Forget 'Downton Abbey,' HBO's 10/10 Replacement Has Already Surpassed It in the One Way That Matters

Published Sep 5, 2026, 8:48 AM EDT Elizabeth Pagano is a Brooklyn-based features editor and writer for Collider, where she covers television and movies, focusing on everything from the most niche moments on And Just Like That... and Yellowjackets to more macro takes on underrated movies and actors. She has been writing about TV and film for almost three years and is driven most by important stories about women and the convergence of humor and drama. Just as much as she loves watching high-stakes shows, she always makes time to rewatch her OG favorites, Gilmore Girls and The Real Housewives. A few of her favorite shows right now are The Morning Show, Somebody Somewhere, Mrs. America, The Great British Bake Off, Lenox Hill, and Yellowjackets. She will watch anything with Cate Blanchett in it and thinks that Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is criminally underrated. In her free time, she likes to scuttle around Brooklyn, go bouldering, and consume large quantities of salt and vinegar chips. On top of that, she's currently on a quest to pet a corgi. The Gilded Age and Downton Abbey might share the same creator in Julian Fellowes, but the former series has actually been a bit more successful when it comes to living up to the full title of "historical drama." It's fairly easy for shows in this type of genre to fall into the bubble of the wealthy families that they follow, which makes going the extra mile and spotlighting what was going down outside of that bubble that much more important. In Season 2 of The Gilded Age alone, we've seen the growing power of labor union workers, gender discrimination within the engineering industry, the differing treatment of Black people between the South and New York City, as well as the constantly changing education system. Sure, the opera wars might have dominated the headlines, but those stakes could not be more moot in comparison to the conflicts that were actually happening right beyond the eyesight of wealthy socialites like Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) and Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), both in real life and on the screen. Since its first season, The Gilded Age has set itself apart from other historical dramas like Downton Abbey by doubling down on the full picture of the period it depicts, instead of getting tangled up in bottomless conflict like a pair of cheap headphones. The daily lives and struggles of the staff who work literally and figuratively underneath both the van Rhijns and the Russells have been featured since the beginning, adding a great dichotomy to the series, with subsequent seasons taking things a step even further. 'The Gilded Age' Focuses More on Historical Events George Russell (Morgan Spector) was certainly sitting pretty atop his throne in Season 1 of The Gilded Age, but that all went out the door as soon as his workers decided to unionize and go on strike. Facing a work shutdown as well as the possibility of a violent skirmish between the union workers and higher-ups, George had to make the much-toiled-over decision to grant his workers higher pay — though only temporarily. This entire situation could've simply occurred in the background of the series, but the writers chose to put it front and center; especially during the real-time SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, this was an extremely important move for the series. Meanwhile, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) and T. Thomas Fortune's (Sullivan Jones) trip down to Alabama to the Tuskegee Institute revealed the full scope of racism outside of New York City, as the two had to evade being killed by a horde of White men who were running them out of town. Even Peggy — having spent most of her life in New York City — was taken aback by the horrific treatment, especially against the backdrop of the success of the Tuskegee Institute. Just as Peggy was inspired to use her position at the New York Globe to shine a light on education in New York City following her time in Alabama, The Gilded Age shone a light on the importance of the real-life institution. The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge became an avenue to introduce discrimination against women in more male-dominated fields in the 1880s, such as engineering. Emily Warren Roebling (Liz Wisan) took over the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband was unable to continue his duties, though her involvement was very hush-hush, as others involved in the process feared that no one would want to cross the bridge if they knew it was largely constructed by a woman. The thing is, this wasn't just another interesting plot point: the story about Emily is a factual one, making the impact hit that much harder for viewers. The Gilded Age's return might still be a couple of months away — with Season 4 officially confirmed to release this November — but judging by the show's continuing #1 status on HBO Max within the TV genre, it's likely that the series' depiction of social issues will only be ramping up. Between George's ongoing business expansion and the struggles that have resulted, Peggy being poised to deal with her future in-laws after saying yes to Dr. William Kirkland's (Jordan Donica) marriage proposal, and even U.S. President Grover Cleveland (Jim Gaffigan) set to make an appearance, there's quite a bit more that The Gilded Age can explore. As the 1880s truck on and the U.S. gets further and further into the Second Industrial Revolution (the Technological Revolution), the characters in The Gilded Age's lives are going to get even more complex, just as we saw with the van Rhijn's former footman, Jack Trotter's (Ben Ahlers), foray into the watch-making business catapulting him into a new tax bracket. Revolutions can take many forms, and though an industrial revolution might seem mostly cordoned off from the conflicts of daily life, things always end up trickling down to every last facet of society in the end. The Gilded Age Release Date January 24, 2022 A wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha. Network HBO Max Cast Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga, Harry Richardson, Blake Ritson, Simon Jones, Jack Gilpin, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Baranski, Todd A. Horman, Thomas Cocquerel, Ben Ahlers, Michael Cerveris, Kelley Curran, Sullivan Jones, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, Kristine Nielsen, Kelli O'Hara, Patrick Page, Taylor Richardson, Douglas Sills, Erin Wilhelmi, John Douglas Thompson Main Genre Drama Seasons 4