The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2, “You Won’t Hear Me Beg” Spoilers Ahead
After last week’s season premiere, “Ring the Bells,” The Gilded Age delivers a quietly evocative gut-punch in “You Won’t Hear Me Beg.” We’re fully back in the States with all the characters, and moments of vulnerability lead to the riveting reminder that love is the show’s backbone in more ways than one. The series has always been a story of push and pull amongst societal ranks, but these last two seasons continue to make an unmistakable case for how important it is to lean on people, and why connections have to be preserved, no matter how many other things change.
Bertha’s back in New York, George’s shooter is brought to justice, Larry and Marian make some sort of attempt to talk, Peggy’s future mother-in-law continues to be the worst, and Agnes continues to do what’s necessary for the presidential visit.
The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2, Makes a Point That We Can’t Do All
The Forte/van Rhijn household continues to be the most entertaining place as we debate tassels and curtains alongside presidential visits. A woman like Agnes isn’t one to change her stance easily, nor should she have to because every word out of her mouth is sheer perfection. But even when she’s forced to attend the Metropolitan Opera House and come face to face with Bertha Russell in a deliciously nuanced conversation, it’s her words at the end of the episode that keep playing on a loop in my mind.
“We can’t do it all, and I don’t believe that is God’s wish,” she tells Marian. And Christine Baranski’s delivery floors me because this is a side of Agnes we don’t see often. Rarely does she get to strip down her defenses and showcase her concern in a manner that isn’t laced with a little ire. Because that’s the thing about Agnes: she cares deeply about her people, but her way of showing emotions is vastly different from Ada’s, which is what makes their dynamic so exciting. But there’s something else happening here, and while it’s not an overt shift, it’s still meaningful.
Taking a step back isn’t easy for someone like Agnes, nor is admitting defeat in any way. And while she’s doing everything in her power to entertain the presidential visit to get some part of her rank back, what ultimately sticks out is her understanding that people can’t and shouldn’t overdo it. The message is a powerful one coming from a show like The Gilded Age, but it’s even more impactful because it comes from a character like Agnes. It holds meaning when she’s the one reminding her niece that she shouldn’t be coming home late or comparing herself to Jesus, of all people. (Which, let’s just go ahead and add, “That’s all very well for Jesus; he didn’t have to make his way back to the Upper East Side,” to the list of epic Agnes van Rhijn lines.
More importantly, this idea that people can’t and shouldn’t take on everything is likely going to act as a thread throughout the entire season as these characters are continuously tested as a result of their own decisions. It’ll be interesting to see just how much and how often they lean on their people as a result, and how the outcome will further their character development.
William and Peggy’s Teamwork Remains Unbeatable
Watching Peggy’s future mother-in-law basically lie to an entire room full of women because she holds shame over Peggy’s past isn’t just vile, but it downright drives me off the wall. Still, there are few things I love more than when Dorothy Scott stands up for her daughter, and it’s not solely because Audra McDonald herself is a force to be reckoned with. There’s always been something special about their mother/daughter dynamic, and to see that Peggy will also have that same kind of support with her future husband makes the transitional period more worthwhile.
But when we reunite with William again at the end of the episode, Agnes’ words are back to the forefront of my mind because no one, not even a doctor, can do everything. It’s a gut-punch in more ways than one because William’s pain is so deeply understandable, and the circumstances of his loss make it even worse. The fact that the doctors at Bellevue Hospital reject his presence as a Black doctor, then lose his patient on the same day? If they’re the kind of hospital that won’t allow Black men to practice medicine, then it’s not hard to assume that they might also not care about their Black patients the same way they would about white people in need of medical attention.
The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2, “You Won’t Hear Me Beg,” is also fully aware of its time period, and giving us this dark reminder of overt racism is substantial. It’s especially telling when this isn’t just an issue people were facing then, but continues to do so today, with doctors being unjustly careless around people of color and their diagnoses. The weight this brings to a character like William, who not only cares about his patients but desperately wants to be there for him, is so palpable in the writing, and Jordan Donica also delivers his pain with a heartbreak that we’re going to feel for a while.
Still, what the scene also focuses on is the reminder that it’s not his fault and could never be. William did the best he could by believing that the hospital would’ve been better suited for the surgery, and everything else was out of his hands because the cruelty in the world isn’t something any of us have control over, no matter how much we wish for it. To watch Peggy be there for him, and see the way the two of them can lean on each other in sorrow and joy, is everything when romance right now is rocky for everyone else.
Marian’s Emotions Are Understandable – But Communication With Larry Needs to Happen
I’m already exhausted over the discourse surrounding Marian and Larry, and we’re only two episodes into the season. Two things can be true here: we can watch from our screens in the year of our lord 2026 and be frustrated by the circumstances keeping these characters apart, and we can also understand just how dire the situation is for her. What ultimately gets me is that I know Larry isn’t throwing out a pity proposal because they were engaged once and he’s already made it clear that he loves her. But as a woman with a mountain of insecurities, I can also understand how it must feel to be in Marian’s shoes, feeling shame on top of wondering if it’s pity or desire.
As a character who’s always felt like she’s been meandering through one task after another to try to find her purpose and a means to survive, it’s not even remotely surprising that she’d cling to the Settlement House right now. Taking on more work means that she won’t have to think about their night together, and at the same time, she feels completely wanted in a manner that lets her fully be herself.
Larry is also doing the same with George, but when we also get a scene where she has to watch him laugh and be completely at ease with other people, can we really blame her for having her walls up? I certainly can’t. But the show also has to give them the chance to have an honest conversation about where they stand. It can’t be in the middle of the street, nor can it be one that’s consistently dodged. Understandably, she needs time right now, but we’ve also had eight months of time stretching between them. When the words come next time, there’s got to be some sort of outright progress where they both understand each other’s side. Larry, especially. It’s not the same for a man, nor could it ever be in any scenario.
Are Railroad Daddy and Mommy Back? Maybe?
George Russell is going through it, and Morgan Spector is already delivering some of his best work as the character to date. If this is just the beginning of his fracture, then none of us are prepared for when we get more vulnerability out of the character.
The joy on his face when Bertha shows him the picture of their grandson is one thing, but the quick change in his expression when she asks him to come home is another. His inability to stop wrestling with himself because every business deal is going south and he’s pushing boundaries he’s never done before makes The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2, “You Won’t Hear Me Beg,” one of the most nail-biting episodes for the character. His actions are all over the place; it feels like he’s too far gone, and for a split second, despite how many people plead with him, I legitimately thought he’d have the kind of blood on his hands he could never wash away.
It’s a blow in more ways than one, but it makes for an exceptional episode, regardless. The end result works best, because sometimes moving past the phantoms of your own actions requires walking into your wife’s room and silently begging for her to hold you. It’s promising that it’s finished and silently contemplating just how much you missed her when she lets herself be vulnerable enough to ask that the two of you resume being husband and wife again. Bertha has always been the ruthless one in their lives, but never in their marriage. George was the softer one—yet, here, when she chooses to open her arms to him as he lies on her, Bertha’s once again choosing to show him just how much she loves him. How desperately she wants him back because they’re good together. Carrie Coon’s performance alone deserves a separate feature because while she’s always inimitable, there’s something about the way she gives us Bertha’s vulnerable side that’s so breathtaking.
It’s impossible to imagine these two ever getting divorced when this is what they’re like together, and that’s exactly what makes “You Won’t Hear Me Beg” such a meaty episode. With George and Bertha, plus Peggy and William, it weaves in love as a reminder of the fact that while partnerships don’t fix all problems, they make the nights a little more bearable. It makes everything better, in more ways than one, and I’m so eager to see how next week will pan out as a result.
Further Thoughts
- Railroad Mommy is home!!
- “It’s the perfect excuse to get married.” Well, yes, Larry, it is. I suppose.
- I love Ada visiting the Settlement House with Marian.
- George making everything worse in business deals is stressing me out hardcore.
- I’m crying that Agnes is so bitter about the curtains—same, babe.
- “Why are people so quick to abandon custom for unproven fashions?” Me, about barrel jeans, tbh.
- Peggy’s book being about two inseparable friends whose paths diverge has my heart in shambles because I can’t wait to see how this will pan out.
- Oliver is actually hilarious. I can’t do this.
- Screw you, Bellevue Hospital
- Not William’s mom straight up lying about Peggy !?!?!
- I LOVE PEGGY’S MOM SO MUCH.
- “Sensibilities are gentler in Newport.” Are they, though??!!
- Bertha is so happy to show the picture. My heart is so full.
- The fact that even Gladys is asking about George.
- She begs him to come home. This man is so ridiculous and stubborn.
- AGNES IS AT THE MET!
- Bertha is literally glowing, my God.
- Enid and Mrs. Aster are hilarious.
- Is Larry watching the theater? What’s happening here? Why is this a thing?
- Not Lucas Iverson’s character, whose name I haven’t retained yet, asking Larry to host theater with him because they can do it without copyright agreements, so they don’t have to pay royalties. Like okay!??!
- Mrs. Aster needs to let Carrie live. Girl, lay off Larry.
- Mrs. Morris begging Bertha to save her son hurts.
- “You haven’t commented on the new curtains.” “No, I haven’t.” I’M CRYING. NEVER CHANGE, AGNES.
- Ada wants to install a telephone, and this, I’m all for.
- The concern on Agnes face floors me. I’m never getting over this scene.
- The new curtains are hideous, omg !!!
- Poor Oliver just wants to yap a little.
- “You are not judge and jury.”
- “Perhaps he has not been punished enough, but she has.” What a line. Especially as a mother.
- “Somehow it feels as if you’ve been gone for months.” William you sweet talker.
- Look at my cuddling parents!!
- “I have no sense of direction. I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m doing.”
- “I refuse to go on this life. I can deal with anything else.”
- “But please, let us be husband and wife again.”
- Yes, I’m crying.
Now streaming on HBO Max: What are your thoughts on The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2, “You Won’t Hear Me Beg?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO