‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 is finally here. What happened in the season premiere?
After over a year of waiting, “The Gilded Age” Season 2 has finally premiered.
Before the Season 2 premiere, fans got a sneak peak into the second season. As executive producer David Crockett told Vanity Fair, “The whole thread of (Season 2) is wrapped around this story of dueling opera houses.”
“The opening nights of the 1883 season—and the first ever opening night of the Met—fell on the same night,” he continued. “So you have this very clear choice for all of New York society: Are you going to go the old money route, or the new money route? It’s a great engine for a classic clash.”
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So far, Season 2 has proved to be just as opulent and dramatic as the first. With “The Gilded Age” Season 1 ending with so many questions, fans were likely eager for some answers. Let’s get into it.
What happened in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 premiere?
This should go without saying, but major spoilers ahead!
“The Gilded Age” Season 2 premiere unsurprisingly had is fair share of drama — and so many hats — but it had a few genuinely surprising twists. Here are the most noteworthy moments of the season premiere:
1. Peggy’s son is dead
I’m not going to lie, I was shocked by this turn of events. After all the build up to Peggy’s big secret being her son (who was thought dead but was actually alive) last season, Season 2 begins with Peggy and her family attending his funeral, because he died of scarlet fever.
This was, to put it mildly, a very interesting choice. At the end of Season 1, I suspected that Peggy reuniting with her son would be a big plot point for Season 2. But for whatever reason, Julian Fellowes decided to lay to rest what was, in my opinion, Season 1’s most compelling storyline.
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The Scott family is obviously fractured due to grief, anger, frustration and, as Peggy declared to Marian, she can’t take it anymore! She has got to get out of that house!
Peggy asks Marian if she can take her old position as Agnes’ personal secretary and Marian said that she suspected it shouldn’t be a problem. Expect to see Peggy move back in with the van Rhijn’s in next week’s episode.
2. A van Rhijn cousin comes to town
Dashiell, a relatively young widower with a 14-year-old daughter, comes to town. He’s related to the van Rhijn’s in a way that is not 100% clear and he has a few run-ins with Marian in the premiere.
They have clearly set Dashiell up as a love interest for Marian in Season 2, while very unsubtly making it clear that Dashiell and Marian are related by marriage, not by blood okay you guys? They’re avoiding a “kissing cousins” situation, which surely was not uncommon even the gilded age, but I appreciate their efforts to avoid incest.
3. Marian is teaching a watercolor class at St. Mary’s school for girls
When Marian and Peggy meet up for lunch, Peggy asks Marian if she’s told her aunts her “big secret.” I expected this secret to be along the lines of Marian moving out. Something scandalous, at least.
But no: upon Marian meeting up with Dashiell and his daughter, Frances, she exclaims that she already knows Marian. How? Marian teaches her watercolor class at St. Mary’s, a school for girls.
As expected, Agnes is not happy. She completely blows up Marian, accusing her of dragging the van Rhijn name through the mud. Marian has a meltdown, and the two end Episode 1 on icy terms.
4. Oscar van Rhijn proposes to Gladys Russell
Oscar is having a rough time, okay? At the beginning of the episode, he finds himself at the receiving end of the cold shoulder not only from Gladys but from John, his old paramour. So on his way to family dinner, Oscar finds himself at a bar, meets a handsome stranger, gets propositioned and is subsequently beaten and robbed by said stranger.
Oscar manages to stumble his way back to the van Rhijn’s house and, during his recovery, has an epiphany: it’s time for him to settle down and live an adult life. This will start once he proposes to Gladys, obviously!
Oscar orchestrates an opportunity to have a one-on-one moment with Gladys and takes his chance. He proposes, and while Gladys doesn’t say yes, she definitely does not seemed opposed.
4. Watson is Flora McNeil’s dad
Remember last season, when Watson was casually following that random lady around? “The Gilded Age” Season 2 premiere finally gives us some answers.
At the end of the episode, Bertha throws a dinner of opera enthusiasts, aka people who are likely to support the Metropolitan Opera. Flora McNeil and her husband attend — at the end of Season 1, we officially discover that Flora is the woman who Watson was following around — and Flora and Watson come face to face.
Flora reacts very uncasually. When she sees Watson, she gives a loud start and exclaims that she just bit her tongue. When confronted by her husband — why was she staring at Watson? he asks — she reveals that Watson is her father.
As Flora explained it, Watson broke the news to her last season. Apparently, her mother told her that her father had fallen in the world, which was a nice way to say that he is now a servant. She worriedly tells her husband that they’ll have to hope that it doesn’t get out and he tells her, “Oh, I think we can do more than that.” Not menacing at all!
5. The struggle between the Academy of Music and the Met has officially begun
Most importantly, “The Gilded Age” Season 2 premiere laid the groundwork for the most important plot point: the drama between the Academy of Music and the Metropolitan Opera.
Bertha begins Season 2 with a warily peaceful relationship with Mrs. Astor — while they’re not the best of friends, Mrs. Astor has made it clear that she has played a hand in Bertha’s success.
But as Bertha says, she’s no lackey. And when the tension around the Academy of Music comes up — the Russells weren’t able to procure a box at the opera this season — Bertha finds herself sympathizing with those supporting the new Metropolitan Opera.
This will, no doubt, cause a rift between Bertha and Mrs. Astor once again. We begin to see this rift in Episode 1: at Bertha’s dinner for opera enthusiasts, it was revealed that Christina Nilsson will be performing at the Met this season. Mrs. Astor points out that Christina had always performed at the Academy in the past, but not this year, sister!
Bertha twists the knife with yet another surprise: Christina is at her home, that very night, to perform a number from “Faust.” The guests enchantedly watch the performance, but there’s one audience member that is very much not happy. Bertha watches Mrs. Astor’s shock triumphantly and tells her husband that while she won the battle, she hasn’t yet won the war.
What will happen ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2?
“The Gilded Age” Season 2 set up quite a few interesting storylines for the rest of the season.
I suspect — and after watching the teaser for Episode 2, my suspicions were confirmed — that Marian will find herself in a love triangle between Dashiell and Larry Russell. It also will be very interesting to see if Gladys accepts Oscar’s proposal. And, while I hope that they won’t push the death of Peggy’s son off as a minor plot point, I can’t help but suspect that they will.
But the most important storyline by far is the drama between the Academy of Music and the Metropolitan Opera. While we all know who triumphs — who hasn’t heard of The Met? — seeing it all play out will be good fun.
