“The Gilded Age” stars on what fans can expect on season four

HBO has started rolling out the fourth season of the Emmy-nominated show “The Gilded Age” this month, and while the first two episodes have given us a sweet return to the Russell family, there is so much to unpack for the remainder of this season.

In a recent discussion with stars such as Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Taissa Farmiga and Cynthia Nixon, the show’s cast gave us a snippet of the larger canvas of season four and what fans can expect from “The Gilded Age” moving forward.

A Russell marriage in crisis

With the previous season ending with Bertha securing her daughter’s future, season four deals with the fallout. Carrie Coon (Bertha Russell) says Bertha feels vindicated, but her husband George is another story. 

“Well, I was right. I was right. I was right, I’m not ashamed of it. George needs to get his act together,” Coon said. “George is living a very unexamined life right now. He’s really going through it. And he hasn’t quite metabolized what has happened to him, and therefore he cannot communicate it to me.”

She warned that time alone will not fix it. “I expect that time heals all wounds, and that just proves to be not true this year. It’s going to take a lot more work than just time. But Gladys is doing great, and Bertha feels vindicated about that.”

Morgan Spector (George Russell) said the assassination attempt and his sense of having failed his daughter have left George adrift. “I think without Bertha, George is lost, actually, and I think that’s what we see sort of play out over the whole season,” he said. “And now he’s got to sort of figure out, you know, how he can think of himself as a decent person and what his principles really are going forward. I think that’s all at play in this season.”

Gladys and Bertha finally see eye to eye

Asked whether Bertha was right about Gladys’s marriage,
Taissa Farmiga (Gladys Russell) delivered the line with some reluctance: “Bertha was right.”

Her Gladys, now the Duchess of Buckingham, is a mother and a very different woman from the girl in season one. “For the first time Gladys is becoming a woman who’s commanding authority and respect including from her mother, and I think it’s beautiful that they’re starting to see eye to eye and a mutual respect is growing,” Farmiga said.

“It’s nice, I think, to see how the relationship has evolved from, you know, Gladys was a shielded, naive adolescent to someone who understands her mother and understands the choices she is making. And she can now look her in the eye and say, I see you, and I agree, or I disagree with you.”

An unhinged Agnes and a bolder Ada

Christine Baranski, who plays Agnes van Rhijn, was absent from the panel, so Cynthia Nixon (Ada Forte) joked she had thought about sending a stand in. “I thought about bringing a hand puppet, I really did.”

She then promised something fans will love. “One of the delightful and hilarious things that we get to see this season is unhinged Agnes. Agnes no longer has her power base, her money base, and so what are essentially kind of small things grow in importance to the point of mania.”

Ada, meanwhile, is rising to the occasion. “It’s just really interesting to see what power does and how power, when given to, you know, a somewhat excitable old girl, which is how I think of her, you know, that she can all of a sudden find this strength and these reserves of composure that you would not have suspected were there in Ada.”

Oscar and Enid take over society

Kelley Curran (Enid Winterton) was asked what drives Enid, and her answer was short. “Power. She just wants power.”

Blake Ritson (Oscar van Rhijn) said the pair are a new kind of threat to the old guard. “I think they’re the new apex predators of high society. And they’re just waiting to bite off the head of anyone who stands in their way.”

Ritson said episode one shows what they are offering instead. “We’ve only seen balls before, everyone is very structured, it’s very kind of staid, and suddenly we see these people dancing the mazurka, every take is different, they’re improvising, it’s spontaneous, and it’s a little metaphor for what they’re offering up, a much more kind of fun vision of society.”

Denée Benton (Peggy Scott) cracked that they would “start the first Met Gala,” and Coon praised the design work behind Enid’s look. “Your costumes are often, I find, more elevated than mine, and they’re just, they’re always spot on for the event. I just think that speaks to the level of design in the show.”

A new generation faces power and purpose

Louisa Jacobson (Marian Brook) said her character’s path is different from Peggy’s. “Peggy’s struggle is a modern one. Marian’s struggle is a period struggle. It’s like particularly of its time. And I think you have to watch it without a 2026 lens, and you have to remember that these people were living in 1886.” She added that work matters deeply to Marian, “specifically work in the service, in social work.”

Harry Richardson (Larry Russell) said his character is changing too. “I think he’s adopting more of his parents this year than ever and realizing that that comes with a price and complication.”

And Ben Ahlers (Jack Trotter) said his character’s rise comes with a dilemma. “I think he’s having to decide for himself how much he wants to play in that space, especially with how much he’s already sacrificed to be here.”

The Gilded Age season four premieres with new weekly episodes every Monday on HBO Max.