We all owe Bertha Russell an apology. (Not me, though, because I’ve been on her side all season long.) But George and Larry? Babes, you’ve messed up. Is Railroad Mommy a bit too ambitious now? Sure. But is she fully wrong? Not even a little. Not even close. The Gilded Age gets a number of things right, but what it especially does well is how it explores Bertha’s decisions and the layers behind her motives—the complexities.
Sure, for two seasons she’s been trying to one-up every other woman in society, but did we forget how society treated her when she first entered? Did we forget that they deemed her new money as less than and therefore her as less than? I didn’t. Bertha Russell is a woman who knows exactly what it’s like to be knocked down for all the wrong reasons, and she isn’t going to let things stay that way. She isn’t someone who’d lock herself in her bedroom and weep, but rather someone who decided she’d fire back. And fire back, she does—rightfully so.
Bertha Russell Was Right About Gladys and Hector in The Gilded Age Season 3
Distraught faces spread across the church as Gladys and Hector got married in “Marriage Is a Gamble,” but as the only one who was smiling, Bertha understood something no one else did. Her one and only daughter would never know the kind of ridicule she did. From this moment on, no one would look down at Gladys or shun her from any society function, but rather every door would open for her instead. And, sure, Gladys is briefly unhappy because of how she’s treated in her own home later on, but in “If You Want to Cook an Omelette,” Bertha travels to England to remind her daughter of the fact that she has a voice and she should use it. No one can break her spirit or undermine her authority without her permission, and realizing this is exactly what makes both Hector and Gladys stand their ground to Lady Sarah.
We also have to acknowledge Gladys’ personality in general. She’s more gentle, a little naive even. Bertha acknowledges the strengths she sees in Marian after she helps save George’s life in “My Mind Is Made Up,” but the reality is that her own daughter isn’t like that. I don’t think Gladys would be able to help out in a situation like this. Twice, Gladys has been naive enough to choose men who haven’t fought for her. (And here’s the thing: it’s okay to be like this. Gladys isn’t wrong either. But she needed her mother in this situation because otherwise she’d be with a man who wouldn’t help uplift her.) Bertha Russell steps up because without her, Gladys’ fate would’ve been far worse, and it’s high time everyone acknowledges this.
In addition to this, the duke isn’t the typical terror-rich man women get paired with in this trope—think My Lady Jane or Moulin Rouge!—Bertha chose a duke who was more than decent because she wouldn’t put her daughter with a monster. Even if she had selfish motives to ensure that their reputation as a family was better, she still chose someone worthy on all fronts, not just for the sake of his stature. She chose someone who she knew would be good to their daughter, even if love was missing from the equation.
And what happened? In the end, Bertha Russell was right, and some arranged marriages end with happy endings. (Read more historical romances! They’re glorious!) Gladys and Hector are not only growing to care for each other, but we’re watching the very beginning of them falling in love.
More importantly, we didn’t need this proof or authentication to know that Bertha’s family were never pawns to her the way George and Larry believe, but rather people she believes she needs to take care of. The people she’ll always be ruthless for because she cares about them too much to see them in average states. She wants to see them thrive. She’s also big enough to admit when she’s wrong, and that’s exactly what happens when she talks to Marian. She misjudged her. She misunderstood, and the fact that she can admit that is far more than George can do right now.
For three seasons now, Carrie Coon has been consistently bringing her A-game to showcase how layered Bertha Russell is, and everything we see in the finale openly confirms this. She’s a multifaceted woman, and there’s certainly room to criticize her, but to state that she’s fully selfish and not at all caring? That’s just wrong. Plain and simple. These very complexities also make the season that much more gripping, allowing it to shine in a way that brings to light how much harder women have to fight against scrutiny. So, yeah, in this house, we’re team Railroad Mommy.
All three seasons of The Gilded Age are now streaming on HBO Max.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO