There might be trying times ahead for this ‘The Gilded Age’ couple
While “The Gilded Age” fans eagerly await Season 3, HBO executive vice president Francesca Orsi is hinting at what’s to come — and some fans might not like what they hear.
The season finale of “The Gilded Age” Season 2 left fans with more questions than answers — what will happen with Larry and Marian, for example? — but the biggest question is how Bertha (Carrie Coon) and George (Morgan Spector) Russell will deal with the aftermath of Bertha’s actions.
What will happen in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3?
At the end of “The Gilded Age” Season 2, Bertha essentially sold her daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) to the Duke of Buckingham in order to procure his attendance at the Met’s opening night and to win the Opera War.
Gladys was actually interested in a young man named Billy Carlton. Bertha’s actions went against George’s wishes for his daughter — he’d like to see her marry for love.
The consequences of Bertha’s actions will likely come to a head in “The Gilded Age” Season 3.
In an interview with Deadline, Orsi hinted that Season 3 will touch on divorce — while not specifically mentioning Bertha and George.
“I think, broadly, it’s an interesting way in which we’ve explored that era of how divorce came to the forefront in United States relationships,” she said. “I think that there’s a conversation to be had about arranged marriages, and if it doesn’t necessarily work, what divorce looks like in that time, and what that bodes for society. And then whether you’re accepted in society or not, based on a divorce.”
While we can’t be sure that Orsi is specifically talking about the Russells, we do know that we’ll see strain on Bertha and George’s marriage in “The Gilded Age” Season 3.
In late 2023, executive producer and co-writer Sonja Warfield sat down with Collider and revealed a few key plot points in the next season — including the Russells.
“She basically told George, ‘Get out of the way and just stay in your lane,’” Warfield said. “So that’s gonna put the marriage under pressure.”
Spector, who plays George, told Variety in 2024, “I am nervous about it. I don’t know how they put that genie back in the bottle.”
“With real strife ahead, it is going to be difficult in the Russell household,” he said.
More new ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 plot points and cast additions
Additionally, Warfield revealed that “The Gilded Age” Season 3 will see the power dynamics change between Agnes and Ada, Peggy focus on her career, Larry and Marian’s romance blossom and much more.
We’ve also had a few cast updates, most interestingly a new family in Newport: the Kirkland family, whose patriarch (Brian Stokes Mitchell) is “the pastor of a prominent Black church and a leader in the Newport community,” according to Deadline.
Merritt Wever has also joined the cast. She’s portraying Monica O’ Brien, “the estranged sister of Bertha,” per Deadline.
When is ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 coming out?
There’s still no word on when “The Gilded Age” Season 3 will come out, but ScreenRant speculates that it will premiere late fall 2025.
