The Gilded Age seems destined to be a hit. After all, American viewers are huge fans of British period dramas—or so it appears. The Tudors, Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, and The Crown are just a few of the series to find runaway success focusing on stories that transport us to yesteryear. And HBO is now tapping into those sensibilities with the long-awaited The Gilded Age, which premieres on January 24. But unlike these other television dramas, this time the United States is front and center in the drama.
From Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age is a glimpse into New York City’s high society before the turn of the 20th Century. It is drama-filled, dark at times, and pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Unlike many of the other historical dramas focusing on the elite, this story doesn’t solely center on white nobility. Concurrent to the arc of rich people doing rich people things is the quintessential story of New York: People just trying to make it to the top.
When we’re first introduced to main character Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson, daughter of Meryl Streep) she is reeling from a life-altering event. Penniless, she is packing up her life in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and headed to the big city to live with her late father’s sisters. Aunt Agnes (Christine Baranski) and Aunt Ada (Cynthia Nixon) are her appointed navigators through this new chapter, but it is an unexpected friendship with emerging Black writer Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) that sets the tone for much of the series. This relationship underscores the class system that fuels their world. While The Gilded Age relies on fictional characters to explore life in this post–Civil War piece, it highlights the reality of old money clashing with the nouveau riche and Black America’s standing in a very segregated world.
One of the main criticisms of Fellowes’s previous PBS drama was its lack of representation. He was careful not to repeat the same mistake, and it’s to the benefit of the show. In the 80-minute series premiere, we see that fitting into America’s high society is not simply about race and wealth. Across the street from old money is desperate-to-fit-in new money and across the water—in Brooklyn—is an enclave of well-to-do Black Americans who own their own homes, have established businesses, and have no desire to live a second-class existence over in Manhattan.
The amount of scheming, backstabbing, plotting, and gossiping that goes down on East 61st Street and 5th Avenue is plentiful, as are the characters. Newcomers on the block George and Bertha Russell (Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon) can be credited for much of it. But even with its various subplots, I never felt overwhelmed. The Gilded Age is well-cast and well-written. Baranski brilliantly delivers the one-liners, Nixon brings the empathetic spirit, and Jacobson and Benton bring the charm that comes with finding one’s way in life and love.
While I may never forgive HBO for canceling How to Make It in America after just two seasons, The network has earned points for bringing this other, authentic New York City story to life. [In my best Gilded Age voice:] I am of the opinion that the network has another hit on their hands, and I quite like it.
Tanya Christian is a writer and editor based in New York City. Follow her on Twitter @tanyaachristian.