‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 Teases Introduction to Modern Labor Movement
Can you hear the people sing?
It’s been about a year and a half since audiences were first swept away by the drama and gorgeous costumes of Julian Fellowes’ first major show since Downton Abbey. Set during the period of the same name (1880s), HBO’s The Gilded Age highlights the various points of tension between old money and new money during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. A few episodes into season 1, what was then known as HBO Max, now just Max, renewed the critically acclaimed show. After surviving the Warner Bros. Discovery purge and the gutting of HBO Max, we finally have news on season 2 of The Gilded Age!
This next season will continue with leads Agnes Van Rhijn (played by Christine Baranski), Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), and George Russell (Morgan Spector). Executive producer David Crockett told Vanity Fair that the politics of music endowments (specifically dueling opera houses) will be in play. That new battleground will probably take up the majority of Agnes and Bertha’s time.
Other returning faces include Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon), Ward Mcallister (Nathan Lane), and—my favorite—Peggy Scott (Denée Benton). Per Deadline, Thomas Cocquerel (who plays Marian’s love interest, Tom) will not return. However, the character could return with a new actor. Interestingly, Talter reported that The Gilded Age‘s main cast has nearly doubled in size between season 1 and season 2. They hypothesized that this would allow the show to depict more working class stories in The Gilded Age season 2, and the recent trailer features at least one moment that seems to hint at just that.
What made the Gilded Age shine?
My favorite parts of Downton Abby were the lives of the employees. Their stakes felt more real than the family’s, and the changes to society most affected them. We didn’t get too much of that in The Gilded Age season 1, but one frame from the season 2 trailer makes it seem like that’s about to change. There’s a scene featuring more than a few dozen men protesting with their fists raised. In front of them is a barricade of crates, and behind them are large signs made up of sheets—it’s very much giving Les Misérables. The signs read: “8 HOURS LABOR, 8 HOURS RECREATION, AND 8 [I think] HOURS REST.”
While the American education system and neoliberals love to praise Roosevelt’s New Deal as the source of our 8-hour work days (sort of) and the 40-hour work week, the truth is much more bloody. Against the wishes of business owners, labor unions protested and picketed for labor reform during the tail-end of the 19th century. In need of some muscle to transport scabs and beat the workers into submission—I mean … protect the economy—cities began to invest in some of the first-ever private public police.
Now, how much of this will be implemented into the show is anyone’s guess. This scene might be limited to a single episode’s subplot, but a girl can dream. The Gilded Age season 1 did a great job with introducing under-discussed topics like the presence of a Black elite and the financial source of the Old Money snobs, so there’s a good chance they’ll dig a little deeper this season, too. We’ll find out when The Gilded Age season 2 premieres on Sunday, October 29.
(image: HBO)
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