“Sounds Like a Melodrama Character.”
I’ve heard some good things about The Gilded Age in the last couple of years, and I finally decided to sit down and give the first season a chance. While I found it hard to root for any of the characters at times, I also found it oddly compelling.
The show takes us to New York City in 1882 as Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) arrives to live with her two aunts, maiden aunt Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon), and widowed aunt Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski). Agnes is the widow of a very wealthy man, so Marian’s life now is very different from the life she was used to. Marian brings with her a woman who helped her on her journey, Peggy Scott (DenĂ©e Benton), who wants to make her living as a writer, something that is a struggle for an African American woman in the era. But Peggy does find a job as Agnes’s secretary.
Meanwhile, Agnes has a new neighbor. The Russells have finished the mansion they were building right next door. Unfortunately, George Russell (Morgan Spector) is a self-made millionaire, so he and his wife Bertha (Carrie Coon) aren’t accepted into society. They are new money, after all.
Over the season, Marian tries to understand her new world while defying Agnes when she disagrees with the rules. And Bertha tries to worm her way into society.
I was a couple of episodes in before I realized this show is from the creators of Downton Abbey. I never did watch that show, but I can certainly see it in the DNA of this show. While the main storylines are about the rich characters I’ve mentioned, their servants do get some storylines as well.
I was only a couple of episodes in before I realized just how much of a soap opera the show was going to be. That’s not my typical choice in entertaining, although I have enjoyed a few shows like that. Some of the storylines caught my interest, while others left me cold, but since there are several storylines going on at once, we switched up frequently.
My bigger issue was the characters. I found all of them unlikeable at some point in the season. About half way through, I was about ready to quit because I was frustrated with them. But I was curious enough about what was going to happen next, I went back a few days later.
This isn’t a fault of the actors. They are all doing a great job bringing their characters to life.
The production is lavish. The costumes and sets are fantastic and really do a great job of bringing the time period to life.
With Peggy Scott in the mix of characters, it gives us a chance to see how life is going just twenty years after the Civil War. Actually, when you think about it that way, I’m wondering just how realistic some of the characters’ attitudes toward her are. But I’m not going to complain about it because the show does a good job of showing up how African Americans of the time were treated without dwelling on it. And, outside of one painful scene, the majority of the characters treat her well, which I appreciated.
I’m curious enough I will probably continue with the series. Yes, I am hooked. But I have a few other things I want to watch before moving on to the next season of The Gilded Age.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.