting.
They are more authentic.
“Revolutions are launched by clever people with strong views and excess energy.”
So Bertha may be able to leverage Larry and Carrie’s relationship so as to win over
Mrs. Astor and, in effect, become a player in the great game.
'll never give up!
And I promise you this.
I'll make them sorry one day.
I'm glad to hear it, my dear.
Defeat is not your color.”