‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 Premiere: Cast Talks Divorce, Temperance Movement & What’s Next (VIDEO)

Kelli Boyle June 22, 2025, 10:00 pm

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 1, “Who Is in Charge Here?”]

The Gilded Age has returned with all its glitz and glamour, but the relationship statuses of the couples this season are far from glittering. Divorce is on the table for more than one pairing — a twist that guarantees social ruin for the wealthy elite of New York City. In 1883 America, there’s no such thing as no-fault divorce. The only legal cause for the ending of a marriage was adultery. And that’s just what Charles Fane (Ward Horton) had committed in the Season 3 premiere that aired on Sunday, June 22 on HBO. In the video above, the stars and creators break down The Gilded Age Season 3 premiere, explain how the season’s tagline — “Love conquers all, or costs everything” — applies to their characters, and preview what’s next in their best season yet.

The episode kicked off with a last-minute snow before spring. The Van Rhijn household is now the Forte house, but the staff is confused about whose word is law between the penniless Agnes (Christine Baranski) and newly wealthy widow Ada (Cynthia Nixon). Ada is throwing her philanthropic weight behind the temperance movement, a cause that makes Agnes guffaw with disbelief and displeasure. Ada is trying to honor her late husband Luke (Robert Sean Leonard), who never spoke about that specific cause. Her thinking is that she’s choosing a cause that moves her and committing to helping it, which would make Luke proud. As Agnes points out this season, the women’s suffrage movement is a more pressing matter. Nixon tells TV Insider why the temperance movement is perfectly suited for Ada, for better or for worse.

“Ada really sees the world in terms of virtue and Agnes really sees the world in terms of power,” Nixon explains. “Ada’s doing something which doesn’t usually work. She’s trying to legislate morality. She’s trying to legislate virtue…But she doesn’t see the real root of the problem. The real root of the problem is that women don’t have power. And so we learned in the first episode that there is also this suffrage movement on the move. It’s funny because if you speak about it in these broad terms, you would think Ada is more left wing than Agnes. but actually, Agnes is far more intuitive and really sees that if you want to solve these problems that Ada is concerned about, it’s really women need the vote. Women need to acquire power to stop being victimized.”

Ada and Agnes will continue to struggle with their new positions in the house moving forward, and the downstairs staff will continue to be confused about from whom they should take orders. Marian (Louisa Jacobson), meanwhile, is continuing her romance with neighbor Larry Russell (Harry Richardson). Her struggle this season will be the fear of repeating past romantic mistakes and figuring out what kind of career she could have, if any, if she and Larry were to get married. The latter is less Larry’s doing and more the struggle of most women of this time period who don’t have the right to vote, to serve in government, and more.

'The Gilded Age': 5 Historical Events Covered in Season 3, the Most Action-Packed Season Yet

Marian is inspired by Peggy (Denée Benton), whose writing career is taking off even more this season with publishers showing interest in releasing her novel. She comes down with a bad cold that threatens to turn into pneumonia, and the premiere ended with a racist doctor refusing to treat Peggy. But this awful turn will result in Peggy meeting her new romantic interest, Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica). Benton and Donica tease what’s to come in their onscreen romance above, explaining how they’re uniquely suited for each other and how William’s mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland (Phylicia Rashad), will throw a wrench into their courtship. This storyline will introduce colorism as a topic this season in addition to diving into conflicting views on women’s suffrage from both the Black and white communities in New York during this era.

Aurora Fane’s (Kelli O’Hara) divorce was introduced in this episode, and it’s going to be a season-long struggle for her. As series creator Julian Fellowes explains, “Aurora obviously would be content to just go on living as she’s lived until now and not rock the boat” in her complacent marriage. “But Charles wants something more than that. Do we dislike him for that? Do we think he, she’s right to stay with the compromise or not? I hope that all of these questions are coming up in the public’s minds.”

History tells us that George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) could be at risk of divorce because they’re loosely based on William and Alva Vanderbilt, whose divorce was a huge scandal in the late 19th century. Bertha has never been one to accept standards for women she deems unfair. Given that, she will defy convention and challenge society to be better to divorced women. But the real top of her list of priorities is getting Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) married to Hector, the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb). As of Episode 1, Gladys is still rebelling against this plan and trying to find a way to marry her first love, Billy Carlton (Matt Walker). The Gladys dispute will continue to drive a wedge between George and Bertha, who disagree that Gladys needs to be in love before marrying.

Taissa Farmiga and Carrie Coon in The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 1 (Karolina Wojtasik / HBO)

“Because of this rift of Gladys, [George] has a sense that maybe they’re not speaking the same language,” Spector shares. George’s business is also under immense pressure as he presses on with his plan to build a cross-country railroad line. It will be his hardest professional endeavor to date — and a dangerous one. “As his life begins to unravel and he’s feeling actually quite vulnerable, I think he just doesn’t feel like they can talk about it,” Spector admits.

“It’s true that her relationship is very strained by what she’s doing with Gladys, but she doesn’t notice for a long time,” Coon adds. She takes her eye off that ball. Now, to be fair, George isn’t operating at full disclosure, so she doesn’t know exactly the stakes that he’s dealing with because he’s not really telling her. One of the consequences of that is that we’ve always seen when Bertha reveals her vulnerabilities, it’s always to George. But she loses that space and she’s really spinning out and very isolated in this.”

But don’t panic for the Russell marriage yet. “The train hasn’t left the station, so to speak,” Coon says of their union. But Spector adds, “I think the audience should be worried because I think all possibilities are on the table, but it’s not fatal yet.”

Learn more about what’s ahead in The Gilded Age Season 3 in the full video above.

The Gilded Age, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO