‘The Gilded Age’ 2×05 review: Soup opera

The opera war takes a backseat to culinary backstabbing as The Gilded Age‘s second season continues. Bertha (Carrie Coon) won the social battle by landing the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb) as a dinner guest. This ruins Mrs. Winterton’s (Kelley Curran) chance at gaining some social legitimacy, as she wanted the Duke to visit her first. Their squabbles have lasted all season — Mrs. Winterton was once Bertha’s maid!—but neither is above sabotage now that they’re on equal social footing. Mrs. Winterton still has friends among Bertha’s current employees, and she’s determined to ruin the Duke’s visit. Showrunner Julian Fellowes has recycled plot points from his prior period drama Downton Abbey before, but who expected “servant sabotages the soup” to come back? Not I!

Holy matrimony

Ada (Cynthia Nixon) has found true love in Reverend Forte (Robert Sean Leonard). It’s news that delights Ada’s family save for her sister Agnes (Christine Baranski). Agnes is quick-witted and has been known to scorn people for marrying below their social class, but there are layers to her concerns.Agnes, usually confined to making snarky comments from a velvet settee, goes out of her comfort zone in this episode, emotionally and geographically. Baranski’s performance is particularly moving as Agnes reveals the depth of her affection for her sister—and why gaining a brother-in-law is not a gain at all, but a loss. It’s incredibly touching.

Meanwhile, Marian (Louisa Jacobson) continues to get her lines crossed with Mr. Montgomery (David Furr). He sees her as more than a friend, but this is the second episode where she’s uncomfortable with that implication. Larry (Harry Richardson) is single again, and she sure seems to like him… 

A bridge between fact and fiction

And speaking of Larry, he’s sent to meet Mr. Roebling, son of the Brooklyn Bridge’s late architect. Instead, he meets Roebling’s wife, Emily (Liz Wisan), who spearheads the project instead of her husband, who is unwell and largely disinterested in the bridge. Like the real Emily Roebling, Gilded’s Emily is passionate and knowledgeable about the work. It’s a fascinating reminder that women are more instrumental in the fabric of history than they’re given credit for. Her appearance is much more substantial than that of the last notable historical figure onscreen, Oscar Wilde. If only we had time for her beyond one scene!

Touching on real and devastating history

Peggy (Denee Benton) and Mr. Fortune (Sullivan Jones) continue their journalistic coverage of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The trip has largely been a success, and they celebrate their time in Alabama by visiting a Black-owned restaurant. The night is cut short by a frightening reminder that racial tension is still prevalent postwar. The pair are forced to go on the run from a torch-bearing mob. It’s devastating to watch, but the impact is lessened by tonally inappropriate cuts back to the events up in New York. It feels irresponsible to address a dark chapter in American history only to make periodic cuts back to something as trivial as soup sabotage.

Historical fiction-ish

The real-life Astors have appeared on The Gilded Age, but not the Vanderbilts. “Close Enough to Touch” sets up the Russells to be fictional counterparts, or even replacements, to the Vanderbilts. Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) is ordered to sit next to the Duke of Buckingham at dinner. Consuelo Vanderbilt is perhaps best known for being married off to an English aristocrat. If Gladys is a fictionalized Consuelo, might we see some romance between her and the Duke in the future?

“Close Enough to Touch” is perhaps The Gilded Age’s best hour all season. The stakes are real, there’s real history, and the storylines have been given room to breathe, unlike previous installments. Sadness abounds as much as joy, and it’s a rollercoaster that’s worth the ride.

The Gilded Age airs Sundays on HBO. Season 1 is streaming now on Max.

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Featured image courtesy of Barbra Nitke/HBO