The Reel Review
America’s Gilded Age, the period from the late 1870s to the late 1890s, is explored from the perspective of New York City’s upper class, in this HBO Max historical drama series starring Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon and Louisa Jacobson.
The series, from Oscar and Emmy award-winning Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), focuses on the social battles between the city’s new money and old money elites, set to the historic economic boom of the period which witnessed the advent of electricity, elevators and skyscrapers, and the creation of game-changing transcontinental railroads that opened up America to much faster cross-country travel. With characters based on actual people and events (the New York opera wars and marriages to British royalty) that actually happened, The Gilded Age provides a human element to the era’s many historic highlights.
Some of the drama (particularly in the first season) borders on soap opera/melodramatic, but the show and its excellent ensemble cast – particular nods to Coon, Jacobson, Denée Benton and Ben Ahlers as the servant/clock inventor Jack Trotter – finds its pacing in seasons 2 and 3 with plenty of cheeky humor from Christine Baranski to offset the drama, making it a fantastic accompaniment to the England-focused Downton Abbey, set during the same time frame.
Season One: A-
Season Two: A+
Season Three: A+
REEL FACTS
• Louisa Jacobson (Marion), who came out in June 2024 as gay, is the youngest daughter of Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep.
• Simon Jones, who plays the Van Rhijn’s butler Bannister, so far is the only actor to appear both in The Gilded Age and Downton Abbey, appearing in the 2019 film Downton Abbey as King George V.
• The Gilded Age creator Julian Fellowes says George Russell (Morgan Spector) is based on real-life robber baron and railroad financier Jay Gould, with Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) based on Alabama-born socialite Alva Vanderbilt, who, as portrayed in the series, arranged a marriage between her daughter and Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough.
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