One of those two women is my best dressed for The Gilded Age season finale, and for once it wasn’t Carrie CoonPhoto: Alison Cohen Rosa/HBO
Agnes: I feel like I saw a play in a foreign language
After last week’s episode ended with Mrs. Russell being unceremoniously pushed out of the Astor house, the season finale “Let the Tournament Begin” begins again in NYC and Marian’s determination to run away with Raikes. Mrs. Chamberlain is as dubious as anyone about this approach, but unlike Agnes, she is willing to let the girl make her own mistakes. At this point, with Peggy having smuggled out Marian’s bag as part of her move out, the only hope of stopping this farce is for either Agnes and Ada to intervene, or the gentleman in question is exposed.
Luckily, Ada quickly understands what Peggy is proposing when she sees Miss Scott carrying one of Marian’s bags. When confronted, Marian folds like a house of cards, especially when Ada warns her that the only way to ensure Agnes never accepts this is to do something just as stupid. But it’s Aurora, seeing Raikes at the opera performing his “Golly gee, aren’t you swell” act on Sissy Bingham could be the key to stopping all this nonsense. One can only hope that she finally enlightens Marian before it’s too late.
“Let the Tournament Begin”
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“Let the Tournament Begin”
In what feels like a moment when these final episodes have been cut from the originally planned ten to nine, Mrs. Russell is also back in New York planning the coming-out party. She’s also trying to break that Astor glass ceiling, using Carrie’s persistent hanging around her house as an excuse to visit dear Mama Astor. It fails utterly, although the look on Astor’s butler when she tries to bring up her unscheduled, unsanctioned visit to Newport is worth the price of not entering.
When Bertha realizes that she has miscalculated and the children of the Four Hundred come to her house for a party, which does not guarantee that their parents will be there, Bertha pulls the only lever she has left. She announces that she will uninvite Carrie and the others if their parents don’t come. If you think Gladys isn’t taking it well, Carrie isn’t getting one bit of it. Nor does she blame Mrs. Russell; she blames mom. Mrs. Astor needs to figure out how much this crack is worth. She thinks she can win if she perseveres, but Carrie – who met Bertha in a way her mother didn’t – disagrees. Mom thinks she can get Bertha to bend the knee, but she’s wrong.
I know this dress is from Paris, but the way the bodice and overskirt meet the chiffon layers just feels awkward. I’m sorry, Carrie Coon. Photo Credit: Alison Cohen Pink/HBO
But just when the cancellation of Gladys’ friends seems to be the greatest catastrophe, Bertha is faced with another one. Monsieur Baudin is not who he says he is; he’s not even French! His name is Josh Bordin from Witchataw who studied in France but couldn’t be hired at the level of his education unless he put on the accent. His estranged wife, whom he left to go to France, has tracked him down and wants reconciliation, and by that we mean “money.”
Bertha panics. This is the worst kind of scandal that feeds straight into confirmation bias. The Russells are new money with no taste. They are so uneducated and fake that they can’t even tell a fake French chef from the real one. However, the new French chef she secures, Monsieur Chevron, is an idiot worse than Turner. He’s on screen less than five minutes before Church and Watson (and the rest of us) start placing bets on how long he’ll last.
Of course, since this is the season finale, the ball and Marian’s escape happen at the same time. With Mrs. Astor not moving and none of the other children’s parents willing to move if she doesn’t, George begins to take matters into his own hands and pressurize husbands who need his money to forcing their wives to leave. But Bertha, betting on the mother-daughter relationship was the real gamble. As George presses on, Mrs. Astor is already in the Russells’ hall. Bertha lays out the deal. Astor has to come, she has to bring the whole crowd AND she has to get Mrs. van Rhijn to go too. It’s a big task.
These three dresses by Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon and Louisa Jacobson are flawless. No Notes. Photo Credit: Alison Cohen Pink/HBO
Speaking of Van Rhijns, Peggy, Mrs. Chamberlain and Marian are all waiting to escape, but Aurora comes instead. It’s obvious at this point that Raikes isn’t on the way and Marian has been fooled. She and Peggy go to Raikes’ office to find him at work. (Yes, he stood her up and didn’t even go out of town!) Agnes was always right about him, the money won, and (fortunately) there won’t be a wedding today. Even better, with Marian suddenly back and bragging about at a social event (and picking me up), even the Van Rhijns’ attendance at the Russell Ball is suddenly possible. By the way, Larry Russell is still across the street and apparently he can waltz very well…
And now we come to the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the red carpet! The carriages! The clothes! Of course, the new French chef didn’t last an entire episode, and Monsieur Boudin comes to the rescue. Raikes shows up with Sissy Bingham and proves to be the Head Fuckboi of 1882, despite competition from Oscar, who officially goes into full open season on Gladys. As for Larry, he and Marian are BFFs now and he knows all about Raikes. Let’s hope there’s more to come from this neighborhood in season two.
Stray thoughts
- It took all this time for Fellowes to finally settle back into his comfort zone of pastoral ministers wanting only to please their superiors, but we did it.
- As suspected, Peggy’s son is alive. Surprisingly, her father knows about it all along. I’m sorry I smuggled that into Stray Thoughts, but it’s such a left-field soap opera twist. I’m going to need a lot more of the Scotts in season 2.
- Everything about the quadrille was FABULOUS. Bring me the wig maker and ask why that person isn’t fixing the travesties on the Targaryen heads over on House of the Dragon.
- “Couldn’t we just call it the Midwest?” What’s wrong with Kansas?
- After eight long weeks, the dress of the week finally doesn’t go to Carrie Coon. (Sorry, I know it’s from Paris, but I wasn’t a fan of the last dress.) Instead, the final’s best-dressed award goes to Mrs. Astor, who knows how to look stunning in a loss.