As the curtain rises at two warring opera houses, the curtain falls on another season of The Gilded Age with “In Terms of Winning and Losing.” The old-money set, like Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), continue backing the established Academy of Music. New-money Bertha (Carrie Coon) leads the charge for the new Metropolitan Opera across town. Who will win, when both operas begin their season on the same night? An old opera company versus a new one would be a terribly on-the-nose metaphor (the show is not known for its subtlety), but it’s real history. And as the saying goes, art imitates life.
Offstage drama
After being teased out all season, the opening of opera season arrives. Battle lines are drawn while other drama plays out across town. In the aftermath of Oscar’s (Blake Ritson) bad railway investment, Agnes (Christine Baranski) struggles to dismiss the servants. Dashiell’s (David Furr) feelings about marriage — and his dead first wife — lead Marian (Louisa Jacobson) to reevaluate their engagement. Bertha makes one more effort to get the Duke (Ben Lamb) on her side in the opera war.
These, for the most part, are the culmination of a whole season’s worth of plot. Smaller developments pay off here, too. Mrs. Bruce’s (Celia Keenan-Bolger) attraction to Mr. Borden (Douglas Sills), a plot that seemed abandoned almost immediately after being introduced, returns. It earns the most wholesome moment of the episode. Why couldn’t we have seen more of them this season? Meanwhile, Jack’s (Ben Ahlers) entrepreneurial spirit continues as he waits to hear back from the patent office about an invention.
In terms of winning and losing … it’s a winning finale
“In Terms of Winning and Losing” takes the very best of The Gilded Age’s most captivating qualities and elevates them. After all, if your season ends with the high society event of the year, you have to pull out the stops. Some previous episodes have squished plot continuity and additional storylines into an hour than seemed logical. But any eye-rolling in previous weeks was for nothing; everything here resolves well. In a world of stressful, high-stakes television like Succession or The Bear, it’s nice to know there’s room for dramas where everything wraps up by the time the sun sets on the Upper East Side every night. Young lovers unite at last, personal triumphs abound, and surprises turn even the saddest circumstances into cause for celebration. It’s a season finale that sticks the landing and ties threads up while leaving intrigue for future episodes.
The series shares some similarities to showrunner Julian Fellowes’ previous series, Downton Abbey. The marketing often posits it as, “Downton Abbey, but American!” The Gilded Age now feels like its own entity, a world entirely its own. (Did anyone even go to the opera on Downton?) A third season is underway at HBO — whatever Fellowes cooks up next, we’ll be watching.
The Gilded Age is available to stream on Max.
Image courtesy of Barbara Nitke/HBO
REVIEW RATING
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'The Gilded Age' Season 2 Finale: "In Terms of Winning and Losing" - 9/10
9/10
Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).
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