‘The Gilded Age’ Bosses Break Down Season 4 Premiere’s Messy Hookup and the Russells’ Tricky Road Ahead

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Gilded Age” Season 4, Episode 1.“The Gilded Age” returned for another round of high-society chaos, kicking off with a marriage of convenience, a massive tropical storm and more than one character facing potential ruin. Sunday’s Season 4 premiere, titled “Ring the Bells,” reunited viewers with the sprawling ensemble populating this tale of 1880s New York City opulence, introducing plenty of new dynamics and big twists to set up the chaos to come. That started with the wedding of Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson) and Enid Winterton (née Turner) (Kelley Curran), as the duo cemented their platonic partnership: He would use his status and she her means to climb the city’s social ladder and make their own rules. “We like to start with very big openings where we have all of our characters so we can kind of reset for people,” co-showrunner Sonja Warfield told TheWrap. “And there was in fact a tropical storm historically at that time. So we used that to help increase the drama and the stakes.” Blake Ritson and Kelley Curran in “The Gilded Age.” (HBO) Indeed, the wedding kicked off several sources of tension that will undoubtedly reverberate throughout the season. For the happy couple, their mutual acceptance of each other’s desires and ambitions made the marriage seem like a worthy match. But Oscar’s rejection of Enid’s offer to consummate the marriage in hopes of producing an heir was an early sign of cracks in their otherwise brilliant plan — just as Oscar’s mother, Agnes (Christine Baranski), learned that her new daughter-in-law had once been a lady’s maid. “The Oscar and Enid story is illustrative of the rules they were living by and that mercifully, we are not,” series creator Julian Fellowes told TheWrap. “I like people who rewrite their own lives and just think, ‘No, this isn’t the life I want. I want this one.’” Perhaps the biggest shocker from the finale belonged to Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), the on-again, off-again couple who appeared to seal their romance once again — only for concerns about propriety to spook Marian once more. After a hushed reception afterparty wrapped up downtown, Marian and Larry found themselves stranded when their carriage home was damaged in the storm. That forced them to seek refuge in a hotel, initially booking separate rooms as dictated by society’s rules. But it wasn’t long before Larry knocked on Marian’s door, and the formerly engaged couple slept together for the first time. While the evening had an air of romance, Marian woke the next morning filled with shame, knowing that losing her virtue as an unmarried woman in high society could mean losing everything. “We really wanted to show that our permissive society was not always so. It’s a good thing to remind people of the dangers they were facing [back then] that we are not,” Fellowes said. Harry Richardson and Louisa Jacobson in “The Gilded Age.” (HBO) “Louisa does an excellent job, and the morning when she comes back, we see [the stakes] from Ada (Cynthia Nixon) and Agnes’ reaction saying, ‘It’s good that you took a carriage back by yourself because we wouldn’t even want the slightest hint about the impropriety of you staying out with him,” Warfield added. As the wedding unfolded Ada and Agnes also received news that the New York Heritage Society tapped Agnes to host President Grover Cleveland at their home — which of course led to tension between the sisters as Ada would have to fund the elaborate affair. And let’s not forget the Van Rhijn household is in search of a new footman. “It will be a roller coaster ride throughout the season. We’ll see what happens with this dinner,” Warfield said, praising comedian Jim Gaffigan, who will make his debut as the president later in the season. Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon in “The Gilded Age.” (HBO) “We’re seeing Agnes and Ada adjust to the change in their power structure,” Fellowes added. “Agnes can survive the change as long as she is given her own performance space. But what she can’t do is give up all of that and retire into the background while Ada becomes queen, and so in a way they have to negotiate really as much as fight. They have to negotiate their new positions.” Across the street, we last saw George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) going their separate ways after George, who had recently been shot, decided to distance himself from his wife for orchestrating their daughter Gladys’ (Taissa Farmiga) marriage to the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb). The premiere picked back up with the couple still apart. George was dealing with President Cleveland’s growing desire for anti-monopoly legislation, which threatened his business empire, while also searching for the man responsible for shooting him. Bertha, meanwhile, was across the ocean in England, tending to Gladys as she gave birth to a son. Complications during the birth meant Gladys could not have any more children. Warfield and Fellowes teased that while welcoming a grandchild will certainly bring light to the family, the troubles ahead will not be easy for the family to navigate. Morgan Spector in “The Gilded Age.” (HBO) “Those are a lot of challenges right there to deal with. [George’s] business is at its brink. His marriage is at its brink. He is suffering,” Warfield said. “I don’t think that we should ever lose touch with the fact that George and Bertha are very well suited. But however well suited, every marriage has its ups and downs,” Fellowes added. And let’s not forget Peggy (Denée Benton) and Dr. Kirkland’s (Jordan Donica) own nuptials to come later too. There’s plenty more to come as “The Gilded Age” Season 2 gets under way. “The Gilded Age” airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.