The Gilded Age Review: Tucked Up in Newport (Season 1 Episode 8)

Mysteries and chance encounters define The Gilded Age Season 1 Episode 8, “Tucked Up in Newport.”

Every character seems to be hiding a secret; some secrets become known, and some remain hidden, leaving viewers questioning.

Continuing from The Gilded Age Season 1 Episode 7, “Irresistible Change,” Marian seems to have made up her mind, rather quickly, to elope with Tom Raikes, realizing that she will never be able to get Aunt Agnes’ support.

Maybe there’s a reason she can’t persuade Aunt Agnes, and perhaps it is because wise Aunt Agnes might know best. There’s nothing unlikable about Mr. Raikes, yet it’s almost unsettling how his character doesn’t have a (known) flaw.

This episode confirms Marian’s naïveté, her lack of thought towards giving up her entire life for a man she barely knows.

Things are heating up in the servants’ quarters. Wide-eyed Jack Treatcher keeps leaving work early with flowers, much to the curiosity of Bridget, who foolishly follows him one day.

It turns out Jack brings flowers to his mom’s grave. She died in a horrific fire that engulfed an entire town, Jack explains to Bridget in a touching moment.

The story alludes to deeper societal problems impacting America at the time; the negligence of the working class, laissez-faire attitudes towards wealth and power, and media cover-ups.

I am happy to see that Jack isn’t too upset that Bridget followed him.

While she dismisses his advances early in the show, I can see them becoming closer and leaning on each other as young servants in the changing world. Maybe another love story will start to flourish there?

The middle of this episode features a series of short scenes involving interactions in the street.

Bannister discusses Turner’s firing with the servants outside of the Russells’ house, M. Boudin argues with a mystery woman, and Watson, Mr. Russell’s valet, has a strange encounter with an upper-class woman he watches from across the street.

The show has a knack for introducing questions or subplots briefly and then not bringing them up for a few episodes. Julian Fellowes successfully followed a similar structure with Downton Abbey, weaving together many subplots through the seasons.

The characters all appear to have mysterious pasts, and these are questions that I hope The Gilded Age can address smoothly at the end of this season or the next (?) like Fellowes did so masterfully with Downton Abbey.  

Viewers do finally learn Peggy’s secret. Steadfast with her values and respect, she dismisses telling Aunt Agnes about her late husband and child. While disappointing, it was nice to see a side of Agnes that contrasts her usual stubborn superiority.

There’s an emphatic, vulnerable side to Agnes that makes her quite an enduring character at times.

Even though she should have fired her ladies’ maid in hindsight, she means well and generally cares for Peggy, along with the rest of the people in her life.

Another mystery gets solved in the courthouse when Mr. Russell exposes Miss Ainsley, his stenographer, as using Mr. Dixon’s money. It’s a classic off-the-hook moment for Mr. Russell that brings the scrutiny away from him and onto another — in this case, Dorada from Gossip Girl (cannot resist the connection to such an iconic role).

What makes Mr. Russell unlikable is his talent to remain unscathed from hardship or scandal.

He’s extremely clever, which explains his quick rise in wealth. Yet he’s almost narcissistic in his inability to empathize with others that stand in his way and bear the brunt of his problems.

So far, The Gilded Age has ended each episode either with a significant shock or a smile.

This time, it ends with a humorous sequence involving Mrs. Russell clamoring out of the Astors’ Newport home among the cooks and servants in the backyard.

Considering the characters in the show constantly remind us that she came from nothing, the irony of her snobbiness adds to the entertainment factor.

While Mr. Russell emerges triumphant from the courtroom in New York, his wife runs through a pie sty with servants plucking chickens. All can never be well for the power chasing family.

Other Observations:

• The shots of high society with parasols on the shore of Newport look like Monet paintings, the same type hanging in Mrs. Chamberlain’s collection.
• Bring back, Mr. Fortune! Clearly, this will not be the last we see of Peggy.
• I feel like Mrs. Russell might be setting herself up for disappointment again with this ball.

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What did you think of this episode of The Gilded Age? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Gilded Age airs Mondays at 9/8c on HBO Max.

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