The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4, “Marriage Is a Gamble” Spoilers Ahead
Sometimes, shows don’t let us sit with news longer than we should, and they immediately jump to the next thing, but that may be why The Gilded Age Season 3 works so well. As wedding prep begins and basically ends, the episode takes us through a series of scene shifts that break hearts and raise questions.
Bertha’s sister comes to town, Ada tries to speak to her late husband through a “medium,” the patent is sold, chaos ensues, and a wedding ends the episode. So much happens, even as we don’t see all the significant moments we should.
The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4 Effectively Centers on Gladys’ Wedding
The tension in this episode cuts deeper than a knife. It’s sad and awkward, yet every performance still makes it incredible. While we don’t see the bride-to-be for a bit because Gladys locks herself in her room, the show introduces us to Bertha’s sister, Monica (Merritt Wever), and Hector’s sister, Sarah. They’re both significantly different than the characters we do know, watching them go head-to-head with Carrie Coon is a visual treat.
Really, the entire episode is when we look at the fact that Bertha is, quite literally, the only person who’s excited. And while Hector isn’t as distraught about the wedding as Gladys is, he still isn’t as happy as Bertha. With this in mind, it’s hard not to wonder how moments like this will impact the character when she’s clearly on her own and frustrating almost everyone else with her decision.
Yet, like last week’s “Love Is Never Easy,” The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4, “Marriage Is a Gamble,” provides plenty of important conversations to show us how the characters operate and their hearts. The standout is, of course, George and Gladys, because Morgan Spector continues to show us how George’s inability to stop Bertha is destroying him. The way he despondently sits on the couch at the entrance, waiting—hoping that she wouldn’t show up nearly destroyed me.
And then the whole beat of giving her away? Spector makes it abundantly clear in this entire season, and especially in this episode, that giving Gladys away to a loveless marriage, which will also take her across the ocean, is the hardest thing he’ll ever do. The emotions in this scene heighten and elevate what’s already so hard to experience that, again, it’s fascinating how the show is playing on all sides with this scenario.
There is no true right or wrong here. Given the times, every character genuinely believes that what they’re doing is for the best. And this is especially the case for Bertha. There is no true right or wrong here. Given the times, every character genuinely believes that what they’re doing is for the best. And this is especially the case for Bertha. It ensures that we can feel for each of the characters on a deeply intimate level because it’s also so clear that the animosity between Bertha and Monica is something that’s impacted both women for a while. Is it a foreshadowing of her future with Gladys? Maybe with Larry, too? We get further proof of how Bertha is on the outskirts, even as the conversation about Marian comes up as Larry questions why she can’t be a bridesmaid.
Her complexities stop her from fully understanding the heart necessary to bring joy to her kids, but more than anything, her actions make total sense. It makes the series stronger—better. The fact that this narrative can play out with so many various outcomes reveals the amount of care that the writers put into establishing a complicated family dynamic that’s both loving and (selfishly) ambitious at the same time.
Peggy and William Continue to Make Me Swoon
The fact that we’re getting two budding relationships on the show is exciting (and also terrifying because we’re not used to having good things). But after The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4, “Marriage Is a Gamble,” I’m choosing to believe that we can maybe trust William. The fact that he stood up to give Peggy a standing ovation at her talk and openly agreed when she said, “Oh, I want to be a good wife and mother who has the vote.” YES. His parents might have a completely different perspective from Peggy’s on Black people in society, but it does feel like Peggy and William’s morals align, which, at the end of the day, is more important.
The fact that their relationship juxtaposes what we see with the Russells is also riveting on a number of levels. Here, the two want to be together, but it’s their parents weighing the options of their societal rank. It’s the parents stepping in between them instead of fighting to help their kids potentially find the security that’ll give them a happy future. There’s a compelling argument to be made here about how love can indeed overcome anything if it’s with the right person, and whether that’s the case for Peggy and William, only time will tell. Still, it’s incredible that we see how this works in an episode where one woman is stripped of her agency while another freely has it to speak up and have people hear her.
Larry Russell’s Down Bad Era Continues
Larry Russell knows balance as a man. The decision to fight for his girlfriend’s place at his sister’s wedding while also fighting for his sister not to walk down the aisle? Who’s doing it like him? No one. It continues to be so sweet that we’re watching this unfold with both Larry and Marian, as this is the episode where they both essentially discuss their relationship with those closest to them. And it’s riveting that we get two opposite reactions. Bertha isn’t even giving him the time of day because she’s convinced it’s just a phase; meanwhile, Agnes is so thrilled that Marian finally confided in her. The fact that both families don’t quite realize that they’ll end up married someday is what’s going to make the coming episodes of The Gilded Age so enticing as we explore where these ties take the characters.
The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4, “Marriage Is a Gamble” serves as an enamoring halfway mark where everything works to showcase how these characters are so multifaceted. What continues to be so impressive about this season is that each of the decisions these characters make is entirely right for them, and that isn’t a detail many shows maintain three seasons in.
Stray Thoughts
- Time? What is time? Can shows tell us?
- Larry and Bertha talking about the wedding? The show making it clear that Larry just wants to walk down the aisle with Marian! Yes, please.
- Larry and George ganging up on Bertha shouldn’t be as funny as it is.
- Ada, babe, what are we doing here?? Woodstone Mansion, ghosts where you at?
- “I wait…with bated breath.” “I was hoping my ears deceived me.” You guys, Christine Baranski really is an icon.
- Larry’s face dropping when he learns he won’t be walking down the aisle with Marian? Oh, the man is DOWN SO BAD.
- I love that Marian finally told Agnes about Larry so so much.
- “Mrs. Russell would be lucky to get you.” Agnes 🥹
- Larry’s curls being back? Nature is healing.
- Jack’s face when they make the deal? Why am I crying?
- Peggy can read the phone book, and I’d still listen to her with heart eyes.
- Aurora keeps breaking my heart 😭
- Ma’am can we not insult Mr. Scott?!! Thanks.
- George and his robe always take me out.
- Okay, but I love Bertha’s robe!!??!
- “We’re a pretty ruthless pair, you and I.” Damn right, you are.
- When people piss me off, I’m gonna start saying, “Go to bed and wake up sensible.”
- Guys, imagine if 300,000 meant you’d never work again!
- Jack just wants to stay here 😭
- My God, the house looks stunning for the wedding.
- Please, can I have Bertha’s wardrobe?!!
- George, please don’t stress me out.
- Ada and Agnes both getting emotional over how pretty Marian looks makes me emotional.
- Okay, but Bertha has worn prettier dresses than the one on the wedding day? Kinda disappointed ngl. This wedding feels like the Met Gala for The Gilded Age. I sat here judging everyone in my graphic tee and cycling shorts.
- “I apologize with all my heart.” This is going to continue haunting George, and it destroys me
- I love the fact that Gladys gets an intimate moment with the people who care for her.
- WAIT A SECOND, HELLO? Mr. Borden proposing to Mrs. Bruce!? The news about her husband. Oh, I’m distraught.
- Larry’s curls!!!!
- This is truly the most depressing wedding I’ve ever seen.
- “I pray you’re right about this.”
- Larry looking at Marian?!! Oh, I’m emo.
- I would’ve loved to see a wedding reception?!! Why did we not get a wedding reception!!?
- I’m cackling at how tall Hector is compared to that door.
- That final scene made me so uncomfortable. But I do appreciate how this continues to be so complicated in a way that poses so many questions.
Now streaming on HBO Max: What are your thoughts on The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4, “Marriage Is a Gamble?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO